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The town of Shiganshina is what is called a "bait district". Unfortunately, this is not because they are famous for their tins of worms and fishing hook accessories, but rather due to the purpose of its design. Like a pouch of coin dangling in plain sight, the densely populated town is meant to draw the attention of titans, if ever they should wish to bother the walls.

If there is anywhere that the people may feel a little on edge, it would be in such a bait district of the outermost of humanity's defences.

Perhaps in the military quarters of Garrison members, charged with maintaining the wall in good shape.

In fact, at this exact moment, one of their buildings themselves was quivering ever so slightly from all of the shouting going on within. It could even be heard from the streets. If one should approach the building, they might hear a clear and powerful voice ringing through the windows and wood boards. "[...] FAIL TO ANSWER THEIR CALL?! DOES THIS NOT WARRANT AN INVESTIGATION?! YOU [...]"

The moment Hwan pushed open the door it swung inwards with great momentum and slammed against the inside wall. Through the frame strode a proud, dark-haired youth in a resplendent white coat, the unicorn emblem of the Military Police embroidered on its arms. As the way was not clear, he halted just short of running into everyone. Saga Somnis was somewhat puffy, and definitely huffy as he confronted the trainees with a chilling yellow gaze. It took a moment after that salute to register that they were not just more irresponsible Garrison members. His gaze softened considerably.

"You poor, brave souls, these cowards have no want of your help." His speech was slow, articulate, and laden with dramatization. He even tried to emphatically place his hands on Hwan's shoulders, but held back at the last moment. "Though help be sorely needed. Your worries shall soon be over, soldier. That is exactly what I, Saga Somnis, shall do!"

Predictably for someone spouting such a cheesy hero line, he punctuated it with a clenched fist and a skyward gaze, and then stormed off only to re-emerge seconds later on a majestic black horse, galloping into the distance.

The door to the garrison building was still open, and from within, a blonde man made the kind of heaving sigh a bartender might have after that last awful drunk that's impossible to get rid of has finally left the premises. He was pale, but colour began to return to his cheeks as he slouched against a table.

On the table was a map of Shiganshina's slums and their surrounding areas.

[ talking with the blonde ]

A majestic man spoke to them passionately in a most impressive display of passive aggression towards a blonde man in the room and Hwan nodded sympathetically to Saga's speech. The older man was noble like some sort of hero out of a story and he watched him as if enchanted as Saga stormed out of the place and pulled himself up onto a glossy black horse.

"Wait, come back! We'll help you!" Confused feet started after thunderous hooves but were no match. Swearing as Saga disappeared from view, he wondered what the big problem was and why he'd left them behind. They would've aided him with anything they could if he'd only explained the situation! Now they were stuck with a grim faced and tired looking blonde man leaning against a table.

"Trainees Hwan, Jeong and Larisa at your service, sir." He motioned to each of them in turn for an introduction though he already knew the man wouldn't be able to keep him and his brother straight anyways. "What's this about an investigation? Does it have to do with the disappearing children?" He watched the stranger's posture as he spoke to see if the news was a surprise or not. There was the chance these incidents were unrelated but it didn't hurt to ask. The worst that happened was he said no and it would be spreading awareness of the problem.

It was a bit of a gamble to bring up the topic so boldly but the Ryoms had never been subtle.

Tough town!

Niklaus had a lot to say in response to their offer to help, a lot of it in a snide tone that Jeong did not appreciate. He understood that Niklaus was frustrated from past experiences with this topic but they were just three trainees who'd happened by and thought something might be happening. His verbal lashing was pretty unnecessary when they hadn't said or done anything bad yet. As troublemakers, the twins weren't unused to this kind of speech they just usually didn't have to sit through one until they'd actually completed their mischief. And besides, some of the complaints about orphans stealing made Jeong wonder how good Niklaus was at his job if he couldn't keep his eye on one little girl, nor could any of his supposed coworkers. Unless there was more to this story that the blonde simply wasn't telling?

"Let us handle the investigation for you, sir! If you give us all the information we can take care of it and you will be able to remain here with your normal duties!" If Niklaus truly felt it was a waste of time, maybe he would love the chance to shove the whole thing off onto them. It was clear the blonde wanted to stay here and not be bothered so by giving them this task, they'd be out of his hair or whatever. Otherwise Jeong wasn't sure who else to talk to about the problem, Old Barb hadn't exactly been loose lipped.

"As trainees, an investigation like this is perfect practice for learning how to handle the paperwork. Even if it's a waste of time otherwise!" As he waited for Niklaus to think it over, Jeong scanned the room for any information he could gather- like a mark on the nearby map or a glimmer of one of Niklaus's coworkers who might be in a slightly better mood. They couldn't go against Nikalus's word, as he was their superior, so he began to plan for alternate routes if this turned out to be a dead end!

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Mythee

KitsuneAura

Yamashii

[ talking with the blonde ]

"WE WOULD GLADLY TAKE THE CASE OFF YOUR HANDS-" Hwan had nodded along as Jeong did his best to charm Niklaus with an offer to do some pro bono work on the investigation. But as soon as he heard the venomous tone of Amalia's addition, words burst out of him as he tried to talk over her. What the hell was she doing?! It became clear though she wasn't going to stop and he waited for her to finish with an embarrassed angry look on his face.

"Amalia, show some respect. He's our superior even if we don't agree with him." He hissed quietly to the stoic faced girl. Did he understand and sympathize with the green girl's feelings? Yes. But would mouthing off to the only man in the room with any information help them get it? No. Chocolate eyes shot her a dirty look and he hoped that Niklaus wasn't insulted and infuriated enough to kick them out with nothing. He shifted his attention back to the blonde man and spoke again.

"I get that you're stressed enough protecting the city from the stuff outside the walls. It's understandable you don't have time to deal with the dangers inside." Not to mention, the garrison wasn't really responsible for doing that anyways. It was their priority to handle the wall rather than govern the people. "So please, allow us to help you. The worst that can happen is we find nothing, right?"

Niklaus could not believe his ears when Jjeong spoke. It was as if he had not heard a thing the Garrison soldier had just said about there being nothing to investigate? Was he thick-headed, or just carrying ulterior motives that he could fake this much enthusiasm for? Just like the stray MP from earlier, Niklaus could not get through to these trainees. Rather than shake his head, however, he took a stance of patience. He didn't have the energy to spare for an argument. He sighed.

"Once again, there is no investigation being conducted at this time. If you wish to volunteer for some of our duties, you need to go through the training compound-"




Before he could finish, he was interrupted by the girl that had come in with the others. Her words were hostile, and Niklaus drew back ever so slightly as she spoke, weary of all of these outbursts today. Unlike what she suggested, Niklaus wished to do a good job. He would not kick them out, but calmly explain the situation again, as many times as it took. When Hwan's efforts to calm his classmate only led to her leaving in a huff, however, the man could not help but feel guilty and somehow responsible. He shook his head and heaved another sigh, looking up at the ceiling before addressing the asian boys before him.

"Whatever has convinced you all to try so hard to get these so-called disappearances looked into, your efforts appear to be sincere. However, the incidents reported by the children of the slums all seem to overlap with a certain area of town, and none of the patrols from there have reported any suspicious activity in all of these weeks. If you're so determined, I'll tell you where they are so you can ask them yourselves." Niklaus shuffled with some files before retrieving a lst. "The assigned patrols last night were... Friedval and Derrick. For the next hour you will find them at the Garrison post from the eastern wall connecting to the inner Wall Maria. Better get going, then."

He looked at the twins in turn, praying for them to be satisfied with this.

Amalia paused her punch mid-flight and looked up at Hwan. Blood trickled down one of her knuckles where she had hit a jagged rock, but if she noticed, she said nothing. She took a deep, calming breath, knowing that he had mostly been right even if he was wrong. Thankfully, most of her anger had been dispelled into the ground already. "You didn't embarrass me. You just pissed me off." Most, but not all. She took his hand with the one she had been assaulting the ground with and pulled herself to her feet before swearing.

She hadn't noticed.

"Even if I was too pissed off at you, I'd still be going. That girl - Roxie - doesn't deserve what's happening, and I don't plan to leave until I get the chance to kick the s**t out of the person responsible." A dangerous look passed over Amalia's eyes as she spoke, but her voice remained mostly level, as if she were commenting about the weather.

((I'm not comfortable godmoding people, so I'll let someone else do it. :3))

Derrick was a tall, thin man with purple hair and spectacles. There wasn't any actual work to do around this post for the day; the wall was not due for any maintenance, and they hardly ever had anyone come over to this area to contact Garrison members. If anyone came by, it was like to be another soldier issuing them their next assignments.

When he heard Jeong's voice, despite his youth, it sounded serious and concerned his job- thus he responded with a salute and dutiful "Yes, sir! Nothing unusual, sir!" at first, mistaking him for a supervisor. When he noticed the trainee coat of arms on his arm, Derrick reddened with embarrassment.

"By the walls, kids, you had me going for a moment." He chuckled at himself. "Forget you ever saw or heard that. But no, no I did not notice anything unusual, and from the sound of it you're probably looking for Friedval." He peered at them suspiciously. "Why d'you wanna know, anyways?"