Chapter VII
"Hello Erwin.", I grumbled and looked straight into his eyes. Actually, it was kind of good to see him again, because this man was one of the few people on earth I actually considered a friend.
"What?", Lucy asked next to me and looked down at me, "You also know our employer? Why did not you say that much earlier?", I gave her a quick sidelong glance without even lifting a muscle.
"Would that have changed anything?", I asked defiantly back and then turned my attention back to Erwin, whose grin was now a little wider and more enjoyable.
"Still the same as then, what Levi?", he said now amused and I snorted slightly.
"Levi used to work for me.", he told my comrades, who gave him grateful looks, "But that was a few years ago.". Nine years, to be exact, I added toward thoughts. Nine years ago, I had left this place head over heels and was actually back after all.
"Oh?", Natsu asked curiously, "Now that you say it, actually we know next to nothing about you, Levi.". His eyes moved to me but I just scowled at him. He must have realized by now that I was probably the least talkative type on earth so why was he wondering about that?
A polite laugh came from Erwin's mouth as he bored his gaze again into me. "Do not worry,", he said, "Even I do not know all about him yet.". I scowled at him.
"You have an assignment for us?", I muttered to distract me as a topic and immediately Erwin cleared his throat slightly and his expression became serious again.
"As a matter of fact. For those who may not yet know, I would like to briefly explain that I am known as one of the most successful businessmen. My goods are exported to all corners of Fiore and among other things, my company also has the privilege to supply the king.", he explained worldly and I saw my comrades that they literally hung on his lips, "But for some time the incidents have been mounting in my branches. There disappear employees without a trace and never there is any evidence of the perpetrators, not to mention witnesses.".
"Why didn't you ask the royal family for help when you seem to be the best of friends?", I exclaimed and crossed my arms. Fortunately, Erwin ignored my slight bitchiness in the voice and looked at me seriously.
"That would make a big splash.", he answered and pulled his thick eyebrows together slightly, "And that's the last thing I need. Therefore, I preferred to consult a Mages Guild.". I only nodded, because in the years I had worked with him, I had learned that this man had extremely good foresight. He had always taken one step further than anyone else and always kept track of things. I had learned to trust his instructions and judgments and therefore did not question this decision in any way. Erwin Smith knew what he was doing, I was sure.
"However, a pattern of these incidents seems to be emerging.", he continued, leaning slightly against his desk behind him.
"In what way is this pattern?", Erza asked, crossing his arms thoughtfully.
"It seems someone is heading for the cardinal points," he replied, looking directly at her, "The first incidents occurred in my branches to the west. After that, something similar happened in the north and now we received the news that employees have disappeared in the East.". Annoyingly, he curled his forehead and looked at the ground for a moment.
"I almost get the impression that someone is trying to make a fool of me.", he added, and I could almost look at the anger inside him, but of course he was a very businessman who did not share his feelings showed that open.
"And now you want to hire us to stop these incidents?", Erza asked and Erwin nodded.
"However, the first priority is to find my abducted employees and find out who is behind all these incidents and what motivations that someone has. And I think I do not have to tell you that everything should take place under the strictest secrecy, right?", Erwin replied and we all nodded in unison.
Kidnapped employees, I thought. Apparently somebody wanted to damage the empire of Erwin Smith. But who could be bold enough to do that in such a way?
"Do you think the perpetrators will strike next in your branches in the South?", Erza continued and Erwin nodded again.
"That's what I'm expecting. Let my secretary Hanji give you the exact details. She explains where exactly you have to go. Of course, I'll cover the travel expenses.", he said and a weak, polite smile returned to his face.
"Well, you can count on us, Mr. Smith.", Erza now said optimistically and gave him a friendly smile, "We will do our best.".
"That's what I'm going for.", Erwin said and gave me a quick glance.
"Then come!", Erza commanded imperiously and like lap dogs all the others followed her from the room. When I, too, wanted to leave the room, Erwin's voice stopped me.
"Would you like to stay a moment, Levi?", he asked and without an answer, I closed the door behind Gray, who had run in front of me and turned back to Erwin. When I looked at him, he looked at me with a very weak smile.
"It's reassuring to know that you're okay.", he said, not sounding as commanding as he had been, "To be honest, I wondered what happened to you after you left."
I shrugged and crossed my arms. "I traveled a lot. And then, for some unknown reason, it turned me into that guild.", I said dryly and Erwin nodded.
"Nice that you've found new comrades.", he said and I pressed my jaws tightly together. New comrades, it haunted my mind. It felt wrong to think that way. I would never again find such comrades as I once had them. I would never feel that sense of togetherness again, because that had died with them then.
Erwin looked at me carefully and seemed to see that he had hit me with a nerve.
"Levi, you know how sorry I am for what happened back then.", he said quietly and I sighed weakly and closed my eyes for a moment.
"I know.", I said only and fought again against the feeling chaos in me.
"And I really regretted it when you left so fast.", he added and I heard him sigh softly.
"I just could not stand it anymore, you know that, Erwin.", I said in a deep voice, "Everything here reminded me of them.".
"I understand that. But that did not make it any easier for me, you know.", he said to me now and angry, I opened my eyes again and looked at him.
"What do you know?", I snapped irritably at him, "You have no real idea what I have then gone through.". It probably was wrong and unfair to approach him like this but as so often I just did not know what to do with my feelings and confused thoughts and saw only one way out: the flight forward.
To my astonishment Erwin remained completely relaxed and suddenly looked quite sad. For a moment he turned around and looked out of the window, lost in thought. An awkward silence spread over between us, but I forced myself not to throw even further allegations towards him.
"Of course you're right, Levi. I did not feel the same as you do. But believe me, it has hit me all too hard. After all, they were somehow dear to me, in all the time they were here.", he said now and turned back to me to face me directly.
"Hey Levi!", his voice called out and my eyes wandered to him, "Don't you think we should not run away from these idiots, but instead give them a rubdown?".
Next to me, it laughed loud and spiteful. "Naturally! After all, nobody impresses us!", she exclaimed enthusiastically and I rolled my eyes.
"Are you really that stupid? These are not the normal types of city watch. They're playing in a different league here.", I snapped. We ran to three abreast through maze of narrow streets of the city, I was in the middle, as their "leader".
"But what are we going to do then?", she asked not so optimistic anymore. I gave her a quick glance. With wide eyes she looked at me and for a brief moment I saw something like fear flare up. I will not let anything happen to you, I thought as I turned my gaze forward again.
"Quite simply, do not let us get caught.", I grumbled, "We know each other a lot better here. We shake them off and then return to our hiding place.".
"Alright!", he called from my other side and together we increased our pace again. Behind us, I heard again the footsteps of our pursuers, who seemed to be coming ever closer threateningly. These guys were really much tougher and more enduring than those from the city watch.
"We split up. You know where we'll meet again later.", I shouted to my two comrades and already they both flew away in different directions.
"See you later, Levi!", she called to me still giggling, as she disappeared even behind a corner of a house. I rolled my eyes again. Why could she still laugh in such a situation?
I forced myself to run a little faster and turned off behind countless corners to further confuse my pursuers. Fortunately, having to fight hard to survive, my body was pretty toned and could easily withstand these hardships. For a moment I glanced over my shoulder and saw only two figures behind me. They are really stubborn, I thought angrily and ran into an alley that ended abruptly in front of a high wooden fence. Smooth, I jumped up to this fence, grabbed the end of the fence slats and swung it up over the obstacle. In a flowing role, I landed on the other side of the ground, jumped up and immediately ran on. That would certainly stop them for some time, I thought triumphantly, as I suddenly heard footsteps behind me. When I threw my head back in amazement, I recognized my two pursuers, as fast as I had crossed the wooden fence. Bastards!
So the pace picked up again, turned back into countless lanes, submerged briefly in a small crowd and finally disappeared again into the dark and isolated streets of the city.
After a while, I slowed down a bit and now, a little bit out of breath, I turned back to find myself content that I was alone. I had probably hung them off eventually, I thought, finally allowing my body a little rest.
Just as I was about to go to our meeting place, suddenly a big dark shadow from right shot up and threw me to the ground, right into a muddy puddle. In a flash, I scrambled to my feet and jumped back from the attacker. In front of me stood a huge, gigantic man with a small mustache and big, dark eyes. He fixed his eyes on me and I had no doubt at once that he was one of the two who had been haunting me earlier. How could they find me so fast? With a low growl he threw himself forward again and tried to pull me down again, but I jumped to the side again and stretched out my arms to the sides.
"Blade incantation!", I exclaimed and immediately two pointed knives formed in my hands. Actually, I did not mean to use violence, but this guy left me with his tenacity no choice. Infuriated, I threw myself toward him to do some cuts on him, but he dodged me skillfully. For a few seconds we danced around each other, each time trying to land a hit, until he finally drew a narrow dagger and jumped at me. At first he pretended to aim at my left side, but then attacked me from the right. At the last moment I could tear up one of my knives, otherwise he would have cut his blade directly into my flesh.
Metal on metal clanged now on bright and loud as our weapons met and he pressed hard against my weapon. He was much taller and probably stronger than me, but I was able to withstand this pressure for some time and was about to pick out an ugly counter sleep when suddenly a figure stood next to us.
"Stop it.", the person said to me and looked at me piercingly. He hast o be crazy, I thought furiously, glaring at him. Beside us was a tall, well-trained man with blue eyes and thick blond hair. His pithy face looked down at me rather seriously, but something in his eyes looked like some kind of amusement.
"Look around.", the blond now said to me, confused, watching my surroundings while I kept trying to withstand the pressure of the giant in front of me. At first I thought he was trying to distract me, but then a voice that I knew all too well cut through the silence.
"Don't touch me, you ass!", she screamed in frustration. Behind a corner of the house, they both suddenly appeared, my comrades, followed by a few other men dressed similarly to the big one in front of me. So they grabbed them, I thought ruefully. My gaze wandered briefly to my two comrades and I felt cold fear for these two in me. Then I looked again at the blond man in front of me, who looked at me coldly and I decided in a fraction of a second.
I let my two knives disappear and then raised my hands defensively to signal that I was surrendering. The giant in front of me dropped away from me at once and the blond now looked quite satisfied. An eerie authority seemed to emanate from him, and it was obvious he was the leader of those guys.
I felt someone grab me from behind and hold my arms so I could not escape. They wore no uniforms, I realized. But who exactly were these people then?
"Amazing. You really have a quick mind.", the blonde said to me and stepped right in front of me. Smuggling, he crossed his arms and looked down at me.
"My name is Erwin Smith. And what is your name?", he asked me in a commanding voice, but I just looked at him hateful and said nothing. As if I would just tell my name to this proletarian!
When he realized that I probably would not speak immediately, he sighed a little depressed and then looked at the man behind me.
"Mike.", he only said to him and then I was forced down to my knees and roughly pushed to the ground. I moaned in pain as I was pressed down further and finally put a broad hand on the back of my head. Before I knew what was happening to me, my head was pressed down hard, right into a dirty puddle, so that my face disappeared completely for a brief moment. I raged and tried with all my might to pull myself away, but against this mountain of a man behind me simply did not arrive. Immediately, my head was pulled up a little bit again and I coughed briefly, before I hatefully looked up to the blond again. I'm going to pay you for that, I thought furiously and wanted to cut his throat right away.
"Stop that!", I heard her scream as the dirty water ran down my face. It smelled unpleasant and was just offensive.
"Bitch.", I growled angrily, but the blond just squatted in front of me to look at me at eye level.
"I'll ask you again. What's your name?", he asked again, but I kept silent. Although I was utterly reluctant to be immersed in such filthy water, but if he thought he would soften me with it, he had been wrong.
"Or should we make your friends first?", he grunted threateningly and any color disappeared from my face. That miserable bastard! How cowardly of him to threaten me with such a thing, I squinted over to the two and sighed inwardly. I could not stand it, if something would hapen to them. Smith looked at me as I slowly collapsed and in a quiet voice he asked me again: "What is your name?".
"Levi," I grunted growling and looked straight back at him.
"Well, Levi.", said Erwin Smith now and seemed quite satisfied, "I would like to make you a deal.".
And now just that man, who let me dive into the dirty water, stood directly opposite of me. I would never have dreamed then that we would appreciate each other so much later. And it was exactly this man who also revealed to me his grief that they were gone and would never return. I had never thought that this loss could hit him too, had always seen only my own grief. But when I thought about it, all his words made sense.
"I know.", I just said, unable to apologize for my words, but I was sure he understood anyway. After years of collaboration, we had learned to read and understand each other in the other, even though we did not say much.
" I trust you, Levi.", he said now, nodding to me, "I'm sure you can do my job.". I looked at him for a moment and then nodded. It was time I said goodbye to him.
"See you soon, Erwin.", I just said and he nodded to me as well when I finally left his study. To my surprise, the others were no longer in the anteroom, only Hanji sat alone at her desk and sorted a few files.
"Your friends have already gone outside. They asked me to tell you that they are waiting for you there.", she said to me with joy, but I did not even look at her. Friends, I thought gruffly. I was not sure if I should call these brats my friends.
"Thanks, Hanji.", I growled monotonously and left the room without another word. I walked silently down the corridor, but when I stood in the big lobby, just outside the front door, I turned and walked down a few more hallways. Fortunately, I still knew my way around very well and soon I was standing in front of a small, inconspicuous wooden door. Carefully, I pushed it open and went through it. This was a small back door that led to the back of the property. We used to go here often to rest outside for a while.
Behind the property was a small rose garden and I walked the gravel path between the beds along and felt a little in time back to when I worked here yet. But this time I did not hear her laugh behind me as she tried to catch up with me and did not listen to his endless lectures about the house being far too big and confusing. This time, all I heard was the crunching of pebbles under my shoes, and an infinite sadness was spreading inside me, like a big, heavy rug.
After a short time I came to a stop and looked up sadly. Here was one of the reasons why I went with this order. I had pushed it too far ahead of me to come here.
I stood in front of a large stone statue depicting an angel, which imposingly raised its arms to the sky and whose wings were fanned out in full width. The left wing was dyed in a very pale blue, which was visible only in direct sunlight. The right wing had a whitish glow and looked almost a bit like marble. In their honor, the wings of this angel had been colored in these two colors, for these had been their favorite colors. Blue and white.
At the feet of the angel a graceful stone tablet had been erected and when I read the words on it, my heart became heavy again. After all these years, my soul still kept cutting me up thinking that they had really left me forever. With great sorrow and melancholy, I let my gaze glide over the dark letters carved into the stone, and a lonely tear rolled down my cheeck as I stodd there all alone.
In loving memory of Isabel Magnolia and Furlan Church