Kapitel 17 – Our Yeager is the Answer
Against all odds, Freya managed to get down to the Dining Hall. There are some almost-mishaps, but Levi was there to stop on his tracks so Freya would just slam face first into his back whilst he stands firm steadily.
He somehow knew it will happen. No, not will. Definitely. He knew she will definitely ram into his back some way, and already readied her weight behind her when she came crashing down the stairs. Literally, he was like a Wall Maria that blocked the Titans from breaking through the thick walls.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Heichou," Freya said, using him as a leverage again to stand back up on her feet. Her papers are scattered on the floor. Levi held out a hand and picked up the papers for her. Breathing out, she smiled at her Captain and nodded. "Thank you, Heichou. "
For the Inquisition Day, Levi had confirmed the Merchants and the Wallists will be there during the hearing. Earlier, Freya had told Levi of the possibilities in which Eren will be handled when the hearing starts and warns him that it will take a turn for the worst when the Merchants and Wallists starts to yap.
"And the Military soldiers might pull a gun on him as well," she explained, looking through the list of attendees for Eren's Inquisition and memorizing them. "The Merchants and Wallists are two useless branches of humanity. They'd sooner spread fear faster than they can feed the hungry." She had read their profiles earlier, so this list is just for her to confirm who are the pawns and gnats that will be attending so Erwin could use them as steppingstones.
And procure Eren Yeager for the Scout Regiment.
Levi almost smiled. His Freya is back.
Only one problem.
She kept running into his back with her head buried in the pile of papers she is holding. The other hand was firmly holding onto the walking cane, supporting part of her weight to spare her injured thigh muscle the time to heal properly. When she bumped into him for the third time, Levi stopped walking and promptly turned around to look at her.
"I'm sorry, Heichou," she apologized again sheepishly. "There's a lot of things to go through before picking up the Yeager boy. I need to get these in my brain so I can help our regiment win him over. I'll be careful next time."
Levi narrowed his eyes when she buried her head right back in her pile of papers, eyes scanning the list of names intently.
"Continue to go through the papers," Levi said, leaning down and wrapping an arm behind her knee before lifting her up on his shoulder while his other hand confiscated her walking stick. Freya threw up a fuss immediately and patted his back to let her down.
"Let me down, Heichou! Heichou! People are watching!" Freya hissed, squeaking when Levi snatched her walking stick and continues to walk towards the Dining Hall.
"You're my secretary first, Freya," Levi said to her, continuing to walk on ahead and ignoring the many eyes bulging and staring at Captain Levi carrying his secretary on his shoulder. "The papers are more important than everyone else's shitty opinion. We don't have much time to spare before the Inquisition. Make haste, you still have a few pages to go isn't it?"
Dead. Freya is dead. Now everyone will know.
On the bright side, she can now go through her paper with a peace of mind without having to walk or risk bumping into his back again.
Enduring the embarrassment, she continued to read through the list and report to prepare for the Inquisition.
The sound that the walking cane made with each step Levi takes with her on his shoulder grabbed the attention of everyone in the Dining Hall. It has been a while, and there has been rumours everywhere high and low about her. Everyone had on a different expression when they see her coming their way in such a fashion, bring so absorbed in the papers she held in her hands whilst Levi held her upon his shoulder that she completely ignored the many eyes staring at them both. Those attention are more towards surprise than the usual starstruck expression they gave her before the Battle of Trost.
Rumours had it that the Horse Whisperer was Freya, their very own Captain's Secretary. This knowledge was spread like a wildfire amongst those who helped at the Battle of Trost's aftermath. Then, on the night of cremation for the dead, she was there to send them a farewell. And there, the cadets that survived the ordeal had confirmed that she was there during the Battle of Trost and sealed the deal that she was indeed the Horse Whisperer who sets the horses free during that fateful day.
They knew that many survived because of her. It wasn't just the gazes of prejudice from the soldiers with her sudden appointment from a lowly Washer to the Captain's Secretary anymore. They have a newfound view on their new Captain's Secretary.
More so when Captain Levi walks in with her on his shoulder.
"What are you lot of shit looking at?" Levi growled menacingly, making those that hang around the Dining Hall quickly scamper far away from the moody Captain. Best to stay away from the Captain than staying there to earn an unwarranted mucking out shit stalls duty for a week.
"Oh, good news, Levi Heichou," Freya called with a smile as he sets her down on the Dining Hall's bench. "There's only one Wallist. That's easy to deal with."
He casually flipped her long braided hair that had slide to the front of her chest behind her, nodding as acknowledgement and turn to get her breakfast.
"Good news for us then," Levi said to her with a slight smile.
That's when he saw his squad walk in.
"Heichou!" Oluo almost screamed in excitement, pushing his team mates aside to reach Levi. "You're back!"
"Stupid, I've been here since the start," Levi chided, side stepping Oluo when the man almost stumbled. Levi frowned in obvious disgust. "Get yourself together, Oluo."
The Captain left his squad before the rest of the guys trotted behind him towards the counter. Emma was already waiting, and Levi spoke with her for a while whilst the rest of his squad returned to the table with their tray of breakfast.
"Hello everyone. Go get your breakfast. I'll be here," Freya greeted them with a smile, nudging her head towards Emma, who was already conversing with Levi. Petra brightened the moment she saw Freya and patted her hand.
"Freya, you looked so much better," Petra commented with a smile, glad that her friend recovered nicely. It was heart wrenching to know that she was alone at Trost when the Titans attacked, to see her ended up hurt so badly from using the Three-Dimensional Manoeuvre Gear without an ounce of real experience.
Freya smiled. "Thank you, Petra. You don't look so bad yourself."
"Today's the big day, ain't it?" Eld said, sitting down with a tray of breakfast. He has gone on ahead to get himself one, followed by Levi himself.
"It is," Freya nodded with a smile towards Eld, then continue to read through the stack of papers she has brought with her from Levi's office. "Today is the day we determine the boundaries of humanities behind the Walls towards freedom."
Oluo blinked in confusion, not understanding a word of what she is saying. "What?"
Petra joined the conversation. "What boundaries?"
The Captain's Secretary smiled without looking at them and said, "Our Yeager is the answer."
"Oi," Levi chimed in from behind moodily, followed closely by Emma who holds onto Freya's tray. He narrowed his eyes at them, especially at Eld, not liking how the rest of his squad surrounds his secretary. "Get your breakfast. The lot of you still have training in the fields today. Get going."
They replied with a unison "Yes, Captain!" and left to get their breakfast. Levi sets down his tray and got Freya's portion from Emma, mumbling a small "Thank you, Emma," and sat it down in front of her.
"Eat first," Levi said, picking up the egg on her tray and starting to crack and peel them for her. "We still have time."
"Just a bit more," Freya said, her eyes still not leaving the papers, frantically scanning and going through them as fast as she could. "Just a bit more," she repeated, picking up a toast with her hand and bite through them quickly without even looking.
The information came from Hange just as Levi finished tying his cravat. It was more of an information thing for the Secretary, seeing as it is her title and part of her duties to take note of. The moment Freya received them, she immediately started to read through them, memorizing the names and the relevant parties that will be attending.
Hange had at first thought it was just a useless piece of information, and that the stacks of papers are just distributed to her as she is the Captain's Secretary. But Freya told them of her thoughts about it, and her words has since then kept ringing in Levi's ears.
"This is not just a normal trial," she had said, eyes scanning the papers quickly, noting on the time of the trail and that there is not much time left for her to go through them were she to stop now. "This trial is an open battlefield, where no one wears a mask or hiding behind any farce and power person. This trial will reveal who is against the survival of Eren Yeager, and who supports the Yeager boy's existence. This will makes us an easy target, but at the same time, we will gain the upper hand in knowing who will be the enemy in the dark."
"Enemy in the dark…" Hange repeated, eyes narrowed to absorb what Freya had just said. "Were you insinuating-"
"It is, and it has already begun, Hange Bun Taichou," Freya said, her eyes still glued on the list of names printed on the paper. "Enemies in the dark that we know not of until they strikes us when we least expects it. I do not trust the Wallists and the Merchants as we all know what they want. All they wanted was to-"
"To be the last one to survive with the money and food," Levi continued, mouth sneering down in disgust when he mentions them, as if it brought back unpleasant memories. It did in a way, reminds him of his days in the Underground. Of the times he had to resort to stealing, to killing.
And watch them forcing his mother to work, even when she is dying.
Freya looked up at Captain Levi and smiled. She knew he will understand. He came from the Underground after all, a place where the Merchants makes the most money, and a place where it is completely ignored by the Wallists.
"The money and food will not last long if we continue to huddle behind the Walls," Hange replied, agreeing with what Freya had said about the enemy in the dark. Someone must be supporting the Wallists and the Merchants, otherwise, the Wallists won't be mushrooming into power so soon after Shiganshina fell just shy of 5 years ago. For the Merchants, they must have been working with whomever that is the most powerful within the Walls to achieve sole monopoly in the market on their goods.
The Military Police Regiment.
Again, Freya smiled. She had a good idea who was behind all these possibilities. This is her best guess towards the explanation on the Wallists sudden gain of power, fame and influence in all three Walls in the short span of 5 years after the Fall of Shiganshina.
"In this case, the one with the most generous heart wins the shady title," Freya answered, looking up to the two squad Captains. "The ones who generously funds the Scout Regiment's budget would be our best bet."
Picking up her walking cane leaning next to her 'Secretary Seat', Freya stood up and walk towards the door and said in a grave tone, "There might be a reason as to why we are funded so generously, and despite all the death tolls, we are still fighting, and still ventures out of the safety of the Walls to new territory."
"Their motive could be of a soft approach, and patience that comes with time and money. To weaken the people's resolve to stand up and fight for freedom, they first must put up some examples that the world outside is not worth fighting for. And what could be better than a regiment full of freedom fighters killing Titans out there, only to return with a long list of dead soldiers who got eaten up by Titans?"
Turning around, Freya looked at them both. "It will be non-other than us, the Scouts Regiment. We are their best example to show the people that no matter how hard we try, we will never win against the Titans so long as we have casualties on our expeditions. They are patiently waiting for the day we admit our defeat and seal ourselves behind the Walls, where overpopulation will drive more people to poverty and that- that is when they will come in. Everything will be in abundance – labours, slaves, woman and children. By then, everything will be for sale, and everything can be purchased with money. By then, money will be the new King."
"They don't plan to let the boy live," Levi thought out loud, piecing everything together after what Freya had reasoned. The easy budget, Erwin's frequent trips to the inner Walls, the Military Police Regiment's sour relationship with the Scouts Regiment. Everything starts to make sense.
They meant to let them out to die. They never meant to support freedom outside of the Walls at all.
Freya nodded solemnly. "One day, there will be no one left to fight for freedom, and that is what they are waiting – if, they kill Eren Yeager."
Levi's reverie was interrupted by a tray slamming on the table nonchalantly with a grunt, as if it weighed a ton. Levi clicked his tongue distastefully and glared sideways.
Hands that looked too old. It was Oluo alright.
Oluo sat with a grunt and a single raised eyebrow, throwing sidelong glances at the Secretary sitting next to him. He had wanted to sit next to Levi, but Petra had already sat there. She even gave him a warning glare by widening his eyes and nudged her head towards the empty seat next to Freya.
He endured it and complied it silently. He didn't want another slap from Petra again.
Eld came back and saw Oluo made a face as he prepares to sit next to Freya. He quickened his footsteps and quickly pushed Oluo to another empty seat, planting himself upon the seat next to Freya, looking over her shoulder at what she is reading.
Oluo was completely ignored.
"Eat your breakfast, Eld," Freya said to him without looking up, causing Eld to jump a little in his seat. How did she know he was looking?
She smiled. "Your shadow is blocking my light."
Eld cleared his throat awkwardly when everyone stares at him.
Her hand reaches towards her tray again and picked up an egg before stuffing the whole peeled egg into her mouth, ignoring everyone else and absorbed the information on the papers as quickly as she could.
Levi had just dropped the third peeled egg onto her tray.
There was a little commotion a few rows behind the table they are sitting at. It has been going on for a while now and a name – or to be specific, a familiar title – caught Levi's attention.
"I didn't know the Nightingale has such long hair," someone started yapping. Levi's ears picked up the name and leaned sideways to look at the soldiers all sitting behind Freya. He scanned the crowd and look for someone that looked- aha!
Fear.
"C-C-C-C-Ca-Captain L-L-Levi," the soldier stuttered, looking down quickly as he sweat dropped. Freya had just finished her toast and the paper in her hand. Smiling widely in triumph, she picked up the fork on her tray and started to dig into the potatoes.
It was then, her spoon dropped, clattering onto the floor.
"Oh, it dropped," Freya mumbled to herself. The spoon dropped to somewhere under the table at her side. Without thinking, she leaned aside and looked underneath the table.
Levi's hand suddenly stretched over right before she leans underneath the table to cover the sharp corner of the table with his palm. The move was so sudden that everyone stopped eating to look up at him.
And the Captain closes his eyes to silently wills this moment to just disappear.
"Ah! Found it!" Freya said and leaned back up. And only then she notices Levi's palm covering the corner of the table. Quickly catching up on the reason he does that, Freya unconsciously held up one hand and covered her forehead.
With Levi glaring at her hotly.
"You'd best watch out the next time you're about to do something before you bash your head into the sharp edge of a table, Walker," Levi snapped angrily and took back his hand from holding the table's corner.
"T-thank you, Heishichou," Freya replied sheepishly, still rubbing her forehead. Without Levi's hand over there, she could have just bashed headfirst into the table's corner. That could result in a really bad bruise.
Couldn't possibly attend the Inquisition with a bruise on her forehead.
End of Kapitel 17: Our Yeager Is The Answer
Updated on: 14th July 2021