Lara (Long-Fic Levihan | Armin Arlert X OC)

Chapter 47 - Counter Attack

"Break into two groups and search each side of the Wall," Armin ordered his subordinate soldiers. "Search all the buildings near the inner gate! If you find them, signal immediately!"

Armin then looked at his subordinates, scared, still very shy and embarrassed.

"I'm counting on you..." he completed, his voice down.

The soldiers replied with a resounding "Understood!" and set out to the search. Armin looked at Lara, seeking her approval and she nodded with a little smile.

"Go with them, Armin," she kindly ordered.

Lara turned to Erwin, smiling.

"Thank you once more."

"Don't thank me. Armin's ready for this role. He's one of our greatest weapons."

"I agree," said Lara. "Besides, it will do a lot of good for his shyness and insecurity. I see that he has a lot of difficulties commanding respect in people, so I believe that putting him in a leadership position will help him a lot in that."

Erwin turned to Lara, with a little smile.

"You never cease to amaze me. I must say that I'm very proud of your work," he then put his hand on her shoulder. "I knew you would be an excellent contribution to humanity."

"You're embarrassing me, uncle Erwin," replied Lara, blushing and smiling. "I'm not all that."

"Uncle Erwin?!" he exclaimed, joyful. "What an honor!"

"That's how I see you," Lara kindly replied. "Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I'll never forget what you did for me..."

Erwin blinked slowly and gave her a side hug with affection.

"I'm glad to hear that, niece."

They both laughed, but right after, acquired a serious expression.

"Erwin," began Lara, "what now? Are we gonna pause the operation until we find the enemy? Or will Eren continue until he seals the inner gate?"

The Commander took a deep breath.

"We continue," he said, serious. "We would lose a prolonged battle here. We can only win with a quick and decisive action. Even though our enemies have calculated our every move, we have no choice... Other than to continue."

Erwin then took a peek at his own ODM gear.

"In any case, they're not the only ones hiding something..." he gave Lara a meaningful look, with a smile, to which she replied.

A few minutes passed and they got a fright when they saw a signal flare been shot. Soon after, Armin and all of his subordinates were back in a circle for an emergency meeting.

"Armin!" exclaimed Lara. "Did you find them? Where are they?"

"Not yet!" he answered, panting. "Everyone, search the Walls!"

"But, we already did it!" a soldier replied, distressed.

"There's nowhere to hide!" added another soldier.

"They're inside the Walls!" exclaimed Armin, anxious.

Everyone held their breath in fright. Erwin and Lara looked at each other.

"Inside the Walls?" she asked, taking a step forward.

"Yes!" answered Armin. "Somewhere, there must be a hole large enough for someone to stay inside!"

"How do you know that?" asked a soldier, visibly nervous.

Armin then looked down at his own feet and acquired an anguished expression.