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

Chapter 32 - In The Castle

Lara was riding her horse alongside Petra on the way to the castle. Ahead of them, Oluo was talking to Eren, who seemed visibly uncomfortable. Eren looked back and notice Captain Levi staring at him with a serious expression.

Levi had become responsible for Eren and would need to watch him, to make sure he would not do anything that could kill someone. Before turning his attention back to Oluo, Eren took a quick look at Lara and felt a little comfort in his heart to see that at least one person was not looking at him as an aberration.

"I think Oluo's bothering Eren," Petra said to Lara, clicking her tongue. "Lately, he's been acquiring a weird behavior... I believe he's trying to look serious like Captain Levi."

"I've also noticed that," answered Lara. "Even the white cravat around his neck is the same!"

The girls laughed. Then, apparently, Oluo's horse stepped on a rock, which made him bite his tongue. That made the girls laugh even more.

"That served you right!" exclaimed Petra, making Oluo glare angrily at her.

When they arrived at the castle, Lara swung her tiny legs on her horse in excitement. It was a beautiful medieval-style building, with grey stones and blue roofs. But it looked very poorly maintained, indeed.

While they were putting the horses in the stables, Lara noticed that Eren was watching Petra and Oluo talking, who was cleaning the blood from his bitten tongue. Lara approached Eren.

"You're feeling a little out of place, aren't you?" she gently asked.

"Did you notice?" he lowered his head.

"Don't worry. They're amazing. Soon, you'll get used to them."

"I'm sorry, Lara... But, who are they, after all?"

"They're the members of the Special Operations Squad, commanded by Captain Levi himself," answered Lara. "We call them 'Levi Squad'. In short, they're the top 'Elite Soldiers'."

She began telling him how many Titans each of the members had already killed, leaving Eren open-mouthed.

"As you're an exceptional case and your Titan abilities are still very uncertain," she continued, "if anything... Bad happens, they're the most qualified to 'contain' you, if you know what I mean..."

Eren understood perfectly, swallowing hard.

"But, tell me something..." he turned to Lara. "For you to have joined the Survey Corps at such a young age, it's because you must be very talented... I'm sorry, I'm not trying to flatter you, but in Trost, even though I was a little groggy from getting out of my Titan, I could see how you fight as good as Captain Levi. So why aren't you in this Elite Squad, as well?"

"Thank you," Lara kindly replied, "But, although I fight well and have Captain Levi himself as my private tutor, he still thinks I'm too young for this and he promised me that he'll think about it in the future, when I get more experience in the field."

Eren agreed, slowly. He would need to be very careful to not irritate these people.

"Pardon me for asking," he continued, "but why did you come here with us? I've heard you and Squad Leader Hange were doing great experiments on the captured Titans. Shouldn't you be there?"

Before Lara could answer him, Levi appeared in front of them.

"Hey, brat. We need to clean up this castle as soon as possible," Levi looked at Lara. "And you? What are you still doing there? Let's go!"

He walked away and Lara chuckled to Eren, pointing her thumb at Levi.

"That's why I came. The Captain thinks I look like a mop."