Chapter 21: Erwins task

                                    

                                          
About a week later.
"Levi, come in, take a seat please." The blond man welcomed, looking up from his desk with a warm smile. 
The dark haired man walked casually into the bright room, filled with natural light from the many windows lining the walls. The old oak room smelling of books and age, wisdom and all. 
Pulling against the back of the chair before taking his seat, Levi leaned back and crossed his arms. 
"I have a new task for you, though it will require you taking a visit to wall Sina. Now you are aware of the Iceburst stone correct? It being the fuel source for our air supply?" The man simply nodded, "I've noticed a delay in product in the past month. Usually we purchase the same amount and it arrives a week after, always in the same large quantity. However lately, it's been low in stock. The company seems to be selling to another source, see that's the problem. Not many other things can be made using that rock, which is leading me to believe someone has either stolen or made their own equipment and plan on using it to invade a particular area or worse." 
"If you've called me in here for my very professional geology opinion, I'm afraid you have to call in for appointments." Levi deadpanned, "My knowledge isn't free."
"I- what? No-" Erwin stumbled from his sarcasm, "I would like you to go and investigate, I need to stay and work on some stuff here. There is a winter party in wall Sina in four days, all the higher ups will be there. My assumption is the culprit will be there, I need you to try and find any information you can. But this is a couples party, meaning you need to bring a date. I have the invitation seeing as I am a higher up in authority but I will just send you in my place, but you will need to bring a date to get in, whomever you choose to be your assistance, I advice someone you are comfortable acting as if your in a relationship with, you will need to hold their hand and such around the larger groups to make it believable." Erwin said casually, lifting up a stack of papers and patting them all into place against the desk. 
"And you cant just send Hange?" Levi replied after a moment of thinking.
"No, Hange has some tests to run, I would suggest taking Petra but she sprained her ankle and that would make it difficult. Now I don't know your... preference so if your comfortable taking a guy that's fine to, you will just still need to act as though your in a relationship." Erwin stated thoughtfully, raising his thick eyebrows as he spoke. 
"And what if I don't find anything?" Levi's low voice asked.
"If you don't, then you don't. If you do, then you do. This is all a hunch anyways." He affirmed, picking up some of his pens and placing them in their holder.
"Your making me go to a dance, because of a hunch?" He said, annoyance lacing his words.
"Yes. Oh and you will need to stay overnight, I'll send you by carriage the night before that way you don't have to waste any time. The party will run late so stay overnight again if you wish, otherwise you can just come straight back after it's done." Erwin confirmed, finishing organizing and looking back up to Levi with a tight smile. 
The man sighed in response before speaking again, "And what about my squad? They still need to train." 
"I've already got that covered, they will train underneath Hange and Derek depending on the day." He settled, standing up from his desk and walking out from behind the large wood frame, "Just go and find a person to bring with you, then get ready to leave Thursday morning, the party is Friday night." 
Erwin gave one last tight smile, patting the door frame as he finished his sentence then walking out the door. The quiet man in the chair turned back to face straight again, sighing and rubbing his temple. 
Not much later...
"Matthew!" (Y/n) laughed, reaching over and snatching her water bottle back from the boy who held it above his head.
"I'm thirsty!" He whined, finally giving in and releasing the bottle to its rightful owner, Cora chuckling from across the table. 
"You've got two feet, use them." She said back in a snarky tone, taking a sip of her water as she heard the brunette whine. 
As the girl continued her conversation with her good friend from across the table, she hadn't realized her captain had walked up behind her. Cora's eyes grew wide as she quieted down, (Y/n) followed the gingers gaze until she had turned her head and spotted the man behind her. 
Sensing the pause in conversation, Matthew followed the crowd and spotted his former caption diagonally behind him as well, quickly looking back to his food in silence. 
The girls eyes meet with his silvery ones, his usual emotionless expression plastered to his face. 
"Can I have a word with you?" Levi's low voice asked, breaking the silence. His eyes glued to hers, ignoring the green eyes burning a hole into his head from across the table as Cora watched excitedly. 
"Uh, yeah sure." She replied calmly, not having expected to see him during their lunch break. The girl turned her head and smiled softly back at her friends, a way of saying 'talk later', as she then stood up and left the table, ignoring Cora who was wiggling her eyebrows.
Matthew spotted Cora's face and immediately sent a scowl at her, then turning and watching as (Y/n) exited the dining hall with the man, not meaning to be scowling at the dark haired man to. 
Walking outside, the two left the main area in silence. Slowly making their way to a quieter path that would eventually lead them to the barn. Levi begun to slowly explain Erwin's plan in detail and the task at hand, both of them slowly walking together as she would quietly nod her head and listen. As soon he finished and turned to her, "So, I wanted to know if you would be okay accompanying me there undercover? But as I mentioned, we would need to make it look like we are... together in a way. You don't have to say yes just because I'm your captain." 
Taking a slow breath, she paused in her steps and turned to face him. The man halting to and turning back to look at her, a soft smile appearing on her face, "I'd love to, never been to a dance." She chuckled softly.
The man replied with a simple scoff through his nose, nodding his head lightly, "Pack your things. We leave Thursday morning." 
~
Thank you for reading, kind of a shorter chapter I know! Usually I only update on weekends as I'm always crazy busy during the week so I'm happy I could find some time today (it's a Monday) to write this. I have a lot planned and I hope you enjoyed!