Chapter 3 Decision
Sanders Laboratory
Hellenes City
"The Yeager Academy is opening recruitment for new soldiers this year. I think they're short on talented recruits, what a shame," Jean Louis said as he read a flyer he'd picked up on his way to the laboratory.
He sipped his coffee, while Levi remained focused on the machine in front of him. Levi seemed indifferent, when he was working, he would be very focused. It would be very difficult for anyone to engage him in conversation.
"Let me see!" Violet snatched the flyer from Jean's hand. She read the words written on the paper.
"I didn't know such a big academy still used such outdated methods for distributing advertisements. In this modern age, they still choose to use paper."
"Come on, Violet! They're still trying to preserve civilization. What's wrong?"
"Of course it's wrong. They're hoping to recruit recruits with superhuman abilities. What superhuman still reads flyers like this?"
"Hey, if you talk like that, someone will be offended!"
"Who?"
Jean glanced at Levi, who remained unmoved and focused on the machine in front of him. Some people came over to him one after another. Like Jean, Violet followed him, glancing at Levi. They were afraid that the man might overhear their conversation and be offended, considering he played a significant role in the Yeager Soldiers, known as monster hunters.
"Professor Levi, are you listening to us?" Violet dared to ask to confirm their concerns.
Levi sighed as he removed the anti-radiation glasses he almost always wore while working. He turned to Jean and Violet before finally approaching them.
"Give me the flyer!" He said. Jean immediately handed it to him. He hadn't expected a super-genius professor like Levi, who always seemed cold and indifferent, to start paying attention to something else.
"P-please, Professor!"
Levi read the flyer carefully. Reading it immediately reminded him of someone.
"Jean, please contact Nami. Tell her to come to the lab now!"
"N-Nami? Professor, isn't it too early in the morning for her to be in the lab? What if she accidentally breaks something again?" Jean said. His worry was mounting that Nami would be in the lab during peak hours, considering that she had only been allowed there at night. After the chaos she accidentally caused four months ago, which caused Levi, the head of this lab, to suffer a huge loss.
"Jean's right, Professor! It's too risky to let Nami Ziegler into the lab right now. Especially with the big project we're working on!" Violet was just as worried as Jean. But what bothered her even more was that Nami always followed Levi wherever he went. It made her jealous, as she was the closest person to the professor.
"There's something I need to tell her directly before she causes any more trouble outside today."
"I don't understand, why do you always let that girl cause trouble? It's obvious she's a troublemaker; everyone in town hates her. Shouldn't you be able to judge how bad her character is, Professor?"
"Hey Violet, do you realize who you're talking to?"
"I understand, Jean! But it's been almost a year since she was left in the lab, and professor has gotten into too much trouble because of her!" Violet was starting to lose her patience. She disliked Nami's presence, that was clear. She was jealous because Nami was so close to Levi, that was also very clear. Beside her, Jean was beginning to suspect something.
"She just hasn't found a suitable job for her. She has limitless energy, is incredibly strong and can't get sick like most humans do. If she gets injured, she recovers quickly. That's why I think being a Yeager soldier is a suitable job for her."
"You mean, you want Nami Zigler to enroll in the Yeager Academy?"
"Yes."
"But haven't you always avoided the possibility of her being monitored by ERI? If she's in the academy, that means ERI has full authority to subject her to their research, right? Don't you want Nami to be captured by them?"
"I've considered it, but seeing her unable to channel her talent properly worries me. She'll always follow my words, whether they're true or not, even if it threatens her life. That's why this time, I want her to make her own decision."
Jean knew he couldn't refuse an order, especially one from Levi, someone considered the most influential person in the country besides the king and the prime minister. Although he didn't particularly like Nami's presence, which often got him into trouble, just like Levi, he didn't want another human to fall victim to ERI and become a guinea pig just to satisfy the elite's curiosity about rare, genetically mutated humans.
"Okay, Professor, I'll ask her to come immediately!"
"Levi, I'm coming...!" Nami opened the door quite loudly, overly excited after Jean called her and asked her to come to the laboratory at his request.
She was still wearing her work uniform, which was quite dirty and dusty. With a beaming face, she approached Levi, who was talking with some of his subordinates.
Recognizing Nami's arrival, Levi didn't overreact. He wanted to calm Nami's enthusiasm, which always overflowed whenever she saw him.
"Jean said you called me? How unusual for you to ask me to come at this hour?"
Levi looked at Nami's dirty uniform, which had stains and a smell that bothered him.
"Where do you work now?"
"I-"
"Don't get too close, you smell like garbage. Just stand there!" Levi said as Nami started moving closer to him.
"Hehe...I'm a garbage truck driver now. I've been working there for two days."
"A garbage truck driver? You're always so unpredictable, aren't you?" Jean tried to simultaneously compliment and insult her.
"What a coincidence, the previous employee quit. Besides, the salary was pretty good, hahaha..." Nami giggled in front of people with such a high standard of living. It was a stark contrast to her, who was used to living on the streets and doing menial jobs, always considered second-class.
"Geez, I don't understand why professor has to deal with someone like her," Violet remarked sarcastically. She truly couldn't understand why a super-genius with an IQ of 400 like Levi Sanders would bother with a troubled bum like Nami Ziegler, whose Ziegler wasn't even her family name, having grown up in an orphanage.
"Nami, I have something to say!"