Chapter 4 Argumentation
"Just say Levi! I'm here to listen to you!"
"Hey, you have to call him professor! Don't just call him by his first name!" Violet protested once again, calling Nami's behavior immoral and impolite.
"To me, he's Levi!"
"Read this!" Levi said, handing Jean the flyer he'd received this morning.
"What's this?"
"The Yeager Academy is opening registration for new soldiers."
"Oh, those Yeager soldiers who hunt monsters, right? But I've never seen a monster in this city."
"That's because Professor Sanders created a protective dome technology that covers the entire city in case of a monster threat," Jean said.
"Furthermore, monsters tend to emerge from the sea and the land around volcanoes. There are no volcanoes within the city, even though the distance to the sea is less than 10 meters. But at least so far, there have been no cases of monsters emerging from the sea on the outskirts of Hellenes City," Violet said. The thought of monsters made them shudder. As scientists, they had witnessed the appearance of monsters attacking other cities and regions several times. So far, the Yeager soldiers had been able to handle them because the monsters that appeared were only small ones that could be destroyed with firearms and explosives specially designed to attack them.
However, the worry was if one day a much larger and more powerful monster appeared, while most Yeager soldiers were just ordinary humans without powers resulting from genetic mutations.
People with such mysterious powers tended to shy away and hide their abilities because they didn't want to deal with ERI.
"What do you think?" Levi asked Nami, who was still stunned by Jean and Violet's talk about monsters.
"What do you mean by that?"
"How about you apply to join the Yeager Academy? You can become a Yeager soldier after completing two years of training."
"Can someone like me? You know what kind of person I am, right? I don't think I'm useful at all."
"Don't say things like that! You're the most talented candidate I know. Are you doubting yourself after all the damage you've caused?"
"It's precisely because I'm a troublemaker that I'm unsure. I don't want to cause chaos where the defenders of humanity are. Besides—"
"Besides?"
"I have to keep working to make money. If I enter the academy, that means I'll have to quit my job, right?" Nami smiled awkwardly. Around her, not only Levi and his two assistants, Jean and Violet, were staring at her, but almost everyone working in the laboratory was beginning to focus their attention on them.
"Nami!" From behind, one of the young scientists, Adam Robins, called her name. He had been listening to this conversation for a while, and it was starting to catch his attention.
"Adam?"
"You're really stupid, aren't you? Don't you understand Professor Sanders' point? He wants you to enroll in that academy and not worry about anything else. Besides, since when did you become a permanent employee? You've only been doing odd jobs for who knows where. The professor has been paying for all your living expenses, hasn't he? He even paid for the compensation for the mess you caused. He wants you to be useful this time and not continue being a troublesome stalker!" Adam spoke so sharply, the atmosphere fell silent immediately.
"Adam, it's not your place to talk like that!" Levi said. He didn't want anyone else to interfere too much in his and Nami's affairs.
"Professor, I know this isn't my place, but aren't you spoiling Nami too much? What exactly is your relationship with her, Professor? If Nami is your girlfriend, we can understand that you've spent a lot of money on her!"
"Adam's right, Professor!" The others replied in unison.
"That's none of your business!"
"So what about ERI? You also always try to protect her from their supervision. Wouldn't it be better if she was handed over to ERI to be the object of their experiments?"
"If you keep talking, you should get out of here! You don't need to work in this lab if you don't accept what I'm doing!" Levi was starting to lose his patience. Hearing him speak like that clearly silenced them, making them afraid to respond, especially Adam.
Levi was a very difficult person to approach and understand, and seeing him always try to help Nami made them annoyed and jealous.
Meanwhile, Nami, increasingly aware that she wasn't wanted here, felt incredibly guilty. She lowered her head and held her hands together. If she tried to say anything, they would surely hate her even more.
"I-I'm sorry! Everyone, I-I'm really sorry. Levi, I'll enroll in that academy. I promise I won't cause trouble for anyone again, especially you, Levi. I'm really sorry—" She spoke while holding back tears. She never imagined she would be so useless and a burden to others.
"Nami—"
"I have to get back to work, Levi! See you later?" Nami immediately ran out of the room before Levi could stop her.
She didn't want him to see her cry and have her defend her again in front of everyone. Levi had been too kind to her and she still didn't know why he cared so much for her.
In the lab, Levi remained silent, trying to hold back his words. He knew from the start that they hadn't agreed with Levi's decision to let Nami stay in the lab and guard this place.
Levi should have been able to rent her an apartment or a house, considering how wealthy and influential he and his family were. Therefore, letting Nami stay in such a vulnerable and top-secret lab was a very risky decision.
"P-Professor, we-"
"Continue your work!" He said curtly and coldly. He left for his office without comment.
"Oh my God, I almost had a heart attack when he started talking!" Jensen said. He had only been following along when Adam commented, but he felt like the main culprit.
Meanwhile, Adam still looked annoyed because Levi just left without giving them an explanation or at least a reason why he allowed an outsider with such immense power to be in a laboratory filled with huge projects with a significant budget.
"Tch, he always runs away like that!" Adam grumbled. While they agreed, they didn't like the way he seemed to mock the professor who had chosen them to work with him.
"Adam, are you mocking the professor?" Violet glared at him. She could have punched him in the face if he had sworn any more.
"I have a lot of respect for him, but this time he's pissing me off a bit. He keeps letting that annoying girl come into this place."
"Why are you upset? He lets anyone come into this place, it's his right. This lab is him, Adam! Besides, it's obvious you crave the professor's attention. Are you jealous because Nami is so close to him?" Violet asked sarcastically, drawing all eyes to him.
"Tch, what are you saying? It's obvious you're jealous, why are you accusing me? I don't understand why women always look for scapegoats when they're in a pinch. I do admire him, but it's just admiration and respect. It's not the romantic feeling you think, Miss Violet Arden."