"Something about this doesn't seem right," Erwin mumbled to himself as he read the contents of the letter sent to him by the premier. His eyebrows were knitted together while in deep thought.

Levi raised an eyebrow at Erwin, curious as to what the man was thinking this time around. "You look constipated, Erwin. Having problems taking a crap recently?"

The blond man didn't react to the corporal's crude comment. His blue eyes never left the paper in question. He first inquired if his comrade had any idea about the matter, "Have you heard of the news lately? That one regarding one of the noble houses?"

The raven-haired man was never one for politics. But even he had caught wind of this infamous patricide that happened inside the walls of Sina. "You mean that ridiculous story where the daughter completely lost her mind and killed her father?" Levi sipped his tea in his own unconventional way. "What about it?"

Erwin looked at Levi in the eye as he spoke, "I've received word from the premier. That woman is being sent here as punishment for the crime she committed."

Levi's expression remained neutral at his revelation. "A criminal being sent to the walls shouldn't be a new concept for you, Erwin. Since you brought one here yourself," he pointed out, reminding the blond man how he got recruited in the first place.

"That's not what I'm really concerned about," Erwin told him. He stood up from his chair and walked towards the window. His eyes were looking far into the distance as if it were searching for something. "I sent someone to investigate her case before she arrives."

"Like how you sent someone to snoop around my business before you tackled me back then?" Levi asked. His snarky question only earned him a small laugh from the commander. "So, what did you find out?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary within the lives of nobility," he replied as his thick brows furrowed. "Despite losing her mother at a young age due to illness, she lived a sheltered but pampered life surrounded by love and pleasure. She had an amicable relationship with the other members of her family, with her brother in particular."

"Hm." The raven-haired man hummed as he continued to sip his tea.

Erwin continued to share what he found out, "She doesn't have much presence within high society, but her influence still remained strong because of her lineage. The report highlighted that she was an advocate of liberal ideology. It also stated that she had a strong admiration for her father's socioeconomic reforms that favoured the lower class."

The corporal sipped his tea once more while he digested the information. "So basically, she was a decent woman before she lost her mind," he summarized what he understood in the simplest form.

The blond man nodded. "With no clear motive, one would think that she had been set up by someone. But when the police arrived at the crime scene, they saw her covered in blood. Her fingerprints were all over on the murder weapon. The evidence was solid and left no room for other possibilities. Overall, it really seems like she just went mad."

Levi placed the cup on its respectful saucer and gazed at Erwin's reflection on the glass pane of the window. "But that's not what's eating you up, is it?"

Erwin laughed as he completely figured him out. "The grand ducal house nor the royal court have yet to strip her of her title. According to the report, they seemed hesitant to even send her here," he told Levi. "Why is that?"

"You said she had a good relationship with her brother, right? He's probably too emotionally attached to let go. As for the other matter, I don't how much the laws apply to those shitty nobles. Maybe they're just afraid of tarnishing their non-existent reputation," the corporal elucidated his speculation. "After all, they're so wrapped up with false pretences to look good in public."

"That sound's awfully convenient," Erwin commented.

Levi crossed his arms and stared at Erwin's troubled expression with knitted brows. "Ah, I get it. This is the part where you spit out a crappy conspiracy theory."

The blond commander laughed as he turned around with a smile on his face. He sat on the chair across Levi and said, "I prefer to call it an intellectual guess—a hypothesis."

"Cut the crap, Erwin."

"Think about it, Levi. What if she found out something about her father that completely changed her perception of him? Enough to make her kill him. That's a possible logical explanation for her motive. The nobles of the royal court may have an idea as to why she did it. Perhaps that mysterious reason is significant enough to make them think twice about what to do with her. What if she's using that information to keep her title and she actually just chose to go here on her own accord?" Erwin stated his take on the matter.

Levi's eyes widened at his commander's ridiculous hypothesis. "Oi, do you even hear what you're saying, Erwin? Even if that's the case, why would she willingly come here? Everyone knows being in the Survey Corps means you've made peace with death."

"Maybe that way of thinking is why she chose to come here in the first place," a familiar voice behind Levi pointed out.

The corporal glanced behind him. "Since when did you get here, four-eyes?"

She sat down next to him and took a biscuit from the table. "Right from the start," she said nonchalantly while taking a bite.

"Tch. Why didn't you say anything then? You could've stopped Erwin from blabbing nonsense with his mouth," Levi spat one with an annoyed look on his face.

"Eh, why would I do that?" Hange looked at him with a confused expression. "It's funny when he starts talking about conspiracy theories."

Erwin faked a cough to remind them that he's there and he could hear them. "So Hange, go on with what you were saying."

Hange placed a finger on her chin as she began to theorize. "If we go by your logic, she probably wants to get away from prying eyes. Her violent reaction upon learning this mysterious information would surely turn a lot of heads, specifically the ones who know the significance of it. And what better way to get away from all of that than to join us?"

She took another biscuit and ate it before she continued, "A trip to the walls is practically a death sentence to most people. They think we're all going to die from titans every expedition. We're basically the walking dead to the rest of society. And you know how it is, right? It's easier to do whatever you want if people think you're already dead."

Levi clicked the tip of his tongue. Hange was really fueling the fire to this whole theory crafting. "All that elaborate crap, and for what?"

Erwin rested in chin on his hand as he pondered over the thought. "The reason, huh?"

The room went silent as they all searched for an answer.

Hange eventually broke the silence with a suggestion. "Why don't we just ask the person in question? She's already here anyway."

"What? Since when?" Erwin asked with a flabbergasted look in his face.

She smiled at him. "A while ago. Right before you started talking about her."

"Oi, four-eyes, you should be telling us these things from the start," Levi told her with an annoyed look on his face.

Hange whined at him. "I can't help it. You guys were talking about something interesting that I completely forgot what I came here for."

Erwin peered into her eyes and asked, "So, have you seen her? How is she? Is she stable?"

She nodded with a smile on her face. "Yeah, I saw her when she got out of the carriage. Apart from her tomato coloured red hair, she looked like an ordinary woman to me. I did talk to her a little bit and she seemed coherent enough. But…"

"But what?" Levi asked while raising an eyebrow.

Hange pursed her lips as she tried to think of how to put her thought into words, "Hm, she's a bit weird. I don't really know how to describe it."

"A weirdo calling another person a weirdo. Now, isn't that ironic?" Levi chuckled.

"Hange, what do you mean by that?" Erwin probed.

She crossed her arms and thought harder about it. "It's nothing really concerning. She didn't seem dangerous. I just think the way she talks is a bit odd. Like I'm being compelled to do something without being told what to do. It's weird."

"That's just how nobles talk," Levi explained to her. "They coat their bullshit with gold to make people do things for them."

Hange shook her head in disagreement.

"But she's not asking me to do anything though. It's more like she just evokes a certain emotion to me, like a feeling that I have to move somewhere," she said while scratching her head. "Ah! I should just tell Moblit to bring her here. It's faster that way. Plus, you need to brief her anyway since she probably has no idea how things work around here."

She immediately stood up and left, giving no time for the remaining two to react.

Levi's eyes fell on Erwin's pensive look. "Are you worried that she might be dangerous?"

"I can't tell for certain. But I'm sure a woman with no combat experience pose no threat to us especially when you're around," Erwin chuckled as he looked at him. "It's just…"

"Just what?"

"A storm is coming, Levi," Erwin told him. "Call it a hunch, but I feel like something big is happening in the background and we just don't know it."

"Oi, don't just spout ominous shit like that." The corporal's eyebrows furrowed at Erwin's statement. As farfetched as the man's conspiracy theories were his intuition was no laughing matter.

While Erwin didn't reply, his face clearly expressed what he felt. He carried a huge smile on his face as if he was ecstatic by this upcoming development.

Author's note: I am literally laughing whenever I picture Erwin as a conspiracy theorist. I think it suits him.