My Girlfriend is an S-Class Adventurer

After Erick Smakusa's hypocritical attempt to try to cast doubt on Ayumi's loyalty to the Broteforge Empire, he realized that no one actually thought that was possible.

In fact, even Shanks Ballard and Thomas Landford thought the attempt was lame, because everyone knew how dedicated Ayumi was to her work as Matriarch of the Strogueher. She was the person who injected the most coins from her personal fortune into government investments, she was also the most dedicated with security, and she was always the first person to vote for projects that make everyone's lives better.

Frustrated, Patriarch Smakusa returned to his throne, and from then on, the meeting went on without too many problems. Of course, Thomas Landford continued to throw some needles at Ayumi, but when Luke started to look at him angrily because of this, he stopped.

To Thomas, no matter how many times he saw the fuzzy ears of the half-wolf, they would still look like horns.

As the staves were passed, Luke and Kyor exchanged a few more glances, as well as Luke exchanged glances with Erick Smakusa. As warned earlier by Ayumi, that was a hungry lion's den, so he didn't dare look away even once.

During the long meeting, several subjects were discussed. Among them, Shanks Ballard questioned about the lack of a proper trial for Vinigo, which would be done by the Council itself. On the spot, Ayumi pointed out all the factors of this early trial, including the fact that the Oukiwa Academy of Nobles had its own legislation, laws and authorities, although it openly cooperated with the Council.

She also explained that it was not she who decided to arrest Vinigo, but the institution's Principal himself.

Mr. Ballard lastly tried tactfully to raise a suspicion against Ayumi, after all her bodyguard was inserted at the occasion in question. However, she lied a little and said that Luke was trying to find a suitable pupil to teach some of his techniques, which is why he eventually became a Professor at the Academy, not by appointment, but by his own merit.

When at last Thomas Landford announced the close of his agenda, he reminded her that there would still be another Council meeting the next day.

"Ah! My back is killing me!" Ayumi exasperated to Luke as she stood up from the throne, while watching everyone leave the hall.

The half-wolf approached her from the side and teased her, slipping his arm behind her waist. "If you want, I can take care of that. Do you know of any places around here that are empty at this time of day?"

She laughed a little, and looked at Luke. At that point, she could see in his eyes that he wasn't kidding, so she turned to her and whispered in his lower right ear:

"Save that energy for tonight~. If Alexis isn't tired from her vigil in the harbor, we'll have double the pleasure~."

Then she turned back to the door and noticed that Amanda Hangen was walking calmly to the exit, probably because she was waiting for her approach.

"Come on! The work isn't over yet!" She spoke to Luke as she walked quickly to the exit.

It took him a while to wake up from the stun effect the Elf's words had on him, but he regained his distance with a single quick step, surprising Ayumi, who laughed as she was startled and punched him weakly in the shoulder as a way of punishing him.

"Ouch, ouch!" he feigned pain, massaging the spot where she hit him.

"That's for never scaring me again!" She said as she laughed.

Erick Smakusa looked at these interactions between Ayumi and Luke over his right shoulder after leaving the Council Hall. For some reason, Erick couldn't keep his guard down in Luke's presence, but it seemed that the half-wolf didn't have the same feeling.

As Luke walked with a smile out of the hall next to the woman he loved, he was stared at by two people who hated him for no apparent reason.

'I'll make him pay for everything...' Erick Smakusa and Thomas Landford thought simultaneously.

However, if the two of them knew what was about to happen in the night over the next few days, they would beg for Luke's forgiveness on their knees if they had to.

When The Hangen Family Matriarch and Ayumi entered a small room to talk alone about a pending matter, Luke had to stand outside to prevent other people from approaching, as well as Amanda's older brother, a man with red hair and green eyes, but of an ordinary size, like Luke who was only six feet tall.

Luke looked at the man next to him, in an attempt to perhaps strike up some conversation, because in the hallway they were in there was no one else. But even after the half-wolf's glance, the man remained motionless, just staring at the empty wall in front of him.

'Doesn't he like to talk?' Luke wondered, and again looked at the two extreme corners of the corridor.

He looked to the right and saw no one approaching. Then he looked to the left and also saw that there was no one approaching, but rather a person peering at them, a silhouette to be exact. This silhouette was wearing a hood and disappeared when Luke blinked his eyes.

Alerted, Luke looked at the red-haired man next to him, to check if Amanda's brother also saw what he saw. The man was still motionless, just staring straight ahead.

Luke looked back to the left side of the hallway, and noticed that the same silhouette was still watching him, but it quickly hid again.

'What the hell... I wonder if it's some employee here?' he wondered, curious.

The half-wolf was used to people peeping or snooping on him, after all it wasn't every fan who gathered the courage to approach him easily and ask for an autograph. This happened sometimes in the streets, and also when he was teaching at the Academy. However, he was not on neutral territory like the others, so this time he was a little more alert.

So, Luke stepped out of the front of the wooden door, to go check if whoever was peeking at him was really a fan or could be an enemy spy.

"I'll be right back. An... I'm going to take a piss." Luke warned to the Matriarch Hangen's bodyguard.

The man didn't answer the half-wolf, but turned his neck this time and saw him guiding himself to the left of the corridor. At that moment, he sighed and thought:

'I wonder why he was looking at me all the time? Does he have a problem with me? Does he hate me? Shit, it would be bad to have him as an enemy. Did he go into the bathroom, or did he get a sword to cut me into little pieces?'

On the outside, the red-haired man still had a serious expression, but his trembling legs gave away his cowardly nature.

As Luke approached where he saw the hooded silhouette, he noticed that the person snooping around him didn't seem to have any intention of running away from him, because the person continued to stand in the hallway parallel to the one he was in. This person's heartbeat was getting faster and faster as the half-wolf's footsteps approached, echoing through that practically inhospitable space in the Central Palace.

Luke noticed that there was no scent in the air, although he could clearly hear that the person was still there, so he redoubled his focus.

So, the moment Luke reached the hallway where the silhouette was, he just stopped at the side of the hallway, still looking forward.

"Can you stop spying, please?" He asked in a calm voice, of making anyone scared.

"Do you always react this calmly to your secret admirers?" Amelia asked.

The half-wolf recognized her voice at once, and turned to confirm it with his own eyes.

Amelia was standing with her arms crossed and her back against the quartz wall, while smiling slightly at him. Although she was wearing a black cloak, the delicate sparkle of her sapphire-colored eyes was still there, as well as her black strands that now formed a long braid that was encircling the right side of her neck and held in front of her bust.

He looked at her very surprised, because he didn't expect to see her again even so soon, after all it had been months since Luke had last had any contact with the Cardinal Kingdom staff.

"You? What are you doing here?" he whispered and stepped into the dark hallway she was in.

"Rebeca ordered me to come here after she warned you about the situation with the Emperor." Amelia explained, after her smile disappeared, not only because she was not received by Luke the way she wanted, but also because the matter they were dealing with was serious.

"Did she send you back then? It's been a long time since that happened, and the Cardinal Kingdom is closer to Oukiwa than Latgor, where have you been?"

"Do you want me to tell you the truth? I've been afraid about how to act when I get here. I don't know how the influence of the other religions is, and I also don't know the ways in which the Demons are acting in the shadows. The only people I know are you and Alexis, but I haven't found many traces of where they might find you." She explained.

"You know I'm with the Strogueher Family, right? You could have gone to the gate of their estate."

"What part that I don't trust anyone else in Oukiwa that you don't understand?" She said, as she removed her hood, and showed her flushed ears.