My Girlfriend is an S-Class Adventurer

When Luke was asked to head the Shadow Squadron by Emperor Callant himself, he felt honored. Still, he did not accept to be the leader of something so important.

Yes, he knew that he had his merits and efforts that made the proposal not so lunatic. However, Luke knew that everything he had learned in the last year was not enough to command a squadron, because he didn't even feel like a leader.

The half-wolf felt that if he agreed to lead a squadron, the lives of all the people under his command would be in his hands, so he agreed to just be part of the Shadows and follow some orders. Luke knew that he was too involved in the war, and that now that it was on, he couldn't run away from his responsibilities, not least because he had people to protect and a home to look after: Oukiwa.

For these reasons Luke imposed a condition for agreeing to enlist as a shadow. He wanted a guarantee that his friends would be safe in Sheltered Halvoy, which was now the safest place in the nation. However, the king denied this condition, because he could not guarantee the safety even of his own family when monsters could appear in the corner of the rooms at any time.

Still, Callant gave Luke one night to think about what he would do with his life. If it was his wish, Luke could even serve on the front lines, or in the Fire Ray or Domain Order squadrons.

When Luke finally closed the door to his room in the residence reserved for Ayumi Yamazaki and escorts in a building near the Emperor's Palace, he sighed and locked the door.

"What do I do now?" He wondered, as he took off the formal shirt he needed to wear during the meeting.

Not being able to stop the war was a hard blow to the half-wolf's emotions, for he had never stopped to ponder what he would do if the war started. He had complete confidence that he could stop it, but once again everything went against his expectations.

"Ayumi and Nathalia are safe here for now. But what about the others? If Rebecca's speculations are true, there are at least Ten Servants, and there are still the occultists of the Chaos Followers infiltrating the nation. Aaaargh! I'm out of options!"

There was a whirlwind of thoughts disturbing Luke, and thinking about protecting so many people was suffocating him.

Knock! Knock! Knock! Someone knocked three times on his bedroom door, causing him to get up from his bed. Answering the door, Luke saw Alexis with a serious countenance, and she was looking him in the eye.

"Hi, do you need something?"

"We need to talk alone. Are you alone?" At the same time she was saying this she was trying to peek over Luke's shoulder.

"Yes, I'm alone, you can come in." Then Luke stepped out of the way, allowing the half-dragon to pass. "What? Did something happen after that meeting? Were you able to talk to Amelia?" he was worried, because it was rare to see her act like this.

The red-headed woman with horns sat down on the soft bed, crossing her legs and arms afterwards. "No, nothing happened!" She stated, irritated.

Luke arched his eyebrows, confused. "Did I do something?"

The closed expression on the half-dragon's face immediately changed to a countenance of surprise. She hadn't even realized she was acting rudely.

"No, no!" she exclaimed, at the same time shaking her head and hands.

Luke sat down next to her on the bed, took her right hand, and asked in a calm voice:

"What happened to me, my love?"

Upon hearing those words, Alexis blushed and looked away. She was quiet for a few seconds, and the words just wouldn't come out of her mouth, because she didn't know how Luke would react to them, but in the end she said everything she wanted to.

"Rebeca was trying to convince me to go back to the Cardinal Kingdom and not go to the front lines of the war."

"You're going to the front lines?"

"That's what I intend."

Luke didn't even think much of it, he just smiled and nodded, at the same time contracting his lips. To Alexis this was a different smile than the others from the half-wolf, both because of his facial expression, and because he squeezed her hand as he made the gesture. She noticed that he did not agree with her decision, but he still respected her and would therefore support her.

"What about you? What will you do?" She asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I will go to the front lines too."

"But what? Are you doing this for me?"

"Can I be honest? Partly, yes, that is one of the reasons, but you have made me realize that the place where I can be impactful is on the front lines, whether acting from the shadows or fighting among the troops."

"Are you sure about that? You know that everyone will follow you, right?" She asked, referring to their group.

"Yes, I know that. And I still wonder how I will protect all of them.... Amelia, Ayumi, Nathalia, Zack, Ynosuke, Meredith and John. Today I wonder if taking them out of that fort in the countryside in the Northeast was really the right decision..."

Alexis released her hand from Luke's grip, took his face and forced him to look into her eyes. "Pay attention, Luke. You don't need to protect everyone, that's impossible and you'll only wear yourself out. You need to trust us more, and learn that you won't be able to protect everyone all the time."

Hearing this was like the famous 'click' for Luke Lange, who until that moment had not realized his lack of maturity in wanting to protect everyone. To top it off, Alexis completed the dialogue by asking:

"Luke, what do you really want to do with your life? Don't think about anyone right now, just think about what YOU want to do."

"I will go to the rear." He stated.

"Okay, so that's what you will do. Wait a second.... Did you say rear?"

"Yes, I will go to the rear of the demons. The Emperor and the Cardinal Church are working in a very defensive and reactive manner, which I do not support. If there is no limit to the amount of monsters that can emerge from the Dungeons, we will lose the war by numbers in a few months. If we want to win, their rear must be attacked."

"In other words, you will go to the Melki Empire?"

Luke said nothing more, just nodded with a determined look.