Set back from any of Oukiwa's populated areas is the Strogueher estate. More than two kilometers in diameter, the estate is a veritable private resort within Oukiwa, containing gyms, swimming pools, a few luxury residences, and many different buildings.
Although each branch of the Strogueher Family lives in different houses, they are practically next door to each other, so coexistence is inevitable.
When Akai Strogueher died, Nathalia and Ayumi inherited his residence. Right at the entrance of the house was a large painting of Akai, which authentically depicted his true face.
The man, who died very young, had silver hair and red eyes, just like Nathalia's. Unlike the beautiful girl, Akai had pale, parched skin and deep dark circles under his eyes. His gaze was heavy and ignoble, which made Luke think that he must not be a very comfortable company to keep.
The inherited residence was not on its best days, but it was still preserved and without considerable damage. On the first day of their accommodation, Martha and other employees had a lot of work to do.
As they settled into their respective rooms and got to know the house, as soon as he had the chance Luke explained to Ayumi, Nathalia, and Shiro the reasons why he decided not to start an intense search for his friends.
If he did that, he might never find them, plus it would draw too much attention to himself and might reveal to the First Servant their location, and now that he felt duty-bound to protect Ayumi and Nathalia, he didn't want to put them at risk.
However, the challenge made by Wang Strogueher was going in the opposite direction of all that is discreet.
Known as the largest cradle of talent in the entire Broteforge Empire, the Tournament of Legends takes place every year and brings together young people from all nine major cities and many aspirants from other smaller cities in the empire.
One who becomes the Champion of the Tournament of Legends also becomes known throughout the nation, and can easily be recognized by the Emperor himself or even a promising candidate to join his personal guard.
At the last Tournament of Legends, the Champion of the day was Stella Hoka, a powerful young woman who is versed in several Classes of Gene Skills, but her main strength is magic ranged attacks.
She also became quite famous when she was hired by the Strogueher's, and even more so when someone leaked that she was not the first choice of the Noble Family at the selective. Rumor had it that an unknown half-beast even managed to immobilize her.
On the first night in the living room of the new residence, Nathalia and Jilly, E-Class' cousin, were talking about the challenge made by Wang.
"Here's the thing... although the competition is publicly advertised as an individual, in practice that's not what happens." Jilly directed, pacing back and forth across the room. She looked even more nervous than Nathalia herself, who was challenged.
Jilly Strogueher has long white hair and sapphire blue eyes. Her skin is white as cotton, and most of the time she stands with her arms crossed and a tense look on her face.
Nathalia was confused by the fact that a competition with a single champion, could be done in groups. "Are you meaning that people form pairs or something?"
"If we are to ignore the last year, all the Champions in history were from important Families like ours or powerful Clans. While there are no group competitions per se, forming alliances is almost a requirement to make it past the first stages."
Nathalia pouted, and as she pondered the question, she questioned, "What if I happen to choose not to do that?"
"Nath, I don't know how strong you are, so I can't tell you with all the certainty in the world, but you should know that many people die in this tournament."
Vasconcelos has never hosted an edition of the Tournament of Legends, so Nathalia knew about the competition only from books and newspapers. After a little more talking, Jilly realized that it was getting late and went to her house, which was only a few yards away.
As Nathalia closed the large wooden door of the residence and huffed, she heard a voice echo through the nearly empty room.
"Are you okay, you sound stressed," Luke asked, descending the snail-shaped staircase that connected the second floor to the second floor.
Nathalia gave a little jump in fright and smiled in relief as she realized it was only the half-wolf. "Don't worry, I'll be fine...it's just that all of this is a little more stressful than I imagined it would be."
"Being challenged by your own family? Is that your first time?" Luke Lange joked as he lit a candelabra whose flame had already been extinguished.
Nathalia smiled and mocked as well, "Nah... my mom used to challenge me a lot when I was a kid. She never even won an arm-wrestling match against me."
"Now, seriously... I could hear a little bit about what you guys were talking about. You know you can count on me, right? Even more so now that your mother has doubled my salary." Looking into the girl's eyes, Luke spoke frankly.
Nathalia stopped to analyze and sure enough, if there was one person in the world she trusted to be her partner in a life and death contest, it was the half-wolf. Even more than Alexis, who was a Class-S.
"Wouldn't it be dangerous for you? Or rather... for us? If this so-called First Servant doesn't like you, it would be dangerous for him to know where you are, as you explained to us. You even said you don't want to look for your friends so as not to expose us."
Luke focused on getting the chandelier up and was quiet for a few seconds.
"Actually... your mother has thought of a plan that might work and that I won't have to keep hiding forever, after all, that would be terrible."
The Elf arched her eyebrows and almost unconsciously smiled with happiness because if the half-wolf could participate in the Tournament of Legends, that would be perfect.
"I'm listening..." she said seriously.
Ayumi Yamazaki, besides being beautiful, has a lot of experience and wit. More than anyone else, she knows the influence she has in Oukiwa and how the city works. However, now that she had discovered a hitherto unknown variable, she wanted to get rid of the First Servant as quickly as possible.
For this reason, the Matriarch outlined a simple plan with many risks, but with the right people and the right moves on the board, everything could turn out well.
Unfortunately, all that is known about the First Servant is that he is part of the 'Followers of Chaos' religion and that he has a great power of persuasion, especially on the weakest part of the population, who more easily believe in empty promises.
For this reason, just as Luke Lange deduced, Ayumi considered it too risky for Luke to expose himself while he searches for clues from Meredith and the others in the underworld, the territory of this cult.
But what if the reverse was not only possible but also very advantageous?
Once Luke is exposed in the spotlight of the Broteforge Empire and Oukiwa, the demon's rotten fingers will have a harder time reaching him, and, possibly frustrated, the First Servant will shift his attention from the underworld and this will open a huge window of opportunity.
Therefore, a search for the half-wolf's friends will still be possible. Although he cannot do it himself, Luke has accepted the plan to have his identity exposed once and for all, after all, this would be much better than hiding until the dust settles.
However, he demanded two things of Ayumi. First, she must always be protected. Second, the search should be done by people he trusts.
In the end, Matthew Oliveira and Alexis Dmitry were the people chosen for this stealth mission. Luke did not trust anyone but them. Even if Matthew would rather not risk so much, he would still go along with this plan, because there is no other way.
Using the Strogueher information network, the power of an S-Class, and all of Matthew's knowledge of the underworld, it would be impossible not to find at least one clue to the whereabouts of Meredith and the rest of the gang.
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