112 More problems
In front of a huge iron gate, away from any busy part of Oukiwa, three carriages pulled up.
Oliver waited patiently for each of the people in the main carriage to get out. The old bodyguard of the Strogueher Family had his hands resting on the hilt of his sword, which was resting on the ground. When Oliver saw Ayumi, he straightened his spine and bowed his head.
“Is everyone inside?” The Matriarch asked.
“Everyone is waiting for you.” Oliver looked at all the people who came out of the carriage with his sharp gaze. Suddenly, he was startled by how many extraordinary people came out of the carriage.
Ayumi sighed and massaged her forehead with her right hand. “All right… Well, I’ll introduce the new members to you first. The First one is…”
“Luke, the half-beast. It would be impossible for me not to recognize the enormous talent of this boy.” The old knight completed the Matriarch’s sentence.
‘So, he also noticed it just by looking? That old man is a good one…’ Alexis thought, clenching her eyes.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, sir,” Luke spoke, as he removed his hood.
“I’ll never forget the humility you showed in choosing to take a lower salary than I did, even if it was for a position with many more risks.”
The half-wolf smiled and nodded. Although Luke still didn’t understand why Oliver had chosen him over a Tournament of Legends Champion, he was very grateful to the old man.
Soon after, Ayumi introduced some others, “This man’s name is Shiro. This beautiful woman is called Martha and these other two men are called… Kenan and Kel, respectively.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Oliver greeted.
“The pleasure is ours, sir.” The others replied firmly and respectfully.
Before Ayumi even introduced her, Alexis noticed Oliver’s eyes stop on her. She promptly showed her charisma and nodded in respect to the veteran. “I am Alexis Dmitry. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“She is… a friend.” The Matriarch surprised the half-dragon. “She also works for the Cardinal Church and is an S-Class, so technically she is your superior, Oliver. So treat her with respect…” Finally, the Elf gave a mischievous chuckle.
The two guards, who had never seen Ayumi behave any other way than the usual inflexible woman, almost fell in love with the beautiful Elf. A simple glance from the half-wolf, however, was enough for them to put it out of their minds.
But among all those present, Alexis was the one who was most surprised by the Matriarch’s presentation, because she faithfully believed that Ayumi hated her. What the half-dragon didn’t understand was that Ayumi had some time to think about the weekend that had passed and she realized that Alexis was only there to help and not to hinder her like the other times they meet after finishing college.
“And finally, I believe you must remember her well…this is Nathalia, my daughter.”
“Oh! It would be impossible for me to forget her. It’s great to be able to see her again after so long.” Oliver said, tilting his head forward slightly out of respect for Nathalia.
“I remember you…you used to be my father’s bodyguard or something?”
“Actually, I was a Clanmate of young Akai… I know he wasn’t a good man, but he cared about you, Miss.”
“I know that.”
After all the introductions, Oliver was finally allowed to open the gate to the estate. When the huge gate was opened buzzing could be heard.
Suddenly, Luke was faced with two dozen white-haired Elves of all different ages, genders, and body types. They were all gathered to welcome the newest member of the family.
So, as soon as they saw that Nathalia’s white hair was like their own, they breathed a sigh of relief, however, the girl’s red eyes drew even more attention than her silver strands.
Nathalia’s red eyes are intense, and you can almost feel pressure in your chest just by looking at them, and if the Strogueher were not afraid of red eyes like that, they would certainly be as ecstatic as anyone else who sees beautiful Nathalia for the first time.
Unlike the twenty-plus Elves who recoiled at the sight of Nathalia’s eyes, an old man approached. He was wearing a casual, somewhat stuffy white shirt, and a side belt with three empty knife holders. For some reason, the old Elf was wearing a gauntlet only on his right hand and on his left a thick leather glove.
“Oh! She’s beautiful, Ayumi!” He complimented Nathalia as if the young girl were a little girl.
Nathalia picked up the side of her dress, bent her knees, bowed her head, and introduced herself in a tone loud enough for everyone to hear:
“Nice to meet you all, my name is Nathalia Strogueher, and I am about to turn 20. I look forward to meeting each of you.”
Nathalia’s silky voice, combined with her good manners, surprised many who were one foot behind her.
During the meeting that morning, Luke eventually discovered that within the Strogueher Family there is a fear about the color of their eyes because they believe that the color of a person’s eyes says a lot about who they are or will be.
Black eyes mean rigidity; Blue eyes mean talent; Brown eyes mean virtue; Green eyes mean love, and from the moment the first red-eyed Elf was born, Akai Strogueher, red eyes came to mean anger.
This did not affect Nathalia emotionally; she was already prepared to be belittled. In fact, ever since the Return Stones she bought in that Magic Items Shop in Vasconcelos didn’t work, Nathalia decided not to believe in any kind of superstition anymore.
However, to some superstitious members of the Strogueher Family, the politeness Nathalia displayed was not enough to convince them that she deserved to be there.
From a distance, Luke saw the man Wang Strogueher walking towards Nathalia, who was having a nice conversation with her cousin, Jilly Strogueher.
The man’s appearance was intimidating, to say the least. In the middle of summer, he was wearing a thick coat made of white bear leather. He was also very large, easily exceeding two meters in height.
“Mister Wang, I’m afraid you won’t be able to get past here,” Luke said, breaking his walk. “Nathalia is busy talking right now.”
Wang measured Luke from head to toe and made sure that Luke was who he thought he was. “Hunf… So you are the new puppy that Ayumi hired? You’re pretty well known around here, you know that?”
Luke looked at him inexpressively. At the same time, the lockstep of the two men began to attract attention from a few watchful eyes of the family.
“If you wish to talk with Miss Nathalia, you must wait for her to finish the current conversation.”
“Actually, I’m here to challenge her, not to talk,” Wang exclaimed loudly and impatiently. The huge man’s pointed ears swiveled simultaneously with his roar.
Class-S, who had a considerable amount of snacks in her mouth, was amazed as she watched the scene from afar.
Nathalia had to suddenly stop her conversation with Jilly to see what was occurring, but before she could approach, Ayumi stepped in front of her and stopped her. “Leave it to Luke. It’s dangerous now…”
The half-wolf looked briefly over her own shoulder and, with assent from Ayumi, was allowed to continue.
“What kind of challenge are you talking about? Nathalia is young and learning a lot still, so you’re not thinking of challenging her yourself, are you? That would be ridiculous coming from a man almost forty years old like you.” Luke said, this time being the one who analyzed Wang from head to toe.
A few sympathizers laughed low for a second and held their breaths soon after. Wang Strogueher’s eyes looked lost for a moment as well.
“Hunf… Actually, the annual Tournament of Legends will take place in a fortnight and I want to see how she will do. Considering that she has Strogueher blood, she shouldn’t embarrass us.”
Then, Wang snorted once again, turned his back, and walked away without giving any further details.