My Girlfriend is an S-Class Adventurer

Upon learning of Ayumi Yamazaki's accusation, Erick was extremely enraged. He had not anticipated that she would make such a bold move so quickly, but rather that it would take at least some more time.

Well, Erick certainly knew that accusing the Strogueher Matriarch at every council meeting was risky, and once again he took the risk by accepting the court summons.

Unlike the other times, this trial would not take place in the ordinary Circular Hall, but in a courtroom exclusive to Oukiwa, in the Central Palace.

In the court chamber there were eight thrones whose seats were more than four meters high. These eight thrones formed an octagram, and the golden lines on the floor, which also outlined them, illustrated an eight-pointed star.

As the court stood at the highest point of the Central Palace, its ceiling was wide, as was the rest of the enclosure. In this same chamber, there were twenty seats separated from the thrones, which were that of the jury.

Normally, council trials did not have a jury, but in situations like this one it was necessary. Although higher trials were really rare, the whole organization of the Central Palace had the job of trying to seek out as biased people as possible for the jury, so the jury was made up of dozens of people totally different from each other, from the most diverse walks of life, from bakers with Lower City trades to High Rank Adventurers.

Upon entering the hall and encountering all these people chatting in the jury seats, Luke didn't mind them, and walked over to a few more secluded, hidden chairs to sit down. As Luke approached these chairs, he saw two men with black hair and serious looks, who were watching the jury people talking with stern looks on their faces.

The half-wolf recognized one of these two men, because he was Kyor. Now that Luke knew that Kyor was actually a Smakusa, he finally understood where the formidable abilities Kyor demonstrated in their brief confrontation came from. In reality, Luke felt dumb to learn that Kyor was a Smakusa, because Kyor practically said his last name at the Luck or Fight Tournament, changing only one letter. At the time, Kyor announced himself as an Amakusa, not a Smakusa, and this similarity caught the attention of only a few people that day, but not even Nathalia or Alexis noticed this.

The man next to Kyor had a face shape so similar to his that Luke found this strange. The chins of the two were the same, the cold eyes were the same, and all the superficial features of their faces were very similar. To Luke it was more than clear that they were brothers.

This man had very long hair, but it was tied up in a long ponytail. In addition, he wore round glasses that somehow highlighted the fine features of his face, as well as his very white skin.

When this man saw Luke approaching with Nathalia Strogueher at his side, he smiled briefly as a greeting, and Luke reciprocated with a simple nod. This was the only kind of interaction the half-wolf had with the two Smakusa, because all the people sitting there were not focused on interacting, but on the judgment.

Of the eight high thrones, only six were occupied by council members, and the moment footsteps began to echo through the chamber, all six noble commanders turned to look at the main door. At that hour, they all saw a dazzling-looking blond-haired elf enter the chamber.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." Ayumi greeted her fellow council members as she arrived in the center of the octagram. They all smiled affably and nodded briefly, giving her permission to begin. "So, as everyone here present knows, I believe that the Broteforge Empire Council membership position of the Smakusa Family Patriarch, Erick Smakusa, should be revoked and that he be imprisoned for violating all codes of morality of nobles, and also for collaborating with organized crime."

Jimbe Collalto looked at Ayumi and spoke, "Before we summon Erick Smakusa to this court, I have to ask: Ms. Strogueher, you are aware that should this accusation prove false, you will be the one to lose your post on the council, correct?"

"I am aware." She replied firmly.

"Very well, tell us your side of the story," Patriarch Collalto asked.

"It has been a while since Erick Smakusa has had ideas diverging from mine, in fact, since Manilyn's departure from the post of Patriarch to cede the position to me, Mr. Smakusa has never actually accepted a noble foreigner. Nevertheless, I never bothered with it, after all disagreements are normal, but when Erick Smakusa started proposing the idea of breaking up the council and dividing us, I knew he was up to something."

"Up to something? Define that better, please." Thomas Landford said, resting his head on his fist and propping himself up in his chair.

Ayumi Yamazaki felt she couldn't talk about the demons, at least not before she talked to the Emperor first, so she rearranged the subject. "It's hard to say what he was up to, but anyone who wants to can look deeper, and I only stopped because I was already choking on the blood of the people he made suffer."

"Right. Before we continue, have Erick Smakusa brought in." Jimbe ordered some guards, who went to a room next door and picked up Erick, who wasn't even handcuffed.

When Erick saw Ayumi, he did not look serious as he normally did, but rather gave a closed smile and proceeded to the center of the octagram.

"Good evening, Erick. How are you?" Jimbe asked the man with gray hair and beard.

"I could be doing something useful instead of wasting my time, but that's okay, sooner or later that would occur in our generation." He replied.

"What do you think about Ayumi's accusations, pointed out in the summoning request?" inquired Shanks Ballard.

"They are all false, gentlemen. Ayumi is desperate because things are not going as she anticipated, that it is not being easy to manipulate us as she did the rest of the Strogueher's. She would hate to admit that she is wrong, and that someone as old as me can make changes to change this town for the better."

"So, you claim to have no relation to drug trafficking, human trafficking, bribery, alienation, abuse of authority, and the other crimes cited?"

"Without a shadow of a doubt, I am innocent."