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,m The half-wolf was extremely surprised by his friend\'s sudden assertion. Matthew had never given any indication that he was dissatisfied with the pack, at least not until recent events.

"Don\'t get me wrong, I love you guys and I want more than anything to stay by your side, but I\'m too old to live such a complicated life." Matthew pointed out.

"What do you mean?"

"Now, we have a glimmer of peace, but for how long? You\'re still hated by the demons, Alexis carries two demons up and down, not to mention you enjoyed the life of Adventurer in the Dungeons, which means you\'ll probably want to go back."

"Matthew..."

"Wait for me to finish, Luke. In a few months, I will turn twenty-six. At that age, usually people are already married, have a house to call their own, or a promising career, but what do I have? A few things, but none of the things I dream of." The brown-haired, gray-haired man reflected as he looked up at the blue sky.

The half-wolf merely complied with his request, and kept quiet, as he realized that it was not yet his time to speak.

"And I was thinking, I\'ve been dating Jess for so long, and even after so much shit I\'ve done, so many sudden disappearances, she comes back into my embrace. I guess I owe her a happy life, you know?"

As he finished hearing Matthew\'s words, Luke heaved a sigh of relief.

"Sighh! Don\'t scare me, man! Haha!" Luke exclaimed, and gave Matthew two weak slaps on the shoulder, who was at a loss to understand the reaction. "Watching you thoughtful all these, I thought you had some really bad news to talk about. Anyway, Matt, you are practically my brother and I will always support most of your decisions. You are smart and more than anyone you know what you want. I admire you on those points."

Matthew\'s eyes sparkled as he heard the half-wolf\'s response, because as much as he had expected a positive response coming from Luke, he was still nervous.

"Matt, if you are worried about your safety, or about putting Jess at risk, remember that you are no longer the same man you were a week ago, nor a month ago, nor six months ago. You have grown strong, you now have Gene Skills and also experience. You can take care of yourself better than ever."

At Luke\'s words, Matthew smiled once again, because it was comforting to him to be recognized by his best friend, even after having abandoned him and run away so far away.

"You are simply the most amazing person I have ever met," Matthew said, and opened his arm so that he could hug Luke, who reciprocated.

From the first minute Luke decided to follow the trail of his friends to the Fort near the Cardinal Kingdom, he already had in mind that he would not force them to stay by his side, but rather that he would help them realize their dreams. In fact, more than Luke\'s main goal, making his friends live happily and safely was an obligation, to be able to compensate them for having helped him stay conscious and whole even while sheltering in the darkness.

Breaking the news of Matthew\'s departure to the rest of the gang was not easy, especially for Meredith, who thought that the initial trio of former thieves would never be separated again. Matthew had a heart-to-heart talk with her, and like Luke, she gave in.

Ynosuke, Zack, and John only failed to cry when they saw Matthew drive off in a carriage from the Strogueher estate with all his bags. With tears in her eyes as well, Meredith stroked the heads of the three in an attempt to comfort them.

When the iron gates of the estate were closed by the guards, and the half-wolf\'s friends went inside, Ayumi noticed that he kept looking toward the exit.

Then the Matriarch walked to his side, stopped, put her right hand on his shoulder, and questioned:

"You pretended to be strong and confident so as not to make Matthew go back on his decision, didn\'t you?"

Luke turned his face to the opposite side of Ayumi, and answered with a nod after a few seconds.

\'Can he be cute like that too?\' Ayumi blushed at the sentimental gesture of the man next to her. She shook her head to put that kind of thought out of her mind, smiled, and spoke, "Two days ago, Matthew came to my office in the back of the second floor to talk to me..."

Immediately, Luke turned to look into Ayumi\'s eyes and to hear better what she was talking about.

"He asked if there was any way to increase the patrolling of the city guards throughout Oukiwa, and well, in a meeting with Nico Sallow I got her to invest a bit in security as well, after all with Straw Hat\'s death, many would like to try to take his place."

Luke looked at Ayumi, unable to believe that perhaps Oukiwa would finally find order. Although this was not a dangerous city, it was still a very dirty city underneath the cloth. Cases of corruption, heinous crimes, and various kinds of trafficking were still going on, but in the shadows of the Lower City and the Middle City, away from most of the powerful Adventurers who frequented the city.

For these reasons, upon hearing the words of Matriarch Strogueher, Luke felt a weight go off his shoulders, because perhaps more children would not have to live the life he lived for many years.

"Hey, lovebirds in love! Come on over here! Amelia is talking to the Pontiff, and she has good news!" Ynosuke said, propping himself on the door of the huge residence.

Luke and Ayumi looked at each other and walked at a quick pace into the house.

*

That late afternoon, a long-awaited piece of news finally arrived for the half-wolf gang. As predicted earlier, the events of confusions and conspiracies in Oukiwa were enough to catch the attention of the Emperor of the Broteforge Empire.

Thus, a formal invitation made to the name of the Matriarch of the Strogueher, initially disguised outwardly as a gesture of gratitude from the Emperor to the Noblewoman who discovered the rotten apple of the Kingdom, but in reality the conversation would be much deeper.