My Girlfriend is an S-Class Adventurer

Could Meredith's decision to pursue the huge black-bearded man be rash? A little.

On the boat there could be hundreds of pieces of information that could point to the involvement the direct relation to the Straw Hat. However, to the half-fox the tattoo on the chest of the man who came out of the cockpit, as well as the matter he discussed with his subordinates, proved enough evidence to know that the big criminal was directly involved.

Therefore, if that neglected care boat, and the subordinates belonged to the Straw Hat, it was more than obvious that the theory that the Smakusa were even neglecting the security in the ports precisely to help this kind of criminal. Still, negligence was not exactly a crime, meaning that it was not a good enough reason to punish someone with expulsion from the council. The half-wolf group still needed more evidence to prove that one of the most influential men in the kingdom was in fact a scoundrel who was helping demons and also criminals.

As Ynosuke and Meredith followed the bearded man through the middle city, they wondered why Erick Smakusa was risking everything he had. Could the demons have promised something to him? Or even the First Servant himself? Did Erick desire even more power and influence after the fall of the Emperor or did he just long for something greater?

For both, it was impossible to find an answer to such a complex question. Not least because there was probably nothing in the world important enough for them to risk everything they had, which was not as much as a Patriarch of a Noble Family, but it was still good friendships and a warm bed to rest in.

So when the black-bearded man stopped in front of a dark alley, looked at both ends of the street, and entered exactly this alley, Meredith and Ynosuke looked at each other, because they knew exactly this place and what was in it.

In this dark alley, in a border region between Upper Town and Lower Town, there was an entrance to the old sewer system.

As this sewage system was decommissioned, it was commonly used for illegal activities, especially a very famous one whose name was: "The Cage". To ordinary people, this might not mean anything, but to people who had once lived in the criminal world, like the gang of former thieves, this place was like the Municipal Arena, but much worse.

"What is this then, 'The Cage'?" Nathalia asked curiously as Ynosuke started telling everyone about. Meredith and he returned to Ayumi's residence because it would be dumb to try to follow the bearded man into the sewers.

When asked, Ynosuke smiled. "It's Oukiwa's stronghold of marginality, where the son cries and the mother doesn't listen. If I could define The Cage in a few words, it would certainly be as the closest place to a Dungeon that exists outside of a Dungeon."

Nathalia arched her eyebrows, impressed by the description. Then she looked away and saw Meredith, John, Luke, Zack and Matthew nodding without choosing to add anything else, because the description that Ynosuke pointed out was really the best fit.

"Tell us more about it, please." Ayumi asked, her eyes narrowed. Of course she had heard about The Cage, but theoretically they had never been able to find out its exact location, so over time that was forgotten.

"Right." Ynosuke nodded and continued, "The Cage is what has been nicknamed a place where illegal organized fights take place, however, if you are thinking that these fights are like illegal tavern fights, well... I need to disappoint you, because drunks have no room there. The fights in The Cage are organized by amount of wins, so whoever wins more, becomes more famous and theoretically wins more."

"Wait, wait." Luke spoke, before his friend ran away from the most important subject. "No need to bring up the subject about money, betting and rewards, at least not now. I believe what Ayumi wants to know about is how the place works, the fights and the competitors, and who runs the place."

"Thanks Luke, that's exactly what I have in mind."

"Okay, so I will explain first how the place works. As far as I know, the fights take place every Friday starting at 1am. Since the ground of the city and dense, and the sewage deep, it is almost impossible for everyone wheeling around the streets to hear the crowds screaming. In the past, there were seven Cages, or rather rings, which were basically the chambers of the sewers, and in these Cages people would war to be the last one standing."

Ayumi listened to everything very carefully. "All right, I think I understand the basis of the business. People know the place, the time, and also that there will always be fun and guaranteed blood, so they frequent the place."

"Of course, but there are levels of 'associates', ranging from one to four, from what I remember. Depending on the 'associate' level, certain fights are not available to watch." Ynosuke continued to explain.

"Ow, you know a lot more about this than I expected!" Matthew was impressed by his friend.

Ynosuke smiled, rolled up the sleeve of his right arm garment and showed a muque. "It's just that I've always wanted to compete there someday, it must be an inexplicable adrenaline rush."

"And we can make that desire come true, can't we?" Zack asked, trying to get up to speed on the subject. "If you have such a desire, why don't you go and fight?"

The half-wolf came up behind Zack, who was sitting on the couch, and touched his right shoulder with one of his hands. "It's not as simple as it sounds... They say that all sorts of things have fought in the Cage, from Adventurers and wild animals, to monsters, and this last one I believe is just a silly rumor."

The Matriarch of the Strogueher raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wait a moment, even Adventurers usually fight in this place?"

"Especially Adventurers. As I said at the beginning, drunks have no room in the Cage. If you guys told me that a demon is hiding down there, I wouldn't doubt it."

At that moment, Ynosuke's words made Meredith remember something, and she began to feel like an idiot for not having remembered it before. "Did you say 'demon'? What if there was something almost like a demon that hides inside The Cage? Straw Hat's henchman said he was going to find the 'boss,' and soon after he entered the dark alley. It is obvious to deduce that Straw-Hat is hiding there, no? At least, that would explain why no one has ever seen him."

Everyone present was stunned at the possibility that this was real, especially Ayumi Yamazaki, because she had been for some years funding the City Guards. "What if he is not only using The Cage to hide but also to do business?" She pointed out the possibility.

"What do you mean?" Ynosuke asked.

"As Meredith said, if he's hiding in there, there's a possibility he could use that to cover up various other crimes, without at least having to expose himself. Besides, we don't even know what his face is."

"Yeah, there's no reason for us to wait around any longer. If there is anyone who can tell us everything about the Smakusa, it is the Straw Hat, after all it is obvious that Erick has been helping him traffic humans, and maybe even worse... We need to capture the Straw Hat." Luke said.

*

The Oukiwa underground is a diverse place. In this space, there are three Dungeons, two complex and extensive sewer systems, and countless other mysteries.

However, the focus of the half-wolf gang's mission was The Cage, a place where all sorts of people dig in for money, fame, or bloodlust. For Luke, this was one of the places he had promised himself he would never set foot in, but now it was necessary to break that promise.

In the everyday residence of the Strogueher Matriarch, many plans were discussed that night, and although Ynosuke applied to be the person to distract the attention of the crowds so that Luke and the others could infiltrate the place, everyone knew that this would not be enough. Ynosuke was a man with powerful martial fundamentals, but nothing above that, he had no range of Genes Skills, no experience in mortal combat with people capable of using Genes Skills or Rune Magic, so he could not be chosen.

The four people applying for the position of distracting the crowd, and holding their attention, were Nathalia, Shiro, Alexis and Luke. For everyone, any of these could survive at least a few fights on the First Level of the Cage.

Still, surviving was not enough. Whichever person it was, had to draw a lot of attention long before the fight, and only two people fit that trait: Luke and Alexis. Obviously, crowds would gather to watch the Champion of the Tournament of Legends fight, as well as thousands of people would toast money to see an S-Class up close.

However, if Luke Lange's name, or rather the title of the 'Half-Wolf' was announced as participating in illegal fights right after attending the Council alongside Ayumi, these things would be intertwined, and the Strogueher's influence would go down the drain. Therefore, the person chosen as a distraction was none other than the half-dragon, and without any doubt even the most exclusive members of this kind of club, which was Cage, would beg the Straw-Hat to attend, so this union would create a loophole for Luke to act.

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