Chapter 367, Jennifer

When the sun completely set, we wrapped up our studies for the day, and the attendees left with their assignment unfinished.

Even I, the only one who managed to complete the assignment, am left racking my brain over how to surpass the magitek that Minerva has shown us.

Still, if I were able to counter Gaspard’s use of this magitek, then I could use the same magitek against him, and even boost its speed with Instant Transmission.
Now THAT is something I really want to learn.

It will take some time, but I’m sure it’s doable — it just needs enough development and practice.
That’s what Warren and Irene agreed on, too.

And with this, the number of the magic classroom’s compulsory subjects has increased.
Among them includes Tūs invention, the Split Invocation.
It’s a hard as hell thing to learn, as apparent in how pained everyone looked while they were practicing it.
Since I don’t have to do that, though, I must find something to focus my time and energy on.

That is, I’m supposed to take action as the head professor to strengthen the next generation.

 

The next day, I summoned a certain person to the southern district of Eddo.

 

“So, stinky-feet? What’s the secret technique you’re gonna teach me?”

 

Jennifer the Bone Fist, older sister of Warren the Black Emperor…

Before this, I have given her some advice regarding her unique fighting style — yeah, the sharp broken bones and stuff.
It certainly looks powerful, but her fists are going to suffer permanent damage eventually if she were to keep using it like that.

 

“It’s not much of a secret, really.
But first, I have to know just how hard you can punch.
Just once is fine.”

“Hey, I’ve always thought you were weird, but man… you really went bonkers now, huh?”

 

Looks like we’re operating on different scales of sanity here.
And no, I DO think I’m still perfectly sane in asking her to do that.

 

“Hah… I assure you, I’ll be fine.
C’mon, Jennifer, hit me as hard as you can — right here.”

 

I held up my right hand and opened my palm.
Jennifer tilted her head for a moment, then cracked an elated grin.

 

“You’re gonna be my punching bag or what? I’m not gonna hold back, y’know?”

“…Yes, go on ahead.”

 

I’m trying to measure her FULL power here, so of course I wouldn’t ask her to hold back.
I even cast All Up for her before waiting for her to attack.

 

“Dunno and don’t care what you’re planning, but now I think I know why my li’l bro’s been SO interested in you.”

“Oh?”

 

Warren did say he considered me his friend, but… INTEREST? Well, I guess we’ve been hanging out relatively often these days.
Maybe he’s been feeling our friendship starting to deepen even more?

…Pochi still wants to stay as far away from him as possible, though.

Jennifer, as if replying to that reaction of mine, relaxed her stance for a moment, then invoked her special techniques to rapidly enhance her physical performance.

 

“You two… are REAL similar to each other!”

 

As she ducked down, she focused her arcane energy on her right fist.
Yup, it’s going to be a strong blow — likely even able to kill an SS-ranked monster instantly.

 

“Kah… KAKAH–!”

 

Damn, her eyes look like they’re burning like she’s cast a Glamor spell on them.
But no, she didn’t — it just goes to show how much fighting spirit she’s manifesting.

 

“HERE I GO…!”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

 

Grinning one last time, Jennifer twisted her hips as far as she could.

 

“HEAVENLY TWISTERRRRRRR… EXTREMEEEEEE!!!!”

 

The next instant, she leaped above me, then rushed down with her fist thrown forward.

 

“Whoa–!? –O, oh, ohhhhhh!!”

 

I blocked Jennifer’s blow with my right hand — and then had to use my left hand to hold it as well.
The earth beneath my feet could not hold, though, so I was pushed back quite a few meters.

 

“WOO-HOO! THAT! FELT! GREAT!”

 

Jennifer shouted up at the sky, looking quite refreshed as she was drenched in sweat.
And I mean, damn, that’s a LOT of sweat.
Really goes to show how much power she was focusing into that single attack.
She probably hasn’t been able to use this move very often in real fights, since it does need quite a lot of time to charge up.

But, well… that’s for her own good, really.

 

“Owowow… Now THAt was amazing.
The way you twisted your hips and rushed down from that angle — not to mention how much energy you put into your fist, makes for quite a powerful attack.”

“Hey, you still were able to block it, though! You know that was actually my HARDEST punch, right?”

 

Right… which means the stronger Devil will be able to take that hit head-on, too.
Still, that will change as Jennifer’s level increases in the future.

 

“So, what’re we doing next?”

“That’s it for today.
Please come again tomorrow, same time.”

“WHAT!? That’s all you’re gonna do after calling me all the way here!?”

“Well, this kind of thing takes time — just wait until you see the results tomorrow, then decide whether to take it or leave it.”

“Results…?”

 

　◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

 

“Here, Jennifer.”

“The hell are these? …Oh, fingerless black leather gloves?”

 

“It’s got Spell Circles on each of the knuckles and the back of the hand.
It’ll help prevent you from hurting your hands when you infuse your punches with energy.
Please try using them and telling me how well they hold up after you’ve leveled up a bit — then I’ll adjust its impact absorption properties for you.”

“O-kay…?”

 

Jennifer doesn’t sound convinced.
At all.
Looks like I didn’t explain it well enough.

 

“Why don’t you try them on and have a little sparring match with me? For… let’s say, three minutes should be good.”

“Oh yeah?”

 

She may not get my explanation, but she DID know what ‘sparring’ meant, so we proceeded to do just that.
It’s a good opportunity for me — I could showcase a brand-new Artifact and test its practicality at the same time.

After two minutes, Jennifer seemed to finally understand the effect of the gloves.
But then, before I could call time, she stopped attacking.

 

“…? There’s still some time left, you know?”

 

We still have thirty seconds left.
She normally wouldn’t stop so suddenly, considering her character.
But even with my reminder, she did not resume her attacks on me.

 

“…Nah.”

“Huh?”

“I’M LEAVING!!”

 

Jennifer, shouting loudly enough to prompt me to block my ears, proceeded to turn around and walk back into Eddo.

 

“…Huuuhhh…?”

 

And so I was left standing here to wonder why Jennifer left.
Maybe she didn’t want that help? I WAS butting in to try and improve her fighting style, after all.
But wait… if that was the case, shouldn’t she have thrown away the gloves before walking off?

No matter how hard I wondered, I failed to come up with a conclusion, so I decided to head back to the magic classroom.

Warren’s probably over there, after all.

 

“Asley, did you do something to my sister?”

 

…And as soon as I got there, I saw the Black Emperor with a confused-as-hell look in his eyes.

Now this is quite a rare sight coming from him.
He’s so anxious about… something… that it’s showing clearly on his face.

 

“I don’t know… is she angry at me or something?”

“I suppose she is… which is most unusual of her.
When she got here, she was quite out of breath, too.”

“Huh?”

“She’s already left, by the way.
I must say, though… before this, she just barged into my room and grabbed me by the collar and started asking questions…”

 

Hmm, sounds like he’s not lying.
I can clearly see the wrinkles on his shirt… and he does look a little sad, which is unusual of him.

 

“As for what she asked… well…”

“What is it?”

“She wanted to know your weaknesses.”

 

YUP.
She was totally angry.

 

“And so I told her that it would be effective to take some of your friends — such as Lina, Tifa, and Haruhana — as hostages.”

 

So in character for the Black Emperor — no hesitation at all.
Seeing that he didn’t mention Pochi, he must have considered how much more powerful she was compared to Jennifer as well.

 

“Then she said that was not what she wanted! Unbelievable.
What in the world did you even do to her?”

 

And with that, we looped back to Warren’s original question.

 

“Actually–“

“–Oh, I see.
I understand, I understand.
Very good.
Very, very good.”

“Now you stop right there, Warren! You can’t just ‘understand’ that by yourself!”

“Hahaha… let’s not be so hasty, Asley.
And please, don’t wrinkle my shirt more than it already is.
It’s actually a favorite of mine, you know.”

“Did you tell her anything else after that first answer, by the way?”

“Well… that you favor egg dishes, and that you can’t abandon people in trouble.”

“……Huh?”

 

Why would he consider my favorite type of food to be my weakness?

 

“Hmm… perhaps you becoming my brother-in-law would do good for our long-term friendship…”

“Did you say something just now?”

“No, nothing at all, Asley.”

 

Saying that, Warren cracked an even more suspicious smile.

 

“W-what?”

“That thing she said before she fought you last time might have been a joke… but the next time, she might mean it for real, you know.”

“Uh-huh…?”

 

In the end, Warren said nothing more.
And when I tried pressing the question, he said he was busy with miscellaneous affairs and sent me on my way

Scratching my head, I returned to my room in the mansion.

 

“Ah, Master!”

“Hey, Pochi.
Sorry for being a bit late.”

“Huh? You got back just now?”

“Yeah, way?”

“Then who left that snack on my mattress?”

“MY mattress, you mean.
And you ate something without my permission again?”

“Eh-hem!”

“Trying to sound cute won’t help you out of this, damn it! Well, what was that snack? Not something weird, I hope?”

“It was just a boiled egg, sir!”

 

A boiled egg…?

Why was there something like that on my mattress?

That was my first thought, and then I wondered… wouldn’t that technically count as cannibalism?

Pochi clapped her front paws together, seeming to have remembered.

 

“By the way, Master! There’s a letter for you!”

“You should have brought that up first, damn it!”

 

I accepted the letter in question from Pochi and read its envelope.

 

“What the — a letter of challenge!?”

“No, Master.
Read the rest of it first.”

“Letter of… challenged decision?”

 

Challenged decision? What is that supposed to even mean?

 

“Maybe she wants you to help make a decision for her, sir?”

“There’s not even a letter inside the envelope, though… No sender’s name anywhere, either.”

“Well, you should ask Miss Jennifer about it, sir.”

“……Why Jennifer?”

“Because she’s the one who passed it to me! And now that I delivered it to you, I’m going to get some snacks now! SNACKS! WOO-HOO!”

 

Some time later, Jennifer would be known by a new nickname, the Black Fist, effectively overwriting her reputation as the grotesque Bone Fist.

All I would know for the longest time is that she’s having trouble with… something.
But whenever we meet at the hideout, she would always look away from me for some reason.

That makes me think… should I also send a ‘letter of challenged decision’ to her myself?