"It's... it's just too shameless."
"What a despicable adult!"
Miyamoto Rei watched Minami Rika as she took off her jacket, revealing her alluring curves in front of Su Yan, and felt a wave of disdain in her heart.
'I was clearly the first one here, yet every single one of them wants to cut in line!'
Just like that pink-haired girl with the glasses, Takagi Saya. If she could, Rei really wanted to pin Minami Rika to the ground just as she had done to Takagi Saya earlier.
However, she looked at Minami Rika's body, which exuded a wildness like that of a leopard. She had sleek abs and muscles that weren't overly bulky, but were aesthetically pleasing and full of power.
If they were comparing spear techniques, Rei might have some confidence, but if she were to rush in with bare fists...
Then she would definitely be the one getting pinned down.
For Su Yan's sake, she could naturally stand before him without hesitation, just as she had a moment ago.
But now?
Miyamoto Rei could only fix her gaze on Su Yan, hoping with all her heart that he wouldn't agree! Please don't agree!
The result brought a surge of joy to Rei's heart.
Su Yan shook his head at Minami Rika and said, "I do not accept your challenge."
"Why?" Minami Rika asked, puzzled.
His answer made her start to doubt herself for a moment. Could her charm really have deteriorated to such an extent?
Why else would this boy be unwilling to accept her challenge?
"You are too weak."
Su Yan explained, "A tiger might agree to a challenge from a lion, but have you ever seen a tiger accept a challenge from a mouse?"
Su Yan was actually tempted by Minami Rika's proposal, especially since it was a game he couldn't possibly lose.
But just as he said, Minami Rika was too weak.
A battle with such a vast disparity in strength couldn't be called a challenge; it could only be called one-sided abuse.
Even if he didn't use Nen, his physical attributes and reaction speed—refined over the past year through his constant Nen training—were far beyond what a normal human like Minami Rika could match.
This was very unfair to her.
Of course, he could hold back significantly to trade blows with her and then defeat her.
But what about after that?
He was going to form a contract with her eventually, wasn't he?
And once the contract was formed, she would also learn Nen.
At that point, she would naturally understand the gap between an ordinary person and a Nen user, and she would realize that he had been holding back.
That would only lead to a sense of estrangement.
It was better to show the difference in strength clearly from the start. If she still insisted on challenging him even after that...
Then Su Yan would just have to tearfully take her down.
"You think I'm a mouse?"
Minami Rika pointed at her own face, feeling like she was about to laugh from pure anger.
From childhood until now, although she was competitive, she had always been successful, coming in first in everything she did.
Even in her previous job, she was always the one who completed missions the best.
This was the first time someone had used such a weak creature as a mouse to describe her.
"No, no, no. Strictly speaking, the gap between us is larger than that of an elephant and an ant."
Su Yan placed both hands on Marikawa Shizuka's shoulders and pushed her forward, saying, "You can't even beat Shizuka-nee right now, let alone me. Why don't you try to get past Shizuka-nee first?"
Although Marikawa Shizuka didn't usually practice her Nen abilities much, one shouldn't forget that she was Su Yan's first contracted partner.
Over the past year, she had frequently acted like a succubus, draining the Nen from his body.
That effect was far superior to a normal year of cultivation.
Don't be fooled by her usual ditzy appearance; in reality, her current strength made her a humanoid dragoness, even without using her Nen abilities.
"Eh? Me?"
Marikawa Shizuka was stunned for a moment. She belatedly raised her arms, showing off her soft-looking limbs as if trying to squeeze out some muscle. "That's right! I'm actually very strong!"
"Shizuka?"
Minami Rika looked at Marikawa Shizuka's somewhat silly performance and felt a headache coming on.
With the amount of weight Shizuka was carrying on her chest, just watching her run was enough to make someone's heart skip a beat.
Fighting? Wasn't that just a joke?
She then looked at Su Yan with some annoyance. "What do you mean by pushing Shizuka out? Even if you look down on people, there should be a limit!"
"Rika-chan, I'm not lying to you. I'm really super strong. How about I perform something for you..."
Marikawa Shizuka didn't know what to perform for a moment. After thinking it over, she added, "How about I do the splits?"
Seeing Shizuka's erratic behavior, Minami Rika's mouth twitched. "Shizuka, just go stand to the side."
"Alright then! Good luck, Little Su Yan. Take Rika-chan down!"
Unexpectedly, Marikawa Shizuka agreed immediately and walked to the side to cheer for Su Yan.
Minami Rika clearly wanted to challenge Su Yan. What was the point of having Shizuka step up? Perhaps Su Yan did this to show Minami Rika respect?
But Marikawa Shizuka knew very well that showing respect to a woman like Minami Rika was useless.
Even though they were in the modern era, Minami Rika followed the ancient law of the jungle more than anyone.
As long as Su Yan defeated her decisively, it didn't matter if it was because of Nen or not; Minami Rika would acknowledge him.
Shizuka just didn't like to think much, but she wasn't actually stupid.
Furthermore, since this involved Minami Rika becoming her companion in the future, she naturally put more heart into it.
"Take this!"
Seeing Marikawa Shizuka walk away, Minami Rika was afraid Su Yan would find another excuse to delay.
She arched her body and pounced toward Su Yan like a leopard.
Minami Rika used a standard military martial art, but she had combined it with her own physical characteristics, adding her own insights.
It was full of wildness while exposing very few weaknesses.
However, the speed was still too slow for him. Su Yan tilted his body and easily dodged her pounce.
If it were anyone else, Su Yan would have taken the initiative to show them what it meant for the left punch to hurt and the right punch to hurt more.
Since Minami Rika was being so proactive, it seemed he had no choice but to take her down.
He would play along with her for a while first.
He would hold back a bit and let her experience the thrill of battle.
Meanwhile, outside the range of their fight, Marikawa Shizuka enthusiastically pulled Miyamoto Rei and the others into a chat.
Naturally, the main goal was to get to know the newly arrived Takagi Yuriko.
Before long, Marikawa Shizuka let out a yawn and said to the group, "I'm so sleepy. Fighting is just the absolute most boring thing ever. It's almost dawn now, so none of you must have had a good rest tonight, right?"
"It looks like those two won't be finished anytime soon. Why don't we all go rest? I'll take you to find some rooms."
Without waiting to see if the women were willing, Marikawa Shizuka enthusiastically pulled them along to find guest rooms.
Before leaving, she stole a deep glance at Minami Rika, who was currently enjoying the battle with Su Yan.
'Rika-chan, oh Rika-chan, I've prepared the opportunity for you. You better show some backbone.'
As Marikawa Shizuka looked toward Minami Rika, Takagi Yuriko, who was being pulled along beside her, also stole a deep glance at Shizuka.
'A formidable rival!'
'This person's IQ is probably not lower than mine!'
Takagi Yuriko gave a very high evaluation of Marikawa Shizuka in her heart.
She had seen all of Marikawa Shizuka's actions just now.
Furthermore, in a situation where a powerhouse carries a deadweight, Minami Rika was obviously much easier to handle than the Takagi Saya she was carrying.
Feeling Takagi Yuriko's strange gaze, Marikawa Shizuka's eyes immediately returned to their usual clarity as she asked, "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing," Takagi Yuriko shook her head, having no intention of exposing her.
Marikawa Shizuka pointed at Takagi Yuriko's purple hair and said in surprise, "I just noticed that your hair is purple, just like Rika-chan and Saeko. What a coincidence! Why don't the two of us sleep together later?"
'Is this woman a purple-hair fetishist? No, if truth be told, the one with the purple-hair fetish should be Su Yan.'
Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why three out of the six women in this house had purple hair.
Takagi Yuriko was stunned for a moment but quickly regained her focus.
No, she almost got led astray.
Marikawa Shizuka had first fooled those two youngsters, Miyamoto Rei and Takagi Saya, and now she was putting herself into the mix to hold Yuriko back, all to create an opportunity for her best friend, Minami Rika.
Everything was airtight.
'What a terrifying woman!'
Takagi Yuriko couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]