Chapter 178

"However, the control of elemental power is much more difficult than I imagined. After the final strike, I didn't even have enough elemental power to control my flight."

"After the battle experience, well, as expected, that guy Shinomiya's ability is still too cheap."

Nagi Sanzenin couldn't help but complain about the power Shinomiya had obtained.

"Indeed, just by eating a fruit, she obtained extraordinary power; this disproportion between gain and effort is indeed too cheap."

Even Isumi Saginomiya couldn't help but add a word.

"Elementalization... no wonder Mr. Amamiya said it was the strongest Logia-type fruit."

Maria also understood the weight of the word "strongest" at this moment.

The ability of elementalization is indeed too shameless.

If there is no way to pose a threat to elementalization, that ability can almost be called the top-tier ability.

"To deal with that guy, one can only use non-physical means... ah."

Nagi Sanzenin paused when she said this and turned her gaze to Ran Mouri.

"It seems there really is one."

Completely unafraid of so-called elementalization, possessing the ability to negate any non-natural power.

"Ah."

Isumi Saginomiya couldn't help but cover her mouth.

"I see."

Maria shook her head with slight distress.

"No wonder today was just a morning exercise; it looks like Mr. Amamiya arranged for us to face Miss Mouri directly afterward."

"The first time was to let us feel despair, the next time should be to let Miss Shinomiya feel despair, right?"

"No, perhaps even more."

Nagi Sanzenin reminded with a slumped face.

"Mouri strengthens her physical abilities, paired with her magic negation."

"Once she grabs you and lands a heavy punch... you'll probably pass out."

At the thought of Mouri's sandbag-sized fist aiming for her stomach and landing a heavy punch, Nagi Sanzenin felt her scalp tingle.

The key is that abilities are completely useless against Mouri; they will be directly negated.

"Despair in another sense."

Isumi Saginomiya also sighed helplessly.

Ever since she started getting to know this circle with Nagi, she felt her abilities were becoming less and less decent.

Aside from Nagi and Miss Maria being slightly worse, everyone else was like they were cheating.

"Speaking of which, where is Lord Amamiya?"

She hadn't seen Lord Amamiya since just now.

Isumi Saginomiya looked around, but couldn't find the person she should have seen.

"As for him, it seems he went to talk to Shinomiya."

Sakuya Aizawa's words made the three of them pause, and then they realized.

"He noticed it, huh."

In another room, Kaguya Shinomiya had already regained her composure at this moment.

However, what annoyed her was the annoying person beside her who kept comforting her.

Even this annoying person didn't realize that she was the one who caused her mental instability, and was still muttering beside her.

"Mm, as for Nagi's side, Kaguya, I'll accompany you to apologize later."

"Nagi isn't an unreasonable person, I think she won't be that petty."

"After all, for Kaguya, this kind of battle between mysteries should also be the first time, it's inevitable that mistakes will occur."

Although they were kind words, Kaguya Shinomiya only felt a headache at this moment.

Because the person who caused her to make a mistake was this woman.

But the key is that this woman is her good friend, and is still comforting her beside her, so what can she do?

"..."

Hayasaka Ai, who was watching Miss Kaguya's helpless look from the side, just stood there silently.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Hearing the knock, Hayasaka Ai went to the door and turned to ask for instructions on the situation of the two young ladies; after receiving a nod of confirmation, she opened the door.

Unsurprisingly, what she saw upon opening the door was the other person who had caused Miss Kaguya's emotional instability this time.

"Classmate Hayasaka..."

"Please come in, Miss Kaguya is waiting for your arrival."

Before Ren Amamiya could finish speaking, Hayasaka Ai stepped aside without any obstruction, and even lied quite openly.

The two in the room were both stunned.

Then the two saw Ren Amamiya, who was a bit stiff, walk into the room.

Fujiwara Chika immediately left Kaguya Shinomiya, whom she had been comforting, and crowded in front of Ren Amamiya.

This made Kaguya Shinomiya, who had just assumed a dignified posture, stiffen all over.

"Amamiya, Kaguya's mistake just now should have been caused by her first battle, right?"

"...I suppose so."

If it were before, Ren Amamiya would have said this without hesitation.

But he knew the reason.

Especially noticing that Shinomiya was staring at Fujiwara with a terrifying look, Ren Amamiya was even more certain of his previous speculation.

"Fujiwara, let me talk to classmate Shinomiya."

"It is indeed time to have a good talk with Kaguya."

Fujiwara Chika nodded very decisively.

She didn't know much about things like mysteries, so it was clearly the right thing to let Amamiya talk to Kaguya at such a time.

Having said that, Fujiwara Chika pushed Amamiya toward Kaguya.

She herself pulled the bewildered Hayasaka Ai out of the room, and left behind a sentence:

"Amamiya, you must properly guide Kaguya."

"It was just a one-time mistake, don't take it to heart."

At this moment, Kaguya Shinomiya, who had just been staring at Fujiwara Chika with resentment, had returned to clarity; where was there a trace of resentment in those eyes?

Even, facing this suddenly changed state, there was a trace of inexplicable surprise on Kaguya Shinomiya's face.

It was at this moment that Kaguya Shinomiya once again solidified the fact that she and Fujiwara were good friends.

The two couldn't say a word in the room for a long time.

Ren Amamiya tried hard to be proactive, and only then did he speak:

"Classmate Shinomiya... do you, do you like me?"

The sudden zero-frame start caused Kaguya Shinomiya's brain to experience a temporary crash.

"Classmate Amamiya, why would you suddenly have such a thought?"

At this moment, Kaguya Shinomiya knew that her expression was definitely very stiff, even without looking in a mirror.

"Mm... actually, I only just thought of it myself."

Ren Amamiya looked at Shinomiya's expression, and his speculation became even heavier in his heart.

"Before this club activity, you were not affected by any emotions."

"Based on my knowledge and understanding of your personality, you would absolutely not have a situation where you were overly excited in your first battle."

"You have extraordinary talent and also have sufficient conditions to test your abilities."

"At most, you wouldn't know your upper limit, but you wouldn't be unable to control your lower limit."

Ren Amamiya still had an understanding of Shinomiya, so he could give a very certain answer.

"If you couldn't control your maximum output, you would keep the output within your controllable range."

"But at the very end, you still lost some control."

"This is not your level, so, I think someone must have influenced you."

— Author's Notes —

PS: New book on the shelves, asking for data.