The man’s brow furrowed as he glared at the boy.

“Did you bring her here?”

The man’s fierce gaze startled the boy. He waved his hands frantically, his face turning pale as he spoke.

“N-No, it has nothing to do with me! I don’t even know her!”

The man gave an impatient “tsk” and turned his attention back to the blonde girl who had inexplicably appeared.

“Hey! Brat! There’s nothing to see here, so get lost! Do you hear me!”

He figured it was better to avoid trouble; after all, he was just doing business, and he didn’t want to cause a scene.

Having been shouted at for no reason, Monica blinked.

In truth, she had no idea what was going on.

It was just that Miss Phil had suddenly seemed to sense something and told her to follow, which was how she ended up at the entrance of this alley.

So, Monica looked at the cowering boy, then at the suspicious man hidden entirely inside his raincoat.

Then she looked at this dark alleyway, which, at a glance, looked like a perfect crime scene.

Monica finally realized what was happening.

“Ah, did I just stumble upon a shady transaction scene?”

“Idiot.”

“Eh? So, Miss Phil, did you bring me here because you wanted me to stop them?”

“You could also just keep pretending you didn’t see anything. Who knows, maybe a man in black will come along in a bit, knock you out, and force-feed you a strange drug. Then you’ll get to return to your youth for free.”1

“Is this really the time to be making references?! Miss Phil!”

Seeing the blonde girl completely ignore his warning and talk to herself like she was performing a stand-up routine, the man’s expression finally turned cold.

Phil’s voice rang in Monica’s ear.

“Watch out for that man.”

Monica was taken aback.

The man in the raincoat had already moved.

Ignoring the boy, he leaped upward, his toes catching the wall as he scaled the slick surface like a giant gecko.

This was by no means a move an ordinary person could make.

“Eh?! Wait a minute!”

Monica raised her hand almost instinctively.

Telekinesis erupted.

The rainwater in the alley was swept up by an invisible force, like a backwards-surging curtain of water, crashing toward the man in the raincoat.

The man gave a cold snort as a short black blade suddenly sprang from his sleeve.

The short blade sliced through the curtain of rain, actually carving a grayish-black trail through the air.

Monica flusteredly dodged the short blade, but in the next second, the man in mid-air had already lunged in her direction.

Boom!

The man’s fist stopped right in front of Monica, letting out a thunderous roar.

If Monica hadn’t promptly mobilized her telekinesis to form a barrier in front of her, this punch would have likely blown her into scattered pieces.

Failing to land the hit, the man’s expression turned grim. He used the recoil to suddenly pull back and open some distance.

“…An ability user?”

Monica was also a bit shaken, swallowing hard.

She was used to fighting those mindless D-Class Calamities; this was her first time facing off against a person.

“Keep your cool, Monica.”

Phil floated leisurely in the sky as if it were none of her business, speaking casually:

“You’ve already grown much stronger. He is no match for you; just stay calm and do your thing.”

“R-Really?”

Monica was somewhat stunned.

She didn’t even know she had gotten stronger herself; how had Miss Phil observed it?

To this, Phil thought: did it even need observing?

Wasn’t it all written on the Contractor’s status panel?

Compared to her status panel back during the rat extermination in the sewers, Monica’s current attributes had increased nearly all across the board, and even her ability had developed to LV2.

As for the reason, Phil felt it was most likely because she had selected the skill [Devil’s Gift: Upgrades the Contractor’s aptitude and talent].

Coupled with the fact that Monica’s own combat talent was decent to begin with, her muscle memory had already learned a great deal after being possessed by Phil during the fight against the Mutant. Thus, she was currently in a period where her potential was blossoming.

Until she hit a bottleneck, Monica’s rate of improvement would likely remain quite fast from here on out.

As for the man across from her…

Sensing the faint aura of an ability emanating from him, Phil felt her interest waning.

He’s just a Level 1 guy, and his ability seems to be nothing more than a mediocre physical enhancement type; it looks like she won’t have to lift a finger herself.

She would just leave this small fry to Monica for some practice.

However, Monica didn’t seem to realize that she had already grown stronger; she was still staring nervously at the man, waiting for his next move.

Phil’s current mindset was a bit like a Pokémon Master, wanting to see her own Pokémon use a new skill to kick that wild monster to death.

While Phil’s thoughts drifted aimlessly, the two below had already begun clashing again.

The man launched surprise attack after surprise attack at Monica, and Monica passively used her telekinesis to condense barriers—which looked quite crude to Phil—to block them.

On the surface, it looked like Monica was being suppressed quite miserably, only able to defend and flee in a sorry state without even being able to strike back.

Yet, Monica managed to block every single one of the man’s attacks, and the man’s expression grew increasingly grim.

As time went on, no matter how slow Monica was, she noticed that this battle wasn’t as taxing as she had imagined.

Although the man’s movements were fast, she could see them clearly.

The direction of the blade’s thrust, the sound of feet splashing in the water, the subtle ripples in the rain as his body moved through it, and even the tension in his shoulders before he exerted force, she could sense it all.

Her telekinesis felt far more intuitive than ever, allowing her to control more things. Combined with her sharpened senses, it felt as though countless tentacles were spreading out from her body—

She could grasp the rain.

Grasp the gravel.

Grasp that split-second loss of balance beneath the man’s feet…

Monica’s eyes lit up, and she gave a violent tug with her telekinesis.

The man’s right foot was yanked aside by an invisible force just as he was about to step forward, sending his center of gravity tilting.

Now!

With a sharp cry, Monica used her telekinesis to seize a manhole cover from the side of the alley, slamming it into the man’s face like a frisbee.

Bang!

The man staggered back several steps, his face a mess of blood. He was clearly reeling from the impact.

Monica herself was momentarily stunned.

“…Did I really get stronger?”

The man shook his head, wiping the blood from his eyes.

His eyes looked terrifyingly fierce, yet in their deepest depths, there was a faint tremble of fear.

Unlucky.

So incredibly unlucky.

He had originally just come to make a deal; he hadn’t expected to run into an Ability User.

This Ability User didn’t seem to be part of the system. If it were an Ability User from X City’s system, they would have turned a blind eye upon seeing him!

It would be trouble if this dragged on any longer.

The man hardly hesitated. Taking advantage of Monica’s momentary daze, he turned to flee, rushing wildly toward the mouth of the alley on the other side.

Seeing this, Monica immediately panicked.

“He’s going to run!”

“Then just stop him.”

Phil spoke casually, even managing an elegant yawn.

Monica took a deep breath and raised both hands.

“Mmmgh…”

She closed her eyes, and her telekinesis extended accordingly—

Like an invisible net, the telekinesis swept toward the fleeing man.

The moment the man reached the mouth of the alley, the gravel at his feet suddenly flew up like bullets.

If the man hadn’t dodged quickly, his chest likely would have been pierced through.

And this was only the beginning.

The debris, corrugated metal, and discarded wooden planks in the alleyway vibrated simultaneously, flying toward the man one after another.

In less than half a minute, the bruised and battered man completely broke down.

He looked back in terror.

At that moment, the blonde girl closing in on him was as terrifying as an Asura from hell!

“You can’t touch me…”

His voice was hoarse and desperate.

“I’m with the Radiant Foundation! Do you have any idea who’s backing me? You can’t—”

Before he could finish, a brick slammed into his head.

The man’s body went limp, and he collapsed unconscious on the spot.

Monica retracted her telekinesis and blinked, the realization hitting her a moment late.

“Huh?”

She looked at Phil.

“Did he just say something?”

Phil: “…”