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Jacob brought his Pokémon back into the house and looked at Nina, who was sitting at the dining table with a flushed face. His expression showed surprise. "Professor Nina, you're awake."
"Yeah." Compared to her usual demeanor, Nina seemed uncharacteristically shy and uncomfortable. She glanced at Jacob, then lowered her head silently. She seemed unable to maintain her typical authoritative instructor presence.
"Here, have some porridge." Jacob quickly retrieved the dishes from the warming cabinet and served a bowl to Professor Nina. Watching Jacob bustle around, Nina felt a strange sensation in her heart. It had been a long time since anyone had taken care of her after she'd been drinking.
Nina composed herself somewhat and looked at Jacob with a stern expression. "Why are you here?"
"I originally wanted to ask for your help with something, but when I called, I realized you were drunk, so I came to check on you," Jacob explained.
"I'm asking how you got in," Nina clarified, her gaze fixed on him.
"Kommo-o opened the door for me."
They both shifted their attention to the Scaly Pokémon in the living room. Noticing their gazes, the Kommo-o proudly raised its head and gave a thumbs-up, as if to say there was no need for praise.
Nina was speechless. Usually, Kommo-o was extremely vigilant. Why had it casually allowed a man into her home today? This thought led her back to her undergarments, and her face reddened again.
"Professor Nina, you should eat something to fill your stomach." Jacob hadn't noticed anything unusual. He assumed Professor Nina's flushed face was simply because she had just awakened, so he encouraged her to eat.
Nina sipped the warm porridge and ate the home-cooked meal, experiencing a peculiar feeling. Being cared for like this felt strange, somewhat uncomfortable, yet also somewhat enjoyable.
She found herself unconsciously studying Jacob, observing his handsome profile. Her mind wandered. Jacob was actually a good person, though lately he'd been somewhat arrogant and hadn't been training diligently. He hadn't even attended class that morning. This reminded Nina that Jacob had supposedly had a date with Julia at noon, so she casually remarked, "Didn't you have a date with Julia at noon?"
"?" Jacob couldn't help but ask, "Who told you that?"
"I saw you two leaving together," Nina said calmly.
"That was her mother treating me to a meal." Jacob didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was just a visit—how had it become a date? "Professor Nina, you're quite the gossip."
"Raya invited you to dinner?" Nina's eyes revealed doubt, but seeing Jacob's expression, she believed his explanation. Looking at him, she unconsciously voiced the question in her mind: "You've been dating Julia recently, haven't you?"
"Pfft! Cough, cough!" Jacob sprayed porridge from his mouth and quickly wiped it away with a napkin. "Which jerk spread that rumor? It must have been Harper."
Nina blushed. Seeing Jacob's reaction, she didn't dare admit it had been her own speculation. "Others said it. There's no smoke without fire. Weren't you two together yesterday?"
"That was a misunderstanding." Jacob hurriedly explained the entire situation.
Listening to Jacob's explanation, Nina believed him and felt relieved. Suddenly, she remembered that Jacob had mentioned needing her help. "You said you had something to ask me about. What was it?"
"I wanted to visit the underground black market in the Capital, but I didn't feel safe going alone, so I wanted you to accompany me. When I called you, though, I discovered you were drunk."
"Why do you want to go to the underground black market? That place isn't particularly interesting." Nina frowned as she asked. The Capital's underground black market occasionally yielded quality items, but that required extremely good luck. About 99.99% of the merchandise was defective or counterfeit, with the good items having been snatched up long ago. Finding a bargain was exceedingly difficult—only one or two fortunate individuals managed to discover something worthwhile each year. Jacob's desire to try his luck was undoubtedly wishful thinking. Nina shook her head. "If you're hoping to find a bargain, you'd be better off focusing your energy on training your Pokémon."
"I just want to look around," Jacob said. He naturally couldn't explain that he had a system. "Professor Nina, are you free tomorrow?"
"Do you really want to go?" Nina asked with a frown.
"Yeah." Jacob nodded without hesitation.
"Then let's go now." Perhaps because Jacob had cared for her today, Nina didn't want to feel indebted to him, so she responded without reservation. "Wait for me to take a shower."
"Let's not go today. Professor Nina, you're still feeling the effects of alcohol, and it's not good to shower right after eating," Jacob advised.
"Go wash the dishes first, and wait until I'm almost finished with my shower."
"..."
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Half an hour later, at ten o'clock in the evening, Jacob and Nina took a taxi to the entrance of the underground black market. For safety reasons, Nina had decided not to drive.
The two stood at the entrance. Even though they wore masks and baseball caps to conceal their faces, their height immediately attracted attention.
The Capital's so-called "underground black market" had gradually been legitimized in recent years. It now functioned essentially as a large-scale trading hub, but everyone still called it the underground black market out of habit.
The market featured a diverse array of vendors—legitimate merchants with storefronts and shadier individuals setting up makeshift stalls on the ground. All types of people frequented the area. Some, like Jacob and Nina, wore masks to conceal their identities, while others showed their faces openly. As long as no one caused trouble, everything was permitted.
"Let's go shopping."
The underground black market had its peculiarities. During daylight hours, the established businesses thrived, but at night, the street vendors became the main attraction, selling all manner of strange and unusual items.
The shops operated 24 hours a day. Jacob, visiting for the first time, was filled with curiosity and examined the stalls one by one as they walked.
"You've got some nerve selling a D-rank item. Even though the Throat Spray suits Noivern well, it's still garbage at D-rank. Besides, Noibat can't even learn Hyper Voice yet."
"An E-rank Special Attack Gem that increases special attack by only 5% costs this much? You're taking advantage of people."
As expected, the items sold by these small vendors were leftovers after all the good merchandise had been claimed. Nothing worthwhile remained.
"Let's keep going."
Nina walked in front while Jacob followed behind. As the crowd grew denser, Jacob and Nina had to move closer together until finally they were practically pressed against each other by the mass of people.
The crowd generated considerable heat, and they were wearing only thin T-shirts, already soaked with sweat. Nina, pressed against Jacob, could clearly feel his heartbeat, causing her ears to gradually turn red. She could only pretend nothing was happening and continue moving with the flow of people.
Jacob was also acutely aware of his proximity to Professor Nina and detected the subtle fragrance emanating from her. Combined with the aftereffects of recently inheriting Asher's social media account, the 18-year-old Jacob, full of youthful passion, found his mind wandering.
Nina turned her head and gave Jacob a look that could kill.
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