Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1477 Women's Skills (Second Update)

"Actually, I'm glad there's a gym on the estate; the equipment is very complete, but I've never seen you use it," Laura Crawford shrugged. As an amateur gymnast fully capable of competing in the Olympics, she not only had a very rigorous training program but also strict nutritional requirements. She hadn't seen any of these things on the estate—or rather, she hadn't seen the requirements of ordinary people. However, the exercise supplements and various unknown herbal formulas she used had significantly improved her physical fitness.

This was casual conversation at the dinner table, and aside from Athena's cold expression, the topics were unrestricted. Of course, since not everyone at the table was an adult woman, their conversation didn't stray too far into vulgarity or involve sharing their feelings from the previous night. You see, once a witch lets loose her tongue, even the most unladylike topics will flow from her lips. While there aren't vulgar expressions like excrement or urine, things like "stronger than a Minotaur" or "muscles more taut than a hunting python" would make even Salomon blush and run away.

On the surface, Athena claimed it was too late to return to New York overnight, but in reality, she wanted to come to the manor but was too embarrassed to ask directly. After spending some time with her, Laura Crawford gradually grew accustomed to this woman whose expression resembled a wicked stepmother from a Disney animation. The initial brilliance and awe she felt had become ingrained and numb in her mind. Athena was quite tolerant of intelligent people. Before the others arrived, she had told Laura Crawford, who was finishing her morning exercise, several anecdotes from the Spartan Wars. These were historical tidbits that no scholar had paid attention to, but Laura Crawford was interested in these kinds of stories; otherwise, she wouldn't have brought back so many souvenirs from each adventure.

Before Laura Crawford even brought up the topic, Salomon, who had already sat down at the table, had recounted a story of winning a man's pants and a kiss from a supposed virgin in Las Vegas. Clearly, aside from Wanda and Laura, none of the women present were interested in a naked man in a casino, including Salomon later when he fled a large group of Hells Angels bikers from the hotel to evade retaliation. Everyone knew that if he wanted, he could burn down the entire city of Las Vegas or the Hells Angels without leaving a single survivor. His so-called thrilling adventures were just him entertaining himself, or perhaps it was all a fabrication. The witches didn't believe he would allow anyone to cause him trouble.

When Salomon mentioned some "interesting" things, Bayonetta naturally covered Milia's ears, and the Cheshire Cat followed suit, though the White Witch wasn't as enthusiastic when it nuzzled against Joan of Arc. He claimed he was only fifteen when it happened, and had to do it to earn money to buy diamonds. Later, he discovered it was easier to rob the diamond company's inventory, since the latter had acquired a large number of rough diamonds from Africa to maintain market prices, and he needed these uncut carbon crystals to concoct magic potions for the poor of Kathmandu.

Magic, something Laura Crawford has always been interested in.

"The most troublesome thing isn't infectious diseases or illnesses caused by poor sanitation, but those pharmaceutical consortia from the World Health Organization and the International Vaccine Alliance. In the past, Kamar-Taj has repeatedly found countless civilians who had been abandoned and voluntarily become human test subjects for Indian generic drug factories. To treat the side effects of those drugs, Kamar-Taj has had to use even stronger ones. That's why I need diamonds, and also a few handguns. Handguns are easy to get; Nepal isn't rich, but it's not difficult for civilians to get weapons." Salomon sincerely took responsibility for the well-known disappearance of a WHO medical assistance team and an observer of a certain pharmaceutical consortium in Nepal many years ago, but he didn't regret it. At that time, he hadn't reached such a position in Kamar-Taj, and due to the precepts, he couldn't use more ruthless methods, but with handguns, he could accomplish a lot. "In the slums of Kathmandu, anything disappears very quickly, including corpses."

He paused for a long time.

"Sorry, we've gone off-topic. I shouldn't have told this story at breakfast. What do you want to ask, Laura?"

"I'd like to ask, how do you maintain your physique while consuming so much food? I don't think sword fighting and shooting training are very useful. Without a scientific training approach, it's easy for physical fitness to decline, which is fatal for any adventurer, especially warriors like you. You often have to face inhuman monsters, don't you?"

She looked around curiously, then her gaze settled on Wanda Maximoff, who was eating, and she was certain of her idea based on the latter's physique. It must be said that Wanda's talent prevented her and Pietro from going hungry during their childhood; sometimes she only needed to say a word to get food, even if she didn't understand how it worked.

"Is this also the effect of magic, including this fairytale-like manor with winter roses? Can I have some? I don't want to collapse from exhaustion next time I'm rock climbing."

This was obviously a joke; Laura Crawford's rock climbing skills were so impressive that Salomon sometimes even suspected that her main purpose in carrying a climbing axe was to pry open enemies' skulls rather than to climb.

“First, that gym is for guests; we have our own workout area. Second, while we have magic to maintain our figure or permanently change our appearance, we rarely use it, except to turn people into frogs. Third, we get a lot of exercise, like after breakfast and dinner,” Bayonetta said. “You might not see us again for an hour or two, Laura.”

"Ahem. Three hours, or longer."

"It's nine in the morning. My dear Joan, if you join us, we can come back around lunchtime to talk to the guests, and maybe even make it for afternoon tea." Bayonetta raised an eyebrow at Athena provocatively. The outcome was already decided; in her eyes, Athena was merely unwilling to accept defeat. The witch was as confident in her beautiful body as a lithe female leopard, always had, which greatly displeased the relatively conservative Athena. "Perhaps you'd be willing to let us appear again at dinnertime, Athena?"

She began to describe the feelings she had experienced the previous night and the feelings she would soon have.

Salomon stuffed the food into his mouth without hesitation, grabbed Milia, and rushed out the door.

"See? It's that simple to get rid of a man who doesn't understand women." Bayonetta leaned back in her chair. "Now we can talk properly, Athena. You won't find what you want here. I can make that decision."

"You never know what I want, girl." This was the first time Laura Crawford had heard Athena speak to her in such a serious tone since returning to the manor. "You have no idea how important he is. You've been guarding him like a miser. The further he goes, the better for everyone," Athena said. "He wants people to live, and you're just getting in the way."

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(End of this chapter)