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Lyell being motivated to train Cloud would be meaningless if the person himself wasn’t willing to. Thus, I had to confirm his thoughts first.

The next morning, I decided to drop by Cloud’s place before I headed to the academy.

“Well then, I’m heading out.”

After saying goodbye to Finia, I reached for the door.

This time, I was going without Maria. We were going to talk about Lyell’s training, so if Maria, his wife, followed me now, Cloud would find it hard to refuse even if he wanted to.

“Take care, Lady Nicole. Say hello to Sir Cloud from me.”
“Okay, I’ll let him know you were worried.”

Cloud was aware that Finia hesitated on rescuing him. In that aspect, she had made a disadvantageous judgment for Cloud. On the other hand, it was also thanks to her guidance that the rescue team managed to find us fast.

Looking at it from that perspective, she could also be viewed as one of his lifesavers. But that part was weighing on Finia’s conscience.

They were both from the orphanage, so I wanted them to get along. Imagining such a future made me feel a little warm. As I opened the door with a light gait, I stumbled on Michelle at the doorstep.

“Morning, Nicole!”
“M-Morning. Quite early, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. You’ve been visiting Cloud lately, right? I wanted to come to check on him too.“
“Check on him? It’s not like he’s ill or anything, you know?”

His injuries have been completely healed with Maria’s Regeneration magic. His current obstacle was instead a mental one that came from the shock of being injured.

“Still, I wanna come and say thanks.”
“…I see. Let’s go then.”

I extended my hand towards her. The fact remained that Cloud was the reason she was alive now. She probably thought it would be dishonest if she didn’t show up at least once while he was rehabilitating.

I grabbed Michelle’s warm hand and we headed towards the church. The one who had protected this wide smile currently on her face was undoubtedly Cloud. I had to praise him for that. Though he himself rushed into bigger danger.

The orphanage started its morning early. I arrived earlier than usual, but there were already several boys out of their beds and preparing for breakfast.

In orphanages that had no helpers, it was children themselves who had to make their breakfast.

After greeting the sister that was commanding those kids, we headed to Cloud. He was busy practice-swinging in the backyard as always.

Being a Half-Demon, he couldn’t participate in the meal preparations. While he was bringing food to the table for the kids, the deeply rooted repulsion towards him was still hard to completely get rid of.

For that reason, the sister was making an exception and had him sit out during the cooking.

“Morning. Still practice-swinging?”
“Ah, Master—Nicole!”

Cloud called me master when we were alone, but switched to my name when there was someone else with us. I was still not quite sure what was his basis for that. He saw Michelle behind me, so he changed it right away.

“Morning, Cloud. Have you been okay?”
“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine thanks to Lady Maria. I worried you… Also, I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
“Look, you were against it, but I ignored it and followed those trails…”
“Don’t worry about that. You did your best and protected me, so thank you!”

Cloud was the older one, but she was currently patting his head while thanking him. My expression loosened from such a fluffy scene, but then I suddenly remembered why I came here for.

“Oh, right, Cloud.”
“Hm, yes?”
“Actually, dad said the reason for the current incident lies in your lack of power.”

Cloud looked like he was about to cry partway through my speech. He probably thought he was being blamed for getting me involved.

Being criticized by the famous Six Heroes. If that happened, words wouldn’t explain how heartbroken he would become. I continued my words to erase his fears.

“So, he said he wants to train you. If he’s weak, I just have to make him strong – that’s what he said.”
“Wh-… Lord Lyell wants to train me!?”
“Not just him, Gadius too.”
“Even Lord Gadius!!”
“If you want to master the duty of a tank, Gadius would be a better choice, is what he said.”
“N-Now that I think about it, you were the daughter of Heroes… So you have such connections, huh?”
“What are you saying after all this time. Where do you think I gained my skills!”
“I mean, I get that, but…”

Cloud was in pure confusion from such an unbelievable proposal. Seeing how his eyes darted everywhere and his hands moved in fluster, I understood that he was in no state to make a sound judgment. So, I went and smacked him on the head a bit to calm him down.

“Calm down already. Dad simply said he is willing to train you. If you don’t want that, you can reject the offer, you know?”
“But…”
“If you want, I can go and reject it for you.”
“But that would be such a waste!”

Cloud was having it quite hard in life. He had both my training and the Adventurer practice. As well as other work in the orphanage.

If we put Lyell’s training at nighttime when he was already dead tired, we would be overworking him even if he was older than us. So if he said it was a no-go, I was planning to reject the offer myself. That way it would not cause any offense.

But seeing Cloud’s reaction, my concerns turned out to be needless fears.

“Being able to receive the training of the Six Heroes is something one can only wish for. It’s something that I should be requesting instead.”
“So, you’re okay with it?”
“Please tell them that I’ll be in their care. No, wait, maybe I should go greet them myself!”
“Got it. And no need for the greetings.”

Cloud was making hasty decisions in his excited state. I had to hush him before he went and let something slip. Thinking about what a pain that would be, I felt a little down.

However, Lyell’s training would ultimately be a huge plus for Cloud’s future. That was the main reason why I proposed it to him.

And thus, Cloud had ranked up from mine to the Six Heroes’ disciple.

Here hoping that he doesn’t come to regret that decision…