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Cloud stood in the training area with a bewildered expression after being dragged there, while Mikey was looking strangely motivated.

Maybe he was thinking of showing a cool side of him to me.

Surrounding them were the Adventurers from both the capital and the hot-spring town, who were now transformed into curious onlookers.

“Mikey, go get that capital greenhorn!”
“Huuh, who are you calling greenhorns! Still, you have my permission to beat up Cloud!”
“Smite that harem b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲!”
“Smite him!”
“Purge that playboy!”
“Purge him!”

The capital’s Adventurers have united for this occasion and were cheering in chorus. That strange atmosphere ended up overpowering the settlement Adventurers in a flash.

Still, they were always so hostile to Cloud huh. The antagonism towards the Half-Demons was that deep-rooted it seems.

“Cloud, do you actually have no friends?”
“Shut up! I don’t, okay?”
“Well, you are a Half-Demon. Can’t be helped.”
“That’s not the problem here!”

While in half-tears, Cloud took up his favorite shield and fake sword. Mikey also held a fake spear that was a bit over a meter long. Perhaps he was better accustomed to using spears rather than swords considering that his principal battlefield was the forest.

“Come to think of it, this might be the first time for Cloud to face a spear-wielding opponent.”
“Huh, really? Hang in there, Cloud!”

Michelle frantically cheered him on from next to me. It was a common scene for her to put her hands on her mouth to enhance her voice. It was a common sight, yes, but the two lumps of meat squeezed by her arms were anything but common.

“She’ll probably reach Maria-class in the future…”
“Nicole, come on you too!”
“I’ve already seen this development before. I don’t really care, you know?”

Michelle’s cheer made not Cloud but the surrounding Adventurers more excited.

“What the? Wasn’t that guy dating that white girl?”
“Look at that chest… She has some seriously promising future, doesn’t she?”
“Wait, so he’s two-timing them? Unforgivable.”

The hot spring Adventurers who didn’t know the situation were gradually turned into Cloud’s enemies like this. Cloud in question was already used to this development, so he just dropped his shoulders as if saying, not again.

The problem was Mikey who he was facing.

“You, did you even put your hands on that other girl…!”
“No.”
“Unforgivable. Popular guys should just die without mercy.”
“Not you too!?”

Just like that, the hopelessness of the capital’s Adventurers had infected more people.

Following that, Mateus signaled the start of the match while acting like he was completely unrelated to this. You caused this mess, okay? I haven’t forgotten it.

“Now then, begin!”
“Dieee!”
“Isn’t this just a match!?”

The spear was thrust—Of course, the training-use one—and Cloud’s large shield stopped it. Then Cloud tried to thrust his sword to counterattack, but Mikey stepped forward faster than him.

His spear had been stopped by Cloud’s shield, yet he still took a step forward. The result was that the spear was pulled towards Mikey by the distance of that one step. With that action, he managed to both approach the opponent and bring back his spear.

Then Mikey once again thrust his spear as fast as he could, but Cloud twisted his body and dodged it.

“Heh… He’s pretty good.”
“Wahh, Cloud’s in a pinch!”
“Nah, he can dodge that much. He’s receiving dad’s training, after all.”

As proof of that, while Cloud’s upper body was bent back quite a bit, his lower body posture was still firmly in place. This told me that he still had some leeway left.

Still, this should’ve made him realize how troublesome spears were. It was a weapon that could freely change the attack range with the wielder’s position.

And it generally had a longer reach than a sword. If I was asked to give an amateur some kind of weapon, I would have gone with a spear. It was just that simple to use, yet was very lethal and quite profound.

Cloud failed to kill his momentum so he rotated where he stood and swung his shield horizontally.

Though it was a shield, it was still a metallic object. If you got slammed with something like that, the resulting damage wouldn’t be a joke.

Mikey instantly used his spear as a shield to block it—but he also received a sword strike from the opposite side.

Was Cloud reproducing a pseudo-double-sword battle style? He seemed to have grown up quite a bit.

That said, his sword strike was quite light. As it didn’t have the necessary lethal power, Mikey managed to just barely dodge it. Even so, he didn’t come out completely unharmed.

Unlike Cloud, his posture was completely broken, and he ended up tumbling on the ground.

Cloud followed up with a kick, which Mikey ended up taking head-on.

“Khh…Cough! Damn, you’re not bad!”
“This is your chance to surrender.”
“In your dreams!”

Mikey seemed to be quite skilled for his age, but he still couldn’t match Cloud who was experiencing actual combat and training on a daily basis. Different from Mikey who could only use his spear, Cloud also used his shield and kicks aside from the sword to turn the situation to his advantage.

His experiences until now were the main reason behind the abundance of his attack varieties. If it was one on one fights, Cloud could display a formidable power.

Thus, Mikey was gradually pushed back, and he found himself pushed near the onlookers, in other words, to a place with nowhere to go.

Realizing his escape behind was cut, Mikey decided to go for a fierce charge. But there’s no way Cloud would not have expected it. His role was a defender, so he was constantly ready to receive an attack. As such, this must have been fully in his expectations.

“Haaaaaaaaah!”
“You have a good judgment—But still too naive!”

He used his shield to ward off Mikey’s last struggle and tripped his legs in the passing, knocking him down on the ground. And just as he tried to get up, Cloud thrust his sword at him.

“Okay, we have a match. This seems to be this boy’s win.”
“…Dammit!”

Mateus announced his judgment.

Mikey hit the ground in frustration. I could understand the feeling of disgrace after losing in front of a large crowd. I approached him and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Don’t feel so down. This is just training, so you can lose as much as you want. There’s always the next time.”
“Nicole… But…”
“Besides, Cloud keeps on losing in actual battles, you know?”
“Oh shut up will you!?”

Cloud, I’m trying to end things on a good note here, so stop interrupting.

“In fact, it’s strange that he’s still alive now.”
“Well, I find that fact strange myself…”
“Mikey, you realized your lack of ability with this. And you’re still alive. That means you can focus on improving from now on. It’s as simple as that.”
“Y-Yeah… You’re right.”

He stood up and extended his right hand towards Cloud. Realizing he was asking for a handshake, Cloud responded to it.

“It’s my loss. Also, sorry for flaring up at you like that.”
“Well, I understand where you were coming from. Only her outward appearance is good at least.”
“Really? I think she is just as amazing on the inside. I showed a shameful sight this time, but I’ll properly win the next time and make a fresh start.”
“Ah, well, do your best, I guess?”
“Don’t do your best, just give up.”

The two seemed to have been confirming their friendship, but Mikey, please just give up. I have no interest in men.