Marcos spoke plainly while holding up three fingers.
Verber looked disgusted for a moment, but quickly put on a mocking smile, and attacked.
“Making fun of me, are you!? You’re gonna regret it!!”
He infused Wasp Needle with magic energy again, and charged straight ahead.
Verber grinned as he felt the impact of the attack he really put his power into, but that look on his face changed when he saw the needle was stopped by a golden armor.
“…Fool. How could I not block an attack when I know it’s coming?”
Marcos snorted after easily blocking an attack that was executed with full power, but was also incredibly direct.
Moreover, he had not budged a centimeter. Blocking that attack head on did not move him at all.
“Tch! Damn you…!!”
Verber was flustered after seeing his full power easily blocked, but he could not accept not making a dent into an opponent that mocked him, so that was painted over with anger, and he continued attacking.
Clink clink clink… The magic energy infused Wasp Needle continued to be thrust by Verber, but Marcos blocked it all with his Giga scissors. Verber failed to move Marcos at all, let alone damage him.
“Dammit! What’s with this toughness…!?”
“My defense is not about toughness. Your attacks are much too soft. They have no speed, there is little weight to them, and no element of surprise… I’m surprised you found the gall to look down on others in this state.”
This was abnormal from the point of view of Verber and his friends. He unleashed fierce, intense attacks, but somehow, Marcos overwhelmed it all.
Verber was the one who stepped forward to attack, but Marcos’ defense was so tough, that Verber was the one feeling cornered. It was all too strange.
“Why? You’re the guy that scum beat in one hit! How is a weakling like you…!?”
“It is no more than the difference between someone who diligently trains to overcome the one he deemed to be his goal, no matter the suffering and ridicule, and one who does not.”
When Melt saw Marcos turn to Yuugo and Mizari as he said this, she understood what he was thinking when he took on this fight.
It was not just so the name of the person he chased, Yuugo, was not tarnished. It was also to encourage Mizari, who also did her best to catch up to someone. Marcos was showing her how he fought as a way to cheer her on.
It seemed he saw himself in Mizari, who looked up to her great father and tried to be like him.
He would never admit it, but… He also looked up to the hero that saved him.
“Huff…! Ahh…! Ahh…!”
“…Getting quite out of breath, are we? That is proof that you lack the fundamentals. You’re in the training area, so how about you work on yourself rather than bothering others?”
“Dammit! Dammit…!”
Sweat poured like a waterfall, as Verber’s breathing was ragged, and anyone could tell he was exhausted.
After infusing Wasp Needle with magic energy again and again, he ripped it off his arm, and was about to angrily throw it at the ground… When Marcos grabbed his arm.
“…Let’s not look down on people too much. That is Mizari’s pride, not something for a lowlife like you to treat poorly.”
“Uu…!?”
Verber shrunk back, intimidated by the pressure coming from Marcos, and Marcos used that opportunity to quietly take Wasp Needle back.
Less than three minutes passed since the first attack, but more notably, Marcos had not attacked even once.
“Dammit…! This…!!”
He lost to the person he mocked for losing in one hit, without landing a single hit.
Verber was hit by this reality and trembled with humiliation, but Marcos ignored him to instead turn to Mizari and give her back her Wasp Needle.
“Here is your magic item.”
“T-thank you very much…!”
“…Thanks Marcos. You really helped us out.”
“I did nothing to warrant gratitude… But it feels nice to hear you say it! Thank me more! Fuhahahahahaha!”
Marcos was cool at first, but his true nature revealed itself at the end, and he laughed loudly. As Yuugo and the others heard him, they smiled awkwardly at his sloppy attitude.
Still, they accepted it, as that was just how Marcos was. But the person who lost to Marcos, or rather, failed to even be an actual opponent, could not remain silent.
“Don’t screw with me…! It’s not my fault! I’m not used to fighting with that crappy magic item! I’d win in a real fight!”
“Hou? Then bring out a magic item you are proficient with, and I will face you any time.”
“Guh…!! T-this has nothing to do with you! I was facing you, Mizari! Aren’t you ashamed of having someone cover for you!?”
“… Am I the only one who thinks it’s strange for someone who acts like this to question others’ shamelessness?”
“What a coincidence, so do I.”
“Shut up!!”
After many excuses, Verber tried to go after who he thought was the weakest person there.
Yuugo and Marcos responded straight at Verber, who had acted very shamelessly at this point already, when Mizari raised her head and spoke.
“I… Can’t stay quiet when someone mocks my Wasp Needle. I can’t forgive it…!!”
“Hehehe…! That settles it then! In one week, we’ll duel with our pride on the line! Don’t run away!!”
The moment he said that, Verber ran away with his friends.
Yuugo asked himself who exactly was running, and spoke to Mizari as she equipped Wasp Needle on her right arm.
“…I’m sorry for saying that after you had to come help me. I…”
“I get it. You couldn’t stay quiet when someone made fun of the magic item that belonged to your father, because you respect him so much.”
Said Yuugo, and Mizari’s shoulders trembled.
He gently tapped them, and nodded while looking straight at her, before speaking quietly.
“…Let’s have a little chat, just the two of us. I want to hear some things from you.”
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