At this moment, Leo Ash, looking at Raiden Mei under the eaves, felt as if he were seeing a shadow of his past self.
There wasn't much to say about Leo Ash's past.
He was an orphan, so it was normal to be bullied at school.
Even if he could beat up all those idiots, what happened after the fight?
Oh, it was satisfying, for sure, but the problem was that the consequences were not so great.
The teacher's criticism was inevitable. Even if the teacher knew those little bastards started it, seeing their bruised faces, a few words were unavoidable.
In fact, just a few words was already a sign of the teacher favoring him.
And after that, those idiots didn't dare to act recklessly.
But the other students, who were not close to him to begin with, became even more afraid to approach him.
On one hand, getting close to Leo Ash meant making enemies of those bullies, and no one wanted to bring trouble upon themselves.
On the other hand, Leo Ash had actually won a one-versus-many fight.
In the eyes of some, Leo Ash's image after that was that of a violent brawler.
For ordinary students who feared trouble, getting close to violence was obviously not a good choice.
The ostracism from his classmates naturally led to years of loneliness for Leo Ash during his student days.
And the atmosphere around Raiden Mei right now naturally gave Leo Ash a sense of that same loneliness.
The only difference was that Leo Ash gave off the feeling of a fierce lone wolf.
While Raiden Mei was more like an abandoned kitten.
Although Leo Ash didn't know what had happened, looking at the girl before him with her head buried in her arms, anyone could see that she was in a terrible mood.
And at the same time, a character introduction template that Leo Ash had only seen once suddenly popped up before his eyes.
[Name: Raiden Mei]
[Identity: Daughter of former ME Corp President Raiden Ryoma, a Herrscher Host for the Herrscher of Thunder who could awaken at any time, your classmate]
[Current Affection: 65]
[Note: She is in a very bad mood right now.]
Looking at this character introduction template, Leo Ash remembered that he had previously thought he would get this kind of template with hints whenever he met a key character.
It was only later, after meeting Raiden Mei and Kiana Kaslana, that he realized this thing didn't pop up 100% of the time.
But now, he shouldn't be concerned with such unimportant little things.
Just this morning, Leo Ash remembered seeing Raiden Mei with an umbrella in her hand.
And before he left the classroom to find Kiana in another class, Leo Ash had confirmed that Raiden Mei seemed to be in a pretty good mood.
If her umbrella was gone, Raiden Mei wasn't an idiot; she could just buy a new one.
But now she was hiding here, like an autistic child huddled under the eaves...
It looked like someone was targeting this poor girl.
Honestly, with the atmosphere around her right now, if there were a [Herrscher Awakening Progress Bar] hanging over her head, Leo Ash felt it would be at least 50% full.
This is ridiculous.
Who on earth...
Hmm, wait, I think I get it.
Leo Ash, holding his umbrella, walked over to Raiden Mei's side and looked down at the girl before him.
Hearing the footsteps, Raiden Mei also lifted her head slightly and saw the person who had arrived.
"Leo Ash..."
[Seeing the tears in Raiden Mei's eyes, you know that the best opportunity for you has arrived!]
[For someone in the abyss, as long as a ray of light appears before them, this light that shines upon them will bring them salvation.]
[A girl who is already exhausted in body and mind—is unable to resist this ray of light!]
[Keep up the good work! You are not far from a special achievement! Just go with the flow, and capturing Raiden Mei is only a matter of time!]
At this moment, listening to the narration from the system, Leo Ash, for a rare change, did not refute or complain about it.
He knew very well that the narrator was not wrong this time.
Raiden Mei was in a very bad mood. Anyone who extended a helping hand at this time would gain her affection.
What's more, if this person was Leo Ash, who had helped her before, her affection for him would only increase further.
[See! You know it very well, the opportunity is right in front of you!]
[And there's no need to worry about any problems. You also know that doing this is helping her.]
[With just a few gentle words, you can win a girl's heart. For you, this is not only no loss at all, but a huge gain!]
[Raiden Mei needs emotional comfort, and as the one who gives her comfort, what's wrong with collecting a little interest?]
Ah, what you said is indeed correct.
This is a very reasonable transaction. She gets what she needs, and I won't lose out in this regard either.
[Yes, that's it. You have made up your mind. Today is the day—]
But doing so would make me very unhappy.
When I needed someone to save me, no hero came to my rescue.
Because of that, I chose to save myself.
And now, she is in the same situation I was in back then.
[And because of that, you feel that you should become her he—]
Because of that, I should let her know one thing.
Let her know that for a person, the most reliable thing is always, only themselves.
Looking at the tear stains at the corner of the girl's eyes, Leo Ash said coolly.
"Are you crying? Like an idiot."
Raiden Mei, whose face had already shown a hint of expression, suddenly froze.
She, who had already seen Leo Ash as her savior, never expected that such cold words would come out of his thirty-something-degree mouth.
"The HOMU Sword Saint has always protected you too well."
"He taught you the way of the sword to train your body, but he failed to temper your spirit."
After saying these two sentences, Leo Ash looked at the panel and saw Raiden Mei's affection for him drop directly from 65 to 40... No, wait, why is it still so high.
Rita, my sworn sister, is only at 50.
Whatever, let's continue.
"But, I..."
Mei wanted to refute Leo Ash's words, but before she could speak, she suddenly realized that there was nothing wrong with what he said.
Mei, who was once a young lady, did practice swordsmanship with her 'master', the HOMU Sword Saint, but he only taught her how to fight, not how to temper her heart.
It was because of this that the girl became so fragile after her father's accident...
No, Raiden Mei had always been a fragile girl.
It was only because her father had protected her so well that her weakness was not exposed to others.
"What's with that expression on your face, what's with those tears."
Staring at the girl who was hesitant to speak, Leo Ash continued in a cold tone.
"After being bullied, do you expect to hide in a corner and cry, using your tears to save yourself?"
....
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