Kiana—Mei, Why Are You Wet?

"Ugh, it's them again. So annoying."

"Yeah, they never seem to learn."

After easily driving away the group of girls, Elias and Kiana sat back down on the bench.

However, Elias soon noticed something unusual—Raiden Mei's slender legs, which she had been using as a pillow, now had a few glistening streaks on them. Parts of her stockings had even darkened slightly.

Completely oblivious, the clueless paramecium blinked her eyes and scratched her head before blurting out,

"Huh? Mei, why are you wet?"

Bang!

"Oww! Elias, why did you hit me?! What if I become even dumber?!"

Unable to hold back, Elias had given the girl a firm punch.

Kiana immediately clutched her head, crouching in pain with tears welling up in her eyes. Elias rolled his eyes, thinking, Paramecium, your brain has been offline for a long time. Might as well donate it.

"Idiot Kiana, can't you see that's just your own drool? Mei isn't wet at all."

"Eh? Really? No way! I don't drool! Elias, you must be mistaken!"

"Alright, you two, stop arguing. Kiana didn't drool... I, I really did get wet…"

"No need to take the blame yourself. Our pure and reserved Mei just can't bring herself to say it outright."

Elias chuckled helplessly as he looked at Mei, who had turned red while explaining. Despite her current predicament, she was still a refined young lady from a prestigious family—far more composed than a certain dumb paramecium.

"Hehe, thanks, Mei. But seriously, those girls are so annoying. They always say such horrible things, even though you've done nothing wrong!"

Kiana pouted in frustration.

Elias shrugged and sighed.

"Maybe someone was right—human malice is far scarier than any disaster. I just don't get what's going on in their heads."

"Still, we can't just let this slide. They say nasty things every time they see us. It's driving me crazy!"

"It's fine, Kiana. I'm already used to it… I don't care as much anymore."

Mei grabbed Kiana's arm, stopping her from storming off to settle the score.

Compared to the past, things had indeed improved. At least now, those girls only resorted to verbal abuse instead of anything more extreme.

But words could sometimes hurt even more.

Every time, Mei wanted to cover her ears. But she couldn't control other people's mouths, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Elias, think of something."

"Hmm, leave it to me. If we can't stop them from talking, then let's just not listen. Mei, here—this is for you."

"Eh? Isn't this your headset?"

Both Mei and Kiana looked at Elias in surprise as he handed over his headset.

It wasn't a particularly expensive brand, but Elias' headset had built-in memory, allowing it to play music without needing a phone. It also had excellent noise cancellation—once worn, outside noises were almost completely blocked out.

Its design even resembled a certain Inscription of Setsuna's MOTH Executor's headset.

"Next time they show up, just put these on. Let them talk all they want—you don't have to listen. Instead of their filthy words, wouldn't it be better to enjoy some beautiful music and relax?"

"...Thank you, Elias. I'll treasure this like a precious gift."

"Uh, I appreciate that, but it's really not that big of a deal…"

Elias shook his head. It wasn't some valuable treasure—just something he had used for a while.

Still, knowing that a beautiful girl considered his headset a cherished gift made him quite happy.

"But now I really think something is off about those girls. Even in cases of school bullying, people usually give up if they see no opportunity."

Elias furrowed his brows in thought.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Mei tilted her head in confusion.

"They know that Kiana and I are always around, making it impossible for them to bully you. Yet, they still persist as if they're following orders."

"Yeah! What's with their obsession? It's not like they gain anything from it. Every time they come, Elias and I beat them up. What the heck are they thinking?"

Kiana, too, couldn't understand.

Every time, those girls were soundly beaten, and they were clearly terrified of the two. Yet, whenever they saw Mei, they just had to throw in a few insults.

To Kiana, it made no sense at all.

Elias, however, narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right.

"Maybe... there really is something behind this."

—

Once again, after being driven away by Elias and Kiana, the group of girls huddled together in a secluded corner, panting and looking frustrated.

"Damn it, we failed again. Think of something—if this keeps up…"

"Yeah, we were paid for this. If we don't succeed, we won't get the rest of the money."

"But with those two around, we can't bully Raiden Mei like we used to."

Elias was right—there was something going on behind the scenes.

These girls weren't just acting on their own; they had a reason to keep harassing Mei despite the risks.

They exchanged glances, understanding the situation all too well.

"You all know the deal. She told us to keep bullying Raiden Mei—to make her feel worse, to make her scared and miserable."

If they succeeded, each of them would earn a hefty sum.

"But if we fail, we might be the ones in danger. That woman is definitely someone we don't want to mess with. If we screw this up, we might not get out of this alive."

"Now that I think about it… she's probably Raiden Ryoma's enemy. If that's the case, maybe his fraud charges were a setup."

"Who cares? We're just taking the money and doing the job. Whether her dad is innocent or not has nothing to do with us. Honestly, I've never liked Raiden Mei anyway."

"Let's report this to her. Since she's a big shot, she'll definitely have a way to deal with Elias and Kiana. Hmph! Let them keep protecting Mei—soon, they'll all suffer for it!"

If Elias had been there, he definitely would have given each of them a solid punch before shouting:

"Cocolia, you b*tch!!"