"Elena! Please! You're the only one I can turn to!"
"I’m so lonely... I don't have any friends! Please, just listen to me for a second!"
The morning after the zoo incident, a familiar scene unfolded at Luminous Academy.
Isolated and stripped of their party members and friends, the former hero candidates swarmed around Elena with repulsive looks on their faces. It was an eerie sight, reminiscent of ants congregating around a sugar cube dropped on the pavement.
Their lecherous gazes lingered on her—specifically her ample chest and the healthy, tanned thighs visible beneath her skirt—as they addressed her in cloying, desperate tones, doing their best to project an air of tragic misery.
To these men, who had been completely abandoned by the other students of Luminous Academy—or more accurately, whose true natures had been so thoroughly exposed that no one would go near them—Elena represented their last hope in more ways than one.
Though she possessed a presence similar to a certain wizard of the ring, they didn't view her as a hero like him. Instead, they eyed her with raw ambition, seeing her as a final lifeline—someone who might actually satisfy their selfish desires.
"Everyone's ignoring me because of what happened on Wind Island. You think I'm pathetic, don't you? Please help me, Elena..."
"I'm all alone, separated from my family and without a single friend. As a transfer student yourself, you understand how lonely that feels, right? You know what it's like to just want a friend, don't you? Right!?"
The former hero candidates clinging to Elena played the part of the tragic victim to exploit her kindness. Or rather, they thought they were playing a part; in truth, they actually were pathetic, and most of their claims were factually correct.
However, since their current circumstances were entirely of their own making, they deserved no sympathy. They were cunning enough to hide the causes of their misery while posing as victims, yet that only made them a more wretched group.
"So please, just for a moment, be my emotional support! If I stay like this, the loneliness is going to break me!"
"I'd be so happy if you'd be my friend, Elena. It would really save me. Please, I'm begging you! Be my friend!"
Listening closely to their pleas revealed a certain truth: none of these former hero candidates considered the others standing right next to them as comrades. They each wanted Elena for themselves and saw everyone else as an obstacle. This was why they spoke only of "I" and "me," never "we" or "us."
Despite their attempts to push others down even in this dire state, Elena simply offered them a beaming smile.
"Hmm... Sorry! I can't do that! I'm really, really sorry!"
"Wait, what...?"
The former hero candidates stood wide-eyed, stunned by how cheerfully she had just cut them down. As they remained speechless, she continued.
"Papa and Marcos told me I'm not supposed to follow people I don't know! I think it's sad that you don't have any friends, but they told me I have to have... caution? Marcos also said that since I'm a cute girl, some people might approach me with bad intentions!"
"Ugh...!"
The hero candidates let out collective groans at the mention of Marcos Borg—the man who had been systematically blocking their access to Elena for days.
That guy meddled again! Their resentment toward him flared, but Elena looked around at the group and piped up again.
"Besides, if you're all so lonely, why don't you guys just become friends with each other? There are plenty of you here, and since you're all in the same boat, I'm sure you'll hit it off! Yes, that's definitely the best way!"
"Ah, well, you see..."
"W-we want to be your friend, Elena. These other guys are... well, they're different."
"You shouldn't say things like that! It's not nice to be picky about your friends. I don't really like people who act like that!"
"Ugh...!"
The truth was that none of them wanted "friends"—they wanted to possess her. Befriending her was merely the first step; making friends with anyone else was pointless. They tried to argue that befriending one another was out of the question, but they found themselves silenced by her unassailable logic.
"And besides—tee hee! If I go making friends without permission, Marcos will get grumpy! So, I really can't be your friend. I'm so sorry! Okay, bye-bye!"
"Ah...!"
"E-Elena...!?"
Leaving them with that final, boastful display of affection, Elena turned and ran off.
The former hero candidates could only stand there in a daze, watching her back fade into the distance. Their last hope had been utterly shattered. With slumped shoulders and heavy hearts, they began to weep—overcome with frustration as they realized they were doomed to a miserable academy life while Marcos and his friends basked in the glow of youth.