Chapter 4, Cook's Bento, Get! (Seeking collections)
"...Damn it, they actually splashed it."
Bai Ge's eyes twitched, his entire body already drenched.
He had just seen these girls surrounding Raiden Mei and verbally bullying her, so he rushed over without thinking, and immediately got a bucket of water splashed on him.
He suddenly felt completely off.
Didn't they say it was verbal bullying? Why did it suddenly change to splashing water? They're not playing by the rules.
"You, who are you?!"
"I'm just a passing righteous ally… Just kidding, but! I! Say! You guys are going way too far and being excessive."
Bai Ge shook the water off his body and looked at the girls angrily.
Not only these girls, but even Mei herself, who was behind Bai Ge, was incredibly surprised.
Mei's eyes widened as she looked at Bai Ge, never expecting that in this Chiba Academy, which she thought was full of malice, someone would actually speak up for her.
"Isn't that Bai Ge? Why are you here, and aren't you being a bit nosy?"
"Nosy? How can stopping campus bullying happening right before my eyes be called nosy?"
"You've misunderstood, Bai Ge, and you know, Raiden Mei is the daughter of a fraudster, and what good person can the daughter of a criminal be?"
Perhaps because of Bai Ge's popularity, the girls' earlier arrogance had vanished, and they all explained their justification with stiff smiles.
Bai Ge looked directly into their eyes, his pure and straightforward will making them unable to meet his gaze.
"Huh? What kind of warped logic is that? Is the daughter of a fraudster necessarily a criminal? You're just making a clumsy excuse for your bullying."
"No, we just…"
"Enough! It's unbearable. I'm not interested in your excuses, and your apologies are worthless, so I don't even want them, sigh~"
Bai Ge sighed and turned to look at Mei behind him, his gaze immediately softening. After all, she was the first character on his Hyperion with full affinity.
Especially now, she revealed an expression of surprise that he wouldn't see even if he tapped the character point on the bridge countless times.
"I've also heard about Raiden Ryoma's matter, but whether the outcome is true or false, what he did has nothing to do with his daughter Raiden Mei, right?"
"Uh, no, if Raiden Ryoma really is a fraudster, then perhaps his daughter Raiden Mei should indeed bear some of the responsibility for the crimes he committed, after all, that's a small responsibility as a child."
"But no matter what, none of you have the right to treat her like this. After all, you weren't defrauded by her, were you? Rather… when you were willing to be friends with Raiden Mei in the past, think about who paid for your outings with her."
Bai Ge's words left them speechless.
Because there was nothing to refute.
Those who had their money cheated by Raiden Ryoma might have the right to accuse Mei, but they absolutely did not.
In fact, they could even be said to have been parasites living off Mei in the past. Mei always paid for their outings, while they thought of using the girl's emotions and her reputation to get involved with ME Corporation.
"You are the perpetrators, so don't act like victims. You're a bunch of ungrateful ingrates, disgusting."
"As her friends, you should have comforted her and stood by her during this time. It would be one thing to just distance yourselves, but to transform into perpetrators? Don't you feel ashamed?"
Standing on the moral high ground, Bai Ge pointed fingers and unleashed a torrent of criticism at the girls.
The girls' faces turned ugly from his words, and they even felt as if they didn't deserve to be human.
"We, we're leaving!"
"What, making such a big deal out of it."
"It's not a big deal…"
"Hmph, I'll never like this guy again."
You don't need to like me anyway.
Seeing the girls retreat in unison after his words, Bai Ge mumbled. Although character was more important than looks, Bai Ge admitted he was a lookist.
Besides, these girls were neither good in character nor looks.
And anyway, since he had come to the Honkai world, of course he had to cozy up to the Valkyries!
"Are you alright, Raiden Mei?"
"I'm fine, thank you, Bai Ge."
As expected of a young lady from the Far East who had received a good upbringing since childhood, Mei, who had recovered, immediately bowed ninety degrees to Bai Ge in gratitude.
"That's good. Well then, bye-bye."
"Please, please wait."
Seeing Bai Ge about to leave after doing a good deed, Mei couldn't help but call out to stop him.
"Hmm? Is there anything else?"
"Please, Bai Ge, why did you help me?" Mei asked, puzzled.
They were just ordinary classmates, with no special relationship, so Mei didn't understand why Bai Ge was willing to help her when there was no benefit in doing so.
Bai Ge tilted his head after hearing her, and spoke as if it were a matter of course.
"What kind of question is that? Does helping a poor girl who's being bullied necessarily require a reason? Don't worry, although I'm not sure what your father's situation is, I won't have any prejudice against you, Raiden."
"..."
Raiden Mei felt a tightness in her chest as she looked at the handsome smile on the boy's face. His gentle words, spoken with such natural ease, brought a ray of light to her gloomy heart.
"Thank you, thank you Bai Ge."
"Uh, why are you crying? I didn't do anything serious."
Bai Ge scratched his head helplessly, not expecting Mei to be so fragile at this moment. No wonder Herrscher of Thunder in the story called her a 'crybaby'.
Raiden Mei is not yet the Herrscher of Thunder who will endure countless hardships and trials in the future; at this moment, she is just a pitiful girl suffering from school bullying.
"Alright, alright, making a girl cry is not something I want to do."
"Okay, thank you, but since I got your clothes dirty, let me make it up to you."
"To clarify, it wasn't you who got it dirty, it was those bad guys who got it dirty. As for compensation, there's no need for that... well, cough cough, but since you've put it that way, I'll accept it."
Just as Bai Ge was about to refuse, he saw something Mei was holding. After hesitating for half a second, he decisively chose the Cook's boxed lunch.
"I haven't had lunch yet~"