Chapter 2: I Became the Last Place in the Academy

Kanna Aurora. That was my name.

However, I didn't know the original personality of this Kanna Aurora.

It was difficult to grasp what she had been doing, or what she had been thinking while attending this academy.

The house was so desolate that I was alone, and even after going to the academy, I felt like I was going to die of loneliness because I had no friends.

It was rare for me to talk to anyone, so I hadn't opened my mouth much since coming here.

I mostly heard my changed voice when I was muttering alone at home.

That was the problem.

This story was a tragedy that ended with Yun Hamin leaving sadly, without saving anyone, without protecting anything, and only losing.

In short, it was a story where everyone dies when the ending is reached.

To live, many people, including me, had to change the ending, and to change the ending, we had to change the outcome of the events that happened in the middle.

That's why I was trying to recall the contents and think of a solution, but the biggest problem I faced now was that I was already facing difficulties without even doing that.

I stared at Yun Hamin for too long, and I thought he would scold me for looking at the lowest-ranked student, but I was scolded by Orca, who was thinking like a top student, as if it was strange to do that in the first place.

She didn't like the fact that the lowest-ranked student wasn't concentrating in class and was doing other things, which was lowering the class average.

So, I was hesitant, but I eventually picked up my pen and started taking notes diligently.

Do I have to study even in a place like this? I wondered, but I had to lead the story in the same way until the incident happened, right?

It's not a turning point yet. The story couldn't be twisted just because Orca called me out for a moment and talked to me.

If I kept making her worry and turned her in a different direction, there might be a problem from there, but not right now.

This is driving me crazy. What if I study like this and suddenly I'm not the lowest-ranked student anymore?

Could it be that me being the lowest-ranked student is also affecting the story?

But I don't think there was such a story...

I seriously pondered.

Whether I could sincerely study and take the exam.

Maybe Kanna Aurora wasn't as stupid as I thought.

I thought so and repeated the note-taking.

Time passed, the class ended, and the bell announcing the end of school rang through the speakers installed throughout the school.

While everyone was putting on their bags and going back, I blankly stared at the notes I had written and slipped them into my bag.

Then, Orca, who was in the front, glanced at me and chuckled.

It wasn't a sneer, but a feeling that she had guided a foolish lamb to a good place.

Well, she was a heroine who pursued the right things just like the protagonist, so it was likely.

And at the same time, Yun Hamin's gaze, who turned his head together wondering what Orca was looking at, was directed at me.

Seeing that, I avoided Orca's gaze and moved my seat slightly.

But he spoke to me as if he wouldn't let me go so easily.

"You're Kanna Aurora, right?"

"...Ah, hello."

"...Y-You don't have to use honorifics."

Yun Hamin seemed flustered and replied like that when I was awkwardly using honorifics.

Not all classmates were friends.

Since I didn't have a single friend here, it was as if there was an invisible wall.

In short, there was no one I could relax with and drop the honorifics with.

Since I couldn't mingle in conversations, it didn't matter whether I used honorifics or not, since no one cared, right?

Of course, it didn't seem like that for Yun Hamin.

More than that, he called me over, so it seemed like he had something to say.

Yun Hamin, of all people, called me.

It was possible to just brush him off and leave, but I didn't want to incur the animosity of the girls around me to that extent, so I wanted to quickly deal with the matter.

"May I ask why you called me?"

When I carefully replied, Yun Hamin hesitated as if he didn't really have anything to say, and then opened his mouth awkwardly.

"No, just do your best."

He ended up giving me words of encouragement like that.

I couldn't understand why he called me, as if that was the reason.

Why did he call me?

I pondered whether Yun Hamin was originally like this, but I couldn't remember well when I tried to think about the early days of the work, so I was hesitant.

\*

I returned to the house I lived in, put my bag down on the empty floor, and pondered for a long time.

It was to clarify what I had to do from now on.

First of all, considering my situation, I was a penniless beggar, and I was being ostracized at the academy because I was ranked last.

Of course, Yun Hamin and Orca seemed to be paying some attention to me, but it was clear that it was all because I had been studying again after not studying.

If that was the case, there was probably no one who would listen to me if I told them about the future that was about to come.

They would dismiss it as nonsense, a ridiculous story.

I thought about whether the teachers and other kids would believe me if I raised my rank, but it wasn't necessarily a good thing considering that hostile forces would check the teachers or the high-ranking students of the academy first.

I agonized.

But still, the answer didn't come out properly.

Just Kanna Aurora, my position was so terrible that no one believed me and no one tried to get close to me, it was a position close to being invisible.

Was that why? Except for the kind protagonist and heroine, no one talked to me or looked at me, so I felt desolate.

I was afraid that if I tried to stick to Yun Hamin, rumors would spread that the lowest-ranked student was sticking to the top student to try to improve her status. Then, it would be a little better to stick to the heroine who was close to the protagonist.

"...How do I raise their favorability?"

The problem was how to get close to them, but the problem was whether someone like me could fit in, since everyone coveted connections with the top or second-ranked students.

Anyway, if I failed in whatever I did, everyone except the protagonist would die, regardless of whether I was the lowest-ranked student or not.

When I thought about that, I was only left with the thought that I had to put on a thick face.

\*

The next day, I headed to the academy as soon as it was morning.

While carrying my bag and spending a day where no one talked to me, I quietly approached where Orca was sitting.

"...Excuse me."

"Yes?"

"Could you be my friend...?"

I muttered like that.

I usually didn't have much to say in the academy, but today was the day I really mustered up the courage.

And Orca was still for a moment, then smiled bitterly and replied.

"Okay. Let's be friends."

Listening to her voice as she replied with a smile, I felt overwhelmed with the thought that I had been worrying for nothing.

Then, Yun Hamin, who was next to her, glanced at me and leaned forward slightly to look at me.

"What, did you just become friends? Do you want to be friends with me too?"

"Hamin, you..."

"It's okay."

"I guess so."

Orca closed her eyes and sighed deeply as if it wasn't her business.

I approached Orca because I was afraid that if I approached Yun Hamin, I would be marked as someone to watch out for by the other kids, but I never dreamed that Orca would easily agree, let alone that Yun Hamin would step up and offer to be my friend.

"Nice to meet you."

His smiling face came into view.

I saw that, but I couldn't bring myself to smile back.

Because the gazes of the girls behind him were a little stinging.

Orca is already set as his partner, so I don't understand why you guys are so fired up.

"...Nice to meet you."

I replied awkwardly to his words.

Then, I moistened my parched lips with my tongue and returned to my seat.

Academy life, I was already out of being an outcast.

I had made a friend.

The problem was that even though I had made a friend, I didn't know what to do next.

I had to prepare for the monsters' attacks, and I had to respond to the machinations of the intelligent monster.

The order was a little hazy, so I frowned and racked my brain.

I made a plan so that I could respond to whatever came.

Since we're friends, will they believe my words a little?

Is it strange to expect them to believe me to that extent with just this?

While worrying like that, I concentrated on studying during class to maintain my relationship with Yun Hamin and Orca even a little.

They seemed to like people who worked hard, so I thought they would be satisfied if I did this.

After studying hard until lunchtime, I threw the pen I was writing with to one side and took a deep breath.

"Ugh."

Everyone rushed out with the bell ringing to announce lunchtime.

I hesitated for a moment and recalled that lunchtime was quite a good time.

I recalled what I hadn't dared to recall because I always thought it was time to eat bread in the bathroom.

The breaks between classes were too short, but lunchtime had enough time to eat and talk.

So, it would be good to go back to telling them subtly, without being too obvious.

If even one thing was right, then Yun Hamin or Orca would think that my words were reasonable and that I was trustworthy.

"...Huh."

But there was no one left in the classroom, and everyone seemed to have gone out to eat.

"......"

I already knew.

That just because you say you'll be friends with one word doesn't mean you'll really become friends.

Blankly, I quietly bought a piece of bread and went into the bathroom just like yesterday.

No, it's not that we didn't become real friends, but should I have said let's be friends who eat together too?

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