The Matter of Being Picked Up and Adopted by Talula Chapter 19

"Pfft—Hahahaha! 'I swear by the Rostov family?' I'd say you really have no idea what's going on, girl. Do you think that noble act of yours will still work now?"

After hearing Lumen's words, the thugs paid no mind and just laughed, mocking the sheltered young lady who was still dreaming of being a powerful noble.

"Let me tell you, girl, what's going to happen next."

The lead thug placed his cleaver on Orson and swaggered in front of him.

"First, we'll chop off this unlucky guy's head with the cleaver. The blade's a bit dull, so it might take a few good swings."

"Next, I'll throw his head at you, and then I'll use a dagger to tear off that custom-made outfit of yours."

The thug looked at Lumen with the predatory gaze of a hunter ready to toy with its prey, evil and cruel.

"Finally—"

"That's enough."

Orson interrupted the thug, simultaneously snapping his fingers lightly. A black "curtain" materialized behind him, flashing at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.

What happened in an instant was like a light bulb flickering due to unstable electricity for an ordinary person. But for that thug—

"Ughhhhhh!? Wh-What's happening—my arms!?"

His arms, which had been holding the cleaver a second ago, now lay on the ground like garbage, severed cleanly. The thug frantically shook his bleeding stumps and soon passed out on the ground.

"Damn it—Pfft, ugh!?" "What's going on—cough!"

The other thugs hesitated for a few seconds after seeing what was happening before remembering to get into position. But Orson didn't give them a chance. He swung his fists at their chests and jaws with [The Silence of the North], taking them all down in seconds.

"…?"

Lumen stared blankly at the sudden, surreal scene. The "ordinary person" she had wanted to protect had taken down all the enemies in an instant.

"Interesting—You're not an ordinary person, are you?"

After finishing off the thugs who were used as cannon fodder, the Sarkaz mercenary finally emerged from the corner.

"Are you a bodyguard hired by the Rostov family? Well done, but I'm completely different from the trash you just dealt with. We're on entirely different levels."

The Sarkaz mercenary drew a large dagger with a blood groove and serrations from his back, a disdainful smile on his lips.

"I'm the legend they call 'The Ripper.' Little brother, when I tear your body apart from top to bottom—"

"Rest Note, give him a punch."

Thump!!

Before the Sarkaz mercenary could finish his boast, Orson, having completely lost patience, controlled his shadow and slammed the mercenary into the wall, making him impossible to dislodge.

"These people really talk too much... So, I'll ask, is this about money or something else? Jiaozi... cough cough, Miss White Bear I don't know?"

"Uh? Um, it's probably an assassination by old noble factions... Their actions are becoming more radical. I'm sorry to have involved you. I'm Natalia, may I ask who you are?"

Lumen blinked at Orson's question before answering uncertainly.

"Just call me Orson. I used to be... a superior security guard, then I got fired. Currently looking for a job."

Orson casually made up a reason.

"What a coincidence. Anyway, let's get out of here—"

"Where do you think you're going~?"

Just as Orson and Lumen reached the alley entrance, a female voice with a playful, mocking tone came from behind them.

"Even though those guys were complete idiots, I'll lose face if they're just killed like that. Let's all take a step back, and you can obediently let me finish you off, how about that?"

A new killer appeared. Lumen felt worried and scared, while Orson stood in front of her, maintaining a calm demeanor.

"Don't worry, leave this to me. I'll show you how a professional security guard stays calm—calm-calm-calm-calm... Aba aba."

Before Orson could finish his boast, he was so startled by what he saw that he couldn't even speak properly.

—The speed at which things went south was too fast!

Lumen silently complained in her mind, and Orson's reaction made her even more flustered.

What had this young man seen to become so astonished?

For Orson, what he saw at that moment had completely exceeded his expectations.

He saw...

A Sarkaz with dyed hair, a giant cockroach.

(Image included here, viewable after update)

29. (Please refresh this chapter) What's it like to accidentally get negative affinity?

(This chapter has been revised, please refresh) "Dada dada dada, are you not leaving?"

Orson's eyes widened, staring at the female Sarkaz mercenary with a look of "You idiot!"

"Hmm? Am I already this famous? Well, thank you for your attention. As a reward, let me use this bomb as a substitute for an autograph~"

Known as "W," a chaotic individual with a significant role in the game Arknights, often switching between Reunion and Rhodes Island, she unhesitatingly threw a bomb at Orson with a fake smile.

"Rather than an autograph, I'd actually like to touch those two whiskers on your head—Rest Note"

A black shadow extended to Orson's front, then was tuned to increase its hardness to the level of steel.

"KABOOM!"

A loud bang and explosion erupted directly in front of Orson and Lumen's faces, but it was blocked and canceled by Rest Note.

—Which dimension's plot is this now?

Orson protected Lumen from being caught in the blast radius while contemplating his current situation.

First, Orson was certain that such a scene absolutely did not exist in the original work. Lumen being assassinated was already absurd enough, and the assassin being W? That made no sense from a subsequent plot development perspective.

What was the variable that caused all of this? If his existence was what caused events to change... then the "direct cause" of the current situation would be that Reunion did not become the extremist group from the game?

There were many doubts, and the current situation did not allow Orson to think carefully.

"Boom—!!"

"Ngh!"

Lumen let out a short cry of pain, the violent explosions making her eardrums ache.

"Tch... Let's just get out of here. Stay close to me."

Orson pulled Lumen and fled from the alleyway, having to continuously use Rest Note to block explosions along the way, even relying on tuning the shockwaves of the explosions themselves to reduce the damage taken.

He couldn't possibly let Lumen be killed by W here, but he also couldn't possibly kill W. Therefore, the only thing Orson could do was run.

However, Orson, new to Kazimierz City, and Lumen, who rarely wandered the city, were unaware that their escape route was also meticulously planned by W's clever demolitions—

"Damn, it's a trap."

When the two found themselves in front of an abandoned stadium awaiting demolition, with deep pits dug all around to collect debris, Orson finally realized that W had deliberately cornered them here.

"I don't know what your Originium Arts are, little brother, but with enough explosives to blow up half a stadium and attack from multiple angles, you won't be able to escape so easily anymore~?"

W's voice echoed from afar. Orson had to admit that he felt no thrill of being a W fan at all right now, only annoyance and irritation.

Thinking about it, his W banner pull back then was a failure. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

Even a clay figurine has some spirit, let alone Orson, who wasn't exactly good-tempered to begin with. Chased and bombed all the way by W, Orson was now fuming and ready to vent.

"Natalia, hide here. I'll deal with that guy. You stay put and don't move."

"Um, are you okay?"

Lumen looked at Orson's 'back' with some worry.

"I'm fine, don't worry."

Orson threw out an old meme that had become a relic of the past, then walked towards the only entrance where W was located.

"Hey! Sarkaz mercenary over there, I don't know how many bombs you've planted, but can you just listen to me for a sec—"

Boom!!!

Orson attempted to converse with W while giving a French salute, but the result was that he was hit in the face with a grenade launcher before he could even finish speaking, only managing to block it with Rest Note.

"That black thing is really annoying. Is it your Originium Arts?"

W ejected the casing from the barrel and then mockingly looked at Orson's disheveled state.

"Something like that... Li-listen to me finish, can we have a truce today? For some reason, I don't want to fight you, but that polar bear girl over there is also related to me."

Veins popped on Orson's forehead as he suppressed his anger and continued to try to reason with W.

"Hmm... Of course, I can~"

W placed a finger on her chin, striking a thoughtful pose, then smiled and said it was possible.

"You can?"

"That's right. All I need to do is blow you to smithereens and take that child's head."

W revealed a cruel smile and reloaded the grenade launcher, pulling the trigger towards Orson.

"...Fine."

Orson commanded Rest Note to cut the unfused grenade in mid-air in half, then ordered Rest Note to return to his shadow.

"Does that mean the deal is successful? I'll take your little life then."

W smiled and took out a remote control, tossing a C4 towards Orson.

The C4, with its red light, flew towards Orson in a not-so-fast parabola. This time, the black, invisible object did not appear.

"I mean, then there's nothing more to discuss—[Curtain Call]"

Orson placed his finger on his lips, making a shushing gesture.

The next second—the violent explosion sound that W had envisioned, one that could be mistaken for the demolition of an abandoned building, did not occur.

The bomb thrown at Orson did not detonate, and the high-yield landmine buried at his feet also failed to explode.

"...What did you do?"

W's smile became less natural and composed.

"..."

Orson didn't respond. The young man, whom W had initially pegged as "talkative," was now silent.

—Is this effect also that guy's Originium Arts? If so… so fast!

"Ngh—!?"

One second, W was trying to reload her grenade launcher, but the next, Orson was in front of her. A dagger, produced from who-knows-where, ruthlessly pierced the palm of her hand as she gripped the trigger.

The explosive power this young man possessed was far more terrifying than his appearance suggested. The process of his acceleration had already begun to defy the limitations of human anatomy.

"You bastard…!"

W drew a short knife from her waist with her left hand, but before she could even get into a ready stance, Orson knocked her left hand aside with his elbow. At the same time, he tackled her to the ground.

"Hiss—thwack!"

"Ahhh!!"

Orson pulled the dagger from his right palm and immediately pressed it against W's throat.

"You bastard… were you faking it all along?"

W questioned Orson, but he remained silent, merely staring at her with his pitch-black eyes.

A chill that came from the depths of her heart surged through W. The silent figure before her was like a voiceless grim reaper.

The concept of "death" was clearly imprinted in W's mind. All she wished for now was for him to give her a quick end.

But Orson didn't plunge the dagger into W's throat. Instead, he finally spoke again:

"Whoa! This guy's so strong! Amazing! I'm bleeding everywhere! I can't win! Where are my teammates? Teammates, save me!!"

"…??"