Regarding the Matter of Me Being Picked Up and Adopted by Talula Chapter 24

"Is it a confession?" "General Winter and the transfer student?!" "In the hallway?" "A wall slam, a real wall slam!"

The surrounding students crowded over, their noisy chatter reaching the ears of the two.

After all, from the onlookers' perspective, it looked like Winter had initiated the wall slam against Orson, with the two gazing lovingly at each other.

"You... you idiots! This isn't a confession at all!"

Winter roared at the crowd, only to be met with a chorus of "How is it not a confession?"

"You guys—"

"Sonia?"

Just as Winter was about to roll up her sleeves and solve the problem with brute force, the homeroom teacher's voice suddenly came from behind her.

After that, during the second chemistry class—

"Uh, sorry about that."

In the hallway, Winter, carrying buckets in both hands and with a loaf of Borodino bread on her head, apologized sheepishly.

"What did I do to deserve this..."

Beside her, Orson, who also had to stand in the hallway for a whole class period with double the amount of Borodino bread on his head, looked like he was about to cry.

36. Departure! Target: Collect the Bear Squad! (Part 1)

During the break, Orson leaned against the railing of the rooftop, locating Lumen.

Through the improvements to his Resonance Beyond ability, Orson could now roughly determine Lumen's precise location by using an item he had given her, which he had imbued with a special frequency. The accuracy wasn't bad either.

It was essentially a tracker, except the further the distance and the more complex the environment, the worse the effect.

Of course, for an environment like Peterheim Middle School, it was more than enough.

"She didn't make a move in the classroom, so she must be surrounded by other noble students, right? She's quite popular, isn't she, President?"

After confirming that Lumen was fine, Winter's voice also came from behind him.

"So you were here. I couldn't find you in the cafeteria or the sports field, so the only remaining place was this sealed-off rooftop."

Winter walked up to Orson. She had been pestering him for a while, and her purpose wasn't to confess, but rather—

"You're strong, Orson. You took down a lot of Originium insects back then, so can you tell me how to get stronger?"

Winter asked Orson how she could become like him, able to stand firm against the Originium insect outbreak.

"Haa... First of all, the main damage dealers during that Originium insect outbreak were actually Talula and FrostNova."

Orson sighed, contemplating how to refuse Winter's request.

It was true that Orson wasn't the main damage dealer. Orson's Tuner was mostly effective against humanoids and single targets. Even his Rest Note's crowd-clearing ability couldn't compare to Talula's flames or FrostNova's ice.

"Secondly, you're just a student, Sonia."

"Aren't you too?"

Winter retorted, feeling a bit indignant. She believed that both she and Orson were students.

"I'm a bit different, I..."

—I want to become stronger because if I don't get stronger, I won't be able to survive in the eternally frozen north. If I don't get stronger, I won't be able to protect the everyday life where everyone can smile.

Of course, Orson couldn't tell Winter these things.

"Never mind, at least tell me why you want to get stronger. I remember you're already quite famous, General Winter?"

"The reason... I'm not sure."

Winter thought for a few seconds and then confessed that she hadn't even considered a reason.

"So, are you confused about the future, and you want to find me to forget this confusion temporarily by becoming stronger?"

"Tch... I can't even explain it clearly!"

Winter irritably shook her head.

—This won't do, but it's understandable.

Guiding others wasn't Orson's strong suit. In the original story, the Bear Squad would have been responsible for this.

But with the changes in the Reunion, it was unlikely that those girls would gather around Winter anymore.

Wait... If the Peterheim incident hadn't happened, couldn't he have just gone to find her himself?

Orson thought of something and looked at Winter with a smile.

"I can teach you how to get stronger, but first, you need to form a club."

"A club...?"

"Yeah, find a few like-minded friends. After all, protagonists in anime always have a small group."

"Huh?"

Winter looked completely bewildered, but Orson took the initiative, pulling Winter away from the rooftop.

"First, the team needs a smart strategist with glasses!"

"I can't even begin to understand what you're talking about…"

Lidong couldn't be bothered to figure out what Orson was planning anymore. The two first went to the library and, as expected, found their target in the mystery fiction section—a quiet girl with mint-green hair and glasses, Anna (Truth).

There's an illustration here, viewable after updating.

Thump!

After confirming their target, Lidong casually sat down opposite Anna, while Orson moved to Anna's left. They cornered the bewildered Anna, forming a pincer movement.

"Um… Sonia classmate, it's been a while since we were this close. Is there something you need?"

Anna put down her book with a confused look and glanced at Lidong, who seemed to be there to collect a debt, and beside her, "Alan," who had been "choked naked by a teacher on his first day of school."

"Long time no see, Anna. Actually, it's nothing major, I just came to—"

"I get it, here's your wallet."

"Mm, I'm glad you understand… Wait, wait a minute, I'm not here to extort you!?"

Lidong explained in a panic. Anna nodded in understanding, then…

"Here, take your wallet."

She handed her wallet to Orson beside her.

"I'm not robbing you either… Um, we're actually planning to start a club and are currently looking for members. Are you interested?"

Orson returned Anna's wallet while extending the invitation.

"A club? Sorry, I prefer reading alone."

"If you join our club, you'll have many opportunities to discuss simulated crime scenes in the future!"

Orson hit the mark. Hearing about detective cases, Anna's expression immediately lit up with interest.

"For example… um, for example, I have a detective script here about a group of people who traveled through cyber immersion technology to the virtual Aincrad… wrong script, they traveled to Baker Street in 1983. Not only do these people need to investigate the famous murder cases of Baker Street that year, but they also have to think about and analyze who the mole mixed in is… How about it, Anna classmate, you… Whoa, you're too close!"

Before Orson could finish speaking, Anna had already leaned in with stars in her eyes. After all, this story was quite novel for Anna, who had already read every detective novel in the library.

"I understand… Count me in then."

[Anna has joined the party!]

After finding Anna, the group's next target was the team's chef.

"A good team needs someone to control the teammates' stomachs! Like Sanji from One Piece, or Liu Maoxing from Cooking Master Boy!"

"Um… Peterheim Middle School strictly prohibits clubs from using open flames. And I don't even know who those two people you mentioned are."

In the library, Orson was discussing the next step, while Anna pushed up her glasses, trying to tell Orson that cooking in a club would result in a warning.

"You need to be flexible, Anna. Although we can't cook on campus, our club can let our cooking members show off their skills during outdoor activities! Moreover, a good chef doesn't just know how to cook, they also need to be cute, preferably not too tall, to the point where you can carry them with one hand. And by the way, the best choice is always to have that kind of close-fitting, smooth XX! Similar to Sonia's pronounced curves, so slender that they make you win~wini~win~, just with slightly different colors and patterns—uh."

Orson, who had intended to subtly seek information about Gummy, suddenly noticed that his description, taken out of context, sounded a bit… off.

"Orson, you bastard…!"

"Wait, I can explain—mff!"

Lidong, who was used as an example for stockings, blushed and used the power of TM Bear, slapping Orson into the table.

"Pervert, Lolicon."

Anna, meanwhile, stared at Orson from the side with the look one gives to trash.

Finally—

"Please allow me to withdraw from the club."

"Orson…!"

"Oh, um, my name is Alan, hahaha…"

Anna, Lidong, and Orson, due to their loud commotion, stood side-by-side at the library entrance, facing the wall as punishment with Borodino bread, their reactions all different.

Is the recent plot boring? It feels like everyone's enthusiasm isn't very high…

Since I'm an amateur hobby writer, if there are any issues (like in Chapter 29), please provide feedback, and I'll do my best to correct them.

37. Departure! Target: Collect the Bear Squad! (Part 2)

Previous Recap: To inherit the bonds of the Bear Squad in this world, Orson decided to gather these girls himself.

Current Progress: Lidong [Joined], Anna [Joined], Gummy [Searching]

"Excuse me, is Rada classmate (Gummy's original name) here?"

At the entrance of the home economics classroom at Peterheim Middle School, Orson poked his head in to ask the students who were cooking.

"Hm? Are you looking for me?"

Hearing Orson's voice, Gummy immediately popped her head out from the crowd, bouncing on her toes. This short girl with a bun hairstyle and a lively appearance quickly approached Orson.

"You must be Rada classmate. I'm Alan, and I'm here to ask you to join our club."

Alan—Orson's alias when he infiltrated Peterheim Middle School—asked Gummy if she could join his still incomplete Bear Squad.

"A club? Gummy is very interested, but Gummy is already in the cooking club," she said.

Gummy pointed to the classroom behind her. Upon hearing someone was trying to poach their member, the students in chef uniforms all came forward, brandishing cleavers and rolling pins.

"How dare you try to poach our little angel Rada?! You've got some nerve, kid!" "That's right! If you want to take Rada, you'll have to get past us, the 'Elite Ten of Tōtsuki,' first!"

"Don't add those unnecessary settings to this book that aren't needed at all!?"

Orson loudly complained, thinking at the same time that it seemed he couldn't outsmart Gummy.

"If we're going to compete, how will we do it?"

Orson looked at the group of cooks, considering his next move.

"Hmph, you ask what to compete in at the cooking classroom? How ridiculous! Of course, we'll compete in cooking!"

"Interesting—I accept the challenge!"

Orson grinned. Back when he was with Reunion, his cooking skills had easily surpassed FrostNova, Talula, and Patriot. What were these unknown rookies who hadn't seen the world supposed to be his opponents?

Orson took the chef's hat thrown at him by the other side and calmly walked to the stove.

30 minutes later...

"—That's how it is, so can I have some of the lunch?"

Orson sat on a chair, staring blankly at the sky, looking completely worn out.

His confidently made dishes only received an unacceptable score of 5.5 and harsh criticism that made him want to disappear into the ground. Moreover, the opponent's creations were indeed superior to his in every aspect.

As the loser, Orson was deprived of his lunch. He thought for a long time about why he had lost so miserably, and the final conclusion he reached was—

Talula and FrostNova had elevated Orson's cooking skills to a level he shouldn't have reached.