The Matter of Talula Picking Me Up and Adopting Me

If it were Alina, perhaps I wouldn't have lost. Alina, my Alina…

"So, what do we do now, Anna?"

Lumiere glanced at Orson, who had been thoroughly humiliated for his arrogance and was now broken, and asked Truth.

"Have you heard the fable of breaking three sticks?"

Truth pushed up her glasses, looking like she had a brilliant plan.

After that—

"Hm? It's Alan from before, are you here to play again~?"

Gummy saw Orson again and greeted him cheerfully.

"Why are you back again, loser!"

Orson returned to the cooking classroom, his eyes regaining their determination.

"Hmph, I may not be able to defeat you, but I have companions!"

Orson took a step back, and Truth and Lumiere also entered the classroom.

"As long as we combine Anna's wisdom!"

Truth pushed up her glasses.

"Sonia's strength!"

Lumiere looked at Orson with a "Huh?"

"And my experience—we can defeat you!"

Orson declared victory.

"Alright! Then let's have another match, this time we'll bet the legendary cookware of Peterheim Middle School!"

"I told you to stop adding those inexplicable, useless settings!"

30 minutes later…

"I feel like something's not quite right."

The three of them, Orson, Truth, and Lumiere, stood in the kitchen, surrounded by the Elite Ten of Tōtsuki, who were foaming at the mouth and lying on the ground.

"Anna, are you sure this step requires '20g of yeast'?"

"It seems I flipped the page wrong… But, but! Sonia, your step for removing fish bones was a bit strange too."

"Fish bones? I just chopped them up and gave them to Orson."

"..."

Orson clasped his hands together, praying for the souls of the Elite Ten of Tōtsuki, who had all died after eating the culinary monstrosity created by the three of them.

Losing the competition but winning their lives—this was the true meaning of the dark cuisine world.

"Well… I'm sorry, Rada, for causing you trouble."

Orson apologized sheepishly to Gummy, who had survived and not participated in the competition.

"It's okay! Besides, Rada was planning to join you guys~"

"Eh, really!"

Orson asked curiously why Gummy would join his club.

"Because without Rada, you guys would probably get food poisoning~?"

"..." "..." "..."

The three of them fell silent, unsure how to refute her.

[Gummy has joined the party!]

There is an illustration here, viewable after updating the version.

After Gummy joined the party, only Summer was left.

Just as Orson was thinking about how to approach Rosaline (Summer's real name), Summer herself proactively sought out Orson and his group.

"You're that transfer student that General Winter confessed to in the hallway! Sonia is mine, and I absolutely won't allow you to interfere!"

"...?"

Orson, not understanding the situation, looked at Lumiere with an expression that said, Is a lesbian romance happening right beside me?

"You, you idiot...! I didn't confess!"

Lumiere immediately bristled.

"Oh? Was my information incorrect? Anyway, it doesn't matter. Since Sonia is here, I'll join too!"

Summer reached this conclusion after a few seconds of thought.

"For combat power, we already have Sonia, so with this—hm?"

Truth was stopped by Orson mid-sentence.

"You just don't get it, Anna. The main cast usually needs a second-in-command. When they encounter enemies, they're the first to be used as stepping stones, and when things get desperate, they press the self-destruct button to inspire the main character to counter-kill."

"..."

Anna glanced at Orson. Although she wanted to retort, she realized she couldn't.

"Then let's welcome General Summer!"

"Huh? Eh...? I don't know what's going on, but let's wait and see, Sonia!"

Summer, who was given a free pass and still confused about the situation, inexplicably joined the Bear Squad.

[Summer has joined the party!]

In the idle club room, Lumiere was practicing "brain training" (just like in Baki) according to Orson's instructions, Gummy was happily distributing cookies to everyone, Truth complained that the environment made it impossible to read properly, and Summer was still thinking of a cool club name.

"...This is nice."

Orson looked at the noisy little room before him and couldn't help but let out a slight smile.

Though the melodies of these children each had their own dissonances, when they gathered together, the music they played in harmony was incredibly fitting.

However, there was still one melody missing from this ensemble.

Orson knew very well that considering the current situation, it was impossible to have Lumen join. This might put Lumen and others in unnecessary danger.

Let's leave it at that for now.

Just as the five-minute interval for positioning arrived, Orson tried to locate Lumen, but suddenly discovered through the resonance display that Lumen was right beside him.

"Creak—"

The club room door opened, and the eldest daughter of the Rostov family appeared before the members of the Bear Squad.

"You're here, Or... Alan."

"Mis-Miss Natalia?"

Orson blinked, unsure of what was happening.

The others were also stunned. After all, the person before them was the heir to the most prestigious Rostov family in Kazimierz City, a noble existence they would never normally encounter.

"Is there something you need?"

"Nothing, it's just..."

Lumen glanced at the newly formed club, feeling an inexplicable sense of annoyance for some reason.

"Come with me."

Lumen grabbed Orson's arm, preparing to pull him away, but on the other side, Lumiere immediately stood up and grabbed Orson's other arm.

"Hold on a minute—"

"Who are you?"

"Sonia, General Winter—pick any title you like. What are you, the great lady of the Rostov family?"

"Oh my, I came to find Alan... No, I came to find Orson. After all, he's my exclusive bodyguard now."

Lumen paused, then said this for some unknown reason.

"Eh?!"

The members of the Bear Squad exclaimed in surprise.

"Ex-exclusive bodyguard—"

Lumiere was clearly startled by this seemingly ostentatious position, but she gritted her teeth, refusing to back down.

"So what! I... I, I've already confessed to Orson!"

"Eeeeeh!!"

This time, everyone, including Lumen and even Orson, let out surprised shouts.

Meanwhile, Gummy had already prepared the sunflower seeds.

—Joining this club was worth it!

An illustration is provided here; you can view it after updating the version.

38. W: I've come to take your life again.

It had been five days since Orson infiltrated Kazimierz City.

For the past five days, Orson had to secretly eliminate mercenaries targeting Lumen almost every day, accompany Lumen to school, handle the chaotic interpersonal relationships within the Bear Squad, and after school, explain to Talula and FrostNova that "I'm really on a mission, not setting up a new base."

In a restaurant not far from the Rostov family's residence, Orson sat at a table, flipping through the menu. Opposite him sat Isaac, the former engineer who had accompanied Orson to Kazimierz City.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Isaac... I've run into some issues, and I haven't been able to contact you regularly as planned."

Orson clasped his hands together, apologizing to the engineer. Because he was suddenly hired by the Rostov family and assigned to Peterheim Middle School, many of the previously confirmed plans couldn't be implemented as scheduled.

"It's fine. It's quite impressive that you were able to immediately blend into the Rostov family as a bodyguard. Many people have tried their best but couldn't establish any connection with this family. So, what are you doing now?"

Isaac was understanding. After all, plans were only used for delaying salary payments and had never been properly realized.

"Um... I'm a bodyguard for Miss Natalia, attending Peterheim Middle School, occasionally teaching my classmates some combat techniques, and accompanying Miss Natalia home after school."

Orson thought about his day's schedule. Ever since he started working as a security guard for the Rostov family, his life had become much more relaxed than it was in the North. Orson even had to sneak in extra training for his Originium Arts and combat skills late at night to prevent himself from regressing.

"That sounds like something out of a third-rate novel," Isaac said with a cold remark. Orson just gave a wry smile, replying that even protagonists in such stories had a tough time.

Lumen and Lumiere were constantly at odds with each other, and Orson was stuck in the middle, having to mediate their disputes without showing favoritism, all while ensuring the safety of these girls.

"What about you, Uncle Isaac? How have things been lately?"

"So-so. Nothing much has happened. My family has disappeared, and I can't contact them at all. I'm currently staying at a friend's place. His name is Freeman, and he's a physics PhD."

Isaac shrugged his shoulders, while Orson wiped sweat from his brow, wondering if the two of them together could blow up all of Ursus.

"Now, for the important stuff."

After their casual chat, Isaac lowered his voice and began exchanging intelligence about Kazimierz City.

"Kazimierz City has been acting strange lately."

"Strange?"

"Yes, there are rumors that the Third Army Group is going to be stationed near Kazimierz City, and many people have reported seeing unfamiliar Sarkaz lately."

"Army Group, Sarkaz... Perhaps Baikal's patience is about to run out." Orson rubbed his hair and analyzed with a frown.

"That's very important information. Thank you, Uncle Isaac."

"Also, about the matter you asked me to look into before – I'm sorry, but there aren't many people in the maintenance team who know about conducting experiments. I could only find out that a research institute does exist, but it's been abandoned for a long time, and no data was left behind."

Orson had previously asked Isaac to find information about the research institute related to the Executioner and the Skullshatter family, but it seemed he had arrived a bit too late.