The Matter of Being Picked Up and Adopted by Talula Chapter 31

To be abandoned and decay, to slowly watch life slip away, unable to form any bonds with others, to walk alone to the end of death—this is the destined end for every Infected.

Looking at these Infected, Orson stopped on his way to the medical bay.

"If I were to get my Originium blood concentration tested, it would probably take quite some time, right? I don't have much time to spare either, and even if a conclusion were reached, nothing would change."

Since that was the case, he decided to use this time, even if only for a moment, to bring something different to these people living in the cracks.

Even if it was a moment of self-deception, he wanted to give them a little more motivation to live.

Orson walked up to the Infected and randomly handed out the lily flowers in his hand to them.

When he attracted the confused gazes of many people holding the bouquets, Orson cleared his throat with his virtual vocal cords, walked onto a high platform, and then spoke—

"Everyone's here, I'm going to tell you two crosstalk stories today. This crosstalk..."

After all, it was Orson who had claimed "crosstalk" as his specialty when interviewing for Reunion. This move, this was truly staying true to his original intentions.

45. Nain, Nain, let's talk badly about the old man together!

In the Azazel Clinic, "laughter" was not a common thing.

Therefore, upon hearing laughter from the underground area, the girl "Nain" immediately poked her head out curiously, following the direction of the laughter.

"This Koschei's father, Old Man Wang—"

"Hiss—!"

Nain noticed the Infected patients, who usually only huddled in corners, were now surrounding a young man in a suit, cheering and laughing at times.

Nain wasn't a "good child" in the literal sense. Normally, she would have gone over to find someone at random, or even questioned the young man in the suit about what he was doing.

But because she was also curious about the strange performance of the young man playing two roles by himself, Nain just propped herself up against the railing and, without realizing it, began listening to his "strange performance."

About 30 minutes later—

"That's all for today, everyone. I'll chat with you again next time."

Orson bowed in a similar fashion, ending this "artistic performance from Yan Country."

Although the surrounding Infected would soon return to their lives without light, at least they would remember this day, this small event that was slightly different from their other days of suffering.

Alina had told Orson before that despair and hope, those sudden bursts, were actually formed by the accumulation of countless "ordinary" moments.

Orson had fortunately prevented Talula's desperate "last time," but to prevent the "next outbreak," he decided to continuously fill her with "ordinary daily life" that could counteract despair and be recalled with a smile.

"Are you from Yan Country?"

Nain leaped down from the three-meter-high railing and approached Orson, who was preparing to continue observing Azazel.

"Hmm? Uh, good question. Nominally, I'm Ursus, but I have a Yan Country heart—assuming YJ's Yan Country is indeed like China."

Orson was slightly taken aback by the little girl with a gas mask, a flower tucked into her hair, who had suddenly appeared, and then he explained.

"I don't understand what you're saying—Hey, are you a new doctor?"

Nain curiously sized up Orson.

"I'm an Infected who came to see the doctor. Although I probably don't have time to get checked right now. My name is Orson, and yours?"

Orson introduced himself and extended his hand to Nain.

"Nain, if you're Infected, why are you so optimistic? You're completely different from everyone else."

Nain didn't shake his hand but instead voiced her confusion.

"There are many types of Infected, you know. For example, there are those who can lead everyone forward, those who like to eat carrots and vodka candies, and those who can stab me all the way to Lungmen with a spear..."

This wasn't a metaphor; Orson knew very well that if he confessed to FrostNova today, he'd probably be appearing over Lungmen in four hours.

"I don't understand. Anyway, everyone who comes here is Infected, and everyone always looks so glum."

Nain complained, hugging the back of her head with both hands.

"Are you Infected too, Nain?"

"Yeah, I used to live here. Old man always told me not to go out, but I wouldn't listen! Sometimes I'd sneak out! I even took advantage of him not being at the clinic to sneak into an outside school!"

Nain showed a proud smile, and Orson expressed his approval.

"Old man is too boring usually, always nagging me to be careful, not to trust strangers, that society is dangerous, and so on. I'm not a child anymore!"

"Exactly! There's a limit to how much you should care for your child, otherwise, it's just a manifestation of excessive control."

Orson knew that the quickest way to get close to a child was to complain about her cheap parent with her.

"And Old man, no matter what he does, he always has such a lifeless expression. Just looking at him makes me feel bad!"

"Exactly! Parents' moods affect their children. Doesn't this guy even understand that?"

"Yeah, yeah! He's old and still always wears leather pants when he goes out. Sometimes I feel embarrassed for him!"

"Exactly! An old guy with no self-awareness... Wait a minute, the old man you're talking about..."

Halfway through the flattery, Orson vaguely sensed something was wrong.

"It seems your Oripathy isn't too severe yet, Orson. Also, as a parent, I seem to be quite a failure."

When he came to his senses, Hegre was standing before Orson, and the former general of Ursus vividly demonstrated what "pressure" meant to Orson.

"Ah, old man! This is Orson, he's supposedly here for treatment, and he's quite an interesting fellow~"

Upon seeing Hegre, Nain greeted him without any reservations, clearly having spoken ill of Hegre plenty of times before.

"Uh... Hello, um, it's nice to meet you, I'm fine, thank you, and you?"

As for Orson, he didn't even dare to lift his head, only able to recite the greeting phrases from a first-grade English textbook.

"I will not participate in any of your actions."

Inside a room at the Azazel Underground Clinic, Hegre stated calmly and unequivocally.

"No matter what part of my past you're interested in, I can only say that it no longer exists. As you can see, I'm just an idle old man in a private clinic—and an unqualified parent."

—Surprisingly vengeful, old man...!

Orson wiped the sweat from his brow but still opened his mouth.

"We want to change the plight of the Infected, and in fact, we are doing so. Your clinic is connected to the Infected forces in Kazimierz City, and I hope you can help us. This is very important for our upcoming actions."

"Please leave."

"If the old nobles regain power, the existence of this clinic might be threatened!"

"I have the ability and channels to protect this clinic, you don't need to worry about that."

"Patriot Bojokasti is also with us."

Orson invoked Patriot's name, but Hegre only showed a slight surprise before returning to his composed expression.

"My answer is clear, Orson. Please leave—I don't want to get involved in any disputes anymore. The only things I want to do are protect the people within my reach, and Nain."

"..."

Orson opened his mouth but ultimately did not continue arguing.

"I understand."

Orson sighed and then left the room.

This general, just as he said, had completely abandoned his past glory and fighting spirit. He had lost all trust in any organization, in Ursus, and now only wished to protect the light he could see.

"Sorry, Orson, did the old man lecture you?"

After leaving the room, Nain tilted her head and apologized to Orson before bouncing into the room.

"..."

Orson looked at Hegre in the room, holding Nain, and the helpless yet peaceful and warm expression on his face, revealing a smile of relief and resignation.

Although he didn't know what Hegre had gone through, he knew very well that if the current life was what Hegre considered "happiness," then there was no reason for him to force the other to change this warmth.

—That's what I said, but if we don't have the support of the Infected in Kazimierz City, it will be difficult to guard against any potential countermeasures that Lungmen might have hidden within Kazimierz City.

As Orson was contemplating his next move, several Infected approached him and initiated a conversation.

"Isn't that the young man from earlier? What exactly did you come here for, to see a doctor?"

"Something like that, though I hit a wall."

Orson nodded in response, noticing that these Infected, who had been listless before, showed expressions of slight happiness and curiosity upon seeing him.

"Hit a wall? Well, if you come for treatment again, remember to let us know. That thing called 'cross-talk' was quite interesting. See you next time."

"Yeah, see you next time... I got it."

Orson paused for a moment, then smiled and responded to these Infected.

"See you next time"—he had merely shared some jokes from his original world with those Infected, but it was enough to make them regain interest in tomorrow.

The "treasures" these people possessed had long been stripped away, and Talula's goal was to re-infuse their pale lives with color.

As Orson arrived at the exit following the route Hegre had indicated, a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over his consciousness.

This situation was not uncommon for Orson; he could usually regain his normal state by tuning his white score.

"Whoa—"

But this time was different. Before Orson could even manifest his white score (soul), his body fell straight to the ground.

Azazel B1 Medical Room.

"The cause of his coma is severe consciousness exhaustion. This young man hasn't had a proper rest in nearly a year."

In the medical room, a doctor named Ziegler frowned as he looked at Orson's temporary examination report.

"As for his Originium blood concentration, to be honest, if you hadn't told me he was the recently famous [The Silence of the North], I would have thought he was just a severe Oripathy infected who wouldn't live another year. Although the Originium crystals on his skin aren't extensive, his internal organs are already showing signs of crystallization."

Dr. Ziegler glanced at Orson, who was lying on the hospital bed, and after describing his condition, he looked at Hegre beside him.

"So, what should we do?"

"Send him back to the Rostov family. This young man still has his battlefield."

Hegre looked at Orson and replied.

Hegre knew of the "Silence of the North" which had recently become a hot topic among the Enforcement Team, but he hadn't expected the person's true demeanor to be so approachable, even performing wondrous shows for the infected. Even Nain was very interested in this.

The young man's attitude towards the world was neither humble nor arrogant, which was truly rare in this day and age.

"So where is your battlefield, General?"

"..."

Hegre didn't respond. He simply took out a pocket watch and looked at the slightly worn photograph inside. The little girl Nain in the photo was the most precious treasure entrusted to him by his dearest friend before their death.

His dearest friend, himself, countless soldiers and generals – these people had given everything for Mother Ursus, only to have it all stripped away by noble politicians in the end.

"I'm no longer a general. There's no battlefield here, only an inconspicuous clinic."

Hegre closed the pocket watch. He heard Nain's voice in the distance after she had caused trouble.

Change this world?

...That's no longer something I should be thinking about.

46. Sister Tazi Reconnects!

He opened his eyes and saw Talula's concerned face before him.

"..."

Orson closed his eyes and tried again.

He opened his eyes and still saw Talula's expressionless face before him.

Orson closed his eyes and prepared to try again—

"If you're awake, stop pretending to be asleep, Orson."