The Matter of Talula Picking Me Up and Adopting Me

"What is it, Lyudmila!"

Alina rushed over in a panic, only to find Miss Lyudmila clinging to the manhole cover by the side, on the verge of tears, and almost falling into the pit.

"……"

Well, it must have been a coincidence.

54. I need to regroup the troops!

"Don't move, police!!"

At Peterheim Middle School, Orson, who had just resolved the Sarkaz mercenary terrorist attack, was preparing to leave the scene when the police, who had received intelligence from the Baikal faction in advance, stormed into the gymnasium.

"Tsk, they got the intel and rushed in at this precise moment, these lackeys. Should I help you take care of these guys?"

W played with the C4 in one hand, asking Orson teasingly.

Inside the gymnasium, which had already been riddled with holes, the Sarkaz mercenaries were on the inside, while the arriving Ursus police immediately blocked the exit. Trying to escape directly would only result in concentrated fire from the crossbow bolts.

"Assaulting an officer is a serious crime. Just use that 'Serve Shit Stick' you used on the mercenaries earlier."

Orson sighed. He didn't think he could continue being a model citizen just by using non-lethal weapons. He figured that after this operation, regardless of the outcome, he was definitely going to debut in the police force's center position, the kind where he'd be tackled to the ground by a crowd just for asking if watermelons were guaranteed to be ripe when buying them at the market.

"Wait a moment—! Stand down!"

Just as the situation reached its peak tension, one of the detectives, upon noticing W with the streak-dyed hairstyle, suddenly signaled for everyone else not to open fire.

The actions of the other party made Orson and his group frown, unsure of what they were trying to do.

"You—you're that Sarkaz mercenary who got into a dispute with someone on People's Avenue before, right?"

The policeman recognized W and asked hesitantly.

"Ha, what, did your buddy accidentally get blown up by me? If you want revenge, then come at me—though I won't give you the chance, of course."

W nonchalantly replied, "No worries," but what the policeman said next was completely different from what W expected:

"My name is Loban. You might not know me, but the important thing is—I saw it, you saved my daughter back then, didn't you!"

"——Huh?"

W froze for a moment.

"My daughter was being held hostage by a mercenary at the time, that cute girl with red eyes and short brown-gray hair! I saw it very clearly from the surveillance footage. You deliberately detonated the grenade early to save her, and you even bravely charged forward against the enemy's attack…"

"Save the nonsense for when you're dead and can tell it to the Grim Reaper slowly. Anyway, what are you going to do? Aren't you going to arrest us? I'll prove your judgment wrong with my actions?"

W interrupted the policeman with a mocking attitude.

Although this behavior was extremely arrogant and rude, even feeling like a deliberate provocation, Orson keenly noticed that when W heard the policeman narrating what he had done before, W almost dug his toenails so deep he could have created a three-bedroom apartment (a metaphor for extreme awkwardness).

"W, so you're a living Bodhisattva after all!"

Orson exclaimed with the expression of "So you're a comrade too!", lamenting W's prodigal return being more valuable than gold. He was then blown away by a bomb from W, who rarely showed an embarrassed expression.

……

"If I hadn't blocked it with Rest Note, I would have really died…"

"Wouldn't it be better if you were dead~?"

After the commotion, Orson and W were eventually let go by the policeman named Loban. Loban was well aware that considerable forces were involved behind this matter, and all he could do was secretly let Orson, who looked like a student, and W, the tsundere mercenary who saved his daughter, go.

However, those Sarkaz mercenaries were essentially a reserve force awaiting W's command, as the police in Kazimierz City did not have the capability to contain such dangerous mercenaries.

As for the Bear Squad, although Lumiere had chased Orson asking what kind of person he was at the time, due to the urgency of the situation, Orson could only give a vague and perfunctory explanation and asked Loban to take care of these students.

"Is it that uncomfortable to be praised for doing a good deed for once?"

As they headed towards the Rostov residence, Orson asked W why he had reacted so strongly.

"Ha, don't be ridiculous. I'm not a good person in the literal sense, not at all."

W shrugged and replied mockingly.

"Hmm… it looks like you also need to be corrected by Alina, W."

Orson concluded.

"Alina?"

"She's the beacon of our Reunion, but she seems to be investigating intelligence in the Baikal area right now— Ah, Alina!"

Orson was halfway through his sentence when he returned to the mansion and immediately noticed the gentle deer radiating a calming light.

"Orson? It feels like it's been a long time. Have you been eating well lately?"

Alina saw Orson and greeted him with a smile. The long-lost power of yasashisa immediately soothed Orson's entire body.

"The meals were quite good a few days ago, but after the chef ran off, it's mostly been canned food and takeout… Hmm? Who is that girl over there?"

Orson noticed a girl beside Alina wearing ill-fitting loose clothing, with red hair and fluffy, drooping ears.

"This is Lyudmila. She's a girl I brought back from the Grand Duchy of Baikal. Contrary to her appearance, she's very strong."

Alina explained with a smile, looking at the mercenary girl with cockroach hair next to Orson.

"Ha, so you're the Alina that Orson was talking about? You exude an air of worldliness and innocence, that way you seem to be able to treat everyone kindly, it's truly…"

W sneered halfway through when she noticed something about Alina that felt like Theresia, even her single-minded radar, the cockroach hair on her forehead, reacted.

What's so great about this little deer who looks like a country bumpkin at first glance?

Hmm... let me look again.

Hmph, she completely lacks the leadership to command the Sarkaz!

But I still want to look again.

In short, W kept stealing glances at Alina awkwardly, and this action, which contrasted sharply with W's "battle-hardened veteran" appearance, made Alina smile.

—Damn it, she looks even more like the real deal when she smiles, where did this little deer come from?!

The single-minded W was being tested.

"Orson, W, it's good that you're back safely. I heard from nobles connected to the police that the incident at Peterheim Middle School has been resolved, but I also have some bad news to tell you—a large number of unified frequencies have been detected in the city. If nothing unexpected happens, Duke Baikal has decided to go to war completely... Orson?"

Talula walked out of the conference room, explaining the current situation to Orson. However, Orson, who would normally respond immediately, completely ignored Talula this time.

At this moment, Orson was...

"Wait... wait a minute...! Ugh—what are you doing...! Don't rub my ears!? My tail, my tail is off-limits too...!! My clothes, my clothes are going to fall off!"

Lyudmila, who had just been rescued by Alina and changed into clothes that didn't fit her flat physique, was being intensely cuddled and rubbed by Orson.

"You're a bit smaller than I imagined, have you stopped growing yet? You always feel so good, Junjun, hehehehehe, I had 114514 ways to torment you before, rub rub rub rub rub rub rub~~~"

Finally seeing Junjun, who could take over her position as a mascot (to be tormented), and at this moment, Junjun was even smaller than in the original work, only about half a head taller than Sasha. Orson immediately pounced and rubbed her vigorously.

Actually, Orson used to have a hobby of rubbing FrostNova's ears and tail, and only restrained himself after being beaten half to death by Patriot several times.

Talula's tail... after rubbing this, I'll probably turn into Fire Punch myself.

Alina's antlers... the result should be similar to the previous one.

Ino's ears... damn, I'm not gay!

After going back and forth, it seems only Junjun can satisfy Orson's dream of rubbing to his heart's content.

"Alina, are you... still not done with the competition?"

Talula frowned as she looked at the scene before her and then asked Alina, who was beside her.

"I'm sorry, I'll help Miss Lyudmila find a suitable home with 120% of my energy later,"

Alina replied with a smile.

"Elafia over there, you... uh, um, can you fix doors?"

"……?"

W hesitated for a long time before asking a completely nonsensical question.

55. My life is so sad, I'm driving my car from Kazimierz City to Lungmen City.

"Why is it that every time I see you, Orson, you always have wounds that don't look like they were inflicted by enemies?"

In the conference room, Early Dew asked Orson, who had a bruised face, with some curiosity.

"I rubbed the girls too hard... Don't ask."

Orson, who had injuries from burns/antler pokes/C4 explosions/dog bites, etc. on his face, now looked back with regret.

"In short, Duke Baikal has begun dispatching troops to attack here directly, and according to our contacts, the vanguard of Reunion has already arrived in Kazimierz City. They are currently evacuating civilians and arranging formations, and should arrive here soon."

Talula drew the situation detected by Orson's frequency reflection array on the whiteboard. It showed that at least four formations were advancing towards them. It was clear that these marching frequencies were the army groups that the Baikal faction had planted within Kazimierz City.

"Their target is me and Natasha. As long as the heir and the family head are dead, the Rostov family's assets can be slowly dealt with, right?"

Early Dew's father asked Talula, but she shook her head.

"I'm afraid it's not just that. Marquis Rostov—Alina noticed a strange blueprint when she was investigating Duke Baikal's territory."

"Based on my subsequent investigation, that blueprint is likely Kazimierz City's propulsion equipment."

Alina stated her judgment.

"Kazimierz City... Wait, do you remember what Anna said back then? 'Kazimierz City Lord Marquis Boris escaped from Chernobyl.' Why do you think Baikal let the city lord he wanted to occupy go?" Orson frowned in thought, and a bad conclusion was beginning to emerge.

"Because his use as a city lord is no longer needed, or perhaps Kazimierz City isn't Baikal's target at all?" Early Dew looked at Orson in disbelief.

Everyone had initially thought that Baikal's goal was to seize the power and profits of Chernobyl, but it seemed to be more than that.

"Koschei once said that the dissatisfaction of the old nobles was not just directed at Kazimierz City, but at the current Ursus. These corrupt officials who got rich and consolidated their power through war might not want the benefits of Chernobyl at all, but the wars that Ursus has constantly experienced, and—the bullets that can be used to wage war."

"These people want Chernobyl itself, using this territory belonging to Ursus to clash with another country—like Lungmen, thereby triggering a war between nations."

Orson said, rubbing his eyebrows. Although he didn't want to admit it, this was the only answer that could explain the current situation.

—Damn it, is Kazimierz City a shared bicycle?! Why does everyone want to ride it and crash into Lungmen?!

"Waging war... then what should we do? Emperor, should we try to contact the Emperor? Such an absurd thing would never be allowed, right?" The head of the Rostov family asked with a frown.

"No, the current Emperor has not yet been able to completely unify the internal regime. If Kazimierz City truly clashes with Lungmen over territory, regardless of the outcome, the old nobles will use this opportunity to confuse the public and mobilize the masses and the army—rather, Ursus has always done this, but back then these actions were ordered by the former Emperor."

Talula replied sternly. She had heard too many ridiculous "fuses" for war from Koschei. Ursus was like a dry gunpowder barrel; no one cared where this "spark" came from, everyone just knew that this gunpowder barrel was waiting to explode.

"It's useless to look for that kind of guy at this time. If we successfully stop these real lunatics, we can consider asking for credit or protection from liquidation later—what we need to do now is the same as before, just kill all those idiots."

W clasped her hands behind her neck and said casually.

"Although the army group will obey the command of the old nobles, it's not a monolithic entity. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, the majority of the soldiers don't want to fight but are forced to by the old nobles."

Alina recalled the soldier's complaint in the dungeon.

After all, Ursus was not a naturally warlike race like the Sarkaz. Many veterans understood that war brought them no gains and might even lead to retribution after it ended.

War meant sacrificing oneself and one's brothers, while the nobles profited. There was no justice in it. Many within the army group were likely already dissatisfied with those "leaders."

"Then, the plan remains unchanged, but our enemy this time will not only be Grand Duke Baikal. The one currently leading the Third Army Group... is Viscount Kerk. He must have planned this action together with Grand Duke Baikal," Talula stated another target.

"And the ones used as pawns to activate Kazimierz City are probably Garson and that group of 'legitimate Sarkaz' behind him, a bunch of idiots who crave war," W added.

The situation was instantly analyzed and clarified by everyone. This was not Grand Duke Baikal targeting the Rostov family out of greed for their property and resorting to forceful seizure.

Instead, it was an ignition fuse for war, jointly created with Sarkaz mercenaries and Viscount Kerk, the deputy commander of the Third Army Group.

"Beheading the perpetrators... Putting aside whether doing so can prevent this disaster, do we even have the ability? That's the Third Army Group after all. There's no way an individual can contend with such a force, no matter what."

Lumen asked with some concern. In her impression, the regular army of Ursus was essentially synonymous with "victory." Regardless of the dire conditions or the opponent, Ursus legions had never been stopped in their tracks.

"Who knows, but at this point, we can only try. Ultimately, so-called [politics] is a game played to reasonably circumvent force. If we lack the force to transcend [politics], then nothing can begin."

"So, to summarize – I'll immediately go and rendezvous with FrostNova and Patriot. I'll handle Viscount Kerk. With FrostNova and old man Patriot, we might be able to put up a decent fight against the regular army, even if it's the entire army group."

Orson directly took on the mission to confront the army group, which seemed the most impossible task.

But similarly, the origin of the title [The Silence of the North] was not a mere fabrication.

"...It's a bit too disingenuous to tell you not to push yourself now, Orson. We need to survive, you understand?"

Talula looked at Orson. As he nodded and prepared to leave, he was suddenly called back by the head of the Rostov family, who said he had a "gift" for Orson.