The Matter of Talula Picking Me Up and Adopting Me

Lumen pointed at Orson and flagrantly abused her authority on the spot.

67. Why Was This Damn Illegally Young Older Woman So Cute...

"I... I need to explain this beforehand. This isn't a date, ahem. That's right, it's an appointment as a guard, no different from before!"

Inside the Rostov family villa, Lumen blushed as she coughed and hurriedly added her explanation.

"Natalia—"

Obviously, nobody present, including Talula and FrostNova, accepted Lumen's excuse.

"Orson, explain yourself."

Talula asked Orson with a smile, her right hand lightly resting on the hilt of the sword at her waist.

Thanks to Orson's previous guidance, even he had no idea whether Sister Talula would use the Dragon Strike Gun or cleave downward the next second.

"Wait, wait, wait—why do I have to explain? I'm the victim here, aren't I...?"

Orson raised both hands, declaring that he had still been asking around about mechanical prosthetic limbs in Kazimierz City this morning before being inexplicably dragged here to fill in.

"Orson, do you know the power of Ice Shadow?"

FrostNova lightly toyed with the snowflake in her hand, wearing the expression of a guardian who had fallen to the dark side.

"I've had more than enough of that in the Forge Arena... No, why has the target shifted to me...?"

Orson stretched out both hands, trying to stop Lumen, Talula, and FrostNova in front of him. (Imagine Jurassic Park, Star-Lord.jpg)

The only fortunate thing was that Alina and Ino were not here. The former had gone to a bookstore in Kazimierz City to buy some proper textbooks and books, while nobody knew what the latter had gone off to do.

But Orson also knew very well that the people in front of him alone could knead him into an obsidian ball.

"Senior Patriot, save me—!"

Driven into a corner, Orson cried for help, only to despairingly discover that Patriot had already pulled out a newspaper and was drinking tea while watching the show.

"Come with me, Orson! Guards, stop these people!"

"Mmgh—!?"

Taking advantage of the other two being distracted, Lumen grabbed Orson by the arm and fled the hall.

"Hey!" "Natalia!"

Talula and FrostNova were a step too slow and could only watch as Lumen dragged Orson out of the villa.

Out on the street, after confirming that FrostNova and Talula had not actually chased after them, Lumen released Orson and smiled while catching her breath.

"I think this is the first time I've seen you smile like that, Natalia."

Orson looked at Lumen curiously, casually popping his dislocated arm back into place after it had been yanked loose.

"Haha... Yeah. Noble education says that a proper noble should maintain elegant manners at all times."

Lumen wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and looked at Orson after calming down.

"But—who cares? No noble would drag race down the streets while damaging public property, anyway."

Lumen made a mischievous face at Orson. It was also the first time he had seen that expression on her.

It felt... as though the girl before him had finally shed the disguise called nobility and revealed the emotions an ordinary high school student ought to have.

"..."

Orson was a little stunned. Now that he no longer had to worry about the schemes and tricks of those old nobles, he finally had the energy to observe this Ursus girl.

Fair skin, gemlike heterochromatic eyes, snowy white hair, a slender neck—

Wasn't she... really cute?

"Orson?"

"—Ahem, ahem, it's, it's nothing. Um, Natalia, you didn't really drag me out just for that, did you? If so, this day next year will be my death anniversary..."

Orson shook his head and complained to Lumen in embarrassment.

You know what my family situation is like.jpg

"Hehe, Orson, do you not like dating a girl like me?"

"O-of course not! It's just—"

Orson stammered halfway through his explanation before realizing that Lumen, who had said those words, had buried her head inside her coat as steam rose from the gap.

Good grief, was she practicing the Seven Wounds Fist over here?

"Ahem... Like I said before, I hoped that you could serve as my guard again today, Orson. I want to check how the areas affected by the Kazimierz City Incident have recovered."

Lumen coughed twice and resumed the bearing of a daughter from a prestigious noble family. Yet to Orson, that forcibly maintained composure was also strangely adorable.

"I understand, Lady Natalia."

Orson smiled and gave a butler's bow, even reverting to the form of address he had used while previously serving as her guard.

"Smooth talker—Sir Knight."

Lumen answered with a smile.

"Or—son—!!"

"Is there anywhere I can hide, Anna?"

"Hmm... Orson, do you want to create a locked-room murder case for yourself?"

"I'm not trying to die yet—whoa!?"

Their first stop was Peterheim Middle School.

Orson was currently carrying Truth on his back and running for his life, while Lumiere chased behind him, constantly throwing compasses, utility knives, pencils, erasers, fire suits, meteor hammers, and other school supplies.

"I think you might have picked this stop a little rashly, Natalia!"

Orson shouted his complaint to Lumen, who was fleeing alongside him, while she smiled as usual.

The reason Orson was being hunted was simple. After causing such a huge commotion, he had suddenly disappeared from Peterheim for a full two weeks. During that time, Lumiere had tried to visit the Rostov residence, only to be stopped by the guards.

Lumiere had been devastated, thinking that Orson and Lumen had simply run away. When she saw the two of them reappear, her eyes first widened as she prepared to pounce on them. But that joy quickly turned into anger, then into murderous intent.

And that was how things had ended up like this. Even Orson begging Truth to give Lumiere some ideological counseling behind Anna's back did not help.

After Lumiere finally beat Orson up, Bear Squad gathered together again after a long time, and Gummy made everyone a lavish charcoal-grilled sandworm feast.

After Lumen explained that they had been busy handling the Kazimierz City Incident recently and therefore could not return to school, Lumiere finally relaxed a little.

But upon hearing that Lumen was already the mayor, everyone in Bear Squad cried out in disbelief.

And when Orson said that he was actually almost twenty years old, Lumiere nearly stared her eyes out.

"You're kidding, Orson? You're already a college student?!"

"Haha, I didn't expect that I could actually get away with it."

"Because you always tied with me for last place on mock math exams, Orson?"

"..."

Orson rubbed his head and could only force out one of Talula's favorite phrases in the end: "Everyone has their own aspirations."

Life might deceive you, but math would not. If you couldn't do it, you couldn't do it.

After Orson also said that he would remain in Kazimierz City for a while and that they would have chances to meet again, he and Lumen left Peterheim Middle School.

"I heard Peterheim Middle School will reorganize classes next semester—putting noble children and ordinary students in the same classrooms."

After the Kazimierz City Incident, Peterheim Middle School renovated its stadium and began changing its former educational policies.

The drawbacks of nobles placing themselves above everyone else had already been exposed during the Kazimierz City Incident. Those nobles discovered that when danger arrived, they could not even receive the support and protection of the citizens. Thus, after narrowly surviving, more and more nobles began reflecting on their past way of life.

Letting their children grow up alongside the children of ordinary people was merely one such attempt.

"Though I don't think the barrier between classes will be so easily erased, this should still count as a small step forward, right?"

Lumen looked toward Peterheim Middle School and held out her hand to feel the temperature around her.

The cold wave was no longer so biting. Winter was about to pass, and a brand-new spring would welcome this land.

When spring came next year, Peterheim Middle School would welcome a new term, and the Bear Squad members who happened to be assigned to the same class would also welcome a new transfer student—a bear girl named Zoya, who claimed to come from a family of police officers.

That was a matter for later.

Lumen and Orson arrived at their second stop, the commercial street where a fierce battle had once erupted.

The commercial street had now been fully repaired and reopened. Not only that, it was far livelier than usual today—

"Friends in the front row, raise your hands and sing with me!"

"Woohoo!!"

On the stage built along the commercial street's main road, a young man held a microphone and whipped up the crowd, while the Kazimierz City residents surrounding him howled along with the beat. For a moment, the scene was more passionate than Boruto.

"...?" "..."

As for Orson and Lumen, they wore the expressions of old people staring at phones on the subway.

The reason was simple. The young man shining brightly onstage was Ino.

68. Teacher Orson, I Want to Become an Idol!! (Bonus Chapter)

During the time when Alina had yet to awaken and Orson was still the substitute teacher, Orson often saw Ino hiding away by himself.

Though he feared that Ino might eventually become that Mephistopheles who deserved to be cut into a thousand pieces, Orson had always taken special care of him. Even so, Orson still felt that he could not breach the defenses within this white-haired Liberi boy's heart. The boy seemed afraid of everything and had no clear goal.

"Ino? There you are. What's wrong? Did you skip class because that story about a high schooler taking his grandpa to Egypt to slaughter vampires was too boring?"

As usual, after finishing training with the Guerrilla Force soldiers, Orson had planned to chat with the children and tell them stories.

When he discovered that Ino was not in the camp, he searched the nearby area and found the boy beside a snowbank, seeming to blend into the background and about to disappear.

"Teacher Orson...? No, it has nothing to do with the story. I just... um."

Seeing Orson, Ino grew flustered. He wanted to say something, but fear only made him lower his head.

"If you don't mind, you can tell me, Ino. I know you're always thinking about many things, but you never say what's in your heart. You're still a child. You don't have to bear everything alone."

Orson sat down beside Ino, his tone calm and gentle.

"I... Teacher Orson, I always feel like I don't belong in this kind of life—"

Ino hesitated for a long while before looking at Orson with a somewhat evasive gaze.

"Before... I did bad things. I killed someone... And Sasha became Infected because of me... I'm scared, because I never felt that what I did back then was wrong—I only felt that I would finally stop being bullied, and that Sasha could stay by my side forever... I clearly ruined everything, yet I felt... happy because of it."

Ino spoke in fragments. Though his words were broken and disjointed, Orson understood what he was struggling with.

He knew what he had done was evil, but he did not feel remorse for that evil. This made Ino question whether he could continue living in the camp, whether he was an abnormal existence.

In the original world, the Black Snake had exploited Ino's conflict and guided him toward the path of completely opening himself up—ultimately turning Mephistopheles into someone with that inhuman personality.

What should he do at a time like this?

Orson thought for a moment, then slowly spoke.

"It's understandable that you felt happy too, Ino."

"Huh...?"

Ino looked at Orson. He had never expected this substitute teacher to acknowledge his twisted feelings.

"Sasha told me that the person you killed was the culprit who caused you to become Infected. She was not a good person, and she deserved to die. And after Sasha became Infected, the two of you could continue moving forward together with the same identity. That made you feel safe, so naturally you felt happy."

"Teacher Orson, then I—"

"But wrong is still wrong, Ino. We may touch darkness for revenge, self-protection, protecting others, or some determination, but we cannot take pleasure in the act of taking another person's life itself."

Orson looked at Ino and spoke with rare seriousness.

"You're still a child, so when facing those past experiences, you did not have the strength to choose another way to resolve them. Those deaths and Sasha's Oripathy are tragedies that cannot be changed. But once you gain strength, remember this, Ino. There will always be other ways to solve things."