About Talula Finding and Adopting Me

First, she had to sort out the unfinished mess left behind by Marquis Boris. Then she had to help her father build hub towns for the residents of the northern territories. After that, she had to find a way to take in the Infected without provoking the displeasure of the other old nobles. At the same time, she also had to consider how to arrange the assets of those new nobles...

There was so, so much to do, and much of it was completely unfamiliar to Lumen.

This road would not be easy, yet Lumen unexpectedly felt neither fear nor pressure.

She knew full well that she was not fighting alone. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, Orson would leave this city, but their battlefield would still be the land beneath this sky.

"Ah, this is—"

As they passed an alleyway, Lumen, seated in the car, noticed something.

"What did you see, Natalia?"

Orson, who was driving, asked Lumen.

"No, it's nothing."

Lumen looked at the alley in the distance, still unrepaired and filled with traces of explosions. It was also the alley where she had first met Orson.

There was no need to dwell on the past. They still had an abundance of future left to write.

W and JunJun Join, Big Sis Talula Takes the Offensive

Dear Shadow Man, please arrive at the location shown in the picture at noon today. If you fail to show up by then, I will personally destroy what you treasure most—Signed: W

"...What is this supposed to be now?"

At noon, Orson held the note that had appeared in his room that morning and groggily arrived beneath a building awaiting demolition.

"Yo, Shadow Man. You really came?"

W's voice came from the third floor. Orson looked up and saw that same hair-raising smile on the mercenary's face.

"To be precise, I came out to take refuge... Big Sis Talula and FrostNova kept asking what I did yesterday. Even Alina has been keeping an eye on me."

Orson rubbed his hair and complained with lingering fear.

"Who cares? Anyway, I'm more surprised that you came so honestly—here, catch~"

W smiled and tossed a black object at Orson.

"What is—"

BOOM!!!

A massive explosion engulfed the first floor, instantly sending billowing dust rolling across the ground.

"Cough, cough, cough... If you want to fight, just say so, W."

Orson withdrew Rest Note, fanning dust away from his mouth as he complained.

"Sorry. I'm just such a shy girl."

W raised the grenade launcher in her hands and pulled the trigger. The grenade shot straight at Orson.

"You've got to be kidding... W, you're shy? And 'girl' doesn't suit you at all."

Orson controlled Rest Note, letting it cling to the wall and pull him straight up to the third floor. The distance between them closed in an instant.

"Idiots like you deserve to be blown away by bombs!"

Having forgotten that Orson could not understand her sarcasm, W once again found herself talking to a wall. Veins bulged on her forehead as she flung a piece of C4 at Orson, but did not detonate it.

Orson controlled Rest Note into a defensive stance. When he realized no explosion was coming, he withdrew it. In that instant, W had already rushed in front of him, grabbed him, and tackled him toward the first floor.

"Urgh—!"

Thud!

The moment they fell, Orson used Rest Note behind himself as a cushion. At the same time, W pulled out a controller from her waist.

"BINGO. It's over, little Orson."

W flashed a wicked grin as her plan succeeded, then lifted her clothes with the hand not holding the detonator.

"D-Don't, W... In broad daylight like this—"

"I don't mean it like that, you idiot!!"

W unexpectedly blushed as she shouted back. She opened her coat, revealing a row of bombs mounted across her chest, pressed tightly against Orson.

"Question. That annoying shadow is behind you, while in front of you is a row of C4 set to explode forward. Meanwhile, I've planted bombs beneath the entire first floor. In this situation, what are you going to do?"

W asked Orson with a smile. Orson calmly raised both hands—

"I surrender."

"...Could you at least resist a little longer?"

W blinked. The victory had come so easily that it did not feel real.

"Okay."

Orson nodded.

"Guh... I'll never submit to you, W. Kill me!"

"That's not the kind of resistance I meant!"

W nearly pressed the self-destruct button by accident.

"Even though I won, I somehow feel even more annoyed."

After their brief tussle, W sat at the edge of the condemned building, swinging her legs as she complained.

"The preparation was way too much work—meaning planting bombs all over the first floor. And you weren't even going all out, were you? Weren't you afraid you might slip up and actually kill yourself?"

"It was fine. I couldn't feel the killing intent you had when we first met, so I wasn't too worried—more importantly, W, what are you planning to do next?"

Orson answered without much concern, then looked at the mercenary.

"No idea. You know how mercenaries are. We go wherever there's war, until we croak."

W shrugged.

"In that case—want to join the Reunion Movement? We're actually short on soldiers who have truly been tempered by war."

"Ha. Aren't you afraid I'll stab you in the back? Like I stabbed that idiot named Beagle in the back?"

W asked Orson with a cold laugh, but she soon realized that the boy was completely unaffected by her mockery.

"—Forget it. My mercenaries and I happen to be unemployed right now. If we follow you, there should be plenty of profit in it, right? And idealists like you probably run into fights all the time~"

"It would be better if there were fewer fights... The only reason we survived this time was because the army group didn't really want to start a war either. The Reunion Movement is still too weak."

Orson said with lingering unease.

"You've got a pretty good grasp of reality. So, do I need to sign some contract to join you? If not, I'm heading to Kazdel tomorrow. Next time we meet, let's kill each other again."

W rose from the edge of the condemned building and looked at Orson.

"I need to tell Big Sis Talula—uh, is it just me? W, you look like you're about to run off."

As they spoke, W had already assumed a posture for jumping off the building.

"Make the most of what you have. I promised to help demolish this building, so see you~"

W waved at Orson, then leaped from the rooftop.

BOOM—!!!

A violent explosion erupted from the abandoned building. The bombs buried at its base successfully sent the aged structure off with delight, while the "bombs" on W's chest deployed tiny parachutes.

"She really holds a grudge..."

Orson rubbed his hair as the collapsing abandoned building swept him into the wreckage.

After the smoke and rubble surged, fell, and settled, Orson walked out of the ruins from within a black sphere.

—He had controlled Rest Note to wrap around himself and shield him from the impact. This move, named Kennith Form, allowed Orson to emerge from the demolition completely unharmed.

"She really doesn't let anyone rest easy."

After reaching a verbal agreement with W, Orson prepared to head back. However, for some reason, he was suddenly surrounded by a thick fog on the way.

"I won't lose again this time, Orson!"

JunJun's voice came from within the fog. Hearing it, Orson sighed.

"I just got smashed by an entire building because of W today. Can you come back tomorrow?"

"What do you mean, smashed by a building... A-Anyway, I'm not who I used to be. This time, I'm invincible—awoo!?"

Before JunJun could even finish speaking from her hiding place in the fog, Rest Note suddenly found her real body. It wrapped around her twice and dragged her before Orson.

"You challenged me, so you were prepared for this too, right, JunJun?"

Orson looked at JunJun with a gentle expression. Her tail had puffed up completely.

"W-Wait—awoooo!?"

From launching her attack to being caught, the entire process took less than five seconds.

What followed, naturally, was Orson petting her to his heart's content.

"Hah... hah..."

A few minutes later, JunJun lay sprawled on the ground with unfocused eyes. Clear liquid dripped from the corner of her mouth, and her body occasionally twitched from the overly intense ordeal just now.

As for Orson, he sat beside her with an expression that said, "Was that all?" The only thing missing was a post-battle cigarette in his hand.

"Guh... K-Kill me...!"

"I just used that line earlier. Anyway, you rely too much on your enemy's vision. The way I observe enemies doesn't just depend on my eyes. I can also sense them through refracted frequencies, or even investigate through the more intuitive melodies of heartbeats. Originium Arts like yours that obscure vision aren't very useful against me, JunJun."

Orson seriously explained why she had lost so utterly. Although JunJun was somewhat unconvinced, she listened obediently.

"I can't rely too much on my own abilities..."

"By the way, what are you planning to do from now on, JunJun?"

After their playtime(?), Orson handed JunJun a piece of beef jerky he had bought earlier. She accepted it with obvious reluctance, though her tail wagged wildly from side to side.

"I... want to stay. After all, I have nowhere else to go."

JunJun put on her mask and hood, looking somewhat lonely.

"Then from today onward, you won't be alone anymore, JunJun. Welcome to the Reunion Movement~"

Orson directly agreed to JunJun's request to join the Reunion Movement. JunJun, on the other hand, wore a bewildered expression that seemed to ask, "That's all it takes?"

"You just need to tell Big Sis Talula. At its core, the Reunion Movement started out as a group of Infected huddling together for warmth. It's not like we have any recruitment standards."

After all, even someone like him, who claimed his special talent was performing crosstalk during the interview, had been let in.

Orson smiled as he explained it to the Kingslayer. JunJun froze for a moment, then nodded to him.

Her father had died to murder and betrayal. Alone, she had gone to Siracusa for revenge, endured harsh trials, then returned to Ursus to seek out the enemies who had killed him—

This girl, too, had suffered wounds that were hard to heal. But all that suffering would end here.

"Oh, right... Um, why do you call me JunJun?"

"Well, I'll tell you someday."

Orson smiled at JunJun. She first puffed up her cheeks in annoyance, but then she, too, showed a relieved smile.

With JunJun deciding to join the Reunion Movement as well, among the original Reunion Movement officers, only Skullshatterer had yet to join.

But Orson did not intend to invite him into the Reunion Movement. According to the information from those nobles, Misha and Alex were currently living with a foster family. They were neither Infected nor Reunion Movement fighters.

If that was the case, there was no need for him to disturb them.

Before he knew it, the sun had long since set. Orson returned to the Rostov family's branch residence, which was temporarily serving as their base, and sat down on the steps before the entrance.

—The objective in Chernobog is mostly complete now. All that remains is to make contact with Rhodes Island. The Azazel Clinic's equipment is still not enough for the Infected, but will Rhodes Island come here? Do we have any way to take the initiative... Hm?

As Orson considered what to do next, he suddenly noticed that a shadow had appeared before him at some point.

"Be careful not to catch a chill sitting outside, Orson."