The Matter of Talula Picking Me Up and Adopting Me

First, I need to sort out Marquis Boris's unfinished business. Then, I have to help Father build hub towns for the residents of the Northern Territory. After that, I need to find a way to accept the Infected without upsetting the old nobles. At the same time, I must also consider how to arrange the assets of the new nobles...

There are many, many things to do, and many of them are things Lumen has never dealt with before.

This path won't be easy, but Lumen surprisingly doesn't feel any fear or pressure.

She knows very well that she is not fighting alone. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps next week, Orson will leave this city, but their battlefield will still be the land covered by this sky.

"Ah, this is—"

As they passed a small alley, Lumen, sitting in the car, noticed something.

"See something, Natalia?"

Orson, who was driving, asked Lumen.

"No, it's nothing."

Lumen looked at the unrenovated alley in the distance, still filled with the traces of explosions, the same alley where she first met Orson.

There's no need to dwell on the past; we have plenty of future to write.

70. W and JunJun Join, Sister Ta's Proactive Attack

[To the esteemed Shadow Man, please arrive at the location shown in the figure by 12:00 PM today. If you do not arrive by then, I will personally destroy what you cherish most—Signed: W]

"...What is this now?"

At noon, Orson, holding a note that had appeared in his room that morning, stumbled to the bottom of a building scheduled for demolition.

"Yo, Shadow Man, you actually came?"

W's voice came from the third floor. Orson looked up, and the mercenary still wore that unnerving smile.

"To be precise, I'm actually trying to escape... Sister Ta and FrostNova keep asking what I did yesterday, and even Alina is keeping an eye on me."

Orson rubbed his hair and complained, a little spooked.

"Who cares about that? I'm actually a bit surprised you came so straightforwardly—Here, catch~"

W smiled and tossed a black object to Orson.

"What is—"

BOOM!!!

A huge explosion swept through the first floor, and rolling dust instantly billowed up from the ground.

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

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

"Sorry, it's just that I'm such a shy girl."

W raised her grenade launcher and pulled the trigger, the grenade heading directly for Orson.

"Seriously? W, you're shy? And you don't fit the word 'girl' at all."

Orson controlled Rest Note to cling to the wall, bringing himself directly to the third floor, instantly closing the distance between them.

"That's why idiots like you deserve to be blown away by bombs!"

Forgetting that Orson didn't understand her teasing, W once again found herself in an awkward position. With a vein throbbing on her forehead, she threw a C4 at Orson, but didn't detonate it.

Orson controlled Rest Note to adopt a defensive stance. When he realized there was no explosion, he put Rest Note away. In that instant, W had already run in front of Orson, grabbed him, and hurled him towards the first floor.

"Ugh—!"

Thump!

As he fell, Orson used Rest Note to cushion his landing, but at the same time, W took out a controller from her waist.

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

W revealed a triumphant, scheming smile, and then, with the hand not holding the detonator, lifted her clothes.

"Don't, don't do this, W...! In broad daylight, in front of everyone—"

"I don't have any of those kinds of thoughts, you idiot!!"

W retorted loudly, surprisingly blushing, as she opened her jacket to reveal a row of bombs embedded on her chest, pressed tightly against Orson.

"Question: That annoying shadow is behind you, and in front of you is a row of C4s set to explode forward. At the same time, the entire floor beneath us is rigged with bombs—what do you plan to do in this situation?"

W asked Orson with a smile, while he calmly raised his hands—

"I surrender."

"...Can't you resist a little longer?"

W blinked. The victory came too easily, so much so that it felt unreal.

"Oh."

Orson nodded.

"Guh... I won't give in to you, W, kill me!"

"That's not what I meant by resisting!"

W almost accidentally pressed the self-destruct button.

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

After the brief "fight" between the two ended, W sat on the edge of the dangerous building, swinging her legs back and forth as she complained.

"The amount of preparation needed was too much (referring to planting bombs on the first floor), and you didn't even go all out, did you? Weren't you afraid I'd actually mess up and kill you?"

"It was fine. I didn't feel that killing intent from when we first met, so I wasn't too worried. Speaking of which, W, what are your plans now?"

Orson responded indifferently, then looked at the mercenary.

"I don't know yet. I'm a mercenary, you know how it is. I just go wherever there's a war until I kick the bucket."

W shrugged.

"In that case, why not join Reunion? We're actually in great need of soldiers who have truly experienced war."

"Ha, aren't you afraid I'll backstab you? Just like I backstabbed that idiot named Baikal?"

W asked Orson with a cold laugh, but she quickly realized that the young man wasn't falling for her sarcasm at all.

"—Forget it. It just so happens that my mercenaries and I are currently unemployed. If we tag along with you, there should be plenty of benefits, right? Besides, idealists like you probably run into fights often~"

"It's best if there are fewer fights… The reason we survived this time is simply because the group army didn't really want to start a war either. Reunion is still too weak right now."

Orson said with a lingering sense of fear.

"You're quite self-aware. Anyway, what kind of contract do I need to sign to join you? If none, I'll visit Kazimierz City tomorrow. We can fight again next time we meet."

W stood up from the edge of the dangerous building and looked at Orson.

"I need to inform Sister Talu— Uh, is it just my imagination? I feel like you're about to run away, W."

As they were talking, W had already struck a pose as if she were about to jump off the building.

"It's making the best use of everything. I promised to help demolish this building, so goodbye~"

W waved at Orson, then leaped from the rooftop.

BOOM—!!!

A violent explosion echoed from the abandoned dangerous building. The bombs planted at the base successfully sent the aging structure to its demise, while the "bomb" on W's chest popped out a small parachute.

"You really hold a grudge…"

Orson rubbed his hair, getting caught in the collapse of the abandoned building.

After the smoke and debris surged down and settled, Orson emerged from the ruins within a black sphere.

—He had used the ability to control Rest Note to envelop himself and avoid the impact. This move, named the Kennith Form, allowed Orson to emerge from the demolition completely unharmed.

"You really don't make things easy."

After verbally agreeing with W, Orson prepared to head back, but for some reason, he was suddenly enveloped in a mist on the way.

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

JunJun's voice came from within the mist. Hearing her voice, Orson sighed.

"I just got hit by a building from W today. Can you come back tomorrow?"

"What do you mean, 'hit by a building'… Anyway, I'm not the same as I was before, I'm invincible— Woof!?"

JunJun, who was hiding in the mist, was found by Rest Note before she could even finish speaking. After wrapping around her twice, she was dragged in front of Orson.

"You challenged me, so you should be prepared, JunJun?"

Orson looked at JunJun with a friendly expression, while her fur stood on end.

"W-wait a minute— Awoooooo!?"

The entire process from JunJun initiating her attack to being captured lasted less than 5 seconds.

And then, naturally, Orson got to pet her to his heart's content.

"Hah… Hah…"

A few minutes later, JunJun lay on the ground with unfocused eyes, clear liquid dripping from the corners of her mouth. Her body occasionally twitched from the excessively intense actions she had just undergone.

Orson, on the other hand, sat beside her with an expression that said, "That was nothing," as if he were holding a cigarette afterward.

"Gulp… Kill, kill me…!"

"I just used that line! Anyway, you rely too much on the enemy's vision. I don't just observe enemies with my own eyes; I can also sense them through frequency refraction and even probe them through the more abstract concept of heartbeats. Your Originium Arts, JunJun, which involve visual concealment, aren't very useful against me."

Orson explained to JunJun in all seriousness why she had been so easily defeated. Although JunJun was somewhat unconvinced, she still listened obediently.

"I can't rely too much on my own abilities, huh…"

"Oh, right, speaking of which, what are your plans now, JunJun?"

After their playful (??) session, Orson offered JunJun a piece of beef jerky he had bought earlier. She reluctantly took it, her tail wagging back and forth.

"I… I hope I can stay. After all, I have nowhere else to go."

JunJun put on a mask and hood, her expression somewhat dejected.

"Well, from today onward, you're no longer alone, JunJun. Welcome to Reunion~"

Orson readily agreed to JunJun joining Reunion, but JunJun herself looked confused, as if thinking, "That's it?"

"You just need to tell Sister Tazi. Reunion, at its core, was originally just a group of Infected banding together for warmth. We don't have any recruitment requirements."

After all, someone like himself, who said his special skill during his interview was stand-up comedy, was accepted.

Orson explained with a smile to the Executioner, and JunJun, after a moment of stunned silence, nodded at Orson.

Her father died from murder and betrayal. She went to Siracusa alone seeking revenge, endured harsh trials, and returned to Ursus to find her enemy and exact vengeance—

This girl had also experienced difficult-to-heal trauma, but all suffering would end here.

"Right... Um, why do you call me 'JunJun'?"

"Well, I'll tell you that later."

Orson smiled at JunJun. She pouted a little in annoyance at first, but then broke into a relieved smile.

With JunJun deciding to join Reunion, only Frost remained among the original Reunion cadres who hadn't joined yet.

But Orson had no intention of inviting him to join Reunion. According to the information from those nobles, Misha and Alex were currently in a foster home, neither Infected nor soldiers of Reunion.

Since that was the case, he didn't need to bother them.

Unbeknownst to him, the sun had long since set. Orson returned to the temporary Rostov family branch house serving as their base and sat down on the steps in front of the door.

—The majority of the objectives in Kazimierz City had been completed. All that was left was to connect with Rhodes Island. The equipment at Azazel Clinic was still not quite enough for the Infected, but would Rhodes Island arrive here? Did we have any means to actively... Huh?

As Orson was contemplating his next move, he suddenly noticed a shadow that had appeared before him at some point.

"Don't catch a cold sitting outside the door, Orson."