About the Time I Was Picked Up and Adopted by Talula

"I feel like this place is quite different from what I originally imagined..."

The Caster, a small rabbit named Amiya, twitched her ears as she moved towards her objective, curiously observing the surroundings of Kazimierz City.

"Indeed, this city has subtle differences from other regions of Ursus. It seems more… vibrant."

Beside Amiya was a Kuranta woman with long, golden hair that shone like the sun. She was a Rhodes Island operator codenamed Nearl.

"It's said that Kazimierz City is led by new nobles, with a focus on economic development. However, the original intelligence didn't mention that these changes would have such a noticeable impact. And… it doesn't seem like I'm mistaken. I just saw several Infected walking casually on the street?"

Amiya's ears twitched. At that moment, they had arrived at the passage leading to the underground area.

"It's not like Doctor Kal'tsit said. We haven't encountered any obstacles at all… this should be a very core area of Kazimierz City, shouldn't it?"

Amiya frowned in confusion. Ever since landing in Kazimierz City, she hadn't encountered any resistance from the other side.

"Stay vigilant, Amiya. Perhaps the lax defenses here are related to the previous Kazimierz City Incident, but it could also be a trap."

Another burly man, wearing sunglasses and holding a shield as tall as a person, ACE, spoke in a low voice. Amiya nodded.

"Unlock complete. You can pass now."

The technical operator cracked the electronic lock before them, and the Rhodes Island group arrived at the "heart" of Kazimierz City – a sarcophagus of unknown purpose.

"Doctor… we're here."

Amiya looked at the sarcophagus, gently clenched her hands, and then approached it.

And at that moment—

"Careful!"

Clang!

Nearl suddenly rushed to Amiya's side and activated a golden barrier. An unsharpened dagger was deflected with a clang.

"This isn't the entrance to Kazimierz City. Are you lost?"

"—!"

From the shadows, a hooded Lupo (for now, JunJun will remain a Lupo) slowly emerged. She was as ethereal as smoke, with only the dagger she was playing with shining conspicuously.

"Non-combat operators, get behind me."

ACE raised his shield and stepped forward, ready for battle. Amiya also assumed a fighting stance.

"That uniform… interesting."

Another female voice chimed in. Following her words, the surrounding temperature plummeted visibly. Cold and biting wind and frost abruptly blew towards them from this underground area.

"This time it's an Arts user… and they're strong."

Nearl tightened her grip on her war hammer. She stared motionlessly at the white Snow Rabbit, who was of the Caster race like Amiya. It seemed a tough battle was inevitable.

"Cute little rabbit, are you from the engineering maintenance team? Remember to show your identification. Or perhaps—you're simply intruders?"

Finally, a young man's voice emerged. Something indescribably dark spread, and then a black-haired youth emerged from it, accompanied by a faint melody.

"—"

Everyone present tightened their grip on their weapons, ready for anything. Although there were only three "enemies" before them, these operators, who had experienced countless battlefields, knew very well that these three were enough to sway the outcome of a battle.

While the Rhodes Island group was on high alert, the black-haired youth—Orson, at this moment—was experiencing extremely awkward internal thoughts.

—Finally see the little bunny, I really want to go pet her, ahhh!

While everyone was thinking about what to do if a fight broke out, Orson was mentally rehearsing how to pet Amiya's ears.

In reality, the current situation wasn't Orson forcibly showing off; it was a calculated move.

After all, he was a member of Reunion. He couldn't confirm Rhodes Island's current attitude and existence.

Reunion had changed because of his existence. No one could guarantee that Rhodes Island wouldn't also undergo some changes. For the safety of his companions and Kazimierz City, Orson had to adopt this steady attitude.

Of course, there was another reason: "Someone who smiles at the protagonist group in their first appearance is clearly marked with the word 'BOSS' on their face." How could they trust him?

The initial deterrence effect was good. Next, let's try to negotiate.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourselves, everyone from Rhodes Island? When you come to someone else's territory, introducing yourselves and stating your purpose is the most basic courtesy, isn't it?"

Orson said indifferently, slowly moving away from FrostNova. To create an imposing presence, FrostNova had apparently turned up the cold air a bit too much, and Orson was starting to feel a chill.

"I understand… I'm sorry, we didn't obtain permission beforehand. I am Ami— from Rhodes Island—"

Hee hee hee hee—

As Amiya was halfway through her introduction, an anomaly occurred. The sarcophagus standing beside them inexplicably opened its lid.

"The sarcophagus opened by itself… Doctor!"

Amiya froze for a moment, then immediately rushed to the sarcophagus.

But the surprises weren't over. When Amiya reached the sarcophagus, the little rabbit instantly froze in place.

"Doctor—it's empty… empty…?"

"—Huh?"

Orson blinked. His peripheral vision noticed that no one climbed out of the sarcophagus; instead, it was an empty space.

"Doctor… Doctor!? The signal clearly showed you were right here… What's going on?"

Amiya took two steps back in a panic, then shifted her gaze to Orson.

"Don't look at me, I don't know—oof!"

Before Orson could finish speaking, Amiya, visibly flustered and anxious, unleashed a magical attack. Judging by the expression on her face, the little rabbit probably hadn't expected to attack on her own.

Flash!

The Executioner beside them raised a dagger, blocking the magical attack. She immediately adopted a combat stance, while FrostNova also drew her staff, visible icy crystals appearing behind her.

"Prepare to cover Amiya's retreat, ACE!"

"Wait a minute…"

Orson reached out, intending to stop both sides, but before he could even finish speaking, Nearl charged forward with her shield, emitting a dazzling light.

—They've completely decided I'm the villain, haven't they…

FrostNova swung her staff, and snow quickly gathered before Snow Rabbit, forming a frozen shield.

Crack!!

The ice crystals were forcefully shattered by Nearl's charge, but she lost her momentum as a result.

Almost simultaneously, the Executioner vanished from her spot. When she reappeared, she was already in Nearl's blind spot behind her, her short knife aimed directly at a gap in the armor.

"Nearl!"

Amiya raised her palm, an ominous black Originium spell already gathering at her fingertips, ready to be unleashed.

"Ah, this is too much— Curtain Call!"

Orson rubbed his hair with an expression of "Why did it turn out like this?" before activating Curtain Call, instantly stopping the near-uncontrolled clash.

"Cough, cough, cough—cough! Everyone, stop—first of all, I have no idea what your purpose here is."

This is a lie! From the very beginning, this man designed a specialized surveillance network specifically to encounter Rhodes Island.

"And before you arrived, we didn't even know this thing could hold anything."

This is a lie! This man knew from the start that someone unrecognizable was lying inside.

"Lastly, whatever you're looking for is lost, and it has nothing to do with us."

This is the truth! The Doctor disappeared in the story, and Orson is also clueless right now. To prevent the plot from being disrupted, he hadn't even come here before.

Orson explained as he walked over to the sarcophagus, patting the stone coffin.

"Are you going to keep fighting, or—"

"Gene verification passed, lock released. Welcome, Doctor. Orson."

After Orson touched it, a female synthesized electronic voice emanated from within the stone coffin.

"……" "……" "……"

Everyone froze.

73. My house is quite big, would the members of Rhodes Island like to visit?

"Uh… is he the Doctor you were talking about?"

After a brief silence, Nearl put away her shield, quietly asked Amiya as she returned to her side, pondering what had happened to suddenly "block" their Originium Arts.

"N-no."

After Orson's emergency shutdown, Amiya had finally calmed down considerably.

"Although I haven't seen the Doctor's true appearance, the Doctor I have in mind isn't this… um, petite?"

Amiya whispered, looking at Orson, who was about the same height as JunJun in their group. This comment hit one of Orson's few weak spots.

Just a few weeks ago, JunJun was a little girl he could pet freely, but in less than a month, she had grown to be almost as tall as him. Who could handle that?

"You're not that tall yourself, little rabbit!"

Orson, his defenses broken, retorted directly.

"I, I'm about 1.6 meters including my ears…!"

Amiya retorted, not to be outdone, and even stood on tiptoe.

"…Uh"

Orson blinked, then turned to ask FrostNova behind him.

"Do you Casters count your ears when measuring height?"

"Except for places like restaurants, buses, and movie theaters where ears are included, other places probably don't count, right?"

FrostNova replied uncertainly.

"So that's how it is. There's such a saying."

Nearl nodded thoughtfully, while Amiya, somewhat angry and anxious, declared, "I'm going to apply to change the height calculation method when we get back to Rhodes Island!"

"Ultimately, height doesn't matter at all… No, wait! I was supposed to be talking about something else earlier!"

Amiya suddenly realized she had gone off-topic, but thanks to the mysterious "rabbit height" topic serving as a buffer, the tension between the two groups had dissipated considerably.

"Based on the information provided by the Doctor, this machine shouldn't react 'proactively' to anyone else, but you not only activated the sarcophagus system, you were also identified as the 'Doctor'... Who exactly are you?"

Amiya frowned as she looked at Orson; the young man seemed to be shrouded in quite a few mysteries.

"Hmm... Speaking of which, I haven't properly introduced myself yet. That Casters over there is FrostNova, and the other one is Executioner. Including myself, we are all leaders of Reunion."

Orson introduced JunJun and FrostNova's codenames before returning to himself.

"You can call me the Tuner, or Silencer, the choice is yours."

"Tuner..."

Many of the Rhodes Island members who heard the name frowned. Silencer was only mentioned in the Northern Territory and some surrounding towns, but the title Tuner had been heard by most people recently.

"I am Amiya, an agent of the multinational pharmaceutical company Rhodes Island. The two next to me are ACE and Nearl; they are also operators belonging to Rhodes Island."

Amiya also introduced her team. Her group had illegally trespassed onto their territory first, and she had been the one to lose control of her emotions and attack them just now. The fact that they weren't pursuing and attacking them further was already very lenient.

"Amiya of Rhodes Island, huh. Well. In any case, continuing to confront and entangle ourselves here won't lead to any progress. Why don't we find a place to sit and sort out the current situation? After all, we're quite curious about the nature of this machine, as it's the core power source of Chernobyl."

Orson suggested finding a different place to talk.

"That's a good suggestion, but it could also be an extremely obvious trap. Do you think we would accept such a bizarre invitation?"

ACE rejected Orson's suggestion, remaining as steady as a defensive tower.

"Very good, commendable vigilance."

Orson nodded, his inner thoughts at the same time:

—As expected of Brother ACE! So steady and reliable. After all, this life was given to me by my brother!

As the first "brother" he recognized since the game's launch, Orson had a very high opinion of ACE. Now that Black Serpent was pinned down in its lair and listening to storytelling every day, Brother ACE wouldn't have to sacrifice himself in Kazimierz City to cover the Doctor's retreat.

"Ahem, allow me to try a different approach then. If it's an invitation from the current City Lord of Kazimierz City, you should have no reason to refuse, everyone from Rhodes Island?"