About Talula Taking Me In and Raising Me

After Orson wiped away his sweat, the two formally began their showdown on the grid.

"Like this, you're checkmated. You were far too hesitant with your pawns."

"Mm... another round."

Talula stared at the board, her tone unconvinced.

The two sat facing each other in the tent, playing the simple chess game Orson had hastily drawn up. Though the board and pieces were extremely rudimentary, it had its own unique charm.

Talula stared intently at the board, and the faint, ever-burning flame in her eyes temporarily vanished. Her body was no longer tense from constantly maintaining an upright posture.

All her ambitions, goals, and convictions had been set aside along with that greatsword. At this moment, Talula was merely a girl racking her brains over a chess match, occasionally wanting to take back a move but only sulking because her pride would not allow it.

Their gazes occasionally met, but that brief fluster quickly vanished into the raging blizzard.

"...Another round?"

"Mm."

Neither knew who had suggested another game, nor who had agreed. They simply continued playing match after match.

Both Orson and Talula understood clearly that this moment of peace was incredibly precious, something they could only long for and never truly attain.

The infected's living conditions were worsening by the day, and the severely infected within the group were growing weaker and weaker. The crops harvested from the surrounding farmland were poor, while the threat of the Enforcement Team hung over everyone like a shadow.

To pursue that sunlit land filled with rice that everyone yearned for, Talula had countless matters to deal with, and they would only continue to multiply.

But even so, even so, the two tacitly tried their best to prolong this fleeting warmth.

"Checkmate—this time I won, right, Orson?"

Talula moved her cannon piece. After a brief moment of thought, she looked up at Orson with a smile.

"...Yeah. Did you hear the sound of glass shattering all over the floor? That was my self-esteem."

After a brief silence, the two burst into laughter.

"Talula, your talent for learning is honestly terrifying. Once the revolution is over, you could totally become a chess player."

Orson chatted as he gathered the pieces.

"A chess player? That isn't a bad option. But I don't think this revolution will end so easily."

"That's true."

Orson looked at Talula. The white musical score that symbolized her soul was finally no longer as tense as before.

"Then, another—"

"Talula! The infected who left the group earlier have sent an emergency distress signal!"

Every happy moment was fleeting and fragile. That was precisely why happiness seemed so precious.

The information FrostNova brought as she lifted the tent flap completely shattered this small moment of peace.

There Are Inner Guards Now

The situation was urgent enough that FrostNova did not even have time to ask, "Why is Orson in Talula's tent?"

"Judging from the communication method, it isn't a distress signal, but... the highest-level warning telling us to run."

FrostNova's expression was grave. The moment she received the signal, she tried to contact them in return, but the resistance lacked any reliable two-way communication methods. The infected who had left the group gave no response after sending the signal.

"What should we do, Talula? They've already severed ties with the resistance. We can choose not to respond."

FrostNova asked the leader of the group for her decision.

"But they are still infected. I'll lead a small team to rescue them."

Talula fastened the greatsword at her side once more and straightened her body.

She had returned to the role of a warrior, preparing for the battle she might soon face.

"Take me with you. My ability might be useful."

Orson checked the cold resistance of his clothes as well, volunteering for this temporary rescue operation.

"...All right."

Talula hesitated for a moment, but ultimately agreed to Orson's request. His tuning-based scouting ability was unmatched across the snowfields.

"Then count me in too."

"No. FrostNova, you put too much effort into the Abyssal Hunters' Originium equipment earlier. You were also responsible for trading with the village yesterday. What you need now is rest. Leave this to me."

Talula refused FrostNova, who was clearly somewhat doubtful of that judgment.

"We don't know the enemy's composition. We can't let you take such a risk—"

"It isn't a risk. We need you to contact Patriot. You know the Guerrilla Force's communication equipment is extremely scarce. We need the—connection between you and Patriot?"

"It's a resonance of Originium Arts... Forget it, I understand."

FrostNova sighed, then looked toward Orson.

"Keep an eye on Talula, Orson. If anything suspicious happens, remember to retreat."

"Mm. When the time comes, I'll have Sister Talu protect me."

"You..."

FrostNova rubbed her brow, while Talula smiled faintly.

After swiftly organizing a six-person team, they immediately headed toward the location of the distress signal.

Along the way, neither Talula nor the scouting caster noticed any trace of the Enforcement Team or other forces. The snow-covered ground held only a shallow trail buried beneath the wind and snow. There was no sign that anyone had been attacked.

"...Something's wrong."

But Orson did not think so. He frowned and activated Wide-area Low Frequency. Though he received no feedback, the unease in his heart did not fade.

Unlike those people who thought, "Something feels off, but it's probably just my imagination," Orson knew clearly that this sense of abnormality was definitely not an illusion.

"Did you notice something, Orson?"

Talula asked Orson seriously. She knew that although this young man sometimes acted as though he had left home without his brain, he would never bring up meaningless actions or topics at a time like this.

"I can't explain it, but the melody feels wrong. Something like white noise has been echoing throughout this area."

"White noise..."

Talula pondered for several seconds.

"Scout caster, can you temporarily increase the strength of the alert Arts?"

Talula called to the infected at the front of the group, but received no answer.

"Hey, scout caster—Charles?"

An infected warrior walked toward the unresponsive caster at the front. He placed a hand on the caster's shoulder, then let out a terrified scream.

"Gah—!? Dead, he's dead!? What happened? What happened here?!"

The infected stumbled backward and fell to the ground in panic. At the same time, a long spear suddenly protruded from the scout caster's neck, having pierced straight through his body.

"Damn it—enemy attack! Everyone gather around me! Light the torches!"

Talula immediately drew her greatsword and flung flames from her palm. Orson also pulled out the dagger he carried for self-defense.

But before the illumination torches could touch the flames Talula had thrown out, the infected warriors seemed to be dragged into a swamp. They silently and covertly collapsed to the ground—their heads completely severed from their bodies.

"...!"

In less than a minute, everyone in the search-and-rescue team aside from Talula and Orson had suddenly died without a sound.

What kind of enemy was this? How many were there?

Talula's mind raced desperately. On the northern ice plains, there were not many possible enemies capable of such a thing.

Orson raised the detection frequency, trying to suppress the interference of the white noise. This scan was extremely effective, and he immediately sensed a humanoid figure right in front of his face.

"Urgh!"

Without hesitation, Orson stepped back the instant he detected the enemy's position. At the same time, a sharp pain came from near his throat.

"Orson!"

"I'm fine. It's only a scratch. More importantly, I've decoded the enemy's frequency."

Orson covered his bleeding throat with his left hand and lightly snapped the fingers of his other hand.

Snap!

A frequency opposite to the enemy's spread outward. The instant it made contact with the unknown foe, it forced the figure to emerge from the white blizzard.

As the enemy's location and form were decoded and exposed, the two finally saw the enemy who had nearly wiped out the rescue team in an instant and killed the infected group from before.

It was a tall, bizarre being with a strange gas mask on its face and a finely crafted sword at its waist.

Simply standing before Orson, the thing made him feel an overwhelming wave of terror and dread.

"...Emperor's Inner Guard."

Talula frowned and gravely identified the enemy before them. Although her tone sounded the same as usual, Orson could still hear the tremor and confusion in her voice.

"Not bad. You detected me and avoided that slash. You have a fine chess piece at your side, daughter of Duke Koschei."

"Whose daughter did you say I was?"

Talula's fury was visible to the naked eye. The surrounding icy blizzard was engulfed by a wave of heat.

Koschei?

Orson seemed to have heard that name before, yet he could not remember anything about it.

"What do you want, Emperor's Inner Guard? Is there anything on this barren frozen land worth plundering?"

"An evaluation of the current situation. It seems that the game between you and your infected forces has reached its end. We must determine the benefits of continuing to let you run free."

The inhuman creature called an Inner Guard spoke in a low, cold voice.

"Benefits? A game? This isn't a game! I will gather those abandoned by this land, by the emperor you serve, and give them a place to survive on this continent as well!"

Talula roared and hurled a stream of flame at the Inner Guard, but the seemingly surging heat wave was effortlessly scattered by the other party.

"Immature. Unrealistic. Young serpent, if this is your goal, then your evaluation may need to be lowered."

"What right do executioners like you have to judge anyone else? The lives that have died by your hands outnumber those lost in a local war!"

"Killing people, yes. No matter how we embellish it, the result remains that we kill others. You commit the same act as we do. In that case, daughter of Koschei, young serpent, why are you so certain that the path you walk is justice?"

"..."

The Inner Guard's words made Talula furrow her brows tightly. But before she could refute it this time, Orson's voice came first.

"Because Sister Talula has never chopped off someone's head just because they disagreed with her. Is that reason enough?"

Orson stood protectively before Talula, while the Sankta was slightly distracted by the sight before her.

How long had it been since someone last "protected" her...?

I'm a Stand User Too!

Can you beat this guy, Sister Talula?

"...?!"

As Orson spoke, another voice sounded in Talula's mind at the same time.

This is one temporary use of melody I just tried. Let's call it Resonance Beyond. Anyway, I invited you into this frequency band, so we can ignore the environment and communicate for now.

An interesting ability. Still, if it's an Inner Guard, I might barely be able to contend with one alone.

Talula was only briefly surprised before immediately using this ability to communicate with Orson.

Understood. Unfortunately, there are two of them.

*...!*

"Her ideals may indeed be naive and difficult to grasp, but so what? When the first person on this land sought to become a 'king,' would the people around him have laughed at his idea before it came true?"