About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"Anyone who insults the late emperor will be executed after having their mouth and nose cut off."

——Right now, Sister Tallulah, use the Originium technique forward!

boom! ! !

The inner guard was enraged by Orson's words. When he was about to attack, Orson suddenly dodged to the side, and an explosive flame that could sting his eyes instantly rushed out from in front of Tallulah.

Not only that

——Crescendo

Orson raised the pitch of the [Flame] itself, and the originally orange-red hot flames instantly turned bluish-white, melting all the ice that had been frozen around it for a hundred years.

It wasn't over yet. Although the inner guard in front of him was deprived of his mobility for a moment by the sudden attack of Tallulah and Orson, the second inner guard who had been hiding in the surrounding blizzard from the beginning also launched an attack at the same time.

Soul Tuning – Staccato

Orson raised his hand and aimed at the internal guard who was rushing towards him, and directly hit the opponent's white music score with brute force.

"—!"

Unlike the unlucky patrolman who completely collapsed and lost consciousness before, the mental barrier of this inner guard was ridiculously thick. The [Staccato] aimed at "complete destruction" only made the opponent stunned for a moment.

But this little gap was enough. The two inner guards were temporarily deprived of their ability to move for a few seconds in different ways. Orson immediately grabbed Tallulah's arm and rushed to the cliff beside the road without hesitation.

Suddenly, several traces of spear piercing and slashing appeared behind the two men. After the two inner guards came to their senses, they immediately chased after them.

"Hold on tight, Sister Tallulah!"

Orson knew very well that he and Tallulah were not able to contend with that thing. The Patriot might be able to, but the Patriot was not Cao Cao.

If you can't beat him, then there is only one thing you can do.

Orson pulled Tallulah off the cliff without any hesitation, and at the same time pulled out the long sword from Tallulah's waist with his other hand.

——Crescendo, high scale

Orson cast a melody on the greatsword to increase its temperature and strength, then gritted his teeth and thrust the greatsword into the steep cliff of the icy cliff beside him.

"Grr-Aa ...

Contrary to what he imagined, although the greatsword enhanced by the melody could indeed be inserted into the cliff to slow down the opponent, Orson overestimated his physical fitness.

Due to the weight of the two people and the speed of falling, the moment Orson inserted the sword into the cliff, his arm was dislocated due to the tearing pain and he let go of the sword.

"—"

The flow of time in his mind suddenly became extremely slow. Orson looked at the sword gradually moving away from him, his brain desperately thinking about the current situation.

If this continues, Tallulah and I will fall directly down, and relying on the cliff to slow down is necessary.

Is there anything that can change its properties at will, that you can easily control, and that is right next to you and cannot be obstructed?

I was finally rescued from the hell of the granary by Tallulah, how could it be possible... wait, granary?

A dismembered body, a building, something fragmented, something black, a black musical score—

Damn it, never mind!!

Orson's first attempt at tuning a "concept"—his own [shadow]

Swah——

The black music score and Orson's body were intertwined, and then there was the feeling of something being torn apart.

A huge, invisible, dark object extended from behind Orson, and its shadow wrapped around the greatsword stuck on the cliff, holding it tightly.

"Prepare for a buffer, Sister Tallulah!"

When there was still about ten meters left, the greatsword had reached its limit. Shadow pulled out Tallulah's longsword, and the two of them slowed down and fell straight into countless withered birch trees. The trunks acted as a buffer to some extent.

"rua!"

Orson made an embarrassing sound and landed face down on the ground, half of his body stuck in the snow, turning into a winter German stick.jpg.

"I didn't expect it to actually work, ahem!"

Before Orson could sigh after pulling his body out of the snow pile, he suddenly coughed up scarlet liquid from his mouth.

"Orson!"

Tallulah ran to Orson in a panic.

"You use Originium techniques too much! And in such an... unreasonable way!"

"It hurts, it hurts... It turns out that besides bleeding gums, I can actually cough up blood..."

Orson covered his mouth with his undislocated arm and laughed at himself.

"Don't talk yet, I'll give you—"

"Let's keep going, Sister Tallulah. The white noise hasn't completely disappeared yet..."

Orson gritted his teeth and stood up from the ground, while Tallulah carefully leaned on Orson with her body and walked forward.

"Did you go and blow up their lair these past few days... How did you manage to provoke these monsters, and two at once... ahem!"

"Hold on, Orson. I'll use my Originium skills to the best of my ability to maintain the surrounding temperature!"

"Guerrillas, settlements...what should we do over there?"

Orson was a little worried that these people who were targeting Tallulah would turn their attention to the settlement.

"I can only hope that the internal guards didn't receive such instructions, or that the patriots were able to rush back - thank God, there is a faint light ahead, it seems to be a village."

Although the blizzard around her seemed to be getting worse, Tallulah could still barely see a dim and flickering light in the distance.

"You are the top priority right now, Orson."

As the blizzard became more violent, Tallulah had to get closer to Orson, using her body temperature to protect him from hypothermia.

Because of the previous battles and crazy behavior, the military uniform on Tallulah's body was a little damaged. Orson, who was pressed tightly against Tallulah, glanced to the side and could see the surprisingly simple and plain underwear faintly visible on Tallulah's chest.

"……flutter"

"Orson!? You're bleeding again...wait."

Talulah noticed the sticky blood on her shoulder. She looked at Orson in panic, and then found that the blood was spurting out of his nostrils. Orson maintained this nosebleed posture, staring at Talulah's chest.

"Ah, well, I actually..."

Click!

"Ouch! Ouch!!!!"

The dislocation was cured.

15. I have decided to dedicate my life to Sister Tazi, and I will go through fire and water for her.

In an unknown border village, in an abandoned room with no one living there.

"I never thought that this dress would one day be able to play its own role."

Tallulah sat at the table, looking at the tattered clothes on her body with some self-mockery, but they were still the "Ursus noble military uniform".

"'A young noblewoman and her bodyguard, stranded and helpless, fell off a cliff during a snowstorm while investigating the border situation'—I don't know whether the villagers who believed this excuse are more outrageous, or you, Sister Tazi, who could come up with it..."

Orson was lying on the bed beside him, complaining quietly.

"Thanks to the blizzard outside, this reason seems a lot more real, doesn't it? Although because of this blizzard, our reconnection with the settlement will be delayed a bit."

Tallulah looked out the window, which was covered with a layer of ice. Although it was already early in the morning, the sky outside looked as cloudy as a cloudy day because of the strong wind and snow.

"I hope Frost Star and the others are okay. I feel like only old Patriot can imitate those guys—cough cough cough!"

Orson drank water while worrying about the situation in the settlement, and ended up coughing as he almost choked.

"Be careful. The Originium in the infected person's body will spread faster as their abilities are overloaded and activated. Using abilities like that just now was so unreasonable. If you force it without fully mastering it, it will cause serious damage to your body."

Talulah signaled Orson to have a good rest. The previous adjustment of his "concept" of his own shadow had seriously consumed Orson's experience and physical strength.

"At least I'm still alive enough to hurt myself... Anyway, what on earth is that thing? It looks like a human, but I feel like it's not even from the same dimension as us."

"The Emperor's Blades—they are the last and most powerful force at the side of Emperor Ursus. These beings, no different from weapons, serve Ursus unconditionally. Each one has witnessed countless battles... or rather, massacres. The number of those who have died at their hands is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people."

Tallulah gently explained this ominous existence that seemed more like a ghost story than anything else to most Ursus residents.

Recalling the extremely brief but suffocating confrontation with the Emperor's inner guards, Orson still felt a little cold sweat and fear. That thing easily killed an entire team of infected people and the search and rescue team, and he didn't even have the ability to confront them head-on.

But it’s only “temporarily” not available…

Orson clenched his fists and began to think about how he could become stronger.

"Speaking of which, Sister Tallulah, you rarely seem to intentionally take the lives of patrolmen or other enemies. Is it because you're afraid of escalating the conflict?"

During the time he followed Tallulah, Orson had more or less contact with the patrol team. Although there were occasional casualties, most of the time Tallulah simply used force to drive the other party away. This behavior was far different from the "tyrant" Tallulah later.

"On the one hand, that's true. Being too radical in Ursus will only provoke the army, and then no one will survive. But on the other hand—someone once told me that violence isn't a panacea that can solve all problems, but rather creates an inseparable dependence on it. If I kill ordinary people who could have avoided death, that would be the moment I completely abandon my original intention. At that point... perhaps there would be no turning back."

Tallulah spoke lightly.

Tallulah's desired goal is to "allow the people of this continent to coexist with the infected." She firmly believes that everyone has good intentions, and those evil deeds are caused by the oppression of the external environment. As long as she can change this continent, there will be no more disputes and violence.

"Is the person who told you this the same Alina?"

Orson asked Tallulah curiously whether Alina had told her these thoughts.

"…It's time to tell you about her."

After a brief hesitation, Tallulah made up her mind and told Orson all about her experiences, communications, and emotions with this "unknown best friend".

"Alina is not only my best friend, but also the initiator of everything I do. If I am the founder of the guerrillas, then Alina is one of the equally important initiators, following me from the very beginning. And most importantly, she was my 'safety net'. I once firmly believed that as long as Alina was by my side, the black snake's curse would never take effect."

Tallulah looked at her palm. The feeling she had felt when she pierced the black snake was like a curse that had been lingering on her body.

"You once asked me what that 'noise' was, right? It was the person I hated the most, the one who tried to raise me to be a hypocritical aristocrat, a conspirator, an executioner, a tyrant, the one who used lies and righteousness to cover up his atrocities—Cosche. It was the one who, even after death, lingered and cursed me."

Tallulah clenched her fists, her anger towards the black snake was indelible.

"His curse, the 'noise,' will continually erode my will until I begin to doubt and become confused about myself, and then it will consume me completely. Initially, I dismissed the curse. I believed my efforts would be rewarded, and I believed I could leave a mark on this continent according to the independent will and methods of Tallulah."

Tallulah was silent here. She looked at the snowstorm outside the window and still couldn't see the road ahead clearly.

"But Sister Tallulah, you're beginning to realize that your efforts are like pouring hot water out the door, hoping to hasten the arrival of spring. It's unrealistic."

Orson said what Tallulah couldn't say, but Tallulah didn't refute the metaphor.

"Just like this, I gradually realized that I couldn't change anything at all - no, my view of this continent was changing. The Alina in the past would tell me what I should stick to and what I should believe in. But after she fell into a coma, all I could do was pointlessly spill hot water, flames, and blood, and then watch them disappear into the ice."

Tallulah's expression was lonely and helpless. There was no one in the room for her to pretend to be a fighter, so the young dragon showed her fragile and anxious side.

"Initially, I wanted to use the belief of changing the continent and the fate of the infected to gather the warriors, and let the followers fight hard on their own will, but the patriots told me that this wouldn't work."

"Initially, I wanted to lead the infected to the south, because there was land where green sprouts could grow and slopes where golden sunlight could be seen. But Froststar told me that this wouldn't work."

“At first, I wanted to tell the infected people living in makeshift villages that this continent shouldn’t be so cruel and that they can pursue their own future. But the infected people told me that this wouldn’t work.”

"Initially... what did I initially want to pursue? I can't remember, and I don't think those memories have any meaning. I don't dare face Alina again, because I'm afraid that I've already been possessed by the black snake, that I've unknowingly gone against my original self. If that happens, will she still comfort me? Will she be completely lost to me like this? Will she begin to regret following me and leaving her village? Will she... think that everything someone like me does is completely meaningless?"

Tallulah's voice was trembling. Those tiny "doubts" gradually accumulated over countless days and months, and finally buried themselves deep in Tallulah's heart. Those self-doubts were like another curse, causing Tallulah to lose the courage to find Alina.

"Whether she'll embrace you or mock you depends entirely on your own inner perspective, Sister Tallulah. But if you want an answer, there's only one way, right? Since you're unsure of what to do next, it's even more important to seek out Alina. Ultimately, I'm just a storyteller. Such a complex task as spiritual counseling should be left to more professionals."

Orson climbed up from the bed, enduring the pain in his chest as if there was a hole in it, and looked at Tallulah and spoke sincerely.

"And, no matter what you choose, I will trust you. This has nothing to do with political ambitions or grand goals. I simply trust you, Sister Tallulah."

"—Why, Orson?"

Orson's sincere trust made Tallulah a little shaken.

"Because you saved me, from that hell, from the pile of dead bodies, you rescued me from that state."

Without hesitation, Orson directly answered Tallulah's doubts, and Tallulah smiled after receiving the answer.

Yes, it was different from his own goals and political ideologies. This young man in front of him had only followed him because of the existence of "Tallulah," just like Alina.

Perhaps, this is one of my most precious gains.

Looking at Orson in front of her, Tallulah finally understood why this young man was so special to her.

16. People who don’t deserve to be saved, people who don’t want to die

"Actually, you're not the only one being saved, Orson. Perhaps I'm one of those being saved, too."