About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"That's great, Orson...you didn't leave—"

Tallulah's tone was a little flustered, but full of joy and fear.

Orson, who had a sword held against his throat when they first met, never thought that he would be hugged tightly by Tallulah like this.

At this moment, Orson only wants to say one thing:

"Um... Sister Tazi, there are a lot of people watching you from behind."

"..."

The composition at this time: Orson and Tallulah are in the room, Tallulah is holding Orson, and a row of people are standing at the door of the room, including but not limited to Frost Star, Patriot, Sasha, and the infected.

"..."

Tallulah glanced back, and the horns on her head began to turn red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Sister Tazi, Sister Tazi? Sister Tazi, are you ignited? Aaaaaaaa!?!"

Poor Orson, he had just woken up and was treated to a heating blanket (100°).

After the brief farce, everyone expressed their blessings and returned to their posts, and the tent became much quieter again.

"Hiss—um, Sister Tazi, what happened during the time I was unconscious?"

Orson stood up carefully, but still touched the wound on his abdomen and gasped.

As for Tallulah, she finally discovered that when the situation was not formal, this guy would call her "Sister Tazi".

"The Patriots arrived just in time. After seeing the Patriots, the Internal Guards only stood off for a moment and did not clash with the settlement. The blizzard soon died down, and then it was Sasha who found us."

Tallulah briefly summarized what happened after that. There were no major waves, only a "miracle" brought about by tiny "lucky" things.

"Oh, I see... Then what happened to the wound on my stomach?"

Orson looked at his bandaged abdomen. It had only been less than a day, but the wound had already begun to heal, connecting to his punctured internal organs.

"It's Ino."

Tallulah pointed to the corner of the tent, and Orson noticed the shy white-haired boy who had actually been sleeping quietly on a chair in the corner.

"That kid awakened his Originium skill [Life Tap] and saved you. He really likes you, Orson."

"Yeah, I always feel a little guilty about it."

I just wanted to prevent Ino from becoming "Mephistopheles", but I unknowingly became one of his most cherished beings.

But, I finally did change something, right, Xiao Pu?

Orson looked outside the tent and saw the sky filled with flying dandelion seeds.

"..."

Orson rubbed his eyes and realized that they were actually falling snowflakes.

White - actually not that offensive.

18. Pure and noble soul

Three days after the encounter with the inner guards——

"【pause】"

Orson stretched out his hand, and the shadow under his feet immediately materialized and moved according to his command, and the black alien creature was given substance.

Orson applied "high scale" to the shadow to increase its hardness, then changed the thickness of the shadow and controlled the rest to chop at the stone on the side.

Swish-!

The upper part of the stone tilted and fell into the snow, and the cut was extremely smooth.

"..."

Orson stared at the mirror-like incision and vaguely thought of something.

"Orson."

Tallulah's voice interrupted Orson. He took back the pause and waved to Tallulah.

"How is your health?"

"He's fully recovered. Ino's Originium skills are truly amazing, but I've had a good talk with him. This ability is still a bit too much for him right now. He must master it before he can help others."

Orson rubbed his abdomen. The previous penetrating wound had completely healed. Instead, the spread of the Originium infection caused by the first forced summoning of the Rest Symbol had a greater impact.

"Your Originium skills are now very proficient."

Tallulah noticed the cut next to it.

"Well, after my last reckless move, I can now manipulate the rest symbol without any burden, but... this also clears up my previous confusion."

"—Do you regret it, Orson?"

Tallulah knew what Orson was referring to. The dismembered bodies and buildings scattered throughout the village were probably caused by the first rampage of Halt.

"Some, but it's something I have to carry."

Orson's answer was very concise, and Tallulah nodded. This young man was more resilient than she had imagined.

"Well, Orson—I can answer you now at last."

After confirming that Orson was fine, Tallulah hesitated for a moment, but finally opened her mouth.

"I've thought about this for a long time. I once thought I had strayed from the path. Those infected comrades, the guerrillas, the Frost Star, the patriots... I was afraid that one day I would use these people I cherished as pawns. I was afraid that Alina wouldn't be able to correct me, that she wouldn't recognize the me I am now..."

"But you're right, Orson. We have to keep going. If we passively wait, spring will never come. We must take the initiative to seek that warmth."

Tallulah looked at Orson, her eyes no longer evasive or flickering.

"—That's right, leave it to me."

Orson smiled and then patted his chest.

After receiving Tallulah's decision, the two returned to the room where Alina was sleeping. Elafia, who had always been with Tallulah and had been with her through the most difficult times, had been unconscious for too long.

Soul Tuning

Orson gently reached out his hand to Alina, and a pure white music score appeared in front of Orson like the most ethereal chord.

Alina's soul was calm and warm, but there was a tiny crack. If that crack could be filled, she would regain consciousness.

Orson stretched out his finger and touched Alina's pure white soul. The next moment, he found himself in a pure white space. There was no concept of time and space here, no scenery, only the slightly surprised little deer in front of him.

"Excuse me, what's going on? Is your right hand still there?"

Alina looked at the pure white in confusion, then looked at her palm which should have been severed.

"This is the depth of your soul. Here, your physical body will manifest as a complete soul. This pure white means... you have never felt resentment or anger, or resentment towards the world."

Orson was a little surprised. It was the first time he had seen such a pure and flawless soul melody. Before, whether he was conducting experiments on the patrol team members or using staccato on the internal guards, the souls of the opponents that he had glimpsed at that moment were all contaminated by something indescribable.

"Thank you for your hard work, Alina. Before I met Tallulah, you were also working hard, fighting death in your own way, just to prevent Tallulah from completely collapsing."

Orson walked up to Alina and gently held the slender hands of the deer in front of him who had been fighting alone for a long time.

"Now you are no longer alone. We will accompany you, and then, we will return."

Orson held Alina's hand. The touch was familiar. When he had just arrived in this settlement, completely unaware of everything, it was these hands that had unconsciously held him.

"Thank you for taking care of Tallulah during this time. She's a very good girl, right?"

"Oh, yes."

Alina smiled at Orson, who blushed slightly and whispered a response.

"Haha, but I won't give up."

"Eh?"

Alina's subtle remarks made Orson stunned for a moment, but Alina smiled mischievously and stuck out her tongue.

"Haha... Well, welcome back then."

Orson was amused by Alina's prank, and then he placed their clasped hands on each other's chests.

"..."

In reality, Alina opened her eyes and saw the girl whom she planned to protect for the rest of her life, a girl who was so strong that it made her heart ache.

"Good morning, Tallulah."

Alina gave Tallulah a smile that was months late.

"Ah, good morning, Alina..."

Tallulah hesitated for a moment, and then a clear liquid flowed from the corners of her eyes.

“I’m sorry—I’m sorry! Because of my negligence, my carelessness, my cowardice, that’s why… that’s why you became like this…!!”

"It's okay, Tallulah. I understand. I understand."

Alina struggled to stretch out her relatively intact left hand, placed it on Tallulah's head, and stroked her laboriously and slowly.

"Humph……"

Seeing this scene, Orson snorted softly, then left the room silently.

The soul tuning process lasted for 4 or 5 hours, but even so, Orson still did not choose to share this hard-earned joy with Tallulah.

After all, the beautiful girls' lilies are in full bloom, leaving no room for me to interfere. As a man, at this time, I should just quietly...

"Teacher Orson!"

Not long after Orson left the room, he met Ino, who immediately came over happily after seeing Orson.

"What is Mr. Orson doing?"

"I'm imagining yuri business... ahem, thinking about life. Ino, what's up?"

Orson ruffled Ino's pure white hair, and the latter showed an expression of enjoyment like a cat being petted.

"I've mastered a new way to use Originium techniques, Mr. Orson!"

Ino excitedly put his hands together, then opened them and blew gently with his mouth, and countless pure white feathers flew out from his palms.

"That's some beautiful Originium technique."

Orson sighed from the bottom of his heart, while Ino felt a little shy after receiving the praise.

"No, it's not just beautiful, teacher! Anyone who touches the feathers can receive a diversion of their vitality, and can even be temporarily influenced and controlled by my will. So, Mr. Orson..."

As Ino was talking, a feather appeared in his hand and kept approaching Orson.

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but Orson seemed to see pink hearts in Ino’s eyes.

"Mr. Orson... please be my first (experimental) subject!"

"I'd rather give it to Kosice than to you!?"

Ino pounced and Orson fled.

At the same time, Tallulah on the other side was telling the story of this period in the room.

Tallulah was either happy, depressed, or angry, while Alina always listened with a smile.

After a while, when Tallulah had told her story, Alina finally expressed her thoughts.

"That Mr. Orson has really changed you a lot."

“—Yeah, that’s right.”

Tallulah was stunned for a moment, but she did not refute as she did before.

"Although he's a little strange, he's an incredible existence. As long as I get along with him, I might—"

With a bang, the door was knocked open by Orson, interrupting Tallulah's confession.

"Well, I didn't mean to disturb your private time, but Ino seems to be trying to molest me. Sister Tazi, please save me—RUA!!"

Before Orson could finish his words, he was blown away by a ball of hot air.

"...Let me correct that, this guy is a complete idiot."