About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"Actually, we don't necessarily need to confront the Chamber of Commerce and Industry directly. If there's anything good about the issue of infected people, it's that most people aren't even bothered to take the initiative to understand and consider it, so we still have plenty of room to maneuver. If we're just dealing with the infected, there might be a simpler and more appropriate way."

Kal'tsit has formulated solutions to some issues related to infected people, including situations where infected people are exploited for commercial purposes.

"But... you have other plans, right?"

After expressing her own views, Kal'tsit turned the topic back to Orson.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure. After experiencing the Sangster family incident, I realized that Casimir's problem is no longer just about the infected. Or rather, the infected are only part of the victims."

Orson sighed. From the information he had collected from Maria during this period, Orson had a deeper understanding of Casimir's situation. At the same time, he also felt more and more that after the so-called "modernization", beneath the city's bright appearance, there was nothing but the same filth and darkness as Ursus.

The so-called spirit of chivalry has long since disappeared, leaving only commodities wrapped in layers of corporate products. Most of the "knight families" that were originally established to protect the weak have not been able to resist the temptation of "money and power" in subsequent changes.

Ordinary people do not mean safety. People die every day in this city. Some are killed by companies, while others are covered up by senior executives.

A normal person would never have the idea of resisting the country. That kind of thought is like the protagonist in the novel Maria likes, charging towards the waves, which is just an extremely stupid act.

But what about Tallulah, the clumsy dragon hatchling who wants to change all the injustices in the world?

What if it was the Doctor? The man who gave up everything for his utopia—

"...In short, I can risk my life to destroy the Sangster family alone, but I can't take you on this adventure to fight against Casimir's darkness. I'm not qualified. Rhodes Island's goal is infected individuals and funds, while the Reunion Movement's goal is to consolidate its reputation and legitimacy. No matter which one—"

"You're qualified, Orson."

Kelsey interrupted Orson.

"Although Drake and I are nominally the leaders of Rhodes Island and Reunion respectively, you also possess the qualifications. Needless to say, regarding Reunion, here in Rhodes Island—I will support your actions, no matter what they are."

"Uh-huh!"

Kal'tsit spoke word by word without any hesitation, and Rosemary beside her nodded seriously in agreement while licking her ice cream.

"...Thank you for your trust, but I still need to reconsider. Rhodes Island and the Reunion Movement are still too small. We can't just plunge headfirst into the tide like that."

——The Chamber of Commerce cannot represent Casimir. If we consider the worst case scenario, perhaps the Supervisory Council will also become an enemy. What should we do then?

—Wait, the Jianzhengyuan…?

Orson recalled his previous conversation with Li. The boss of that arrogant young lady knight seemed to have said that if their goal was to break the current situation in Casimir, perhaps they could contact the Supervisory Court?

Although we don't know the background of the boss behind Li, judging from the current situation, the CSRC has begun to rot internally. It would be very helpful if we could find a trustworthy helper.

"One last thing, Orson."

Just when Orson was thinking about whether to talk to Sister Shi Le again, Kal'tsit opened her mouth again, but this time the green cat head looked a little subtle, and the expression on her face seemed a little reluctant, but also with some expectation.

"Anything else, Dr. Kelsey?"

"Go buy some cakes to take home, Rosemary."

Kal'tsit did not respond directly to Orson, but took out a few banknotes and gave them to Rosemary, asking Kitty to run errands for her.

"Who are you buying the cake for—"

Orson was interrupted before he could finish his words.

To be more precise, it was interrupted by Kal'tsit's sudden behavior.

After sending Rosemary away, Kal'tsit suddenly stood up from her seat and leaned forward slightly.

Kal'tsit's short green hair brushed against Orson's nose, and a tingling sensation spread across his cheek.

Then, this feeling was immediately replaced by a softer touch.

Kal'tsit suddenly kissed Orson on the cheek. Although it was not known whether it was due to a last-minute change of mind, Kal'tsit did not kiss Orson directly on the lips, but slightly shifted the angle.

—A faint scent of lemon... No, now is not the time to smell Dr. Kelsey's perfume. What the hell is going on!?

Orson was completely stunned. Although he knew that Kal'tsit had some special feelings for him, he never thought that this lynx would actually do such a thing.

"What...what's my expression like, Orson?"

After a few seconds, Kal'tsit pulled away and immediately asked Orson in a panicked tone.

"His expression... uh, was very red, and it looked like steam was coming out of his forehead. His eyes... were very erratic."

Orson, who was not much better, said this.

"Such a reaction... I, uh, I understand - this is just an experiment, you hear me, Orson? Just an experiment...!"

"The experiments are confidential and protected, so I don't allow you to tell anyone about today's experimental plan... Do you understand?"

Kal'tsit seemed that she herself had underestimated the aftereffects of the 'kiss', as the blush on her cheeks showed no signs of fading.

"...?"

Orson didn't know what "experiment" Kal'tsit was talking about, but the green cat head shook its head and ears vigorously, then ran away at the speed of light.

"Calm down, Kal'tsit. This is a normal physiological reaction to the secretion of phenylethylamine and dopamine. In other words, I can have a normal reaction to Orson, who is of the opposite sex... No, no, no, how can this reaction be normal!"

Following up on yesterday’s banquet incident, Kal’tsit came up with this plan in order to prove that she was “not Nyu-giri”.

[If you do things to Orson that a person of the opposite sex would do in a relationship and you react, it means your sexual orientation is normal.]

This plan is indeed rigorous, but it is also brainless...

"I bought four flavors. Dr. Kel'tsit, you... Dr. Kel'tsit?"

Rosemary came back with the box and found that Orson was the only one left on the seat.

"Orson, where is Dr. Kelsey?"

"Uh... I guess it was too hot in the cafe, so I went outside to cool down."

Orson still hasn't recovered from the shock. He never knew before what would happen if a strong person with high IQ who could handle anything in an orderly manner suddenly lost something in his brain. Kal'tsit's behavior today was a textbook demonstration of this.

"Is it hot in here? But Orson, you seem to be blushing a little. Want to cool down?"

Rosemary pushed the remaining ice cream on the table to Orson and smiled, signaling that he was welcome.

It seems that now only the little cat is not malicious.

64. Knightly competitions heat up

Today's match pits Lin Guang's retainer, Orson, against the Corrupted Knight, also an Infected from the Meshko Group! Infected versus Infected, this match is sure to be something to watch! Although both are Infected, beware! Lin Guang's retainer, the notorious Sarkaz Knight, leaves his opponents severely injured in almost every battle. He doesn't care about height differences or being a fellow Infected, so be careful not to get killed!

Following the host's words, the knight competition officially began—

What just happened?! The Corrupted Knight's Mist Originium Technique, which causes decay and coughing up blood, suddenly dissipated after the Knight snapped his fingers. It's clear the Corrupted Knight isn't sure what's going on, and while he's confused, the Knight suddenly rushes over—pulling out a potion? Judging by the packaging, it looks like a Rhodes Island potion. What the hell? No wonder he hasn't been working at the cafe lately. Turns out he's been taking advantage of Rhodes Island's promotional money!

——What a shit promotion fee…!

Orson, who was unable to speak when the [Curtain Call] began, greeted the chattering host on the stage's family in a friendly and cordial manner in his heart, then dodged the Corruption Knight's attack and inserted the reagent in his hand into the Corruption Knight's neck.

“You—what did you do…!?”

Before the Corrupted Knight could recover from the confusion of his Originium skills being suddenly offset, Orson's overly sensitive movements had already rushed in front of him and injected the potion in his hand into his blood vessels.

Orson canceled his [Curtain Call] and revealed a sinister smile.

"Hehehe, do you know what potion I injected you with? This stuff is really powerful. In a few seconds, you will feel it—your body will become less heavy, your breathing will no longer be heavy and painful, and most importantly, your brain will go from being a mess to being clear again."

"You bastard...eh?"

The corrupt knight, who was about to utter a harsh word, was stunned for a moment. The "effect" mentioned by the small knight in front of him did not sound like the effect of poison no matter how he listened to it.

Not only that, the Corrupted Knight seemed to really feel that the pain that had been lingering on him and that he could not get rid of had eased a lot, and even his brain became much clearer as if it had been fished out of a swamp.

"Stop taking drugs. Even though the Sarkaz are more tolerant to oripathy than the average person, you still won't live more than two years if you keep going like this."

Orson raised his sword, Red Queen, to block the Corrupted Knight's hammer while speaking in a voice that was completely inaudible to others.

"How could you... bastard, do you think those are the drugs we want to inject?!"

"Oh?"

Orson raised his eyebrows when he heard what the Corrupted Knight said. It seemed that the brothers were not "rat dogs" in the areas where his intelligence had not been collected.

"Time is limited, so I'll make it short. Here's another potion. Take it back and give it to your brother. It can block infection with oripathy to a certain extent. Someone will contact you later. I need you to have a clear mind and make your own decisions."

Orson twisted the hilt of the sword to inject heat energy, then released an explosive swing to deflect the hammer. He took advantage of this gap to stuff another tube of potion into the armor of the Corrupted Knight from the host's blind spot.

"Why...why are you helping us?"

"Old habits die hard—the infected must band together to survive, don't they?"

From the intelligence he collected, Orson learned that the "tyranny" of the Corruption and Decay may have come from the side effects of their deep infection with the mineral disease.

After talking with Kal'tsit, Eisen decided to try to help these two "infected" whose identities were more subtle.

As for the discord between the corruption and decay and the Mieszko Group, it was simply a bonus.

After a brief conversation, Orson twisted the hilt again, but this time his intention was to use the recoil to knock him away.

"Wow! That idiotic Rhodes Island company never even mentioned this thing as a potion that could enhance physical strength and reflexes!?"

"...?"

The Corrupted Knight scratched his head as he watched Orson suddenly knock himself flying and then scream loudly on the ground with his mouth and eyes closed.

"Don't ask why. Just act with me. It's all about making money. It's not shameful."

Orson rose from the ground and rushed forward to engage the Corrupted Knight once again, but this time he deliberately slowed down and avoided using the Pause and Red Queen's Explosive Attacks, creating the illusion that the enemy had become stronger.

finally--

The winner is our Infected Knight, Orson! It was still a hard-fought 50-50 victory. It's worth noting the potion he injected into the Corrupted Knight during the fight. What exactly was it? After being injected, the battle became significantly more difficult for Orson. Remember to understand the effects next time you accept an ad, Knight!

The chatterbox host announced the end of the game.

Orson continued his 50-50 setup with Casimir and defeated the Corrupted Knight. Although he was injected with a potion that delayed and blocked the infection of Originium, he still successfully spread the news that "Rhodes Island has a very powerful potion that can restore physical strength and energy."

------

The contestants in this competition are Maria Linguang, the current Head Knight of Linguang, from the ancient knight family, and the Branch Knight from Brilliant Shield Industries!

With the major tournament, or the playoffs, approaching, the schedule of events is gradually becoming tighter.

"Are you Maria, the sister of the Radiant Knight?"

"Yes, please advise me."

"There's nothing much to teach you. You're far inferior to her—go back, imitation."

The Branch Knight's attitude was no longer strange to Maria.

Almost all the arena knights would sigh and frown after seeing themselves, perhaps because their appearance was too similar to that of the Radiant Knight, or because their expressions and demeanor seemed too immature in such an arena.

But without exception, these competitive knights would then begin to mock themselves mercilessly, believing that they were not worthy of the title of "Lin Guang".

Maria felt lost and discouraged at first, but now she understands that she was never able to become a 'Knight of Glory' from the very beginning.

But he could still become a "knight", a true knight who would not bring shame to the name of 'Lin Guang'.

After witnessing the decay of the Sangster family, Maria's resolve grew even stronger. She couldn't become a shining light that illuminated the entire nation, but she could at least brighten the hearts of those around her who were disillusioned with the 'name of knighthood'.

"I'm not an imitation, Mr. Branch Knight. I'm a knight, but perhaps not quite that qualified."

Maria raised her shield and one-handed sword, and a warm and bright light emanated from her palms, which was not dazzling.

finally--

The winner is Maria Linguang! In this battle, Maria finally unleashed her own Originium skills. What does that radiance remind us of? It's that same radiance that swept across the arena a few years ago, that of the Radiant Knight! Unknowingly, this girl who accidentally stumbled into the knight competition has become quite the knight. Her every move on the field reveals the purest form of chivalry. How far can this adorable and innocent Pegasus go? Let's wait and see!

Following the host's words, Maria lowered her shield, walked up to the defeated Branch Knight, bowed slightly, and then extended her palm to him.

"...No one buys into this old-fashioned chivalry anymore."

The Branch Knight sighed as he looked at Maria, but ultimately he took the slender hand that was extended to him, agreeing with the path the girl was following.

------

The next match is between Cat-Eared Knight from the pharmaceutical company Rhodes Island and Candle Knight from the Blue Ear Winery! Kitty Cat lost to the Left-Hand Knight, who is still recovering, in her last match, but today she faces Candle Knight, who made it to the top 16 of the previous Knights' Tournament and boasts a troupe of 100 male servants. Does this mean the Cat-Eared Knight is about to go on a losing streak and miss the tournament? As for Candle Knight, her strength has skyrocketed this year, just like the number of her harem!

"Are you the kitten from Rhodes Island?"

The Candle Knight, who was wearing a rather dignified outfit that looked more like a "bikini with a layer of metal plated on it" than "armor", looked at Rosemary in front of him with amusement. She was obviously not yet a "woman".

"Yes...and, my name is Rosemary."

Rosemary responded in a low voice, and at the same time took out the reagents she was going to promote this time from her pocket, still a little flustered.

Selling products in the arena has become commonplace for knight competitions. Most corporate-created competitive knights will display their former employers' products, such as weapons and armor, in the arena.