About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

If it was Alina, maybe I wouldn't have lost. Alina, my Alina...

"So, what now, Anna?"

Winter glanced at Orson, who was already broken after being slapped in the face for being too arrogant, and asked about the truth.

"Have you heard the parable about the three broken sticks?"

Zhenli pushed his glasses up, looking as if he had a plan of his own.

Later--

"Hmm? It's Alan from before, are you here to play again~?"

Gumi saw Orson again and greeted him cheerfully.

"Why are you here again, loser!"

Orson returned to the cooking class, his eyes becoming firm again.

"Humph, maybe I can't defeat you, but I have companions!"

Orson took a step back, and Zhenli and Winter also walked into the classroom.

"As long as we pool the wisdom of classmate Anna!"

Truth pushes up the glasses.

"Sonia-san's power!"

Winter looked at Orson and said "Huh?"

"And my experience—I can defeat you!"

Orson declared victory.

"Alright! Let's play another round, this time betting on Peterheim Middle School's legendary kitchen utensils!"

"So please stop adding those inexplicably unused settings!"

30 minutes later……

"I always feel like something is wrong."

Orson and the other two were standing in the kitchen, next to them were a group of "Ten Great Men of Totsuki" lying on the ground with foam at the mouth.

"Anna, are you sure you should add '20g of yeast' in this step?"

"I think I turned the wrong page... But, but! Sonia-san, your method for removing fish bones is a bit strange."

"Fish bones? I just chop them up and give them to Orson."

"..."

Orson folded his hands in front of the Ten Elites of Totsuki who had all died suddenly on the ground after eating the dark food that the three of them had worked together to make, hoping that they were okay.

Losing the game but winning your life is the true meaning of the dark culinary world.

"Well... I'm sorry, Lada-san, for causing you trouble."

Orson embarrassedly apologized to Gumi, the survivor who did not participate in the competition.

"It's okay, and Lada is planning to join you~"

"Oh, really?!"

Orson asked curiously why Gumi joined his club.

"Because without Lada, you'll probably get food poisoning, right~?"

"..." "..." "..."

The three of them remained silent, not knowing how to refute.

【Gumi joins the team! 】

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

After Gumi joined the team, only Liexia was left.

Just when Orson was thinking about how to contact Rosaline (Liexia's real name), it was Liexia who took the initiative to find Orson and his group.

"You're the transfer student General Dong confessed his love to in the hallway! Sonia is mine, and I won't allow you to interfere!"

"...?"

Confused about the situation, Orson looked at Rindong with an expression that said, "Nvtong is actually next to me?"

"Bai, you idiot...! I didn't confess my feelings!"

Winter immediately got furious.

"Hmm? Is that because my information is wrong? Anyway, whatever, since Sonia is here, I want to join too!"

Liexia came to a conclusion after thinking for a few seconds.

"We already have Sonia as the combatant, so that's—hmm?"

Zhenli was stopped by Orson halfway through his words.

"You don't understand, Anna. The main character group usually needs a second-in-command, who's there to step aside when they encounter an enemy, and then press the self-destruct button when they're in dire straits to encourage the main character to fight back."

"..."

Anna glanced at Orson. Although she wanted to complain, she couldn't think of a way to refute it.

"Then welcome General Xia!"

"Hmm? Eh...? I don't know what's going on, but let's just wait and see, Sonia-san!"

Liexia, who was still confused about the situation, somehow got into the bear group.

【Liexia has joined the team! 】

In the vacant club activity room, Winter practiced the "brain training method" (the same as Baki's) according to Orson's instructions, Gumi happily distributed cookies to everyone, Zhenli complained that it was impossible to read properly in this environment, and Liexia was still thinking of a cool name for the club.

"……so good."

Orson looked at the noisy little room in front of him and couldn't help but smile.

Although each of these children's melodies has some noise, when they gather together, the music they play is perfectly harmonious.

However, there is still a melody missing in this ensemble.

Orson knew very well that under the current circumstances, it was impossible to let Zaolu join, as this might put Zaolu and others in unnecessary danger.

Let's do this for now.

It was just at the time of positioning every five minutes, and Orson went to check on Zaolu's location, but suddenly discovered that the resonance on the other end showed that Zaolu was right next to him.

"box--"

The door of the club's room was opened, and the eldest daughter of the Rostov family appeared in front of the Bear Group.

"There you are, O...Alan."

"Ms. Natalia?"

Orson blinked, not sure what was going on.

The other people were also stunned. After all, the person in front of them was the heir of the most prestigious Rostov family in Che City, a noble existence that would never be seen in normal times.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, just..."

Zaolu glanced at the newly formed club and felt strangely irritated for some reason.

"Come with me."

Zaolu grabbed Orson's arm and prepared to take him away, but on the other side, Lindong immediately stood up and grabbed Orson's other arm.

"Wait a moment—"

"you are?"

"Sonia, General Winter—pick a title at random. And what are you, the eldest daughter of the Rostov family?"

"Ah, I'm here to see Alan... No, I'm here to see Orson. After all, he's my personal bodyguard now."

Zaolu paused for a moment, and then said this for some unknown reason.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

A group of people from the Xiongxiong Group made surprised sounds.

"Exclusive, exclusive guard——"

Lin Dong was obviously frightened by this position which sounded particularly Versailles at first glance, but she gritted her teeth and refused to give in.

"So what! I...I, I confessed my feelings to Orson!"

“Hey hey hey hey!!”

This time, everyone, including Zaolu and even Orson, exclaimed in surprise.

Meanwhile, Gumi had already prepared the melon seeds.

——It’s worth joining this club!

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

38.W: I’m here to take your life again

Five days have passed since Orson sneaked into Qie City.

During these five days, Riosen had to secretly kill the mercenaries who were targeting Zaolu almost every day, accompany Zaolu to school, deal with the chaotic interpersonal relationships in the Bear Group, and after school explain to Talulah Froststar and the others that "I am really on a mission, not going to open a branch mine."

In a restaurant not far from the Rostov family, Orson sat at the table looking through the menu, and opposite him sat Isaac, the former engineer who had traveled to Che City with Orson before.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Isaac... I've had some issues here and haven't been in touch as scheduled every day."

Orson clasped his hands together and apologized to the engineer in front of him. Because he had been suddenly hired by the Rostov family and assigned to Peterheim Middle School, many of the plans he had previously made hadn't been carried out as planned.

"It's okay. You were able to infiltrate the Rostov family immediately using the identity of a bodyguard. You're really impressive. Many people have tried their best but still can't get a connection with this family. So what are you doing now?"

Isaac could understand it. After all, the plan had never been implemented seriously except for delaying the deduction of wages.

"Well... I'm a bodyguard for Miss Natalia. I go to Peterheim Middle School. I occasionally teach my classmates some fighting techniques and the like. After school, I accompany Miss Natalia home to rest."

Orson thought about his day's schedule. After becoming a security guard for the Rostov family, he had a much easier time than in the North. Orson even had to secretly do extra training in Originium skills and combat in the middle of the night to prevent himself from regressing.

"It sounds like the protagonist in a third-rate novel."

Isaac complained coldly, while Orson smiled bitterly and said that it was not easy to be the protagonist either.

Early in the morning, Lu Tiantian and Lin Dong were at loggerheads with each other, and Orson was caught in the middle. He had to mediate without favoring either side, while also protecting the safety of the girls.

"What about you, Uncle Isaac, how are you doing?"

"It's okay, nothing major has happened. I don't know where my family is, and I can't contact them at all. I'm staying at a friend's house right now. His name is Freeman, and he has a PhD in physics."

Isaac shrugged, while Orson wiped his sweat, wondering if these two people could blow up the entire Ursus together.

"Then we get down to business."

After chatting about family matters, Isaac lowered his tone and began to exchange information about Che City.

"Something's not right in Qicheng lately."

"Something's wrong?"

"Well, there are rumors that the Third Army will be stationed near Che City, and many people have also said that they have seen Sarkaz recently."

"The army, the Sarkaz... maybe Baikal's patience is almost at its limit." Orson analyzed while rubbing his hair and frowning.

"Very important information. Thank you very much, Uncle Isaac."

"Also, regarding that thing you asked me to do earlier—I'm sorry, there aren't many people in the maintenance team who know anyone who does experiments. I only heard that there was a research institute, but it was abandoned long ago, and no information remains."

Orson had previously asked Isaac to find information about the research institute related to the King Slayer and the Bonebreaker family, but it seems that he arrived a little late.