About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

W laughed loudly. It was obvious that a guy like him was called an "idealist". It seemed that he was extremely naive.

Idealism... huh?

The woman he knew, who had "unrealistic ideals," was dead, and buried in the grave along with that radiance.

"Get ready, we—Hey, you're being followed."

When W was about to notify the mercenary, he observed traces of the tracker on the Sarkaz mercenary.

"Tracking? I just came from Garson, and along the way I even—"

"Get down!"

W stretched out his hand to try to pull down the mercenary in front of him, but before his hand could reach the other party, a crossbow arrow suddenly shot out from behind the gate and pierced the mercenary's head directly.

"Hey—!"

More than one shot, crossbow arrows pierced through the entrance one after another.

"Tsk...!"

W used the mercenary's body as a shield, retreated to the table, picked up a bomb he had just made, and threw it towards the door.

“BOOOM——!”

The loud noise and impact scattered everything in the safe house, but after the ashes settled, crossbow arrows flew over again.

"Keng!"

W pulled out his dagger to deflect the crossbow arrow and saw the true face of the attacker - Garson, the leader of the Sarkaz mercenary group.

"—Ah, so that's how it is."

W was stunned for a moment after seeing the other party's true identity, but soon revealed a cruel smile.

——I have become a "discarded pawn", and the previous mission briefing was just a trap.

"As expected of W, you quickly understood the situation. Then, please die, mercenary."

Garson aimed his crossbow at W and pulled the trigger. The latter immediately rushed to the kitchen next door and used the concrete wall as cover.

"Count Baikal is very concerned about your defeat, and your behavior does make people suspicious. Sorry, W, this has nothing to do with personal grudges. This is the boss's order, haha!"

"What a loyal dog!"

W took out the howitzer, half of his body exposed, aimed at Garson and pulled the trigger, but the grenade was directly pierced by the opponent's crossbow in mid-air.

Garson and W are the top two leaders of a larger Sarkaz mercenary group, but their styles of doing things are completely different.

Although W looks crazy, he will carefully plan the itinerary for any mission and control team losses.

Garson would lead the team to carry out only the most basic tactical planning. About every 3,4 or operations, a large number of veterans would die in his mission.

"Where's my team, Garson? You wouldn't want to kill them all, would you?"

"Of course, they have their own work—although it's a one-off mission with no return."

Garson put on the eyepiece and observed W's position in the kitchen through the wall, aiming the armor-piercing high-explosive crossbow at the figure.

"You actually answered honestly, idiot!"

"—!"

The "heat source" in the field of vision did not move, but W suddenly came in from the other side of the window and stabbed the dagger straight into Garson's chest.

"You used the stove and the signal stick to disguise the heat source, but you came around through the window? What a shame, you should have run away, haha!"

Garson laughed and blocked W's sudden attack with his crossbow, while grabbing W's wrist at the same time.

"Tsk!"

W, who had just pressed the detonator, was restrained by Garson. At the same time, several bombs in the safe house made buzzing sounds, indicating that they were about to explode.

W was unable to break free, and the two of them crashed straight into the window next to them.

“Crack—boom!!!”

The explosion and heat blew the two away. W barely used the strap of the howitzer to catch a roadside billboard as a buffer in mid-air, and then immediately raised the launcher and aimed at Garson not far away.

"no, do not want……!"

"—"

Garson now had in his hand an Ursus girl with short gray hair and red pupils, who he had just grabbed. She looked at W in panic, confused and frightened.

"Hostage? Do you take me for an idiot, Garson?"

W laughed and pulled the trigger, and the howitzer flew straight towards the two of them with the fuse.

boom! !

A loud bang came from the middle of the road. W immediately sprinted towards the explosion, but—

"Puff!"

The sound of flesh being torn could be heard clearly.

"Detonating the bomb in advance as a cover-up is pointless, W."

Garson emerged from the smoke unharmed, holding a newly-fired crossbow in his hand with a sly grin on his face.

"Or—are you afraid of hurting the child?"

"Well--!"

Garson pushed the little girl hostage aside and slowly approached W.

“Who knows…?”

W was sweating coldly and looked at his abdomen with a smile. There was a crossbow arrow stuck in his side. Because of the obstruction of the bulletproof vest, the crossbow arrow was inserted into his body.

"Go to hell, you stupid guy."

Garson aimed the crossbow at W's head.

"I'll give you my true words."

W took out another remote control from somewhere and pressed the button.

"...!?"

After a brief hesitation, Garson immediately flew in the opposite direction.

boom! !

A bomb was fired from an automatic turret drone in the corner of the safe house that had become a ruin.

"Damn cockroaches, they have such strong vitality..."

When the smoke cleared, W had disappeared. More and more people gathered around because of the commotion caused by the explosion, and Garson could only leave the scene in shock.

----

"Ha...ha, like an idiot."

In the alley, W leaned against the wall and moved slowly, finally kneeling on the ground, his face soaked with cold sweat.

"Idealism, hypocrisy, damn, my brain must have been influenced by that guy playing with shadows."

W cursed her own idiotic behavior in trying to protect the girl. It was an action that even she herself could not believe. It was selfless, meaningless, dangerous, and violated all of W's survival principles.

"Da da da--"

There were footsteps on the other side of the alley. W gritted his teeth and raised the grenade launcher, but found that he had no ammunition.

"Ah……"

W threw the launcher aside and waited for his own death.

however--

"First of all, I have to state that I don't have any money right now and I'm busy with work, so if you're a gangster... Hey! Miss W?"

"……Dry"

The unexpectedly familiar face made W not know what expression to make.

"Miss W, what's going on?"

Orson, who appeared here for some reason, immediately came over to check W's injuries.

"Being ranked third... No, I was just stupid because of my naiveté... What about you?"

"I'm setting up the frequency reflection array—your injuries are severe, so I'll be tough this time. Come with me, and I'll take you back to Rostov's house for treatment."

Orson stretched out his hand to W. When his consciousness was blurred, W vaguely felt a white light emanating from Orson's body, just like... Theresa.

……

wrong

"What the hell are you doing with a light bulb on your back..."

W noticed several light bulbs behind Orson, which were the source of the "white light".

"Hmm? I'm supplying some light to the catalyst in advance so I can capture the reflection at night...W?"

Orson was halfway through explaining when he discovered that W had fallen into a coma.

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

48. Full-scale outbreak

"..."

W woke up from his coma and was a little dazed for a while.

The last time I crawled out of the infirmary like this seemed like a long time ago, yet it felt like it happened yesterday.

But W knew very well that this was not the Tower of Babel, but the territory of the Rostov family. After all, he was picked up by Orson before he lost consciousness.

The wound on the abdomen has been treated. Although the bandage is a bit awkward, it no longer affects basic movements.

——I really have a tough life, or maybe it would be easier if I just died?

W looked around and put on the clothes placed aside. While making sure that the wound would not crack due to this level of movement, he slowly pushed open the door of the medical room.

“——” “——”

As luck would have it, W pushed open the door carefully, and Zaolu happened to pass by the medical room, and the two of them just stood there staring at each other.

"Hey, Miss Rostov, we meet again. Do you need me to count down a few seconds for you to escape?"

W laughed, mocked and threatened Zaolu, but after being stunned for a moment, Zaolu did not panic like when she was first being chased.

"Ms. W, this is the territory of the Rostov family. I hope you won't do anything out of line, including threats like this."

"—Haha, not bad, young lady! Although your noble title won't last much longer, you've become quite the important person."

"Thanks to your help, Miss Mercenary."

W lamented Zaolu's change in a sarcastic tone, while Zaolu responded calmly and then walked towards the meeting room.

"..."

This girl has indeed become much more mature. Is it because of Orson?

W was thinking about the reason why Zaolu had changed so much. At the same time, Orson happened to walk into the infirmary with a tray of medicine.

"Hmm? Miss W, you're awake now. I'm relieved to see you're still so energetic. But the bandages should be changed."

Orson greeted W with a smile. The latter stopped his YYGQ mode after seeing Orson. After all, this fool really might not understand the sarcasm.

"Why did you save me, Orson? Did you intend to humiliate me in this way? Or did you intend to pry some information out of me?"

W questioned Orson. Although she still had a playful smile on her face, she really wanted to know the answer.

"Uh……"

Orson tilted his head, a little embarrassed.

"I've seen it all...it wouldn't be right if I didn't save him."

"Even if someone like me isn't 'worth saving'?"