About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

When Cronin heard Ceylon's words, the smile on his face disappeared for a moment, but soon reappeared.

"Re-testing the volcano data? Why would you have such an idea, Miss Ceylon? Has your Victoria Academy, the aristocratic institution you attend, set up another ridiculous 'after-school practice'?"

"That's not true. Actually, when I was browsing in the library, I noticed that the recent climate and phenomena around the volcano are somewhat similar to the natural disaster warnings recorded in the books. I suspect that the Xiosta volcano... might erupt!"

Ceylon spoke to Cronin seriously, with a very serious expression.

In contrast, Cronin still had that smiling expression on his face after hearing Ceylon's words.

"All indicators of the volcano are normal. This is because the monitoring system of Xiosta Volcano was designed by me, the [Messenger of Natural Disasters], myself. I can guarantee that there will be no problems. Xiosta Volcano has never erupted, and it will remain so in the future."

"That's not the case. The equipment may have errors. I did a detection myself once, and—"

"How far have you come to understand, Miss Ceylon?"

"...!"

Cronin suddenly came in front of Ceylon. The Liberian Scourge Messenger stared at Ceylon with cold eyes. It was more like a malicious "questioning" than an inquiry.

"I... previously went to the volcano to conduct a practical test, but the machine was damaged along the way, so..."

"You should know, Miss Ceylon, that the volcano is off-limits."

Cronin's words were a bit aggressive. Ceylon wanted to say something, but at this time the mayor of Xiosta, Hermann, appeared in front of the two of them and forcibly interrupted the conversation.

--------

Inside a coffee shop somewhere in Xiosta

"..."

Orson lowered his head in embarrassment and said nothing as if he was in prison. Hei, who was sitting opposite her and wearing a completely different uniform from his usual duty uniform, also stared at the table in panic, also without saying a word, letting the remaining warmth on his cheeks.

——Did I mess up?

The moment Orson saw Hei's strange and feminine outfit, he realized that this Filin girl seemed to be really here for a "date".

What should I do myself?

Admit that you were using a set of jargon that was not commonly used in Xiosta, but in fact it had no meaning at all?

Orson's mind flashed with the image of DEAD END being nailed to the wall by a crossbow.

Going on a date with Hei Jiang despite the mistakes?

Orson's mind flashed with the image of himself being licked to death by M3 or being bitten to death by the old lynx.

"..."

Orson swallowed and continued to sit in jail.

22. Pinch your cat's tongue

In a cafe somewhere on a street far away from the coastline of the tourist coastal city-state Xiosta, Orson and Hei sat at a table without saying a word.

According to common sense, it is hard not to arouse people's imagination when a man and a woman are in a place like a coffee shop. After all, this formulaic combination of gender atmosphere in the environment easily makes people think of "dating" at the first time.

However, at this moment, Filin and Chimera did not have any dating atmosphere at all. Both of them had subtle awkward expressions on their faces. As the "inviter", Orson even lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking about.

Of course, Orson was not shy. He simply didn't dare to confront Hei directly, "Sister, you misunderstood," but he didn't know what to say.

Just when the waiter could no longer bear it and was about to ask the two people if they were here to use the air conditioning, Orson finally opened his mouth.

"Miss Hei, um... uh, what would you like to drink?"

"Hmm? Well, regular coffee will be fine."

Hei was stunned for a moment, then pointed to the black coffee icon in the corner of the menu on the table.

"Orson, remember to be patient for a moment. Don't just sit there and then run off to be a waiter like you did before, okay?"

Hei thought of his previous experience with Orson and specifically told him not to be the bad guy who messed up other people's careers.

"Oh……"

Orson said with some disappointment that he understood. At this time, the waiter who was waiting nearby came over and asked the two of them what they wanted to order.

"A cup of black coffee and then a cup of hot milk."

"milk?"

The waiter and Hei were both stunned for a moment when they heard the drinks Orson ordered.

"...Laugh if you want, I'm just superstitious about things that have no scientific basis at all!"

Orson also noticed Hei's curious eyes, and said in a self-deprecating manner that this was it, and just went for a rotten pose.

"No, Orson, I'm not trying to laugh at you. I just think it's rare to order hot milk in a coffee shop. How should I put it... I think it's quite 'cute'?"

"Well……"

Hearing Hei call him "cute" so bluntly, Orson rubbed his hair shyly.

Of course, it would be even better if I could say that I am "handsome"...

"It feels really strange. I originally thought I couldn't adapt to this kind of atmosphere at all. Before coming here, I actually thought more than once whether it would be better to turn back, but in the end I still came here. And - it actually feels pretty good."

The expression on Hei's face relaxed a lot, and her eyebrows, which were slightly locked together before, relaxed at some point.

"It's truly wonderful to be with you, Orson. You have the ability to make people feel relaxed and happy."

"No... Ahahaha, Miss Hei, the outfit you're wearing now, well, although it's a little different from what I imagined, it's still very cute! And you can tell that it was carefully put together."

Hei Xian praised Orson, and the latter shyly praised Hei Xian's outfit, which was completely different from his usual capable and elite style, but more adorable.

"Cute... isn't it? Thank you. This outfit was put together by a young lady. I originally thought it might not be suitable, but I can't disobey my young lady..."

Hei felt a little embarrassed after receiving the compliment. Although she said that she didn't really want to wear this kind of clothes that "didn't suit her personality", the expression on her face didn't match her words very well, and her happiness was obvious.

"But Miss Hei also really likes Miss Ceylon's outfit, right? Otherwise, she wouldn't have put it on so easily. And there's even something embroidered on the chest that looks like it was added later. It must have been specially made by Miss Ceylon."

Orson looked at the pattern on Black's chest, and Black felt a warm current on his cheeks when he saw Orson staring at his body.

When I was wearing a transparent raincoat and a swimsuit before, I didn't feel it was strange to be looked at by Orson, but now that I was wearing more clothes, I became more concerned about the boy's gaze... It's really strange.

Hei thought so with some confusion in his mind, and the old lynx who came to work in the restaurant yesterday had also thought about this question.

Shame, isn't it wonderful!

"Your coffee and milk, please."

Just when Hei was having trouble adapting to this strange feeling, the waiter brought two drinks to the table.

"Thank you."

Hei immediately picked up the coffee. She wanted to find something to do to mask her anxiety, but she didn't notice that there was even steam rising from the black coffee. With the same force as blowing a big green stick into a bottle, she brought the coffee cup to her mouth.

“Mmm…!?”

The Filin people's tongues are not very resistant to hot drinks, and Hei's direct method of hitting them is even more reckless.

Hei, who made a strange cry, arched his body as if his tail was stepped on, and covered his mouth with one hand.

"Miss Black!"

Orson, who was blowing hot milk on the side, saw Hei's appearance and immediately ran to the bar next to him and took two ice cubes from the ice bucket behind the cabinet.

"Chill it with this— ugh!"

Orson used a spoon to hold the ice cubes, but because the spoon itself was not big and Orson moved too quickly, the ice cubes fell off the spoon.

Orson reached out to take the ice, and Hei, who was standing next to him, had his tongue burned, so he instinctively opened his mouth and bit into the ice. The result was—

"Mmm-hmm?!"

Hei followed the ice and took Orson's finger into his mouth.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuah..."

Orson made a strange sound.

His fingers were now in Hei's mouth, with one side feeling the cold and hard texture of ice. But apart from the touch of ice, all Orson could feel on the rest of his index and middle fingers was the sticky, wet, warm, and rubbing feeling.

The feeling of the tongue licking his fingers came extremely clearly from Hei's mouth, and spread throughout his body along the two fingers as qi points.

"Well……"

Hei made a slightly more relaxed sound, as the ice had indeed been effective in relieving the burning sensation on his tongue.

“Mmm…Mmmmm!?”

However, this 'relaxation' did not last long, and Hei realized that what she held in her mouth was not just ice. Her tongue and mouth felt two foreign objects, and her eyes only then noticed the posture of herself and Orson.

"H-I'm sorry Miss Hei-!"

“Hmm…!”

Orson anxiously tried to pull his fingers out, but because he used the wrong posture, his index and middle fingers pinched Hei's tongue instead, and the soft pink tongue of the Filin woman was "pinched" out by Orson.

Hei made a strange sound, and she leaned forward, sticking her tongue out of her mouth, as if she was making a cute face.

"Whoa whoa!"

Orson quickly let go, and the crystal clear liquid pulled out two long silk threads from between the tip of his tongue and his fingers, directly falling onto the table and even dripping into their respective drinks.

"Sorry, hug, Miss Hei...!!"

After pulling out his fingers, Orson quickly lowered his head to apologize, while Hei retracted his tongue, blushing and shaking his head.

"No, I lost my temper, don't say that—"

"No way... I'm the one who made things worse—"

The two of them took the blame for each other, and there were even threads of saliva at the corners of Hei's mouth that had not been wiped clean.

The few couples/office workers nearby stopped what they were doing. Everyone looked at the man and woman apologizing to each other, trying to figure out what kind of relationship they had that allowed them to act so extravagantly in public.

Although it's common sense that they're here for a date, their interactions are so formal that it looks like a job interview. However, their interactions, including the expressions on their faces, seem to be enjoying themselves.

No one could be sure of the exact relationship between this Chimera boy and Hei, but the only thing everyone could be sure of was that this "Captain of the Security Bureau", who was always seen with a cold and rigid face, had never shown such a shy and happy expression before.

Anyway, after helping Hei deal with the burned cat tongue, the atmosphere between the two of them, which was initially awkward, was broken.

Hei didn't say much at the beginning. He was mostly listening to Orson's stories about the North, Longmen, and knight competitions.

Later, slowly, Hei also began to tell the boy about what he had experienced.

How she came to the Dolkos family, the stupid things Miss Ceylon did in her childhood, and Mayor Hermann's great ambitions.

"Miss Ceylon actually wanted to be a bartender for a while, and my husband was initially very supportive of her interests. But then the nearby Royal Victoria Police came to Xiosta, saying they had received a report that someone was mixing high-strength napalm bombs. After I followed the police's clues and found Miss Ceylon 'mixing drinks,' my husband finally reluctantly persuaded her to change her career."

"When the master was young, he wasn't as talkative as he is now. Sometimes I had to attend meetings on his behalf. Because of this incident, there were many rumors that I would inherit the ownership of Xiosta."

"That outfit I wore earlier? Well, Miss Ceylon wanted to go to the beach to investigate whether the water inside the lake contained any harmful substances. I was wearing it to protect her from drowning. But the rest... it was purely a personal interest."

Hei talked about many topics, although he did not mention his past. However, when talking about Ceylon and his father, Orson could feel the other party's unreserved love for this city.

"About Xiosta—I'm not from here, but that doesn't matter. To me, this is my city. I love this city-state, but the more glamorous a city-state is, the more inevitably it has a dark side. For me, wandering in these dark cracks is the best way to protect this city."

The topic turned to the city-state of Xiosta itself. After saying this, Hei put away the faint happy expression on his face and once again armed himself with his usual indifference.

"...Although I'm not very familiar with Xiosta's specific situation, and I don't know what kind of past you, Miss Hei, have experienced, I feel that—perhaps this isn't necessarily the case."

"uncertain……?"

Orson's words made Hei look at the extremely terrifying and dangerous young man who he once thought was of the same kind as himself, with blood on his hands, walking out from among the corpses.

"I like a girl who is stronger than anyone else, more determined than anyone else, but also incredibly fragile."

"..."

"I once thought that there had to be someone hiding in the shadows beside her, clearing away all the darkness and evil that she shouldn't look at or touch. And I did just that, pretending to be a guardian knight who had fallen into darkness—"

"But then I realized that she wasn't the only one who needed support and encouragement. I was also being protected... No, I should say that I was the one who was being protected, encouraged, and silently supported along the way."

A smile appeared on Orson's face. That smile was so pure that Orson was like a child who was sharing his most precious treasure with others.

"Sometimes we may have to walk a path of darkness, death, and slaughter, but that doesn't mean we must fall into it. If the person you wish to protect truly loves you and trusts you... then she will surely gladly accept your 'darkness' and 'malice', and will do her utmost to pull you out of the mire, allowing you to walk proudly and with a clear conscience in the sunshine."

“…Is that so?”

Hei blinked and finally understood why he sensed the same pungent bloody smell from the young man as himself, but their trajectories were completely different.

He trusted the most important person in his life, and that person also trusted him and was able to accept everything about the young man.

The two of them had no reservations about each other, and for this reason, Orson didn't need to be self-indulgent and act like a "dark hero", because everything he did was for the other person and could be accepted unconditionally by the other person.