About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

The heavy blow that could make people vomit blood did not come. Instead, a huge sword fell from the sky and split the deep-sea creature into two halves.

"Are you all right, Orson—sister, Miss Jeanne?"

A familiar voice was heard, and a blue, white-haired deep-sea hunter wearing a strange hat appeared in front of Orson.

"Skadi! You're finally here... We'll talk later, watch out!"

Orson's excitement didn't last long, as the white waves around him surged over again.

"Boom~boom~boom~"

Three sounds, similar to the sound of opening a wine cork, were heard from the distance, and then the monsters rushing towards Skadi from behind were instantly sent into the sky by the explosion.

"Yohoo! Looks like we're not too late, we can still catch the encore!"

The red-haired problem student Sakota, the Archangel showed a carefree smile, made a "yeah" gesture, and skillfully loaded the grenade into the front launcher of the rifle.

"Ah, that's really helpful! The monsters' attack is almost over, just hold on a little longer!"

Orson nodded to Archangel, and the two of them took their design poses, while Skadi immediately rushed to the Ghost Shark, who was still dancing with blood and flesh in the distance, and began to use her golf sword skills.

More densely packed white twisted sea monsters surged forward, but on the path those monsters had to pass through, a huge dial suddenly emerged in the air.

"Click——"

With the sound of the clock being wound up, the monsters that were originally rushing towards them were instantly stopped in their tracks.

"Everyone, saturation barrage attack!!"

A female voice I had never heard of came from behind me, and then, firepower much more fierce than that in the church suddenly poured down, even stirring up dust that blocked my vision.

After the eardrum-piercing rain of bullets plowed the ground, the sound that had been persisting, similar to the roar of a baby or a monster, finally disappeared.

"Survived...? We, survived?"

After a brief silence, I don't know who said this.

And these words were like some kind of electronic switch, instantly causing those who were still fighting to collapse to the ground. Some were crying, some were laughing, and some were breathing heavily.

When the regular regiment, dressed in formal attire and armed with uniform Lateran rifles, appeared in the church, everyone finally understood one thing:

I really survived.

--------

"So, what happened over there?"

Inside the Pala Monastery, Orson stood behind Ghost Shark, carefully wrapping a bandage around the wound on its forehead. Ghost Shark sat quietly on a bench, motionless, only its legs swaying slightly back and forth. Her appearance was so docile that it was impossible to connect her with the Ghost Shark who had soared through the sea monster just a dozen minutes earlier.

While bandaging Ghost Shark's wound, Orson asked Skadi and Exiah beside him.

"Well, although we rushed here as soon as we received your text message from Orson... Sister Orson, we found many ordinary people being attacked by these monsters along the way, so we were delayed a little. Then, when we passed the police station, we ran into the rectification team who had just arrived. I told them that the monastery is the main entrance for the monsters to land, so we came here together."

Exia explained while ruffling his hair.

"Your judgment is correct, Remuel. If we fail to catch all those things here, Parral may inevitably fall."

When Orson and Exia were confirming the situation, a woman with short red hair who looked like Liberi appeared beside them.

"Call me Angel, Chicken—no, what's your code name now?"

"[Narrator of Suffering]... Never mind. The Purification Corps will be under my command for now. Just know that, Archangel. Also, you're the abbot of the Pala Monastery, right? You're doing a great job."

She called herself the Narrator of Suffering, but she sighed when she saw the girl who seemed to be a chicken like the Snow Pheasant, then walked to the side of the dean.

"No, you are mistaken. It was not me, an old fellow, who protected this monastery, but Miss Jeanne d'Arc and her companions."

The dean smiled and pointed at Orson, and the red-haired Liberi followed his gaze and noticed the short nun who was bandaging the ghost shark's wound.

"Jeanne... I've heard rumors about you. You're the fastest person in history to obtain full nun status. You're the younger sister of a company leader, and you're a beloved idol."

"No...it's not as powerful as you say..."

Orson, who had no chance to change back into his nun's uniform, blushed and waved his hand to signal him to stop talking.

"Miss Jeanne was the first to realize the attack of these 'sea monsters'. She also inspired everyone who had been panicked and lost their ability to think in battle. Most importantly, she controlled the revolver, buying you invaluable time for your arrival."

The dean told the Narrator of Suffering everything that 'Miss Jeanne' had done, as if she knew everything in detail.

"Um, uh, boosting morale, scouting the enemy, revolver...?"

The narrator of the suffering nodded politely to show his understanding, and then muttered quietly to himself.

Although I've heard that the pressure in the idol industry is far greater than the glamorous appearance, are idols nowadays really that competitive...?

If this continues, I’m afraid that future idol auditions will just be a competition between T800 and T1000.

"..."

I always feel that the other person seems to have some ideological errors, but it is better not to complain at this time.

Orson wiped the sweat from his forehead beneath his nun's cap and gave his signature business smile.

"You know these... they call them 'sea monsters'. Do you know how these sea monsters appear, Miss Jeanne? These things suddenly appear in various areas of Parral, as if they were coming out of the ground."

The Narrator of Suffering asked Orson about the specific origins of these monsters, but Orson sighed and shrugged.

"I'm sorry... I don't know where these things came from. They suddenly appeared in the border wasteland. Maybe Tina can... Wait, Tina, are you okay? Is there any wound that hasn't been treated yet?"

When Orson was halfway through his speech, he suddenly noticed that Ghost Shark's body was trembling a little. He immediately possessed Ghost Shark and asked him what was wrong with him. Skadi, who was standing next to him, also came over with concern.

"I sensed it—those guys are right here, down there..."

Ghost Shark said tremblingly, her scarlet eyes revealing pain and a desire for revenge.

"That guy... I understand. If it's underground, it should be the underground power hub of the mobile city-state."

Orson chose to believe without any hesitation. Ghost Shark had personally experienced hell. She might have a certain "sensing ability" like himself - for those in the Deep Sea Church.

"Underground hub? No, you can't enter there. If there's a problem with the underground hub, I'll send a task force to investigate."

Orson's words were directly dismissed by the Narrator of Suffering.

"Wait a minute, we have to go there ourselves!"

Orson tried to persuade the Narrator of Suffering, but the other party's expression looked extremely tough.

Seeing this, the Archangel beside him was about to speak, but before that—

"Oh my, our lovely little nun idols are working so hard, so it's okay to let them go~?"

A familiar, somewhat mischievous girl's voice came lazily from behind the crowd.

"Mastema...?"

Orson and Exiah looked at the blue-haired fallen angel who appeared in front of them and blinked at the same time.

"Yo ho~"

Mostima waved his hand, looking relaxed and contented.

19. Sister, how many girlfriends does Orson have?

"Hey, it's been a while, Aneng. And—Miss Jeanne~?"

The mysterious guardian of locks and keys, the fallen angel Mostima, walked over with an amusing smile as always. Although the expression on his face seemed seductive at first glance, it gave people a vague sense of crisis as if he was being hunted.

“Mastema—!”

Exiah, who was just about to plead for Orson, got furious the moment he saw Mostima. Orson knew very well that Exiah had been searching for traces of Mostima, and every time the fallen angel had basically escaped gracefully and playfully.

"Haha, you look very energetic. I feel relieved now."

Faced with the aggressive stance of the Archangel, Mastema simply raised one hand to her lips and smiled. She dominated the conversation as soon as she appeared and moved directly to the next step.

"So—is it okay to let them go to the underground power hub area? Putting those two suspicious Agor people aside, isn't our Sister Idol a Lateran Sister who has passed the formal examination?"

Mastema looked at the Narrator of Suffering and said with a smile.

"...At least pay attention to your position, Mastema. You're still under my surveillance, so instead of offering advice to others, you should first think about how to perform well yourself."

The Narrator of Suffering sighed at Mastema's sudden appearance and disruption.

"Oh my, so I'm a special being whose actions are being monitored? I'd forgotten about that. But then again, there's no need to take this kind of thing so seriously. After all, look—everyone likes Jeanne-chan, right?"

Mastema gave a seemingly ignorant smile, then she leaned over to the Narrator of Suffering and whispered, while looking at the people in the surrounding monastery.

These words were like a torch lighting a stick, instantly drawing the attention of the survivors who were originally in a daze, contacting their families and praying in tears.

"You're right! You're too late!" "If it weren't for Jeanne-chan, we would all be corpses now!"

"You clearly haven't fulfilled your duty to protect others, yet you're pretending to be so noble and arrogant at a time like this?"

The people were furious that the rectification troops had not arrived quickly enough to prevent the disaster.

"Well……"

Faced with the sudden outburst of public grievances, the narrators of suffering were at a loss as to how to refute them. Or rather, because these people in the monastery were speaking "facts," they had no way to refute them.

The Narrator of Suffering was originally prepared to accept the complaints and anger of these people, but what she didn't expect was that the little nun named "Joan of Arc" took a step forward and walked to the Narrator of Suffering's side in the face of this situation.

"Don't be so willful, everyone!"

A resonant voice that was inconsistent with her stature came out of the 'nun's' mouth.

“Eh——!?” “What…” “Jeanne-chan?”

The people who had been helping to protest were suddenly stunned by the other party's shouting.

"Why didn't you come earlier? Why didn't you kill those monsters? Don't say such willful words! This disaster is experienced by the entire Parallel, and the people who need help are not just those present here. These soldiers, young lady, they must want to protect this land more than anyone else, but they also have to save others who seek help! So, stop saying such willful words!"

"—"

"..."

Orson's words echoed in the dilapidated monastery. After a while, those people rubbed their heads with red faces, or sighed and returned to their own little world with faint apologies in their mouths.

"I'm sorry, they don't really think that way. They're just a little emotional because they just got back from the brink of death. Please don't take it to heart."

After rebuking those people for their complaints, Orson turned to the Narrator of Suffering and bowed to apologize.

"No...you don't have to apologize to me. They are right. If I had been quicker...now is not the time for hypotheticals."

The Narrator of Suffering motioned for Jeanne to stop apologizing to her, then shook her head.

"It seems there's a reason you've earned the trust of so many people and received the nun's certification so quickly. I allow you to proceed to the underground core power area, but I'll also be sending some soldiers with you. Lateran officials also hope to uncover the cause of this attack. I still need to handle a series of follow-up actions here—here, this is the access key to the underground maintenance passage."

The Narrator of Suffering sighed with a wry smile. She no longer bothered about the dogma that "non-Latlan citizens cannot enter the underground power zone" and handed the key to Orson.

"Thank you so much!"

Orson took the key, then happily shook the hands of the Narrator of Suffering, and nodded to express his gratitude with an extremely pure smile.

"Eh? Uh... No, you're welcome. I'm the one who wants to express my gratitude."

The Narrator of Suffering was startled by Orson's "surprise attack". Her cheeks felt a little hot and she quickly turned her eyes away, quickly saying that there was no need to thank her for such a thing.

"Then, leave the responsibility of monitoring Miss Jeanne to me. I will complete the task diligently and flawlessly. Let's go~"

After seeing that the issue regarding the underground power zone pass had been resolved, Mostima smiled and said that she would be responsible for surveillance. As she spoke, she naturally approached Orson, held the arm of the "idol nun" and prepared to walk out.

"Come back here—didn't I just tell you that you're still under surveillance? Don't run around!"

Unfortunately, Mostima still couldn't get away with it. The Narrator of Suffering reached out and grabbed Xiao Mo's collar and pulled her back, scolding her loudly with veins on his forehead.

"Well, you're so serious about not finding a boyfriend. How about trying to be a little more casual, just like your code name, which changes every day?"

"Mastema!"

"Well, yes, yes, I won't comment anymore, okay?"

As if some mysterious sore spot had been touched, the Narrator of Suffering immediately became furious and complained loudly to Mostima, but Little Mo was still as relaxed as ever, with a cold smile on his cheek, and he muddled it off with "hmmmm yes yes yes".

"What a shame, it looks like I can't accompany you to the underground area, Miss Jeanne. But—"

Mostima returned her indigo eyes to Orson, who was disguised as a Lateran idol, and the next second she moved her gaze to the two women with white hair and red eyes who did not belong to Lateran beside Orson.

"Deep Sea Hunter... no, it's the [Last Ex-Deep Sea Hunter], right? Hehe..."

Mostima recognized the true identities of Skadi and Ghost Shark, which stunned the two of them, including Orson.

"It seems you're very close to the truth, Orson's...sister. The only question is—did you seek it out, or did the fate you will eventually face find you?"

Even Mostima almost let the cat out of the bag. Although Orson's disguise was flawless and indistinguishable from the real thing, it was surprisingly easy to confuse people who were familiar with Orson's true identity. Perhaps it was because the idea that "it doesn't seem strange for Orson to become like this" was also deeply rooted in them.

"...I don't understand. What does this mean?"