About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"Wait...at least change one ear!"

Maria failed to escape and was grabbed by Zofia's twitching ears.

"The Linguang family currently has absolutely no commercial sponsorship, let alone equipment and supplies. The essence of the so-called knightly competition is a financial and material competition between different commercial companies. Your actions are like trying to drag this guy into battle naked! What awaits you will only be fully armed knights from other knight companies, who will cruelly humiliate you like a lion hunting a rabbit!"

It can be seen that Zofia was indeed very dissatisfied with Maria's behavior. She talked a lot in one breath about the possible consequences of Maria's childish behavior.

"Um...I am indeed an Infected Knight."

Orson whispered, raising his hand to interrupt Zofia.

"ha--??"

The aunt who was still scolding Maria was stunned for a moment, then looked at Orson with wide eyes, while Orson showed an embarrassed smile.

"If I have disturbed or affected you, I am very sorry. I will leave here immediately."

"Don't, don't say that, Mr. Orson. You saved us."

Orson apologized seriously, while Maria signaled to Orson not to take it seriously.

"Alas... It's not the infected themselves. Unlike those who like to use them to create conflict, I don't have any prejudice. The problem now isn't the identity of the infected knights, but the fact that neither you nor Maria have any corporate sponsorship. How can this continue?"

Zofia sighed, still maintaining the posture of putting her hands on her hips, her fluffy golden tail extending from the absolute area of her short skirt and black stockings to the ground, swaying slowly.

"Well, wasn't my sister also..."

"You're not Margaret!"

"It hurts, it hurts—if you keep pulling it, your hearing will get worse, Auntie!"

As if she heard Maria's cry, her aunt considerately pulled the other ear.

"Really...please help me persuade this idiot."

Zofia sighed and let go, trying to get these old acquaintances in the bar to persuade Maria.

"Actually—wouldn't it be nice to give it a try? Maria's strength isn't bad, maybe she can really make some progress?"

Old Johnny Silverhand and Bald Martin said with a smile.

"Yes, I've watched Maria grow up. This girl has a tenacity that never gives up."

The elderly Yasuo and the former second-level expedition knight Ferg also expressed their support while drinking.

"You guys... forget it. Let's put those old guys aside. You don't need to continue wading through this mess with Maria. I once participated in a special tournament and earned the title of 'Knight'. I can find a way to offer you a spot."

After seeing that the old knight and the bald old man both supported Maria, Zofia turned to look at Orson.

"It doesn't matter if I have a sponsor or not. It wouldn't be bad to compete with Maria-san. At least we can look out for each other. After all, this is my first time—woooo!"

When Orson was halfway through his speech, Zofia took two steps at a time and came in front of Orson.

"Sure enough! You've got your eyes on our Maria!"

"No...why did you come to this conclusion? What's the reasoning behind it?"

Orson was stared at by Zofia's eyes at a very close distance, but Zofia found that there was only confusion in the boy's eyes, and no emotion such as guilt at all.

——So this guy isn’t trying to seduce my sister, but simply doesn’t understand the situation?

Zofia frowned, and with her delicate face and light makeup, she looked strangely cute.

"That's right, this brat definitely has a crush on Maria!"

"That's right! Otherwise, why did he specifically ask Maria to carry him instead of the two of us?"

Originally, Aunt Zofia's doubts were about to fade away, but the panda brewmaster and old Yasuo's excitement made Zofia's gaze become extremely piercing again.

"You two weren't thrown out at that time! Didn't you kiss the airbag nicely... woooo!"

Orson was halfway through his rebuttal when his aunt suddenly grabbed him by the collar.

"Princess, princess hug...?! I haven't even told Maria such a romantic thing... cough cough cough, anyway, there's no point in saying anything more now. If you really want to be a knight, then I'll teach you your first lesson - knights prefer duels to reasoning!"

It seemed that the princess hug between him and Maria had angered Zofia more than anything else before, and the latter directly declared a duel with Orson.

"Aunt? Ugh... Help persuade her, everyone!"

"Zofia wasn't lying. In the past, many knights even had to duel to decide where to go on weekends."

Uncle Martin smiled and said he understood.

"Besides, the outcome of a duel is uncertain, Maria. If you've truly decided to participate in the knight tournament, then at least learn to analyze your enemy's strength."

"strength……?"

Maria seemed to think of something when she heard this. She looked at her aunt on the other side who was ready to fight at any moment, and Orson who looked helpless but was also preparing for battle.

"So what are the rules, Miss Zofia?"

Orson sighed and picked up an L-shaped wrench from the toolbox next to the bar.

"There are no rules. It all depends on who surrenders first. Are you planning on using that thing?"

Zofia stretched out her right hand to the handle of the strange long sword at her waist, frowned slightly and looked at the L-shaped wrench in Orson's hand, which could not be called a weapon at all.

"I was taught by Lancelot."

"Who's that? After all, differences in weaponry are part of the knightly competition—let's begin!"

Zofia swung her arm in an instant and pulled out the weapon - it was a strange weapon that looked like a whip, but was embedded with sharp blades.

"Keng!"

Orson swung the wrench to try to block the "whip blade", but the thing bypassed the block like a python and stabbed straight at Orson.

Orson pulled the wrench forward and forced the whip blade backward. Zofia, who underestimated Orson's strength, was almost pulled over with him. She immediately put away the whip blade and turned it back into a one-handed sword.

"A fantastic weapon! I've never seen this kind of attack style before."

"You can't know everything about every opponent."

"But I think I know your blind spots."

"—?!"

Zofia's eyes widened, and Orson took the opportunity to sprint directly to Zofia's left side.

——Can you see through my weak spot with just one swing of the whip?

Zofia tried to swing to the left with her right hand holding the whip blade, but for 'some reason', the reverse swing deviated slightly from the expected position.

It was this slight "deviation" that allowed Orson to duck and stab the wrench in his hand straight at Zofia's chest.

"...!"

At the critical moment, Orson stopped attacking, and a slight scratch was left on his abdomen by the whip blade.

"When masters fight, it's time to stop. No more fighting, no more fighting."

Orson stuffed the wrench back into the toolbox beside him, and Zofia did not chase him again. She just frowned and glanced at her right wrist holding the weapon out of the corner of her eye.

"Uh...what's going on, Uncle Martin, Mr. Ferg?"

Maria asked in confusion. From her perspective, Orson and his aunt only fought two rounds, and it ended with Orson suffering minor injuries.

"It seems you still have a lot to learn, Maria."

Martin said with a smile, but his eyes were fixed on Orson.

——Did they not continue the fight because Maria was here? That young man noticed the condition of Whip Blade's left hand in just a split second. His observation skills were terrifying...

"I know some doctors who might be able to help, Miss Zofia."

Orson looked at Zofia and said this, and this sentence also meant that he noticed that Zofia's right hand was not her dominant hand, so the accuracy of her attack was reduced, and her left hand seemed to have suffered serious injuries.

"No need. It seems you're more capable than I thought... Forget it, take him to register tomorrow, Maria. I knew you and Margaret were exactly the same when it comes to stubbornness and single-mindedness."

Zofia sighed, and Maria immediately rushed over happily.

"aunt!

"So don't call me aunt! Come to my house immediately after registering tomorrow. I have to train you well. If you participate in the special tournament with your current strength, the only result will be that you will be sent to the hospital. Do you understand?"

Although her attitude was very tough at first, it seemed that my aunt was a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart, and she agreed to Maria's action.

"I heard it, Auntie!" Maria answered, standing at attention.

"I heard it, Auntie!" Orson also expressed his opinion.

"Why are you calling me aunt? Seriously..."

Zofia sighed. The young man before her possessed terrifying observational skills, and his movements were concise and efficient. Most importantly, he wasn't overly cowardly, but neither was he erratic or violent.

Zofia initially hoped to use this arrogant attitude and slightly unreasonable approach to provoke Orson's anger and then defeat him.

After all, what kind of experience could a new “Infected Knight” who looks young have?

But the solution was that while Orson was helpless in the face of his own challenge, he didn't resist or escape, let alone get angry. He even stopped at the end, not allowing himself to be injured and defeated by Maria.

Surprisingly, he is a pretty nice guy, just a little silly.

After this incident subsided, Zofia's reputation and favorability towards Orson improved significantly.

"Then when are you planning to go back? I'll give you a ride."

Zofia put away her weapon, straightened her clothes, and prepared to leave the bar.

"I'll just find a place to stay for the night, Auntie!"

"So, what do you mean by calling me aunt...? And if you want to be Maria's attendant knight, you must live in Maria Rinkou's territory."

Zofia pulled Orson's ear and complained with an unhappy look on her face, while Maria beside her widened her eyes.

"Eh...!? The squire knights are going to live in the Linguang family's territory?"

"What do you think."

"But the Linguang family's current territory... is only my family's, right?"

Maria blinked, and Orson blinked, and Zofia blinked.

05. Uncle, I...

"This is my home. Um... please don't be too restrained. Because of some well-known circumstances, it's just me and my uncle living here right now."

In front of the gate of a manor, Xia Guang Maria shyly introduced the building in front of her with a rather classical style, while Orson beside her was wondering in his heart why he was surrounded by rich women.

Needless to say, Zaolu is the number one girl in Che City and her reputation is well-deserved. Her fame has now spread throughout Ursus, and multiple projects are being promoted in parallel.

Tallulah is also a legitimate noble, and she was able to get all kinds of things with Kosciuszko's legacy before the Reunion Movement was formalized.

Although Frost Star is very ordinary, she has patriots, which is equivalent to a warlord's daughter.

Not to mention Alina, Tallulah's pocket money is now managed by Alina.

W said he was a common mercenary, but it seemed he also had an unclear relationship with the royal family of Kazdel.

Those people in Rhodes Island... well, how should I put it, being able to owe an eight-digit debt is a sign of strength in itself.

It turns out that Junjun is as poor as himself, and Orson and Junjun are close.

After standing at the door of the Linguang family and sighing that this family was also rich, Orson followed Maria into the room, but found that for some reason, unlike what it looked like from the outside, the interior of the manor was unexpectedly desolate and messy, and also unexpectedly empty.

"Because my income is still unstable and my uncle's salary is not that high, I sold a lot of furniture at home to supplement my income..."

After noticing Orson's confused look, Maria explained somewhat awkwardly.

"I see... I understand completely—no, I understand especially well, Miss Maria!"

"Eh? Uh, thank you."

Maria was stunned by Orson's overly serious reaction.

After all, at first Orson thought Maria was in Versailles, but when he really came there, he found out that "poor to sell furniture" was not an adjective.

"Because the furniture in most of the spare rooms has been sold, there aren't many rooms left to live in. The only room left is my sister's. If you don't mind..."

"No need. Your sister means a lot to you, right? I'll just sleep on this sofa. Your sofa is pretty big."

Orson patted the sofa beside him and said.