About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

Charne's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat, and he even suspected for a moment that the scene he saw through the floor-to-ceiling window was an illusion.

"There's no need to be so nervous, Mr. Charney. Perhaps to you, the person standing there is the Spear of Ursus, who once nearly tore through the borders of Casimir, but to us in the Reunion Movement, that staggering, dying Wendigo is nothing more than a 'walking corpse, about to lose his daughter, abandoning all dignity and honor, and living on in vain.' He's not worth mentioning at all."

Tallulah spoke calmly, and Charne looked at the dragon cub in panic, only to find that the other's eyes were truly filled with contempt and disdain.

"A patriot? Ha! Abandoned by his own country, he wandered the snowy lands of the North, finally finding a 'daughter' who could warm his heart. But now, that daughter is terminally ill from oripathy."

Talulah looked into the distance at the two Knights of Corruption and Decay in the arena. They were roaring loudly, craving for blood and killing, but after seeing the Patriot, the two brothers were instantly silent, and their roars even turned into the sound of Rosemary having her tail stepped on.

"Daughter? I... don't know what you're talking about?"

Charne forced himself to remain as calm as possible, even though he was now frightened by the patriots and was a little confused about the situation.

"Why do you think our Reunion Movement can use the famous Bozhukas as a captain? The answer is simple. She has an adopted daughter, a Carterus. That rabbit has become the pillar of the Patriots' survival. Now, as her oripathy becomes more serious, the Patriots find themselves unable to protect her. They can only watch helplessly as the rabbit snatches men - and watch the rabbit's oripathy become more serious."

Tallulah almost said something horrible for a moment.

"You mean... in order to treat his daughter, the Patriot had to follow your Integration Movement?"

Charney asked uncertainly.

"That's right. As long as his daughter is under control, Patriot's actions will never cause a crisis."

Tallulah said with a look of certainty.

At the same time, inside the Rhodes Island ship:

"Haha~ Sure enough, this one is also a bad movie! But the part where the hero hides in the horse's belly to avoid the nuclear explosion is quite interesting... Frost Star?"

In the operator's lounge, Huang Maomao was complaining while putting away the bad movie, but found that Xuetu, who was "unable to control the ore disease and on the verge of death" sitting next to him, was frowning and looking at the popcorn bucket in his hand.

"It's okay... I'm just a little upset, that's all."

Xuetu puffed up his cheeks and complained quietly that he had not yet had a chance to appear on stage during this trip to Casimir. Not only that, according to the plan, his position was "a critically ill princess who would restrict the actions of patriots and would break at the slightest touch."

How can this kind of character improve Orson's favorability? !

"Well, don't worry, Rosemary Kitten won't compete with you for that thing - uh, maybe?"

Huang Maomao had a bright smile on his face, but he was not sure about what he was saying halfway through.

"At least use affirmative sentences!"

Snow Rabbit complained with a blushing face.

The scene returns to the meeting room of the United Chamber of Commerce.

The two looked towards the arena. The two brothers of Withering and Corruption, who had appeared so domineering before, were now like lambs thrown into a group of lions. They kept banging on the iron fence in fear, begging the staff to let them out. The Patriot, as always, took slow steps and approached the unlucky brothers.

"Think about it, Mr. Czarny. The captain who once nearly broke through Casimir is now forced to abandon all dignity and participate in the knight's competition. Don't you think this is... quite interesting?"

Tallulah smiled and looked at Charnay, who looked at Tallulah and swallowed.

The dragonfly in front of him, which seemed ready to devour him, was right. The once terrifying enemy, now, in order to give his daughter a chance to survive, had to drag his already weathered body across the enemy's territory and become the "plaything" of the spectators...

The risk is high, but... the benefits are probably incalculable.

"I... will consider it, Ms. Tallulah. Your Reunion Movement is truly a pleasant surprise."

Charne wiped the sweat off his forehead, took out his cell phone and edited and sent a text message.

Meanwhile, inside the arena, the Patriots had already stuffed the two brothers, Corruption and Decay, into the trash can, one for each. They had even considerately labeled them "Non-Recyclable."

"—"

The Patriot noticed Tallulah, turned to the French window, and gave both thumbs up.

...Which public account did I see this weird celebration pose from?

Tallulah rubbed her head, not because she was worried about the power of the integration movement, but because she was worried about whether the Patriot could portray the tragic and desolate character of "a dying veteran who had to give up everything for his dying daughter."

11. My house is quite big

The Linguang family's first and last territory, the residence passed down from their ancestors.

Normally, this mansion, which is even emptier than one would imagine, would rarely be visited by anyone. However, today, many reporters wearing different uniforms and wearing all kinds of colorful newspaper logos have surrounded the mansion. What they are after is also very simple, of course, it was recently reported that "the young lady who is the heiress of the Linguang family and is said to be a Nova Infected Knight has been taken care of."

"Ms. Maria! I know you're home. Could you explain a few questions? They're simple, just a few answers. They won't take up too much of your time!"

"May I ask why you chose your knight at this time?" "Can you tell us why he followed you?"

"Regarding the cat-eared knight who broke into the Knights Association's registration office earlier, she's a mercenary competitive knight from the emerging company Rhodes Island. Is there any connection between you two?"

Reporters gathered outside the door and shouted into the room, each question more outrageous than the last.

"Wow wow wow... w-what should I do?"

Inside the room, Maria hid behind the curtains awkwardly and nervously. She reached out and gently made a gap, but was immediately frightened back by the scene outside.

"Get out of the way! This is the Linguang family's territory. Your actions have violated the Casimir Knight Code!"

Just when Maria was at a loss, the voice of her aunt Zofia came from outside the room. A car drove straight towards the gate, forcibly dispersing the reporters. Then Zofia got out of the passenger seat and swung the whip in her hand to drive away the crowd.

"It's the Whipblade Knight! Could the reason you're here also be related to the recent activities of the Linguang family? Please—uh!? My camera!"

After noticing Zofia, some reporters also tried to move closer, but the props in their hands were chopped into pieces by their aunt.

"Let me make it clear first, I'm not that particular. Anyway, I'm not a tournament knight nor a proper noble. Anyone who doesn't want the food in my hand can stay here."

"Hmm... this old lady is serious, let's retreat first!"

"Who is Auntie?"

After seeing that Sofia was such a tough guy, the reporters had no choice but to run away temporarily. Although first-hand reporting was important, they had to pay for compensation at their own expense if the guy who made their living was hit.

"Really..."

After driving the reporters away, Zofia walked into the mansion. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Maria hiding aside with her ears drooping.

"Now you should know how big a mess you've made, Maria?"

The aunt looked at Maria and asked with a half-helpless and half-angry tone.

"I see... I thought at the time, Aunt, you were trying to delay for a while and find a way to prevent me from bringing Orson to register..."

Maria whispered, knowing she had messed up.

"If I really want to prevent you from participating in the competition, the method I use will definitely not be that simple."

"Ah...Come to think of it, Orson isn't scared at all. I was actually scared by the scene just now."

Maria looked at Orson with admiration. It was thanks to Orson who calmly persuaded Maria to pretend to be dead that the situation just now happened. Otherwise, the young knight might really open the door and try to send those reporters away himself. What would happen then would be really unpredictable.

"It's just a small scene."

Orson, who had been hunted down by Ino (Mephisto)'s fans every now and then, waved his hand and said that was it.

"You two are truly amazing... Although there have been many star players who have heavily promoted themselves before the start of the competition, you are the only one who has already built up the hype a month before the start."

Zofia said with a sigh.

"Hey hey hey... is it really that powerful?"

Maria rubbed her hair a little embarrassedly.

"I'm not complimenting you!"

"Ouch! Stop hitting your head, it'll make you stupid..."

Zofia reached out and tapped Maria, who protected her head with tears in her eyes.

"He's not that smart anymore. Anyway, putting aside all that nonsense about keeping followers, what's the story behind that cat-eared knight?"

Zofia asked the two of them, while Maria thought about it.

"It's a jousting knight from Rhodes Island. He's so cute and small~"

"To be honest, it's true. My family is a fan... ahem, it's true."

Orson agreed, and his desire to show off his child almost made him let it slip.

"Rhodes Island? A new company? This Knights' Games is getting weirder and weirder... Are you really ready, Maria? There's still time to quit."

Unlike the two who were immersed in Rosemary's cuteness, my aunt was thinking seriously.

"I won't quit, Auntie!"

Maria responded seriously.

"Alas... you really only inherited a stubborn temper from Margaret - then be prepared to be trained to the point of vomiting. There is less than a month left until the qualifying tournament, and I will use this time to train you to become a decent knight."

"Isn't it a bit... Ugh! I get it. Thank you so much, Auntie!"

Before Maria could even finish her complaint, Zofia glared back at her.

"Don't call me Auntie! And you, Orson."

"?"

Orson, who thought the topic had nothing to do with him, raised a question mark.

"You're clearly a 'highly promising new star infected knight,' so why would you choose to fool around with Maria, a fool who's not even an apprentice knight?"

"Aunt, I'm too..."

Zofia questioned Orson, while Maria beside her had tears in her eyes.

"Don't interrupt, Maria. I'm waiting for your answer, Orson."

Zofia continued to stare at Orson, waiting for his reply.

Orson was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke:

"Uh... I'm not sure. I guess it's just a matter of taking things as they come."

"..."

Zofia frowned at Orson's answer, not because she suspected Orson was lying, but because she noticed that although the boy in front of her was not stupid, he was really stupid when he didn't use his brain...

"You clearly have more and better options. The Blood Knights' victory last time has made Casimir much more tolerant of the Infected Knights. You could join a large guild, or a knightly order, or even... never mind. You can't live here anymore."

"Eh? Wait a minute, auntie!"

Sofia's ultimatum shocked Orson. He had finally found a place to sleep, but he was about to be kicked out.

"Give me a chance! I can cook, wash clothes, do housework, and... uh, I can also tell crosstalk!"

Orson desperately talked about his advantages.

"That's not what I meant! And what's a virtue in crosstalk? - And don't call me aunt at the end!"

Zofia complained three times in a row, then rubbed her eyebrows.

"I'm saying that with the current public opinion climate, you definitely can't continue living with Maria. Something bad will definitely happen."

"Oh...but doesn't it mean that a knight must live in the knight's territory?"

Orson asked curiously.

"That's it, so you come out with me."

"What are you going out for?"

"Buy you a house."

"..."

Orson blinked and talked about "buying a house" as if it were "buying vegetables". Is this the world of the rich?

Orson nodded, and at the same time, he was thinking about how to trick Zofia into going to the sweatshop.

12. Platinum throne

In order to prevent public opinion from continuing to ferment, Orson followed Zofia to buy a house as if she were buying vegetables.

At first, Sofia also expressed her desire to go along enthusiastically, but then Sofia hit her on the head again and told her that she could only exercise at home to avoid the limelight during this period.

"Speaking of which, Auntie, you and Maria have a strange relationship. It feels more like sisters."

On the way, Orson chatted with Zofia out of curiosity.