About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"……forgive me."

Explaining Zofia to Tallulah, and explaining Tallulah to Zofia, Orson felt like he was about to explode.

Orson made up his mind that after the knight games were over, no matter what became of Casimir, the company called Red Wine Daily must change.

22. Aunt, hungry, rich, sticky

"Doesn't it feel a little off?"

"Hmm... indeed, Maria's behavior today was indeed strange—here, this is the money you borrowed from me earlier. As a squire knight, you really need to dress yourself up well. After all, you represent not only yourself, but also the Linguang Family."

"Thank you, Auntie!"

In a corner of the garden of Zofia's mansion, Orson and Zofia were lying behind a wildly overgrown bush. Orson held the branches with both hands to deceive himself, while carefully observing Maria who was training not far away.

Sofia on the side took out a bank card and handed it to Orson.

"While the intensity of the practice itself isn't tiring,... it seems like she's lost a lot of motivation. It feels like Maria isn't really working hard, but more like mechanically punching a time clock—kind of like Maenna after working 30 hours of overtime."

Zofia said this as she watched Maria's actions.

"This uncle is really miserable..."

Orson sighed and said, of course, if we really talk about capital factories, then Casimir's companies can only be regarded as younger brothers compared to Rhodes Island.

Our Rhodes Island's exploitation skills are unmatched in the world! The only time an operator can stop is when the distributed Sanity Potions run out—and there are plenty of them!

Forget it. When I think about it carefully, it doesn’t seem to be something worth bragging about.

"What exactly did you and Maria encounter after heading to the Howling Guard?"

Zofia asked Orson with some concern.

"I'm not sure either. Maria didn't tell me."

"She didn't say... maybe she's faced a problem that she doesn't know how to decide."

Sofia sighed. As Maria's "sister", Sofia also knew Xia Guang's character very well.

Although Maria usually looks full of energy and optimistic, she will decisively ask others for help when she encounters difficulties.

But if Maria encounters a problem that she thinks is very "important", the child will, contrary to her usual behavior, hide her troubles to herself, worry about it, and solve it by herself until she makes up her mind to solve the problem.

It is obvious that Maria is in this state now.

"There's no point in just staying here. The official knight tournament is about to begin. If she continues like this, she'll probably be eliminated in the qualifying rounds. As onee-sama, I have to do something—huh!?"

Boom!

Zofia was very worried about Maria's current appearance. Maria had just finished a set of training, and Zofia took advantage of this opportunity to stand up and prepare to leave. As a result, she was not careful and hit her head on the branch of a tree next to her when she stood up.

"Aunt?! Are you okay— ugh!"

Orson originally wanted to ask Sofia if she was injured, but the latter hit her head and lost her balance, and fell directly on Orson.

"That voice... Orson, aunt?"

Maria, who was not far away, also heard the two people's voices, and she immediately rushed to the place where the voices came from in panic.

"Aunt Orson! Are you all right—"

Maria immediately rushed to the bushes and grove. She cut through the vines that were in the way and finally saw Orson and Zofia.

"Well, um...Maria, the weather is nice, haha."

Orson stammered and gave an incomprehensible greeting.

At this time, Orson was knocked to the ground by Zofia, like the heroine walking on the road at night in an unspeakable book.

But Zofia was not in a much better situation. Her body was entangled by vines and her arms could not free for a while. She was forced to lie on Orson in this tied-up position.

“Gu… Kill, kill me! Maria actually saw me in such a shameful state. There’s no point in me living anymore!”

"Aunt, you rushed over after you hit your head!"

While twisting and turning desperately trying to break free, Zofia spoke with tears in her eyes the voice line exclusive to the free knight that Orson had heard for who knows how many times.

"...Um, please be careful and take precautions, Aunt Orson."

Unlike what the two expected, Maria did not react much after seeing this scene. Instead, she just said this absentmindedly and then left the bushes.

"……Oh"

Zofia blinked in response instinctively.

"——No, what kind of security protection are you talking about, Maria!!"

Afterwards, he realized what was happening, his face turned red, and he twisted his body and yelled wildly.

"Ooooooooooo my my my waist!?"

Orson, who was pinned to the ground by Zofia, also let out a cry.

------

"We have to find out what's wrong with Maria! If this continues, Maria will become a strange girl! The Maria in my mind is definitely not the kind of girl who solemnly advises others to pay attention to their physical safety!!"

"Aunt, please keep your voice down..."

In a restaurant that looked very luxurious, Orson and Zofia sat at a table for four. Zofia was cutting steak fiercely and putting beer into her mouth, while she kept complaining that Maria's current condition was really weird.

"Actually, I'm already investigating the situation. I understand Maria's desire to think on her own and not cause trouble for everyone, but if you rely on yourself for some things, you'll get stuck in a rut."

Orson stirred the noodles in his plate and spoke with the tone of someone who had experienced it.

When Tallulah lost Alina, she acted stubbornly and was almost corrupted by the black snake.

Frost Star also tried to rescue the infected people by force at that time, and almost died in the trap.

I also had a situation where I thought I was doing good for the integration movement and was forcing myself to endure the mineral disease infection, but in fact I was just causing trouble for others.

condition.

Even Black Snake, who had always wanted to kill Orson, has now become extremely weird.

"Investigating the situation... So you asked me for money to gather intelligence? I thought you had finally made up your mind to become a gigolo."

Sofia said belatedly.

"Why not? I'm not the kind of person who gets something for nothing, Auntie."

Orson responded with a smile, but Zofia subtly avoided his gaze.

"That feeling isn't bad actually... ahem, so what information did you gather?"

Zofia put the empty beer glass aside and stared at Orson.

"Since Maria is aware of something that happened with the Howling Guard, wouldn't it be enough to just find the relevant people?"

Orson smiled, but this smile instantly sobered up the slightly tipsy Sophia.

The boy's smile... was chilling.

Just as Zofia frowned, a familiar face came to the restaurant—the top knight of the Howling Knights, [Plastic] Serchiak.

"You're here, Mr. Plastic Knight. It seems my message was indeed effective."

Orson waved to the Plastic Knight, who then looked at him gravely.

"You said in the text 'I know you have a son' - what do you want to do?"

The Plastic Knight looked at Orson nervously, and even Zofia beside him widened her eyes. She almost immediately understood what Orson wanted to do.

What is the simplest and best way to obtain intelligence?

The answer is simple - intimidation and threats to the relatives of the interrogated person.

"Anyway, please take a seat, Mr. Serkiak."

Orson smiled and gestured for the Plastic Knight to sit on the other side of the table. The latter could only suppress his fear and anger and sit on the chair as Orson instructed.

When Plastic Knight first received Orson's text message, he didn't take it seriously. Even when the other party mentioned his son, Serkiak just treated it as a boring harassment text message.

But soon, Serkiak realized the seriousness of the matter. He found that the sender had close contact with him a few days ago, and he might have been set up with a tracker at that time.

At the same time, Serkiak discovered that the ordinary boy was actually the infected knight who had been much discussed recently. If the information was correct, he would have the ability to sneak into his home easily.

"You ask what I want to do? It's simple, Mr. Plastic Knight. I have something to ask you, and I'm confident that once you see 'this thing,' you'll immediately grant my request."

Orson took out a sports bag from the table. It was a black shoulder bag that seemed just big enough to fit a child.

"You—you—"

"That's right! Look, it's the limited edition, one-to-one doll of the protagonist of [Puppy Pelo] that kids are super into lately! I spent a lot of money to buy it—Pu Niu!?"

"Don't bother borrowing money from others to buy this kind of thing!!"

Orson happily untied the chain to show off the doll inside, but before he could finish his words, Zofia slapped his head back into the doll's arms.

"..."

——Could it be that this guy named Orson is a fool?

Plastic Knight thought so with his eyes wide open.

23. Whip Knight Muzan

"It's been a long time, Whip Knight. Even after what happened, you still haven't changed your habit of keeping your sword in your left hand."

"Ha, you don't have to worry about my usual ways, but you're still the same old plastic tattered one."

"This toy even has a built-in voice assistant function!"

"..." "..."

Inside the restaurant, Zofia, a former knight competition participant, naturally had some interactions with the Plastic Knight, and it didn't seem like their relationship was particularly good. The two were at loggerheads.

Orson, on the other hand, was fiddling with the limited edition doll that he had bought from his aunt at great expense, and would occasionally make sounds of admiration. It was unclear who the toy was bought for, which made Zofia and the Plastic Knight look very embarrassed.

"...I always feel that there is no interest in arguing next to this guy." Zofia sighed. No matter how to say it, two competitive knights are bickering here, and a teenager next to them is fiddling with a plush puppy doll. This scene is outrageous no matter how you look at it.

People might even think the family is out for dinner and the parents are having an argument... No, they're brother and sister! I'm not some aunt!

"So—what was your purpose in calling me here? Just to watch Whipblade and I taunt each other?"

Plastic Knight asked Orson, who then put the stuffed animal aside and rubbed his throat.

"No, Mr. Serkiak, I want to ask you about something. Yesterday, Margaret's sister came to the Howling Guards headquarters, but she became a little strange after returning. I wanted to ask if you, who is also affiliated with the Howling Guards, have any clues? Of course, I have also prepared a corresponding 'gift'..."

Orson showed a sinister smile like a shrewd conspirator, but combined with the stuffed toy he was pointing at with his right hand, the scene looked outrageous no matter how you looked at it.

"The Shining Knight's sister... is that the girl? I only saw her once yesterday in the audience seats at the simulation training, but I can probably guess what happened to her."

"What happened to Maria?"

Hearing that the Plastic Knight might have some clues, Zofia immediately stood up and walked in front of the Plastic Knight.

"I saw her being summoned by the leader of the Whistling Knights. Most likely, they were discussing the recklessness and pointlessness of her participation in the knight tournament. Unlike someone like me who simply wanted to make a living, our leader still had some chivalrous spirit. He probably persuaded your sister in some way, causing her to question the necessity and meaning of her actions."

Serkiak shrugged. Behind the mask, Plastic Knight looked like just an ordinary middle-aged man in his 40s.

"The leader of the Whistling Knights, the spirit of chivalry... So Maria has become so strange, is she confused about her current behavior?"

Zofia muttered to herself. She knew the leader that the Plastic Knight was talking about. She had had a brief confrontation with him during the team competition.

"Mr. Serkiak's boss? What do you mean by 'chivalrous'?"

Orson asked curiously.

Hearing Orson's question, Zofia and Serchiak frowned. Orson's problem was a blind spot that everyone involved in the knight competition knew about, but they kept silent about it.

After a brief silence, the Plastic Knight finally opened his mouth.

"Although the name of the tournament knights contains the word 'knight', and many of the contestants come from established knight families, almost all of them are well aware that they are not 'knights' at all. They are merely performers thrown into the arena for the purpose of making money and entertaining everyone."

Listening to the Plastic Knight's words, Zofia frowned and unconsciously clenched her left hand.

This injury on his left wrist, which would accompany him for the rest of his life, could not only not be regarded as a symbol of honor, but with every sting, it even mocked his own naivety and ignorance.

War knights would wear wounds received on the battlefield as medals of honor and valor, loudly flaunting them when drunk.

But an injury sustained at a major tournament? It would only become a laughing stock, a headline in third-rate newspapers, a topic of laughter for the audience after dinner.

"But even so, there are still some knights who haven't completely lost their original intentions. Although they are within the system of knightly competition, they still adhere to their own beliefs. The leader of the Howling Knights is one of them."