About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

The Plastic Knight whispered, knowing full well that he was not one of those knights who "still stuck to themselves". For the sake of his children's future, the Plastic Knight had completely joined the commercial game of knight competition.

In other words, those who still adhere to "chivalry" are actually a minority of heretics. If the Knight Commander of the Howling Knights hadn't had the ability to make it to the top eight, he would probably have been abandoned by the Howling Guard Group long ago.

"Margaret's sister isn't suited to being a competitive knight. The leader probably saw this and took the initiative to discuss her future path."

"...I can't refute that. Maria's personality is exactly the same as Margaret's. But the problem is, she doesn't have the ability to resist the knight competition like Margaret did."

Zofia rubbed her eyebrows. She knew very well that her "sister" was just on the verge of becoming a novice competitive knight. With this level of strength, let alone resisting the Commercial Association, she might not be able to go far even if she obeyed the other party.

"So—uh, Maria's problem is that she's now unsure whether she should continue to participate in the knight competitions?"

Orson tried to summarize Zofia's conversation with the Plastic Knight.

"That's probably it... Maria participated in the Knight's Tournament to protect the 'Knight Linguang' family that has been passed down for generations. But if her 'predecessors' told her that 'Knight's Tournament itself is a blasphemy against knights,' Maria might really be confused about her own actions."

Zofia sighed. Although Maria had an indomitable spirit, she could easily become confused about her own behavior.

"If that's the case, then we can't let her get stuck in this dilemma alone. Sometimes, it's necessary to give her a little push from behind."

After finding out the reason for Maria's abnormality, unlike Zofia, Orson has already started to work on how to help Maria deal with this problem.

"That's right. Now that things have come to this, I can only give her a push from behind! Now is the time to use my superb drinking skills to get her drunk first, and then throw her on the bed..."

"Although the specific content of the latter part has not been revealed, I think this method is too outrageous!"

Orson complained loudly. He noticed that Aunt Zofia was usually a very reliable person who could handle everything in an orderly manner, but once it came to her family, she would become a little flustered.

"Then what should I do..."

Sofia also realized that her method was a bit too outrageous, and she embarrassedly rubbed her ears to try to ease the embarrassment.

"Since you have found the problem, I will leave first--"

"Don't be so anxious to leave, Mr. Serkiak."

The Plastic Knight was about to leave when Orson put his arm around his shoulder.

"…Is there anything else?"

"Hehe... Of course I'm asking you to help me!"

Orson first smiled evilly, then came up with a Chibaku Tensei, and put his palms together as if asking for help.

"Please help us! I've come up with a rough idea, but it won't work without someone to play the bad guy!"

"..."

The Plastic Knight still couldn't adapt to Orson's outrageous behavior. The most important point was that everything the boy showed didn't seem like a malicious "joke."

If the information was correct, he probably had countless ways to force me to help, but this boy chose the most ordinary and equal way to ask me for help.

Just like... a true [Knight], low-key, humble, and simple-minded.

"any solution?"

Sofia asked curiously, he came up with a solution so quickly, it must be even more outrageous than hers, right?

"There's a saying in Yan Country that goes, 'A friend in need is a friend indeed.' If Maria doesn't know what to do, then we can create a situation where she has to make a choice."

"Creating a scene?"

Zofia frowned, not sure what Orson was referring to.

The Plastic Knight also rubbed his eyebrows. According to common sense, he should have left this farce and returned to be with his children, but for some reason, he did not turn around and leave immediately.

...He must want to see what else this guy named Orson can do.

Plastic Knight comforted himself in this way, and at the same time, Orson also told his "plan".

“—Huh!? No, I absolutely won’t do it!”

“Are you kidding me…?”

After hearing Orson's 'plan', Zofia and Serchiak rejected it in unison.

————Ringuang Family————

"Aha!"

Maria waved the shield in her hand in the living room, and then stabbed out with the knight sword in her right hand.

Although she had been repeating the most basic postures, Maria's heart could not calm down, and even her movements revealed a sense of restlessness.

At the Whistling Guard headquarters, Maria met the current leader of the Whistling Knights, who had some interactions with her family in the past.

According to the leader, he had originally intended to invite Maria to join the Whistling Knights at the behest of the company's boss. However, the leader of the Whistling Knights told Maria, "You'd better stop what you're doing. You're only consuming the remaining glory of your family."

The name [Lin Guang] has a special meaning. These older generation knights seem to be very disgusted with the Lin Guang family's involvement in knight competitions.

"My uncle once said that my actions only brought shame to the family...but I clearly wanted to help the family continue—"

Maria stopped her training and looked at the knight's sword in her hand, which was once used by her sister Margaret for training, with a confused look in her eyes.

"Maria!"

"Orson? What... Ugh!?"

Before Maria had time to feel sad for too long, Orson suddenly rushed into the room and interrupted Maria.

"Oh no, Auntie—Auntie has been taken away!"

"……what?"

Maria blinked, looking a little confused for a moment.

Orson took out his phone and saw a short video playing on the screen.

"--aunt!"

The light in the video was a little dim, but Maria could still see the images clearly.

'Whip Blade Knight' Zofia no longer had her usual high-spirited temperament. Her eyes were covered by a blindfold, her hands were tightly tied and hung in the air, a piece of cloth was roughly stuffed in her mouth, and her whole body was roughly bound.

No one knew where the weapons and equipment around her had gone, and there were traces of blood on her aunt's fair skin. All that could be seen around her were various horrible hardware tools and a limited edition puppy Pelo teddy bear in the corner.

Maria tried her best not to think about where the hardware tools would be used. She looked at Orson in panic, her eyes full of helplessness.

After all, Maria is just an underage girl and she has never experienced any relatives encountering such a situation.

"Just keep reading."

Orson signaled Maria to calm down first, and the short video continued to play.

"Maria Ringuang—this generation's knight of the Ringuang family."

A male figure appeared on the screen, and Maria immediately recognized the man's true identity - Plastic Knight Serkiak.

"It's Mr. Plastic Knight? What the hell is going on...!?"

"You've seen the video, right? Then you should understand Whiplash Knight's current situation. I don't have much time, so let's make it short."

The plastic knight in the video walked over to Zofia and picked up the pliers on the table next to him.

"I noticed you spoke with the Knight Commander of the Knights today, and I'm also very clear about the content of your conversation. You were invited by the Howling Knights, right? Congratulations, but this is absolutely bad news for me."

"That's not what the Knight Commander and I discussed! And I have no intention of joining..."

"Calm down, Maria. The point right now isn't 'what choice you made,' but what Plastic Knight 'thinks you did,' which makes him feel a sense of crisis about his situation."

Orson explained to Maria with a serious expression.

"In order to quickly gain exposure for you, the Knights will transfer points from internal knights to those popular knights. I know very well that your arrival will destroy all the points, connections, resources, and status that I have worked so hard to accumulate."

"So, let's make a deal, sister of the Brilliant Knight. Bring your competition badge to this address, destroy it in front of me, and get out of this game forever - or, prepare a grave for your aunt."

"how come……"

Maria looked a little frightened, and Orson immediately moved his phone away.

At the end of the short video, right after the Plastic Knight utters the word "Auntie," the "hostage" Zofia stands up and kicks Serkiak, then accuses him of squeezing ketchup on her and making it difficult to clean it off. The two then engage in a quarrel, and Orson, the person filming the video, rushes to intervene, only to be sandwiched between them and used as a punching bag.

This is Orson's 'way': simulating extreme encounters.

Perhaps it was a little unfair to deceive Maria in this way, but it was the quickest way to help her discover her true inner thoughts.

The only problem is-

After it's over, the guy tied up in the video will probably become me.

The interrogators beside him are Maria Zofia and Plastic Knight. Depending on the situation, they might even trick Tallulah, Kelsey, Rosemary, and the others into joining them...

Maria was confused about her goal, which was why she was stagnant and hesitant like now.

Orson gradually began to feel confused about his coming to Casimir.

In the original plan, his identity would be a "mysterious and powerful infected knight", appearing from a hidden corner unknown to everyone, using gorgeous and handsome Originium skills, and maintaining a 'silent' and aloof personality from beginning to end.

I'm so tired, so alone

He attacked the knight arena throne with a crushing momentum, and at the moment when he finally attracted everyone's attention, he ate spinach, made a fortune, and ran away at the speed of light, leaving only his legend in the world.

but now……

Orsen increasingly suspected that he was here to be the Horse Keeper, and the kind that would make the girls around him hate him to the maximum.

24. There are already too many free female knights! (3 chapters merged)

"Maria, you have Pegasus' eyes."

In my memory, my grandfather always had a serious expression. It wasn't a frown, but more like the vicissitudes and indifference that come from witnessing countless hardships.

As a child, Maria couldn't comprehend how great her grandfather was. She only knew that he seemed to have fought in many battles and always won. Besides that, he was also an omnipotent being.

Whether dealing with people, fighting, managing the family business, or handling documents he couldn't understand, Grandpa was always able to do it in an orderly manner. But such a powerful person never asked himself to "become" a certain existence. He simply allowed Maria to be free and grow according to her own ideas.

After Margaret became a Knight of Glory and caused a sensation, Grandpa's health began to deteriorate, and he even had to stay in bed all day.

"Grandpa, I'm sorry... I don't have the same powerful fighting skills as onee-sama."

Maria felt sorry that she did not have the ability to say the name "Lin Guang" with the same confidence as Margaret, but her grandfather still did not blame her.

"You possess a different brilliance than Margaret, Maria. Furthermore, you don't have to continue on this path, a knight of war or a knight of competition—your future can be completely different from ours."

"Choose what you want to do. Remember, you are you, Maria."

She had the impression that her grandfather had said something to her, but now she had somewhat forgotten it. The only thing Maria remembered clearly was, "Your future can be completely different from others."

Can I choose another path?

Back to reality, Maria patted her cheeks and looked at the abandoned building in front of her.

According to the address in the Plastic Knight short video, Maria came to the building.

Abandoned buildings, often called "dilapidated buildings," can be found in almost every town on Terra. Natural disasters and the relocation of city-states often result in the abandonment of previously planned buildings.

"Orson...?"

Looking at the dangerous building in front of her, Maria called out Orson's name in a low voice with some concern.

"Behind you."

"Huh?! I got a shock..."

Maria was startled by Orson's sudden appearance. This young man seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

After all, when he was in Qie City and when he was a bodyguard for Zaolu, the most thing Orson did was to secretly deal with the blind guys. Therefore, he also has a set of skills to hide and cover up traces. Unless the opponent has strong anti-reconnaissance capabilities, it is difficult to find him.

"Don't worry, since we're already here, let's go meet this guy and see what he wants to do. I'll monitor the surroundings as much as possible from the outside."

Orson comforted and encouraged Maria, who nodded vigorously, but her inner confusion became more obvious.

Why did he participate in the knight competition? If it was to protect the Linguang family, then what about Zofia's current situation?

Although she knew that now was not the time to hesitate or be confused, Maria was still unsure of her heart, and she arrived at the first floor of the abandoned building.

"Mr. Serkiak..."

Maria looked at the fully armed plastic knight in front of her, her tone a little nervous and confused.

"You actually came here alone—this only proves one thing: you don't have the slightest 'trait' to participate in the knight competition. Your registration is a mistake for everyone."

The Plastic Knight fiddled with the crossbow in his hand, his tone slightly sarcastic.

"The leader of the Whistling Knights told me the same thing back then... He said I shouldn't participate in the knightly tournaments at all, that I don't have any qualities to be a competitive knight... I, I'm a little confused now. Anyway, where is my aunt?"