About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

Author: Ink Fired Squid

Summary:

Skadi, who is loved by disasters, the ghost shark torn between madness and reality, the unchanging "daily life" that is as suffocating as the bottom of the sea - is finally destroyed by the abrupt visitor.

"You... have blood similar to ours, no, even more 'abnormal' than ours."

The visitor from the deep sea said this to Orson.

Natural disasters, tidal waves, deep sea, mineral sickness, and... flush toilets.

Orson came to his senses and found himself inexplicably involved in the incident again. He could only bite the bullet and follow the taciturn killer whale to an unknown place.

The only problem is:

"Can you please stop rubbing against me... Miss Skadi...?"

"I don't know how to cosplay a nun, Ghost Shark!"

"Wow, the Second Battalion Commander is so tall..."

——Deep-sea hunters, are they really so weird!?

Prologue - Newborn in the Snowland

sequence

Winter seems endless, and the scenery remains unchanged no matter when.

It has been half a year since I came to this village, or 3 months, or 5 months?

"Boom!"

Orson split the stake in half and wondered if he should have a way to keep track of the days.

When Orson first discovered that he was on the Terra continent in the world of "Arknights", he was indeed excited for a while.

Travel through time, gain powerful abilities, have ambiguous relationships with various girls, travel around the continent, and make a name for yourself in the other world just like all other travelers.

But soon, Orson noticed the problem——

He had no idea where this desolate village on the border where he lived was, and the power to destroy the world in his fantasy had never appeared.

Forget about going to Lungmen and Penguin Logistics to have a good time with the girls, or going to Rhodes Island to have a harem with the operators. He was trying his best just to survive in this frozen village.

There is no ability to leave this village, no system like a golden finger, no information about this world, and no money to improve the quality of life.

After traveling through time, Orson's only newbie benefit is his current civilian identity, which is not suspected but not taken seriously. Other people in the village will not doubt Orson, but no one regards him as a relative. Everyone just lives in silence, that's all.

Repetitive farm work, endless busyness, and endless food resources

Maybe I will live like this for the rest of my life, or maybe I will die along with this village in a cold wave.

Just when Orson thought he would remain like this until his death, a commotion broke out in the village which had been as quiet as death.

Orson put his axe aside and went over to watch the commotion, and found that the source of the commotion was a group of about 20 vagrants.

No... not homeless people, but "infected people".

Not only Orsen, but other villagers also noticed this, and the original commotion became quiet again.

"If you want food, then follow me. There should be some extra food in the barn for you."

Finally, it was the village chief who spoke first. He smiled and led the group of infected people who were begging for food towards the barn.

——There’s nothing in the barn, right?

Orson hesitated briefly, then immediately understood what the village chief was going to do.

This village... no, it should be said that the country of Ursus is extremely hostile to the infected. Not only because of the infectiousness of the mineral disease, but also because of the government's high-pressure attitude towards the infected. It is said that even the slightest contact with the infected can result in a patrol raid.

"..."

Orson remained silent, and so did the other villagers.

The village chief's actions were correct, and were the best way to protect this already shaky village. The infected were not "people" in the Ursus sense, and their lives were not something they needed to consider.

In this unchanging white hell, survival has exhausted people's enthusiasm, and untimely flames will only burn themselves.

Orson glanced at the group of infected people who didn't know their fate, and then his eyes met with a little girl about 8 years old in the team.

There was no panic in the child's eyes about what was about to happen, nor any resentment towards the world. The only thing Orson could see were those gem-like eyes that were clearer and more transparent than ice.

"..."

Orson looked away, telling himself that this happened every day. This was the way the continent worked: the weak were exploited by the strong, the desperate by the weak.

Click!

The door of the warehouse was locked tightly, and the terrified screams and roars of the infected were extremely harsh to Orson.

"Um... do we really have to do this?"

Orson asked quietly, but was rewarded with the cold and questioning stinging glances of the villagers around him.

"Just pretend I didn't ask."

Orson closed his eyes, as if that would deny what he had just witnessed, the murder that was taking place at that moment.

Life on this continent is not a rare thing.

When Orson saw an old man from the same village starving to death in his bed, when Orson saw a young man of the same age as himself freezing to death in the suburbs, when Orson saw the hunter uncle who had roasted a fire with him yesterday being dragged back with only half of his body left,

He knew very well that life was worthless on this continent.

Although it was clear, Orson could not agree with it.

Life should be brought to an end in a more reasonable way, rather than being deceived and ending in despair and hunger like this.

He is not a saint and cannot change this earth, but at least he can try to change the meaningless death.

At night, Orson walked quietly to the door of the warehouse with the key he stole from the village chief's room.

——I'm absolutely crazy.

"Hmm...? Is that the weird older brother from before?"

The girl who was locked in the granary but didn't understand what was happening noticed Orson through the crack in the door and asked in a low voice.

"Be quiet for a moment. I'm here to get you out. Just hold on a little longer!"

Orson placed the keychain in front of the barn door lock and tried to find the correct key one by one.

Not this, not this, not this, and not this... ?

When he tried all the answers on the key ring and the barn door lock still didn't budge, Orson vaguely realized something.

"Are you looking for your keys?"

“——!?”

The village chief's voice came from behind Orson. At that moment, he felt that all the blood in his body was flowing backwards.

"Wait, wait! I can—Puff!"

The other villagers didn't intend to listen to Orson's explanation. They knocked Orson to the ground, carried him to the skylight above the barn, opened the lock, and threw Orson into this hell without any hesitation.

“Ah! Wait… Wait a moment!!”

Orson fell to the ground from a height of about 3 meters. He endured the burning pain in his back and reached out to the skylight, but the only source of light was closed and locked again without any hesitation.

"..."

Countless eyes were focused on Orson. Those infected people who knew they had been deceived and were about to starve to death in this tomb all looked silently at the villager who was thrown in.

Anger, panic, confusion, and most of all, despair.

"Brother...why were you thrown in here?"

Among the countless gazes, Orson once again saw the child, the girl with eyes as clear as gemstones.

"Because I...anyway, it's okay, it's okay, it will definitely get better, believe me, it will get better--"

Orson hugged the child and prayed that the gods of this world would bestow a little blessing on this remote and uninhabited corner.

Day 1 - The infected visibly reduced their movements and shouting

The next day - there were many bloody handprints on the walls and the ground. They were the meaningless resistance of desperate people trying to escape from here.

Day 3—More and more infected people closed their eyes, and occasionally the mocking voices of villagers could be heard outside the granary.

Day 4—Orson began hallucinating, the living infected attempting to devour the flesh of the dead. But after several bouts of unconsciousness, he realized it wasn't an illusion. To protect the girl in his arms, Orson repeatedly forced himself out of his coma, shielding her from the final wave of madness.

Day 5, Day 6, Day 7——

Eighth day.

"..."

Orson looked at the girl in his arms who had no heartbeat or breathing. He opened his cracked lips but could not say anything.

Because of the low temperature, these corpses did not rot, and those hideous and distorted faces of death still remained on these corpses.

As the last living thing in the barn, Orson was numb, desperate, angry, sad, and confused.

——Why do you do this? Is it just because of your identity as an infected person? But she is just a child, a child who has done nothing wrong.

- I didn't do anything and got myself into this like an idiot

——Why did it become like this? Is it because I don’t have the power?

—If I had the power, if I had the power...

Orson used up his last bit of strength, but not to curse the villagers, nor to clench his fists, but rather—

He raised his hand and closed the eyes of the girl in his arms.

I don't have any power, and it seems that there is no God in this world.

Just before he fell into a coma, Orson suddenly felt something extremely huge, like the embodiment of death, as if it was torn out of his body.

But Orson no longer had the energy to open his eyes wide to confirm what was happening.

Amidst endless resentment and the shackles of death, Orson also closed his eyes.

"Did you do these?"

……what?

Just like a person suddenly awakened from a dream, Orson opened his eyes again and found himself kneeling in the center of the village, surrounded by the village that had turned into ruins.

A long sword was against his neck, and on the other end of the sword, Orson saw a girl wearing aristocratic military uniform, with short light white hair and dragon-like horns.

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

The drowsiness came again, trying to swallow Orson up again. He didn't even have the energy to sort out the current situation.

As his consciousness faded, Orson recognized the girl and spoke:

"My wife..."

Then, he fell into a coma again.

--------

Prologue: The Man Surrounded

01. The man being questioned

When Orson opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was an environment he had never seen before.

There seemed to be a white canvas like a tent around, and the only light sources were the sunlight shining through the cloth and the lanterns on the table that emitted a dim light.

This is definitely not the village where he lived before, nor is it his hometown before he traveled through time.

After a brief moment of confusion, Orson wanted to get up, but his arms were restrained by a force, and the sound of the chains was particularly crisp.

"what……?"