Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 1095: Section 685: Let’s Count (1)_2

Chapter 1095: Section 685: Let’s Count (1)_2

This time, whispers arose all around; this time, many Transcendents were present. They, of course, could see the unusual state Malin was in—no matter how guilty he felt, Lord Malin couldn’t simply utter a word and turn these Nobles back from their ways.

Of course, no one suspected anything related to a Deity, after all, as a Legendary Mage, it wasn’t surprising for Lord Malin to know a few Spell Formations of the mantra system. And with a physical strength that could put Legendary Barbarians to shame, it wasn’t long before soldiers were kneeling in rows, saluting a Legendary Lord who could seek justice for them.

"Who said problems that could be solved with cannonballs could also be solved by soldiers?" Malin looked at those staff officers.

A young staff officer immediately knelt down.

"Are you guilty?" Malin looked at the young man, who sobbed incoherently, shaking his head fiercely while trying his best to deny with his mouth.

Truly a little brat who says one thing and means another.

Thinking of this, Malin extended his hand with a grasping motion, and the young man immediately submitted his neck into Malin’s hand.

"I remember you, the kid from the Kamiran family. I even rented your family’s fleet to transport cannonballs and bullets from Carterburg. Where did the cannonballs go?"

"W-we lost thirty percent at sea! The surplus cannonballs were sold, sold to the Eastern Kingdom!" This brat continued his contradictions through tears.

Malin laughed and looked at Sudel, who also laughed and, quite unusually, cooperated with Malin by telling a dark joke: "Honestly, my lord, selling them to the Eastern Kingdom is at least better than selling them to Chaos."

"That’s what I thought too." After speaking, Malin pushed away the young man, accepted the water bottle handed over by Sudel, washed his hands, and then reached out to the approaching Halsan, a young man who still had wounds on his face, but looked quite spirited.

"You know what I want, right?" Malin asked with a smile.

"Of course, my lord." Halsan said, then took out a Revolver from the holster on his waist, turned it over, and handed it to Malin.

Malin turned around and pointed the gun at the young man, who was crying and struggling to leave Malin’s side, yet his hands and feet were not aligned with his mind, causing him to get closer and closer to Malin. His face was a mix of remorse and pain on one side, while the other side showed the utmost devotion.

"I am guilty, my lord. My guilt requires my death as atonement." With that, he gripped the stone slabs on the ground with one hand, fighting against his own two feet, while extending his other hand with spread fingers towards Malin.

Malin turned the gun around and handed it to the young man.

"Remember what you said, kid from the Kamiran family." At this moment, Malin lowered his gaze.

The young man raised the gun, pressed the muzzle against his right temple, and with the demeanor of someone wholly resigned to their fate, pulled the trigger. In the next second, a lifeless corpse collapsed into the pool of blood he had made.

Then Malin continued to look at the staff officers: "Who else is guilty?"

All these young people knelt down.

The majority were frightened; only six were truly—Malin could feel it. Many innocent young people were genuinely frightened by Malin. The truly guilty still had to undergo a willpower test. Those frightened to the core didn’t even have this test, causing them to kneel even faster than the truly guilty.

Malin had no choice but to point out the names of the six truly guilty individuals one by one.

The first was the nephew of Marshal Constantine. Malin genuinely didn’t want more members of this family to die today, but everything depended on what his sins were. So once Malin spoke, this guy confessed all his wrongdoings.

He had an impressive list of offenses: starting from pilfering others’ beers at first, stealing canned fish from the supplies to feed cats, having inappropriate thoughts about the cute girls in the medical unit (though he only dared as far as that, and didn’t even have the courage to hold hands forcefully), and continuing his petty misdemeanors all the way to Słupsk, where he admitted to escaping before Marshal Constantine died in battle.

"I, I watched my uncle die in battle while I could still sneak away...my lord! I deserve death! I, I have sinned!"

Seeing before him this young man in gray from the detection camp trying to waste each other’s time more, Malin raised a foot and kicked him over, then looked at the Gendarmerie: "Drag him away and lock him up for seven days of solitary confinement."

Among the Gendarmerie came two burly Dwarven women, who grabbed the young man by either arm and started dragging him towards the city, presumably to a confinement room there.

Lieutenant Langton, despite saying so much, didn’t look at all like someone truly guilty.

If drinking stolen beer, feeding canned food to cats, or getting weak at the knees at the sight of a girl were all considered crimes, then Malin feared he’d have to throw all the unlucky people present into the confinement room.

The only simple reason Malin consigned this kid to the confinement room was that he talked too much.

As for Marshal Constantine letting this kid go, he probably just didn’t want the younger generation of his family to die with him, so even if he fled because of cowardice, it couldn’t be considered a crime.

Of course, the most important reason was his detection allegiance being merely gray, neutral with a hint of slight Chaos. If this kid had even a smidgen of purple, Malin wouldn’t let him go.

Then came the second one, who immediately crawled over as soon as Malin called his name: "My lord! I am guilty! I shot my colleague in the back!"

A good guy! Shooting in the back!

Malin perked up: "Why did you do that?"

So this brat tearfully revealed that during the great retreat in Słupsk, his regiment was chosen by Marshal Sergei, and in his bid to escape, he shot his trench mate dead and ran all the way back.

Malin extended a hand, this time Daniel drew his gun and handed it to Malin: "My lord, such scum is unworthy of being my friend."

Malin nodded, then handed the gun to the brat. Upon receiving it, the brat started laughing hysterically: "You fools! Believing such lies! Die, all of you! Long live the True God!"

Afterward, he pointed the gun—much to his surprise—at his own head and pulled the trigger.

Malin took out a cigarette case, offering a calming smoke to the Crown Prince.

"How did you know he was a Chaos spy?" Receiving the cigarette and taking a couple of deep drags, Daniel only realized this point afterward.

Malin chuckled: "I have special techniques."

He couldn’t very well tell these youngsters he could see the Chaos royal purple on this guy outright turning black at a glance.

Letting the Gendarmerie drag away the corpse to be burned, Malin looked toward the third person.

This young man wearing glasses, his face covered in mud and blood, showed a desire to die: "I am guilty, my lord. It was I who advised the Crown Prince for the army to confront the Chaos forces at Słupsk."

Malin smacked his lips, glancing at the utterly surprised Daniel, and then at the young man’s companion behind him, whose face was filled with grief, but Malin caught a glimpse of glee in his eyes.

"However, I heard it was your superior lord’s son who came up with this poor idea." With that, Malin extended his hand, pulling the gleeful gentleman over like a helpless chicken, clutching his neck precisely in Malin’s tiger grip.

"Gendarmerie, please escort this gentleman to the confinement room to rest for ten days, the charges being attempting to deceive both the Legendary Lord and the Marshal, compounded offenses."

This time the Gendarmerie dispatched two half-giants, who each grabbed one of this young man’s legs and dragged him away from the scene amidst his screams and reluctance.

Malin released his hand, then lifted the young man’s bowed head.

"Come, dear son of Duke Mondo, next, let’s count your sins together in front of everyone, shall we?"

As he said this, Malin’s face was full of anticipation.

Because what came next was Malin’s favorite part—the story-telling session.