Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 193 - 144th Section: Winter Night (4)

Chapter 193: 144th Section: Winter Night (4)

Having settled the business, it was time for some fun. Shelton Brice generously invited everyone to the Brice family forest in the north for a hunt.

One of the ancestors of the House of Brice was the master of this vast forest. Later, the Brice family sold half of the southern forest as a development area for Carterburg, and leased the remaining northern forest to the Carterburg city hall for timber procurement. This brought in a handsome annual income. Most importantly, members of the Brice family had the right to hunt in this forest.

At any time.

As a family that loved hunting, the Brice family specifically reduced the rent by ten percent to retain this privilege.

In an era where land ownership was private, it was natural for a great family like the Brice to possess some harmless privileges. The royalty understood the Brice’s actions, as the estate was hard-won by the first Brice Duke with his family’s lives; the Church didn’t mind the Brice’s actions, for they were devout worshippers of the War God, offering Chaos sacrifices to the Deity every year.

The spring in Carterburg was as cold as winter, which troubled Malin somewhat. It wasn’t that he felt cold, as Frost Giants’ resistance to cold was so high that Malin could ignore temperatures down to negative 20 degrees, but having lived so long, freezing like a dog every year in the South was still enough to make Malin detest winter, not to mention knee-deep snow.

For Shelton, the snow was too shallow.

But for Malin, the snow was already impeding his movements.

Soon, Malin gave up on hunting and sat on a sunny platform with the girls, huddling together to enjoy the sunshine.

Meanwhile, Logan and Leonidas followed Shelton into the woods. Half an hour later, they emerged carrying a bear.

"Wait a second, isn’t it snowing? Why hasn’t this bear hibernated?" Malin glanced at Faye.

Faye spread her small hands: "It’s already April here. If the bear doesn’t leave its den to find food, it would starve to death."

And indeed, that bear looked very thin. Shelton did indeed deserve to be a giant; he lifted the bear with one hand, placed it on the hunting rack, then turned to look at Malin, "Hunting in the winter is really not a good idea after all. I’m sorry I couldn’t let you enjoy the thrill of the hunt. How about this, next time I’ll take you to the plains in the south of Pamir. It’s warmer and prettier there, without so many trees, and there are countless deer. You could try using a bow and arrow, Malin."

"I will," Malin nodded with a smile.

"That’s wonderful," Faye raised her hand and beckoned, "Sir Shelton, I will hold you to your promise, and don’t keep Mr. Malin and us waiting too long."

"Rest assured, Your Highness. We’ll head over there once our official business is done. How does that sound? I also have a small estate there; we could stay for a week." After dealing with everything at the hunting ground, the party returned to the stables. Malin and the others climbed into the carriage, while Logan and Leonidas mounted Logan’s pack horses, and Shelton mounted his personal steed—the Brice Dragon Blood Horse.

This breed was one of the very few giant horses that could carry a giant and was the Brice family’s exclusive warhorse. This giant family had been breeding warhorses since ancient times. In the Middle Ages, the Brice family’s heavy cavalry had always been one of the most important forces in the Sydney Union Kingdom. In that era without steam trains, rifled guns, or cannons, the Brice heavy cavalry possessed the power to decide the outcome of a battle.

In modern times, the Brice warhorses were more often used as a means of transport by the Brice family.

"To be honest, I really want a Demon Crystal motorcycle, but the ones suitable for my size are too expensive. Even I cannot justify investing several years of income into it." Shelton, riding his horse beside the carriage, demonstrated the qualities of a chatterbox. Even though Malin thought of him more as a comic partner, he nevertheless had a very good impression of the young man. And his sister Sara... Regardless, Malin remembered her story with her lover. She was a very interesting girl, perhaps a bit ill-tempered, but not bad at heart. Otherwise, her teammates would not have followed her loyally unto death.

No matter what, if someone wanted to escape, it was certainly possible to get one or two people out.

"Magitech motorbikes are too expensive and very difficult to maintain. If you can’t fix it yourself, you need at least to prepare an engineering expert for it, which is even harder to find than a stable boy," Leonif sighed.

"Yeah, I just thought about it, those things really burn through money." Riding on a horse, Logan looked at Malin, "Malin, you know engineering, right? Got any thoughts about buying one of those vehicles?"

"No, after all, I have outgrown the age of playing with toy cars," Malin said with a laugh, leaving the three fellows breathless with laughter.

After the laughter, Shelton looked at Malin, "Malin, you’re much more interesting than I imagined. I believe you’ll grow taller. After all, you’re a Frost Giant, far stronger than a Southerner like me."

"Thank you for your kind words." After speaking, Malin turned his head towards the forest on the other side, where he saw a very tall and strong deer with very beautiful antlers, "A deer, such a big one."

At that, the girls also stuck their heads out to look.

"What a beautiful deer," Faye said, her eyes wide, "I can feel its strength."

"It’s a powerful spirit!" exclaimed Shelton, his eyes round, "We must be careful!"

"Are our rifles any good against it?" Leonif seemed to have realized he’d once again gone from spectator to actor.

Malin, however, blew a whistle, and a fruit grew on the small branch coiled around his arm, "Let it come over, I don’t sense any malice."

The stag also walked over slowly. It came up to Malin, sniffed his face, licked it, and then ate the fruit in Malin’s hand.

It was then Maya’s fur bristled, and she looked across the empty wilderness, "Who is out there!"

The leopard girl’s shout drew the attention of Malin and the others to that area.

The stag trotted over, circled halfway in the clearing, and finally stopped. A little leopard girl, who looked like a wild woman, appeared before everyone, patting the stag beside her, "I come from The Great Forest Land, Ollie, the Divine Master of the Goddess of Nature."

With that, she turned to Malin, "Malin, the new master of Blood Roar, the Follower of the Lord of Justice, I come at your summons."

"Us?" Malin was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized, "You’ve come for my sister, haven’t you?"

"Of course, Malin. But besides your sister, you too are now a subject I must observe. Blood Roar has acknowledged you as its new master, and you, you don’t seem like an Orc." The Divine Master named Ollie laughed, "Of course, don’t think I’m an Orc supremacist. I’m just curious why Blood Roar chose you as its new master, after all, you don’t look very strong."

Malin smiled, thinking to himself that she couldn’t know whether he was strong or not without trying.