Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 207: One hundred and fifty-three: End of Summer (1)

Chapter 207: One hundred and fifty-three: End of Summer (1)

"Logan, did you fail another cousin?" On the first day of class, as soon as Logan, now a sophomore, walked through the door, he heard greetings from his classmates.

He nodded his head, responding somewhat helplessly, "That’s right, I failed another one."

Speaking of which, many in the Thirty Braves’ families had marriages of alliance, but Logan, who seemed to marry off relatives everywhere, was an anomaly. The upside was that his family barely had any enemies; the downside, Logan couldn’t remember how many relatives he had. It could be that the ones fighting out of jealousy were his own cousins or second cousins—or in extreme cases, perhaps even his uncles or nephews.

"By the way, where’s Malin? Did he skip a grade?" Looking around the classroom and not finding Malin, Logan asked with some confusion.

"No, he didn’t. He’s outside with Lillim. I said we should just have that little lamb deliver the message," someone said with a laugh.

Logan walked to the window, poked his head out, and saw Malin and Lillim in the garden.

Logan slapped a spell formation on himself to enhance his hearing, then realized that the two had created a zone of silence.

Meow meow, a four-ring spell formation is truly impressive.

......

Lillim pursed her lips, waiting for Malin to speak. Malin was moved that this girl would share with him the truth she knew, and at the same time... he took out the two copper buttons.

The button from his coat Malin had specifically swapped out, so when two seemingly identical buttons appeared, Lillim could no longer control her emotions. She began to sob, crying as she looked at Malin, "In another world, would I become something as hideous as that? What exactly... happened to that world?"

"...Don’t worry, that’s just another world, one we can’t observe. Lillim, don’t worry, I’ll protect you," Malin said as he sat down beside Lillim and patted her back.

"Mm, I know, but I wonder if you, Mr. Malin, still exist in that world. If there is also your presence there, then who would have defeated you, who killed our sisters, and turned me into such an ugly creature..." Lillim paused for a moment, then lifted her head to look at Malin, "I need to get stronger, Mr. Malin. I must understand what happened to myself in that world, and you’ll definitely help me unravel this mystery, right?"

"Mm, if we can become strong enough to observe that world, then we will surely solve this riddle." Although he said this, Malin knew that without any accidents, only when they became deities would he and Lillim have the chance to observe that world.

"We... should keep it from the others, okay?" Lillim pleaded as she looked at Malin.

"Why?" Malin asked, curious.

Telling these secrets will only cause the sisters more worry. You and I, keeping this secret, until we unravel it or one of us treads the path of failure." Lillim looked at Malin, "Is that okay?"

That last "Is that okay?" touched Malin’s heart. In that moment, the plea in the eyes of this little lamb overlapped with the spiritual body kneeling on the ground, enduring the scorching of the Holy Flame.

In the final moment, the spiritual body had no more wails or anger, only a soft muttering that echoed in Malin’s ears.

Lorrin... my love... we can finally be together again.

Lorrin... it must be the name I had in that other world.

Malin, with a sigh, eventually nodded, "Okay, this is our secret. Lillim, you have to promise too, not to give anything away. Otherwise, your sister Faye will notice something’s off about you, and she’s not easy to fool."

"No problem, Mr. Malin, thank you," the little lamb pouted at Malin, looking at him as a young cub beholds its master.

"No need to thank me, Lillim, we are now confidants," Malin said with a smile, patting Lillim’s head and then following her horns to the tips with his hand, "I am the Captain, you are my First."

The little lamb nodded shyly, feeling Malin’s touch and looking up at him, "Mr. Malin, do you like my horns?"

"Yes, they are very beautiful horns... I won’t let such beautiful horns be destroyed," Malin said with conviction as he gazed at the beautiful horns before him.

Indeed, such beautiful horns should not be desecrated, and their owner should certainly not become a Chaos-infected Spiritual Body.

"I believe in what Mr. Malin says," Lillim said, raising her head, her face filled with trustful joy.

Malin reached out and took Lillim’s hand, "Remember, Lillim, no matter what perils your fate may reveal in the future, always remember, I am rushing to you at full speed, wait for me."

..........

Had Malin taken the wrong medication?

In the past half-year, Logan often asked himself this question.

Firstly, Malin had once again lowered his own rate, bringing his assistant fee from 3500 down to 1750, and often didn’t even charge among friends.

It seemed he was amassing battle experience, accepting any kind of fight—from life-and-death struggles against Chaos warrior squads, to sweeping entire insectoid Spirits’ nests, Malin appeared to refuse no call to action, simply taking on any job that came his way.

Although Logan’s cut was reduced each time, the sheer volume ensured he had enough, with the busiest day seeing Malin eradicate an entire nest of Water Ghosts at the sewer exit before dawn; come daylight, he stormed a Spirits-infested residence, shattering everything that could be broken; by almost noon, he was in the northern forests clashing with a Chaos squad, beheading five Chaos combatants.

After a quick field ration for lunch, Malin took a new client into the dungeon, annihilating the Spider Mother along with her brood; at four in the afternoon, he caught a shape-shifter at the city gate, and by following the trail, wiped out an entire nest of shape-shifters; in the evening, he led a City Guard strike team into the slums, crushing a robbery gang that had just moved into Carterburg, resulting in an intense firefight where Malin led his men from the first floor to the third, killing nine and capturing three.

Finally, at midnight, he encountered a family of Vampires, where Malin immediately took out the patriarch, then used a wooden stick to kill the matriarch, and lastly sent the offspring packed off to Parol City, having heard there was an old man there who fancied such young Vampires... reportedly just lacking a live specimen, that’s all.

Logan made a thousand just from his cut for the day.

What are you up to, Malin? With the amount of your actual combat, let’s not even talk about Apprentice rank, you already have enough for step eight of the ladder.

And the most crucial bit was the direction Malin told Logan he was heading—giving up the advancement direction of an Apprentice Mage, turning toward the path of a battle Mage.

Doesn’t he know that battle Mages require the most talent... wait a minute, this guy never seemed to lack talent.

Carrying such a regret, Logan once again pushed open the door to the classroom.

"Logan, I heard you lost another cousin?" a classmate asked.

He nodded, answering listlessly, "Yes, I lost another one."