Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 208: One hundred and fifty-four: End of Summer (2)

Chapter 208: One hundred and fifty-four: End of Summer (2)

"I feel like you’re becoming a bit of a workaholic, Malin. You’re still three months away from being thirteen,"

As fall returned to Carterburg, Faye finally emerged from her Mage Tower. With funding from Malin, she and Clovis completed several research projects that were somewhat difficult to articulate. The research was of a kind that the baldness-admiring deities would probably be furious about if they knew, while the color... that guy, on the other hand, would probably not be unhappy about it.

Having heard about Malin’s performance over the past half year, Faye was puzzled, "Are you working so hard because you want to lead a life of idle indulgence by the time you’re twenty?" After saying that, Faye smiled and accepted the embrace of her lover.

"No, I’m building my network and influence," Malin replied with a smile.

Throughout the past six months, Malin had been implementing his ideas—firstly, he never refused anyone who sought his aid. After all, there were no Spirits or different kind within Carterburg’s territory that he couldn’t subdue. Typically, those who sought Malin’s aid were Apprentices, facing all sorts of oddballs; for them, even Chaos warrior squads were considered beyond the ordinary.

Of course, the appearance of Chaos warrior squads made Malin realize a truth—the Tide of the Dead had begun its countdown. Through studying in the library, Malin learned that for a long period after a Tide of the Dead, the Crystal Barrier System of the world would be very stable. The Nameless Lord of Justice would strive to maintain it, allowing the world to recuperate. However, as time moved on, the corrosion of the Evil God would start to reappear, and the emergence of Chaos indicated the countdown to the next Tide of the Dead.

The Churches were well aware of this fact. In the past six months, the Church of the Goddess of Harvest had been desperately pushing for their Apprentices to advance, and the prices of Magic Potion materials had begun to rise. Malin donated all the materials he obtained to the Church.

Secondly, Malin charged the Noble Apprentices accordingly, while also selling potions made from the fruits of the Feio Tree. Although these were not as miraculous as the fruits from the World Tree itself, which could even revive the dead, they were effective enough for serious injuries.

Though afterwards the resistance to potions could skyrocket to explosive levels, perhaps rendering any Healing Potion ineffective for the individual for several months, the strength of this potion lay in its life-saving quality—as long as there was life, one could recover and get back out there after a few months; without life, there would be nothing. That’s why the ’Feio Fruit’ healing potions in Malin’s possession were always regarded by the Apprentices as powerful medicine—they simply didn’t believe these were just potions, as who had ever seen a potion that could instantly close a half-meter-long wound.

Thirdly, for the children from poor families, Malin simply didn’t take their money, he provided manpower to help instead, and afterwards would pick a material from the slain Spirits or different kind, ensuring that the victims had the priority to take one material.

It might seem like Malin was at a loss, but the advantage was that the others owed him a favor they couldn’t repay. Malin even organized some of these youngsters; they were the honorable sons of parents who had died in battle. As natives of Carterburg, they were raised by the Church, but Malin employed them for 20 gold a month. He didn’t ask them to do any heavy labor, just to gather the daily rumors they heard.

Being natives, these youngsters could obtain various pieces of information. Malin rewarded them handsomely for any valuable intelligence, such as last month’s tip-off that a group of strangers had checked into a hostel in the Eastern District. Malin and Jessica went to scope the place and discovered it was a team of tough men who had just robbed a bank carriage in the Central Administrative Province.

Considering the group was about a dozen strong, armed, and the exact number of Transcendents among them was uncertain, Malin did not engage himself but instead went to report to the authorities. The local police summoned reinforcements posthaste; both the Church and the military lent their support, and together they quickly surrounded the entire district for a two-hour shoot-out.

Of course, none of this concerned Malin any longer. With the six hundred gold crime report reward, Malin shared half with the informant boy, then split the rest with Jessica, giving one hundred fifty each.

This money might have been trivial, but it was essential to make the kids understand one thing—there was benefit in following Malin.

The word about this spread among the kids, and they worked even more diligently than before. Even the young girls responsible for the records worked very hard after dividing the hundred Mowish that Malin gave them.

"You’re quite bold to gather such a crowd," Faye said with furrowed brows upon hearing about Malin’s actions, "Have you discussed this with anyone?"

"With your father," Malin was no fool - he had discussed the matter with the King from the very beginning. As Malin was hiring the wards of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and had reported everything promptly, the King had no reason to stop Malin, especially after the bank robbers were caught, both recovering a significant amount of stolen money and deterring other would-be criminals—robbing a bank carriage is one thing, but having your head chopped off by the authorities afterward is quite another.

Once Faye confirmed that Malin had indeed spoken to her father about the matter, her expression was priceless. She reached out and playfully tugged at a tuft of Malin’s hair: "You really dared to tell him."

"What’s there to be afraid of? I’ve even talked to my teacher about it, and he’s planning to promote it across the Goddess of Harvest Churches in the various cities of the district. Given the current situation is getting worse, if we can gather intelligence on a cult through these little fellows, we’ll be able to exterminate them at the first opportunity."

As he was saying this, a youngster ran over. Malin recognized him; he was a child who had just started at the school this year, only four years old but with a potential of eight in energy shaping. As a first-year student, he now served as a go-between for the intelligence department and Malin, responsible for delivering an intelligence report once a day and earning a five-corner hardship fee from Malin, plus a bottle of Fio Fruit each month.

The five-corner hardship fee was pocket money, but the Fio Fruit was priceless among the apprentices – a true hard currency. This little guy’s parents had died in the previous battle at Pitzport, and Malin felt that the boy was worth this gesture.

"Mr. Malin! Butch the elder said there’s a weird preacher in the Western District." It wasn’t time for his report delivery, but the intelligence had clearly triggered the emergency preparedness that Malin had set up – strange preachers were one of the triggers, and Malin had to go and take a look himself.

If it was a friendly Rightful Gods’ Church holding an event, then there was nothing to worry about.

If it was some cultist organization, then it was time to happily report to authorities – if Malin had to personally deal with every little cultist that popped up, he would never have a day of peace in his life.

So the normal procedure was to obtain the intelligence, confirm the target, and then see what the opposition was made of.

"I’ll come with you to take a look."

"No, your ability to stand out is too high."

Malin could take another girl along and just say they were a couple of kids out for a walk during a half-day’s rest, but if he brought along this girl from the Mowish family, the likelihood was high that she would be recognized.

"Don’t worry about that. I’ve recently learned a new universal Spell Formation, a transformation spell," Faye said, and after casting the spell on herself, Malin saw the girl grow 20 centimeters taller, her originally pale skin turned dark, and her pointed ears became round: "How’s that?"

"We should break up, you’ve become ugly," Malin said, pursing his lips, then Faye, who was amused beyond measure, tugged at his ear: "Should I change you too?"

"Me? Hang on, let me show you my act," Malin said and took the girl into the Church’s changing room.

First, he untied the rope of his ponytail and combed his hair, then he applied some Lillim foundation and drew his eyeliner, afterwards he used a brush to ’change’ his facial features.

Next was the choice of lipstick. Malin used a natural color with a hint of moisture.

Finally, Malin had transformed into a completely different lad, long hair over his shoulders, lips red and teeth white, and after changing into a new set of clothes, he looked like a city boy with some spare change.

Faye watched the whole process in amazement and, in the end, seeing Malin in the mirror, she dispelled the transformation spell on herself: "You’ve got to do my makeup too."

"Huh?" Malin was curious: "Isn’t the transformation spell good enough?"

"It’s good, but I can’t stand the idea of you being prettier than me!" Faye said, with her hands on her hips, her words resolute.

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