Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 227: One hundred and sixty-nine: Night Talk (1)

Chapter 227: One hundred and sixty-nine: Night Talk (1)

"Mrs. Ollie, didn’t your young Apprentice come today?" On his way back to the dorms, Colin noticed the great Divine Master sitting in the corner of the hall’s rest area. Out of respect, he approached and offered the legendary figure a cup of hot water.

"She asked for a day off," replied Ollie as she took the cup, giving Colin a nod with a smile.

"Asked for a day off? How strange, I remembered Maya having an avid thirst for knowledge. She wants to become stronger, to help her brother."

"They’re out gathering information about that boy Gaiate today. As much as I’d like to stop them, I cannot halt two children’s desire to care for their own father, futile though such efforts might be." With those words, Ollie sighed, "Little guy, you should go on, let me have some peace alone."

"Alright then, I’ll be heading off. Mrs., see you tomorrow." Colin nodded, then left the hall.

As Ollie watched the youth depart, she pursed her lips—sometimes she wondered why humans and Orcs stood in opposition in the Ancient Era. It seems now that the ’monkeys’ are nothing more than pitiable lives, struggling to survive in this cruel world. What a curious epoch.

Her thoughts then turned to her young Apprentice, whose identity posed a problem. Her physical traits were too conspicuous. Ollie worried that when news of the girl becoming a Shaman reached The Great Forest Land, certain people...might come to regret it.

But what use is regret? The contract was signed in black and white. If that family dares to go back on their word, The Great Forest Land would not risk incurring the wrath of the God of Justice... No, it is not a risk, but an inevitable danger. If that family wishes to reclaim Maya, they must confront her brother. Despite being merely an Apprentice still uncertain of his path forward, nobody could deny his power—for he could enter the fissure where two worlds overlapped and rescue his sister, an impressive feat.

And in that world, he gained another World Tree Sapling.

This matter was now top secret. The Church of the God of Justice had confirmed the existence of a second World Tree Sapling, surely acquired from the fissure rather than bestowed anew by their High God. It was also confirmed that the God of Justice had once again granted the boy a Super Ability; Ollie did not know its effect, but the God of Justice was certainly not stingy.

If Maya’s family truly wished to retrieve her, they would have to face a Follower of the God of Justice, and he was the War God’s favorite child. The Evil God undoubtedly eagerly awaited the chance for this boy to step into darkness, whereas the Goddess of Harvest... As a Legendary figure like Ollie knew, the Goddess was in slumber, and the God of Justice’s consort was acting in her place. In other words, the War God was actually the boy’s least of trump cards.

Let alone Maya’s family, even the God of the Orcs would struggle against those two other-worldly goddesses with the Harvest powers.

Even if Maya’s family managed to confront all this, the human Churches would not stand by and watch them corner the boy to the brink. Should he really fall from grace, it is likely that the Evil God could gain his most favored Champion.

A Champion who understood this world and would certainly annihilate everything in it—just the thought alone was enough to send shivers down one’s spine.

And the human Churches would definitely not allow this to happen. They would use every method to stop that family, even if it meant tearing up the Treaty of Civilisation.

In any case, all the blame lay with the Orcs. Humans could even use this as an excuse to launch the seventeenth Holy War. Ollie had been in the human world for many years and knew this was no longer an era where the strongest species led the others. Firearms, cannons, all were steering the war onto new tracks, rendering old military concepts obsolete.

Besides, leaving all that aside, the mere intelligence that the boy had not only defeated Maya’s twisted existence in that world but had also gained his other self’s recognition was significant. Add to that the previously confirmed no-skin different kind who broke through dimensions, Carterburg’s Churches had foreseen the future of that world. With Carterburg’s destruction in the Tide of the Dead already confirmed, the deeply apprehensive Churches immediately began even harsher teachings.

In the face of impending disaster, these humans did not choose to flee shamefully but armed themselves as best as they could, hoping to survive the catastrophe.

Truly remarkable fellows.

Ollie had no faith that Maya’s family would succeed; their demands were doomed to fail. She would even pray to the God of the Orcs, requesting a blessing upon that family, imploring the High God to prevent their minds from being filled with foolish notions.

Because stupidity... always brings disaster.

............

"Master Malin, do you also enjoy reading newspapers?" asked Miss Lena, the head maid, pulling Malin’s attention away from the newspaper. He turned and glanced at the head maid, who was dusting with a small feather duster, "You also seem to very much enjoy cleaning, don’t you?"

"Because that is the duty of the head maid," she said with a smile.

"It’s my duty as well," Malin replied with a smile.

The head maid nodded with a smile and then, clutching her feather duster, left the hall, seemingly satisfied with having completed her work.

Malin continued to read the newspaper. The international news on the first page was rather uninspiring. The war in the North had many twists and turns, with Chaos and the allied forces battling in the Central Administrative Province of the former Empire. The flat terrain allowed both sides to maximize their forces but also subjected them to severe ordeals. The Sydney Union started recruiting again, and this time it was said that even the southern provinces were included in the recruitment efforts.

It seemed Chaos was far from being defeated, but there was still good news. The canned military luncheon meat produced by Malin’s family was well received by the troops at the front. Malin had improved the production process, smashing the meat and forming it into blocks with starch and spices. Although the soldiers found the taste a bit odd, the product really satisfied hunger. Their own tests showed that this food kept them fuller longer compared to the meals they prepared themselves. And honestly, on a battlefield, life was far more important than taste. Of course, what mattered even more was that the soldiers still received one medium-sized can of meat per week.

For the soldiers of the Sydney Union, being able to eat enough and eat well was a big deal.

And for the military leadership of the Sydney Union, Malin’s method allowed them to reduce costs while maintaining the same amount of canned meat, satisfying the military’s budget control without reducing the soldiers’ rations and keeping the soldiers fed, thus fulfilling the King’s concept of feeding his soldiers well.

A perfect loop. The military ordered five years’ worth of supply at once— their reasoning was simple, as Malin could articulate.

If the war couldn’t end within five years, the Sydney Union military could naturally increase the order; and if it did end, it would be simple to sell the canned goods to human kingdoms in need. The product already had a good reputation among the northern coalition forces, and with the advent of trains, newspapers, and telegraphs, the speed of information dissemination had greatly accelerated. Even in Carterburg, Malin was able to learn about rumors from the Eastern Kingdom that had happened just half a month ago.

Indeed, as long as humanity continued to struggle against Chaos, there would definitely be a demand for these canned goods.

Next was the second page, which covered domestic news within the Union. One piece of news caught Malin’s curiosity. It reported a recent addition to the list of criminal organizations in the northern provinces—an outfit that had robbed a train on a civilian line, boarding it in the middle of the night, halting at a pre-planned location, and then swarming aboard. The exact casualties among these bandits were not clear, but a team of railway guards, three gentlemen, and one seriously injured noble had died; all the valuables had been plundered. The only good news was that they did not harm any women or children. The authorities in the northern provinces must be having headaches over this, and the bounty posted was already hefty: alive, each was worth 100, dead, a uniform 50. In the past, Malin would ponder why such daring ruffians didn’t operate near Carterburg, but now... ha, he would let others earn that arduous money.

The third page featured an advertisement for Malin’s workshop. Speaking of the workshop, it was only after looking at the accounts that Malin realized that it was his most profitable venture; compared to that, the confectionery store was like child’s play, and the canning factory was barely more than a charitable operation (due to its high employee and production costs, it would definitely lose money without large orders). The workshop, with the aid of the Dwarven craftsmen, was completing at least one order for 2000 targeting devices each month, as well as various firearm barrel modification orders, bringing in a profit of at least 100,000 Mowish each month. And that’s without counting the income in Dwarven gold, which was tallied separately at a minimum of 10,000 Dwarven Gold Coins each month. Malin had to use these coins to expand production and purchase large quantities of rare resources from the Dwarves.

The Dwarves had started to consider Malin one of their own—he had provided them with many blueprints, taught them how to distill at a high degree, and even instructed them in the crafting of black-market firearms. According to several masters, if it weren’t for Malin’s growth spurt, the Dwarves might have taken the opportunity to declare him one of their own, followed by bestowing him with the title of a Prophet.

Meanwhile, the name Malin was becoming so familiar to the Dwarven craftsmen that they were considering granting him the status of a Follower. Additionally, the Dwarven army was now assessing the feasibility of placing canned food orders with Malin.

Malin, of course, was very touched, for the Dwarves’ notorious appetites were well-known; this could mean a significant amount of money.

As for the advertisement for the second phase of recruitment at the food processing factory on the fourth page, the second factory was expected to start production next month. What a wonderful era it was, with wildlife abundant in the wilds. Malin didn’t have to worry about the issues of farming in the short term—of course, the site selection for breeding farms had already commenced. Group breeding could improve both the turnover rate and speed of the livestock, which meant a lot for Malin, who was looking to expand production capacity and make a fortune. The game brought in by hunting was just the icing on the cake, for relying on hunting alone to supply the whole processing plant was nothing more than fanciful dreaming.

For the first time, Malin felt the concept of never having enough help when it’s most needed.

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