Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 257 - 190: The Journey of the Central Administrative Province (Part 3)

Chapter 257: Chapter 190: The Journey of the Central Administrative Province (Part 3)

Long ago, Malin heard a saying that life is like a journey, what matters is not the destination, but the scenery along the way.

Though that’s true, in this godforsaken world, the scenery along the way can turn into bitter memories at any moment. When the train passed through the Lodis Plains and arrived near Germain Town, close to the Central Administrative Province, Malin sitting in the carriage shook his head as he looked at the refugee tide.

Over the past year, the countries to the north have been anything but peaceful, with natural disasters and man-made calamities coming almost all at once. The Chaos Cult held a "party" there, with casualties numbering in the tens of thousands. Judging by the accents of these refugees, they’re all northerners.

"I’ve always felt that Carterburg was too peaceful," Logan said with emotion while looking at the crowd outside the window: "I’ve always wanted to leave Carterburg to experience the big cities, I don’t want to be a country bumpkin...," he said, laughing and sighing: "I’m sure if they knew what I’ve been thinking, these people fleeing from the northern metropolises would be fighting to trade places with me."

"Father won’t let the refugees into the Central Administrative Province, probably because he’s concerned that there might be seeds of Chaos amongst them," Faye said as she looked at a man walking along the railroad tracks with his whole family: "I don’t know how they made it all the way here, their homeland is a thousand miles away."

"For survival, people often do things that others can’t understand," Malin said as he looked at the spectrometer in front of him, observing traces of corruption from Chaos on many of the refugees.

Because of the high consumption of Spiritual Energy, Malin soon canceled the Spell Formation, and by that time a group of mounted police had come from a distance, beginning to maintain order on their horses.

To Malin, it seemed that Carterburg might provide a haven for them, as long as they were willing to work hard— the second phase processing plant had taken in many refugees, who cherished their work that allowed them to feed their families, causing Malin to revise his opinion of the northerners.

In past conversations, everyone said that the northerners, especially those from foreign lands, were very stubborn and inflexible. But now it appeared that for the sake of survival, people were always willing to change.

The education Malin received led him to understand that people always need to labor to obtain the necessities of life; Malin wouldn’t treat workers as mere numbers or view work as just profit like those he despised, but those who do not work will not eat, and the lazy are doomed to die anywhere.

"Locust plagues, snow disasters, invasions by Chaos, the entire north clearly would become very tough to survive, but then again, our factory received a large number of orders again. The armies of the northern nations need food that can be stored for a long time. Should we raise the price?" Lillim turned and looked at Malin.

"Let’s just do a good deed; I’m not the type of hungry ghost who’d smash a bone just for a bit of marrow," Malin disagreed: "But I trust my mentor will make the right choice, let him and Colin handle it, I believe he won’t lead the entire group to hell."

This time Malin was resolved to go to the Central Administrative Province for fun, so it was best not to talk too much about work.

After the train refilled its water and coal, and provided some bread and fresh meat to the dining car and Malin’s side, it continued on its way.

When Malin left, he gave the local Bishop of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest, who had arrived at the station, a cheque for ten thousand, asking him to recruit some of the refugees willing to work in Carterburg. For a group where you could sell a child for a dollar, getting a physical job in the south with a monthly wage of ten dollars must be like a dream.

The Bishop expressed his respect for Malin’s generosity, and after shaking hands with him, Malin said goodbye.

On his way out, Malin saw a few children sitting by the roadside with a small sign in front of them, clearly pricing each other.

Malin stopped in his tracks, looked at them, and finally walked away.

He could save these few children, but there were hundreds like them along the way, and even if he filled the entire train, there wouldn’t be enough space to accommodate them.

And there were more than just these few hundred children in this town; there were many more hungry mouths to feed. All Malin could do was to stop the Bishop again, and then handed over another cheque for twenty thousand.

After asking him to take good care of these children, Malin finally boarded the already starting train.

"I think we should charge this money to the city hall’s account," Faye said with a smile as she watched Malin step onto the train car.

"You take care of that," Malin nodded, and then took his seat.

"Sometimes I really wonder, your kindness is visible to the naked eye, but you seem dissatisfied with what you’ve done, Malin, you’re a mortal, not one of those legendary great benefactors," Jessica said, looking at the novel in her hands and lifting her foot slightly to kick the tip of Malin’s shoe: "What’s on your mind, Malin?"

"I’m just looking at those children, feeling sorry for them," Malin didn’t avoid the topic, knowing Jessica wasn’t saying his good deeds were wrong, but rather the werewolf girl just instinctively felt, it wasn’t for her Malin to worry about: "I feel that no matter how hard I try, I can never feed all the children in the world."

"You’re already doing great. In many places, children aren’t even treated as human, and in the Eastern Administrative Province, they even allow twelve-year-olds to do adult work for half pay, claiming that they’re treating them as people," Faye said, with a sigh: "Malin, sometimes I really doubt where all these ideas of yours come from."

Malin didn’t answer— this was exactly the reason he was eager to go out into the world; because even though Carterburg wasn’t doing enough in many respects, in the mouths of the refugees, the only difference between here and heaven was probably just eternal life.

That made Malin want to see the world for himself, to see how different it was from hell.

"Malin," said Faye, sitting beside him.

"From my dreams," Malin faced the girl’s curiosity and in the end, could only make up an answer.

"You’re lying," Faye accused Malin directly, frowning and then shaking her head: "My heart tells me, you’re not lying."

"Of course, I’m not lying, this is a story I just made up," Malin said with a smile, reaching out to pinch Faye’s cheek, and then got bitten by her.

Malin wasn’t angry; after being bitten by the girl, he just reached out and rubbed her head.

"I know, you said you were starving when Gaiate found you," Faye said to Malin.

"Yeah, I was starving. I gobbled up two of those big, dark loaves of bread in one go, and it only filled me up a quarter of the way," Malin recalled his past with an embarrassed chuckle.

Even today, Malin cherished that day as the one he held most dear; on that day, he’d gained a father in name and a sister who transcended blood. All along, Malin had no family. The orphanage he grew up in had been demolished, and the girl he’d grown up with had died. Everyone who had lived in the institution had scattered.

For Malin, home, for a very long time, was just the sixty square meters where he lived.

It wasn’t until that day that home started to feel complete. So, when he realized his own strength far exceeded his past, he was eager to prove he truly could provide a better life for children in situations not unlike his own...

At the very least... to ensure they could have enough to eat.

"We will all support you," Faye said to Malin. "I was born into the Mowish family. To others, that would seem like a very happy life. But who would have thought that I was merely an item in the eyes of those so-called Nobles... Up to this day, I despise that home in the Central Administrative Province. My childhood was in Parol City. When I grew up a bit, I came to Carterburg. By the grace of the gods, my dream came true, and I met you. So if you want to help those poor children, I will help you too."

"Haven’t you always been helping me?" Malin said with a smile.

"We just felt we needed to remind you, lest you forget," Faye said with a huff, and at the same time, the girl suddenly pricked up her ears: "What’s that sound?"

"What sound?" Malin perked up his ears but could only hear the continuous rumble of the wagon wheels.

Lillim leaned in for a while, listening, then shook her head: "I don’t hear anything, just the sound of the wheels."

"I didn’t hear anything," Jessica said as she surveyed the surroundings and then continued to look at the book in her hands.

Malin glanced at her. "Jessica."

"What? Do you suspect that sound was made by me? How could that be! I didn’t hear anything!" the werewolf girl said with wide eyes.

Malin pointed at the book in her hand: "I meant to say that you’re holding your book upside down."

The werewolf girl frantically flipped her book right side up.

Malin moved next to the werewolf girl, lifted her out of her seat.

Faye lifted the seat cushion to see three little ones wolfing down food in the compartment below.

The atmosphere turned incredibly tense, as Lillim looked at Jessica as if seeing a trafficker.

Clovis did some mental calculations: "If we go by the Underground Guild’s rates, three kids like these wouldn’t fetch a high price."

"Eh, why do you say that?" Lillim showed some curiosity.

"They’re too skinny. If I were the boss, I wouldn’t spend half the money to make them do an adult’s job, because they’d soon die, and I’d be at a total loss," Clovis explained while noticing one of the little ones suddenly burp. "He’s choking."

Malin set the werewolf girl aside and picked up the little one, patting his back before giving him a few sips of water.

"You were just saying that Malin was too kind," Faye said to Jessica with a serious expression. "How can you be so two-faced? Where did these three children come from! Is their mother looking for them?"

"Yes, I bought them!" The werewolf girl scratched her head, then pulled out a proof of purchase from her pocket. "Look, this is the certificate from there. I just thought they were so pitiful. I was planning to give them something to eat and send them to the orphanage once we returned to Carterburg."

"We’re going to the Central Administrative Province, not back to Carterburg." Faye turned to Malin. "You decide what to do about this, Mr. Malin. This big-tailed wolf who says one thing and means another needs to learn a lesson."

"...Then let her take care of these three children." Malin decided on this punishment.

"You won’t drive us away?" one of the children who had eaten enough asked as he looked up at Malin.

"Yes, even though I’d really like for you to go back to your parents, the train has already left town, and you are now the possessions of your sister Jessica. So... we’ve decided not to turn you away. Instead, she will take care of you until you can take care of yourselves," Malin told the three children.

After speaking, Malin turned to Jessica. "Do you think that’s fair?"

"Thank you," the werewolf girl said with a grateful face.

"Don’t thank me just yet. Remember, if you starve them, I will kick you out of the house. Got it?" Malin finished. As for the future of these three children, Malin would also keep an eye on Jessica; no matter how she acted, he would ensure that these three children received enough care.