Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 269 - 196: The Shadow of the Tree (Part Three)

Chapter 269: Chapter 196: The Shadow of the Tree (Part Three)

Perhaps to give Malin an opportunity to prove himself, both mentors independently chose to let him explain to the clergy of Silent Hill.

So, Malin recounted everything in great detail, from the moment the train stopped at the station to climbing up the city walls, while also sharing his observations on the bugs’ habits and his suspicions about the ancient tomb.

Emet Selch’s mentor’s brother nodded, "We fully understood the bugs’ habits on the first night, but you just arrived this morning and have already grasped their behavior, which is quite remarkable. Perhaps that is why you’ve been able to reach The Temple district. Carterburg’s old Hoffman is quite fortunate to have such an outstanding apprentice."

His words garnered unanimous agreement from the bishops, and a dwarven bishop stepped forward, "I’ve heard your story. Old Steelhand was lucky, and I, a follower of the Master Smith of the Dwarves, offer you my personal, albeit modest, respect in my own name."

Malin hurriedly responded, "That’s very kind of you, but my dealings with the dwarves have been mostly trade-related. I’m not sure I deserve such respect."

"No, my respect is derived from my old friend. When he died, it was you who returned his belongings to his child," the old dwarf said before turning his head towards the wall outside. "There’s indeed a problem with that ancient tomb. We’ve been here almost ten days, from the first day onwards. For several days, none of us dare sleep until we later confirmed that the bugs were nocturnal creatures. However, too many bugs linger in the direction of that tomb. Three days ago, I led a team to take a look, and the bugs repelled us."

After speaking, the dwarf showed his bandaged left hand, "We want to mount another armed reconnaissance, but we’re short-staffed. We need to protect The Temple district. Many seemingly uninfected civilians have also come in," the old dwarf sighed, "If I don’t allocate people to watch over these poor innocents, it might only take a few mutated bugs to kill them all before we can react."

"The prison is now overcrowded. We’ve housed the civilians by family units inside, but there are too many people." A tall elf added, nodding at Malin, "From the Church of Justice, of the Clover family, welcome to Silent Hill. I apologize for showing you the ugliest side of this city."

"It’s not your fault. Can you confirm what kind of bugs these are?" Meckel asked, "We have two trainloads of apprentices outside the city. If we can’t solve this problem tonight, we will have to bring them into The Temple district."

"I suggest bringing them in. While we still have time, with a few hundred apprentices, at least we can have more bandages, potions, and healing spells. It shouldn’t be a problem for the kids to do this." A portly middle-aged man suggested, smiling and making the hand gesture of the Holy Emblem of the Goddess of Mercy to Meckel, "Good afternoon, my fellow believer, and to the two from the Church of the Goddess of Harvest."

"Good afternoon, fellow believer," Meckel returned the gesture.

Emet Selch’s mentor and Malin also nodded with smiles.

"Gentlemen, our problem now is a shortage of hands. Some of the veterans among the civilians have joined the fight. Our firearms can effectively kill the bugs, but there are too many of them, and we are losing fighters every day. Today, we have less than a thousand combatants left. If the bugs assault like they did last night, then by tomorrow night, we might only be defending the Great Cathedral of the Church of Justice," a middle-aged man wearing the distinctive plate armor of the Church of the War God lamented. "The infection status among the civilians in the prison remains an issue; we can’t deal with the bugs hiding among them."

"I have an idea that might work," Malin looked at the elders, "As I said before, our Church of the Harvest Goddess’s Shock Grenades can interrupt or even sever the bugs’ control over humans."

"But we have at least two thousand civilians, how many Shock Grenades do you have, kid?" Emet Selch’s mentor’s brother asked.

"No, we can use spell formations. Sound spells, adjusting their frequency to match the working principle of Shock Grenades. As for flashes of light, using high-frequency light magic in a dark hall could have the same effect." Malin looked at the elders, "Now we can divide our efforts into three, you can vet the civilians, give my two mentors some people to bring all the apprentices into The Temple district, and I will go take a look at the ancient tomb."

"Too dangerous, child! You’re joking with your life!" the old dwarf exclaimed.

"I’m just one person, small and easily overlooked," Malin said, stepping back. In everyone’s line of sight, he began to blur and eventually disappeared into the background.

"Invisibility? I can feel the spell being cast but it’s definitely not an invisibility spell," the corpulent man of the Goddess of Mercy turned to his companions.

"I don’t think it’s invisibility either, nor stealth, because there’s no place for stealth under the bright sun," the tall elf clapped, "Suggestion Spell."

"Yes, I am proficient in fifth-circle spells, trained in sword dance, and my two World Tree Saplings let me rapidly climb onto rooftops and make a quick escape," Malin spoke and then reappeared before their eyes, "I’m just one person, Mr. Dwarf, but you, for all you know, could have a hundred or more people. Which do you think is the bigger target, yours or mine?"

"...You’ve convinced me. What about you?" The dwarf turned to his companions.

The bishops nodded one after another, then looked at the two mentors.

Meckel turned to look at Emet Selch’s mentor, who then looked at Malin, "Malin, you came to the Central Administrative Province with me. Hoffman agreed to your request, and I must tell you, if you die here, he will surely skin me and use my head as a chamber pot."

"Don’t worry, for the sake of your lovely hair, I will try my best to come back alive," Malin said with a smile, "Now, let’s split up and get to work. By the way, do you have any communication devices?"

"You didn’t mention it, and I almost forgot. Here, Gnome Technology." The gnome, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up. He tossed a stone to Malin, "It definitely won’t explode."

"Uh... How do I use it?" Malin glanced at the stone, feeling that it had nothing to do with technology.

But considering his life was at stake, Malin had to make sure he knew exactly how to activate the device.

"Infuse it with Spiritual Energy, then think of the message you want to convey in your mind. We’ll receive the message over here, and then we’ll repeat the operation, so that you can understand what we’re saying." The gnome said this with a face full of pride, "Mr. Malin, our God of Craftsmen warmly welcomes a pioneer of engineering and technology like yourself. Perhaps we’ll have much to discuss and enjoy a delightful conversation, forgetting those dwarves with their brains squeezed into a mush by their muscles."

"You’re the one who talks too much!" the dwarf cursed.

"I better go now." Feeling that if he didn’t leave soon, the gnome and the dwarf might start fighting, Malin could only offer a wry smile, then he nodded and signaled that he was leaving.

"Safe travels, child." The brother of the Mentor Aemet Selk smiled at Malin, making a Holy Emblem gesture over his chest.

Malin returned the gesture amid expectations, and then out of a child’s curiosity, he asked, "By the way, I still don’t know your name."

"Lahabrea." The old man replied with a smile.

Hey, so that’s really your name.

.........

Let me tell you, as Malin was lowered down the city wall in a basket, holding the map that was redrawn for him, he didn’t venture into the alleys, but followed the main road to the corner. Looking down at the insects below, Malin threw the World Tree Sapling, and the transformed Fio eventually caught on to the outcrop above. It then pulled its master up to the upper level streets.

That was quite convenient, wasn’t it.

With such pleasant thoughts in mind, Malin kicked aside a corpse, checked the cause of death, and discovered stab wounds from limb segments on the chest. Considering his equipment, he must have been a member of the assault team that followed the old dwarf into the ancient tomb. After the failed operation, this one didn’t escape alive and died here.

What a pity for the fellow.

With such regret and pity, Malin closed the man’s eyes. He also opened the quiver at his waist and took the three remaining bolts, placing them in his own quiver, and detached a hand crossbow from the other side of the waist to hang around his own.

After thinking it over, he took out two coins from his pocket and placed them over the man’s eyelids.

This was a small sign of respect that the dead in the Sydney Union were entitled to.

Standing up, Malin cautiously began to move forward. The bodies along the way were like beacons guiding him. After a while, he saw a segment of street that had been burned down.

This must have been what the Bishops had mentioned, the street set ablaze to stop the chasing insects. On this street lay a multitude of insects burned to death. Malin didn’t touch them but skirted around the bodies—burned insect carapaces would become very brittle, and Malin didn’t want to attract a swarm of insects by stepping on or touching anything.

Moving along the edge of the street and passing the burned area, the number of insects gradually increased, forcing Malin to be even more cautious.

He also witnessed a new species—different from the insects roughly resembling humans, this new species had fully transformed into an insectoid shape, with noticeable compound eyes and articulated limbs. This meant there was a further mutation from the insects Malin had seen before, and he didn’t even know if this would be their final form.

But... maybe this was the final mutation.

Because if they mutated further, Malin really couldn’t fathom what they might turn into.