Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 396: Section 263: Facing Directly (Part 1)

Chapter 396: Section 263: Facing Directly (Part 1)

"I thought my sister’s strike would have killed her." Malin returned to the mentor’s seat, looking at everyone present. "I miscalculated the opponent somewhat."

"You mean to say he’s not completely rotten yet, right?" Mentor Aime Tserk had been responsible for dragging the young mentor back and now was exhausted. Hearing Malin’s words, he immediately perked up.

"Right, the World Tree Sapling doesn’t kill targets that aren’t from the evil faction. My sister didn’t aim the Elemental Arrow at his head, but no matter what, the one that hit his chest—Elemental Arrow should have penetrated his shield. Yet he didn’t die. So I think that there’s still room for things to turn around, which is why I want to confirm it."

"Mr. Malin, you better not go over there. It’s too dangerous. We’ve only just managed to sit down," said the head mentor’s wife, looking worried, as she was the mascot.

"No worries, the lady over there now understands the situation better. I’ll go over once." After saying this, Malin walked toward the Church of the War God’s mentor seat.

The young mentors looked like they were about to explode as Malin approached, but the lady chastised them and then looked at Malin: "We were the ones who were wrong this time. I will punish the child with the severest means, even if he is Lord Mendel’s protege. I won’t let him off easily. A child that makes a mistake once deserves forgiveness, but if he keeps making mistakes over and over, then we must educate him properly."

"I understand. I’m just very curious. Madam, I asked my sister, and she said she shot him in the chest just with the idea of leaving a whole corpse for the boy. But she doesn’t understand why he didn’t die."

At this point, Fio emerged from Malin’s wrist, becoming a fairy and sitting on his shoulder.

"The longbow your sister used today gave me a very warm feeling; it turned out to be a World Tree Sapling... So, this child’s actions today, in the end, didn’t cross the final line, right?"

"That’s right. Whether the World Tree Sapling’s target is an old man or a child, it has only one standard for killing—racial alignment." After saying this, Malin turned his head to look at the old man behind him: "Who are you?"

"Just an ordinary old man from the Church of Justice," the old man looked exceedingly aged, more like a Thanan: "I wanted to act as a witness between the Church of the War God and Mr. Malin."

"It’s Master Liú, welcome," the lady from the Church of the War God stood up.

"It’s nothing. I watched the child’s fight. When he was on the verge of defeat, he stood out. Though it wasn’t a reversal, at the end of the day, he did it for the Church. Maybe that’s why the World Tree Sapling only injured and didn’t kill him."

"Now I am even more curious. I would like to see this child. May I?" Malin looked at the lady and asked.

The latter nodded. "Then better make it quick. I think the Punishment Department has already started their work."

After seeing the boy, Malin understood what the so-called Punishment Department’s work entailed—the Church of the War God’s people revived him using Divine Arts, only to start whipping him with salt-soaked whips.

By the time Malin arrived, the boy had received eleven lashes, and there wasn’t an uninjured spot on his back.

Seeing this scene, Malin’s anger had already diminished by more than half—this kind of beating, the kid couldn’t withstand twenty lashes, he would have died, and that’s because he had talent. It seemed he had taken the Church of the War God’s special native profession: Magic Warrior.

It sounds incredibly cool, but in actuality, it’s just a combat mage. The Mage Tower and the Church of the War God have the same operations as the Japanese Navy and Army regarding this profession—Magic Warrior and combat mage... they are actually just the same native profession.

When Malin first heard this ancient stale news, he was extremely shattered on the inside. You two, one is the mage profession guild, and the other is the Church of the War God, doing things far from your original intentions, and yet you manage to pull out such a melodramatic story.

But now Malin couldn’t concern himself with who was the Navy and who was the Army. He signaled the punisher to stop.

The punisher looked Malin over: "The guy from the Church of the Harvest Goddess shouldn’t think about hitting our people. Internal punishments of the Church aren’t your place to interfere with."

So Malin slapped him against the wall with a Psychic Palm and went over to the boy: "Maiseer, are you still conscious?"

What came back was a spit from the boy—not landing on Malin’s face, but at his own feet. "From the Church of the Harvest Goddess, huh... even if I have to be beaten to death by the Punishment Department, I don’t need your fake concern!"

"You think I don’t want you to die? Today when I gave the World Tree Sapling to my sister, I had already decided that if you made the same mistake again, I would have my sister kill you."

"Haha, then she must have fallen in love with me and didn’t want me to die."

Malin tilted his head—wait a minute, what is this kid thinking? My sister falling for him?

Forget it, adults shouldn’t lower themselves to a child’s level.

Thinking this, Malin cast an enhanced perception on the boy.

The next second, a changed scream resonated within the room as the guy from the punishment division, watching Malin’s approach, managed to break free from the grip of the Psychic Palm.

In the next moment, Malin slapped the charging figure back against the wall.

Then he returned to face the boy, "My sister has a brother like me, do you really think she’d fall for a piece of trash like you? Maybe you think too highly of yourself." Having said that, Malin patted the guy’s face.

The latter huffed, and after Malin dissolved the Spell Formation, the kid also learned the value of silence being golden.

"My sister aimed at you with the intent to kill, after you did the same last time, she swore, she would never let her comrades die by your hands." Malin paced over to a small chair and sat down, "Do you know, your actions today weren’t judged by the World Tree Sapling as malicious murder. Can you tell me why you did what you did then?"

The boy was silent for a long moment, "I wanted to win, I didn’t want to disappoint Sir Mendel, I had to lead everyone to the final battle."

"I hear the honesty in this child’s heart, he hasn’t lied, Malin," said Master Liu.

Malin smiled faintly at the words, "I know, I can see that, he indeed hasn’t lied. But his actions were too dangerous; it’s not shameful to face defeat openly on the battlefield, but you, for the sake of victory, you’re willing to take others’ lives, causing their families to endure the pain of loss... Maiseer, I am very disappointed in you, and I believe Sir Mendel thinks the same."

"Impossible! Sir, sir has always told me, as a member of the Church of the War God! If you can’t face victory, then you must face death!" The youngster roared loudly, then perhaps because the shouting hurt his lungs, he coughed a few times.

Then he bowed his head and began to cry, "I, I haven’t done anything wrong, I was just pursuing victory!"

"Madam, could I borrow him for a day?" Malin turned to look at the lady who had come along. She nodded. "Yes, but I handed him over to you alive, you should at least return him to me intact..." she paused, then added, "At least relatively intact, okay?"

"No problem, I assure you he won’t lose a finger," Malin said with a smile, then looked at Master Liu, "Master, could you open a portal to the northern battlefield for me?"

"No problem, but taking him with you... are you sure?" The elder was somewhat worried.

"No problem, if I take him there, I will bring him back in one piece, whether he’s alive or not is no longer my concern." Malin said this with a joyful smile on his face. When Master Liu opened the door for him, Malin gave Maiseer a moderate healing smack, then dragged him through the portal.

On the other side of the portal was the rear of the northern defense line. Just as they emerged, there happened to be a middle-aged commissar dressed man passing by with a troop of soldiers near Malin and Maiseer. Seeing the two uninvited kids, his first reaction was to let out a curse regrading Sydneyans enjoying both refinement and vulgarity, "Damn this Goddess of Fate meddling again, where did you two kids come from."

Malin blinked, realizing he knew the man in front of him, "The chief commissar of the Seventeenth Infantry Division? Mr. Virit?"

"Ah, I am, but you are..." the man looked at Malin, "I... who are you to Mr. Malin?"

After giving the youngster beside him an elbow nudge, Malin pointed to himself with a smile, "I’m Malin, during a recent period of heightened bloodline activity."

"Wow, unbelievable, Mr. Malin," said the man after confirming the identity badge on Malin, saluting him at once, "What brings you here today with such a...," he pointed at Maiseer, seemingly puzzled at seeing a half-naked boy clutching his ribs and shivering in the cold wind.

"I want to show him what a true battlefield is. Does your division have any current missions?" Malin asked the middle-aged man.

Just then, Maiseer’s so-called answer instinctively made Malin feel nauseous.

Such a brat who doesn’t know right from wrong deserves to witness a real battlefield and see what the people who truly seek victory commit and confront.

"Just in time, our division will be setting off to reinforce allies on the northern defenses with two divisions from Engma Free Region, in an hour. Lately, those guys seem to have gone mad. I must admit, Chaos offspring are like weeds in a field, ever-persistent and impossible to eradicate," said commissar Virit with a fitting description.

"That’s perfect, he and I will move with your front-line combat units. I want him to understand the difference between a child’s game of house and a real battlefield battle," having finished speaking, Malin turned his head to look at the boy, "Do you hear me, Maiseer?"

"I’m not afraid of Chaos! Ever since becoming a Magic Warrior, I’ve sworn to eradicate all Chaos from this world—I swear it! Revenge for my parents, every neighbor I know, and everyone killed by Chaos! I make this vow and I will fulfill it!"

At this moment, Malin heard the bravest declaration from the youngster.

"Mr. Virit, give him a set of decent equipment, I will take him to face the battlefield."

Having said that, Malin turned and gave Maiseer’s head a tap, "Remember what you said today and don’t wet your pants."

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