Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 409: Section 272: Storm (Part 1)

Chapter 409: Section 272: Storm (Part 1)

"Malin! I have a big plan!"

Before going to the Church of Justice, Malin first visited his own Church’s site. As soon as he entered the gate, he saw Logan, who also happened to be looking at the gate. Seeing Malin, Logan opened with "big plan," which made Malin curious, "Tell me, what’s the job this time?"

"It’s not your job, it’s the personal contest’s betting pool. I’ve selected a batch of potential contestants, planning to make long-term bets. As long as one of them becomes the champion, I’ll be able to make a tidy profit, principal and interest included." Logan appeared wholly confident, so much so that his face was brimming with pride.

Malin glanced at Faye beside him, who shook her head, indicating her disinterest in this big plan, but considering Malin and Logan’s relationship, it was clear she didn’t mind listening further.

"You have three minutes, Logan," Malin nodded, signaling his old friend to continue his pitch.

Logan immediately pulled out a list: "Here are the underclassmen and upperclassmen I’ve selected; there aren’t any noteworthy guys in the middle grades. For the underclassmen, I’m planning to stick with Maya."

"Maya? Wait, I remember she’s a Shaman," hearing his sister’s name, Malin was curious. As a Shaman, how did she qualify for the individual contest?

Logan once again took on the role of the conscientious young Historian: "The competition committee agreed, and your sister is also willing to believe in the Goddess of Harvest."

"Has she decided on her faith?" Truth be told, Malin had hoped his sister would follow the Orc beliefs of The Great Forest Land, as that was her root, but since Maya was willing to believe in the Goddess of Harvest, he wouldn’t object.

"Yes, speaking of which, the upperclassmen are quite restless. Lately, Maya has been quite popular among them," Logan said this.

Malin wasn’t worried: "No problem, when I get back, I’ll file a report with old Hoffman and for the next year, I’ll spar with the upperclassmen every day."

His sister was both cute and fluffy, so it was natural for the upperclassmen boys to be a little impulsive, but how to cool them down was a problem for him, as her brother, to solve.

A single day isn’t enough, a month isn’t enough, even a whole year. Malin was confident, and he hoped everyone would have perseverance as well.

"Damn, I’ll mourn for them in advance. By the way, are you interested in betting with me?"

"Sure, a thousand bucks," Malin pulled out his checkbook, ready to write an amount, but Logan stopped him: "Buddy, trust me just this once. The thousand bucks can come out of your next commission." After saying that, the young man immediately turned and raised both hands to the kids behind him: "See that! Malin believes in me too! Join my big plan quickly!"

And then those kids all raised their glasses of Mowish.

Malin turned his head and smiled at Faye who shook her head: "I think you’re just about to lose face because of him. This guy is actually using your reputation for his own ends."

"In life, you have to deal with all sorts of surprises. I think Logan is still trustworthy. If he loses, I’ll just do some extra missions for him." Malin actually thought Logan was gutsy, but he also hoped Logan could make it... If so, delegating some matters to Logan in the future would certainly make things easier for himself.

After all, getting hands-on with every little thing would age one quickly.

Afterward, Malin checked with the Bishop on duty that there was no new news from Carterburg, and also received new intel – that Margaret and Colin had returned to Carterburg two days before, and their wedding had been affirmed by the royal family.

"I’ve said it, they actually match well." Malin said to Faye.

"Of course, what about us?" Faye asked with a smile.

To this, of course, Malin wouldn’t mess up an open-book question: "We are a match made in heaven, dear." Standing at the gate, Malin pushed the door open.

"Didn’t you say that ’match made in heaven’ isn’t supposed to be used the way you just did?" Faye asked as she stepped through the gate.

"’Match made in heaven’ is disrespectful when used to judge unfamiliar outsiders. But when I use it to describe us, it’s different." Stepping out of the gate, Malin came to the carriage and opened the door for Faye.

"So, you mean it’s okay to use self-deprecating humor, right?" Faye got into the carriage and then reached out her hand.

Malin took the lady’s hand and slipped into the carriage after her: "Yes, similar to how we describe your sister and Colin; in a nutshell, between us..."

"Our love is stronger than gold." Faye smiled, awaiting Malin’s reply.

Malin nodded and lifted her hand to kiss the back of it tenderly.

.........

Arriving at the Church of Justice, Malin stepped out of the carriage at the entrance and had barely announced himself when the Paladin at the door smiled and opened the side door of the Holy Hall for him and her: "Welcome to the Lord of Justice’s sanctuary, Sir Malin, Lady Faye."

Malin turned his head to find Faye smiling very happily; the term ’lady’ had hit her sweet spot.

"How did you recognize me, given that my appearance has changed somewhat from before?"

"But the light of your soul has not changed, so please come in," the man smiled and provided the answer to Malin.

Impressive, Malin thought, and then he strode in first, pulling out a piece of Mowish paper money and stuffing it into the donation box, then bowing his head with the old man’s smile and nod: "Your Excellency, we’re here."

"Welcome to the Hall of the Lord of Justice, Malin, we’ve fixed your item for you." The old man handed over the mechanical device, resembling a wristwatch, to Malin: "We’ve come across some of these devices before, most of which are damaged and not worth repairing. But this time you’re in luck; its projection feature is still useful, though it can only display a string of numbers. We don’t know what it’s for, but it can work, after a fashion."

"Thank you." Malin took the mechanical device, looking at the numbers displayed on the LED screen full of cracks, marveling inwardly at the functionality of this mechanical creation—an electronic watch.

It seems that the Underground City must have been an underground shopping mall or something similar before the great destruction. These devices probably weren’t made with durable materials, hence most of them being damaged, and this one... Never mind, Malin gave it to Bippo as a collar.

The latter found it strange, but considering it was given to him by Malin, Bippo happily accepted it.

"By the way, Malin, I heard that a member of your Church, Mason Wyman, has been killed in battle?" The Bishop suddenly asked as Malin was about to take his leave.

Malin, puzzled, nodded nonetheless: "Yes, but that said, few people know of it. How did you come to know?"

"This child had several exchanges with a squad of Paladins from our Church of Justice. In a letter we received yesterday, they mentioned this unfortunate incident. Truly a sad tale."

The Bishop said it casually, but Malin felt a chill—during all his years in this world, this was the first time he had seen a Church take such an interest in the life and death of an ordinary member of another Church.

"Yes, it’s very sad." After pondering, Malin decided not to probe for secrets about his own Church from the mouth of another—after all, loyalty is something that must be maintained, and as a devout follower of the Goddess of Harvest, he would rather not hear secrets of his own Church from someone of another.

There is a saying that goes—loyalty that is not absolute is absolutely not loyalty.

"Yes, it’s very sad, Lord Malin. Farewell on your journey," said the old man, who seemed to have no intention of turning into a venerable, elderly Historian, as he escorted Malin out of the Church of Justice.

As he rode away in the carriage, leaving the Holy Hall of the Church, Faye furrowed her brows: "Your Excellency, why did you speak thus?"

"Indeed..." Malin instinctively felt that something was amiss: "I hope this won’t affect Margaret and Colin."

"I don’t think it will affect them, but perhaps Lord Hoffman’s plans may need some adjustment," Faye spoke: "Because I heard that my father and mother made certain agreements with Lord Hoffman."

"I hope so," Malin replied, somewhat distracted—Lord Hoffman had taken him as an Apprentice, but unlike Colin and Mason, the old man didn’t seem to want to share his secrets with Malin.

Now, with one less person privy to the secret, Malin instinctively sensed a problem—what kind of secret is there that needs to be kept so hidden from others?

Could it be that this old man is some kind of a vessel for a sealed entity?

Upon reflection, Malin dismissed the possibility; in this day and age, what could possibly require someone to seal with their own body as the price?

A Chaos... Malin thought, anyone who would do such would likely be long dead. The idea of sealing Chaos within one’s body was simply unthinkable.

As for anything else... Malin couldn’t think of anything.

At this moment, Malin began to appreciate the benefits of divination; had he had such abilities, he might already have coaxed out all of Lord Hoffman’s secrets by now.

"Malin, do you think this will have any impact?" Faye asked in Malin’s ear.

"I’m not certain; this matter confounds me," Malin shook his head, speaking truthfully.

The atmosphere in the carriage grew tense. To alleviate the mood, Malin stretched out his hand and patted the back of Saya’s hand: "Don’t worry, as you said, Lord Hoffman has already agreed to your parents’ requests. I trust Margaret and Colin won’t be affected because of this."

"I hope so," Faye had no choice but to yield.

As the mood grew heavy, the carriage turned a corner, and through the window, Malin saw a group of young followers from the Church of the Goddess of Harvest confronting a troop of Apprentices from the Church of Night, clad in black.

Signaling the carriage to stop, Malin leaned out of the door: "What’s the matter?"

Wishing not to give the impression to the opposite Apprentices that he wanted to take sides, Malin asked them nonetheless.

"This has nothing to do with you! Squirt!" The leader of the Church of Night group rudely retorted.