Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 410: Section 273: Storm (Part 2)

Chapter 410: Section 273: Storm (Part 2)

Malin chuckled to himself, realizing that as someone who had lived two lifetimes, he shouldn’t stoop to the level of these half-grown kids; he was, after all, a man on the cusp of fifty now.

So he called forth Fio, Lorrin, and Melo and let these three give those boys a sound spanking with a paddle.

The mentor in charge at the Church of Night came over, seemingly unsure whether to clash with Malin or to try to hold back his laughter. Malin extended his hand, "When children have conflicts, I asked that boy over there what happened, and he told me not to meddle in others’ business."

The mentor in charge slapped his forehead and then reached out to Malin, "My apologies, Lord Malin, the children failed to recognize you."

"It’s nothing. A spanking with a World Tree Sapling generally won’t leave any injury," Malin said, shaking hands with him.

Indeed, for most children, a spanking with a World Tree Sapling would probably heal any hidden injuries they had almost completely. It’s just that a few who were clearly not like most children ended up rather more hurt, but it was still alright, as they were only superficial wounds. Malin hadn’t allowed his three little enforcers to go too harshly on them—children are innocent and a simple lesson was all that was needed.

The other party really couldn’t say much—after all, the Church of Night’s kids did nothing but cry pitifully.

"Alright, little ones, tell me what exactly happened." Malin then turned to look at his own brood.

"Mentor Malin, they bullied Rewo Moka." The girl in front of him seemed very angry, and it was at that moment Malin finally took notice of the little one being protected by the kids.

Rewo from the Moka family had a slightly swollen face and her left eye squinted as if she had been hit. Malin waved his hand and cast a minor healing spell, watching the swelling on her face disappear.

"Regarding today’s incident, the children from your church were wrong, and I’ve given them a lesson, which should be without fault," Malin said to the mentor in charge of the Church of Night.

The mentor in charge from the Church of Night scrutinized Rewo, and finally nodded, "You’re right."

Having heard this, Malin signaled the girls could leave, but they wanted to visit the nearby square, and Rewo was someone they ran into on the way.

"Let her get on board," Faye said, and so Malin led the little one onto the carriage.

Once the little one was on board, and after Malin got on the carriage, she said a soft "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, you should thank those sisters willing to protect you," Malin leaned against the carriage window, looking at Rewo and sighed—today’s incident seemed to be because those Church of Night boys found this Domestic Fairy half-blood unsightly.

Unlike other civilized races, Domestic Fairies could only be classified as an enlightened race, and compared with their kinsfolk, the lesser fairies, Domestic Fairies in terms of intellect were as helpless as an infant before a giant.

"Don’t mention it, Rewo, why are you out alone today? Doesn’t the lower grade require group training?"

"Yes, today is a holiday, and I wanted to see the scenery of The Capital on my own," Rewo fell back into silence after speaking, then stretched her lips into a smile, her voice catching with a bit of a sob, "I... I really am useless."

"Rewo, don’t say that, your talent in Potionology and Alchemy is quite impressive," Faye encouraged Rewo with a smile. She glanced at Malin, signaling the iron-clad man to say a word.

Malin found he really was not skilled at encouragement, but out of pity for the child, he reached out and patted Rewo’s head, "Don’t be disheartened by temporary setbacks, Rewo. Believe in yourself."

Rewo looked up, her eyes reflecting surprise and bewilderment, but ultimately, she smiled, "Yes, I believe you, Mr. Malin."

Malin felt inspired—never would he have imagined the day he’d become a spiritual mentor.

With joy, Malin smiled and made a fist, "Come on, fist bump."

Rewo clenched her fist too, and as they fist-bumped, the rings on their little fingers brushed against each other.

"So, where shall we drop you off? You have the day off; how about you come over to my place for a visit?" Faye offered.

"May I?" Rewo seemed interested, and so, with one eager to offer and the other eager to accept, the carriage made its way back to the guesthouse. Malin stepped out only to see Matilda thrust the doors open.

"I knew you’d be back!" The Big-eared Fox leaped, flying over Malin’s head and crashing into the carriage.

Are all Paladins from the Church of Justice dense-headed?

Malin turned with a snort, simultaneously pulling the Big-eared Fox out from the carriage while muttering to himself, "You’ve learned to jump high now, what’s gotten into you?"

"It’s clearly because you’ve gotten shorter, Mr. Malin," the Big-eared Fox frowned, looking quite unhappy with the remark.

Malin humphed, and Fio wriggled out of his sleeve, wrapping up Matilda and hanging onto her as they followed behind Malin.

"Ah, Faye, save me!" The Big-eared Fox cried out for help from Faye.

"You’ve made Mr. Malin angry; how can I save you?" Faye said as she led Rewo along, sighing at the Big-eared Fox.

By this time, Malin had already entered the hall, and at his gesture, Fio dumped the Big-eared Fox onto the sofa.

"How come you have time to drop by today?" Malin found the girl’s presence odd since she was supposed to help maintain order in the Church of Justice’s arena.

"I’m on a rotation break. After three days off, I resume work for four days. The first day off coincidentally falls on the day Maya and the others play in the round of sixteen," the Big-eared Fox sat up and, noticing Rewo, her eyes sparkled, "It’s a Domestic Fairy half-blood! You must be Rewo!"

"Yes, do you recognize me?"

"I’ve heard about you, everyone says you’re so cute, and indeed you are." As soon as the big-eared fox finished speaking, he reached out and scooped Rewo into his arms, "Way more fun than Clovis."

"Clovis would definitely hit you if she heard that." Malin shook his head and then patted Matilda on the head, "Rewo is a guest, not your toy. Put her down."

Even though Matilda was quite stubborn, she still listened to Malin and obediently put Rewo down. As Faye dragged Matilda to the kitchen, she waved at Malin, "Mr. Malin, you must try the love-filled roast meat I’m making today."

The kind that’s seventy percent burnt?

Malin instinctively wanted to refuse, but in the end, he smiled and nodded his head, watching the two go into the kitchen surrounded by rat-woman maids. He turned his head to look at the black-backed Sydney war dog sitting by the wall. This was an old dog named Ter—a common pet name in Sydney, rather like ’Lucky.’

The latter was originally happy, but upon feeling Malin’s gaze, it sprang to attention, then, realizing it was Malin, it wagged its tail foolishly and slumped lazily back down.

Malin threw a biscuit from a small bucket to the black-backed Ter, who caught the biscuit and swallowed it, then came wagging its tail—this old dog had tried to bite Malin the first time they met, resulting in being tied upside down outside the door with three World Tree Saplings for an entire day.

Faced with such soft aggression, the old dog chose to become a sycophant after its attempts to retaliate proved fruitless.

"I’ll get you some roast meat later," Malin raised his eyebrows.

The old dog’s wagging tail froze, and it looked at Malin with innocent whining before attempting to run away.

Fio and Lorrin tied its legs, and Melo twisted its head towards Malin.

"Don’t want roast meat?" Malin looked sadly at the old dog, "It’s roast meat, I’m offering you meat, do you dislike what I feed you that much?"

As he spoke, Malin took out a handkerchief and wiped the corner of his eye.

Tears filled old Ter’s eyes.

"Don’t worry, I’ll give you a healing spell. If you run away now, you’ll hang outside for a day. The choice is yours." As Malin spoke, he leaned back onto the sofa, crossing his legs and interlacing his hands in front of him, "There are countless roads in this world, Ter, which one do you plan to take?"

The old dog was tearful, but ultimately it lowered its head and gave a woof.

"That’s right, next time I’ll take you out for a spin." Malin actually preferred obedient dogs—disobedient ones be damned.

Fio and Lorrin let go of it, and Malin turned to Rewo with a smile, "Would you like to pat it? Don’t worry, it won’t bite."

Thus Rewo happily ran over to Ter’s side.

The old dog bared its teeth.

Malin hummed.

The old dog lowered its head and nuzzled Rewo’s palm with its head.

.........

When Faye came out with Matilda and the rat-maid servants carrying lunch, they saw Rewo sitting on the back of their old Ter.

Recently, it seemed that old Ter’s temper had gotten much better. In the past, this old dog dared to snarl even at her, its young mistress, though it had received a good lesson from her father for that.

"Ter, come, here’s your lunch." Faye placed Ter’s food bowl in the corner, then she saw Rewo dismount from the dog’s back, and the old dog, panting, came running over.

It wagged its tail happily, and then looked even happier upon seeing the meatloaf mixed with mashed potatoes in its bowl.

Faye took Rewo’s hand, "Ter is very obedient, it seems to like you a lot."

"No, Mr. Malin warned it." Rewo replied with a smile.

Hearing this answer, Faye laughed and looked at Malin, "Why do I feel like you’re more of Ter’s owner than anyone else?"

"No, I’m just letting him know who has the bigger fist," Malin said as he sat at the dining table, seemingly eager, "What’s for lunch today?"

"Look! It’s my love-filled roast meat!" Matilda lifted the lid at just the right moment, and the roast meat on the plate looked fantastic.

Malin seemed somewhat taken aback, "You made this?" he asked Matilda.

"Yes, the Paladin of the God of Justice will not be stumped by the same problem twice." The big-eared fox said this with his little head tilted so far back that his nostrils were almost skyward.

Faye laughed and shook her head—up until the end, she didn’t reveal that the roast was actually made by a little horned creature.

Well, it was better to let Matilda keep a bit of her pride.

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