Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 439 - Two Hundred and Ninety-Five: Parting Ways to Meet Again (2)

Chapter 439: Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Five: Parting Ways to Meet Again (2)

Back at the guesthouse, the Mouse Girls were preparing ingredients, and Malin showed off a couple of tricks, teaching them how to make a few homestyle dishes.

Then, after eating, he began pondering over his new "skin suit" – ahem, his new appearance.

Firstly, it would be best if he could control his height to be between 1.5 and 1.8 meters, as being too tall would mean having to duck to get through doorways, and being too short would require standing on a chair to reach the table, which would be inconvenient for just about anything.

"Height, eh? 1.5 meters then, just like me," Clovis pointed at herself.

Malin thought it over and decided on 1.5 meters—after all, the Bunny Girl included her ears when calculating her height, and Malin was around this height before activating his bloodline, so he set it at that for starters, allowing room for adjustments later.

Then there was the matter of hair; on this topic, Malin was firmly in the "better to have it than not" camp. After all, he had already been a middle-aged man with some hair loss in his previous life for quite some time; the young don’t understand the troubles of middle age.

So, Malin gave himself a head of naturally curly hair with a cowlick and then looked at Clovis.

"Hmm, you look like Mr. Emet-Selch’s older brother," she said.

Ah... with that in mind, considering Emet-Selch, and to avoid triggering traumatic flashbacks from time to time, Malin swapped to softer long hair with a shawl-like appearance.

"This is good, but from the back, you look like a girl."

Malin trimmed the length of the hair at his temples a bit, and then Fio, turned into a hairband, tied a low ponytail for Malin.

"This is nice, Mr. Malin looks so handsome and cute," Clovis said with stars shining in her eyes.

Consequently, Malin lengthened his arms and legs a bit.

"It’s like someone from a sketchbook; your limbs are too long."

Clovis commented, so Malin complied and returned his height and limbs to the previous length.

"What about abs?"

"Soft as before is better."

Malin turned to look at the Bunny Girl and realized she wasn’t joking. After giving it some thought—he had been asking the girls to be soft and fragrant, so it made no sense to treat himself differently.

So, soft belly it was.

Hmm... Malin was already satisfied, so he put on clothes, looked in the mirror, and was very pleased.

......

When Logan saw Malin come in with Clovis, he was completely flabbergasted—just a week ago you were 1.2 meters, three days ago you were 2.1 meters, yesterday back to 1.2, and today an outrageous 1.5 meters; how many bloodlines do you even have?!

Embracing despair, Logan noticed his old friend running over to him, waving: "Logan, why are you sitting here alone?"

"Miriam is over there taking photos; I didn’t enter the mid-grade competition... Wait, what’s the deal with your height?"

"This is my usual appearance," Malin replied.

Upon hearing this, Logan nodded: "No! Wasn’t the transformation spell formation said to be a sixth-level spell?"

"Yeah, sixth-level," Malin looked at Logan with a smug expression: "By the way, what do you think?"

Logan took a deep breath—barely restraining himself from beating up Malin, as who would end up beating whom was indeed a question: "It’s pretty good, you’ve grown a bit taller."

"Of course, I’ll be using this form for daily work from now on." Having said that, Malin seemed to notice his girls: "Buddy, let’s catch up later." With that, he ran over and hugged Faye.

Damn, I’m so jealous.

Just as Logan felt as if he had exploded, a pair of hands covered his eyes from behind.

Logan grabbed the hands and turned around, "My dear!"

"Don’t pout now, dear," Miriam said with a smile, then, beating Logan to it, pursed her lips and gave him a peck.

......

Overall, this banquet was still a good opportunity for the Apprentices to bond with each other, considering that they would be returning to Carterburg in three days, so the instructors handed over the entire event for the Apprentices to handle themselves.

The senior Apprentices naturally took on the responsibility, even inviting many relatives from Regensburg, connecting with each other to see if they could increase their camaraderie and income.

Logan, on the other hand, did not find any big deals for Malin—after all, they would leave in three days, and it was not the right time to take on new work. Just in case of any mishaps, it wouldn’t do to have a train full of Apprentices and instructors waiting for Malin and Logan.

This left a bunch of half-grown kids who had witnessed Malin’s strength and were waving their checks around quite disappointed.

However, Logan also said that there could be a chance for cooperation in the future.

Of course, the price would not be the same as before.

But all of this had nothing to do with Malin, as he and Logan had a clear division of labor—Logan found the work for him and took a cut of the earnings, which was a win-win arrangement, considering that in this world there probably weren’t many who could boast of having Logan’s extensive network of "cousins" throughout the city.

After the banquet ended, Malin took the girls to the car, and Clovis, who had drunk a few glasses of apple wine tonight, was placed in the back seat by Malin before he got behind the wheel himself.

Faye sat in the passenger seat, watching Malin drive the car with ease.

"The new look suits you, Malin."

"I think so too."

Regensburg at night was enveloped by the starry sky; Malin glanced at the dome of heavens as he drove along the main road. Under the cloudless sky, the dazzling Milky Way shone as it always had.

"Malin, you always seem to like looking at the stars."

"Yeah, because the sea of stars they form is beautiful," Malin said, looking at Faye, "but it’s not even one-tenth as beautiful as you girls."

Faye looked very happy, "How did you learn to be so sweet with your words?"

"I am an Author, after all; such trivial matters are nothing to me."

As he said this, Malin turned to look at Mr. Casaman, who stood on the street corner in tattered clothes, having clearly changed his outfit.

Faye noticed him too but obviously didn’t recognize him: "Assassin? Assassin?"

"No, someone I know." Malin hit the brakes and watched the gentleman approach: "Long time no see, Casaman."

"I was about to say the same. I have to thank you for today; otherwise, I might not have gotten away... So, I want to say thanks," the gentleman said, extending his hand.

"Don’t thank me," Malin said as he pulled a five-cent coin from his wallet and placed it in Casaman’s hand, "You should thank the gods, sir. I am a merciful man."

"Thank you, and thanks to the gods, Your Excellency."

After loudly exchanging these unspoken understandings, Malin released the brake.

Once the car had driven off into the distance, Faye looked at Malin: "Dear, just how many secrets do you have?"

"Actually, not that many," Malin replied with a smile.