Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 44: Section Thirty-Nine: Emergency Situation

Chapter 44: Section Thirty-Nine: Emergency Situation

"How did they run away!"

The figure standing in the shadows glared intensely at the subordinates kneeling in the illuminated area.

Those invaders at nightfall were clearly easy prey delivered to their doorstep, originally a trap designed for the apprentices. As he watched his prey waltz right in, the figure, having been confident of victory, did not immediately have the various kinds summoned round up the intruders—commanding them also required spiritual energy.

But then, the food that was almost in his mouth suddenly flew away—the little fellow in the group noticed something was wrong, and with a very elegant turn, they started to run away.

By the time he ordered the chase, it was already too late. As the commander on the scene, the figure was furious inside, as he could not understand how the trap that was targeted at apprentices from the start could have gone wrong. How did that whelp manage it?! He noticed them before they even got close?!

Was it a Detective of the seventh step in the Investigator’s Sequence, or a Pursuer of the sixth in the same Sequence? Or perhaps a Tech Hunter at the fifth?

He looked like such a small child, but why was his shooting accurate, his spell formation adept, and why did he have such a vast spiritual energy pool and spell list?!

The brats in the city were really too much! Did money give them the right to do whatever they wanted?!

"Move! Investigate that boy! I want to see who dares to ruin my plans! I’m going to skin him alive!" he said. Then the figure fell silent for a moment—as he heard applause.

Following the clapping, light incessantly entered the underground hall, illuminating the kneeling subordinates, the figure’s shell, and even more so, the smoky figure at the entrance.

"You really are a nuisance," lamented the smoky figure in his eyes, who seemed very displeased, "Last time I wiped out your companions in the sewer, didn’t that serve as a wakeup call?"

"Who the hell are you!" shouted the figure in a fit of embarrassed rage.

"Certainly not some ally of justice, but I do have a serious dislike for guys like you. So, could you just die properly for once?"

"You’re the one who’s going to die!" The bald man roared, drawing the short sword at his waist: "Kill him for me!"

"It looks like you still haven’t grasped the situation." After speaking, the smoky figure drew the revolver from his waist: "It seems we’ll have to communicate through facts and reason then."

.........

Malin woke up early in the morning, on the third day of the Harvest Festival. All churches began to take a break—from the third day to the seventh, there would be four days off.

Therefore, there would be no unlucky upperclassmen to sucker punch—because they were on vacation; no mentors to study spell formations with—because the mentors all said it’s impossible to bite off more than you can chew, and the path of spell formation still has to be accumulated over time; furthermore, Faye had ultimately returned to her residence last night, so when Malin got up today, the only one he could pester was his sister.

Luckily, with Faye’s help yesterday, the ordeal about earning bread money was quickly accepted by Maya with her assistance.

"Brother, where are we going today?"

"We, probably will go help out in the square," he replied.

The Harvest Festival is the Church of the Harvest Goddess’s most important event of the year, as it represents the bounty of the harvest, determining if the farmers can eat well or face a cold wind.

As the most popular church among the farmers and manor owners, the Church of the Harvest Goddess is always the most sought after in autumn. In return, the Church of the Earth Goddess also offers free medical services at the square during the week of harvest.

It’s a truly busy week, and Malin was assigned by Old Ferrero to take up a duty at the clinic—to use his spiritual vision on visitors, to send away those with no issues, to have the rest queue up, and to not worry about those few who needed urgent burning, as that was beyond Malin’s responsibility. Such unlucky individuals who didn’t have a chance of being saved were a rarity; scarcely did one appear in a year, because most of the unfortunate ones wouldn’t last until the week of charity clinics.

Since Malin was lined up to help, he was scheduled to start on the third day.

Today was the first day of work.

So, before heading off to the square to start working, Malin needed to find Faye—she said she would come to find him in the morning.

If the girls didn’t feel like coming to the square, Malin would be happy for the peace; if they felt like joining in for fun at the square, that wasn’t a problem either—at least when some unlucky souls got dragged away, Malin and the girls could still enjoy the scene.

After all, in Malin’s memory, the last time he learned that the world had such a thing as burning people alive was on May 30, 1431, staged jointly by the wretched French and the English, who Malin despised the most.

.........

Maya has been very happy lately. Being naturally cheerful, she can make friends with peers her age in the church, and today, her big sister Faye even brought a little lamb named Lillim to play with her.

Although her brother was going to do medical volunteer work at the square, they could also go over to have a look.

Maya loves her brother the most.

Even though her brother hasn’t yet decided to become a follower of the Church of the Harvest Goddess, Maya always thinks being a believer isn’t a big deal, as the core teachings of the Church of the Harvest Goddess revolve around farming and harvest, making it the most peaceful church on the continent. In her father’s words, it meant being able to thrive in both legitimate and illegitimate circles.

Indeed, the biggest gang in Carterburg, the ’Belly Serpent’, has more than a dozen professionals. Normally fearless and intimidating, they wouldn’t need a Demon Hunter to deal with some otherworldly troubles in their territory, but upon seeing Malin and Maya, these tough guys would invariably trace the holy emblem of the Earth Goddess on their chests. And some of higher rank would even take candies from their bags.

```

Malin wouldn’t let these fellows, who didn’t have much spare cash themselves, spend money on him—although he was a poor kid in the supernatural professionals’ circle, in the presence of these burly men, he was already a wealthy man. Still, Maya would accept the candies and then distribute them to the poor children.

To share is to sweeten life.

Only later did Maya find out that the Belly Serpent gang had encountered big troubles before, and back then, no one thought about helping them. It was Malin’s mentor who resolved the Spiritual Body Spirit issue with two fellow apprentices. As a result, the Belly Serpent gang held a lot of respect for the members of the Church of the Earth Goddess and they acted more gently than before.

At least they didn’t force people to sell their children as other gangs did.

For this reason, in recent years, the Belly Serpent gang, while continuously cleansing themselves, became even stronger—as many young people from nearby villages went to the cities in search of work, they would often join a gang for protection, with the help of fellow villagers, and the Belly Serpent gang was clearly more popular.

After all, they were the only local gang in the area that was based on mutual assistance, and it was indeed the case.

During every Harvest Festival, the Belly Serpent gang would send many young members to assist the Church of the Earth Goddess—usually, these young people were farmers who faced the loess and turned their backs to the skies before entering the city and naturally had a good impression of the Goddess of Harvest.

In return, the Church of the Earth Goddess would conduct a free clinic in the square during Harvest Week.

While Malin received patients, Maya, Faye, and Lillim sat in the nearby resting area, where the three girls prepared lunch for everyone along with the senior students, occasionally seeing some people being sent away by Malin.

"That guy doesn’t look sick at all, yet he still came here. Is he wasting our time?" Lillim tilted her head and asked.

"I think he’s looking for some peace of mind," said Miss Faye, who always made sense.

As Maya thought about this, she gently slapped Malin’s favorite grilled meat with the side of the knife.

Then she noticed a fat man approaching her brother.

.........

"You seem to be in good shape; what seems to be the problem?" The new patient sat in front of Malin, and without using Spiritual Vision, Malin could tell the man was fine—rosy complexion, corpulent, not a hint of a farmer’s calluses or scars, and his attire suggested a wealthy man from the city rather than a farmer.

Still, considering that the clinic didn’t discriminate based on status, Malin patiently asked him about his concerns.

"I’ve been having nightmares recently," the fat man spoke with a loud voice and the accent of someone from Union Sydney of the North.

This left Malin puzzled, for if one is plagued by nightmares, they should at least look the part—others tormented by them appear nerve-wracked and pitiful, not robust and full of vigor like this man.

Consequently, as a matter of professional ethics, Malin activated his Spiritual Vision—a function that required Spiritual Energy; with Malin’s current ability, using it for ten seconds per minute wouldn’t burden him—it was as if he hadn’t used it at all.

But with just one glance, Malin was stunned—the fat man in front of him appeared as purple as an eggplant in the Spiritual Vision spectrum.

A textbook case of Chaos-tainted purple.

Malin turned his head and gestured to the Church guards.

Noticing the contorted expression on Malin’s face, the guards came out in full force. Eight guards semi-encircled and approached the man, unlike their usual number of two.

"What’s the matter with me?" The fat man also sensed something was amiss—under Carterburg’s folkways, both "what are you looking at" and "why are you staring" were part of their simplicity. In such an ominous situation, the fat man glared at Malin, "What are you trying to pull, you little brat? I’m the mayor’s brother-in-law!"

"My apologies, but this is my apprentice," came the voice of Mentor Hoffman from behind.

The mentor’s presence made the fat man restrain himself somewhat—being a church mentor was a status he couldn’t scorn; still, concerned for his own life, he posed the question, "What are you trying to do?"

"We would like to ask you, why have you been contaminated by Chaos?" After saying this, Mentor Hoffman gestured, and the Church guards flanked the fat man from both sides. Two of them seized his arms and shoulders, pinning him down on the chair.

"Impossible, there haven’t been any of a different kind in Carterburg lately!" the fat man said furiously, looking at the elder, "I have no idea what you’re talking about! How could I possibly be tainted by Chaos?"

The fat man was vehement in his words, struggling to free himself from the guard’s grip.

Malin stepped back three paces—this fat man was beginning to morph drastically in front of everyone; horns grew from his forehead, his teeth became beast-like, and his whole being was marching down the path towards becoming non-human.

Mentor Hoffman sighed, drew Malin’s Revolver from his waist, and pressed it against the fat man’s head before pulling the trigger.

The lifeless body of the fat man fell to the square, and Malin’s mentor returned his Revolver to him, "I can sense that you are afraid."

"Yes," Malin replied truthfully—claiming to be unafraid would be a lie. If the person from the start was a different kind, Malin wouldn’t be afraid, but witnessing such a drastic transformation before his eyes... Malin was somewhat fearful.

At that moment, Mentor Hoffman reached out and patted Malin’s head.

"Do not fear, for fear is the poison of the soul."

It seemed as if he was advising and, at the same time, comforting.