Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 445: Section 301: LeParrain (1)

Chapter 445: Section 301: LeParrain (1)

Two groups of individuals were on the move in the same area, yet their memories were altered through different techniques.

This was the only question that Malin couldn’t resolve, because logically speaking, if they acted together and encountered something, it shouldn’t result in memory modifications of varying methods—even if initiated by different individuals within the same organization, the techniques would be roughly similar. Even with differences, they shouldn’t be as distinct as in the case of these two children, where one was subjected to modifications by the "Arcane Fist," an organization of casters from the Eastern Kingdom, a fact that Matilda confirmed with just a glance into the youngster’s eyes, while the priests of the Goddess of Harvest Church took much longer to affirm Matilda’s analysis.

The other case was rather outlandish—the child was modified by a member of the Master of Wisdom’s branch of Secret Keepers.

The Master of Wisdom in this world has two entirely distinct conceptions; one is the original divinity of wisdom, a young female in appearance, who changes race according to the race of her believers—for example, humans see a young human girl, elves see an elven girl, and so on.

This deity of lawful neutrality is a guardian of knowledge, spreading enlightenment. In the times between Chaos invasions, her adherents steadily gathered knowledge from forbidden areas like the Dark Zone, whereas in the years following the incursions of Chaos, her sect of Secret Keepers dispersed among many churches. Take Hoffman, for instance - this elder was actually a descendant of the Master of Wisdom’s followers. Even while worshipping the Goddess of Harvest, he still upheld this church faction and sealed away malefic beings.

As for the other Master of Wisdom, there’s no need to elaborate, for it is but an impersonation by the Mimicking Bird. It stole a small portion of the Master of Wisdom’s divinity, deluding some of the Secret Keeper offshoots, spreading the faith of the Evil God of Chaos throughout this world.

The sects still devoted to the true Master of Wisdom remain the world’s most mutually despising followers compared to those traitors.

Therefore, once Colin confirmed the situation of the second group of children, he immediately took out his squad of Punishers to sweep the streets.

Meanwhile, Malin was somewhat curious why the "Arcane Fist" of the Eastern Kingdom would come all the way to Carterburg.

From East to West, these folks sure have traveled a great distance.

"Surely it has nothing to do with you, right? I heard you killed a prince of the Eastern Kingdom," Margaret asked Malin.

"If they’re here to kill me, it shouldn’t be members of the Arcane Fist. The Internal Affairs assassins of the Eastern Kingdom never pick from the Arcane Fist. Plus, the Arcane Fist is more like a neutral organization. They generally don’t get involved in human internal conflicts. I can send a formal diplomatic inquiry to the Arcane Fist via the Mage Tower to confirm why they are here," Malin said.

Clovis had a good suggestion, and Malin felt that it might take half a year to get an approximate answer with all the back-and-forth, but Clovis told Malin that a so-called diplomatic inquiry was, in fact, a direct announcement to the members of the Arcane Fist in this city through the Mage Tower, which could be done quickly, usually in less than an hour.

.........

And so, Malin quickly met with all the members of a small group from the Arcane Fist.

The majority of these members from the Eastern Kingdom had brown and gray hair and were extremely polite upon seeing Malin, employing the caster’s etiquette—the most common and purest form of courtesy among casters, which disregards mortal nobility or who has more rings to their name.

Although Malin was still an Apprentice at present, in the caster circles, he was already well-known—everyone was aware of a half-blood named Malin Gaiate in Carterburg hailed as a prodigy and a rising star in the realm of casters, and if he were to evaluate his rings, he would surely be at least a six-ring entity.

So, after shaking hands with Malin, these Arcane Fist members, who at most had only five rings, disclosed their mission.

It turned out they were hunting a small sect of wizards that had fled from the Eastern Kingdom, and their group had been following the intelligence and evidence left by these wizards to pursue and exterminate them.

When one of the wizards was killed, the first group of children had witnessed the scene. Unable to disclose their identities, they altered the children’s memories.

This reason, while not very commendable, was at least legitimate. Their method of modification was quite gentle, a simple seal, and it was limited to a month’s duration—they believed this was adequate time to eliminate those bastards.

"We’ve heard that you have quite a few apprentices in Carterburg, which is no secret in the Supernatural Realm, especially since these children wear the attire of the Goddess of Harvest Church apprentices. I don’t think we should risk our lives recklessly," said the group leader with a touch of embarrassment. "We can’t expose ourselves because there are still three wizards in the North City District. We’ve located a second target and were about to act when we received your inquiry. Considering your status, we came here specially."

"Given the circumstances, I forgive your actions. I can even help you hunt the wizards. Who is the identity of the second individual?" Malin asked, feeling a sense of favor towards these members of the Arcane Fist—for they understood how to respect others’ status as well as their own lives, earning Malin’s goodwill.

"Selena J. Stansen."

When the leader of the group mentioned this name, his expression turned grave, "She’s the head of this wizarding sect in Carterburg. We must capture her alive and learn where the remaining wizards are."

Malin was puzzled, for the name Selena sounded vaguely familiar. The surname Stansen... "If I’m not mistaken, she is the wife of Jason Stansen, correct?"

"Yes, Mr. Malin," came the reply.

With this confirmation, Malin felt for the first time that this disorder was not a pleasant spectacle.

"How could she be a wizard?"

"Lacking enough talent yet desiring the status of a mage, greed is the original sin, sir," the leader said, looking at Malin with a paradoxical expression; perhaps realizing the subtext in Malin’s words—that he was quite familiar with Selena.

"To tell you the truth, I know him," Malin said expressionlessly.

A member of the Arcane Fist stood up and pulled out a gun.

Without a word, Clovis pointed a shotgun.

Then the situation spiraled out of control, everyone drew their weapons, only Malin picked up his teacup and took a sip, "Your men are a bit too impatient."

"Young people take rumors too seriously, don’t take it to heart. Wizards are enemies of the human world; we cannot overlook these ticking time bombs," the leader said and pressed down on the weapons in his subordinates’ hands, "Mr. Malin couldn’t possibly be helping a wizard; he’s a mage himself, what are you youngsters thinking?"

Once both sides had put away their weapons, Malin rubbed the corner of his eyebrow, "I will go with you. I want to ask Selena myself why she would endure such hardship just for the sake of appearances. Moreover, if I’m not mistaken, she already has a child with Jason."

"We must root out the problem," the leader said.

"I vouch for the child, do not harm the child," Malin insisted, looking at the leader.

"You’re interfering with our operations, Mr. Malin," the leader frowned.

But Malin shook his head, "No, I’m simply negotiating with you. If I really wanted to interfere with your operations, we wouldn’t be sitting here," Malin said, lifting his teacup while Fio poured more fresh water for his master.

"Yes, sir, I understand that, but why would you want to protect a wizard’s child? A child who might have been exposed to the subspace while still in the mother’s womb. A terrifying existence, the child of a wizard who doesn’t even need to drink a magic potion to acquire spiritual energy from the subspace... Sir, do you still want to protect this child?"

"I’ve said it before, I want to do all I can so that every child in this world can have enough food to eat, can survive... Maybe I can’t reach as far as the Eastern Kingdom, but, at least in Carterburg, in what I know of here, I don’t want a baby to die for its mother’s crimes... That is my bottom line." Malin finished, looking up at the leader, "Would you prefer another enemy or another friend?"

The leader fell silent for a moment, finally extending a hand, "Having another friend is better than having another enemy, but you must promise to kill him with your own hands if this child becomes a coordinate for a Chaos invasion."

"I swear," Malin nodded.

Then the two shook hands.

Malin rose to his feet and said farewell to Margaret, "I’ll be out with them for a while; you stay at the Church, I’ll ask Clovis to stay with you."

"You’re more bothersome than Colin," Margaret said with a bitter smile.

In response, Malin nodded, "Yes, you’ve encountered a very bothersome fellow." Then he smiled and kissed the back of Margaret’s hand.

.........

Jason Stansen, Carterburg North City District police station.

Having just taken a bath, he emerged from the communal bathroom, toweling off the dampness from his hair, then looked at his colleague, "I’m going home."

"Good work, Jason." The colleague who came to take his shift nodded, "Oh, by the way," he picked up a small box from the table nearby, "this is a little gift for you, it’s honey."

"My God, where did you get such a large jar?" Jason was astonished upon seeing the bottle.

"Little Mr. Malin taught us a good method, placing beehives in the fields; this is just one hive’s harvest in a month," the middle-aged colleague said with a smile, "Get home quickly."

"Thanks a lot." Jason took the bottle, placed it in his bag, donned his clothes, and left the police station.

The young man walked slowly; a war wound from half a year ago still made his foot somewhat inconvenient, although it had been treated, it would take some more time to fully recover.

But that was okay, feeling at home was good too, and Selena was carrying his child, and Shela was also pregnant. The days ahead would probably be like his father’s, filled with pain and joy.

With this thought, he mounted his horse—in Carterburg, horses were still a young man’s favorite mode of transportation, after all, motorcycles were too large, and the streets too narrow.

"Robert, let’s go."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.