Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 46: Forty-One: Justice Always Lies Between the Arm’s Reach and the Sword

Chapter 46: Forty-One: Justice Always Lies Between the Arm’s Reach and the Sword

Colin bowed his head, ashamed of his earlier behavior.

His mentor patted his shoulder, "Colin, I have a task for you. Go and notify all the churches in the city that we have confirmed the presence of Chaos in today’s free clinic at the square. According to the Pact Against Chaos, we need to convene a meeting within half an hour and also conduct targeted scrutiny, starting with his family and relatives, and not letting anyone slip through."

Colin looked up, "Teacher, how should I go?"

At this moment, Mentor Hoffman had already turned and walked a few steps away. Hearing Colin’s words, he turned back, smiled at Colin, and tossed a small Holy Emblem into Colin’s hands, "It seems you’re not scared stiff yet. Here, take my token. Colin is at the ruined fort and won’t be back for a while. This time, the Punisher squad is your responsibility... My child, it’s time to see just how filthy the blood of the evil ones is."

"I understand. I will make the evildoers bleed their filthy blood dry," Colin said, looking at the Holy Emblem in his hand, finally swearing with finality.

"Right, child, you may look only ten years old, but no Spirits or different kind won’t spare a child’s life just because of his age, and zombie brides are no exception, for to her, you are no longer a child," the old man finished, smiled, and turned away.

Colin fell silent for a moment, then turned to look at his sister and Faye, "Faye, would you please take good care of my sister."

"I understand," Faye nodded, her and Maya’s eyes filled with worry.

Colin knew what Faye and Maya were thinking, but his old mentor was not wrong—fear is the poison of the soul. In this world, which is not the ordinary world without super abilities and paranormal phenomena that he once lived in, to protect anything, one must rely on their own hands.

Justice, Truth, and Morality always reside between the arms that wield swords and at the muzzle of a Revolver.

.........

The first stop, Colin chose the Church of the God of Justice.

The Church of the God of Justice is quite a special church on the continent of Abield. Other churches—for example, the Church of the Goddess of Harvest where Colin was, are dedicated to harvest; the Church of the Goddess of Wisdom, is dedicated to the preservation and collection of knowledge and also the last stronghold for Mages, the original profession.

These churches all have a very clear responsibility, small and exquisite, very clear about their target audience.

Many churches have been passed down for a thousand years, some so ancient even the power of the Deity has not manifested for many years, but the Church of the God of Justice is different. Its Deity manifested in person, igniting the divine flame with his own strength—a super powerful man, according to historical records, over five hundred years ago. Back then, in the southern wasteland of the still undivided human Empire, a tall man in tattered armor, with a bald head and brown eyes, spoke a language of Thanan, hardly understood even by Thanan people themselves.

At that time, the human Empire’s political situation was in disarray, the Emperor foolish and incompetent, and ambitious traitors and minions of the Evil Gods fanning the flame in the shadows. The whole continent was tottering in the wind and rain, with different kinds openly invading. Even the historical books of the southern Thanan people wrote that year—surrounded by enemies on all sides, the Empire faced the invasion of Chaos from the west, descent of Evil Gods from the north, the chaos of puppet bones from the east, and in the south, the heinous crimes committed by the evil Spirit orcs.

The whole world was in blood and fire that year, which was year 847 of the Abield calendar. The God of Justice saved the ancestor of today’s lord of the Zlin Free Domain, a down-and-out young girl from the Karlmem family who had lost her entire family and was being hunted down by enemy families. He appeared and swiftly killed the pursuers with just a few strikes and then established the Zlin Free Domain in Zlin.

In that era, Zlin was still a wild wasteland. This Deity gathered refugees, built towns, developed wilderness, and established the Stoneheart Church—which later became the Church of the God of Justice.

In that era, the Stoneheart Paladins were the only law enforcers in the entire southern wild lands. They slaughtered the Chaos, exterminated the Spirits, eradicated different kinds, and, after seven years, faced the attacking forces of the Karlmem family’s enemies.

This Deity defeated the entire force alone. The crossbowmen crumbled before the impenetrable armor, warriors despaired before the unbreakable greatsword, and even the knights dissolved into nothing as the spear neared them, their horses collapsing dead before them.

He pardoned the entire force, and under his inspiration, some decided to stay. Then, this Deity, with his six Stoneheart Paladins, went northward. Their deeds along the way could be written in blood, yet as the Deity himself said—"My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror; all that I do is for justice."

Those who died by his hand were surely Chaos and different kinds. So much so that the people in the southern part of the Empire were willing to risk the dangers of crossing the wastelands to reach the Zlin Free Domain.

And in the end of the story, this Deity judged that family in the Imperial Capital and, in front of everyone, ignited the divine flame. From that day on, the Church of the God of Justice became the flag of the righteous side of the entire continent of Abield. No matter who you are, as long as your words and deeds are guided by goodness, comply with order and righteousness, the Church of the God of Justice will be your greatest support.

Over these past centuries, the Paladins of the Church of the God of Justice have killed corrupt Nobles, unscrupulous officials, and bandits and thieves. The pinnacle of their actions was when thirteen Legendary Paladins paid the price of three dead and seven injured to slay the entire royal family of the Eastern Kingdom of Alzbeth. Over seven hundred Professionals of Tier 5 were killed, at least two hundred strong beings of Tier 4 were eliminated for choosing to stand against them, at least fifty beings of Tier 3 were erased from existence, and at least three supreme beings of Tier 2 met untimely deaths. All this was to behead the Tier 2 King, polluted by Chaos, and his Tier 1 wife.

One could say that the Church was filled with various kinds of zealous ’chunibyo’ righteous envoys—and here, ’chunibyo’ and righteous envoys were indeed very hardcore. They were willing to sacrifice everything for their ideals and beliefs. Every time the Spirits swarmed, the number of Archbishop-level officials of the Church of the God of Justice who died in battle was counted by the dozen, and the deaths of Saint Sons and Saint Daughters occasionally made their mark in history. During the last Spirit surge, the Primate of the God of Justice died on the northern front to allow the northern troops of the Sydney Alliance to break away from the Chaos Army. Before his death, he ignited his own Spiritual Energy, turning the entire northern front into sacred ground. As a Legendary Divine Envoy, the sacred land he created only began to dissipate in the second year after the Spirit surge ended.

The creed of the Church of the God of Justice is that if necessary (for instance, to cover the innocent civilians’ retreat), anyone from the Church can be sacrificed.

The companions emerging from this Church were truly of divine calibre, which is why Malin had no choice but to make it his first stop.

The person in charge of the Church here was a regional Bishop, white-haired, with pointed ears—an Elf. The Church of the God of Justice disregarded origins; one could see half-Elf Judges, human Paladin recruits, and even green-skinned Paladin Orcs—regarded by the Thanan as only valuable in death, these despised Orcs even boasted a three-squad strong Paladin presence in the Church.

"You are Hoffman’s little Apprentice. I’ve heard of your exploits. Your mentor sent you to participate in the inter-Church training battles, how could you forget about us?" The elder readily agreed after hearing Malin’s story and even arranged for one of his juniors to take a unit of Punishers to follow him, then brought up the topic with Malin.

Malin laughed awkwardly—other Churches would have been fine, but here, this Church had muscular brutes who were bulkier than Malin’s waist, and each grade had at least half a dozen with Giant bloodlines. With Malin’s current strength, he feared he’d be worn out by the time he reached the fifth grade: "Look at my little arms and legs; please let me off the hook."

"I knew you would say that, a true apprentice of Hoffman. Considering you have matters to attend to today, I won’t keep you then. Off you go, lad," said the old man with a hearty laugh, gesturing for Malin to leave.

And so, Malin walked away laughing and quickly turned to leave—how can you force a deal like that, old man!

.........

Watching the petite figure disappearing into the sunlight outside the Holy Hall’s doors, the old Bishop of the God of Justice sighed, "How similar."

With those words, the old man, no longer standing tall and now hunched over, turned to walk into the inner courtyard.

On the corridor wall, there hung a long scroll.

At the center of the scroll, there was a small person seated, with many young people behind him, some standing, some sitting.

"The mentor always said that each segment of life’s history is composed of the people who lived through that historical period. When everyone who knew that history is gone, history turns from laughter and sorrow in people’s minds into mere text in books. Last year, Karl died in his bed... Now only I remember everyone..." The old man said, his face heavy with emotion he couldn’t dispel.

But he was smiling, "I have met the descendants of our mentor. Though I don’t know why he would be the offspring of an Apprentice from the Goddess of Harvest Church, or why he would have a Frost Giant for a mother, I can feel his Spiritual Energy fluctuation... He is our mentor’s descendant."

Gazing at the long scroll before him, the old man heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw an aging half-Elf approaching: "Ferreiro, thank you for your troubles. Those kids didn’t have any problems, did they?"

"No problems, but I still have to say, can your lads from the Church of Justice not be so fierce? Battles that could be won without a scratch, these kids get hot-headed and rush in, resulting in three seriously wounded, one of them even with a broken arm. Fortunately, with Spell Formation and surgery, it can be reattached, otherwise that kid’s life would truly be ruined."

"A bit of youthful ardor is good," said the old man, smiling and shaking his head.

"Good for nothing, you all really have a one-track mind..." As he spoke, old Ferreiro noticed the long scroll in front of the old Bishop: "Is this... the Hundred Heroes Chart of the class of 1321?"

"Yes, the Hundred Heroes Chart of the class of 1321. That’s me there," the old man said as he pointed to himself in the long canvas, where he was painted with an excited smile.

"Back then, there weren’t any image capturing devices; the artist who painted you all really did something remarkable." Ferreiro furrowed his brow and finally shook his head: "Forget it, I can’t make sense with you stubborn fools. But you’d best warn your boys. They were lucky this time, the shrapnel and Spell Formation didn’t hit them directly. But even if the Goddess of Fortune dotes on a child, there will come a time when she dozes off."