Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 48 - 43: Prelude

Chapter 48: Chapter 43: Prelude

```

Malin naturally understood the mayor’s family’s shock and anger—if it was said that there was no conflict between the authority of the Church and that of mortals, then the whole world would laugh.

After all, the very fact that the Church had its own private armed forces, such as the guardians, was an indirect strike at mortal authority because, in any case, there would always be some people who would not kneel to the king.

But in this world, unlike in other fictional stories, there weren’t many who liked to incite discord between the realms of mortals and the Church—because there were always too many dangers and threats in this world, such as spirits and those of a different kind, which made the world so terrifying that mortals would invariably choose to band together for warmth, whether they were kings, protectors of the realm, leaders, or anything else, they all communicated well with the Church.

For those without good communication had already been swept into the dustbin of history.

The Church did intend to save the world, but they were certainly not in the business of saving fools.

So when the fat man’s brother-in-law and sister heard about the Church coming over to offer warmth, describing them as genuinely frightened was no misuse of words, for in such affairs, no one would favor them, and any person in their right mind, upon hearing of such matters, would choose to support the Church—if you turned out to be associated with chaos, it wouldn’t just be your family that would die.

Moreover, if such an investigation turned up nothing, it would be for the best, but if it did, it would mean a death sentence, and nobody would plead for them.

And having been cleared by the investigation, the family had no complaints—they had confirmed that their relative had publicly transformed into a living person in the square; in the face of such compelling evidence, they did not allow themselves any criticism of the Church’s actions, and in fact, they even had to be thankful to the Church for proving their innocence.

"Perhaps we should turn our investigation to his circle of friends; I have heard he had only returned for a week’s time. If he is the source of contamination, then the scope of contamination over that week does not seem extensive," the old mage said to Malin, not issuing orders over Malin’s head, but rather in an inquisitive manner.

Malin smiled, "According to the confirmation from the harbormaster, Mr. Julian Gungel arrived back home a week ago aboard the regular north-to-south vessel ’Carterburg’. I have had the Proxy use fast communication channels to alert the ship’s port of origin and the cities along the way to monitor for recent contamination incidents that may be related. His social connections in the North will have to be handled by the local Church, while we need to confirm one thing."

"What thing?" the young mage diligently played his supporting role.

"During previous questioning, we confirmed the whereabouts of Julian’s wife and children, and the Justice Maiden has already taken people there, so we should not worry too much," Malin stood in front of the others, spreading his hands, "But aside from their home, to my knowledge, they own a manor outside the city... so, let’s call in some reinforcements."

.........

Reinforcements arrived quickly, so promptly that Malin himself was somewhat surprised. However, upon seeing the representative of the Church of the God of Justice, Malin felt somewhat reassured—it was that white-bearded half-elf who looked quite old but seemed to have a vitality that rivaled that of younger people, and he even gave Malin a smile.

"Your Excellency, I still don’t know your name," Malin said, smiling as he paid his respects to his elder.

"Marian, I have a Thainan grandfather," the half-elf old man replied with a smile.

"Thank you for your presence, Marian,"

"It’s nothing, lad, to be honest, I indeed want to see how your mentor Hoffman’s little apprentice performs," the old man said.

"Then please, take a look," Malin nodded with a smile to the white-bearded man and then turned to gesture politely to the white-haired elder, "Charles of the Church of the War God, let us go have a look together."

"Sure, I, like Marian, also want to see what Hoffman’s little apprentice has to offer," said the white-haired elder from the Church of the War God, who was accompanied by several apprentices, as he glanced at the young mage. While the Proxies were calling for a carriage, he asked Malin, "Hoffman’s apprentice, tell me, what do you make of this matter?"

"Charles, what’s the point of asking a ten-year-old boy such a question?" Marian interjected, turning to look at his contemporary: "He’s still just a child who’s never seen blood."

But the white-haired elder shook his head, "If he were someone else’s apprentice, then I would indeed be putting him on the spot, but he’s Hoffman’s little apprentice. The apprentices taught by that old fox can’t be viewed as simple children," then he turned to Malin, "Come on, give us your view."

Malin thought for a moment; the white-haired elder must have had some minor grievances with his mentor, but these issues didn’t seem to be major feuds. Therefore, wanting to test him, Malin didn’t wish to disgrace himself or his mentor: "I think that man appears more like an infected individual."

Yes, an infected individual and not the source of infection.

The source was the origin of a different kind transformation event, typically someone who worshiped an Evil God, but it was also possible for someone to unintentionally become the source by obtaining a beacon (some sort of object) of the Evil God. Failing to eliminate it, the source would infect anyone it came into contact with, which is why such transformation events could become so severe, with up to half the populace of a city turning into puppets of a different kind at its worst.

Such cases were not uncommon in history; during the Middle Ages, there were situations where, due to uncontrollable circumstances, cities had to be slaughtered to end the calamity.

As for the modern era... efficiency has simply improved.

```

"Oh." The white-bearded Charles didn’t speak, it was the elderly Marian who opened his mouth, "Why do you think so?"

"The intelligence reports say he returned to his hometown a week ago. Let’s make an assumption, if he is the source of infection, why would he do nothing for a week and then show up at the clinic during the third day of the harvest festival without bringing anything? This can hardly be considered an attack, but rather a standard suicidal action. I’ve put myself in their shoes, the books say that different kinds of infection sources become exceptionally cunning. Therefore, any infection source with even a shred of rationality shouldn’t and wouldn’t do this." Malin looked at the two old men and continued, "So, I think this man is just an unfortunate soul who was infected without his knowledge. He was too close to the infection source, and within just a week became like this. He said he often has nightmares, so, I have a bold hypothesis, but it needs support from the intelligence."

At this point, Malin looked up at the two elders, "I want to know, how many children does Julian Gungel have, and how old are they?"

The elderly men exchanged glances, then Charles replied with a smile, "Julian Gungel has three children. His eldest son is twenty-four years old, serving in the military in the North, his second son is twenty-two, discovered to have a talent for spell formations at sixteen and has been working at the Church of the God of Commerce in Birmingham City in the North since the year before last. His third child is a daughter, currently..." The white-bearded man paused, and the elderly man continued, "The third daughter, Mariana Gungel, is studying at the Anna Faris Arts Academy in the west part of the city. Charles, Lynch, we need to gather more manpower."

The old mage known as Lynch nodded, "I had better summon my Punisher squad. If we are to investigate the Anna Faris Arts Academy, the few of us right now are certainly not enough."

"Yes, although I’m more inclined to believe there’s something wrong with his wife, this youngster’s hypothesis isn’t incorrect either. If it were his wife, we wouldn’t have needed a week," the elderly man said, snapping his fingers. A Priest from the Church of the War God approached, "Your Excellency, your orders."

"Go back to the Church, assemble all the resting Proxies and Punishers, inform the guilds to send some manpower, then lead them to the Anna Faris Arts Academy in the west of the city. We need a large-scale sweep and discrimination operation. Report my decision to the Archbishop in the Carterburg and Stardent City region, we are in trouble," Marian instructed his Proxy.

"Yes, Your Excellency, I’ll go at once," the Priest said and then mounted a nearby horse—in this world, horses were still excellent personal carriers, at least they were cheaper than motorcycles powered by spiritual energy crystals and easier to maintain.

"Your Excellencies, the carriage has arrived," the young Mage sitting beside the carriage said, appearing at the street corner alongside the vehicle.

Malin tilted his neck.

Finally seeing the problem with the high-seated individual—fuzzy ears tucked behind the head.

Malin raised his hand and snapped his fingers; the waiting Proxy came over with a smile, "Malin, what is it?"

"Go to the port district, tell our dear Justice Maiden that we’ll meet in front of the gates of Anna Faris Arts Academy..."

"Let’s go, my old friend," Marian patted his friend’s shoulder, "Hoffman is really fortunate, isn’t he?"

"Yes," the white-bearded old man said, stretching out his hand to ruffle Malin’s head, "I’ve not out-argued him once in my life."

Not out of anger, nor underhanded tactics, just pure affection of an elder for a junior.

...........

After checking the port district inside out, the Justice Maiden found no sign of infection—no unfortunate souls infested. According to the information gathered by the port authority, Mr. Julian Gungel left immediately after the inspection, so fast that the Justice Maiden couldn’t even confirm the residual chaotic energy.

This only confirmed that Mr. Julian arrived in haste, and departed just as quickly, without spending an extra second here.

"It looks like he left quickly to see his family as soon as possible," the Justice Maiden said, looking towards the city, sensing spiritual energy fluctuations from afar, "It’s a friendly messenger." She stood in the middle of the street, watching as a rider appeared swiftly and circled in front of her, "Your Excellency! I bring news from Lord Malin! Meet at the gates of Anna Faris Arts Academy!"

"Anna Faris Arts Academy... what does it mean?" she pondered after the messenger had left.

But she was never meant to have the answer.

And she did not need one.

"Lord Malin requires us; surely he doesn’t expect us, the apostles of the God of Justice, to act as live models for those incompetents," the Justice Maiden said with a smile, snapping her fingers. The church’s ready carriage immediately started moving, with the Paladins already aboard. She jumped onto the carriage as it passed her by.

"To Anna Faris Arts Academy!"

Seated at the driver’s seat, the Justice Maiden crossed her arms over her chest.

"I hope for a battle filled with glory."

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