Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 500 - Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven: Imagined South with Beaches and Sunshine (Part Three)

Chapter 500: Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven: Imagined South with Beaches and Sunshine (Part Three)

"Madam, welcome to Carterburg."

The mayor of Carterburg lowered his head, facing a great noble from The Capital. As a commoner, it was only right for him to offer his respect to his superior.

The latter gave the new train station a rather haughty glance and nodded slightly, "Mr. Mayor, your city is quite wealthy."

That comment somewhat pleased the mayor, and it made him once again admire the foresight of Sir Malin—’Trust me, Mr. Mayor, a splendid train station is far more appealing than a small, open-air waiting platform.’

Indeed, since the completion of the new train station, every noble visitor had been attracted by it.

Some powerful Transcendents even took the steam train, which was very slow for them, all the way from distant lands.

This was the wife of an Earl from the commercial guild’s headquarters in Sydney, and her visit today seemed to be about more than just investing—she appeared to be carrying out some mysterious task.

Perhaps the war between merchants was just beginning.

Thinking this, the mayor lowered his head even more—it was beyond his sphere of influence now. Better to let Sir Malin deal with her.

Outside the station, a motorcade awaited the lady and her entourage. The large locomotives were steam-powered; although slow, they were sightseeing vehicles that didn’t need high speed. In other places, steam power might feel hot, but in Carterburg, where it could snow even in summer, the heat from the steam engines’ exhaust vents on the sides of the vehicles actually provided warmth to the passengers.

The lady from The Capital seemed quite satisfied, and of course, she didn’t inquire about the cost of the vehicle—given her perspective as a merchant, she should understand that it was more suitable for use in colder regions, and in The Capital’s summer sun, the vehicle would teach any occupant the meaning of true warmth.

As the motorcade made its way towards the Central District, Mr. Mayor glanced at his pocket watch.

Although Sir Malin had said he would definitely make it, the mayor still felt a twinge of worry—not that Sir Malin wouldn’t arrive on time, but that he might have encountered some unexpected situation.

......

It had been almost a week, and Malin looked at his hopeless reflection in the mirror—the same cute appearance with no killing power (physical) as the days before, which made Malin extremely embarrassed. He had agreed to support Mr. Mayor today, and with this cute transformation, what if some love-struck fool decided to challenge Malin to a duel of love? How was he to cover the City Hall with the foolish challenger’s defeat?

He might as well use the Hammer. The Hammer made from the sapling of the World Tree would be just right to educate those fools; whether they lived or died wasn’t up to Malin to decide—if destined to be smashed to smithereens, then so be it.

Thinking this, Malin took the leather jacket Jessica had picked out for him—it was the usual style, the outer layer made from the most handy and useful Earth Dragon scales that came second only to Legendary items, lined with a comfortable cotton fabric on the inside.

Malin put it on and turned to look at Jessica, the wolf girl. She curiously lowered her head to observe Malin, "What is it?"

"It feels like Jessica has grown up a lot," Malin said while taking the pocket watch she handed to him and attached one end of the watch chain to the safety buckle inside his waistcoat, then placed the pocket watch into the small pocket on the outside.

"I feel so old already," Jessica sighed.

"Not at all. The Jessica now is my favorite version," Malin said with a smile as he reached out and took Jessica’s hand.

The wolf girl’s face flushed a rosy red, and she nearly scampered away with a ’woof.’

From the other side of the carriage, Faye’s voice called out, and Malin smiled as he took Jessica’s hand and walked out of the dressing room.

"Ah, Mr. Malin really looks good in anything," Clovis commented, still wearing her mage robes—mages are like that, throwing Fireballs at Chaos in their mage robes, attending banquets in mage robes, only just short of sleeping in them.

However, Clovis’s white fur seemed denser today. This thickness had begun two days ago; Malin had especially checked her, ultimately confirming it was bloodline purification, which made Clovis very happy—she never thought it would happen to her based on her own views, but reality indicated that she had a different Fate.

"Of course, I’m your most handsome Mister Malin," Malin said with a smile, hugging Clovis before noticing the faint scent on her.

Hmm, Clovis is still aromatic today.

Lillim was dressed more formally today—though, as usual, in masculine attire, and her beautiful horns were still waxed by Malin himself.

The little lamb girl hugged Malin, "I thought Jessica had eaten you up."

"My dear, I think you’ve got it wrong about who is eating whom," Malin replied with a laugh and kissed Lillim, then turned to his sister, "Maya, you’re dressed nicely today."

"Lillim helped me choose," said Maya, clad in a leather coat and skirt, maintaining her usual expressionless face—she had a natural aversion to skirts, which baffled Malin.

But if she hated it, she hated it, "Don’t worry, we’re just going to have a meal and chat, we’ll be back soon."

"Mhm, if it’s for my brother, I wouldn’t mind," the little leopard almost melted Malin with her words.

Malin hugged his sister happily, then noticed that the little leopard had grown a bit taller.

Well, that makes sense, given her lineage, adult Panso feline women should be around one meter eighty tall.

Another long-legged beauty, with a tail like a scarf and far more beautiful naturally curly hair than Jessica—simply perfect.

"My dear, you go ahead, we’ll come a little later," Faye said, as she opened a teleportation portal for Malin.

Malin, who was in the midst of teasing Matilda’s nose, nodded at her words, and approached Faye, "Dress warmly before you come over, I’ll guide you with the coordinates."

"Everything is in your hands, my dear."

"Leave it to me."

Having said that, Malin dived into the teleportation portal.

..........

Lady Anna looked at her old friend, who was in deep thought.

So, she turned her gaze to Lena, her Head Maid, who shook her head, "Madam, our operation has failed once again."

The maid, having completed the interrogation, discarded her prisoner.

"It’s not these guys who want to assassinate the miss, I suspect, a mighty power is interfering with us."

"I know... Damn it, we must find out who truly manipulated Lisa."

At this, Anna looked again towards her old friend, who finally raised her head—the dark-skinned elf shook her head, "I’ve got nothing."

Having said that, the soul in front of her turned to ashes.