Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 56: Fifty-One: A Warm Home

Chapter 56: Fifty-One: A Warm Home

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Stepping out of the big room, Malin heard some faint noises and turned his head, only to see a small squirrel in the bushes.

Wait a minute, wasn’t this squirrel the pet of that half-human?

Malin walked over, and the squirrel, upon seeing him, immediately puffed up its fur, but it seemed to be injured and could only move with its two front legs, so Malin picked it up.

"What’s that?" asked old Hoffman, the mentor, who had stopped in his tracks when he saw the little animal in Malin’s hands. As an experienced elder, he immediately recognized it as a spirit: "A spirit, Malin, kill it."

"No, this is the pet of the half-human apprentice, it no longer has an owner." Having said that, Malin healed the squirrel’s wounds with the healing spell from the Blessing Spell Formation.

Having been healed, the squirrel stopped its aggressive gestures, and seemed to finally recognize Malin—the stranger who had once spoken with its owner.

The spirit’s intelligence, far superior to that of regular animals, made it stay quiet; Malin did not know why it had survived, because if spirits choose an owner, they will fight for them to the very last moment.

Perhaps it was thrown out of the house by the half-human.

With that thought, Malin put it down: "Go on, your owner is dead. Return to the wild and live well," he said, then prepared to walk towards the carriage but noticed the small squirrel lowering its head. It looked towards the mansion, which was being sealed off by the Punishers.

Malin stopped in his tracks as thunder rumbled in the distance; there were sometimes afternoon showers in the autumn at the fortress of Carsti.

Looking at the little spirit, Malin finally whistled at it.

When it looked up at him, Malin smiled: "Come with me."

The squirrel shook its head in a very human-like manner and then without looking back, chose to jump onto a nearby tree and vanished into the foliage.

Malin shook his head and returned to the carriage where old Hoffman opened the door for him: "Little animal spirit, even if it once had an owner, it is still a spirit. Do not expect it to show loyalty to others. If you have the chance in the future, I can help you look for a magic pet at the Mage Tower."

"Thank you, mentor."

"No need to be polite with me, child. When I think about how all the apprentices of the Church of the War God from level eight died, and you, a little apprentice from level ten, survived, even purified by a spirit turned girl, I feel you’ve already made me proud," said old Hoffman as he pointed to the carriage. "Aren’t you going to get in?"

"No, mentor, I feel like walking."

"Alright then, here, take the umbrella. Every one of us has to face many choices from birth to death, and each one of us has to pay the price for our choices... Take care on your way. I still need to send people to look for that missing second son, don’t want to add your name to the list of the missing." After saying this, old Hoffman settled into the carriage.

The caravan left the large residence, and Malin walked on the sidewalk, his mind occupied by Sara’s final actions.

All because of a message that wasn’t delivered, these young people in their prime had all died. This world verified everyone’s fate with life or death, which made Malin very uncomfortable.

Because he found that the world was so dangerous, never before like today had something spurred Malin to become stronger.

He had to become stronger, as strong as possible, because he wanted to save himself and others, whether it’s Maya or Faye, they were his friends and family in this world, and he did not want to lose these hard-won relations.

The thunder sounded again, and the rain began to fall; Malin walked with his umbrella on the street that became less and less crowded due to the rain,

After walking for a while and feeling there was no place to go, Malin decided to return to the Church and ask his sister for some roasted meat. With the rain today, there wouldn’t be any night bonfires.

So he turned the corner of the street, just in time to see a few police carriages and a bunch of officers carrying something out of an alley.

Out of curiosity, Malin walked over.

He was then recognized by an officer who noticed his church robe and cloak: "Your Excellency, are you from the Harvest Church?"

"Yes, is there something wrong?" Seeing the middle-aged man make a gesture of blessing that a devout believer should, Malin also made one: "What is it, parishioner?"

"It’s like this, we’ve just carried out a deceased from the alley, and according to a colleague at the other end of the road, he’s from your Church."

Malin was stunned for a moment, then instinctively felt that there couldn’t be so many coincidences in the world, until he saw the pale face of Domingo’s family’s second son.

How could all such unfortunate incidents fall on him?

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No longer feeling like walking back, Malin followed the police officers back to the Church. Upon entering the hall, he heard the old Bishop of the Church of the War God and old Hoffman arguing.

On seeing Malin enter, old Hoffman gave a wry smile and shook his head: "Didn’t you say you wanted to take a walk? You’re back early."

"It’s this kid! I gave a team of apprentices to him! They all died but he’s fine! What are you hiding, you old thing?" The old Bishop exploded with rage on seeing Malin: "Subject him to a divine detection!"

"I’ve found the second son of the Domingo family. He died in an alley under police control. Mentor, do you need to see the police officers?" Malin didn’t take the old man’s warning as a threat at all.

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"Look, I’ve had someone die on my end too. He was the second son of the Earl, and with no children from his older brother, if the brother dies, it’s his turn to take that seat. I believe he wouldn’t fall short even when compared to the Prince’s seventeenth daughter."

This statement made sense—after all, no matter how you stretched it, the Prince’s seventeenth daughter couldn’t compare to the real power held by the second son of an Earl, who would be the first in line to inherit, should his older brother pass away.

Consequently, the Bishop from the Church of the War God stopped arguing, and after listening to the police report, he became worried about a different issue—who had killed his second son.

But before they had come up with any rationale, new information arrived: the eldest son of the Domingo family had just been assassinated in the street. The assassin was very skilled, using the crowd as cover and striking from below the victim’s waist; they separated with a single strike. The eldest son clutched at his wound for a long time without uttering a word. It seemed he had been struck in the lung, thus without uttering a single word, he died right there on the street.

So, the old men completely ceased their previous war of words and began bickering over who should take charge of this series of murders—the eldest son of the Domingo family was a follower of the Church of the War God, while his brother was a Proxy of the Harvest Church. Both sides had their own strong opinions about the matter and soon seemed ready to come to blows.

But all of this had truly nothing to do with Malin. He patted his leg and prepared to return to his room to find Maya.

"Where are you going?!" both old Hoffman and the Bishop shouted in unison.

"To rest," Malin turned and answered.

So the two elderly men immediately turned and started arguing again, but this time the topic was different.

"I’m calling my apprentice, what’s it to you?!"

"What’s wrong with calling? Such an apprentice would be pearls cast before the swine at your Harvest Church!"

"Get lost!"

Malin really didn’t want to see the two dignified old men cursing in the street like fishwives.

......

In the small district behind the Church, Malin had rented a small room to reside in with his sister Maya while their foster father was out working. So today, when he pushed open the door, he saw Maya and Faye working by the grill.

Seeing Malin return, the two girls beamed delightedly: "Welcome back! Did your work go smoothly today?"

Malin thought for a moment—well, he had chopped up some Chaos, a zombie bride, among some other unlucky wretches: "It was alright."

His words seemed slightly insincere. Maya didn’t notice, but Faye pursed her lips and handed over the skewers she was holding to Maya, then walked over: "Malin, what’s wrong?"

"Some peers that I had just gotten to know died, some... indescribable feelings." In front of the clever Faye, Malin didn’t even pretend to tell lies that would seem absurd in daylight; he simply spoke about the whole matter calmly.

Faye smiled, reaching out to hug Malin from behind.

"Don’t be afraid, I’ll always love you."

"Knock it off; if you turned into a zombie bride, your parents would have my head. So, for everyone’s sake, I will definitely protect you," Malin said, laughing as he held her hand.

"I would never turn into such a monster," Sara huffed, then released her hand: "It’s raining today, so no plans for the evening. What would you like to eat, Malin? Maya and I will make it for you." The girl smiled warmly at Malin after speaking, a smile that made him very happy and all the more intent on protecting the girl in front of him.

"I’d like some grilled meat; let’s have that for dinner tonight," Malin took off his jacket, hung it on the rack, and then entered the kitchen to watch the girls: "I’ll help."

"That would be great." Maya was very happy, then came next to Malin: "Brother, let’s go dancing again tomorrow."

"No problem, dear sister," Malin said with a smile, reaching out to pat Maya on the head.

At that moment, Malin even had a small wish that this moment could last forever.

But... every day is a new day, and each day is beautiful for him and the two girls.

That is the most wonderful choice, indeed.

Thinking this, Malin noticed the blushing smile on Faye’s face. He reached out and touched the girl’s forehead, only to find she wasn’t running a fever like he had thought.

"What’s wrong? I thought you were sick."

"Nothing, just happy to see you’ve come back safe. Now the romantic drama between Mr. Sherlock and Miss Jane Moriarty can continue," she said excitedly.

This made Malin pause, then he shook his head with a smile: "Don’t worry, Faye, the novel we’re writing will go on."

She sure is an interesting girl.

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