Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 564 - 386: Helping Out (1)

Chapter 564: Chapter 386: Helping Out (1)

"Why should I care," the young man said, after glancing at his pocket watch, and then he headed towards the train. "Look, the chap from the Holy Kingdom, you don’t even need to sniff him out, just looking at the black clothes on him, you should’ve known he’s one of the Church’s hounds," murmured the half-human companion.

"You sure have a lot to say, as if you’ve got a death wish," the half-human shot him a glance—considering the Farol Principality a kingdom when in actuality, it could never outmatch the Sydney Union. Within the Union, the Church of Justice’s Holy Wasteland, Holy Kingdom, and Eastern Kingdom were struggling to survive; if even the kingdoms found life so hard, then surely the commoners understood all too well how to survive. Moreover, this man looked like he was from the Holy Church of the Holy Kingdom; since he was a hound, he surely possessed some sort of ability, killing a gnome or half-human would probably be as easy as lifting a finger for him.

Then, they saw the young man reach out and hold the hand of the girl who was stepping off the train.

"Oh my God." The half-human’s eyes widened—that was a perfect girl, wearing the distinctive service dress of the Holy Kingdom— unlike the countries to the southwest, female attire in the Holy Kingdom tended to be more conservative. For a girl like her to deliberately show her wrists with enlarged sleeves, her neck with a collar, and her smile beneath a veil, she was already a very open representation.

"My Luna is as adorable today as ever, truly worthy of being my Luna."

"Please, show some restraint." The girl lifted her eyebrows, her red lips slightly parted, but unfortunately, she wasn’t able to spit out a word. Otherwise, the half-human felt his youth would have returned.

He stood, spellbound, watching them until they vanished up the platform stairs leading to the city, until his friend smacked him on the head, "You’re the one with a death wish, man!"

"Damn it! She’s so beautiful! Why can’t I look at her a bit longer!"

While the two of them were embroiled in their argument, another girl got off the train, dressed in a black short-style knee-length clerical robe, carrying a pretty round leather bag, and wearing short boots made of mountain goat skin that wrapped around the owner’s black stockings. She was leading a small dog with big droopy ears, which, upon touching the ground, seemed eager to rush towards the familiar girl.

"Faye, my dear friend, long time no see."

"Long time no see, Lulu." The appropriately dressed Faye embraced her friend.

"I heard you’ve got yourself a marriage proposal, and it seems to have something to do with Nova from Farole, right?"

"Yes, that’s right. If you want, I could introduce you as well."

"Ugh, men, no thanks," said the girl. She then noticed her little dog hiding behind her, "What’s wrong with this silly dog, ah, an eagle... Your pet?"

Watching Salis land on Faye’s shoulder, the girl keenly sensed that there was an issue—spirits, legendary creatures. The top student from the Holy Church turned to her friend, hoping for an explanation.

"It’s Malin’s pet. He sent it with a message; he’s joining an operation in the north of Switzerland."

"Switzerland? The North?" The girl’s confusion grew. She looked at her friend, eager to know what had happened to her in the past years, "What place is Switzerland?"

"Ah, it’s like this. Isn’t there a Dark Zone between Farol to the north and the Sydney Union? Recently, through our scholarly efforts, we’ve discovered that this place was called Switzerland before the Great Holocaust," Faye explained with a smile.

"Wow, that’s impressive, being able to uncover such information." The girl named Lulu exclaimed in surprise—she remembered that identifying names of places from before the Great Holocaust was rare, like Farol Principality, where the only credible place name identified was Naples, the city under their feet.

"Yes, this time we’re headed to the ruins in the north of Switzerland to scout; we have confirmed the presence of Black Orcs there."

"Black Orcs?! What are those creatures doing there?" Carrying her little dog, Lulu followed Faye towards another exit of the platform—usually a passageway exclusively for nobles. As a princess, Faye naturally had the right to use it.

"They’re probably the remnants chased out of the southern forests of Sydney by the Pioneer Knights back in the day. They established a camp after killing the local zombies. This time, we’ve observed a camp that could house about a thousand Black Orcs, and because it’s close to Carterburg, Mr. Malin made a decisive call to summon his factory guard and combine forces with the church guards to go into battle."

"There you go mentioning your Mr. Malin again. You always look so happy when you talk about him. I’m jealous!" the girl huffed in dissatisfaction.

"Lulu, girls can’t have children with each other," Faye said with a smile as she walked ahead.

"I don’t care! I must meet your Mr. Malin! If he’s ugly, I’ll set you free from him," Lulu said with pride in her voice, and then suddenly changed the topic, "But, do you even allow him to have private armed forces? I heard he isn’t a noble."

"He’s already an assistant priest," Faye responded.

"Assistant priest! Back home, assistant priests are all old men with bushy beards! Faye! You’ve fallen!" Lulu ran a few steps to catch up with Faye, looked at her dear friend, and said, "No! Just thinking about what you do every night... Ah! Damn it! By the sacred heavens! It’s too depraved!"

Lulu looked at her good friend in a frenzy, obviously annoyed, "How can you fall for an old man!"

"What are you thinking? We are just engaged and haven’t done that yet. What’s going on in your head?" Faye replied with a half-smile.

"...You haven’t for so long? Is it that he can’t perform?" Lulu looked genuinely worried.

Then she had her cheeks pinched by her friend, "What nonsense are you spouting?"

.........

Malin was checking how far the Carterburg troops still were when he saw Faye returning in a carriage with her friend—she had gone to meet an old friend from the Church in the Holy Kingdom, a girl.

Accustomed to seeing his girl in familiar attire, she had selected her beige dress with white stockings that accentuated her slender legs—Malin thought the Church really had issues, as the girl following Faye wore a black wide-sleeved short robe, a large hat, round glasses, and black tights with ankle boots layered beneath her robe.

All of this combined with the delicately petite figure of the girl... didn’t the Lord of Holiness have an issue?

"Darling, I’m back. This is my friend I mentioned, Lulu Hagelberry from the National Church of the Holy Kingdom, an observer," Faye said as she came next to Malin, introducing her friend to him.

Malin smiled and extended his hand to the little creature that resembled a groundhog—the very morning, his maternal bloodline awoke once again within his veins, overpowering his father’s lineage.

So, the current Malin stood at six feet one inch tall, with a perfect physique, boasting a six-pack, and he sported a slicked-back haircut, making him a very handsome sight to behold.

"You..." The girl stuttered over about twenty ’yous’, her eyes riveted on Malin, "Are you Mr. Malin?"

"Yes. Faye was very happy when she learned you were coming last night. She said you were her best friend when she was younger. Before heading down to Carterburg, she even thought about seeking you out," Malin said with a smile, while also feeling the softness of the young lady’s hand... Ah, unlike the hands of his other girls, this was a very delicate hand indeed, with a charm of its own.

Withdrawing his hand, Malin made his farewells with the lady—his intelligence officer had returned with news, and he had matters to attend to.

As he left, Malin overheard the girl’s flustered speech, "He’s an assistant priest?! By the gods! Since when did the Church of the Goddess of Harvest have an assistant priest so handsome, so dashing, and so young..."

"Seeing is believing, right?" That was Faye speaking.

"Sure, it’s real, it’s real. I’m the one who has fallen," Lulu conceded.

...This girl really has issues, doesn’t she? With my Faye so close to her, could this be trouble? Malin asked himself before stepping into the side hall.