Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 611: Section 425: Roman Holiday (Part 3)_2

Chapter 611: Section 425: Roman Holiday (Part 3)_2

There was no girl, only a harpy’s rotten, foul-smelling husk. A burst of sacred spiritual energy set the husk ablaze, and Malin turned to walk towards the farmhouse.

"Why did you kill me?"

Would it never end.

Malin frowned and, drawing his gun, turned around, only to see the young girl from his past charging at him.

"Malin, why did you kill me? We haven’t seen each other for so long."

She let out a wail.

Malin pulled the trigger, erasing the harpy’s last vestige of thought from this planet.

Hmph, what a waste, only capable of tempting its victims with illusions.

Malin turned and went back to the farmhouse where the girls and several assistant priests had seen his fight. The assistant priests praised Malin excessively, proclaiming that it was no wonder that Sir Malin, who had won legendary battles, could maintain a clear mind amidst a harpy’s temptation.

Anyway, they flattered so much that Malin had no choice but to return a few compliments.

Then, he opened the door late in the night and took his girls back to the palace.

Matilda was the first girl to run over. She expressed her doubts about Malin returning so early: "Was that harpy very difficult to deal with?"

"Not at all, it’s already been killed." Rewo, as an eyewitness, immediately refuted Matilda’s doubts.

"That fast? But that was a Nightwalker Banshee, right?" Matilda’s eyes widened. "That’s an entity powerful enough to equal a fourth or even third-tier being."

"Yes, it started off with psychological control and illusion techniques, but Malin wasn’t swayed." Lillim sighed as she said this, "Speaking of which, seeing two Malins about to embrace was a bit hair-raising."

"I felt that way too, but isn’t Malin immune to illusions? So I think the harpy should have been one of the easiest opponents for him." Clovis appeared energetic, "Today we got an essence from a Nightwalker Banshee, and none of us need it. Later I’ll ask the sisters what materials they lack and I’ll go to the Mage Tower to exchange for it."

"That’s a good idea. I, as a Paladin, don’t need it. Ask Nuo!" Before Matilda could finish, she was lifted up by Malin, "Let’s go, ladies, the night is deep."

"What time is it, anyway?" Rewo glanced at his pocket watch, only to be taken by the hand by Clovis, "When Malin says the night is deep, it means it’s deep. Don’t argue, no rebuttal accepted."

"But we are Mages." Rewo was curious.

"Mages seek the truth but never blindly follow it." Clovis replied like this.

Malin was satisfied with this statement, "Rewo, do you understand now?"

"I don’t understand." Rewo was still puzzled.

"Let me put it another way, it’s time to sleep." Malin turned his head.

"Understood." Rewo nodded.

So it goes, in this world there’s no understand or don’t understand, it’s all about communication problems.

......

The story of how Malin quickly dispatched a Nightwalker Banshee spread like wildfire through Rongma and the surrounding regions. Because it was endorsed by the Church and the girls had an essence for sale, the news was highly credible. Some families in need of the essence began to contact Clovis as a representative for the trade.

This was a right granted to Clovis by Faye; she would be in charge of such common trades. If there were larger transactions, they would still require the joint approval of Faye and Nova.

Clovis now had three types of transactions. The first was to exchange an essence of life for Lillim, generally dropped by high-tier spirits. They were abundant, but so was demand (every medicine needed it), making them quite valuable. Perhaps even with some additional money offered. Of course, this was a trivial matter for Malin who gave money for Bunny Girl to handle it herself.

The second type of transaction was to exchange for a vial of Winter Wolf Blood for Jessica. This substance could only be found in the spirits of the Winter Wolf from the Extreme North, where temperatures are perpetually below -50 degrees Celsius. It was even rarer than the banshee’s essence, and money might need to be added to the offer. But money was not an object, and if necessary, Malin would accompany Jessica to the Extreme North to hunt Winter Wolves, so there was no need to worry.

The last method of trade involved helping Rewo to exchange for some troll blood—this stuff is even more fantastical, as trolls are beings from an outer plane. The girls all agreed that it’d be best to go through an agent with the surname Kay, especially if the other party took interest in banshee essence; that would be ideal.

Of course, those families didn’t have any, so the trade didn’t go through. However, goodwill remained, and both parties agreed that if materials became available in the future, they would inform each other first.

By noon, news arrived from the Tovan family regarding Shibern; the widow had visited Market Street, but the people tailing her had not seen her make contact with anyone.

Malin thought for a while and decided to visit Shibern himself. This time, Malin would be accompanied by Nova and Jessica. He inspected a pair of gnomes following them and found they exhibited signs of having been under a spell—usually this indicated many possibilities, as a Healing Spell was a spell after all. But in the past week, they hadn’t been harmed by any spells nor received healing, confirming that they must have undergone a spell within the last two days.

Thus, the only possibility was that they had been affected by illusion magic.

Illusion and memory manipulation are two different things: one deceives the target’s vision, making the impossible seem real, and the other rewrites and erases true memories that are already known. Although they are different processes, they lead to similar outcomes because at their core lies deception.

"It seems the one she met with must be a very professional illusionist. It looks like it’s time for a specialist like me, who can see through illusions, to step in," Malin turned around and addressed his girls.

"You really do love uncovering the truth, don’t you?" Nova sighed somewhat helplessly.

And Jessica, smiling, patted Nova on the waist: "After all, he is the child of the Seeker."

Speaking of the Seeker, Malin’s foster father had returned to civilization, and the Church in the Eastern Kingdom had sent word that he’d been confirmed as a Seeker. It was a difficult advancement, and as for how it was achieved, Malin didn’t know; he might have to wait for his father’s return to find out.

The girls had their say, and Malin had no objections. After informing Shibern of the next steps in the tracking, Malin had Shibern follow a few more homebuyers, outwardly expressing a desire to understand their sources of revenue—in case the illusionist had noticed those tailing him, Malin chose to disguise his true intentions.

Then, when the girl next left her home, Shibern would crush a hollow fruit given to him by Malin. Fio on the side of the World Tree Sapling would receive the signal instantly and immediately inform Malin.

This time, Malin planned to meet the illusionist in person.

Once this affair was settled, Malin, together with the girls, opened a teleportation passage and headed straight to the Moriti family’s territory.

Dommi Greenleaf Moriti was gravely ill.

It seemed that the old woman had finally reached the end of her life. Before Malin and the others arrived, she had already fallen into a coma and repeatedly called out her husband’s name and the names of her children who had died young.

As the Queen, Nova naturally came to visit.

In this place, Malin also met Uncle Richie, whose children Malin had already sent back along with a potion.

"Good to see you, Sir Malin. Life is truly strange; when I see you again, I find myself needing to pay you my respects."

"No need for that, Uncle Richie. How is your mother doing?"

"Very poorly. The battles of her early years brought her much pain. That she could strive for the family until now is already a miracle."

"...Will your family split up?"

"Yes and no. The children of the eldest brother will inherit the family, while children of our generation will gradually separate out. People like Dochi... after reaching adulthood, they must leave the family and live independently."

"Children eventually grow up. They will learn to face the world on their own," Malin consoled.

Just as Richie was about to respond, he and Malin heard crying coming from the inner residence.

Richie rushed through the door, pushing past the guards, who surprisingly did not stop him at this moment.

Malin, however, did not follow inside.

Another era of a person’s life had come to a close.

There were still people to cry for her... How wonderful.