Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 613 - 427: Heart as Tough as Iron (Part 1)

Chapter 613: Chapter 427: Heart as Tough as Iron (Part 1)

"I’m probably the first unlucky guy in this era to be beaten up by two princesses at the same time." With a bruised face, Logan held an ice pack to his chin as he complained to Malin and also kept an eye on his Miriam, "I hope they don’t lead my Miriam astray. And speaking of which, it seems like you’ve never been beaten up."

"They can’t beat me." Malin stated bluntly, patting the shoulder of his speechless old friend.

Kid, don’t you get it? Of the two men sitting here, you’re the most punchable one.

"How come I never realized that, you bastard, I’m the only one they can actually beat up."

That’s right, at your level, just four Mages would be enough to give you trouble you couldn’t handle.

While sighing, Malin took out a cigarette and lit it for him, "Seriously though, who’s the boy your cousin has taken a liking to?

"Why are you now asking that?"

"Weren’t there some issues before? So, I want to understand the situation, in case she ends up liking someone she shouldn’t. I should let your family know in advance. If their love is stronger than gold, that’s fine, but if there are problems with her family, then that shouldn’t delay them."

Malin had seen family opposition before, and although the young couple eventually overcame all difficulties and got together, it’s always better to have less trouble.

Especially when the girl’s family seems more dominant; troubles are always more abundant and more headache-inducing. Malin certainly couldn’t let two young people’s happiness cause her family to suffer.

"Then don’t worry, the other party is from a noble family, and the child is their own flesh and blood. Speaking of which, were the ancients really that amazing, being able to... create people?"

"It’s ’make’ people."

While saying this, Malin noticed a pair of young children walking out from the inner courtyard, hand in hand... It was those same children he had once helped.

Watching them leave, Logan turned to Malin, "Are those two kids the troublesome pair you mentioned?"

"Yes, her mother still hates me to this day. She thinks I ruined her daughter, even though her daughter agreed to the blessing ceremony, just like your Miriam."

"You say girls are dominant; let’s not bring my Miriam into this."

"Because among my girls, none are. They can’t beat me."

Grinding his teeth, Logan replied, "Can you stop bringing that up?"

Malin nodded, "Alright then, look, none of my girls are overbearing."

Logan covered his face.

At that moment, Malin noticed a young girl running over to Miriam and elbowed Logan, "Someone is here for your Miriam."

On hearing that, Logan looked anxiously at the girl, "Wait a second, she’s not from our Church, is she?"

"She is from our Church." Malin replied, "The clothes she’s wearing are from our Church."

"But I’ve never seen her before." As he was saying this, Logan turned to Malin, "You graduated only two years ahead of me; you shouldn’t have seen her before either. Look how old she is."

"...That’s true." So, Malin turned and signaled to the Apprentice behind the counter, who hopped over and ran up to him, "Mr. Malin, what’s the matter?"

Look, that’s a true Apprentice, having met Malin and knowing the proper way to address him.

"That girl over there, do you know her?" Malin asked.

"Her? She’s a first-year student." The Apprentice glanced at the young girl and then said with a smile, "You see, you’ve graduated, so it’s normal that you don’t recognize her."

"Alright then... But back to the point, Logan, you don’t recognize her either?"

"Why would I be familiar with a first-year student?" Logan answered, squinting at the girl, "She looks quite old, how did she get in?"

"She’s the eldest daughter of a devout believer family from our Church. Originally, she had no Spell Talent, but two months ago, she awakened it on her own. Professor Ferreiro said this is a very rare case; however, in the last year, our Church has seen over twenty such instances."

"Is it the year of revival?" Logan asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Who knows, the Astrology Tower hasn’t said anything, but I heard that other Churches have also seen similar cases. In rural areas, there might even be more." The Apprentice said this, and he, along with Malin and Logan, heard Professor Aemethselch’s tired voice coming from outside the door.

"Master Quaser, what’s wrong?" Malin turned to look at the travel-stained mentor who, upon seeing Malin, shook his head helplessly, "Malin, we’re in trouble."

Malin turned his head and glanced at Logan, "Did you hear that? We’re in trouble."

Logan scratched his head and asked, "Is it a problem with self-awakeners?"

"Yes." The mentor sat down opposite Malin and took the tea that Malin had poured for him, drinking it down in one gulp, "Two days ago, we heard that strange children had appeared in several northern villages. Considering the high number of self-awakeners recently, we sent out several teams to confirm. Only one of the four children was saved, out of the other three, two were burned to death as Chaos, and one mutated before execution and killed people before running away."

Upon hearing this news, the apprentice gasped in alarm while Logan drew in a sharp breath, "Another one ran away!"

"Yes, there were two children in that village, one was burned to death, and the other, having watched his brother burned alive, mutated afterward, killed the executioner and half the village’s people, and then fled into the wilderness."

"Foolish villagers, foolish actions... and foolish children." Logan appeared somewhat at a loss for how to comment on everything, "Haven’t we in the Church taught the villagers about such things?"

"We have taught them, but the fact is you can’t expect villagers who have spent their entire lives in their home village to be able to discern friend from foe. Indeed, those children with sparks in the palms of their hands might be lucky self-awakeners, but they could also be Chaos infiltrators. Those villagers... will only choose to solve everything in the simplest way," said Master Aemet Selk with a sigh.

Malin fell silent, indeed, the villagers simply didn’t have the capability to discern all this, and if it wasn’t verified quickly, if the child really was Chaos, then a moment’s compassion could lead to a grave mistake, as once Chaos grew to maturity, the whole village would face death and destruction.

So, it was a deadly dilemma: either to kill the innocent indiscriminately or to miss the chance for self-redemption.

Fate was so cruel; the only things Malin saw were plays named ’civilization’ performed on islands called cities.

Outside the city, in places Malin could not see, in those remote areas, knowledge wasn’t as useful as he thought, and because of Chaos, it wasn’t that the Church didn’t want to disseminate knowledge widely, but spreading knowledge on a large scale could attract a certain parrot’s attention.

This time, because Malin had picked out young people from the factory guard to teach knowledge, he had already been discreetly warned by several factions of the Secret Keepers under the God of Knowledge - they knew Malin was also a member of one of the Secret Keeper factions and had the support of the Nameless, but teaching knowledge to too many people was always a very dangerous act.

The danger of those knowledgeable falling into parrothood and becoming a Great Demon far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Malin wasn’t bothered by this (since a parrot couldn’t ’bless’ an illiterate), but he still had to be cautious, as the factions under the God of Knowledge were rife with all sorts of lunatics, and Malin didn’t want these guys constantly coming over to give him trouble.

"What should we do about that child?"

"We must send out a hunting team. I will tell His Excellency the Bishop to let me lead the team." The middle-aged man said this and Malin patted the tea table, "Let me do it."

"Why should you do it, are you stupid? Although it’s a target that has already mutated, it just happened recently, and there might still be a bit of humanity left in him. And everyone in the world knows how much you love children... why are you asking for trouble?"

"Precisely because I love children, that’s why I have decided to find him myself; I will purify him." Malin looked at the middle-aged man from the Quamer family, "Master Aemet Selk, trust me, I will purify him."

"Of course, I trust you, Malin, but... can you really do it?"

"I can, trust me."

After finishing his word, Malin stood up and turned to look at his girls, "Clovis, Maya, Nova, come with me to meet with His Excellency the Bishop."

The three mentioned by Malin followed him into the inner hall, and Master Aemet Selk with Logan also followed.

The Bishop of the Church was watching the training of the second-year apprentices when he heard about the incident, he looked at Malin with great concern, "This mission, if you take it on, won’t it be too cruel for you?"

"Everyone must face their own responsibilities. I am the High Priest in red, and it’s only proper that this task falls to me, so I will lead the team to the site and start the hunt. I need a team of Punishers who are familiar with the local area."

"No problem, Malin, I will assign the best squad of Punishers to assist you."

"Thanks, Your Excellency."

"Don’t thank me, Malin, be careful on your way... and if it really comes to it, don’t force yourself. If you can’t bring yourself to do it, the Punishers will handle it for you," Mr. Bishop added with worry in his eyes.

Malin knew this was the old man’s kindness, so he nodded with a smile, "Thank you, no need to worry about me."

Don’t worry about me, I have seen the incubation chambers filled to the center of an empty space, seen too many children without memories, without knowledge, and who never opened their eyes to see this world.

My heart has long been as hard as iron.