Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 630: Section 443: Rain (Part 2)

Chapter 630: Section 443: Rain (Part 2)

"I admit I was jealous for a little while."

By the time Malin had used a sapling of the World Tree as an umbrella to shield from the gradually increasing rain, Faye sighed softly by his side.

"I know, you already said you are a jealous woman," Malin said in a calm voice.

Faye fell silent for a moment, then reached out and pinched Malin’s waist.

Malin remained silent, leaving Faye somewhat puzzled: "You usually yelp."

"There are so many people around now, I need to maintain the image of you being a virtuous wife and good mother, because you are my wife," Malin replied with a smile.

Faye laughed, then wrapped her arms around Malin’s neck and sighed with a touch of regret, "I’m starting to understand why everyone says it would be better if you were a bit shorter, Malin. Even on my tiptoes, it’s tiring."

"Actually, you could shrink a little too," Rewo, who was also embracing Malin’s neck, suggested.

"No way, I prefer hugging Malin, not being hugged by Malin." Faye said, releasing Malin’s hand and she stepped into the rain.

"Where are you going?"

"To embrace my sisters; they all did very well today." Turning back to Malin with this reply, Faye strode through the rain to Maya’s side and embraced her warmly.

"I’m starting to envy you, you know, Lord Malin," Shelton remarked, walking up beside Malin.

"If you envy me, does that mean someone else might be jealous of me? After all, I’m not yet a legend," Malin said with a laugh.

"Then I think he can give it a try, I’ll definitely bet on you to win," Shelton laughed after speaking, then patted Malin’s shoulder, "By the way, with the rain so heavy, what if the pyre won’t light up?"

"Let’s opt for an alternate method," Malin suggested with a smile.

So Shelton turned to face the people at the execution ground: "Mr. Malin says, in times of emergency, we may adapt. Let’s change Mr. Domingo’s method of execution, get a gallows ready!"

Leaving these matters to Shelton, Malin placed Rewo onto the self-rolling platform that Fio had assembled, handed her the umbrella transformed by Lorrin, and then walked through the rain to stand before Maya, extending his hand to embrace his dearest beloved: "I’m so happy that my once little sister has truly grown up."

"Mm-hmm, every time I can help brother, I’m very happy, and then my power grows stronger because of it," Maya said with a smile, then looked at her brother, "Becoming a legend, does that mean I can help even more..."

Maya, confused between her brother and Malin, received a comforting touch on her head by Malin who smiled, "Yes, as you grow stronger, you can help me even more." With those words, Malin watched as Nova and the other girls approached.

"I feel like we might not have arrived at the right moment," Jessica said with an awkward smile.

"No, you’ve come at just the right time," Malin responded, then grinned and opened his arms wide to embrace all his girls.

So it’s said, in being human, being tall and having long arms does have its advantages.

.........

Maya became a Legendary Shaman, and though she had no particular thoughts about it herself, the entire Shaman community went almost crazy. Her Divine Master mentors arrived at Brice City that very afternoon, met with Maya, and confirmed her promotion.

Malin had originally thought he’d have to take out one or two Divine Masters who were getting antsy, but none of them made any demands. They simply blessed Maya and then made a hasty retreat.

Well, maybe calling it a hasty retreat is a bit too much, but that was the reality. The Divine Masters didn’t ask for anything; it was as if they had just come to enjoy the spectacle.

Before Malin could make sense of it, there were indeed some fearless souls who came forward with marriage proposals—perhaps thinking Malin was Maya’s brother, a few Earls’ precious sons pretended not to see the collar around Maya’s neck and spoke to Malin about alliance through marriage.

Malin dealt with these death-defying individuals one by one, using the World Tree Sapling to crack open their heads, severely injuring one, lightly injuring three, and one fellow had a bump on his head nearly 10 centimeters thick, yet he could still hop around lively, much to Malin’s regret—who would have thought the guy was actually from a good alignment?

People really can’t be judged by their appearance.

After giving these so-called half-step Legends a beating, Malin used his strength to send a warning to those with fanciful ideas, and had Baron Shelton from House of Brice spread the word, which finally stopped the reckless proposals.

Then, the Duke of Brice and the old man from House Mowish, upon hearing the news, received quite a few discontented remarks—the most common being that Malin was hogging all the benefits for himself.

The Duke of Brice just smiled it off, a smile that Malin understood all too well without the need for interpretation—what’s the use of complaining to me, go ahead if you think you can handle it. If Mr. Malin doesn’t kill you, consider yourself lucky.

As for Mowish, Malin recognized the smile on His Majesty’s face too—yes, that’s right, this little bastard is like a wild boar rampaging through my vegetable garden, and I can’t even complain about my cabbages being uprooted. Who do you think you are? If you’re so capable, go ahead and see who ends up hammered to death.

With nothing to say from the two with the most clout, the spines of others, lacking a backbone, collapsed as they watched the Domingo family sway on the gallows. Losing their courage, they realized they were no match in a fight, and the anti-Malin alliance naturally dissolved the next day, leaving only cousins from the Torogen connection to join Malin for morning tea.

Today, Maya personally prepared the tea, while Malin’s World Tree Sapling acted as both teapot and tea tray, leaving the cousins flattered and astonished—especially when they realized that the very nail hammer that had busted their heads the day before was part of the arrangement.

Aside from this, the members from various Church denominations also had some free time—yesterday’s rain had purified the entire area. According to reports sent back by the Church groups that went to investigate the Chaos camp, the place was now as pristine as a summer campsite just after everyone has left.

The Church groups were delighted and then set the camp ablaze—of course, without changing the landscape and landmarks, this coordinate would always remain in Chaos’s hands, who knows when the second wave of invaders will come.

The one who was most pleased with the absence of pollution was the Duke of Brice—complete Purification meant he wouldn’t have to relocate the downstream villages, wouldn’t have to spend money on water, and more importantly, this Purification would lead to a better harvest next year.

With the death of the Domingo family and the Baron shot by Malin, two Baron titles became vacant. The Duke of Brice rewarded these to Shelton, which solidified Shelton’s status. Shelton didn’t play the fool; he promptly elevated the ranks of the two knights who had shown the most valor in battle.

This move was met with general approval, so there was nothing more to be said.

On Malin’s side, as he was part of the allied forces, there were no rewards due to him, but the Duke of Brice insisted on covering the costs of ammunition and labor for Malin. Malin felt a bit embarrassed, but couldn’t resist accepting the Duke’s genuine offer, so he had the young members from the Church of the God of Commerce draw up an itemized bill for His Grace the Duke.

Looking at the list that had a whole page dedicated to ammunition costs and a series of zeros in the total column, the Duke of Brice skeptically regarded Malin—if it wasn’t for the God of Commerce confirming that Malin had given him a 20 percent discount, he’d have been ready to fight Malin to the death.

Malin thought the Duke really had issues—what good does looking at me do, it was you who insisted on paying, anyway.