Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 762: Section 518: Scenery of Light (Part 3)

Chapter 762: Section 518: Scenery of Light (Part 3)

......

The new mayor of Waldin Town watched the struggling refugee caravan and felt an indescribable sense of desolation — in the chaotic attack on Waldin Town this morning, his father, the former mayor Elder Hawk, and the captain of the Town Guard had both died. After a hard fight against the necrotic corpses, the remaining elders and the deputy captain of the guard decided to burn the town and flee.

Firstly, with these chaotic necrotic corpses attacking, there would undoubtedly be Nagoth war parties following them. By then, it would be impossible to inhabit the town as the corruption from the corpses would definitely contaminate it. Rather than return and burn the town, it would be better to set it ablaze while they were leaving.

So the young Sudel, son of Elder Hawk, was elected as the new mayor — after all, he had apprenticed at the Church in Copenhagen, mastering a Healing Spell. At this moment of widespread panic, no one could provide more reassurance than young Sudel.

Sudel didn’t know what to do — he had never been taught how to lead thousands of townsfolk in escape during his apprenticeship. In this biting blizzard, he had no idea how many would die on the road... but he knew if they didn’t run, everyone would die in the pursuit of the Nagoth Chaos war party.

Sudel no longer hoped he could survive because the townspeople were moving too slowly; they were bound to be caught up by the Chaos war party.

If they were to die anyway, then they should die in pursuit of life. If a war party really did pursue them, Sudel would stay behind with the remaining elders and guards. He had already chosen his successor — his cousin Rhodes, a young man who had just returned from the Church to the town to prepare for the Yule Festival, but had run into this disaster. He was an unlucky lad, and Sudel hoped he could lead everyone to safety.

As he was thinking this, Sudel heard a commotion from the back of the line.

They’re here!

The young mayor fastened his helmet onto his head, drew his family’s Longsword, and led the guards towards the rear: "Quick! Move quickly! Rhodes, where are you!"

"I’m here, Cousin!" Rhodes’s sobbing came from behind Sudel.

"Lead them away! Don’t look back... Damn it, are my eyes deceiving me?" Sudel’s solemn decision about the afterlife was interrupted by the sight before him — a massive Wild Boar Sprite appeared in the snowstorm... Wasn’t that His Majesty? The most fearsome Legendary Sprite of the southern Copenhagen!

In the Copenhagen area, it was the nightmare of all farmers, possessing immense strength and a natural resistance to Spell damage, which made it nearly invincible — those who could defeat it couldn’t catch it, while those who couldn’t defeat it had no chance even if they could.

But today, it was as tame as a child, and atop its back sat a not-so-large child. At his waist, a tiny creature was casting the light of a Spell Formation, visibly accelerating the townspeople’s pace. Amidst the townsfolk’s words of gratitude, the knight with his Iron Retainer came to a halt before Sudel.

"You must be the mayor, conducting yourself well, like a true Northerner man." He smiled as he pulled a small bottle of alcohol from his bag, tossing it into Sudel’s hands: "Here! Have a drink to warm yourself up, there’s still a long way ahead."

Sudel opened the spout of the flask, and with just one sniff, he confirmed it was indeed Dwarven spirits — the Northerners’ favorite liquor.

He took a small sip, then passed the flask to an elder who had followed him. The elder sniffed, sipped in the same way, and then passed it along.

"Thank you, sir, I still don’t know your name," Sudel said to the person in front of him. He had never heard of such a Legendary individual, so he bravely asked.

"Malin, Malin Gaiate, from Carterburg. I followed the trail of belongings you dropped, and I also picked up two children and their exhausted parents." He said, pointing to a large wicker basket beside his mount. Only then did Sudel notice two small heads peeking out from the basket.

"The children of the Hamiya family, damn, how did they fall behind?" one of the guards recognized the children.

"Getting lost in a blizzard couldn’t be more common—if it wasn’t for Mr. Malin, they would have died, and many of us would have died too," Sudel said before turning to Malin, "Mr. Malin, your... your pet, could it cast those spell formations for us again?"

Sudel really couldn’t bring himself to see the tiny creature as a person.

Then he saw the tiny creature getting angry.

And Mr. Malin rubbed its little head, "Bippo, do everyone a favor."

So, continuous spell formations fell, and Sudel felt himself warm up instantly—not from hypothermia, but an endurance spell! My God, where is this just a pet? It must be a legendary creature, right? Did I just call a legendary creature a pet?

Even if it was truly Mr. Malin’s pet, it wasn’t for me to point out its identity.

In conjecture and unease, Sudel looked at Malin, "Mr. Malin, is there anything I can do for you? You saved all of us, and as the mayor, I must express my gratitude."

"If you want to thank me, then lead everyone safely into Copenhagen," Mr. Malin answered while waving at a few daring children who ran towards him, and like being caught by invisible hands, Sudel watched them land safely inside the big basket, joining the two Hamiya children, turning into little heads peering over the edge of the basket.

"Cousin, who is he?" His cousin Rhodes approached at this time.

"How did you get here?" Sudel turned and glanced at this fool.

"The townspeople who caught up behind said it wasn’t the forces of Chaos, so I came to see... Isn’t that His Majesty?"

"Yes, he’s now the mount of Mr. Malin Gaiate," Sudel introduced His Majesty’s new identity very solemnly to his cousin.

"Malin Gaiate? The one from Carterburg?" Rhodes’s eyes went round.

"Yes, when I used to hear Southerners talk about him, it felt like listening to a boaster’s compendium, but now, I’m afraid it’s all true," Sudel felt that one simply couldn’t compare to another, because comparisons would lead only to beating one’s chest in frustration and feeling disheartened.

"Then I’m sure we’re saved," Rhodes smiled happily, "Oh my God, we’re saved."

Sudel looked at Mr. Malin, the legendary knight had noticed the townspeople who had fled returning, and so he had his legendary companion cast spell formations for them.

Facing the blizzard, Sudel had never before today felt such courage; he happily patted his cousin on the shoulder.

"Yes, we’re saved."

This statement came from the lungs of the young mayor.