Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 771 - 524

Chapter 771: 524

"The Southern Thai cooking techniques are authentic, but the flavors are more tailored to the tastes of our Western human world," said the young War Witch named Xiao Meng, the first to confirm Malin’s culinary skills. Although the tastes were different, the girl still found the meal thoroughly enjoyable.

In her words, coming to the Northern Kingdom with the delegation from her father’s land, she had prepared herself to eat black bread laced with sawdust. She never expected to be able to have a taste of her hometown cuisine on the very first day.

With her remarks, the locals from Sudel and Rhodes, who had been hesitant about the dishes, and the protective duo of Colson and Nim, were quick to join the fray for food—thanks to Xiao Meng’s fluent command of the common language of the Western human world.

"Speaking of which, Nobles and wealthy commoners would not eat black bread with sawdust. This thing has vanished into history with the surge in wheat production decades ago," Mr. Tuck said, smiling nostalgically. "When I was younger, I had that black bread on a mission. I asked the village chief who hosted us, and he said it was the best thing their village could offer. There was another kind made with sand which he thought we certainly couldn’t stomach."

"Sand in bread, I’ve heard my father speak of it. He said he’d never forget that taste in all his life," Sudel commented.

"It seems your father had his share of hardship with such food, but anyway, it’s no longer around," said Lord Tuck.

Malin noticed Sudel wanted to say something, but ultimately he just smiled and took a piece of braised pork from his cousin’s bowl. The succulent meat, with layers of fat that melted in one’s mouth, was a favorite among these young people. Considering the harsh cold of the North, meaty dishes that provided substantial calories were surely everyone’s favorite.

"Lord Malin, I have a small question." Tim, the young gentleman, caught Malin’s attention, and sitting next to Lord Tuck, he looked at Malin: "I’m really curious, you’re known as the uncrowned God of Craftsmen among the Great Craftsmen of the workshops. Your first battle leading an army, which wasn’t even yours, ended in the annihilation of forty thousand Black Orcs; you’re now the youngest Legend of the Mage Tower, your conglomerate is the most profitable enterprise on the continent, your armament trade is heard of even in Thainan, and your valor has made even the Champions of Chaos your prey. Now you tell me you can also cook authentic Southern Thai cuisine. Is there anything that you can do that we don’t know about?"

Tim’s compliment was on point. Malin shook his head with a smile: "I’ve only done some things that seem trivial to me. You would not know that I was an orphan when I was very young, perhaps due to war or other problems. I was found by my foster father, and from that moment on, I told myself, ’Malin, never starve to death because that’s the most embarrassing way to die.’ So I learned to make tasty food for myself."

This playful joke lightened the mood at the table.

.........

Listening to Lord Malin’s joke, Tuck Olsson nodded with a smile—what Lord Malin said was not entirely heartfelt, but the part about starving being the most disgraceful way to die was indeed a true expression of his deepest feelings.

Yes, young people always have their secrets. For Tuck, it seemed that Lord Malin had exaggerated the sense of helplessness he faced with hunger. With this in mind, Tuck narrowed his eyes, looking at the fate thread dangling from the master of the house—it was a broken thread, fluttering alone in the air.

A broken thread of Fate was not a first for Tuck to witness—but usually, when he saw this, the person was already cold, only then would the Goddess of Fate cut the thread she had woven.

Yet, this Malin Gaiate seemed as lively as someone without a care in the world.

This puzzled Tuck greatly, and made the old man very cautious—such anomalies were certainly not within his realm to interfere with.

Lord Malin’s destiny thread was severed, signifying he would not be bound by Fate.

Tuck was unsure whether this was good or bad, but it definitely was not something he could manage.

At that moment, the two young men from the North had started discussing some interesting stories about the North, and Tuck noticed the curious expression on Lord Malin’s face when ancient relics of the Great Destruction Era were mentioned.

When he inquired about the relics, Tuck listened closely for a while and found that Lord Malin seemed to have a profound understanding of such sites. Even when Sudel mentioned a sealed door, Malin could deduce how to open it from the features near the doorway.

Ah, Goddess of Fate, what is there that Lord Malin does not know?

Tuck mused internally, recalling a joke from the astrological circles—that the astrologers from the South tried to divine Lord Malin’s destiny, but they could not calculate his trajectory no matter what they tried.

People say that if Fate is a shackle, then the thread of Fate is a shackle of another sense.

But in truth, Lord Malin might be the only being in this world not bound by those shackles... Perhaps, as the prophecies spoken by astrologers suggest, one not confined by Fate is destined to change the world.

If that is true, then the Olsson family will follow Lord Malin forever. If there is even the slightest possibility, the Olsson family would join in with the greatest hero to save this world. Just as the earliest ancestor wrote in his notes, our Olsson family will surely rebuild civilization.

After all, for this day, the Olsson family would even become wizards, simply to gain enough strength.

May this child before me be the hero of the legend; however, in Tuck’s heart, the legend was only a tool to embellish the hero’s exploits, so if Malin indeed is the hero, if he truly wants to change the fate of humanity, even if he ultimately cannot succeed, if his grand journey is doomed to failure, it’s still worth the loyalty of the Olsson family.

May the Goddess illuminate my path, may the Morning Star of Fate direct me.

.........

Lord Malin, are you truly human, or are you...different kind.

The youngest daughter of the Meng family was eating pudding while listening to her friend’s arrangements for the afternoon, and at the same time, she pondered everything that Lord Malin had displayed.

Never had a person been able to achieve such a feat, to reach such an astonishing level in so many respects.

It was impossible for a human to do this, only a deity or...different kind could.

A deity from another world? Or perhaps a legend?

Reincarnation? Or soul traversal?

The War Witches of the War Witch Temple had always been in endless debate about this. They even endlessly debated about the origins of Nameless, who is the Lord of Justice, and nobody knew how this being that could contend with and even gain the upper hand against the Evil Gods of Chaos came to be.

They had always been arguing whether the mortal wandering the wastelands was the human embodiment of the Lord of Justice or a fragment of his divinity.

But now, in the eyes of the youngest Meng daughter, there was a newly ascending god showing his miracles.

Lord of Justice came from a foreign land, and you, Lord Malin, where do you come from?

Seemingly noticing her gaze, Lord Malin looked over, a seemingly youthful child smiling.

This made the youngest Meng daughter immediately lower her head.

If he truly became a deity, would he be the God of Craftsmen, or a new god of war, or might he be a new god of some other domain?

But regardless, this was no reason for her to stare directly at him.

In Thainan, there is a proverb that only those who are prepared should gaze directly at an incarnation walking the earth, because you can never know whether he is a true deity or not.

"What’s wrong, young Meng," came the voice of Lord Malin echoing in the ears of the youngest Meng daughter. She mustered her courage and looked at Lord Malin, "Nothing."

May Master Wu grant me hope, may Confucius grant me courage.

The young girl whispered in her heart.

While staring directly at the Lord Malin before her.

At least, the current Lord Malin seemed more like a Rightful God.

That was enough, after all, this world needed Rightful Gods more than those false Evil Gods.

..........

Not sensing anything wrong with the girl before him, Malin turned to Lulu, who was particularly fond of the desserts he had made today, and everyone was full of praise for his culinary skills, so Malin defended his dignity as a gourmet once again.

After the meal and a rest, he could take the new recruits from among the youth into the wild for some fun.

Malin’s task was very simple, which was to replicate some tactics — to put it simply, a three-person team and three ambush teams, archer units at three different angles and distances could simultaneously attack a spot, and whether from the front or side, the approaching enemy would be completely exposed in the firing range of one of the groups.

The scouting squads would be split into three teams, and the commander would randomly be in one of the teams. The three teams would move separately so that if one group was discovered and attacked, the other two could quickly go into defensive mode, or counter-attack, or cover the attacked squad’s retreat.

Malin felt there was room for improvement in his tactics, as this world had Spell Formations, but at least his methods were safer and more reliable than the current use of firepower for scouting.

This was good enough; everyone was wise, and by making a comparison, they should be able to understand that Malin’s methods would give scouting team members a higher chance of survival when facing Chaos head-on.

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