Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 959: Section 629: Regret (Part 2)

Chapter 959: Section 629: Regret (Part 2)

Your Excellency is clear about awards and punishments.

Todd Spencer looked at the young man walking ahead of him.

Ever since the news from the Wizard Assembly spread, Malin Gaiate is now undeniably the rightful chairman of the Wizard Council Round Table. Even those Legendary Excellencies, and existences one step away from becoming legends, have no objections to this.

This can only prove that his strength is truly deserved—In this world, charisma alone cannot make legendary wizards and countless soldiers wholeheartedly loyal and pleased.

Now, this legendary mage and psychic, a half-blood Frost Giant with incredibly powerful might, will also acquire a title for being clear-headed in rewards and punishments.

Although he only meted out well-deserved punishment to a few sinners, he promised one of them that he would do his best to protect his brother and sister, because he and they are fighting for this kingdom.

Todd, on the day Mendel dies, it might truly be time for Northern ideology to have a reviewer from the South.

Looking at the young Excellency in front of him, who seemed too young, Todd’s thoughts wandered. Perhaps bringing in this young man would be the thing he’d most regret when looking back on his life, but at this moment, they could only do this—letting Malin His Excellency become the true guardian of Northern ideology.

The assassination of Mendel today gave Todd and Ragnarlov a scent of great danger—In this warming weather, with Malin His Excellency training troops, the assassination of Mendel made them exceptionally vigilant.

If in winter, Northern ideology was in a cooperative relationship with the royal family and the nobility, then now... as Malin His Excellency begins to prepare to lead an army southward to confront Chaos head-on, the existence of Northern ideology seems to no longer be of much necessity.

You see, this is the most dangerous signal. Northern ideology expanded too quickly in the last winter, and now Todd doesn’t even know the latest member list, with many lower-level members even developing their own factions.

This was never allowed. It was Mendel, Eric, and Antoine—they naively believed that inspiring the masses was the best way to go.

They don’t understand, everyone has their own self-set, not everyone is thinking about changing this kingdom, not everyone... will be comrades and battle buddies.

Mendel, you are mistaken. Your naivety and loyalty to the cause, in the end, brought about your own violent death.

This kingdom’s royal family and nobility, after all, can’t accommodate Northern ideology.

Indeed, Northern ideology was never the ideology of the royal family and nobility. On the contrary, Northern ideology aims to break their rule, to destroy their hegemony, to hang them from street lamps.

Therefore, Todd is so eager to bring in Malin His Excellency. It’s not that Todd fears death; he became a wizard for the cause, and even in the face of death, he does not flinch. The reason Todd wants Malin to join is that, should their ideology fail and they all die, someone would be able to take up the ideology for them, to seek revenge for all these pitiful people and hold aloft the banner of ideology. Todd’s mentor once said that every oppressed person has the right to live a better life, and before the great destruction, everyone is free; no one is born to be enslaved.

Todd has heard his mentor say this more than once, and more than once he has reminded himself what their generation should do and how to do it.

Now, the time has come to confront it head-on. As long as it is confirmed that the royal family and nobility are behind the assassination, Todd believes that this matter cannot end like this—it must be an eye for an eye, blood for blood. We can only be enemies, just as their assassins killed Mendel.

Mendel, my old friend, perhaps I will be coming to find you soon... Don’t worry, I won’t become twisted; even in death, I am my own person, I will die on the battlefield fighting evil.

............

Ragnarlov Tindal walked at the end of the column, pondering one question—who killed Mendel?

Hiring someone through the Dark Guild is indeed a good method. This guild’s survival up to now is not because it has its fingers in every pie, but because the nobility, royalty, Church, and organizations all feel that keeping such a vent open is beneficial for understanding the crises undercurrents.

But this time, Mendel, the Assistant Priest of the Church of the War God, is dead.

The crisis has become the most realistic issue; whether there is still a need for the existence of the Dark Guild—is it through this guild that someone was killed, and why neither the Mage Tower nor the Church of the War God were informed. Are other entities and organizations also in the dark, and if someone knows, why have they not informed Mendel? Is it that an Assistant Priest isn’t worthy of a helping hand, or is it that... someone doesn’t want to say anything.

Mendel, whom exactly did you and Antoine and Eric offend in these past few days?

Why would someone kill you with the determination to be avenged?

Todd always thinks it must have been the royal family and nobility who killed him, but Ragnarlov understands that it would never be them—with the royal family’s and nobility’s understanding of Malin His Excellency, they would never do such a thing because killing Mendel His Excellency would make Malin His Excellency loathe them.

The royal family and nobility, although fundamentally enemies of Northern ideology, are not idiots or fools.

Don’t expect your enemies to make mistakes, because the chance of that is far lower than the chance of you making a mistake out of carelessness and foolishness.

Ragnarlov, use your head, who stands to gain the most from Mendel’s death?

It cannot be the royal family; the royal family has a good relationship with Malin His Excellency and the Church. The Northern Kingdom is monarch-elect; every king is chosen by the elector dukes, even the Prince is already chosen, as long as he does not make a mistake, and with that king from the Manheim family unable to become a legend, he has plenty of time to wait for the old king to die in his bed.

It certainly couldn’t be the noble council of the North, as there were too many old friends of Lord Malin in the council. From the wily old fox of the Hagelberrys to the Svenson family, the nobles not only shared interests with Lord Malin but were even related by marriage—the lady Lulu is now the most prestigious among the women of Northern nobility, so much so that even Her Majesty the Queen couldn’t hold a candle to her.

Then who could it be? Ragelov thought of the Church of the War God... but that’s impossible, too. Even if there were disputes among the members of the Church of the War God, they wouldn’t result to hiring assassins; they preferred to resolve issues in the Combat Arena, and challenging with a white glove was also an option. But anyhow, paying to hire an assassin was the last thing Church of the War God members would do.

As for the other churches... that’s even less likely. Even the followers of Lady Winter Wolf had nothing but praise for Lord Mendel. After all, whenever Chaos surged on the battlefield, Mendel was always on the front lines, his courage earning the admiration of all churches.

The Mage Tower?

Absolutely not, the penny-pinchers of the Mage Tower wouldn’t spend money to kill Mendel—unless it were someone of high stature like Malin, as most mages simply couldn’t afford to spend money on hired murders; for them—money is their material for spellcasting.

And those high-order mages are even less likely to spend money—they would surely take matters into their own hands. Besides, it’s far safer and more feasible to ’accidentally’ kill a Mendel on the battlefield than in the city.

Then who else could it be?

The enemies of the royal family and the nobility?

Please, Northernism itself is the enemy of enemies. Are the enemies of our enemies not our friends?

Or is it that they see the royal family and the nobility as enemies, but when they look at Northernism, they also see it as an enemy in their eyes.

If that’s the explanation, then there is no mistake.

But the question arises, who could simultaneously be the enemy of the royal family, the nobility, and Northernism?

Ragelov pondered for a long time, but still couldn’t guess who it might be in the end.

It’s such a headache, Ragelov.

With that thought, he noticed Lord Malin had stopped in front of a small building.

.........

"Don’t follow me in, I can go by myself," Malin said.

Having said that and without waiting for a response, Malin reached out and pushed against the wall of the small building. In that moment, the illusion crumbled, the wall became a door, and the small building took on a different appearance entirely. Malin turned to glance at Ragelov and Todd; they had completely failed to notice anything wrong with the small building. This wasn’t their fault, after all, for it was the handiwork of a legendary being.

It’s just unfortunate, they encountered someone as unreasonable as Malin.

Walking through the opened door, Malin looked at several young people sitting in the hall full of surprise and curiosity. Then, he looked beyond them to the counter, where he saw a canine girl and smiled, "Is Victor here?"

"Who are you?" The canine girl sized up Malin, who had not released the World Tree Sapling and had altered his facial features with a Spell Formation, the little dog didn’t seem to recognize him.

Yet, out of respect for a powerhouse capable of breaking through the illusions set up by a legendary caster, she could still speak civilly.

Unfortunately, Malin shook his head: "I need to find Victor; he might be in danger of being assassinated right now."

Saying this, Malin chose to remain silent, letting her make her own decision. The canine girl eventually acknowledged Malin’s words: "She is not here now, but I can give you her address, as long as you tell me your real name."

Malin nodded: "I am Malin Gaiate, the Malin from Carterburg, husband to Princess Faye, and Prince to Farole."

As soon as he finished, those young people lost all interest in their tea. Not taking the main door, they instead burst through the windows and fled in all directions.

The canine girl shook all over, especially after glancing at the folder in her hand, it was visible to the naked eye how her fur bristled.

Malin shook his head and walked to the counter: "The team from your guild who took on the mission has been wiped out by me, and now I must find him because if I’m not mistaken, he might be targeted by another wave of assassins."

"Why are you so sure?" the canine girl said as she swiftly sifted through the addresses while quickly conveying everything she knew to Malin.

To this, Malin just smiled.

How could I not be sure, Malin has seen too many cases like this.