Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

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After living for a month, Malin had come to understand a bit about the world he was in.

First of all, the girl by his side, who looked more like a little leopard than a little girl, was named Maya, scientifically known as a Panso Cat Person. Of course, he thought of her as a Leopard Girl, it's just that in this world, there were no cats with triangular ears nor leopards with round ears, and "Cat Girl" was still the common societal perception.

Of course, don't think this girl is harmless just because she acts cute. When Malin went out with her to buy daily groceries, he witnessed her use the throwing knife at her waist to take down those big rats—easily from at least thirty meters away. Malin felt that if it were up to him, the only thing he could hit from five meters away would be the planet beneath their feet.

Right, Malin also saw adult Panso Cat People. The males were generally around one meter eighty to two meters tall, very strapping. The females had a bit more variation in size, ranging from a petite one meter fifty to a standard height of one meter eighty—these were members of a Panso Cat People merchant caravan, and judging by their full armament, there shouldn't be any minors... If there were, they'd probably be inside the carriages.

"Malin, come on, let's go this way." Compared to Malin, Maya was definitely a native of Carterburg—he followed her and had never gotten lost, perhaps owing to the Panso Cat People's strong sense of direction.

Anyway, Malin had been going out with Maya for a month, and he still wasn't confident that he wouldn't get lost in Carterburg.

That's right, he'd forgotten to introduce the city. This city is called Carterburg, located at the northwestern corner of the continent. Carterburg got its name from an old noble who settled here a thousand years ago. Back then, Carterburg was nothing but a pile of rubble, a few outposts, dozens of people, and mountains teeming with various spirits—and every day was a dramatic struggle between man and nature, with the occasional person climbing out of their coffin to come back to life.

Nowadays, Carterburg is a city-level municipality, with a population of about fifty thousand and several satellite villages.

Speaking of spirits, yes, that rat about the same size as him was actually one of the most commonly seen spirits—a Giant Rat.

Being easily nailed by a throwing knife from a Cat Girl under ten, the capabilities of such Giant Rats could almost be considered negligible. Other than their size, they are pretty useless. Their only major trouble is attacking youngsters (who nine times out of ten end up defeating them) and moving in swarms.

Such a disgrace to the face of spirits.

Therefore, there was nothing on it that could be used to exchange for money, not even its parts had any value. Although it was edible, the meat was tough and tasteless. If there were other choices, no one would consider eating it.

Of course, it's said that during disasters, these rats become quite valuable.

Um, how does that saying go?

Ah, right, "Wish for a bountiful harvest of mushrooms, and a storeroom full of rats."

Malin followed Maya into the market; their foster father went out today to collect supplies.

Ah, speaking of the foster father, the middle-aged man who brought Malin home was named Gaiate Jelent, a registered Demon Hunter.

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Although the average lifespan of a Demon Hunter was not known, Malin's adoptive father appeared weathered, with scars on his face and injuries on his body. He could conservatively be estimated to have passed the age of forty-five. By that age, he should have been well past the time when one could die from foolishness. He would visit the guild and the Church every week to collect supplies and hand over the materials he had previously obtained.

When he took Malin with him last week, they saw mostly younger Demon Hunters who showed great respect towards him. Even those with a higher sense of pride refrained from openly mocking or oppressing him. Therefore, Malin thought that given his adoptive father's age, he must be considered old among Demon Hunters, a profession that seems to value the elderly—at least, the young did not seek to provoke their senior counterparts. Gaiate did not cut in line or rely on others, proving that the Church and the guild upheld a degree of fairness. Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that his adoptive father lacked the ability, but statistically speaking, a middle-aged Demon Hunter who wasn't doing too badly and had some intelligence would have some reputation locally. If he could pull strings or ask for favors, he wouldn't always be placed towards the end of the queue for being far away. This excluded any intelligence issues, since in this world, the phrase 'dumb enough to get oneself killed' was not an adjective but a vividly accurate verb.

Just as before, Maya bought lots of bread and jerky. In addition to her and Malin's share, she also bought for her adoptive father. Usually, she would use a flatbed cart rented from the market to transport her purchases. However, now that she had Malin, this girl could put in less effort to buy even more goods.

Speaking of which, apart from his appetite, Malin's strength was also quite impressive; he could at least carry Maya for a distance without any issues.

Leaving the market, Marso noticed two Church Clergy walking on the street.

Clergy, Professionals...

This is what Malin paid the most attention to, the so-called Professionals—being a Demon Hunter was a job, but not a Professional. The former was merely work, while the latter signified an individual's departure from the realm of Mortals. For example, take Gaiate; he was a Demon Hunter, but the reason he had been doing it for so many years was that he was a Professional. He had weapons—a Revolver or, more precisely, a revolver, though, in this world, 'Revolver' was the standard term.

Besides that, he also carried two Longswords strapped to his back, one said to be an iron sword, the other an Auriel steel sword imbued with silver.

Auriel steel, an alloy of unknown composition, the only certainty being that it is infused with silver, making it particularly effective against different kinds and Spirits.

As for what kind of Professional he was, he didn't say, and Malin would not be so foolish as to ask. Neither the Church, the guild, nor the state seemed keen on publicizing Professionals, they existed but ordinary Mortals had scant chance of coming into contact with them.

Even though he didn't mention it, Malin felt that this likely indicated that these Professionals probably followed certain schools and inherited traditions. Their abilities were seldom spontaneously generated within their bodies—if one could gain powers by simply sleeping, then probably every day the newspapers would be filled with stories about newly awakened Professionals causing destruction rather than minor household gossip.

If there were schools and traditions, it meant that this world had a stable system for transmitting the Professional's craft, preventing the loss of certain professions due to various scenarios—of course, it was possible for them to be lost under extreme circumstances, but if no one knew about it, there wouldn't be any talk of 'loss' at all.

Thus, Malin had already set two tasks for himself.

First, to survive well, striving to reach adulthood.

Second, to live well, earnestly adapting to this world, preferably becoming a Professional.

Being a Professional might mean facing all sorts of dangers, but at least when facing danger, one had the strength to fight, rather than being swept away along with one's child by a truck.

To die that hideously once was enough.