Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

"Malin, today is the first day of the Harvest Festival," Faye said, a girl with spirits' blood running through her veins which had made her grow ten centimeters in the recent two months, something that made Malin very envious.

Unfortunately, his own bloodline was a bit peculiar and didn't allow him to grow taller.

But then again, not being able to grow taller wasn't the worst; compared to Malin's deskmate—Xingyan of the Iron Anvil family, this dwarf only grew horizontally. Now standing four and a half feet tall, his waist was nearly five feet around, and his arms were thicker than Malin's head.

"Malin, what are you thinking about?" Faye came over. Standing behind Malin, the small girl leaned against his back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I was thinking about where to take you and Maya to play today," Malin quickly put on a thoughtful expression.

"Of course, we should go to the Harvest Festival square and dance around the bonfire," Faye suggested, thinking it was a great idea.

But for Malin, it was a real disaster—he didn't know how to dance.

In his two lifetimes combined, he had never danced, but when it came to hammering someone, he had pretty good expertise.

"I don't know how to dance, what should I do?" Malin looked up awkwardly, inadvertently noticing the somewhat preliminary arc.

"I'll teach you! The bonfire dance is really simple. I see you've already started learning the spirits' sword dancing technique. That is much harder than the dance we're going to do," Faye said as she stretched out her hands and rubbed Malin's ears. "You rascal, I haven't even started learning yet, and you've already taken it up. Are you sure you're not some spirit in disguise?"

"Faye, have you ever seen a spirit that's as lazy and as good at fighting as this one?" Xingyan chuckled softly from the side.

Oh, right, I forgot to introduce—Xingyan from the Iron Anvil family, eleven years old this year, a dwarven beauty in the eyes of Malin, and a muscular man who could walk.

Faye laughed so hard she was about to split. She threw herself onto Malin, not treating him like an outsider at all.

It should only be for these two years. As she gets older and realizes the differences between men and women, she definitely won't be tormenting people like this anymore... Of course, even if you added two more like her, they still wouldn't weigh down Malin.

"You two do look quite well-matched," Xingyan leaned back in her chair, resting her head in her hand with a smile towards Malin and Faye. Then, noticing the embarrassment on the faces of Malin and Faye, the dwarf girl, sturdy in both weight and scheming, added, "I think you two are just like Miss Margaret and Mr. Colin."

Faye, in her embarrassment, buried her head into Malin's neck, while Malin shook his head with a smile, "If you talk like that and Faye and I don't end up together, you're going to be responsible, you know."

"Responsible, I'll be responsible. If it comes to that, I'll just compensate myself to you."

Faye lifted her head, full of question marks.

Malin blinked, also full of question marks.

Wait a minute, you, you armored fighting vehicle, were you planning on marketing yourself from the get-go?

The dwarven girl laughed uncontrollably.

The joyful intermission ended as Old Ferrero walked into the classroom with a human corpse hung up on a rack, "Hello, everyone, I am your instructor Ferreiro. Today I'll teach you about the differences between the sexes."

"Instructor, there's only a male on the rack," someone brave called out.

Old Ferrero chuckled and shook his head. "The young ladies present will one day have their candid encounter with the male form, but you boys may not necessarily have that chance. After all, ugly men have no human rights." Having said that, the still handsome old charmer from the Church of the Harvest Goddess in Carterburg stared hard at the one who had spoken, with his unsightly triangular eyes. The latter puckered his mouth and broke into tears on the spot.

Old Ferrero waved his hand, and a guard from outside came in and took the boy away. As for where, of course to the infirmary.

"Alright, Malin, my dear apprentice, come on up, let's start the operation," Ferreiro said as he hugged the corpse, which looked like a Greek statue both in physique and attire, onto the operating table brought in by an assistant. The wide-area ocular spell formation and shadowless lamp were also set up with the help of the assistants.

Malin donned the surgical gown handed to him by an assistant, put on rubber gloves, and stepped onto the prepared stool, "Your Honor, what was the cause of death for this guy?"

"Found dead drunk on the western side of the city this morning," Old Ferrero sighed. "Once a man decides to kick the bucket, truly nothing can stop him. In this weather, to get drunk and fall in a street corner, he could easily be eaten by rats, and giant rats don't care what kind of meat they get."

"But it seems like the giant rats didn't get to him, did they?" Malin said while confirming the caliber of the deceased... a tragic caliber ratio indeed.

"Yes, if they had gotten to him, he would probably be reduced to a skeleton by now, and then he wouldn't have been the subject for our class today," Old Ferrero finished and picked up the scalpel. "Assistant, let's start with the dissection of the prostate."

.........

"Malin, how can you still eat?" Logan, sitting across from Malin, struggled to swallow the salad in his bowl while watching Malin devour roasted meat bite by bite, and couldn't help feeling a surge of sadness.

"Why wouldn't I be able to eat?" Malin looked up at the class president—yes, he was the recently elected class president, as the previous one had moved away from Carterburg with his family to the Central Administrative Province in the east.

"You and Old Ferrero were dissecting a person up there," Logan said with a sorrowful face. "You even cut into that thing, and now I can't relax the muscles there!"

"It was Old Ferrero's idea, what's it got to do with me?" Malin replied, noticing that the meat in his bowl had been twirled away by Maya with a fork, and raised his head to see the untouched steak in Logan's bowl, "If you're not going to eat that, give it to me. I've got combat practice this afternoon and Knight Chet Grelan from the fourth grade invited me to spar with his students. I need some extra food."

Logan glanced at the meat in his bowl and eventually slid it across the table to Malin, "I think you're really a monster. The only comforting thing is that you're on our side."

"Of course, we're on the same side," Malin said as he smacked Maya's hand away, causing the Cat Girl to quickly withdraw her little hand.

After finishing the meat, Malin turned to the little Leopard Girl, "Your father agreed you must eat vegetables seven times a week, and you haven't had any this week right up to Friday!"

Maya looked like she was about to cry.

"Once you've had enough vegetables, I'll take you to the harbor district for grilled fish next Monday," Malin teased with bait.

Named Maya, the tiger fish bit the hook without hesitation and began eating the salad in front of her with delight.

"By the way, today is the first day of the Harvest Festival. Apprentices have a two-day vacation this weekend. How about coming over to my place tomorrow?" Logan suddenly invited Malin, "You can bring Maya along. I have a chef from the East who can make vegetables taste like meat, it will definitely be Maya's favorite."

"I think we shouldn't spoil her too much, this silly leopard will take an inch and want a mile." While Malin said this, he still smiled and patted the girl's head, "But how can I refuse you, my sister? Come to Logan's house with me tomorrow."

The little leopard girl repeatedly thanked him, and Logan raised his eyebrows, "I'll also invite Faye."

"Huh, why are you inviting me?" Faye, who was drinking tea, looked up with curiosity and suspicion.

"I've heard there's been a little misunderstanding between you and Miriam," Logan said, looking at the girl sitting next to Malin. "It's true that sometimes Southerners and Northerners from the Sydney Union can't sit together, but we're apprentices of the Church, children of the Goddess of Harvest. I think we should join hands, just like the many civilized races on the land of Abield. Division only leads to confrontation, while cooperation leads to victory."

Faye frowned. She was undecided, so she turned to look at Malin, "Malin, what do you think?"

"Before I answer you, can you tell me what the problem is between you and Miriam?" Malin rested his chin in his hand and tilted his head, looking at the girl.

"That fool thinks I like Logan. I really don't know what use those eyes of hers are," Faye whispered.

Malin was stunned for a moment, then looked towards Logan.

Logan also paused, coincidentally meeting Malin's gaze.

"Your girl's not well at all," Malin commented.

"Isn't that the truth," Logan laughed openly, "If Faye liked anyone, it would definitely be you. I'll talk to Miriam about this."

"If you can persuade her, I'll be there tomorrow, and to ease her mind, I'll go as Malin's companion," Faye said, turning to glance at Malin, "Mr. Malin, do you have any clothes?"

"...Does a robe count?" Malin thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth – as the adopted son of a Demon Hunter, Malin's wardrobe had no such clothes for attending any kind of banquet.

"No worries, my brother has a few unworn clothes that I think would suit you," said Logan with a smile. "You can come to my house a bit earlier."

"No, after dinner Malin is leaving with me. Our Mowish family has professional tailors here that can make a suit just for him," Faye declined Logan's kind offer, "As for Miriam, that's your issue to deal with when she arrives."

While saying this, Malin looked up to see Miriam approaching with a frown.

The little girl was quite cute, though a bit too territorial, which was understandable. Her only flaw was her somewhat lacking eyesight.

She sat down next to Logan, "We meet again, Faye."

Faye smiled, and Malin looked at Logan, urging him on with the smile that friends should have.

Logan licked his lips, seemingly brewing something up.

Then Faye lost her patience. "Miriam, Logan has invited us to his house tomorrow."

Malin could clearly see Miriam's eyes widen, more intimidating than Maya's vertical pupils.

But Faye didn't wait for the little girl to react, "I've accepted Malin's invitation to be his companion, and I hope Logan told you about his wish for you to become the hostess."

"Yes, that's right, I was just about to tell you," Logan finally finished brewing.

Malin felt this boy was hopeless, noting how the girl's legs turned weak. It seemed an incurable condition.

Miriam looked confused, she was almost ready to flare up when suddenly the conversation took a turn. The knightess, who just a second ago stood ready to defend her possession, found out in the next moment that the demon lord and her own champion were discussing the wedding of the champion and the knight.

"I..." The girl's face blushed, and her ears turned red as she fell into a contemplative reverie, unable to extricate herself.

Malin and Faye rested their left hands on the table, supporting their chins, looking at Logan as if watching a fool.

"There's a saying among the Thanan, 'Birds of a feather flock together, creatures are sorted with their kind,'" Faye turned to look at Malin.

"You think rightly, they are indeed two idiots," Malin turned to Faye, nodding emphatically.

Maya finished the last bite of her salad, somewhat puzzled by the odd atmosphere in the room, but when she saw Faye smiling at her brother, the little leopard girl still pulled up the corners of her mouth, revealing her small tiger teeth.

A little leopard girl confused about the situation, decided to listen to her brother.

Doing so, she was sure to be right.