Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

"Yes, Mason was actually the best choice, he was born incomplete, without the pain brought by surgery later in life, I know he feared this path, but I believed he would come back to inherit my mantle, but I didn’t expect... he would eventually die at the hands of those children." Old Hoffman said this as he looked at Malin, "Although they are fallen, in my eyes, those children are just pitiful beings, the ones I chose, all had the proper status and abilities, so I apologize to them, the love I gave to them was actually hypocritical, I raised them, but it was just to send them on a path of suffering... That’s why I wanted to live a bit longer, to let more children live past the age of thirty, to help them cross the bitter sea, but I never thought, those children would rather become Chaos than inherit my way."

"Men do not consort with those who are different... My teacher, you certainly haven’t heard this phrase." Malin shook his head, then turned to Colin, "Colin, what do you plan to do?"

"I am the teacher’s last Apprentice, it is only natural that I become the Secret Keeper." Colin said sincerely to Malin.

"I have already told Anna, you are no longer my Apprentice, Colin." Old Hoffman shook his head.

"Then what shall we do, Hoffman? When you die, the Evil God that lost its vessel will eventually escape after the Starstone’s seal breaks due to the loss of nourishment from flesh and blood. We cannot let the Evil God out to make the whole world suffer." Old Ferrero said.

"So we should let Colin suffer instead!"

"We could let Colin have a child with Margaret first!"

The two old men’s argument ultimately made Colin stand up, he looked at Old Ferrero, "No, Teacher Ferrero, I cannot do that, Margaret deserves to become a mother, but she should not have to sacrifice for my sake, I will refuse the engagement, from the day the teacher picked me up to now has almost been seventeen years, if the teacher hadn’t found me, I would have likely starved to death long ago, so I fear nothing, maybe Fate intended my meeting with the teacher, just so I could make a choice at this moment."

After speaking, the young man walked over to Malin’s side, looked at Malin, and finally slid the ring off his finger, handing it to Malin, "Help me return this to Margaret."

"No, things haven’t reached a dead end just yet." Malin said looking at the four present, "I have a plan, it may be very dangerous, but it’s worth a try."