Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

After Colson’s jest-like performance concluded, Malin first spoke with the eldest Mr. Fate, Tucker Olsson. He could see the urgency hidden beneath the surface.

"Sir, my eldest son has confirmed the existence of the World Tree, and the Lord of Justice’s favor towards you is visible to the naked eye. As a wizard family, the Olsson family is willing to offer you our loyalty, simply hoping that our clan can dwell in Carterburg forever, free from the marks of wizards upon us."

"That’s not a problem, you can buy your own houses in the new district, and I can write you a note, but I really can’t grant you any land." Malin on his part couldn’t possibly help the wizards get land since one thing leads to another. Malin could help a legendary wizard and his family get land, but he couldn’t possibly satisfy every wizard because there’s only so much land. Not only did wizards want land there, even the Church did—and Malin could only help his own Church of the Harvest Goddess acquire new land. He did it for his church, and nobody could fault his devotion in this matter, but helping others get more, when there wasn’t enough land to go around, was one thing; Malin also had to give consideration to the mayor of Carterburg—a man who was now fully aligned with Malin, and Malin couldn’t possibly usurp his responsibilities.

"If you can help us issue a note to prove our identity, we would already be overjoyed. We will buy the blocks ourselves and then transform them into large houses." Tucker Olsson’s words pleased Malin—the old man showed no signs of displeasure. Instead, he even proposed a solution: the method of paving the way with money was a forceful one no matter where, and if enough money was provided to clear things with the city hall, Malin wouldn’t mind.

"Besides, I’ve heard that Sir Malin, you only have two apprentices—I wonder if you could take my two youngest granddaughters as your apprentices?" The humility on Mr. Olsson’s face was apparent, making Malin somewhat at a loss for words—he now had a half-human apprentice, the child of a deserter Malin had taken in because he had a father who loved him.

The other apprentice was only on paper, Colin’s eldest son, who had come asking with a bashful face, and of course, Malin couldn’t possibly reject his own mentor’s face.

"They just turned four, the right age to become apprentices. They are among the few in our family to possess the rare blessing talent, so I thought, if possible, becoming devout followers of the Harvest Goddess could be a new path. Our family has lived in the wizarding world for too long; in the past decade, they are the only two seeds of our clan not marked as wizards."

"...All right, but to be honest, I am seldom in Carterburg, and I’m afraid I might not be of much help with the children’s education."

"Please rest assured, if you are busy, I will personally take care of their education. Although wizards and priests are different, there is a certain clever adaptability in spellcasting." The old astrologer’s speech forced Malin to admit that the man seemed to be well-prepared, even if he didn’t agree, the old fellow already had ways to push his granddaughters upon him—there was no helping it, the Olsson family as a dynasty of astrologers was quite renowned, though few knew they were actually more of a wizarding family.

"Very well."

The moment Malin agreed, the old man’s laughter was full of joy, as if he had gained something significant, which made Malin somewhat puzzled and then a bit wary—could this old man have some ulterior motive?