Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

Colin, accompanied by his deputy, the little princess of the Mowish family, entered 418 Carfa Avenue, where the Church guards had already cordoned off the area. The young priest saw the pile of ashes on the ground and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows twice.

Wraith witches, formless spirits, spiritual body killers.

"What kind of monster is our little brother to have taken out something like this?" Margaret bent down, wiped the ashes with her finger, and then looked up at Colin with an incredulous face.

"Why don't we go and ask him," Colin suggested while noticing the blasted-open door on the first floor: "Fellow believer, what happened here?" he asked one of the nearby Church guards.

The guard glanced at him and, with a somewhat pleading look, turned to a nearby team leader, who immediately came over: "Fellow believer, it was an explosive. According to believer Malin, he used his assignment for class as an explosive here, and from the looks of it, it worked unexpectedly well. In certain situations, it might even turn the tables against spiritual entities."

"That is indeed great news, fellow believer. To receive such praise from you, where is our brother Malin? We're eager to get the detailed report on all this," Colin felt this was truly good news—the spiritual bodies were the most common and troublesome among the formless spirits. The majority of the casualties among the grassroots personnel each year were due to spiritual entity incidents.

"He and his sister are upstairs, and we have already set up an Anti-spiritual Array here. There's also a small Dispelling Array set up by His Excellency Gaiate on the second floor, so please rest assured."

"Hmm, thank you, fellow believer."

With this information, Colin and Margaret quickly made their way upstairs.

Several guards were inspecting the upstairs corridor; they stepped aside to let the two priests through, allowing Colin and Margaret to enter the room as quickly as possible.

Then he saw Malin and his sister, as well as the emergency affairs officer, Cassan Moria, who had arrived earlier. The mature lady was coming from the kitchen, holding two bowls that seemed to contain... noodles.

Ah, this food originated from the Far East. It's convenient for cooking, requiring only flour and various ingredients to make and consume. Due to its simplicity, it is a favorite among those with less than stellar culinary skills, both men and women.

Right, if Officer Cassan is present, one really shouldn't voice the last sentence out loud.

Because... one would get a beating.

And a severe one at that.

"Ah, isn't this our dear little Colin and Princess Margaret? Welcome."

"Sister Cassan!" Margaret called out with a furrowed brow.

"My dear, you truly are a genuine princess," Cassan said as she placed two bowls in front of the children. Since she was proficient in Shaping Spells, her thermal resistance was high, and what was scalding hot to others was probably just a tad warm for her.

"Let's eat!" Malin and Maya began their pre-meal prayers.

Colin walked over to a windowsill: "Cassan, did you hear Malin talk about how he dealt with that spiritual body?"

"A very interesting idea, and extremely lucky as well. Come, let me introduce you to this child's brilliant concept." Cassan relayed everything that Malin had told her.

This made Colin raise his eyebrows—indeed, filling explosives with silver powder and blessing powder had always been a concept in the Church, but no one had been able to test it at such a critical moment of life and death before. Yet this child demonstrated to everyone that such an idea is indeed effective, especially in more enclosed spaces. Combined with the purple light flashlight, it could truly turn the tables—just invite the spiritual bodies into the area, and they would transform from silent assassins to lambs waiting for the slaughter.

"Although it sounds simple, this child seems to have completely figured out the actions of spiritual bodies, which allowed him to detonate the blessing powder right in front of the spiritual bodies. I feel that even for spiritual entities with elite templates, it would be difficult to escape death under these circumstances," Cassan said and then looked at Malin: "He also mentioned that if we could combine the explosives and blessing powder into a device that can be detonated after a few seconds by some means, it would produce the best effect. To me, it sounds exactly like something the Church's engineering department has been discussing. Those old fuddy-duddies truly haven't discussed any of these things in front of the children."

"That, I don't know. You could go back and ask them. But this child has confirmed with this battle that such a device indeed has the potential to be put into trial production as actual combat equipment. I will notify the diocese's engineering department to take this battle report seriously," Colin said with a joyful expression: "It's an invention that could change the fate of many grassroots fighting brethren. If it could be mass-produced, ordinary spiritual entities would become easier to handle than tangible ones."

"Indeed, this is a very meaningful battle report. Are you going to write it?" Cassan asked.

"You are the first to know; I think you should write it." Colin wouldn't take credit for someone else's achievements. For him, it was Cassan's honor.

But Cassan shook her head: "Spare me, please. I hated writing reports when I was an apprentice. How about you, Margaret, write it instead."

She looked towards the Mowish family's little girl who was eating fruit at the table; the latter turned her head: "Why do none of you want to write?"

Cassan repeated her own hardships, and Colin shook his head: "Let's do this. The three of us will co-author it—Margaret, you write, with a note on the authorship. Cassan will be the one to submit the report, and I'll be the recommender."

"That would be great," Cassan nodded happily.

"All right, I'll get to it as soon as I'm back. But, Malin, you'll have to come too. I need a more detailed explanation from you."

"Can I bring my sister to the Church with me?" Malin asked, looking up.

"No problem, Lord Gaiate has always been helping the Church. Given these circumstances, it is the Church's duty to reciprocate," Colin immediately expressed his goodwill—he could clearly sense the place this Pansear cat person named Maya held in Malin's heart.

This was an opportunity to win someone's favor by offering a kindness, and Colin wouldn't miss it.

If it wasn't for the fact that the little cat girl genuinely lacked spell affinity, Colin would have even thought about teaching her some spells—it would be a joy to be of help to Malin.

Although he didn't know what the future held for him and her, Colin believed that every child deserved a beautiful childhood and the most sincere affections.

With that thought, Colin looked towards the Mowish family's young daughter, who was happily receiving the on-site report from Cassan.

The young people's faces were filled with smiles.

Adults are different from children; some things don't need to be said outright, and some emotions don't have to be made public.