Malin Gaiate led troops for the first time, commanding the Sydney Union’s twelve national defense army battalions and a Guards Army division to crush a large Black Orc Tide of the Dead outside the walls of Nobel City. Within a single day, the news of beheading forty thousand and capturing four thousand Black Orcs spread throughout the entire Western Human World.
No matter how the mortal nations speculated and marveled, the Church of the Harvest Goddess was the first to react; Malin Gaiate was appointed to the position of red-robed Bishop of Carterburg and received the Church’s Medal of Honor. At the same time, he was granted a Pastoral Staff—one of the highest honors of the Church of the Harvest Goddess. The bearer of the Pastoral Staff could directly meet the Primate, summon the local Church’s Protectorate Army, and outrank a civilian Bishop by one level.
Then, the decree from the Church of Justice followed: Malin Gaiate was awarded the Honor Champion of Justice Medal. This too was a weighty decoration, signifying that Malin could meet with the local leaders of the Church of Justice as an equal, receive aid from the Church of Justice everywhere he went, and summons no more than a small team of Paladins.
At the same time, the sacred decree of the Church of the War God also arrived before Malin—the Honor War God Champion Medal, equally substantial as the Champion of Justice Medal. Old Master almost seemed too delighted to conceal it, but in the end, he managed to control his joy. Malin felt a bit embarrassed by this, but he imagined that the medals and decorations would perhaps be of some help to him in the future.
The unanimous statements of the three major Churches swept away all doubts, and nations began to contact the Sydney Union. Some wanted to visit the battlefield, some sought to understand what kind of weapon could achieve a horrific casualty ratio of 2000 to 1, and of course, they wanted to meet Lord Malin himself—achieving such results could easily warrant his sainthood.
As for Malin, he was entirely indifferent—during yesterday’s battle, he had operated on multiple fronts, assisting Jason with artillery coordinates, correcting the trajectory of the machine gun teams, and even adjusting the firearm sights of the soldiers in the rear.
Playing the roles of both father and mother, commanding like a committee chair—only stopping short of calling out for the machine gun team to advance fifty meters.
Certainly, as for the outcome, Malin had achieved a great victory, with most of the casualties resulting from lowered vigilance during the Black Orcs’ final desperate counterattacks.
Yet overall, with less than a hundred casualties, this record completely surpassed all historical records. Thus, when the battle ended, Malin could sense the worry on the faces of the national defense army commanders—indeed, having achieved such a miraculous exchange ratio in his first command, nearly every intelligent person could feel that Malin had now firmly seized the initiative. If Malin were to turn against them at this moment, almost every nation and organization in the Western Human World would rally to his side, outdoing each other in offering up their most excellent daughters.
Therefore, when Malin announced that the fate of all captured Black Orcs would be decided by his wife, Faye Mowish, this was welcomed by all soldiers and commanders. And upon entering the city, a guard of honor composed of commanders escorted Malin amidst flowers, applause, and the bandaged mayor and Nobles with bandages on their foreheads.
Malin shook hands with each of them—holding their ground in the city was the greatest contribution they could make to Malin’s efforts; otherwise, had they sallied forth to flanking attacks on the Black Orcs, Malin would have worried whether his own cannon fire would blow away his allies.
Thus, whenever someone approached Malin with a tone of extreme trepidation to apologize, Malin would tell them that their defense of the city was the best thanks they could give for all he had done.
And when some tried to introduce their daughters, plump and slender, to Malin, he would always kindly tell them that his wife Faye would surely be delighted to meet new friends.
He thus eased the worries of the monarchist Nobles and curbed the ambitions of the parliamentary party Noble faction. With the Tide of the Dead looming, Malin did not wish for the country to fall into turmoil due to some individuals’ ambitions.
Having met with all who should be met, Malin also made a point to meet with representatives of the civilians, accepted their thanks, and received the expectations of the common people—there was no brewery under the name of Malin’s company, and in Nobel City, opening a malt beer brewery was lawful.
Malin approved on the spot, pleasing everyone had always been his favorite way of handling matters.
Then Malin checked into the largest estate specially chosen for him in Nobel City, which was the private property of Earl Saimon, a supporter of the royalist party. That was why Malin could not refuse it with good grace.
Although Malin had always been the kind of person who was particular about his bed, the high tension and massive exhaustion of the battlefield still made him fall asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.
He slept straight through to the dawn of the next day. When Malin opened his eyes, he found that his bloodline had changed again. Perhaps due to overexertion the day before, his maternal bloodline had completely disappeared, and today he was back to a standard one meter twenty.
Handsome for no more than three days, was also melancholic.
However, Malin had already taken this into account, and he had prepared clothes in his personal space. After getting dressed, Malin woke Maya, who had drunk quite a lot at last night’s banquet and was still somewhat groggy upon waking, but she quickly became alert with the help of Malin’s spell formation.
Malin did her hair, tied her ribbons, and then helped her lace up her corset. "Why do you wear a corset? I think your figure is great already," Malin asked, quite curious.
"Only by learning self-control can one maintain oneself for a long time. Sister Faye said, as a girl, you can’t just rely on the heavens for your livelihood," Maya said, then walked over to the clothes rack and put on her shaman robe. Then she came in front of Malin and handed him a choker belt.
"Ritual, right?" Malin asked.
"Yes, my mother, whom I’ve never met, probably had one just like it."
Since Maya said so, Malin could not object. As he fastened it for Maya, Malin reached out and wiped the tears from the corners of the little leopard’s eyes: "Don’t cry."
"I had a dream while I was sleeping, a dream without my brother... It was really a strange dream," Maya’s remark elicited a sigh from the depths of Malin’s heart — indeed, in many timelines, there was no Malin like him, no such great victory, but it was precisely for this reason that Malin treasured every day.
"Let’s go, Maya." Leading the girl out of the room, by the time they reached the main hall, Malin noticed Faye standing outside the now-opening grand doors.
"Am I late, my dear?" Faye asked Malin with a sorrowful tone.
"No, you’ve arrived just in time," Malin said with a smile and a shake of his head.
No matter when or where, you were never late.