From the look that the white-haired elder gave to the old butler, Malin realized that the old man might not have made things clear to the elder. However, this was perhaps for the best, as it at least offered the elder a chance to declare his position. After all, he still loved this kingdom.
Malin did not yet understand why the elder had killed the King, but by all counts, the elder did not seem to want to usurp the throne — he lacked both the intent and the capability. He was still loyal to the monarchy; his relationships with the royal courtiers weren’t bad, at least. The old butler must have purposely not mentioned that the Half-human’s expectations had been thwarted. He had given him, in his eyes, a chance for Malin to "reacquaint" with Catalia.
Interesting, with such a shrewd old butler, just how did the white-haired elder manage to kill his King without anyone noticing?
Thinking this, Malin called Jason, asking the AI about this very issue.
"It’s what Caster 101 said, I didn’t witness it with my own eyes or investigate it personally, but Casters wouldn’t lie about this sort of matter, and they have no need to lie about it either." Jason’s answer made Malin frown slightly — it seemed the truth behind this incident was yet to be unearthed.
But on his departure, the white-haired elder provided new information regarding the little thief, clarifying the third party’s identity: it was an assault team from a Chaos cult based in Farole. The captured members revealed their reason for pursuing the kid after their souls were searched — he appeared to have stolen something he shouldn’t have.
This made Malin quite embarrassed, and it seemed he had also found the thief who had previously stolen from his own girl and from some unlucky Night Watcher.
"Capture him, I want him alive. I heard he carries his daughter with him, don’t use her as a hostage. You are the kingdom’s blade, not some common bandits in the wilderness."
"As you wish, Mr. Malin," said the elder and then he took his leave.
Then the old butler also retired with a smile.
"Finally, it’s over." Jessica leaned back in her chair, her expression going from serious to relieved, and exclaimed, "I used to envy lords, but now I don’t think I’m cut out for it. There’s so much to manage, and to face such shameless people, these Half-humans really have no decency."
"Not all Half-humans are assholes, Jessica. Remember, all who want to preserve this wonderful world are our allies, only Gravediggers are our enemies. If the free peoples of the mountains choose to join us on our Chariot, they are our friends, but if they cannot be our friends, then I cannot teach them knowledge, for I cannot entrust knowledge to cowards who could turn to Chaos at any moment," Malin said to his wolf girl.
"Alright." The wolf girl lowered her head in admission of her mistake, and Malin didn’t have the heart to say anything more.
The girls were all well and good, but for some reason, they had been unusually submissive in front of him lately.
They hadn’t been so docile in the past.
With such thoughts, the girls began to leave, deciding to take a stroll in the city under Nova’s lead. Matilda didn’t go, however; the Fox Girl had been avoiding Malin recently, which puzzled him because he didn’t understand why she wanted to be alone with him today.
"Mr. Malin, I’ve mutated again." The Fox Girl approached him sobbing, leaving Malin somewhat perplexed, as he truly couldn’t see any changes on Matilda.
"I don’t see it." So, Malin looked at the Fox Girl in front of him with slight embarrassment, "I heard that you’ve been avoiding bathing with everyone lately, what’s the matter? Isn’t the zombie poison from before already cleansed from your body?"
"My, my tail has grown an extra one!" Upon hearing this, Malin finally noticed the extra tail — indeed, there was one more, but this new tail was much shorter than the other two.
"I asked my Lord, and he told me it’s just a very normal bloodline purification, and he said that I will have even more tails in the future, but I don’t need so many tails," Matilda said, looking very distressed. Malin thought for a moment, "Don’t worry, even if you had nine tails, I would still like you."
"Nine tails?!" Matilda’s face was filled with horror. "It’s already hard enough for me to balance when I jump, Mr. Malin, if I have more tails, they’ll interfere with me even during fights." "If I can’t help Mr. Malin, then I’m just a useless big-eared fox."
"You could also be a big-tail(yi) fox," Malin said in perfect Thainanese, which made Matilda freeze for a moment before her fur exploded with irritation. "Mr. Malin, how can you say that! I’m talking about something very serious."
"I’m also talking about something very serious," Malin said, stroking the silly fox’s head. "Alright, since you don’t want to go out and have fun, then come with me to see the world."
"I’m going to my Semi-Plane for a visit, to establish a gateway between the Semi-Plane and the Seafloor Base."
Having said that, Malin took Matilda’s hand and walked into the portal.
Creating a permanent gateway was something Malin had always wanted to do, so with some free time today, he decided to get it done, also granting Dorothy access to the Semi-Plane — she could freely choose the hydroponically grown plants, which was much more convenient in Malin’s view than doing it himself.
Matilda had not seen the Semi-Plane before, and today her eyes were wide open the whole time as she looked at this beautiful garden world.
When she saw the herd of deer that were not afraid of people, she was even more amazed, "The yellow deer of Farole, how did they get here?"
"I brought them in. The treant guardians will keep them away from the herb area."
"It’s such a beautiful thing," Matilda said just as Malin took her through the transfer channel into the Seafloor Base. If she was surprised before, now she was completely nervous as she looked at this metal world until Malin told Matilda what had happened here.
Upon hearing that Nameless had sealed this place for Malin, the tension on the girl’s face completely disappeared: "I see, that’s wonderful, Mr. Malin."
"Stop calling me ’Mr.’, haven’t I told you, just call me by my name," Malin said while confirming the coordinates with Dorothy.
"How could I do that," Matilda became tense once again.
"If you don’t change it, then you’re being disobedient, Matilda," Malin said, looking at the silly fox.
She was silent for a moment, then with furrowed brows and a pained expression, she nodded, "Then... Mal, Malin..."
"Good girl," Malin patted the girl’s head.