Chapter Thirty-Two: From Frugality to Extravagance is Easy

  As the door was pushed open, what entered Marlon's eyes along with the morning sun was Adela, holding a washbasin filled with water and towels in her hands, with an overcoat draped over her arm.

  "Adela, what are you doing?"

  Ma Long narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "Is this the first question?"

  Adela looked around, then placed the water basin in front of her: "Young Master Malong, the mayor of Kaki City and that Secretary of State from Newington have arrived at the big wooden gate outside the orphanage. They seem to be here specifically to commend Young Master Malong for what he did last night. Mr. Bernard, let me come over and invite Young Master Malong to go over there to receive them and make some small talk."

  "Adela, I hate social gatherings, although I understand that this kind of thing may become more and more frequent in the future."

  Malong muttered a sentence, but he still took over the clothes and put them on without any resistance. Then, he let Adela help him tidy up his coat - unknowingly, Malong had already gotten used to Adela's service as a "personal maid".

  "How's Esther? How is she?"

  When putting on his clothes, Ma Long thought of Ox Head Boy Aister again.

  "When day broke, he was sent to the temple of Mother Earth by Mr. Carnegie with some other people who needed pastoral care and should have been properly treated and awakened from his coma."

  Adela is absolutely a competent lady's maid, Marlon's questions she answered easily and at the same time also helped Marlon to tidy up his clothes.

  Adela then took a warm wet towel from the basin beside her and handed it to Malong.

  "Little An Wei has just made a few new friends to play with, and Chief Bernard has arranged for someone to follow her so don't worry."

  "There was an airship of the Sky Guard Corps hovering above the slums, so as soon as dawn broke, many refugees who had followed Young Master Malong to escape began returning home. It's said that last night, in the second half of the night, the National Defense Army and the National Guard had basically taken control of the situation throughout the city."

  "It's said that many people died in the northwest city district, and almost all of the rebelling Durrell slaves were killed. However, the Durrell slaves also burned down three-quarters of the Oshana district, and at least two to three thousand citizens living in the Oshana district lost their lives. The Whitesand Lake shore where the Nuvenshire Minister held a masquerade ball was also attacked by the rebelling Durrell slaves, it's said that two quite famous people died, one of whom is said to be old Gavriel-Riley, but Miss Evina and Mr. Solace are both safe and sound, as they've sent people over to report their safety..."

  At the time when Malong was wiping his face with a towel, Adela had already asked about the situation of several other Malongs in an orderly manner.

  "Adela, you're really considerate. In the future, any man who's lucky enough to marry you will definitely be happy every day."

  After wiping his face with a warm towel, Ma Long sincerely praised him.

  Adela's face turned red as she hastily said, "Young Master Ma Long, what are you thinking about! What you need to consider now is what to say when you meet the Mayor and the Minister later!"

  What should I say when meeting the mayor and the secretary of state?

  They've all come especially to honor us, what can we say?

  Nothing more than... thanking the country, thanking the government, thanking the leaders' clichés.

  In short, it's just about working with these two big shots to turn this sudden massive riot into a political achievement.

  Well, to be precise, it should be that New Haven Secretary of State, who is probably here to put gold on his own face and gain political achievements. And as for the Mayor of Khaki City, he probably wants to do everything possible to prevent this chaos from happening during his term in office from becoming a career-ending disaster.

  Ma Long has never been an official, but he has read a lot of official-themed books.

  So Ma Long was very clear that this White Sand City would probably have to change mayors.

  But anyway, if this khaki mayor and that Newhaven secretary of state were to come together, the relationship between them seems... rather subtle?

  Forget it, continue daydreaming is useless, soon we can observe their words and actions in person, right?

  With this idea in mind, Ma Long walked out of the workshop and quickly walked towards the simple large wooden door of the orphanage.

  Before he reached the door, Malong saw Mayor Cachi and Minister Newentri from the capital, accompanied by Old Saint Warrior and Police Chief Bernard, under the escort of a large number of Lorin National Defense Army soldiers with live ammunition, walking towards him.

  Mayor Kachibu of Hakusa City, Marlon had seen his face in the newspaper long ago. The mayor, who was well-maintained with good skin care, now looked like he had bloodshot eyes and was out of spirit, clearly worried about the aftermath of last night's Doreur slave uprising.

  The man who was half a step ahead of the mayor, was a slightly chubby man wearing a spotless white formal suit. Although he had been smiling and talking to Old Saint Warrior and Bernard Police Chief all along, the kind of superior aura that came from being in a high position for a long time could be clearly felt by Marlon from afar.

  This slightly stout man was undoubtedly the big shot from Feniko, the capital - Augustin von Neuvetri, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Loraine and Standing Committee Member of the Post-War Reconstruction Commission.

  Hey, where's that old Deft fellow?

  Ma Long was secretly thinking.

  While Ma Long was quietly observing the two big shots coming towards him, these two big shots were also quietly observing Ma Long.

  A 14-year-old child from a poor district, who first stunned the world by publishing nine fairy tales with a total of 5,000 words and earning 11 million lanters; then bought "Eli's Book" worth 11 million lanters; afterwards donated most of the remaining manuscript fees to charity for war orphans and veterans. Last night, in that chaotic and bloody night, this child used "Eli's Book" worth 11 million lanters as bait to rescue nearly 20,000 residents from the poor district, and brought them here to settle down safely, which is a savior-like achievement.

  Are these things something an ordinary young person can accomplish?

  So, how could such a promising young man fail to attract their curious gaze?

  "Gentlemen, look who's walking over! I bet this is the pride of Baisha Town, our little Malong, right?"

  The first to speak was the Secretary of State from the capital, New Trent, who wore a smile that seemed approachable to the extreme - at least, on the surface.

  As they spoke, the Secretary of State from New Vermont, who had been holding a short cane made of golden sandalwood in his right hand, suddenly produced a thick book that Marlon was very familiar with... "The Book of Aili".

  "Our little dragon horse, this book should belong to you, right?"