Chapter Five: Do Not Touch My Face Without Permission

While the Observer airship was still in its preheating phase, with waves of heat continuously surging from the engines’ tails, the interior of the vessel presented a scene straight from the underworld.

Morris Stevenson nodded with satisfaction as the towering metallic puppet, Radiance, twisted the neck of the last demonic minion in its grasp. With a casual thrust of its alloyed shoulder armor, Radiance sent the steel door of the holding cell crashing to the floor.

With distaste, Morris kicked aside the corpse of Commander D, whose body was encased in heavy armor and now lay sprawled across the doorway. A thick, tar-like fluid spilled out, tracing a long dark smear across the floor.

Morris glared furiously at Carlos, who stood inside the iron doorway, grinning with delight. “From now on, you’d better stay put at home. If you ever convince that wretched coachman to take you out again, I’ll break his legs myself and throw you into the stables to feed the horses. Don’t think that Grant, your late mother’s old servant, can ignore my authority in the Stevenson estate just because of his past!”

He roared on, “You’ve seen the recent reports of demon invasions in the papers. You know how tempting you are to those mud-booted peasants, yet you still run off beyond town. Tired of living, are you?!”

No one would dare challenge a lion’s authority—especially not when the lion was scolding his own cub.

Carlos only grinned sheepishly, lowering his head without protest.

His eyes slid to the corpse of Commander D, whose mouth still grinned wide with gleaming white teeth. Inwardly, Carlos marveled—this was a commander-class demon, yet the puppet dispatched him with ease?

In the dim light, Carlos failed to notice the faint movement of Taric D. Enzo’s jaw—the demon’s brilliant smile twisted for an instant with an eerie, sinister depth.

Nearby, the steam guardian Augusta showed no mercy as she smashed the head of a seductive demoness with a single punch. The force was so immense that her iron fist sank several centimeters into the thick steel door.

Carlos stared, wide-eyed, swallowing nervously to himself.

“They’re all monsters. If these two humans, living in a remote town in East Cyprus, are so strong despite their low status, then what demon could possibly threaten them?”

But that was clearly not the case—after all, the destruction of Sylin City by this demon army was proof enough.

Augusta, clad in her leather coat, strode toward them, shooting Carlos a stern look as she said, “Carlos, you’re nothing but trouble. Stay away from my Koman.”

Carlos could only smile wryly and protest, “Koman is my good friend, not what you think!”

“Not a word from a nobleman can be trusted,” Morris Stevenson snorted from the side. “Carlos sensed something was amiss and left the treehouse ahead of time. That’s why your Koman wasn’t dragged into this mess. That’s called noble mercy.”

He rebuffed Augusta’s accusation, turning to glare at Carlos and adding, “If danger strikes again, don’t act on your own. You are the hope of the Stevenson family.”

Carlos rolled his eyes in reply.

Augusta watched their father-son drama with a look of disdain. “Who knows what really happened?” she muttered.

Morris mimicked Carlos’s eye roll and snorted coldly. “Oh, so you’re after the steam engine on this airship, are you? Fine—go ahead, slaughter all the Black Hats in town. Don’t leave any alive!”

Carlos’s head throbbed just listening to their exchange. This must be what adults call ‘polite conversation.’

Augusta waved a hand dismissively. “Why would I offend those mad dogs from the Sword Pavilion? We have no grudge. And don’t pretend you’re not interested—you’ve had your eye on the engine core from the start. Give me the engine, and you can have the core!”

Augusta’s bluntness left Morris’s expression darkening instantly.

“If we report the defeat of the demon invasion squad, our reward would be far more than this.”

“Then go ahead—if you had the means to claim your credit, you wouldn’t have been exiled to this backwater.”

Morris’s face turned thunderous. “Augusta, you were once a top student at the Linca Steam Academy, and yet here you are.”

Augusta dropped her voice eight octaves. “I’m no noble, and I came to Saltwell Town of my own accord.”

…

Carlos, utterly uninterested in their bickering, was just about to slip away when a stern voice, tinged with anger, called out, “Wait!”

Before he could escape, Morris’s hand reached out and seized him, his touch practiced as he stroked Carlos’s cheek.

A flush instantly spread across Carlos’s pale face.

Morris’s heavy hand trailed up from Carlos’s cheekbone to the mark on his forehead. Only then did Morris allow himself a breath of relief.

Carlos, cheeks burning, glared stubbornly at his father with dark, lively eyes before breaking free of the man’s grasp.

“No more touching my face,” he muttered.

A heavy palm landed on his shoulder with a smack.

Carlos gasped, vision swimming, before regaining his footing.

“Hey, when you’re grown, I’ll consider it!” Morris chuckled, finally withdrawing his hand, satisfied.

The bloodline mark on Carlos’s forehead had become even more distinct—a most auspicious sign, and Morris Stevenson had every reason to feel gratified.

Freed from his father’s grasp, Carlos eagerly set out to explore the Observer airship.

Among the aerial fleet of the Radiant Empire, the smallest airborne units were divided into two distinct subcategories: Observer corvettes and Observer airships.

Compared to corvettes, which boasted more complete armor and defense systems, airships were smaller and far more rudimentary—indeed, the slowest and least maneuverable of all aerial combat units.

The reason lay in the airship’s only engine: a Class X-1 steam engine.

This type of substandard engine belonged to the previous century’s steam technology.

Nonetheless, the steam guardian Augusta was deeply fascinated by this X-1 engine. Despite its age, its raw power was still enough to sustain a massive airborne vessel.

It was common knowledge that steam guardians’ iron bodies and hammer-like strength were forged daily under the scorching blast of steam. The power and efficiency of a steam engine played a pivotal role in their cultivation.

After Carlos made a quick tour through the airship’s cabins—seven hundred and fifty meters wide and one point two kilometers long—he finally arrived at its heart: the control center.

His pulse quickened.

“My word… This is simply incredible.”

Through the command cabin’s transparent glass, Carlos gazed out, feeling as though he’d stepped into another world.

This entire metallic structure was suspended in the sky, powered by nothing but steam machinery.

Only by standing in this all-seeing command chamber could one truly appreciate the awe and wonder of a flying machine driven by the interlocking gears and pounding pistons of steam technology.

And with it, a reverence for the unparalleled might of the steam engine.