"Macy?"
Merlin frowned as he shot a questioning glare at the butler.
The butler shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "Young Master Merlin, Young Lady Macy got hold of the news herself."
Macy had a dark expression on her as she shot deathly glare at Merlin. Merlin was extremely troubled by his sister Macy because in Macy's eyes, Merlin always seemed to be the rich kid who needed to be restricted.
When Macy was about to speak, Merlin quickly held Macy's hand and lowered his tone, "Don't say anything. Say it when we get home. Let's enter the carriage first. Let's go."
Macy was pulled by Merlin into the carriage. The butler and Moss were sitting in front of the carriage. It then slowly left the church.
In the carriage, there was no chilly wind so it seemed a little warmer. However, the air in the carriage seemed stagnant. Macy was gawking at Merlin as she tried to say something while Merlin seemed calm.
After a long while, Merlin raised his head and looked at Macy. "Ask away. What do you want to know about?"
Macy frowned and had a complicated look on her. She only spoke after a long pause, "Is there any trouble?"
"Most of them have been dealt with. After some time, the people from the church should be back in Grand City. There won't be anything more."
Merlin stated the facts as calmly as he could be.
"That's good, then. This matter involves the church. It isn't anything big and father is away. So, from now on, you shouldn't go out too often. I'll ask for leave for you from Swordsman Pero. I'll say that you're ill."
Macy said in a serious note. She knew it clearly that once things had involved the church, even the smallest matter could become detrimental. She was not clear with the whole matter but restricting Merlin from going out could at least save him from some troubles. This was the best solution Macy could think of.
Merlin nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I'll stay in the castle for the meantime and not go out."
He had the thought of studying old man Etha's Spell Manual wholeheartedly anyway. Now that Macy was able to explain the situation to Swordsman Pero, he could save some trouble for himself.
The carriage slowly came to a halt in front of Wilson Castle. After they had entered the castle, Merlin ordered the old butler to tell anyone who came for him lately that he was not home.
After he had given that instruction, Merlin returned to his room upstairs.
After a short rest, Merlin carefully took out the well-hidden ring from under his bed. Upon seeing this ring, Merlin felt a warm sensation drawing into his heart.
He recalled how small he seemed in front of Jason at the church. Once Jason decided that Merlin was acting odd, he would've died in that place.
Wizards. Wizards who had gotten hold of strong spells were the true powerful people!
Merlin sent his Mind Power into the ring. With a thought, that thick Spell Manual in the ring appeared in Merlin's hands but he was not rushing to flip it open. He placed the manual lightly on the study table and studied the ring instead.
"If he can store the Spell Manual in the ring, then I should be able to store other things in the ring as well."
Merlin guessed in his heart. He intended to test it so he took the mysterious relief sculpture out. According to the method provided in the manual, he had to use his Mind Power and touch the ring at once.
"Swoosh."
It disappeared in the blink of an eye. Merlin squinted his eyes slightly to check the ring with his Mind Power. As expected, the relief sculpture lied quietly in the ring.
Knowing that the ring could store other things as well, a weight was lifted off Merlin's chest. This relief sculpture was extremely mysterious and unfathomable. Putting it in the ring would be safer.
After that, Merlin grabbed the Spell Manual and flipped it open lightly. Even though he had seen it before, he was simply surprised by it and did not have a good look. Now, Merlin would like to study the content in the manual.
However, Merlin only tried a few sentences before giving up helplessly. Even if he had the information from old man Etha as reference and he could understand it word by word but doing this was nearly ineffective. He was extremely slow and he could not attain the effect he wanted.
Thus, the most urgent thing was to have a grasp of Molta language. At least, he needed a strong foundation in it. This required Merlin to grasp hold of more than one thousand vocabulary in the following days to at least try to understand the content of the Spell Manual.
So, Merlin directly placed the manual back into the ring. As long as he could not grasp hold of more than one thousand Molta words, he would never retrieve the Spell Manual.
The butler entered the hall of Wilson Castle hurriedly.
"Young Master Merlin, the Guardian Swordsman from Grand City had left Blackwater City this morning."
The butler flashed a smile. He was ordered by Merlin to observe the Guardian Swordsman of Grand City. Once they had left, he needed to report it to Merlin.
Merlin stood up suddenly and said in a low voice, "Butler, are they all gone? Is there anyone who stays behind? What about the leader, Wizard Jason? Has he left?"
The butler answered, "They've all left. Led by Lord Jason, the Guardian Swordsman brought three carriages of things away. I heard they're all things moved from the evil heretic's home. Their pace is slow but they've left Blackwater City this morning. I only returned after confirming it repeatedly."
"Butler, you've done well."
Merlin was relieved. Even though he had not left home for a while lately, he was still taking note of the movement of the Guardian Swordsman who came from Grand City closely.
Only after making sure that they had already left, he felt truly relaxed.
"Right, did anyone find me lately?"
Merlin asked the butler.
The butler hesitated for a while and said, "Yesterday, Young Master Anson and Young Master Gutt came for your but they were chased away by Young Lady Macy."
Merlin shook his head with a bitter smile and let the butler left first.
However, Merlin did not take this to heart. Anson and Gutt should not have any urgent matter. They were better off chased away by Macy. That way, he could learn the Molta language at peace.
Without other disturbances, Merlin's pace of learning Molta language was quick. In just a few days, he had grasp hold of more than a hundred words. Now, he had the vocabulary of about three hundred words. As the number of words increased, the speed to learn Molta language would increase significantly as well.
Since these Molta words were highly correlated, the few first hundreds of Molta words were the hardest to learn. However, as time passed by and when he had understood Molta words enough, he was able to correlate the words and learn new vocabulary in a much higher speed.
"With my current speed, I'll be able to understand more than a thousand words and at most, a month. At that time, I can read the content of that Spell Manual."
Merlin was looking forward to that day.
The heat from the burning furnace warmed the entire hall. Now that it was October, the weather had become even colder. The ground outside was already faintly frosted and extremely slippery. The servants of the castle were also bearing the freezing wind as they rid the ground of the frost with shovel as quickly as possible.
In the hall, Merlin and Macy were dining. There were butter bread, wheat porridge and a glass of milk prepared on the table. Macy took a glance at Merlin who was gobbling up food. She seemed to have something to say to her brother hesitantly.
"Macy, I've finished."
Merlin used his white handkerchief to wipe away the food on his mouth. Then, he stood up and was about to leave when Macy stopped him.
Macy frowned and said, "Merlin, wait a minute."
"Anything wrong?" Merlin turned and looked at Macy.
Macy put down her fork and knife and wiped her mouth. She said softly, "Merlin, yesterday Gutt and Anson came to look for you. Why didn't you go out with them?"
Merlin showed an odd expression. Macy had not liked seeing fatty Gutt and Anson before and said they were Merlin's bad influence. Once she met them, she would not show any good expression.
However, Macy's attitude today was a little strange but Merlin did not think too much about it. He said nonchalantly, "Anson and Gutt didn't have any urgent business with me. The weather's so cold. It's better staying in the castle."
"Merlin, you've been staying in the castle these days. It's been more than a month. It's better to go out for a walk some days."
Macy's gaze showed a hint of worry.
Right now, Merlin also realized that his lack of socialization these days was too abnormal as compared to his previous behavior and had caused Macy to worry about him. She probably still thought the incident with the church had caused some effect on Merlin somehow.
Thinking about that, Merlin smiled and nodded. "I will when I have time."
After saying that, Merlin turned around and went upstairs. Meanwhile, Macy was still frowning. She was worried about Merlin's current condition. Usually, Merlin would not stay at home even for a day.
The butler hesitated for a while before saying with a smile, "Young Lady Macy, even though Young Master Merlin did not go out much during this period, he was energetic and cheerful all this while. There shouldn't be any problem."
After hearing what the butler said, Macy finally relaxed her eyebrows. She wore a thick coat and left the castle in a hurry.
Merlin returned to his room quickly. He did not take Macy's words by heart. If there was no important matter to attend to, he would not leave the castle during this time.
This was because he had understood more Molta vocabulary. Until now, he had grasped hold of one thousand and one hundred Molta words. He could be deemed as he understood the basic Molta language.
Thus, Merlin was prepared to retrieve old man Etha's Spell Manual today and study its content.
Taking the ring he hid under his bed, Merlin's Mind Power reached into the ring quickly. With a thought, a thick Spell Manual appeared in Merlin's hands.
Merlin only briefly flipped through this Spell Manual the previous time. Since his Molta vocabulary was limited, he did not understand its context at all.
Now, Merlin flipped the Spell Manual open once more.