The servant girls in the castle cleared the dining table quickly. Merlin stood up, getting ready to go upstairs and rest.
"Merlin, I've news to tell you."
"What news?" Merlin turned and looked at Macy uncertainly.
"Swordsman Pero wants to bring us to the church in Grand City tomorrow and socialize with the other youngsters in the city."
Merlin's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he knew that the "us" Macy had mentioned did not include him. They must be those who possessed an elemental affinity with the most potential where they were worthy of great efforts by the church to nurture them.
"How many days will it take?"
"About four to five days, I guess."
Merlin nodded and said, "Alright, I know. With Swordsman Pero leading you guys, it should be really safe, so I'm not worried."
Then, Merlin walked upstairs.
There was some doubt in Macy's eyes as she watched Merlin's back. In a low voice, she murmured, "This fellow Merlin, he seems to be somewhat different from before."
Earlier, there was a big change in Merlin's tone of voice and expression as he spoke compared to how he had been previously. In the past, Merlin would never say something like, "So I'm not worried."
Back in his room, Merlin was sober. Once again, on his bed, he sat in the strange posture found on the relief sculpture.
Merlin was already very familiar with this strange posture so he did not feel awkward at all. He felt so comfortable even to a point where he laid on the soft bed and fell into a deep slumber unintentionally.
…
Early the next morning, Merlin woke up from his dreams. By that time, a thick layer of snow had covered the grounds as it snowed the entire night. As a result, a thin layer of ice crystals had formed on the edges of the window. It was also extremely cold indoors.
Merlin shivered involuntarily. It was only after he had awakened that he discovered he had fallen asleep the night before without him knowing.
"I'm sweating again..."
Merlin stretched his hand to wipe the back of his arm and found that it was oily sweat. Merlin could feel the stickiness all over his body, so it was very uncomfortable.
"Lucia, get me some hot water."
Merlin opened the door and called for his maidservant, Lucia. Although Lucia was somewhat puzzled that Merlin still wanted a bath on such a cold day, she did not dare to question him although she found that it was rather perplexing. All she could do was to follow Merlin's instructions and switched on the hot water tap, filling up the bathtub.
Merlin jumped into the bathtub and speedily washed his body to get rid of the sweat stain.
Although he had been frozen the entire night before, Merlin did not feel any discomfort at all. Instead, he was invigorated with a face flushed red and energy seemed to fill his body from the top to the bottom.
"Lucia, Master Merlin is bathing again?"
An exceptionally frail and old voice drifted into Merlin's ears.
Merlin quickly recognized that this was the butler's voice. Apparently, the butler was questioning Lucia.
Lucia replied in a soft voice, "Yes, butler, the master's been in the bath after waking up in the morning."
"Hmm… Tomorrow onward, prepare some hot water every morning."
The butler instructed her in a low voice. Then, there were footsteps fading off into the distance. It was assumed that both of them were already leaving.
"The butler's quite attentive."
Merlin smiled gently. He knew that it must have been the butler coming to get him downstairs for breakfast, and so he stretched out his hand and opened the big doors to the bedroom.
"Eh? Why isn't there anyone?"
Merlin was astonished as he heard the voices of the butler and Lucia clearly. They had obviously been right outside the door but how could there be no one?
He felt weird so he immediately walked to the corridor and looked downstairs, only to discover that the butler and Lucia were there.
"Downstairs? How can they be downstairs? Their voices were evidently clear when they were speaking earlier..."
Merlin raised an eyebrow. Then, a thought came to him –'could it be that he could hear people talking when they were downstairs?'
When Merlin reached downstairs, he did not give a second glance to the sumptuous breakfast spread on the table. All he did was grab a piece of bread at random and started eating absentmindedly.
"The weather today is really odd. It's not winter yet but it's already so cold."
"Knopp, get to work quickly. If the butler finds out that you're loafing on the job again, don't think about getting to work here at Baron Lord's after today."
"..."
Merlin ate his bread as he listened carefully to various voices in the distance. They were at least a few dozen meters away from Merlin and some were even up to a hundred meters away, yet Merlin was able to listen albeit faintly, to them all. This showed that his hearing ability had greatly improved.
This was a very sudden change. Merlin was extremely sure that he had not undergone this change, at least before he went to bed last night. Right now, his hearing ability had been enhanced significantly. He could even hear the footsteps of every person within a few dozen meters from him very clearly.
"Master Merlin, is there anything else you need?"
The butler's words interrupted Merlin's deep thoughts. Only now did he turn his head, just to discover that the bread in his hand had been finished without knowing when.
"I'm done eating."
Merlin wiped his mouth and hurriedly returned to his room upstairs.
In the room, Merlin took out the relief sculpture from the end of the bed, where he had hidden it. He knew that his change had definitely been brought about by the strange posture on the relief sculpture.
Furthermore, Merlin's boost in hearing ability was just the beginning. He could also feel his strength, agility, and other attributes had undergone an enhancement as well.
As long as he continued to practice the posture on the sculpture, the quality of his body would definitely improve and become more outstanding.
Merlin hung around upstairs for a while. After putting on a thick coat, wrapping a gray scarf around his neck, and wearing leather gloves on his hands, he went downstairs.
After snowing for the entire night, a thick layer of snow had piled up in front of the castle. The tops of the great bald trees were also covered with snow. Everywhere he looked was white snow.
Moss had been waiting for long outside. His face had been blown red by the chilly wind and was currently rubbing his hands repeatedly. Merlin did not feel like admiring the snowy scene so he hurriedly darted into the carriage and said to Moss, "Let's go."
The carriage moved gently. Merlin leaned against the wall in the carriage. Suddenly, he felt as though the carriage seemed rather empty today.
"Wait, where's Macy?"
Merlin hurriedly asked Moss.
"Miss Macy has already left the castle earlier today."
Merlin shook his head gently after hearing Moss' answer. It was only then that he remembered that Macy had gone to Grand City with Swordsman Pero and would be staying there for a few days, so he would not have to go to the church during these few days as well.
The etiquette class was only going to be held in the afternoon so Merlin could freely arrange his time in the morning. He thought about it for a moment. He had just arrived in this world a few days ago, and the places he had been could be counted using his fingers alone.
Only the antique at Nathan's felt somewhat new and strange to Merlin. Especially that piece of strange relief sculpture where Merlin had a great interest in. Furthermore, the antiques during the time of the Molta Empire had attracted his attention.
"Moss, stop. I'm not going to the church anymore. Go to Mr. Nathan's!"
Merlin yelled loudly at Moss.