Heretic

Merlin sat inside the spacious carriage. Though it was still quite bumpy, his physical condition was no longer what it had once been, so such a short journey meant nothing to him now.

"Young Master Merlin, we're here!"

Moss lifted the carriage curtain and spoke to Merlin.

Merlin opened his eyes and jumped down from the carriage. Before him stood the same three-story building, with an old man watching by the entrance. Merlin ignored him and was just about to enter when Gute's extravagantly luxurious four-horse carriage arrived as well.

"Hey, Merlin."

Gute poked his head out of the carriage, then jumped down. To Merlin's surprise, Anson also jumped down behind him. It seemed Gute had given Anson a ride.

Gute and Anson quickly approached Merlin. Gute even stretched out his chubby hand and lightly patted Merlin on the shoulder, saying with a grin, "Merlin, you haven't been here in so many days. What have you been doing?"

Before Merlin could answer, Anson's expression abruptly darkened. His eyes stared fixedly behind Merlin.

"Tilafa and Teacher Jia? Why are they together?"

Anson's face was as dark as water. Ever since he had met Jia, he had been unable to get her out of his mind. He had never expected Tilafa to beat him to it.

Merlin turned around as well and saw Tilafa and Jia chatting and laughing together, seemingly engrossed in their conversation.

Tilafa spotted Merlin and the others too. A faintly mocking smile appeared on his lips as he arrogantly entered the building with Jia.

Gute glanced at Anson beside him, then said in a low, serious voice, "Anson, don't be so dejected. This Jia isn't simple. Heh, didn't I say I'd investigate her thoroughly within three days? I did look into her afterward. Guess what I found?"

Seeing Gute's solemn expression, Merlin could not help asking curiously, "What did you find? Does Jia have a powerful background?"

Gute shook his head and said gravely, "It's not that her background is powerful. It's that she has no background at all! To be precise, I found nothing. Jia has only ever appeared in Gran City, and she seems to have appeared out of nowhere. Where she came from, what she does, who her relatives and friends are—I found none of it! Heh, my family's business stretches across the entire Bright Kingdom, and we're quite capable when it comes to intelligence. If we want to investigate someone, we can definitely find something. But this Jia... she really is mysterious!"

Although Gute was usually carefree and looked like nothing more than a spoiled rich kid, after spending more time with him, Merlin had discovered that the little fat man also had a grasp of part of the Douglan Family's business. He was far from as useless as he appeared.

Even the Douglan Family's formidable intelligence network had failed to uncover Jia's true identity. She likely had quite a few secrets.

Gute continued, "Anson, you need to be careful. Jia may be beautiful, but her identity is unclear and she's extremely mysterious. You should keep your distance and avoid getting involved with her. As for Tilafa, hmph, if anything turns out to be wrong with Jia, he'll have a hard time of it."

Gute curled his lip, clearly thinking little of Tilafa.

After hearing Gute's warning, Anson looked somewhat better. Merlin had no interest in either Tilafa or the mysterious Jia, so he directly asked Anson about Macy. "Anson, Macy and Swordsman Pero went to Gran City so many days ago, but they still haven't returned. Have you heard anything?"

"Macy? I have heard some news. Come on, let's go inside first. I'll tell you slowly."

Anson's gaze flickered, and Merlin's heart immediately sank slightly.

The three of them entered the spacious room. Today's class was still history, but neither Jia nor Tilafa was there. No one knew where they had gone.

"Anson, did something happen to Macy?"

As soon as he sat down, Merlin hurriedly asked.

Anson shook his head slightly, then gave a bitter smile. "Merlin, don't worry. Your sister Macy is fine, but you may have some trouble."

"I have trouble?"

Merlin had no idea what Anson meant and looked at him in confusion.

"It's like this. Didn't Macy and the others go to Gran City under Swordsman Pero's lead to attend an exchange gathering? During that gathering, Kadoron made a breakthrough. He became a true Elemental Swordsman, and a Light Swordsman at that! This even alerted the bishop of the Gran City Church, who personally blessed Kadoron and accepted him as one of the Light Church's Guardian Swordsmen. That's why their return was delayed. Tsk, Kadoron really rose straight to the heavens in a single step."

Anson's face was filled with excitement, as though he himself had become an Elemental Swordsman.

Merlin also knew that being an Elemental Swordsman was nothing extraordinary by itself, but becoming a Guardian Swordsman of the Light Church was different. Guardian Swordsmen received the Light Church's full support and training. Although they did not possess noble titles bestowed by the Bright Royal House, in reality, their status within the Light Church was nearly equivalent to that of nobles.

As the Light Church's power within the kingdom grew ever greater and its influence spread ever wider, the status of these Guardian Swordsmen would naturally rise as well.

After a while, Jia and Tilafa entered together. Jia remained bright and enchanting, while Tilafa wore a long face and looked somewhat gloomy.

"Heh, judging by Tilafa's expression, could it be that he got shut down by Jia?"

Gute whispered with a gleeful snicker.

Soon afterward, Jia began explaining the history lesson. Merlin had no interest in Jia's class, but he secretly observed her. Even Gute, using the Douglan Family's intelligence network, had been unable to uncover Jia's identity. She must have been hiding some secrets.

Yet until the lesson ended, Merlin found nothing unusual about Jia.

"Merlin, see you tomorrow."

Gute and Anson said goodbye to Merlin. Merlin then took Moss's carriage back to Wilson Castle.

A group of more than twenty knights galloped down a broad road. Their attire was distinctive: all wore white light armor and carried greatswords on their backs.

"How far is Blackwater City?"

The group gradually came to a stop. A blond middle-aged man asked coldly. He had long brown hair tied into a braid that hung behind his head. He wore a white robe with light armor over it, an odd combination, but embroidered over his chest was the emblem of a silver cross-shaped sword.

"Lord Jason, once we cross the mountain ahead, we'll reach Blackwater City."

A knight wearing an exquisite silver helmet replied slowly. A trace of fear flickered in his eyes, as though he were deeply afraid of the white-robed knight dressed so strangely.

The white-robed knight nodded. With a cold expression, he said to the silver-helmeted knight, "Swordsman Borg, there can be no mistakes in this mission. We must capture the evil heretic hiding in Blackwater City. I trust the bishop has already told you what to do?"

The white-robed knight's gaze was sharp, causing Borg to break out in a cold sweat.

"Please rest assured, Lord Jason. Before we left, the bishop told us that Lord Jason would be fully responsible for this operation."

"Very well. Let's go."

The white-robed knight nodded in satisfaction, but Swordsman Borg's heart was heavy. He had originally been a Guardian Swordsman of the Gran City Light Church, and he was even a powerful Second-Level Light Swordsman.

Yet even so, Borg remained extremely cautious about this mission, because the Church had actually dispatched someone from the Inquisition. Jason was from the Inquisition. Borg did not know much about the Inquisition; he had only heard some rumors. Its members were incredibly mysterious and possessed power beyond ordinary imagination. They were the most loyal followers of God.

Every time the Inquisition was dispatched, it was because of so-called evil heretics. Borg knew rather more about evil heretics. They were said to be mages who had blasphemed against the God of Light and possessed evil powers. They were the strongest force in the fallen Black Moon Kingdom.

Facing an evil heretic, with even someone from the Inquisition involved, Borg, despite being a Second-Level Light Swordsman, felt deeply uneasy. He had no idea what awaited him in Blackwater City.

Merlin lay quietly in the bathtub with his eyes closed. Amid the steaming hot water, he held a relief sculpture in his hand.

After a while, Merlin opened his eyes. Looking at the relief sculpture in his hand, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

"For the past few days, I haven't had any sweat stains on me when I wake up in the morning. And when I perform the poses from the relief sculpture, they no longer seem to have any effect. The poses on the relief sculpture have completely stopped working for me..."

Merlin murmured softly. Though he had expected this, now that the day had truly come, he still felt somewhat regretful. He could feel the immense strength contained within his body, strength that nearly rivaled that of true Elemental Swordsmen. This transformation had been brought about by the mysterious relief sculpture.

After a while, Merlin stood up. Once he had put away the relief sculpture, he went downstairs.

Downstairs, Macy had grown tired of waiting for Merlin and had already begun eating breakfast.

"I'm going to the church to practice swordsmanship."

After quickly finishing her meal, Macy spoke to Merlin in a flat tone. Then, carrying her sword, she left the castle directly.

Merlin had already grown accustomed to this. Ever since Macy had returned from Gran City ten days ago, she had become cold and distant. She trained with her sword desperately, and none of her former liveliness remained.

Merlin had also learned the reason for Macy's transformation. She had been affected by Kadoron.

Macy and Kadoron had always been the two people Swordsman Pero thought most highly of, the geniuses most likely to become Elemental Swordsmen. Yet Kadoron had made his breakthrough early and even become a Guardian Swordsman of the Church. Macy, equally talented as Kadoron, had still not become a true Elemental Swordsman. This had greatly affected her, making her so cold and single-mindedly devoted to training with her sword.

"Looks like I need to find some time to have a proper talk with Macy."

Merlin murmured softly. Perhaps even he had not noticed that he was gradually integrating into his current identity, completely becoming a part of this world.

After breakfast, Merlin returned to his upstairs room. Over the past ten days, he had mastered more than a hundred additional Morta script words. Together with those he already knew, he had now mastered more than two hundred Morta script words, enough to read some simple Morta script sentences.

In order to master Morta script, Merlin had even stopped going to the church in the mornings to practice swordsmanship. Fortunately, Macy had been affected by Kadoron and only wanted to become an Elemental Swordsman, leaving her with no time to concern herself with Merlin. That was why Merlin had been able to enjoy ten comfortable days in peace.

"It's been ten days. I wonder if old Aita has returned yet?"

Merlin had been about to continue practicing Morta script, but after thinking it over, ten days had already passed. He should go and see whether old Aita had returned.

Although he had the materials old Aita had given him, self-study always came with problems. If old Aita were there, those problems would naturally be resolved, and Merlin would not have to rack his brains trying to guess at the answers.

Thus, Merlin put on his clothes, left Wilson Castle, and took Moss's carriage toward old Aita's cottage.