Spellbook Notes

"Mei Xue?"

Merlin frowned, looking at the steward with a questioning gaze.

The steward smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Young Master Merlin, Miss Mei Xue found out on her own."

Mei Xue's face was ashen as she stared fixedly at Merlin. Merlin felt a great headache regarding this younger sister of his, because in Mei Xue's eyes, Merlin always seemed to be the prodigal son who needed reining in.

Seeing Mei Xue open her mouth to speak, Merlin hurriedly grabbed her hand and said in a low voice, "Don't speak. We'll talk when we get home. Get in the carriage first. Let's go."

Mei Xue was pulled by Merlin into the carriage. The steward and Moss both sat outside, and the carriage slowly left the church.

Inside the carriage, there was no backflow of cold wind, making it seem much warmer. However, the atmosphere inside was somewhat stifling. Mei Xue's gaze was locked straight onto Merlin, wishing to speak but hesitating, while Merlin wore a calm expression.

After a long while, Merlin lifted his head, looked at Mei Xue, and said, "Ask. What do you want to ask?"

Mei Xue frowned, her expression complicated. After a long moment, she finally spoke, "Is there any trouble?"

"The trouble has pretty much all been dealt with. In a little while, the Church people should be returning to Gran City. Nothing will happen."

Merlin stated this in as calm a tone as possible.

"It's good that nothing is wrong. This matter involved the Church; it's no small thing, and Father is not at home... Therefore, for the next period of time, try to go out as little as possible. As for Guardian Swordsman Pero, I will ask for leave on your behalf and just say you're sick."

Mei Xue spoke in a solemn tone. She knew very well that once a matter involved the Church, even a trivial thing would turn into a big deal. She didn't know the ins and outs of the situation, but keeping Merlin reined in and minimizing going out would avoid some trouble. This was also the best method Mei Xue could think of.

Merlin also nodded in agreement and said, "Alright. During this time I will stay in the castle and won't go out."

He originally had the intention of studying old Aita's spell notes attentively at home, and now with Mei Xue stepping in to explain the situation to Guardian Swordsman Pero, some trouble could also be avoided.

The carriage slowly stopped in front of Wilson Castle. After Merlin and the others returned to the castle, Merlin instructed the old steward that for the next period of time, no matter who came looking for him, the answer was to be that he was not at home.

After giving his instructions, Merlin went upstairs and back to his room.

Resting for a moment, Merlin carefully took out the securely hidden ring from the head of the bed. Gazing at this ring, Merlin felt a wave of burning heat in his chest.

He thought of how earlier in the church, in front of Jason, he had seemed so insignificant. As long as Jason felt even slightly that something was off with Merlin, he probably would have died right there.

Mages—mages who mastered powerful spells—were the true powerhouses!

Merlin probed his Mental Power into the ring, and with a thought, that thick volume of spell notes inside the ring appeared in Merlin's hand. However, Merlin did not rush to open the spell notes; he gently placed the notes on the writing desk and instead began studying the ring itself.

Since spell notes can be put into a ring, other things should be able to go in as well.

Merlin guessed inwardly and prepared to test it. He took out the mysterious relief sculpture and, following the method of taking out the notes, simultaneously touched the relief and the ring with his Mental Power.

Whoosh.

The relief vanished in a flash. Merlin narrowed his eyes slightly and checked inside the ring with his Mental Power. Sure enough, the relief lay quietly within.

Seeing that the ring really could hold other items, Merlin also felt slightly relieved. This relief was likewise extremely mysterious; keeping it inside the ring made it even safer.

Only then did Merlin pick up the spell notes and gently open them. Although he had looked at them before, back then he had only been amazed and hadn't looked closely. Now, however, Merlin was going to try deciphering the contents within the notes.

Yet Merlin only tried a few sentences before helplessly shaking his head. Even with the reference materials old Aita had given him, going through them word by word to slowly comprehend it, doing this had almost no effect, and the pace was extremely slow—it simply couldn't achieve anything.

Therefore, the most urgent task was still to master the Morta script first, or at least master it fundamentally. This required Merlin to command over a thousand vocabulary words in the coming period before he could attempt to understand the contents within the spell notes.

Thus, Merlin simply put the spell notes back into the ring. As long as he hadn't mastered over a thousand vocabulary words of the Morta script for a single day, he would absolutely not take out the spell notes.

Inside the hall of Wilson Castle, the steward hurried in.

"Young Master Merlin, those Guardian Swordsmen from Gran City already left Blackwater City this morning."

A trace of a smile appeared on the steward's face. He had been instructed by Merlin to send people to keep an eye on the Guardian Swordsmen from Gran City, and to report the moment they left.

Merlin abruptly stood up and said in a deep voice, "Steward, have those Guardian Swordsmen all left? Is anyone still left behind? Especially that leading Mage Jason, has he left?"

The steward replied, "They've all left. Those Guardian Swordsmen departed under the leadership of that Lord Jason, hauling a full three carriages of goods. I heard they were all things moved out of the homes of evil heretics. Their group traveled very slowly, but they left Blackwater City by morning. I only came back after confirming it repeatedly."

"Steward, you've worked hard."

Merlin relaxed inwardly. Although he hadn't stepped outside for a period of recent days, he had still been closely monitoring the movements of those Guardian Swordsmen who had come from Gran City.

Only now, confirming that they truly had left, did he feel truly relaxed.

"Right, has anyone looked for me recently?"

Merlin asked the steward.

The steward hesitated, but still spoke, "Yesterday Young Master Anson and Young Master Gute came to look for the young master, but they were chased away by Miss Mei Xue."

Merlin smiled bitterly and shook his head, letting the steward leave first.

Yet Merlin didn't take this matter to heart. Anson and Gute shouldn't have had any important matters, and being chased away by Mei Xue was fine as well; he could also set his mind at ease and study the Morta script.

Without the disturbance of other matters, Merlin's speed in learning the Morta script was also very fast. In the span of just a few days, he had mastered over a hundred more vocabulary words; now he had already mastered a full three hundred-plus words, and as he mastered more vocabulary, his speed in learning the Morta script would only become faster.

Because there were many interconnections among these Morta words, the initial several hundred vocabulary words of the Morta script were extremely difficult. But the further along he got, once he mastered a sufficient amount of Morta vocabulary, he would be able to draw inferences from one instance and master more Morta script vocabulary at an even faster speed.

At this speed, in a month at most, perhaps I can master over a thousand words. By then, I can begin trying to look at the contents inside the spell notes.

Merlin also eagerly anticipated that day arriving sooner.

The heat radiating from the blazing fireplace warmed the entire hall. October had already arrived, and the weather was growing increasingly cold. On the bluestone ground outside, a layer of ice crystals had faintly condensed, making it extremely slippery. Meanwhile, the castle servants were enduring the biting cold wind, seizing the time to shovel the ice away from the ground.

Inside the hall, Merlin and Mei Xue were dining. Prepared on the table were buttered bread, wheat porridge, and a steaming cup of milk. Mei Xue glanced at Merlin, who was rapidly devouring the food on the table, a trace of hesitation on her face as she seemed to wish to speak but held back.

"Mei Xue, I'm finished."

Merlin used a clean white handkerchief to wipe away the food residue lingering at the corner of his mouth, then stood up, preparing to turn and leave.

Mei Xue frowned and suddenly spoke up, "Merlin, wait a moment."

"Something the matter?" Merlin turned around, looking at Mei Xue in puzzlement.

Mei Xue put down the knife and fork in her hand, also wiped her mouth, and then said softly, "Merlin, yesterday both Gute and Anson came to look for you. How come you didn't go out with them?"

A hint of a peculiar expression appeared on Merlin's face. In the past, Mei Xue had always looked down upon little fatty Gute and Anson, calling the two of them Merlin's bad companions. Whenever she encountered them, she never gave them a good look.

Yet today Mei Xue's attitude was somewhat strange, though Merlin didn't dwell on it in detail, simply saying indifferently, "Anson and Gute didn't have anything important when looking for me. With the weather this cold, it's still more comfortable staying in the castle."

"Merlin, you've stayed cooped up in the castle this whole time, for over a month now. If you have time, you should still go out and walk around."

A hint of faint worry actually surfaced within Mei Xue's gaze.

At this moment Merlin also reacted. Thinking about it, it must have been because he hadn't stepped outside for over a month—which, compared to his past self, was far too abnormal—thus arousing Mei Xue's worry, as she thought the previous church incident had caused some sort of impact on Merlin.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Merlin's face, and he nodded, saying, "I'll go out when I have time."

With that, Merlin turned around and hurriedly went upstairs, while Mei Xue still frowned, feeling somewhat worried about Merlin's current state. In the past, Merlin couldn't even stay put at home for a single day.

The steward hesitated, then immediately raised his head and said with a smile, "Miss Mei Xue, although Young Master Merlin hasn't been going out much this past month, his spirit is still very good. There shouldn't be any problems."

Hearing the steward's words, Mei Xue finally smoothed her brow, put on a thick overcoat, and swiftly left the castle.

Merlin hurried back to his room. He hadn't taken Mei Xue's words to heart; as long as there wasn't anything particularly important, he wouldn't leave the castle for the time being.

This was because the Morta script vocabulary he now commanded was increasing more and more. Up until today, he had already mastered over one thousand one hundred words, which could already be considered basically grasping the Morta script.

Therefore, today Merlin prepared to take out old Aita's spell notes and study the contents within.

After taking out the ring hidden at the head of the bed, Merlin's Mental Power swiftly probed into the ring, and with a thought, a thick stack of spell notes appeared in Merlin's hand.

This stack of spell notes was something Merlin had only skimmed through roughly at the start. Because the Morta script he had mastered at the time was limited, he hadn't known the contents written upon them.

And now, Merlin finally opened the spell notes once more.

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