Mage's Profound Truths

Chapter 19: Spell Manuscript

"Meixue?"

Merlin frowned slightly, his gaze questioning as he looked at the butler.

The butler gave a bitter smile and shook his head, saying, "Young Master Merlin, Miss Meixue found out about it herself."

Meixue's face was deathly pale as she stared fixedly at Merlin.

When it came to Meixue, this younger sister of his, Merlin often found her a headache,

because in Meixue’s eyes, Merlin always seemed to be the unruly playboy that needed restraining.

Seeing Meixue about to speak, Merlin quickly grabbed her hand and said in a low voice,

"Don’t speak. We’ll talk at home. Get in the carriage first. Let’s go."

Meixue was pulled into the carriage by Merlin,

while the butler and Moss sat outside the carriage, and they slowly left the church.

Inside the carriage, there was no cold wind seeping in, making it feel much warmer.

However, the atmosphere inside the carriage was somewhat stifling.

Meixue stared intently at Merlin, as if about to speak but holding back,

while Merlin maintained a calm expression.

After a long moment, Merlin raised his head and looked at Meixue, saying,

"Go ahead and ask. What do you want to know?"

Meixue frowned, her expression complex. After a while, she finally asked,

"Is there any trouble?"

"The trouble has mostly been dealt with. In a while, the people from the Church should return to Gran City. Nothing major will happen."

Merlin stated this in as calm a tone as he could.

"Good, as long as it’s nothing serious. This matter involves the Church, and that's no small thing. Father isn't home either...

So during this time, try to go out less. I’ll help you ask for leave from Swordsman Perot and say you’re sick."

Meixue said gravely.

She knew very well that once the Church was involved, even small matters could become serious.

Though she didn’t know the details, restraining Merlin and reducing his outings could help avoid some trouble.

This was the best method she could think of.

Merlin nodded in agreement and said, "Alright, I’ll stay in the castle during this time and not go out."

He had already been planning to stay home and study the spell manuscript left by Old Etta.

Now that Meixue would explain things to Swordsman Perot, some trouble could be avoided.

The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of Wilson Castle.

After returning to the castle, Merlin instructed the old butler that no matter who came looking for him,

he was to be told that Merlin was not at home.

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

After resting for a bit, Merlin carefully took out the ring he had securely hidden by his bed.

Just looking at the ring made Merlin feel a surge of excitement.

He remembered how small and powerless he had seemed in front of Jason at the church.

If Jason had noticed anything strange, he might have died there.

Mages—those who wield powerful spells—are the true strong ones!

Merlin directed his spiritual power into the ring, and with a thought,

the thick spell manuscript inside the ring appeared in his hand.

But Merlin didn’t rush to open it. Instead, he gently placed it on the desk and began studying the ring itself.

"If I can store the spell manuscript in the ring, then other things should be storable too."

Merlin speculated in his mind and decided to test it.

He took out the mysterious relief carving and used the same method—connecting both the ring and the relief with his spiritual power.

"Whoosh."

In an instant, the relief disappeared.

Merlin narrowed his eyes and checked inside the ring with his spiritual power.

Sure enough, the relief was lying quietly inside.

Seeing that the ring could indeed store other items, Merlin felt slightly relieved.

This mysterious relief was extremely strange; keeping it in the ring was much safer.

Only then did Merlin pick up the spell manuscript and gently open it.

Although he had looked at it before, it was only out of curiosity.

Now, Merlin wanted to try to interpret its contents.

But after only attempting a few sentences, Merlin shook his head in frustration.

Even with the reference materials Old Etta had given him, understanding the text word by word was slow and ineffective.

So for now, mastering the Morta language—at least a thousand words—was the most urgent task.

Only then could he begin to interpret the manuscript.

Thus, Merlin simply returned the spell manuscript to the ring.

Unless he had learned over a thousand Morta words, he would not take it out again.

※※※

In the main hall of Wilson Castle, the butler hurriedly walked in.

"Young Master Merlin, the guardian swordsmen from Gran City already left Blackwater City this morning."

The butler had a slight smile on his face.

He had been instructed by Merlin to keep tabs on the guardian swordsmen from Gran City and report immediately once they left.

Merlin suddenly stood up and asked in a deep voice,

"Butler, have all the guardian swordsmen left? Did anyone stay behind? Especially that mage named Jason—has he left?"

The butler replied,

"They've all left. Those guardian swordsmen, led by Lord Jason, took away three whole carriages of items—

I heard they were things taken from the homes of evil heretics.

They’re moving slowly, but they left Blackwater City this morning.

I only came back after confirming several times."

"Thank you for your hard work, Butler."

Merlin let out a breath of relief. Although he hadn't stepped out of the house recently, he had been closely monitoring the movements of the Guardian Swordsmen from Gran City.

Only now, with confirmation that they had truly left, did he finally feel genuinely at ease.

“By the way, has anyone come looking for me recently?”

Merlin asked the steward.

The steward hesitated for a moment but still said, “Yesterday, Young Master Anson and Young Master Gutt came looking for you, but they were driven away by Miss Meixue.”

Merlin gave a bitter smile and waved for the steward to leave first.

However, Merlin didn’t dwell on the matter. Anson and Gutt likely didn’t have anything important, and being sent away by Meixue was fine—it allowed him to focus on studying the Molta language.

Without other disturbances, Merlin's pace of learning the Molta language picked up quickly. In just a few days, he had learned over a hundred new words. He now knew more than three hundred.

Moreover, the more vocabulary he mastered, the faster he could learn.

That was because many Molta words were interrelated. The first few hundred were very difficult, but the more one learned, the easier it became to infer and master others.

“At this rate, in at most a month, I might be able to master over a thousand words. Then I can begin trying to read the contents of the spell notes.”

Merlin eagerly looked forward to that day.

※※※

The heat from the roaring fireplace warmed the entire hall. It was already October, and the weather was growing colder. Outside, a thin layer of frost had formed on the stone-paved ground, making it slippery.

The servants in the castle were enduring the biting wind and were busy scraping ice off the ground with iron shovels.

Inside the hall, Merlin and Meixue were having their meal. The table was laid with buttered bread, wheat porridge, and a steaming cup of milk.

Meixue glanced at Merlin, who was quickly devouring the food, with a hint of hesitation on her face, as if she wanted to say something but held back.

“Meixue, I'm done eating.”

Merlin wiped the food crumbs from the corner of his mouth with a white napkin, then stood up and was about to leave.

Meixue frowned slightly and suddenly said, “Merlin, wait a moment.”

“Is something the matter?” Merlin turned around, puzzled, and looked at Meixue.

Meixue put down her knife and fork, wiped her mouth, and then said softly, “Merlin, yesterday Gutt and Anson came looking for you. Why didn’t you go out with them?”

A strange expression crossed Merlin’s face. Meixue had always disapproved of the chubby Gutt and Anson, calling them bad influences. Whenever she encountered them, she never showed them a good face.

But today, Meixue’s attitude was a bit odd. Still, Merlin didn’t think too much and simply replied, “Anson and Gutt didn’t really have anything important. With the weather this cold, it’s more comfortable to stay in the castle.”

“Merlin, you’ve been staying in the castle for more than a month now. If you have time, you should go out for a walk.”

There was even a trace of concern in Meixue’s eyes.

At this point, Merlin realized what was going on. Meixue must have been worried because he hadn’t left the castle in over a month—so unlike his past behavior. She probably thought the church incident had affected him.

Thinking of this, Merlin smiled and nodded, “I’ll go out when I have time.”

With that, Merlin turned and quickly went upstairs. Meixue still frowned, feeling uneasy about Merlin’s behavior. In the past, he couldn’t stand being indoors for even a day.

The steward hesitated, then smiled and said, “Miss Meixue, although Young Master Merlin hasn’t gone out much this past month, his spirits are still very good. There shouldn’t be any problem.”

Hearing the steward’s words, Meixue finally relaxed her brow, put on a thick coat, and quickly left the castle.

※※※

Merlin rushed back to his room. He hadn’t taken Meixue’s words to heart—unless there was something truly important, he had no intention of leaving the castle anytime soon.

That was because he had now mastered over 1,100 Molta words. By now, he had essentially gained a firm grasp of the Molta language.

So today, Merlin was ready to take out Old Etta’s spell notes and begin studying their contents.

After taking out the ring hidden at the bedside, Merlin quickly infused his mental power into it. With a thought, a thick stack of spell notes appeared in his hands.

Previously, Merlin had only skimmed the notes. At the time, his understanding of Molta was limited, so he couldn’t comprehend the contents.

Now, at last, Merlin opened the spell notes once again.