Chapter 5: Antique (Part One)
1080 Words
The entire morning passed quickly. Swordsman Perot focused all his attention on those with elemental affinity, while people like Merlin and Anson, who lacked any elemental affinity, were simply left to themselves.
With a clap of his hands, Swordsman Perot signaled the end of the morning sword practice, and many people stood up, preparing to leave.
Meixue looked very excited. It seemed she had gained a lot under Swordsman Perot’s guidance today.
She walked over to Merlin, glanced at Anson, and Anson greeted her a little awkwardly, “Miss Meixue!”
“Hmph.”
Meixue turned her head away angrily and ignored Anson, clearly holding some grudge against him.
“Let’s go, let’s hurry back.”
She grabbed Merlin and quickly left the church. Outside, Moss was already waiting on the carriage.
“See you this afternoon, Merlin!”
Anson, following behind, winked at Merlin and then climbed into his own carriage and left the church.
Once in the carriage, Meixue glared at Merlin and said angrily, “Merlin, didn’t I tell you to stop hanging around with Anson? Whenever you’re with him, all you do is fool around…”
Apparently, Meixue didn’t think much of Anson and treated him like one of Merlin’s bad influences. But despite her harsh tone earlier, Anson didn’t seem angry at all—he almost looked a little afraid.
So Merlin asked, “Why does Anson seem a bit scared of you?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
Meixue looked suspiciously at Merlin, but then quickly nodded, as if realizing something. “Makes sense. That’s too embarrassing to tell anyone.”
She paused, then raised her fist threateningly. “Last time, Anson took you to fool around with some women, and I caught him. I beat him up badly. Looks like that lesson wasn’t harsh enough—I’ll have to make sure he remembers next time.”
Seeing Meixue looking smug, Merlin was speechless. His sister seemed to have a violent streak. Still, thinking back to the terrifying strength she showed earlier, it wasn’t surprising that Anson feared her.
The carriage jolted along, and the atmosphere inside was a bit tense. After a while, Merlin hesitantly asked, “Meixue, how did you sense the elements?”
Meixue raised her head, surprised by the question. But she thought seriously for a moment, then said quietly, “It’s easy. I just close my eyes and I can feel them. I can only feel fire elements—I can’t see them or touch them, but I can sense them.”
“I can even sense them slowly entering my body. One day, when there’s enough of them, I’ll be able to release great power.”
Merlin nodded slightly and closed his eyes to try. But nothing happened. Clearly, elemental affinity was innate and couldn’t be changed. Without it, he couldn’t sense any elements.
His wish to become an Elemental Swordsman was probably hopeless.
Soon, the carriage returned to Wilson Castle. The butler had already prepared a sumptuous lunch, including a golden-roasted lamb that gave off a rich aroma of meat.
However, Merlin didn’t have much of an appetite and only ate a little.
Meixue ate with great relish. After nearly devouring the entire lamb herself, she finally patted her belly in satisfaction, leaned back in her chair, looked at Merlin, and said with some concern,
“Merlin, I’m going back to the church this afternoon to practice swordsmanship for a bit longer, so I won’t attend etiquette class. You’ll take Moss’s carriage to class later, but you must be back before dark. Don’t fool around with that troublemaker Anson again, or else… you know what’ll happen! Father told me to keep an eye on you before he left!”
Seeing Meixue’s threatening look, Merlin gently nodded. It seemed that the former Merlin had really been quite a handful.
After that, Meixue left the castle. Merlin felt the weather getting colder, so he went upstairs to put on a thick coat before coming back down and getting into Moss’s carriage.
Inside the carriage, Merlin rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit of a headache. He had no memory at all about the afternoon’s etiquette class, which showed that he had lost quite a bit of his memory.
Fortunately, there was Moss. He was a very honest man who, without saying much, dutifully drove the carriage and took Merlin to class.
Merlin got out of the carriage and saw a small three-story building in front of him. The gate was surrounded by a rusty iron fence, and an old man was curled up in the corner, dozing with half-closed eyes. However, whenever someone approached, he would open the gate.
“Young Master Merlin, you’re here early today.”
The old gatekeeper wore a ragged coat, his face red from the cold wind. He greeted Merlin warmly upon seeing him.
Merlin, having lost much of his memory, didn’t know the man’s name, so he just nodded and smiled before heading inside.
Inside, it was empty. Merlin headed toward the small building. As he stepped on the wooden stairs, they let out creaking sounds, as if unable to bear the weight.
On the wall beside the stairs were brightly colored murals—figures, landscapes, and more. The quality varied widely, and even Merlin, an outsider to painting, could tell some of them were no better than graffiti.
On the second floor, Merlin wandered around and saw several spacious rooms. They were empty but equipped with hand drums, organs, and similar instruments—it seemed they were used for music lessons.
“Hey, Merlin, what are you doing there? It’s not music class today—it’s history!”
Merlin turned at the familiar voice and saw the red-haired Anson.
Anson grabbed Merlin and pulled him toward the third floor. As they walked, he spoke mysteriously, winking:
“Hurry up and grab a good seat. I heard there’s a new history teacher today—really pretty. Totally worth the anticipation!”
Merlin didn’t know where to go, so he let Anson pull him along to a spacious room on the third floor.
Inside were more than a dozen well-dressed young men and women, chatting in small groups. When Merlin and Anson arrived, a chubby boy in the front row waved eagerly.
“Gute, not bad! You snagged such a good spot. You always get so enthusiastic when there’s talk of a pretty teacher.”
Ansen greeted the chubby boy with a cheerful smile.
- Writer
