Chapter 11: Changes in the Body
1246 Words
The maids in the old castle quickly cleared the dining table, and Merlin stood up, ready to go upstairs and rest.
“Merlin, there's some news I want to tell you.”
“What news?” Merlin turned around, looking at Meixue with a puzzled expression.
“Tomorrow, Swordsman Perot will take us to the church in Glan City to interact with young people from other cities.”
Merlin frowned slightly. He knew that the “us” Meixue spoke of definitely didn’t include him; it must refer to those with elemental affinity—people with true potential, worthy of the church's full support.
“How many days will it take?”
“Around four or five days.”
Merlin nodded and said, “I understand. With Swordsman Perot accompanying you, it should be safe, so I’m at ease.”
After saying that, Merlin went upstairs.
Meixue looked at Merlin's back with some confusion in her eyes and murmured softly, “Merlin seems to be a bit different from before.”
The tone and expression Merlin used just now were very different from before. In the past, Merlin would never have said something like “I’m at ease.”
Back in his room, Merlin didn’t feel sleepy, so he sat on the bed and once again assumed the strange posture from the relief sculpture.
Merlin was already very familiar with this strange posture, so he didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. In fact, on the bed, he unintentionally fell onto the soft mattress and soon drifted into a deep sleep.
※※※
Early in the morning, Merlin woke up from his sleep. Outside, it had snowed heavily through the night, and even a thin layer of frost had formed on the window. The room was also very cold.
Merlin couldn’t help but shiver. Only then did he realize that he had fallen asleep last night without even noticing, lying in a twisted position on the bed.
“I'm sweating again…”
Merlin wiped his arm with his hand and found it was covered in greasy sweat. He felt sticky all over and extremely uncomfortable.
“Lucia, bring me some hot water.”
Merlin opened the door and called for the maid Lucia. Although she found it strange that Merlin wanted to bathe in such cold weather, she didn’t dare to ask and simply followed his instructions, filling the tub with hot water.
Merlin jumped into the bathtub and quickly washed off the sweat from his body.
Although he had spent the whole night freezing, Merlin didn’t feel unwell at all. On the contrary, he was full of energy, his complexion rosy, and his entire body felt brimming with strength.
“Lucia, is Young Master Merlin bathing again?” An old-sounding voice reached Merlin’s ears.
Merlin immediately recognized it as the butler’s voice—it was clearly him asking Lucia.
Lucia also replied softly, “Yes, butler. The young master began bathing as soon as he got up this morning.”
“Hmm, from now on, prepare more hot water every morning.”
The butler gave a quiet instruction, followed by the sound of footsteps gradually fading away—it seemed the two had already left.
“The butler is quite attentive.”
Merlin smiled slightly. He knew the butler must have come to call him down for breakfast, so he reached out and opened the bedroom door.
“Huh? Why is there no one here?”
Merlin was a little surprised. Just now, he had clearly heard the voices of the butler and Lucia right outside the door—very clearly—so how could no one be there?
This was a bit strange, so he walked straight into the hallway and looked downstairs, only to find the butler and Lucia were actually in the downstairs corridor.
“Downstairs? How could they be downstairs? Their voices just now were so clear...”
Merlin raised his eyebrows—he thought of a possibility. Could it be that he could now hear conversations from even downstairs?
After coming downstairs, Merlin paid no attention to the hearty breakfast on the table. He casually picked up a piece of bread and began eating it absentmindedly.
“This year’s weather is really strange—it's freezing even before winter has arrived.”
“Nop, get to work quickly. If the butler catches you slacking off again, you can forget about working for the baron.”
※※※
While eating the bread, Merlin attentively listened to all kinds of sounds in the distance. All these people were at least several dozen meters away from him, some even over a hundred meters, but he could still faintly hear them. This proved that his hearing had significantly improved.
This change had come very suddenly. Merlin was certain that at least before he went to bed last night, he had not experienced such a transformation. Now, his hearing had vastly improved, and he could clearly hear every footstep within dozens of meters.
“Young Master Merlin, do you need anything else?”
The butler's words interrupted Merlin’s thoughts. Only then did he come to his senses and realize that he had already finished the bread in his hand without noticing.
“I’m finished.”
After saying that, Merlin wiped his mouth and hurried back to his room upstairs.
In the room, Merlin took out the relief sculpture hidden at the head of the bed. He knew that his changes were definitely caused by the strange posture on the sculpture.
Moreover, improved hearing might be just one aspect. Besides that, Merlin could also feel that his strength and agility had seemingly improved significantly.
As long as he kept practicing the posture from the sculpture, his physical abilities would definitely continue to improve.
Merlin stayed upstairs for a while, then put on a thick coat, wrapped a gray scarf around his neck, and wore leather gloves, wrapping himself up tightly. Only then did he head downstairs.
After snowing all night, a thick layer of snow had accumulated in front of the castle. The bare trees were also covered with snow—everything in sight was white.
Moss had long been waiting outside. His face was red from the cold wind, and he was rubbing his hands together repeatedly. Merlin wasn’t in the mood to admire the snow; he quickly climbed into the carriage and said to Moss, “Let’s go.”
The carriage started moving gently. As Merlin leaned back inside, he suddenly felt that the carriage seemed a bit empty today.
“Wait, where’s Meixue?”
Merlin quickly asked Moss.
“Miss Meixue left the castle early this morning.”
Hearing Moss’s answer, Merlin slightly shook his head. Only then did he remember that Meixue had gone with Swordsman Perot to Glan City and would be staying there for several days. During this time, he wouldn’t need to go to the church either.
The etiquette class would only be held in the afternoon, so Merlin had the entire morning free. After thinking for a moment, he realized he had only been in this world for a few days and had visited very few places. Only the antiques at Nathan’s place had truly piqued his interest.
Especially that magical relief sculpture—it had greatly increased Merlin’s interest in antiques from the Morta Empire.
“Moss, stop. We're not going to the church—head to Mr. Nathan’s place instead.”
Merlin shouted loudly to Moss.
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