Morta Script

　　Although Merlin felt that the old man Aita was a bit baffled, but since Kelis said that the old man had high attainments in appraising antiques from the time of the Morta Empire, he had no more worries and slightly bowed to the old man Aita and respectfully shouted, "Merlin is willing to study under the teacher!"

　　"Very well."

　　Old man Etta just had some iron blue face, instantly changed a look, began to smile: "Merlin, you will come in the afternoon and start learning to identify some basic knowledge of antiques."

　　Merlin couldn't understand old man Etta's temper and didn't dare to object, so he nodded and said he would come in the afternoon, and then old man Etta sent Merlin and Kerith out the door.

　　"Miss Callis, who exactly is Miss Etta?"

　　Merlin finally couldn't resist and asked Keris about it.

　　Kellys pondered for a while and said in a low voice: "Mr. Aita seems to have come to Blackwater City from somewhere else, he alone, and I have not seen him have any relatives, his nature is a bit withdrawn, and he only likes to collect some antiques. I also unintentionally met Mr. Aita and asked him for some knowledge about antiques, and even when I encountered some antiques that I did not understand, I also came to ask Mr. Aita for advice. As for other things about Mr. Aita, I am not very clear."

　　Merlin nodded, and then separated from Keris and returned to the old castle in a carriage.

　　In the afternoon, Merlin once again arrived in front of old man Etta's small building.

　　At this time the sky has cleared, the snow fell for a full day, and now finally is stopped, but the air is still very cold, Merlin also tightly wrapped in a coat, went up to the second floor, knocked on the door of the old man Aita.

　　Soon, the door opened and old man Etta's face was bland when he saw it was Merlin.

　　"Not bad for being on time, not bad."

　　Old man Etta did not say anything else and let Merlin in the door.

　　Merlin came to the fireplace, where old man Etta seemed to enjoy sitting, and Merlin saw that there was a thick volume of books by the fireplace.

　　Old man Aita looked up at Merlin, then said: "Antiques are the precipitation of history, an antique, perhaps carrying a particular period of history. Therefore, in order to understand the antiques, you must be learned and have a deep understanding of the historical background of the antiques, for example, the antiques of the Morta Empire period that you like, you must first understand the Morta Empire if you want to truly identify the antiques of this period. Do you know what the most important thing about the Morta Empire is?"

　　Merlin shook his head, his knowledge of the Morta Empire was scarce.

　　"It's the written word. In a great unified empire, the written word is essential, and only through the written word can one learn many things about the time of the Morta Empire. Of course, writing is also a good way to identify antiques from the time of the Morta Empire."

　　Old man Etta then picked up the pamphlet on the table and handed it to Merlin.

　　Merlin casually turned a page and found that it was densely packed with bizarre symbols that he had never seen before, and old man Etta explained, "This is the Morta script, the script from the Morta Empire period!"

　　"Morta script?"

　　Merlin's eyes lit up, these Morta script and the light kingdom now used by the light script has a great difference, the light script is somewhat like the western Latin alphabet in the previous world, by the individual letters composed of thousands of words.

　　The Morta script, on the other hand, is like a strip of tadpoles, and in Merlin's opinion, it is impossible to tell what kind of difference these words have.

　　"Merlin, if you want to identify antiques from the Morta Empire period, you have to start by learning the Morta script."

　　So, here in old man Etta, Merlin began to learn this complex Morta script.

　　Learning words is very boring, but Merlin is enthusiastic about learning Morta words, perhaps this body is naturally sensitive to words, in learning Morta words, Merlin is also quite talented, in one afternoon, he has mastered more than a dozen words.

　　Of course, learning a new script takes perseverance and months or even years of study to master.

　　The afternoon passed quickly, and when old man Aita saw that it was getting dark, he said coldly, "Well, that's it for today, you go back and practice all the Morta words you learned today."

　　"Mr. Etta, I will go back and study hard."

　　After saying that, Merlin gave a slight bow to old man Etta again, and turned to leave the small building.

　　"Hoo ...".

　　Outside the door cold and bitterly cold, Merlin was this cold wind, originally some dizzy mind also clear a lot, he has seen Moss's carriage.

　　"Moss, go back to the old castle!"

　　Merlin into the carriage, legs straight, back against the carriage, both hands gently rubbing his head, today followed the old man Etta study, although very tired, but he came to this world, the most fulfilling day.

　　A few days passed, and Merlin went back and forth between old man Etta and the old castle every day, two points and one line, life was very simple.

　　"Steward, what can I do for you?"

　　Merlin ate his breakfast and asked softly, he had long sensed that the butler seemed a little off today.

　　The butler hesitated for a moment, but still spoke: "Young Master Merlin, Miss Mei Xue has left the ancient castle for nine days, so long has not returned, should we send someone to Granville to see?"

　　Merlin was slightly stunned, he was focused on learning the Morta script these days, every day was very full, but indeed some forgot about Mei Xue.

　　Remember that Mei Xue said that it only takes three or five days to go to Granville to exchange, now it's almost ten days and yet he hasn't returned, no wonder the housekeeper is worried.

　　"Tell you what, don't rush to send someone to Granville first, I'll find some time later to ask Anson and see if he has any news."

　　The butler also nodded, and then ordered the servants to clear the table.

　　"Phew ..."

　　Merlin out of the castle, a cold wind blowing, so Merlin could not help but shiver, although the days no longer snow, and the weather is also clear for a few days, but walking outside, but still very cold.

　　"Moss, go to Miss Etta's."

　　Merlin hesitated, he went to the old man Aita, usually in the afternoon, today to go to Anson to ask for some information, so it is better to go to the old man Aita first to explain the situation.

　　So the carriage slowly left the old castle.

　　Merlin stood in front of old man Etta's door and shouted softly, "Mr. Etta."

　　After a while, but Merlin did not hear any response from old man Etta, so Merlin reached out to knock on the door.

　　"Squeak."

　　The door was actually pushed open by a light touch of Merlin's hand.

　　Merlin hesitated for a moment, but still walked in, he looked around and saw no sign of old man Etta, it seems that old man Etta is not at home.

　　"Ms. Etta is also really careless, the door is not even locked, are not afraid to enter the thief?"

　　Merlin muttered, recently the black water city security can not be considered much good, but Merlin know old man Aita, usually quirky, mysterious, he was here almost ten days, but also do not know what old man Aita in the end is doing. Only know that this house, only the old man Aita, usually in addition to Merlin and occasionally come once in a while, except for Keris, there is no one else at home.

　　So Merlin privately guessed that old man Etta might have come to Blackwater City alone.

　　Seeing that old man Etta was not at home, Merlin sat in front of the fireplace and waited quietly, while revising the Morta script he had learned in the past few days.

　　After waiting for about an hour, the temperature in the house also seems to have decreased a lot, Merlin casually added some firewood to the fireplace. Just then, Merlin heard footsteps at the bottom of the stairs outside the door, and thought it must be old man Etta coming back, Merlin hurriedly stood up.

　　"Bang."

　　The door was slammed hard, and old man Etta saw Merlin in the house and faintly stared, "Merlin, what are you doing here?"

　　Merlin saw the old man Aita feet wearing a long leather boots, covered with some mud, a coat also fell with some dew, face slightly pale, looks as if very tired look, also do not know what he actually went to do.

　　"Ms. Etta, I came to ask for leave, I might have to take care of something at home this afternoon, so I won't be coming this afternoon."

　　Merlin looked at old man Etta, and to Merlin's surprise, old man Etta didn't look angry, instead he looked calm. After a long time, old man Aita nodded and said calmly: "I'm going away for the next few days, so your study may have to stop for a while."

　　Merlin was a little surprised, old man Etta usually seems to be very idle, what could be the matter?

　　"When is Mr. Etta coming back?"

　　"I can't say, maybe three or five days, maybe ten days and a half months, but you have to remember, even if I'm not here, you have to practice Morta script properly. I have some insights about learning the Morta script here, and some translations with the Light script, all of which I compiled a few years ago, you take it and figure it out for yourself, it should be of some help to you in improving your level of understanding of the Morta script."

　　Old man Etta then took out a thick stack of information and handed it to Merlin.

　　Merlin is a bit stunned, these information is not simple, this is not equivalent to the dictionary in the previous world? And also the old man Etta a lump sum record down, very precious, in this era, these things alone, can be considered priceless, although the old man Etta usually strict, but still very important to Merlin.

　　"Don't worry, teacher, I will practice my morta script at home."

　　Saying that, Merrill took the information and turned around to prepare to leave.

　　"Wait ..."

　　Old man Etta's face changed, finally seemed to have made up his mind, pulled out a black ring from his pocket, directly threw it to Merlin, said in a deep voice: "This little thing is for you, it is not in vain you call me a 'teacher'."

　　"Teacher, this ..."

　　Merlin hesitated a little, but old man Etta then waved his hand with an impatient look and said, "Go, go, do what you need to do, I'm a little tired and want to get some rest."

　　Old man Etta was not the least bit polite, and drove Merlin straight out the door.

　　Merlin went downstairs, got into the carriage, put the information on the carriage, he is still a little frothy, always feel that today the old man Etta some wrong, and send information, and also send the ring.

　　"The old man Aita all day mysterious, strange, and do not know what happened in the end? But this ring is really strange, look like some years ..."

　　This black ring, I do not know what material, hold in your hand as light as nothing, all ink black, but also carved with a teeth and claws, foot three heads of hideous monsters, but exquisite, but let people look a little weird.

　　Such a ring, I'm sure there are few people who want to wear it on their hands.

　　Merlin carefully played with it for a while, and did not find any special features, so he put the ring away into his pocket and said to Moss: "Moss, let's go, go to the etiquette course today."

　　The carriage slowly left the small building of old man Etta.