History Lesson

After having had her fill, Secre began her tale from the very beginning. Skimming past some of the details, she explained how there was a race of Elves who were naturally gifted with Magic that was far more powerful than what humans possessed. Well, aside from Merlin's existence being an anomaly to her that is.

'Now that I think about it, he does look similar to the Elves, but from what I remember, none of the Heirs of House Caliban ever interacted with them. It must all be natural' Secre thought to herself, glancing at Merlin's facial features.

She then continued her tale explaining how the Elves were a recluse species, and that the 1st Wizard King, Lemiel, became friends with them and they started to interact more, especially with an Elf named Licht. Licht would later go on to marry Lemiel's sister.

However, that all went awry when the elves were attacked during the wedding ceremony, with them thinking that it was the Humans who attacked them out of envy for their power.

This in turn caused Licht, who possessed a 4-leaf clover Grimoire to turn to despair, causing his Grimoire to change to a 5-leaf clover as it turns out that a Devil was orchestrating the whole affair behind the scenes in order to infiltrate this world from the Underworld.

Licht then used a set of magic stones to turn into a giant demon in order to prevent the Devil from taking over his body, resulting in Lemiel having to fight and kill him at the end, which was the very skull that Merlin and Secre were standing on.

Since Lemiel was fatally injured during the fight, Secre used the stones to seal the prince in the statue next to them, and with the effects of overusing Forbidden Magic, she was thus turned into an anti-magic bird until now, with Merlin releasing her.

Merlin stayed silent after hearing of the tale as the sun slowly rose over the hills, shining upon him. His hair turned to a rainbow hue, surprising Secre greatly at the sudden transformation, but chose to stay silent about the matter.

Merlin then stood up and sighed, saying, "Let me guess, the Devil will return at some point since you mentioned that he used resurrection magic on the Elves."

Secre nodded in affirmation, saying, "I'm not sure when he will return, but one day he will and we have to be ready for him. I'm not sure how powerful he is since we never saw him fight before, but he should be more powerful than the Devil you faced from the curse of House Caliban."

Merlin turned towards the sunset and was lost in thought for a moment, before turning to her with a smile and saying, "Well, this is a lot to take, however, I will do my best to help when the moment arrives. This also might be sudden, but would you like to come with me? There's nothing you can do here, especially since access to your Grimoire is currently restricted."

Secre turned to Lemiers statue and said, "I will. I feel that if it's you, we will be able to stand a chance against the Devil once he comes back."

Merlin then said, "Well, you'll be in for a surprise when you find out just what I can do. Besides, aren't you at all curious about my abilities since I was able to conjure up food, chairs and dispel your curse all without the need for a Grimoire?"

Secre shook her head and said, "There are people who are able to use magic without the need for Girmoire's, however, the Mana that I sense from you is… Unfathomable…"

Merlin gave a mysterious grin and said, "Well, let's just say that there isn't any type of Magic that I cannot do."

With a wave of his hand, a cloud appeared below him as it manifested out of the Mana around them. Secre stared at the cloud, saying, "This concentration of Mana… Just what are you?"

"Haven't I already told you? I'm Merlin Caliban." Merlin said, sitting on the cloud and patting the spot next to him. "Come on then. From now on to avoid suspicion you'll be known as just Secre, a servant I hired after my trip to Hage Village. Oh, and if you see a woman called Mereo, you will have to explain yourself immediately, and perhaps be prepared to face some, well, aggression."

"Why is that? Is she your enemy?" Secre asked, getting on the cloud as her hostile-looking eyes softened at the comfortable feeling underneath her.

"No, just someone I'm very close to," Merlin said as the two flew off. However, at that moment, Merlin swivelled his head towards a particular church. Squinting his eyes, Merlin was lost in thought under the Secre's confused eyes.

He turned to her and said, "I'll introduce you to Sebastian later when we arrive at the Royal Capital, but I want to talk with you after you're done with him since you have knowledge from over 500 years ago. I can't wait to pick that brain of yours and create even more magical artefacts. Maybe I should give Julius one to experiment with sealing magic and try to seal him with it. I wonder what the rest are doing now?"

Secre stared at the side of Merlin's face as she sat next to him, as memories of her and Lemier's experiment on magical artefacts and creating them surfaced in her mind, making the corner of her mouth raise.

...

Back at the Caliban Estate, Merlin was currently within his lab underground as Secre was discussing some matters with Sebastian above ground.

"This is very unusual of Master Merlin to take an interest in someone else, but considering the horns on your head, I can make a guess as to why," Sebastian said, as he explained the duties that Secre would be going over during her stay at the Caliban Estate.

"You might not know of this, but Master Merlin has no intention of being involved with the politics that surround the Royal Capital. He prefers to work on his magical research and create new… toys that he would give out to those close to him. He tends to lose himself in his research so you would need to remind him to eat or he might just starve himself." Sebastian said with a sigh, realizing how introverted Merlin might seem to others even if his personality when interacting with others did not seem so.

"Oh, and remember one very important detail. Whenever the master's... 'friend', Lady Mereoleona Vermilion returns, try your best not to antagonize her as she can be a very temperate woman as well as envious of the woman who gets too close to master Merlin." Sebastian warned Secre, who had a confused look on her face when being told all of this information.

'He seemed so reliable and strong when I first met him, but now… it seems like he's just a problem child. Although, he also reminds me of the prince…' Secre thought to herself, mindlessly nodding her head at Sebastian's word as he now started to praise Merlin's achievements and his incredible strength that not even the best mages in the Clover Kingdom could even attest to in a thousand years.

Finally free of Sebastian, Secre went downstairs to where Merlin's lab was and saw him working on a small sphere with a grin on his face. The figure of Lemier once more overlapped with Merlin's, combining as one as she shook her head to get rid of the image.

"Ah, Secre! Come, take a look at this! I filled this sphere with some sealing magic that I just invented. Once you press this button, you throw it at whoever you're trying to restrain. After that, a coil of chains will spring out and wrap itself around the person, also draining them of their Mana slowly, using it to strengthen the chains sealing properties!" Merlin quickly explained, holding the sphere dangerously close to Secre's face as she took a step back.

He then said, "Here, how about you test it out for me." Merlin handed her the sphere.

Just as she was about to take the sphere into her hands, a warning from Sebastian surfaced in her mind, "Never, EVER, willingly take a magical artefact from master Merlin, as it would be your worst mistake."

Secre then pulled her hand back and said, "Why don't you give it to that friend you mentioned before, Julius, since I can't use my Grimoire currently."

"Good idea!" Merlin said, disappearing from his position as he teleported away, but then reappeared a second later as he facepalmed and said, "Oh, almost forgot." He then reached out and touched both of the horns on Secre's head, causing her to flinch at the sensitivity.

The horns then suddenly disappeared from view as Merlin explained, "I hid your horns from outside view, but if you moved your hands over them you should still feel their existence. However, when you're in the Caliban Estate, there's no need to hide them. Here, wear this ring, it will activate the illusion whenever you need to." Merlin handed her a black ring that had her face in the form of her Anti-bird form, with the same hostile-looking eyes.

Before Secre could respond, Merlin gave a gentle smile and said, "You've been alone for over 500 years, so take this chance to go and explore. This ring will also protect you from any ill malice that is targeted towards you. Enjoy yourself, Secre-"

However, before he could finish his sentence, Merlin felt a large fluctuation of magic from the Underworld being cast in a distance close to Hage Village.

Seeing Merlin's expression turn grim, Secre asked him, "What's wrong?"

"I believe there's a Devil trying to come into the human world, either that or it's being summoned. Thanks to this guy, I've been getting used to sensing their type of magic." Merlin tapped on the bell on his staff.

"A-A Devil? A-Are you sure?! This is bad, extremely bad…" Secre muttered, her expression falling, "You need to send word out immediately!"

Merlin calmed her down, saying, "I only sensed one so far, and it's not a complete manifestation, just partial. Come on, let's go have a look."