Chapter 49: Arc 2: Chapter 5: Meddling

Later that night, at 9-pm.

Merlin's car stops at the entrance of the orphanage, he bought some new clothes for Erik, even some pizza for the kids because of his pleading.

The security guard did not stop Merlin who had verified his identity, he helps Merlin takes the stacks of pizza into the yard; the kids who were already resting saw big brother Erik come back with food all started making a fuss. It even alarmed the praying Father Paul.

"I'm sorry, father."

Merlin apologetically tells Father Paul:

"I just wanted to do some good, yet I interrupted your praying, it's my fault."

"No worries, no worries, Mr. Merlin."

The calm Father Paul waves his hand at Merlin, he looks back at the cheerful children who were sharing pizza, he then tells Merlin with a smile:

"The Lord leads us to do good things, this is something that shouldn't be scolded for. However, maybe next time, you can come over during the day; the children are still young, eating too much at night is bad for their stomach."

"You are a truly kind person, the Lord will bestow you his blessings."

The priests' words made Merlin let out a slightly difficult smile.

If the Lord this priest speaks of is real, Merlin does wish that that all-capable god help him dispel the dark powers in him.

But just thinking about it, it was impossible. From the moment he began wandering, he knew that these things can only be dealt with by himself.

"I'll leave you to your praying then, father, I'll take Erik's things to his room."

Merlin bids goodbye to this kind priest, he takes Erik's briefcase and some things he bought to the children's room with Erik leading him.

St Agnes Orphanage occupied a lot of space, the children's rooms were quite big, big enough for 2-4 kids per room, just like the dorms of a boarding school. The sisters would watch over the children's daily lives, under their request, the children here pay attention to hygiene and are well-mannered.

"Right, Erik, where's little Ava?"

Merlin prepares to leave after helping Erik tidy up his things and leaving him some money. Just before he leaves, he asks in curiosity:

"You always say that the baby's cute, I wanna take a look too."

"Oh, little Ava's probably sleeping by now, she should be in the sister's room, there's a cradle there."

Erik eats his pizza while telling Merlin:

"But the sisters are doing their prayers right now, so you may not be able to see her."

"Alright then, such a pity."

Merlin shrugs, he waves Erik goodbye and leaves the room.

But just as he walks down the stairs, Merlin spreads out his dark senses, and after ensuring that there's no one nearby, he moves his fingers and shadows enshroud him, making him disappear on the stairs.

The Super serum not only enhanced Merlin's body, but it also gave him better control over mana; not only could he turn into the black fog on his own, but his use of Shadow Cloak had also become more refined.

Merlin had secretly tested in the Academy before, his Shadow Cloak, under the night could even hide his body temperature.

This means that even infrared detectors can no longer detect his presence.

Sadly, sonic waves and light detectors, such as sonars or lasers can still lock onto his position through the Shadow Cloak.

Merlin walks through the shadows without alarming anyone and soon arrives at the sister's room. The sisters were praying in the church so the door was locked, but this didn't stop Merlin.

He takes out a special lock-opener from his wallet and opens the door in a few seconds.

He walks step by step into the room and sees the cradle, just as Erik had said, the child in the cradle was well-behaved. Her face was pinkish and roundish, looking extremely cute, just like a doll.

Merlin stands by the cradle, he takes off his glasses and activates his second sight.

In his eyes, the weak soul of the baby in the cradle appears, Merlin thoroughly observes the child's soul; moments later, he puts his glasses back on and leaves as quietly as he came.

"The child was not possessed by demons, nor were there any dark powers, I must be overthinking."

Merlin's uneasiness is soothed.

When he heard from Erik that little Ava was surrounded by misfortune, it made him think of himself; he was worried that the kid had mana escaping her body just like him, but now, his fruitless discovery made him relaxed.

But just as he walked out of the orphanage, his sharp dark senses hear something else.

It was Father Paul, seemingly arguing with a few sisters.

"Maggie wasn't banished for making a mistake, nor did she turn her back on the Lord's teachings, she is still kind and pious. Father, I plead you to save Maggie! She's in terrible shape."

A sister was pleading, but the always-calm Father Paul had a somewhat cold answer.

"Maggie turned back on her oath, child, she made her choice between belief and love, this is the path she chose. I advised her before, I'm more yearning for her to return to the arms of the Lord, but she disappointed me."

"Maggie had a baby, Father! Maggie lives in pain every day, she's depressed. She repents to the cross every day at home, Father! Please, give her another chance."

"Sisters are not to have babies."

Father Paul said so stubbornly:

"That is not allowed by the Lord, it is also wrong! Maggie is just 19 this year, that Jack had done her no good!"

Despite the Father's constant refusals, the sisters still pleaded bitterly.

"Father, don't treat Maggie as a sister, just treat her as someone who needs help. She's really in terrible shape, I've visited her before, she...she even tried to commit suicide to take back her mistake."

"This...alright, I'll follow you for a look."

Finally, they seemed to have convinced him, and as the priest takes the sisters out of the church, he sees Merlin leaning against the car. Merlin looks at Father Paul and the sisters behind him and says:

"It would seem that you've encountered something troublesome, Father, do you need help?"

"Thank you, Merlin, but this is the internal affairs of St Matthews Church..."

The priest politely turns down Merlin's offer, he seemed to not want Merlin to participate in this incident, and Merlin did not force it, he points at the car behind him and says:

"It's nighttime right now, the order in Hell's Kitchen is terrible. At least, I can give you a ride."

---

"Right here, thank you, Merlin."

Merlin parks the car by the road, father Paul takes off his seatbelt and thanks Merlin again. Under the night sky, he takes the sisters to an apartment on the side.

Merlin sits in the car and lights a cigar, he had heard the story from the young sisters on the road.

There was a monastery next to St Agnes Orphanage, there were many pious believers and some young girls would be sent here to become sisters after graduating Missionary School. Usually, they were responsible for cleaning the church, occasionally doing preachings and helping Father Paul organize the weekly believer gatherings, etc.

And in the monastery was a young sister named Maggie, a lively, yet slightly rebellious young girl.

She would oftentimes take the other sisters out of the monastery to play outside.

But one year ago, the rebellious sister Maggie met a boxer named Jack, and maybe her mind was drunk from love, one night, sister Maggie left without warning and moved in with Jack.

Father Paul was furious, he tried to bring Maggie back to the monastery many times, but the savage Jack always stopped him; slowly, this made Father Paul disappointed, and eventually, he no longer tried to save sister Maggie's soul.

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But a few days ago, sister Maggie's good friend went to visit her, only to find sister Maggie in terrible shape.

In 1992, the research on postpartum depression had fruited, but for someone with faith, or someone who had faith, postpartum depression was oftentimes mistaken. The subconscious depression would deepen the guilt in their heart, and even push them to the brink of suicide.

And sister Maggie who had just given birth was in that terrible state.

Her friend wishes not to see Maggie suffer like this, so she pleaded with Father Paul to bring Maggie back to the monastery.

This is how to story went.

"She planted the seed, she'll have to deal with the fruit."

Merlin smoked inside the car, he opened the car window to let the smoke disperse.

Merlin did not pity sister Maggie's experience, just as the Atlantean Vulko had told him, everyone has to pay the price for their actions. To Merlin, the young girl Maggie strayed off into the wrong path, so she must be punished, but she is also lucky to have a group of friends that are willing to help her.

"What are you doing in my house? Get out!"

Just as Merlin had finished smoking and was about to start the car and leave, he suddenly hears noisy yet angry shouts coming out of the apartment, along with the sound of something smashing onto the ground, which made Merlin stop his movement.

He thinks for a while, then he opens the car door and walks into the apartment.

Right now, in the apartment, the boxer Jack who had rushed back after hearing the news bumped into the priest and nuns who were taking his wife away; this ill-tempered man did not listen to the priests' explanation, he instead grabs the priest by the collar and starts beating him.

Poor Father Paul had taken a fist to the face, while he always made people understand through words, he could not reason with the savage man in front of him.

But the priest still stood in front of the fearful sisters, he cannot let Jack harm them.

As Jack was about to throw his second punch at the priest, the terrified sister let out a scream. And just as the fist was about to land, a hand extending from behind reaches out and grabs the fist firmly, freeing the priest from the boxer's bindings.

"Pa"

Merlin, who stormed into the room swings his hand and pushes the angry boxer backward.

He looks back at the nosebleeding priest and says:

"Father, bring the sisters and go, I'll talk to him."

"Who the hell are you?"

Jack glared at Merlin furiously, and to be honest, this boxer did have a handsome appearance. Along with his line of work, it made him look extra manly, no wonder he could charm the young sister to abandon her faith and have a life with him.

But sister Maggie was visibly not psychologically normal, her eyes were sluggish, unresponsive to everything that's happening. Her newly born son was crying harshly in the cradle by the bed, yet it did not draw her attention.

Watching as sister Maggie was carried by the other sisters out of the room, Merlin looks back at the boxer, the disdain in his eyes deepened.

Merlin grabbed Jack who was trying to get across him to stop the sisters. His finger locked onto Jack's wrist like iron pliers, and tells him:

"Miss Maggie is clearly in lots of pain when she's with you, Jack, let her go to where she needs to be."

"Bastard! That's my wife!"

Jack raises his hand and throws a punch towards Merlin, but as Merlin flicks his wrist, this violent boxer was heavily slammed into the ground.

He didn't want to bully a normal person with the strength of the super serum, so Merlin takes a few steps back and blocks the door, he tells Jack who was getting back on his feet:

"Is she your wife? Did you register a marriage with her? Where's the ring on your finger? Stop lying! Jack, you're just treating her as your s** slave! I oughta call the cops and throw a bastard like you into prison!"

"Bulls**t! I love her, she loves me too! You bastards should all go to hell!"

Jack roared while he pounced forward, Merlin dodged his fist and slapped on Jack's face. The heavy hit made the boxer dizzy, he stepped backward and fell onto the floor, half his face had swollen.

"If you love her, then why did Miss Maggie request her friends to take her back?"

Merlin squats down, extends a hand and presses Jack against the wall single-handedly, and says:

"Clearly, she doesn't think that staying here is a good thing. Jack, I know not if you're a good person or a bad one, but if you really think that you love her, then please don't act like a jerk, okay?"

Jack struggles and glares at Merlin:

"Maggie's just sick, once she gets better, everything will be fine. Let go of me!"

Merlin stares at Jack, then he shakes his head and stands up.

Jack gets back on his feet, but he didn't resume his attack on Merlin, he instead walked to the side of the bed and carefully carried his wailing son.

In the room, the child's crying slowly subsides.

Seeing Jack carry his child so gently, Merlin suddenly thinks that, maybe the man in front of him, was not as treacherous as the sisters said.

A few minutes later, Jack places the baby who's sound asleep back into the cradle.

He looks at his room at a loss, then he lowers his head and starts tidying up his house.

Merlin stood at the door while looking at the man who seemed like he had accepted reality; a few seconds later, Merlin says:

"Father Paul is a good man, you shouldn't have hurt him."

"Huh, in my eyes, he's just a douchebag who took away my wife by force!"

Jack gritted his teeth:

"My son had lost his mother, all because of you!"

"No, he didn't lose his mother."

Merlin looked at the baby in the cradle and said:

"If you truly love Miss Maggie, maybe once she recovers, you can go convince her to come back. Ask her to marry you properly instead of fooling a young girl with romance."

"Of course, I'll do that! I don't need you to tell me that!"

Jack holds onto the broom harshly and tells merlin:

"Now leave! I don't want to see you!"

Merlin turns around and prepares to leave, just before he leaves, he suddenly asks:

"Your son is cute, Jack, what's his name?"

Jack didn't want to bother answering a major douchebag like Merlin. But ultimately. the lonely man sits by the bed and looks down at his son, pain and gentleness flashes in his eyes, and he gently says:

"Matt."

"I named him Matt."

"Matt Murdock."

 

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