The black sun hangs high

Chapter 101 Unconventional Methods

As the new day dawned, Hugh, unusually, did not read the newspaper but went straight to the lobby of the manor hotel.

He changed into a new gray overcoat, with a revolver rifle beside him and a spellbook on his lap. The pendant symbolizing his official spellcaster status was not attached to the spellbook but hung directly in front of him. He sat quietly on the sofa, his expression somber and solemn. The faint, dark magical light emanating from him further enhanced his aura of unapproachability.

Soon, the female housekeeper in charge of the manor hotel arrived in the lobby.

When Hugh first saw the housekeeper, she appeared shrewd and capable, her face brimming with vitality. However, the events that unfolded at the manor hotel over the next two days quickly drained her of her energy. The ambiguous attitude of the family's head of state, the guards who were dispatched but failed to provide any protection, and the noble children who suffered injuries due to the bizarre incidents all brought her immense pressure.

She actually felt quite fond of Hugh, a young man with a very special identity and background. This was not only because of his attitude towards people, but also because he had twice used his own power to directly prevent tragedies and massacres from happening. The housekeeper couldn't even imagine what kind of fate she would face if a family member really died in the hotel.

The etiquette of nobles was usually used openly.

In the Black Nest Mountains outside Borden and along the Doron River that flows through Walter, there is never a shortage of the dead who are carelessly abandoned for offending the nobles.

“Mr. Hugh, you…”

Hughes looked up at the housekeeper and said something that struck like a bolt from the blue: "The people still staying in the hotel must be here to compete for the position of heir, right?"

"what?"

The housekeeper almost didn't react. Looking at the spellbook in Hugh's hand and the revolver rifle lying to the side, she immediately felt sweat break out on her back. Under the pressure emanating from the other party, the housekeeper finally nodded.

"Is such that."

She forced a smile: "Mr. Hugh, please don't discuss this topic so casually, after all..."

"After all, no one has started dying in the hotel yet, right?"

Hugh smiled as well: "Please answer my question directly, butler. I don't need your advice yet. And I hope you understand that if you continue to let things develop in the hotel, you will probably only face one fate."

"..."

The housekeeper's face was very unpleasant. She looked around and saw that the nearest manor guards were still some distance away, so she slowly nodded.

Seeing that the other party was softening their stance, Hugh's attitude also eased a little. He asked, "Alright, then please tell me, in this manor hotel, are the younger members of the family allowed to use unconventional methods to compete?"

"Unconventional methods?"

The housekeeper was momentarily stunned by the somewhat unfamiliar term, but she quickly realized what it meant, and her expression immediately became even more tense, her gaze involuntarily drifting towards the revolver rifle.

Clearly, she didn't quite understand what Hugh meant.

Faced with the butler's fear and astonishment, Hugh patiently explained, "I am a member of the Ernst family and also a mage of the council... I believe that, given the current situation, what has happened in the manor hotel no longer allows ordinary people to remain here, for their own safety."

Hugh tapped his fingers lightly twice on the cover of the magic book: "Butler, so next, I will politely ask everyone who is still here to leave. Of course, if anyone is unwilling, I will also consider using some more forceful methods."

At this moment, the housekeeper finally understood what Hugh meant. She calmed down slightly, but her face remained as pale as paper: "Mr. Hugh, the manor will not allow this to happen. Did you see those guards? They came here to ensure that things here are not disturbed..."

"Oh, is that so?"

Hugh smiled, then stood up, his gaze sweeping over the guards in the hall before he walked straight toward one of them.

The guard was exceptionally upright with a resolute face and a slightly menacing scar at the corner of his eye. Although he was wearing the uniform of the Ernst Manor guards, he exuded a strong military aura.

This is the mark of the Waterloo army; once you've joined the army, you'll naturally be tainted by this aura, and it's hard to wash it off.

Of course, what attracted Hugh's attention the most was the gun he was carrying.

It was a revolver rifle, the same model as the one Hugh used—the Mookie 2699 revolver.

Hugh smiled at the guard, then reached into the guard's sleeve.

The guard did not flinch, allowing Hugh to roll up his sleeve, and Hugh saw once again the three-clawed falcon pattern outlined in fine silver lines.

Did you hear what I just said over there?

"Yes, sir."

"Would doing this cause trouble or danger for your marshal?"

The guard stared at the young man who was half a head shorter than him and replied, "Yes, but the Marshal and Mr. Erevan will be attending the noble meeting in the Leland district together today and tomorrow. The Marshal will be very safe in the meeting."

Hughes nodded: "So what will you do then?"

Like an emotionless machine, the guard calmly said, "Mr. Hugh doesn't need to know these details, but according to the Marshal's orders, we are not allowed to directly participate in the 'battle between offspring'."

After hearing this meaningful remark, Hugh thought about it seriously for two seconds, then nodded and said, "I don't want more people to enter the manor hotel in this process, but there is one exception. She has the Ernst family name and is also my magic teacher."

"Yes, sir!"

After receiving a clear answer from the guard, Hugh turned around, glanced at the hotel housekeeper standing behind him trembling, and then looked at the magical clock hanging on the wall. The time was exactly seven o'clock in the morning.

……

At 7:20, the sun was already shining on the Leland district and also on the hotel in Ernst Manor.

The urgent knocking startled the old building, which had once served as the Ernst family residence.

Amidst the brutal "wake-up service," one after another, young noble guests who insisted on staying in the hotel were jolted awake from their half-asleep state. However, everyone who opened the door saw a young face carrying a revolver rifle, holding a spellbook and a mage's certificate.

They recognized each other, knowing that this was the illegitimate son from Serenity who had "shone brightly" in the past two days.

However, before they could even ask or greet him, Hughes conveyed a message to them in an extremely forceful and direct manner—he "expected" everyone remaining in the hotel to leave their rooms immediately and go to the hotel lobby, with a time limit of half an hour.

This was clearly an extremely rude act, and these proud family members instinctively wanted to rebuke the illegitimate son in front of them who was so ill-mannered and rude. However, Hugh's actions were far more direct than they had imagined.

When a rifle barrel is pointed directly at your face, even the most hot-tempered person will choose to shut up.

After these frustrated young people arrived in the corridor, the hotel room doors that had been directly destroyed by the "lock removal" magic, as well as the hotel staff who had been forcibly knocked unconscious and controlled for some unknown reason, made them feel inexplicably panicked and fearful.

Hughes's plan was very straightforward.

After confirming that the guards sent by old Zeke could provide him with support, he decisively adopted this simplest approach.

With the help of the soldiers disguised as guards, Hugh quickly completed the lockdown of the entire manor hotel. Although the guards claimed that they were not allowed to participate in the "battle for offspring", it was clear that eliminating the "potential threat" in the manor was also part of Zeke Ernst's orders.

Within a mere twenty minutes, all the waiters in the entire manor hotel were placed under the strictest control, while the Ernst family members who had been violently expelled from their rooms by Hugh were given tight protection and supervision.

After spending a short time successfully persuading the ladies who were already very frightened but still insisted on staying in the hotel with reason and etiquette, all the guests on the list who still chose to stay were "counted".

According to Hugh's observation, none of the Ernst family members possessed any aura that could cause the metal disc to move or alert the ancient creations. So, after completing the first round of elimination, he returned to the hotel lobby.

Among all the hotel staff who were under control, Hughes specifically looked for the young girl who had previously handled his chores. However, neither the hotel's housekeeper nor the other staff members said they knew such a girl at all. When Hughes asked about the old-fashioned elevator that led to the underground floors, everyone was extremely surprised.

They had no idea about underground floors, let alone that the elevator could connect to them!
"In other words, the Black Sun Society's control over the Manor Hotel likely started through the hotel's waiters. To maintain secrecy, they probably used some magical methods... Most of the staff operating in the surface hotel were probably unaware of this, but there may have been a few members of the society and their informants mixed in among them."

Hugh turned his gaze to the other side of the hall and saw that several manor guards had been "cleared out" in a corner.

Clearly, the soldiers loyal to old Zeke knew exactly who among them were spies planted in their ranks. That's why they were so ruthless. One unlucky fellow was hit hard in the mouth with a rifle butt, and now he probably has only a few teeth left.

"Make sure the news doesn't get out of the manor, and don't let anyone go to the residence."

Hugh found the soldier's commander, who did not object to Hugh's order, as these professional soldiers had already begun to do so without any need for Hugh's reminder.

Hughes noticed that some of them had even set up hidden temporary fortifications in the garden outside the manor hotel, and the personnel in charge of the entrance had been replaced. Anyone who tried to approach or leave would be immediately taken into custody.

At this moment, several young people in the hall finally couldn't help but express their doubts. Their fathers held very important positions in the Ernst family, so they had more confidence and courage than ordinary people. They all saw that something unexpected had happened in the current manor hotel and even the entire family manor.

Therefore, their opinion was not to oppose this sudden imprisonment and control, but to inquire about what exactly was going on.

These shrewd young nobles had already sensed an ominous aura emanating from those professional soldiers.

Hughes couldn't directly answer their questions, since he couldn't tell these young people that their revered ancestors might now be a group of rats scurrying through the building.

He then took out the glass jar wrapped in several pages of a book engraved with magical rituals and displayed the deformed, blind rat inside to the young nobles.

"Oh my God, what is this?"

"This is a rat? No... how can a rat look like this?"

Hughes subtly activated the power of the Mirror Messenger, causing the rat, which was very likely the ancestor of these young people, to stop. He then said, "All I know is that you have been staying in the same hotel with these guys these days. There are countless of them, and they can easily move through the hotel walls and floors... If you don't want to be gnawed to pieces by them, don't raise any more questions."

At this point, Hugh's tone changed slightly: "You must have heard about the rat cannibalism tragedy in Seren City, right?"

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

As one of the few who escaped from Seren, Hugh had more say in this matter than anyone else present.

Seeing their expressions, Hughes finally swallowed the rest of his sentence, "I did it." Faced with these quick-thinking and knowledgeable young nobles, it would be difficult to solve the problem without a strong deterrent.

Just then, a figure entered the hotel lobby accompanied by two soldiers.

The young female mage wore a brand-new council mage robe and a standard scarf from the Voltel Hunters around her neck. As she entered the hall, she seemed to bring the chill from outside with her.

She ignored the young nobles who were secretly watching her, and went straight to Hugh, adjusted her glasses, and sat down opposite him.

"Mr. Hugh, can you tell me why you make such a commotion wherever you go?"

(End of this chapter)