The black sun hangs high

Chapter 139 Newspapers

Staying up late at night to argue with a crow that seems a bit off, but is also just plain annoying, is really quite abstract.

Seeing that the other party showed no sign of leaving anytime soon, Hugh didn't bother with him. He forcibly took away the newspapers and documents that the raven had trampled under its feet and continued reading by the light of the desk lamp. During this time, he noticed that the raven did not drink tea, so he simply took the teacup back and gulped it down in two mouthfuls right in front of the other party.

This series of actions left the blue raven in the room somewhat stunned. It cried out twice in protest, but Hugh simply used magic to plug its ears, completely blocking out the noise.

Hugh has his own methods for quickly getting into work mode.

After quickly reading two opinion pieces, he took out his notebook and a brand-new magic ink pen from the table, and began to take notes on the news. As he wrote, his mind focused at an extremely fast pace.

Before long, he became completely immersed in reading and writing.

The magical ritual used to warm the room began to run again, and soon warmth filled the entire room.

For a moment, there was only the sound of snowflakes tapping on the window and the sound of pen nib scratching against paper.

Augustine Sofia is now somewhat bewildered.

As the current recognized princess of the Kingdom of Walter and Ernst's most outstanding student, she has always had the right to move freely within Ernst Manor. However, these days, due to the many important matters that need to be handled directly in the Lyland District, she has naturally moved into Ernst Manor.

Here, there are two villas specifically prepared for the Walter royal family, intended to deal with certain special circumstances.

She often enjoys maximum freedom when she moves around in Ernst Manor. Here, she does not need guards, bodyguards, or the royal butler Finn to accompany her. Instead, she can freely use her shapeshifting magic, fly in the sky like a real bird, and move around at will.

This is the unique magical talent of the Walter royal family.

This is also why members of the royal family like to call themselves "children of the sky".

Princess Sofia was naturally exhausted after a long day, but as she approached her residence, she was surprised to find that there were still lights on in some rooms of the villa complex late at night, and the guest seemed somewhat familiar...

On a whim, she landed on the windowsill of the room, and then, on a tentative note, jumped directly into the bedroom.

And then everything that just happened occurred.

Sophia was certain she had concealed her magical aura well this time, and she had done her best to disguise herself as a real raven—she wanted to see if Hugh had truly sensed her presence before, but she never expected Hugh's attitude towards animals to be so…

She simply couldn't find a suitable adjective.

His attitude toward a raven that had barged into his bedroom and was unwilling to leave easily was indeed very friendly... but this was just the friendliness a human would show to an animal or even a pet!

This strange treatment was a first for Sofia.

Sofia has always been a very logical person, and she believes this is the key to her success in the royal power struggles.

But now that she has successfully obtained the full treatment reserved for real ravens from Hugh Ernst as Raven, she is somewhat at a loss for what to do.

Fortunately, Sofia is equally adept at endurance and adaptability.

She quickly adapted to the scene and, like a raven that was truly accustomed to humans, preened her feathers under the light. Then she wandered around the bedroom and soon found a spot that suited her perfectly.

So she flapped her wings and nimbly flew to the lamp stand of the magic wall lamp near the desk. From there, she could observe Hugh's actions from above, see his desk clearly, and stay out of Hugh's sight.

She wanted to see if this guy was just pretending or if he really hadn't noticed her unusual behavior.

……

Hughes was indeed putting on an act at first.

But after he used magic to block out the outside world and concentrated all his attention on the words in front of him, he began to ignore the presence of the raven.

Although he could always feel the gaze from above, he wasn't writing anything strange at the moment; he was simply making some basic speculations and organizing his thoughts. Therefore, he didn't feel uncomfortable because of the external gaze.

In this completely focused state, the "identity" of that raven is no longer so important. Regardless of whether it is Princess Sophia or not, Hugh has no other choice now—playing dumb is the best option.

He gently flipped through the latest newspaper and saw an article on a large page.

Like all newspapers in Vain, the Borden Daily also invites scholars or commentators to comment on and publish important current events.

Generally speaking, critics with strong opinions are more popular with readers because they tend to write their articles in a way that is easy to understand and can resonate with the public. However, articles commissioned by scholars are less likely to receive attention.

After all, most people who read newspapers are more concerned with breaking news that might affect their lives, or they simply want to kill time and have some fun...

However, the Borden Daily News was clearly more professional in this regard than other newspapers, as Hughes immediately recognized the author of the long article.

“Meyer?”

He softly uttered the name, then adjusted the desk lamp and placed the newspaper neatly in front of him.

This was the second time he had seen this pen name.

The last time he saw it, Hugh had only been in Vain for a few days. At that time, he was preoccupied with how to escape from Seren. But now, he was in the most comfortable residence in all of Borden. The contrast between the two made him feel a little unreal.

“Alright, Mayer, let’s see what you have to say this time.”

Hugh poured himself another cup of tea, and then began to read carefully and attentively.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock..." The hands of the magic clock ticked away with a soft rhythm. The snow outside the window was falling heavier and heavier, and the cold air hitting the window made the room feel even warmer.

The raven perched on the magic wall lamp stand cautiously stretched its neck, quietly reading the article about the current tense situation and the inevitable war alongside the young man at the desk.

Finally, Hugh put down the newspaper he was holding.

His mood was slightly affected by the article, so he stood up from his chair and paced around the room several times. After his thoughts calmed down, he finally felt a bit sleepy, so he released the magic spell on himself and looked up at the grey raven.

Perhaps because the room was too warm, the raven seemed to have fallen asleep. So Hugh smiled helplessly, tidied up his desk, and casually pushed the window open slightly, leaving a gap just big enough for someone to get in and out. Then he turned off the desk lamp and crawled into the cold bed with a head full of complicated thoughts and sighs.

As for the visitor who was pretending to be asleep on the lamp stand, he didn't intend to bother with him.

I slept soundly in the second half of the night.

The vibrant life and abundant magic from the "Walking Forest" brought unprecedented peace to Hugh's mental world, while the article he read before bed, written by the scholar Mayer, added an indescribable touch to his dreams.

Those solid and profound words swirled in his mind, like a flock of white snow cranes slowly flying in from his distant past. They gently flapped their wings, but what they stirred up was a cold, fierce wind. And when the wind blew past, the phantoms of the past became intertwined with the reality of the present, indistinguishable from one another.

In the depths of winter, dawn breaks rather late, so the sky at dawn is often still deep and dark, with only a faint glimmer of light peeking through the heavy blackness.

The raven that had abruptly visited Hughes in the dead of night had quietly departed sometime earlier.

The cold wind blew in through the cracks in the window, causing the newspaper articles pressed on the desk to swirl around, as if even the cold wind was reading the words.

"Everyone knows that war is bound to begin."

"But today, we will not discuss the possible course of the war—many excellent people have already expressed their views on it before me… What we need to discuss is another neglected issue: why is this war happening? What is its essence? In this impending upheaval, how should we, as the 'majority' of humanity, conduct ourselves?"

In another villa not too far from Hugh's residence, Princess Sofia, who had changed into casual clothes, sat at her desk. She had dark circles under her eyes and held a freshly brewed, steaming cup of refreshing drink in her hand.

In front of her lay an expired newspaper, with the same layout and the same article.

She read the words aloud softly.

"This war is destined to be different from any of the battles in Vaan's past. If it does unfortunately break out, then I personally might call it the 'Great War'... We generally believe that the occurrence of this war is related to the impact of new technological changes on the old world rules... In my opinion, this is in fact a continuation of a dynastic war that simultaneously mixes factors such as the struggle for interests, the allocation of resources, and class contradictions—all participants, regardless of their status, will inevitably be led to the plunder of resources and the division of the market."

"However, if that were all, I wouldn't need to write this article—I believe that what I've described above is, in fact, an inevitable situation in our Vain world at its current stage of development. It's certainly not wonderful, but it's also unlikely to be reversed or changed in the short term..."

"...Just at the end of the past month of gin, we all witnessed a terrible tragedy, and the disaster that occurred in Seren revealed to us a problem that may never have appeared before."

"Or rather, it is a potential crisis."

"We humans, as the largest race in Vaan, should not only be concerned about the contradictions and conflicts based on concepts such as ethnicity and interests, but also have a sense of awe for the existence of more potential dangers?"

……

The faint sunlight shone on the city walls of Seren.

The air here is filled with a suffocating smell.

The terrible impact caused by the magical anomaly added new wounds to this already tragic city. As the out-of-control magic destroyed the ritual site that shrouded the city of Seren, it also successfully tore the ground apart, causing numerous buildings to collapse and break. The ancient brick streets that had witnessed two hundred years of peace were now in ruins.

The sewers that were originally buried underground were exposed to the sky due to cracks in the ground, which made the city residents who were still struggling to survive not even have the courage to step out of their homes.

Over the past few days, they have learned that beneath the city lies a terrifying monster capable of devouring living people in a bizarre and cruel manner.

That was not a wild beast, but some kind of intelligent being.

The spellcasters at the Seren City Legal Committee branch have launched numerous searches and hunts against this monster. Initially, many people were willing to cooperate with their actions, but as the operations failed time and time again, and as more and more people turned into rioters due to the lack of living supplies, the number of times these spellcasters carried out their operations began to decrease significantly.

Now, they can only cower in the headquarters of the Legislative Affairs Commission, relying on the resources there to protect themselves.

For the residents of Seren, the city streets are now no different from purgatory.

At some point, they began to notice suspicious figures appearing on the streets—but these were not living people at all, but rather humanoid figures made of thick, black pus. What was even more terrifying was that these figures seemed to possess human instincts and consciousness.

They can talk, move around, and even do some bizarre and inexplicable things.

For example, right now, on the street near Ernst’s old house, a group of short, black figures are slowly walking along the street.

They had nothing in their hands, of course, but they were seriously shaking their arms, and with these movements, indistinct sounds kept coming from the depths of these liquid clumps.

"Newspaper! Newspaper!"

"The latest newspaper!"

"Sir Writer...would you like a newspaper?"

They shouted questions at the empty, dilapidated streets.

...

Second update

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(End of this chapter)