The black sun hangs high

Chapter 145 "Magic"

Alfred didn't stay with Hugh for long. After exchanging a few words with the equally disheveled mage Klaus, he hurried off to other places. Due to today's unexpected events, the workload of the Fifth Juggernaut Regiment had increased significantly. In addition to restarting the recruitment work, cleaning up the aftermath at the scene, and conducting investigations, Alfred also had many official matters to handle.

Although the Fifth Juggernaut was also a "victim" in this shelling incident, he was still required to be present when the royal family and government of Walter began to hold them accountable.

The mages of Wotel are mostly pragmatists, especially now that we're at war. Most of the mages who came here have mastered a variety of spells that can be used to deal with special situations. Under these circumstances, the cleanup work at the scene went very smoothly.

In the process, people inevitably need to salvage human bodies from the damaged and collapsed buildings. Most of these dead died from the magical impact caused by the explosion of the shells, so their bodies were often torn apart on the spot and scattered everywhere.

Some younger spellcasters who had never seen such a horrific scene inevitably experienced some physiological reactions after witnessing the human bodies that had completely blended into the wall.

In contrast, the medical students were much calmer, though they still couldn't help feeling grief when they personally identified the deceased.

The mage Klaus came to Hugh's side. Although he was covered in dust and dirt, he still had that cold, expressionless look, as if everyone present owed him hundreds of magic crystals.

This time, he didn't cause any trouble for Hugh. After observing Hugh's condition, Klaus nodded: "Not bad, you seem to be adapting very quickly. I saw you in Seren City?"

"This is the first time I've experienced shelling, but I have seen similar situations before."

As he spoke, Hugh used magic runes to construct a temporary "magical pillar" to help several soldiers lift a section of the collapsed wall. At the same time, he asked, "However, compared to a real battlefield, this kind of artillery bombardment should be nothing, right?"

"Of course."

Klaus nodded: "On the battlefield, artillery fire often leaves you nowhere to hide. In that situation, you can only trust your cover and trenches, or believe that a magical ritual you set up can protect you from the magical explosion caused by the shells. There is no other way."

As he spoke, he looked to the other side, where several female students from the medical academy were struggling to save a clerk in the academy. However, half of his body had been shattered in the magical explosion, and even with healing magic and the academy's potions, he could no longer hold on.

The loss of the wounded had a certain impact on these young and naive medical workers. Looking at them, Klaus shook his head: "Let's just consider it a lesson for them in advance. With this experience, perhaps they will be able to handle things better when they actually go to the battlefield."

After saying that, he patted Hugh's shoulder lightly: "Alright, your work here is almost finished... Rescue as many people as you can as possible, and leave the rest to the Council's secret ritual. It can help us find more survivors."

After saying this, the valley-level mage paused slightly, then suddenly lowered his voice: "The girl who helped us before was quite nice. You should spend more time with her before going to the battlefield."

Klaus's words greatly surprised Hugh.

In his memory, the chief mage of the Fifth Hunter Regiment had always been a cold and ruthless official, but this time, he revealed his emotional side.

Hugh's intuition told him that what happened here today had most likely triggered some memories for the mage.

Although he was curious, Hugh knew that not everything could be asked about casually, so he decisively followed Klaus's arrangement and found Sally, who looked disheveled and had a lot of blood on her hands, among the medical students who had just been relieved and were resting.

Next, there was very little help these ordinary students could offer, so the academy ordered all the students who remained to leave. Thus, Hugh and his companion slowly began to move along with the panicked crowd.

Looking up, all I could see was a scene of utter chaos.

Sally lowered her head and let Hugh lead her outside. The scene in the academy reminded her of the city of Seren. She had learned from the newspapers and other people's accounts that the city she knew so well had now become a closed-off hellish city. Now, when this catastrophic scene appeared before her eyes, it inevitably stirred up the fear and panic in her heart.

The mercenary group was very efficient; they had already set up a temporary aid station, and the people treating the wounded there were mostly experienced physicians, many of whom were professors and lecturers from the academy—Professor Meyer was among them.

He had just finished treating an injured person, and his white apron was stained with blood.

In his haste, his gaze fell on Hugh and Sally, and a slight smile finally appeared on the scholar's tense face. He nodded to Hugh from afar, then turned and went back into the sanatorium to continue his unfinished work.

“Let’s go, there’s nothing we can do to help now… leave it to your mentor and the healing mages of the council.”

Hugh glanced at the girl beside him and, seeing that she was extremely depressed, reached out and gently took her hand.

Hugh's action was beyond Sally's expectations, but it finally eased her heavy heart. So she followed Hugh by half a step and obediently and quietly walked outside with him.

Near the college exit, Hughes saw Duden, who was frantic with worry.

The young guard was very lucky; two rounds of shelling did not cause him any damage. He even managed to save a group of panicked civilians based on his own judgment.

However, Hugh did not appear for a long time, which made Duden suspect that the target he was protecting had disappeared in the previous magical explosion. Therefore, when Hugh appeared with Sally, Duden almost burst into tears.

Because this guy not only seemed to be fine, but he even held the hand that many of the hunters coveted!
"These writers are truly remarkable!"

……

Soldiers are constantly dispersing and driving away the people gathered at the entrance of the Alchemist Physicians Academy; they are not allowing anyone to linger there now.

Although a large number of reporters had arrived at the scene, apart from a few officially recognized newspapers such as the Borden Daily, the rest were not allowed to enter. Faced with these soldiers who were so close to combat, the reporters dared not say much. After all, the soldiers of Walter strictly abided by military discipline at all times—they really would fire their guns.

Therefore, these reporters approached the students who had been evacuated from the college and the citizens who had come to participate in the recruitment and escaped the disaster.

Spellcasters and nobles like Hugh were naturally their primary interview targets.

But Hugh had always been too lazy to deal with such things. With Duden's help, he quickly got Sally back to the car and had the driver drive away.

Soon, they arrived at a street not too far from the Alchemist Academy. The Ernst family had a shop there, so Hugh and his companion were able to wash the dust and blood off their faces and hands and change into clean clothes.

Sally was slightly intimidated by this treatment. Although she had moved from Seren to Borden and her living conditions and environment had improved considerably, she was still still considered a "commoner".

Hughes noticed her discomfort and quickly took her away from there to an ordinary beer hall that served the flavors of the Kingdom of Hein.

Logically, Duden shouldn't have been with them under these circumstances, but after the morning's shelling, the poor guard dared not let Hugh out of his sight, so Hugh had no choice but to let him follow. Because of what had happened earlier, they had spent the entire afternoon at the academy, and it was now nearing evening, so the beer hall was gradually filling up with customers.

Everyone was talking about what happened at noon.

Hugh and the others were no exception.

As a medical student, Sally's perspective wasn't much different from that of ordinary people. After recovering from her exhaustion and disappointment, she first felt angry.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Sally's eyes reddened slightly. She took a sip of the iced drink the waiter brought her and said sullenly, "The Kingdom of Walter hasn't even officially declared war yet! How could they do this? And... and how did those people manage to bypass Borden's guards and secret rituals? This is too strange."

"The identity of the attacker will probably have to wait for further news and announcements."

Hughes placed a dessert in front of Sally and replied, "The bombardment of Borden is unprecedented in its severity. No force in the kingdom will allow such a terrible thing to slip through its nose."

As he spoke, Hugh suddenly turned to Duden, who was sitting on the other side and had remained silent the whole time, and asked, "Duden, let me ask you, if you were to fire on Bolden, which targets would you choose first?"

"what?"

Duden was taken aback; he hadn't expected Hugh to ask him such an unfaithful question.

"Based on your understanding of Borden, if you were to organize today's attack, which places would you shell? Don't worry about the accuracy and power of the shells, just tell me the targets."

"If that's the case, then there are actually many options available."

Duden hesitated for a moment before replying, "Our corps is stationed on the outskirts of the city, where there are large warehouses storing ammunition... If it were me, I would definitely shell this place first."

"Hmm, ammunition depot... and then what?"

"Then it should be the city's workshop area, right? It's been converted into a production site for wartime supplies now, and then there's the royal palace in Borden..."

After that, Duden named several other locations that he considered "high-value targets".

After listening to his words, Hugh nodded slightly: "There were two rounds of shelling at noon today, with more than ten shells landing in the Alchemy Physicians Academy. When I left the academy, I made a special observation. The landing points of these shells were incredibly accurate. They did not target the laboratories, libraries, or classrooms where classes were in session, but instead aimed at the recruitment points where people were gathered in large numbers."

Upon hearing these words, Sally, who had been furious, seemed to realize something. She stared blankly at Hughes, waiting for him to continue his analysis.

"All the shells were old-fashioned, high-concentration crystal ammunition... This means that the crystal cannons used by the attackers must be 'classic models,' but traditional crystal cannons have always had serious flaws in range and accuracy. They can only be accurately hit by a senior mage using magic and rituals."

"In other words, the initiators of this bombardment must have had the support of mages, and what they wanted to strike was the most 'meaningless' target in the entire Borden."

Hugh tapped the table with his fingers, his eyes narrowing slightly. "The military camps and ammunition depots, workshops, alchemical drug warehouses... even the palace of the Walter royal family, any one of these targets is far more valuable than recruitment points, but they definitely didn't do that. That's very strange."

As they were discussing, several men in formal attire walked in—they were bards and musicians employed by the Heinbräuhaus, who would perform there every evening around dinnertime.

Soon, the light and lively Heinrich's Little Tune filled the beer hall, but before the song was even over, some customers were already whistling and even standing up from their seats.

"Hey! Hey! That's enough, stop for a second!"

The guests had clearly drunk quite a bit; their faces were flushed, and their dissatisfaction was written all over their faces.

"Nobody wants to listen to this kind of music anymore, let's change it to something else!"

"that is!"

"We need military music, do you know any marching tunes?"

"The Ballad of Borden is also acceptable!"

More and more people echoed this sentiment. The musicians and bards on stage looked at each other, and after obtaining permission from the beer hall owner, they sat down again. Then, the song "The Song of Borden," which Hugh had heard the Jaeger soldiers sing earlier, began to resound in the beer hall.

At that moment, everyone in the beer hall, from ordinary citizens to soldiers like Duden, raised their glasses.

"Where the giant eagle is."

"The passion to defend the motherland."

"The freedom that the people pursue."

"Like a mountain on a plateau."

"Like a raging fire."

"Our light will shine alongside our motherland, never to be extinguished!"

Hugh sat in the corner, silently watching the Waterlings sing loudly along with the bards on the stage.

Without a doubt, from this moment on, these people’s enthusiasm for war and their anger toward the enemy will be at an all-time high—even those who have truly enjoyed a period of peace in the past will now find themselves unconsciously drawn into this new wave.

The numbing effect of alcohol, the yearning for the military culture of Wotel, the hatred and anger towards the enemy, and the piety towards the royal family and the highland faith... all these things were mixed together and constituted a kind of "magic" that was truly applied to people's hearts and emotions.

It is radiating its unstoppable, captivating, and even insane power.

(End of this chapter)