The black sun hangs high

Chapter 2 "Cheap"

Under the midday sun, the massive clock tower located on the central axis of Seren once again chimed its resounding bell precisely on time.

There were three chimes in total.

The first offering is dedicated to the eternal sun god, in gratitude for His witnessing of the peace of Seren.

The second offering is dedicated to the gentle goddess of March, in gratitude for her protection of the peace of Seren.

The third part is dedicated to the truce treaty signed here 299 years ago between the Kingdom of Wotel and the Kingdom of Delan. Without it, there would be no city of Seren as we know it today.

This is the city of Seren.

A neutral city that, from its very inception, was destined to be associated with war, conflict, and contradictions.

However, in the city of Seren today, it is difficult to see any trace of war. The bustling streets and buildings are filled with sculptures and decorations with peace as their theme.

All of this is to commemorate the hard-won peace and the precious friendship between the two powerful kingdoms—although these two behemoths have had several frictions and conflicts in the past 299 years, fortunately, they have always been able to reach an agreement.

As the old proverb goes, "When Water and Delan greet each other, there will be no more storms in the world."

The unique geographical location and historical significance of this small town have given it a distinctive character. The area west of the central axis belongs to the Kingdom of Walter. The buildings here are as cold and austere as blades, with most having sharp and precipitous lines and towering spires. The street decorations are also mostly gray and black.

The area east of the central axis belongs to the Kingdom of Deland, and it is filled with a variety of rich colors. Blue, green, and bright red and yellow decorate almost all the houses. From a distance, people may even think that they have come to the world-famous flower sea landscape of the Kingdom of Deland.

Tourists who come from far and wide will see this scene as a wonder of the world, while long-time residents are already used to enjoying the customs and cultures of two different countries at the same time. Only those who are extremely suspicious will see the east and west districts as the claws of two behemoths testing each other...

Hughes falls into the last category.

Now, he views everything in Seren with the utmost malice.

On the streets, people can already be seen decorating their homes and hanging festive flags. Without exception, all those colorful flags depict two hands clasped tightly together, which are used to celebrate the "Remembrance Day of the Ceasefire Agreement".

"Temporium Day" is a very special holiday.

To commemorate the hard-won peace, the city of Seren will be under strict lockdown for the ten days leading up to the annual "Ceasefire Celebration," with no one allowed to enter or leave at will—something Hugh had personally verified. All the gates of Seren were currently locked, and as a civilian, he was not allowed to pass through at all.

This state of affairs will continue until the day of the festival, which is eight days later.

At that time, the heirs of the Kingdom of Walter and the Kingdom of Delan will arrive in Seren City at the same time. The two sides will meet and have friendly talks under the Great Clock Tower of Seren City, and reaffirm their willingness to make peace. Then, the celebration will be officially announced.

It is said that this complicated process was designed to simulate the actual situation during the armistice.

"How come I don't remember writing anything like this?"

Hugh turned his gaze away from the busy and happy residents with a sense of helplessness and began to re-examine the people and things inside the tavern.

"Now that Seren City is under blockade, I can't leave easily, so I have to come up with another way."

Hugh's gaze fell on the customers coming and going, and on Sally, the bartender who was moving among them, and his thoughts followed her.

Over the past two days, he has been gathering as much information and intelligence as possible about the city of Seren. However, as of now, he still knows nothing about the changes that will happen in the city in eight days. The fear of the future is like a deep black haze, pressing heavily on his heart and making it hard for him to breathe.

Hugh stared at the cup on the table, the tea inside gently swirling, the light and shadow shimmering within, dazzling and mesmerizing.

In this state, the chaotic sounds in the tavern seemed to fade into the distance.

To resolve his current predicament, Hugh has "returned" to the strange world he saw after his death more than once. Although he never saw the strange figure in the black suit again, the objects with various "prices" and "conditions" still remained in the same place.

After touring the entire office area, Hugh discovered that most of the conditions in that world were beyond his current means and affordability. The only thing that could be considered "cheap" was a locker at his workstation.

He had checked repeatedly, and in front of the second-to-last drawer, the words formed by black mist read "twenty silver coins".

This is a condition that looks inexpensive.

For merchants with some wealth or wealthy families, this was only a small sum of money, but for those who were busy making a living day and night, twenty silver coins were a huge burden.

In order to collect the twenty silver coins, Hugh searched his old house, from top to bottom, but in the end he only managed to collect ten silver coins plus a bunch of loose change. This is why, even under these circumstances, he still had to calm down and continue writing the manuscript left behind by his body.

"Tomorrow is the deadline for submitting the manuscript, and the total payment is thirty silver coins..."

Hughes silently calculated in his mind: "But if I use these silver coins to 'open' those cabinets tomorrow, it means I will waste almost a whole day, which is not a wise choice."

Thinking this, Hugh couldn't help but raise his head, his gaze drifting towards the nimble figure not far away, twirling between the tables like a butterfly.

Hughes sighed, "I never thought I'd have to borrow money from someone so soon after arriving in this world."

……

"Twenty silver coins?"

After hearing what Hugh said, the young and beautiful bartender's gaze immediately became cautious.

Left with no other option, Hugh explained, "Don't worry, Miss Sally, I can pay you back tomorrow... I need it urgently, and you should know that I don't gamble or frequent 'Water Splash Street'..." Sally wrinkled her nose: "Tch, who cares about that!"

Hugh looked at her patiently, trying his best to make his expression and eyes appear honest.

Finally, the girl gave in after a moment of eye contact, and sighed, "Fine, fine, that's almost all my savings..."

While complaining, she went to the storeroom next to the kitchen and quickly retrieved a small, locked wooden box.

"For the sake of us being friends!"

Sally deftly shoved the wooden box into Hugh's hands, the weight of which left him speechless for a moment.

The girl carefully examined the expression on the young man's face, then smiled with satisfaction, as if she had exchanged her large sum of savings for something precious.

"Remember to return it to me tomorrow, Mr. Ernst. I know where you live!"

After saying that, Sally abandoned Hugh and threw herself back into her work. She had only been gone for a short while when people in the tavern started making a lot of noise.

Having obtained what he wanted, Hugh decided not to linger in the noisy beer hall any longer. He wrapped the heavy wooden box in his coat and left the pub with his manuscript, which still needed revision.

As for the "sneak peek" he promised Schubert, he planned to discuss it later that evening.

It took him about half an hour to finally return to his residence, a three-story building that was said to have been purchased by the Ernst family in Seren City nearly a hundred years ago. The specific reason was unknown, but all Hugh knew was that it had indeed been abandoned there for a long time, to the point that even the unoriginal legend of "the ghost in Ernst's old house" had emerged.

However, every time he returned to the old house, Hugh felt that there was some truth to the legend. Whenever he walked among the old furnishings and walls, he felt that he was the ghost in the legend.

Although the old house was dilapidated, it was quite large. After returning, Hugh spent a lot of time closing and locking all the windows and doors. After that, he went to the bedroom on the second floor and then lay down on the bed, hugging the heavy little wooden box.

Soon, a light drowsiness came over him, so Hugh obediently closed his eyes.

The moment he fell asleep, a void of dreams descended upon him, and an invisible, strange force acted on his body in a bizarre way, stripping away his spirit and leading him to another world.

Soon, a chilling sensation reawakened Hugh's consciousness. He opened his eyes abruptly, and the familiar desks and various devices reappeared before him. However, in this oppressive darkness, he still did not see anyone else.

The heavy wooden box was right in front of him, so Hughes reached out and opened it, took out the twenty silver coins that the hardworking girl had saved, and squatted down in front of the table with them in his hands.

Hughes clearly remembers that he used to use the second-to-last drawer of the locker to store useless things, such as old and unused receipts, replaced work cards, unused mobile phones, and mooncake and zongzi coupons that he hadn't had time to redeem.

The moment he stretched out his hand, Hugh felt an inexplicable urge to laugh.

The irony of placing his hopes for changing his fate and future on a drawer he would never want to open felt somewhat ironic.

As the distance between Hugh's palm and the line of text decreased, the silver coins lying in his palm began to vibrate and hum faintly. Finally, when his palm reached in front of the floating black text, the change occurred.

The silver coins trembled violently and turned into fine dust. Then, the strange characters formed by the black mist immediately changed. The original characters disappeared and were replaced by black tentacles that floated in the air. They swayed rapidly and rushed towards the silver coin powder, like the tentacles of a sea anemone busy filtering seawater in the ocean, moving back and forth in the powder.

The body that Hugh possessed had been an apprentice at the magic academy in the Kingdom of Wotel for two years. During that time, he was busy with various physical tasks and chores every day, just like other apprentices. However, he also witnessed many strange scenes. The memories that remained in his mind gave Hugh some confidence and prevented him from being too flustered when he witnessed these bizarre changes.

As a magician apprentice who had wasted two years in the academy and was only fit to learn two basic "tricks," Hugh was now eagerly anticipating the changes before him.

"Hopefully, my twenty silver coins can be exchanged for something useful... otherwise, I'll have to think of another way."

Hugh carefully examined the constantly swaying black tentacles, as if observing his pets. Under their activity, the silvery-white powder formed from the bursting silver coins quickly disappeared. Then, the "well-fed" black tentacles reassembled, forming a spherical cloud of mist.

Then, the thick fog gradually dissipated.

Hugh tentatively reached out towards the drawer, and this time, he didn't touch that invisible wall; his fingers successfully touched the drawer handle.

He suddenly felt that the scene looked familiar.

It seems like the card-drawing process is similar when I play mobile games.

Thinking about it this way, he relaxed a little.

"It's a pity we can't play music now. Otherwise, for such an important moment, we could at least play some cheerful songs before I go wash my face and hands..."

Hugh smiled and shook his head, then gathered his thoughts, reached out and grabbed the drawer handle, pulling it outwards with force.

Then Hugh regretted it.

The moment the drawer opened, he saw a huge cloud of black mist erupt from it. He was kneeling on the ground, leaning forward, and had no time to dodge. He was immediately engulfed by the dense black gas.

In the next instant, the black mist suddenly contracted, forming a solid, enormous tentacle in Hugh's horrified gaze. Countless shadows swayed on this tentacle, like giant suction cups attached to it.

In utter terror, Hugh hurriedly pulled back, but before he could take two steps, the tentacle suddenly stretched out, like the tentacles of molluscs used for hunting. With incredible speed, it tightly wrapped around Hugh's legs and waist, the immense force rendering his legs immobile. Before he could react or make any further movement, the huge tentacle tightened further, lifting Hugh into the air.

"What the hell is this?!"

Hugh opened his mouth and roared silently.

(End of this chapter)