The black sun hangs high

Chapter 205 A Hundred Aspects

As Hughes meticulously assessed the level of "construction" in Iris Street, he also carefully observed the residents of the area.

Just as he had glimpsed in the memories of the dead, most of the residents here had very typical Goddess Plains appearances. For a few moments, Hugh even thought he had come to an ordinary town in the Kingdom of Delan or the Duchy of Plains.

Even the middle-aged mage who is now leading the way is more similar to the Goddess Plains region in both his facial features and his accent.

All of this aligns with what Hughes learned through the memories of the dead and Felix's account.

Although General Butz's recruitment order was issued to the entire city of Seren, it was clear that he favored the plains peoples in this regard. To this end, he even went so far as to differentiate the survivors who sought refuge in Iris Street based on their appearance, bloodline, and language habits.

From Hughes's perspective, this is a very bad tendency at any time.

From a certain perspective, General Butz's actions and tendencies can even be seen as a continuation of the chaos before the Sierra Nevada incident. However, now, due to the complete expansion of the disaster and the complete collapse of the old order, it has escaped the identity of "chaos" and become a potential new order.

In this environment, Hugh's typical highland aristocratic appearance easily attracted the attention of almost everyone.

He used to be quite well-known in Seren, and a considerable number of the lower-class residents recognized him or at least heard of his name. Even if they weren't interested in what Hugh had written in the past, they all knew that a young man from the Ernst family lived alone in that terrible old house.

Therefore, it wasn't long before the name "Shug Ernst" began to appear in the mouths of the residents of Iris Street.

Hugh noticed that a considerable number of soldiers wearing the uniforms of the independent government of Seren were looking at him with unfriendly eyes. He could even sense the hostility these soldiers harbored. Clearly, the strategy adopted by General Butz had had a significant impact on these soldiers who followed him. However, because of Hugh's current status as a spellcaster, these soldiers dared not make any further statements or actions.

Faced with these strange looks, Hugh remained quite calm. After all, looks alone could not cause him any harm or influence. So, as he followed the middle-aged mage, he asked, "Approximately how many people are there on Iris Street now?"

"Ha, well... I'm not sure of the exact number, but I'm certain that the actual number is probably close to, or even exceeds, a thousand people!"

The middle-aged man spoke with a hint of pride: "Our soldiers have gone to many places in the city. They visit every inhabited place and deliver recruitment notices for Iris Street... so the number of people here will continue to increase."

"Hmm, I can see that... and I'm afraid the housing in Iris Street is starting to become insufficient, right? I see you guys are actively expanding the surrounding space?"

"That's right."

The middle-aged mage greeted several passing soldiers, then continued, "That's why we need more people to join us, especially exceptional talents like Mr. Ernst... If everyone knew that a powerful new mage was joining us, they would probably be very happy and excited."

"Is it like this?"

Hughes let out a soft, enigmatic laugh, his gaze drifting to a shop on his right that had been converted into a warehouse.

There stood several Iris Street soldiers equipped with crystal guns. In addition to the iris pattern originating from the Delan royal family, their clothing also bore a special insignia.

It was an armband, a tricolor armband.

The insignia is somewhat similar to those used by the Tricolor Brotherhood, and these soldiers wearing armbands have a distinctly different demeanor from the other members of Iris Street, a feeling quite different from that of traditional professional soldiers.

"They're more like a pack of hungry wolves recruited by the army..."

Hugh made a silent judgment in his mind, and then he quickly found the corresponding identities of these people from the memories of the dead he had obtained before—they could actually be considered General Boots' confidants.

Or, to put it another way, they were “special personnel” who were directly under the command of General Boots and who were able to interfere in all matters, big and small, within Iris Street.

These soldiers, whose status and authority were extremely special, had a very peculiar title within Iris Street.

They are called "gardeners".

These people were actually composed of soldiers from the independent government and the Iris Guards who had been left behind in the Deland Embassy. It was they who formed the basis of order in Iris Street and the cornerstone of General Boots' rule there.

Hughes was no stranger to this model of rule and management; at least he could find many corresponding examples in the knowledge he had accumulated in the past. Although it was not a "healthy" model to be praised, it was enough to produce some positive effects in the short term within the city of Seren.

However, this is also one of the important reasons why Hughes was curious and puzzled about General Butts. He didn't know why the Iris Guard, who were theoretically only loyal to the Delan royal family, would choose to join the general of such an independent government.

Is it simply because the other party's political leanings are biased towards the Kingdom of Delan?
Of course, Hughes doesn't believe that political leanings have any real meaning within the city of Seren in its current state...

As for those "gardeners" who seemed to harbor great hostility towards non-plains peoples, Hugh naturally retaliated. He didn't go too far, but simply mobilized his magic and the dark abyss power accumulated within his body.

So, a simplified and condensed mental shock spell was thrown directly at his targets by Hugh. The moment the spell hit, these ill-intentioned soldiers were horrified to find that the seemingly harmless young man who had been standing in the sunlight not far away had turned into a huge shadow made of a lot of "mud" and seemed to be about to crush them in the next second.

This is precisely the scene that all the survivors in Seren had the greatest fear of seeing.

"Ah!" A soldier with less courage and a noticeably weaker mind staggered back two steps in the illusion cast by Hugh. His body slammed hard against the wall of the building behind him. With a dull pain in his back, he gasped for breath. Just as he was about to raise his crystal gun for defense, he saw that there was no monster in the sunlight ahead.

The young man with the metal cane continued to follow slowly behind the middle-aged monk. He seemed to sense the gaze from behind, so he turned around and gave a gentle and friendly smile.

The middle-aged mage's magical skill was too mediocre; he was completely unaware of what had just happened behind him. Hugh didn't continue to entangle with these "gardeners" either; he quickened his pace and followed his "guide" deeper into Iris Street.

As Hughes advanced, he finally saw some inhabitants who were not from the plains. Judging from their appearance, hair color, and accents, most of them came from the Kingdom of Wotel, a small number belonged to the two kingdoms of Saint Steil and Hein, and a very small number were elves or goblins. They must have been members of some merchant groups in the past, and the upheaval in Seren City had also trapped them here.

The living conditions of these residents are significantly worse. They have been concentrated in an area on the east side of Iris Street, which was originally a commercial street mainly selling Delan-style souvenirs. Now, these shops, which are less than two stories high, have been emptied, numbered, and transformed into a residential area.

Through the feedback from the rats, Hugh learned that each house actually accommodated twenty to thirty people, and the slightly more spacious ones were even crammed with more than forty people. As for basic facilities, they were extremely scarce. On the way, Hugh saw dozens of people carrying containers queuing in front of the alchemical water purifier, which was an important way for them to obtain clean water.

Within Iris Street, the number of elderly people, women, and young children is relatively small, and as Felix had previously stated, Iris Street has "incorporated" a considerable number of people who are slow-moving or physically weak into the teams that will be going out on duty.

Based on the equipment and personnel of these teams, Hughes concluded that their objective should be to clear out the neighborhood near Iris Street.

Hughes saw a boy named Walter, about eight years old with dark hair, being assigned to a squad of soldiers. They led the boy out of Iris Street, and it was obvious what the boy's task would be in the next operation.

He was used as live bait to lure the offspring of the Dark Abyss out.

The middle-aged monk seemed to notice Hugh's gaze. He forced a smile and said to Hugh, "In these special times, everyone has to find ways to survive... including this entire Iris Street. People die outside from time to time. We need their help, and they need our protection. It's actually a kind of, uh... exchange?"

"Um……"

Hugh responded softly, but did not offer any personal opinion.

What the middle-aged man said is, in some respects, a fact. For Iris Street and all its residents, it has become a way to ensure that most people can survive effectively.

After a while, the two finally arrived at their destination.

That is, the "command center" of Iris Street.

As Hugh knew, General Butz had set up his headquarters in the Nadran Embassy, ​​which was actually a small manor. Although it was somewhat cramped due to the limited space in Seren, it was still quite spacious and luxurious compared to those two-story buildings that could easily cram in dozens of people.

Now, the Delan Embassy has been completely transformed into a fortified fortress.

"Watchtowers, walls, barricades... even crystal cannons and magical rituals?"

Hugh's gaze swept quickly over the fully armed embassy in front of him. He could understand the magical ritual, after all, the Delan Embassy always needed to take some precautions, but these guys actually managed to bring over the crystal cannons used for city defense, and several of them at once. They must have spent a lot of manpower and time on this.

Here, Hugh finally saw the Iris Guards who had once served the Delan royal family. To Hugh's surprise, these guards did not wear the mixed uniforms like the other Iris Street soldiers. Instead, they still wore their old clothes. Although their clothes were somewhat worn, the sharp aura emanating from these silent elites was incomparable to that of ordinary soldiers.

The silver swords and crystal guns they carried indicated that these seasoned warriors were still ready for battle at any moment. When Hugh appeared at the embassy entrance, the Iris Guards immediately locked onto him with their eyes. Perhaps it was out of intuition, or perhaps the Iris Guards were wearing some kind of secret instrument used to identify spellcasters. In any case, Hugh felt a clear threat for the first time after stepping into this area.

At all times, the guards who act in groups are an indispensable force within Vaan.

Hugh gripped the Black Sun Scepter tightly. In fact, ever since he stepped into Iris Street, he had been trying to locate any Black Sun Society members who might be nearby. And just as he had predicted, the Black Sun Society's pawns left in Seren City had now completely infiltrated this important force. Along the way, the scepter successfully located as many as twenty Society members, and even the embassy ahead was experiencing fluctuations.

“Mr. Ernst, General Boots asks you to wait in the reception room. He will be here shortly.”

The middle-aged monk led Shug into the embassy, ​​where there were even more guards. Even those responsible for daily affairs and guard duty were soldiers wearing tricolor armbands.

Hugh was seated in an elegant reception room that had clearly not been used for some time, as many places were covered in dust. Hugh even found some bloodstains in a corner, suggesting that a bloody conflict had taken place there some time ago.

Before he could explore his surroundings further, footsteps echoed down the corridor. Then, the door was pushed open, and a rather burly figure walked in, protected by a mage and two Iris Guards.

He was wearing a heavy overcoat, with a standard military knife hanging at his waist. He wasn't wearing a military cap, but several different medals were hanging on his chest.

General Butts had a distinctly military appearance. He didn't look like a nobleman or scholar from the plains at all, but rather like one of the overseers in the mines. His face, which was covered with a few wrinkles, exuded a vigorous energy.

This was the man who sat heavily on the slightly dusty, exquisite soft chair opposite Hugh.

“Master Hugh Ernst… Ha, I received your gift, thank you very much.”

General Butts' voice was as rough as his appearance. He took out his pocket watch, checked the time, and then grinned, revealing a somewhat frightening smile: "You're very punctual. That's rare. There are fewer and fewer punctual people these days!"

(End of this chapter)