The black sun hangs high

Chapter 21 Southern City Gate
The two men, wearing fake smiles, parted ways at the entrance of the Peace Newspaper Office.

Having secured another asset for his bright future, Editor-in-Chief Philip swayed his obese body toward his office. He had many things to deal with today and didn't need to waste too much time on a short-sighted nobleman's illegitimate son.

When Philip arrived at the door of his office, he heard a slight noise, as if a mouse was scurrying across the floor. However, when he pushed open the door, he found the office to be completely silent.

"Perhaps I should have them get some rat poison."

With that thought in mind, Philip returned to his seat.

Outside the newspaper office, Hugh, who had received a small fee for his article, did not rush to leave. He asked a clerk at the newspaper office, whom he knew fairly well, for a cigarette and a magic lighter. Then he leaned against the wall outside the Peace Newspaper Office, somewhat awkwardly lit the cigarette, and put it in his mouth.

If anyone were observing Hugh at this moment, they would surely notice that this illegitimate son of the Ernst family was far paler and weaker than usual. He leaned his entire weight against the wall behind him, which was covered with posters of the armistice celebration. The smoke from his cigarettes drifted around him, making his expression somewhat unpredictable.

Cigarettes haven't been around for very long in Vain, so this cigarette doesn't taste very good. Fortunately, Hugh is not a big smoker; he simply enjoys lighting a cigarette and watching it slowly turn into smoke.

Few people would bother a smoker at such a moment.

So Hugh squinted openly, focusing all his attention on the three-tailed rat that was leaving along the pipe tunnel. Just as his magic was about to run out, he finally achieved his goal—under his control, the three-tailed rat successfully carried the metal box issued by the Legal Committee out from the paper warehouse behind the Peace Newspaper Office. It successfully bypassed two workers who were moving magazines and newspapers, and then disappeared into a hidden corner.

Hugh smiled, stubbed out his cigarette, and then circled around to the back of the Peace Newspaper Office via a side alley. A moment later, he reappeared in the South Square, just like the other young people hurrying by. He put his hands in his trench coat, lowered his head, and left in silence.

……

Time began to flow again.

The residents of Seren will not stop their lives because of the city's lockdown before the truce celebration; most of them still have a lot to do.

Apart from the crystal miners who get a short break from the mines, most people still need to work hard to make a living. At this time of year, the shops, taverns and various entertainment venues in the city always need more staff.

Transporting goods, decorating buildings, pickling food and drinks, maintaining order, keeping the streets clean, and repairing and maintaining many magical devices in use...

Before the annual armistice celebrations begin each year, even the laziest idlers in the city can secure themselves a short but respectable job.

No one will panic over the city's lockdown, nor will anyone be curious about the world outside Seren, because everyone knows that in just a few more days, everything will return to normal, and the truce celebration will, as always, bring prosperity and tourists to the city.

Given this mindset and habit, almost no one noticed the unusual activity of the Legislative Affairs Commission.

As the only organization in Vaan that currently has the right to interpret spellcasters and magic, the Legal Council has shown unusual silence before this year's ceasefire celebration. They neither carried out the screening of "wild mages" in residential areas before major festivals as in the past, nor issued any notices or announcements to the residents of Seren.

However, the people of Seren did not care about this.

Few people would like these terrifying spellcasters. Their superhuman power and the terrifying authority emanating from the Legal Committee are enough to suffocate ordinary people. Therefore, for ordinary people, a Legal Committee that does not show its face casually is a good Legal Committee.

However, for the few people observing the situation in Seren, this anomaly revealed more possibilities.

In fact, those rigorous scholars who study magic are among the most rational and intelligent people in the world.

As a young talent of the Law Commission who has made certain achievements in the academic field, Veraine Ernst does not consider herself a rigid person who adheres to dogma, but she always adheres to the "magic law" proposed by the Law Commission thousands of years ago when looking at all things.

The so-called "magic law" actually refers to the views and opinions of the law enforcement officers of the Legal Committee regarding common things and phenomena in the world.

The Law of Magic posits that everything in Vain is interconnected, exerting influence, large or small, on everything around it at every moment, and this influence brings continuous development and change to the entire world.

This applies to magic, the Legal Committee that drives the development of magic, and even more so to the large and small kingdoms that have intricate connections with the Legal Committee.

Magic scholars who uphold the laws of magic believe that the so-called Vaan is actually an ocean with a huge spiritual projection.

Just like the legend of the goddess of magic, Mel, all the spiritual forces in the world are like water that is sometimes dispersed and sometimes gathered.

They are mutually exclusive, and this force can exist widely in every corner of the world. Every individual human being, every object, and even every speck of dust floating in the air can become its vessel.

But at the same time, it is also the same and one.

Based on the laws of magic, everything in Vaan can always influence each other. Just as humans can never exist without the influence of their own kind, spiritual power is always exerting its influence on each other. Therefore, when living beings gather, the power contained in them and everything around them will converge into one, and eventually form an invisible magical ocean that connects all living beings in Vaan—the Sea of ​​Sinar.

Now, whenever Verine closes her eyes, she can feel the faint turbulence emanating from the Sea of ​​Xinar.

In fact, only spellcasters who have successfully reached the level of lakes and valleys can vaguely sense the existence of this legendary magical ocean. Moreover, the connection between each person and the Sea of ​​Sinar is unstable. Verin knows very well that the so-called turbulence she feels is just a very, very vague feeling. It cannot be used as any actual evidence to deduce what is about to happen in reality.

Filled with unease and anxiety about the future, Verain Ernst stepped down from the carriage. She straightened her robes, adjusted her glasses, and then walked toward the south gate of Seren.

At this moment, the south gate, like the other city gates, was completely closed. Some bored city guards waited there. During the annual truce celebrations, these guards didn't have much work to do, so they would gather together to play a folk card game called "Dragon Tooth Cards." "Aha, I knew it... you wouldn't be able to resist attacking."

A soldier, waving his colorful playing cards excitedly, exclaimed, "Perfect timing! I have a 'Useless Female Mage' card here. You can flip over your three cards now!"

The soldier opposite, who was at a disadvantage in the card game, started cursing and swearing while smoking a cigarette: "Damn it, the cards from the Legal Affairs Commission series are always so disgusting, even more disgusting than real life!"

A gaunt soldier let out a strange, unintelligible laugh: "Keep your voice down, or some 'ignorant female mage' might invite you to afternoon tea at the Legal Committee's headquarters."

"Ah! I couldn't ask for more, I couldn't ask for more!"

Seeing that the game was beyond saving, the soldier with the cigarette in his mouth decisively conceded defeat. As he pulled out a few coins and slapped them on the table, he laughed and cursed, "If there really was such an opportunity, I would definitely go, hehe..."

"Aren't you afraid someone will give you a spiritual interrogation?"

"The prerequisite is that you have to look like the picture on this playing card, haha, and you have to be the kind who is completely ignorant and incompetent... Come on, look at this drawing for yourself, tsk tsk, aren't you guys tempted?"

He exhaled a puff of smoke from his cigarette, his expression growing increasingly lewd: "We're all in the same boat, we know each other inside and out. You clearly can't survive a night without these scraps of paper and that 'Master of Pleasure's' novels, yet you still dare to put on airs in front of me... What are you looking at me for? Hurry up, let's play another round!"

However, the soldiers sitting opposite him remained silent. One of them, who was using the Legal Committee's fake card, raised his hand, chuckled, and gently gathered up several cards on the table, each carrying a strong sense of irony, while his eyes kept glancing to the side.

The middle-aged man with a cigarette in his mouth finally realized what was happening. He slowly turned his head and saw a figure that was much more handsome than the portrait on the playing card standing behind him. The gaze behind the glasses was colder and sharper than an ice blade.

"..."

The man was speechless. He hurriedly threw down the cigarette in his hand, stood up abruptly from the stool, and gave a standard military salute to the aloof female monk from the Legal Committee in front of him.

During this process, his gaze secretly swept over the spellbook in the other person's hand, and he saw a symbol that was enough to make anyone's head spin.

"It's over!"

The soldier's lips twitched violently, and his expression nearly collapsed.

For a low-ranking city gate guard like him, what could be more terrifying than "slandering the Law Committee in front of a mage"?

In fact, he did, and he did indeed do so.

He couldn't believe that he had uttered such vulgarities in front of a female monk of the Lake-level rank from the Legal Affairs Committee.

Based on his understanding of the Legal Committee, under these circumstances, the other party had every reason and right to use magic to cut off his head in front of everyone, and such an action would not even attract any questioning from anyone.

Vera glanced at the soldiers before her. Instead of inflicting any bloody or cruel revenge, she calmly raised her finger and tapped it twice on her magic book. Then she stated her request: "I have urgent business and need to leave Seren temporarily."

Upon hearing this, the soldiers exchanged glances. Finally, the middle-aged soldier who had been terribly nervous stepped forward. He saluted the female mage again and said in a trembling voice, "Your Excellency, according to the first order of the independent government of Seren City... no one not on the list is allowed to enter or leave Seren City until the ceasefire celebration begins."

He swallowed nervously: "This is standard procedure, I hope you can understand."

As expected, the female mage's violent behavior did not occur. Verin glanced around, and then her gaze fell on the iron gate leading to the interior of the city gate fortress.

A chilling magical energy immediately swept around Verine's body, and an invisible barrier gently struck the soldiers, forcing them to retreat to the side. Verine then walked straight to the iron gate, where a blue mage's hand appeared at the right moment and forcefully pushed the iron gate open for her.

"Your Excellency the Mage!"

The soldiers were completely unprepared for the sudden turn of events. Although most of them, as city gate guards, were equipped with weapons that could resist magic to some extent, in reality, none of them dared to easily lay a hand on a Lake-level legal committee advisor.

The soldiers struggled to their feet from the oppressive invisible magical barrier. They then scattered, with two preparing to send a warning into the city gate fortress, while the rest picked up their weapons and, trembling, chased after Verin.

However, the female mage did not take any further drastic action.

After entering the city walls, she slowed her pace and walked along the inner corridor accompanied by the mage's hand. Her demeanor was impeccable, her steps were slow and steady, and she exuded the aura of a magic advisor. The mage's mark on the spellbook in her hand was also glowing slightly, which surprised the soldiers stationed inside the city walls. At this moment, Vilin looked exactly like a member of the magic council who was conducting a surprise inspection of a specific stronghold.

And that's exactly what Vera did.

After the tense soldiers caught up, they were surprised to find that the female mage was meticulously inspecting the various protective facilities inside the city walls. Her expression was so serious that the soldiers who had been forcibly broken through by Vilin were now dumbfounded and dared not approach easily.

A moment later, the city gate guard in charge of protecting the south gate of Seren City rushed over. He glared at his useless subordinates, then forced a smile and walked towards the unfamiliar female mage.

(End of this chapter)