The black sun hangs high

Chapter 222 Message
In Vanne, the transmission of messages has also undergone a long period of development along with the changing times.

Ordinary carrier pigeons, professionally trained magical owls, messengers...

Of course, there are also the extremely widely used magical elixirs.

The existence of large-scale magical girders for communication can be traced back two hundred years. During the last war between the Kingdom of Wotel and the Kingdom of Delan, in order to ensure the timeliness and accuracy of communication, a magic scholar from the Kingdom of Delan created a universal girder that could be used to accurately transmit messages, based on the Eye of Mel girders.

Since then, the distance between countries, organizations, and individuals has been greatly shortened.

After that war, almost every country in Vain, under the promotion and supervision of Merlinle and the Legal Council, set up this kind of secret device that can quickly transmit magical messages in major cities and important locations.

Correspondingly, a great deal of work and related matters concerning this form of communication were launched.

From military espionage and counter-espionage to the transmission of major international events and notifications, and even a magical post office for ordinary citizens...

This change was once regarded by the residents of Vanen as an important blessing from the goddess Mel.

Especially for those whose relatives and friends are far away in other countries or even overseas, magical letters are extremely important. Even the poor miners of Saint Steel will take the time to find someone to write letters for them and pool their money to send them through the Legal Committee or the post office to send messages to their loved ones.

However, with the outbreak of war, this means of communication that people used to rely on was cut off again.

In the present day, any letter must be screened and inspected at every level, especially those letters sent from the front lines of war. Both the Legal Committee and the Highland Dharma Master Council have set up special departments and personnel to handle this matter.

The participating countries also established strict regulations for letters. They allowed soldiers to write home, but these letters had to be screened at every level and delivered by the military.

In the dead of night, the mail transfer station set up by the Kingdom of Walter in Brown Hill Town was still brightly lit.

During the war, almost all magical letters had to undergo multiple checks by both human and occult personnel to prevent anyone from leaking secrets or transmitting forbidden information through the letters. To ensure security, the council even placed a group of mages from within the council here. They would use magical rituals to review and classify the contents of the letters, and if any problems were found, they would need to be reported quickly and handed over to more professional intelligence personnel for handling.

Inside an office, a Stream-level mage and five Raindrop-level mages were chatting. They were mainly responsible for reviewing the letters of the accompanying spellcasters.

Their workload is much lighter than others because the letters they are responsible for are usually sent by frontline personnel with certain permissions. Generally speaking, they only need to record the sender and recipient and track the status of the letters.

As for the inspection work, it is sufficient to leave it to the pre-set secret instruments.

Just as everyone was beginning to doze off, a letter delivered by a magical rite was brought to them. The apprentice responsible for delivering the letter said to the Stream-level mage who was yawning, "A letter from the Black Forest Front. Please review it."

The stream-level mage waved his hand, forcing himself to finish the long yawn, before asking indistinctly, "Identity badge?"

“Uh…Ms. Verin Ernst, a member of the Ernst family, deputy commander of the Fifth Guardian Mage Corps, a Lake-class military magic advisor, and a council judge.”

"Then what's the point of the trial?"

Upon hearing this string of titles, the Stream-level mage shook his head helplessly. At the same time, the Raindrop-level mages in the same room couldn't help but laugh. Everyone knew that this kind of letter was the most convenient, because in the Kingdom of Voltel, some names and titles themselves symbolized reliability and credibility.

Within the kingdom, no one would suspect any member of the Ernst family of being involved in "treason" or "leaking secrets," especially since Verine herself held the position of a council judge, which made people even more reassured.

However, the work still needed to be done. Even though the stream-level mage in charge of the review was somewhat distracted, he still quickly channeled magic into the arcane device in the middle of the office and sent the letter into it for inspection.

The letter was very "clean"; judging from the secret service's reaction, it contained absolutely no information about frontline movements or military secrets.

So the monk took out the letter again and checked the recipient's name and address again.

"Tsveluburg, Victory District, Third Avenue, Blue Ink Manor."

“Received by Master George Markm.”

Upon seeing the mailing address and the recipient's name, the last trace of doubt of the Stream-level mage responsible for reviewing the mail disappeared.

Although the monks present did not know the woman who sent the letter, Ms. Veryn Ernst, they had all heard of the name George Markm.

There was no way around it; Mage Markm was simply too famous in the mage circles of the Highlands. Almost every spellcaster knew that he was a learned, wealthy, and versatile magic scholar, and he was even an honorary advisor and professor to the Augustinian royal family and several famous magic academies.

"We won't look into the specifics; there's no need."

The monk yawned again, glanced at the clock on the wall, and then manipulated his hand to copy the record of the letter onto the form.

After finishing his work, he returned the letter to the apprentice: "Deliver it according to the expedited treatment given to officers and mages, stamp it with a dark blue seal, and send it out immediately."

Thus, the chain of magical letters began to operate again.

About ten minutes later, the apprentice brought the several letters that had been reviewed and stamped to the deepest room in the transfer area, where a large secret instrument, which was very similar in design to the Legal Committee's "Eye of Mel," was slowly operating.

Under the watchful eyes of several expensive magical golems and numerous soldiers, the apprentice delivered the letters to the mage responsible for maintaining the operation of the shrine. The second review was quickly completed, and the letters were immediately sent into the shrine and transported to their designated locations by the continuously operating miniature teleportation magic.

Urgent letters stamped with a dark blue seal are always given special attention.

Thus, half an hour after its successful delivery to Tsveruburg, this magical letter from the Black Forest front was relayed overnight by a night-shift messenger to Blue Ink Manor on Third Avenue in the Victory District. ...

While the mage Markm was burning the midnight oil studying academic problems, he received the letter carrying important information from the messenger. Meanwhile, in Seren, a city far away from Tsveluburg, another group of spellcasters were also not resting. They were having a heated discussion in the main hall of the Council of Law, where a statue of the goddess Mel stood.

The members of the Seren City Legal Committee had many differing opinions regarding Hugh Ernst's late-night visit.

The traitor Börva's head did help Shug successfully gain entry to the Legal Council's headquarters, but at this moment, in the eyes of the vast majority of Legal Council members, he was still a wild mage registered on Merlinle's wanted list.

As the most loyal followers of the goddess Mel, although the difficult situation in the city of Seren had greatly loosened their beliefs, the ingrained habits of thought developed over the years still prevented them from viewing the young man in front of them with normal eyes and attitudes.

After all, for the past thousand years, spellcasters who did not obey Merlinle and the Legal Council have always been the most unstable factor in Varian.

In the period following the disaster, these spellcasters, who were also trapped in the city of Seren and were still trying their best, also became aware of the existence of the Black Sun Society. The betrayal of Bourwa and others further increased their wariness of the wild mages.

Despite the observation and vigilance of the dozens of people in the hall, Hugh remained quite calm. Only after the debate among the mages subsided did Hugh finally get a chance to speak.

His very first words had a significant impact on those present.

"The people in Seren can still be saved."

Hughes sat down in a chair, leaning on his cane, his gaze sweeping over the members of the Legal Committee: "And that's why I'm here."

Upon hearing this, the people in the hall fell silent. As spellcasters, they were very familiar with the current state of the city and the magical ritual that sealed it off. It was precisely for this reason that their attitude towards the current situation was more desperate than that of the other survivors in the city.

Hugh's words caused some of them to reveal helpless and mocking smiles.

Hughes had already prepared himself for this reaction. He tapped the tip of his cane twice with his fingers and then said, "I left Seren City on the day of the Peace Festival. Unlike you, I was not trapped in the city. I returned by magic a few days ago."

The mages' gazes shifted subtly, and the sword-wielding hermit Genet, who was acting as the temporary leader, dragged a chair to Hugh's side. He sat down, his figure towering like a dark stone statue standing in the lamplight.

"You said you came from outside the city?"

"Yes, in the past, I went to Borden, and later went to the front line with the army. Until a few days ago, I used special teleportation magic to enter the city of Seren."

Hughes stared directly at the "giant" before him and slowed his speech: "I am here to talk to you all seriously... I have heard about your situation from the people of Bourwa, and in my eyes, you are heroes of Seren. Therefore, I believe that you will also be interested in what I am about to do."

Genet was so tall, a full head taller than Hugh. His stone-carved face trembled slightly as he raised his hand and gestured to Hugh: "Please continue."

Seeing that Genet was extremely calm, Hugh smiled and nodded. He continued, "It won't be long before the truth about the city of Seren spreads throughout Vaan. The tragic state of the survivors and the potential threat of those monsters will be revealed to the public. At the same time, the culprit who caused this disaster will be directly presented to everyone."

Hughes raised his hand and pointed to the ugly head of Borg, which was placed not far away: "The Black Sun Society... an organization that was regarded by Merlinle and others as an ordinary wild mage society in the past. Now they are strictly practicing everything about the Black Sun prophecy. What happened in Seren City is just the prelude to a greater disaster."

A mage loyal to Merlinle stood up, frowning as he asked, "How can you prove all this? And how can we guarantee that you are not a member of that Black Sun Society?"

"It cannot be proven, nor is it necessary to prove it."

Hughes glanced at him: "If I were a member of the Society, what I would do is support the lockdown of this city and ignore everything that is happening here... Once all the survivors here have been devoured, the Society's goal will naturally be achieved."

At this point, Hughes slowly stood up from his chair, his gaze passing over Genet's imposing figure in front of him: "I've done countless self-introductions like this these past few days, and I'm getting quite tired of it... In short, whether you trust me or not is entirely up to you. You at least have a whole night to discuss and think about it."

"Before you all draw your conclusions, I can offer you an extra 'gift'."

Hugh smiled again: "I heard from Bourwa that there was a mage here who made significant progress in her research on those monsters, which is why Bourwa decided to assassinate her... Is this mage still alive?"

Upon hearing this, even the mages who had remained silent couldn't help but stir. The sword-wielding hermit Genet raised his head, staring intently at Hugh and asked, "You know Justina?"

"Justina? Is that the lady's name? I'm sorry, I don't know her, but if the person who attacked her used some special magic and rituals from the Black Sun Society, then I should be able to deal with it."

Hughes's voice remained calm, but his words always carried a distinct confidence.

As he uttered those words, Hugh began to deliberately mobilize the magic power within his body.

Thus, in the perception of the group of mages, the magical fluctuations within the young man's body began to increase continuously. In just a few seconds, they felt their magical perception being severely suppressed, which proved Hugh's magical prowess—he might already be a spellcaster close to the Valley and Lake levels. This discovery was so astonishing that the few members who had previously been concerned about Hugh's identity as a wild mage immediately fell silent.

Faced with this situation, the sword-wielding hermit ultimately made a judgment and a decision.

Genet loosened his grip on his sword hilt and sighed heavily. "Alright, Mr. Ernst... if you can really help Ms. Justina recover, that will be enough to prove your strength and what you've said. In the meantime, let the rest of us have a proper discussion."

"Okay, I look forward to your reply."

Hugh nodded seriously, and then followed the two Stream-level mages who were responsible for leading and monitoring the way, towards the corridor on one side of the hall.

(End of this chapter)