The black sun hangs high

Chapter 314 A List

While the highland kingdoms launched internal purges, the plains kingdoms, especially the Kingdom of Delan and the duchies further south, adopted slightly different strategies.

To demonstrate that they were not "accomplices" of the Black Sun Society, they did indeed carry out a series of actions such as investigating assets, placing people under house arrest, and investigating past communications and contact records. However, compared to the bloody "purge," these actions seemed far too mild.

Through the intelligence gathered by the magical rat swarm, Hugh discovered that the Southern Duchy's attitude towards the Black Sun Society was far too ambiguous, and compared to the relatively mild-mannered Kingdom of Delan, their approach to related matters was much more lenient.

In two letters related to the Black Sun Society, Hughes even sees descriptions of arrested Black Sun Society members paying huge fines to avoid punishment.

Clearly, in the eyes of some officials and nobles in the southern duchies, the Black Sun Society and the Black Sun did not bring a crisis, but rather an extremely valuable opportunity to amass wealth.

"That's how it is with the plainsmen; they live too comfortably, so it's hard for them to feel a sense of crisis."

General Bernhardt offered his opinion on this: "The ones with these problems are basically the duchies located south of Deland. They probably think that the war between the plateau and the plains has stopped, and that they are far enough away from Saint Steel that they have enough time and space to operate... Ha, a bunch of fools."

"Although it seems foolish, it's definitely not a good omen for us."

Hugh stopped reading the intelligence reports. He sighed inwardly and said, "We need to pass this information on to Mayer and the others as soon as possible. If conditions permit, we might also notify the family and the Legal Committee... Although the influence of these southern duchies is small, if they show too obvious bias towards the Black Sun Society, then we must find a way to deal with it in advance."

"That's the right thing to do, child."

Bernhardt agreed, saying, "These southern principalities are generally very well-off. Although their military strength may seem limited, they always have enough money to replace their military equipment with the best and most advanced equipment in a very short time. Once the situation changes, a few legions that start moving from the heartland will be deadly enough."

At this point, General Bernhardt paused slightly, then added helplessly, "My judgments are based on those cumbersome and slow methods of combat from the past. If we take these terrifying weapons of today as a reference, then the threat posed by these potential 'traitors' will be even greater!"

Hugh smiled silently. Clearly, the many things he had seen and heard in recent times had almost destroyed the perceptions of these old-era souls. Fortunately, these wills were all elites in their families and governments in the past, so they were naturally good at learning. In addition, they now had plenty of time, so they could try to reverse their perceptions and absorb more new knowledge.

As for the decision to notify the Ernst family, Hughes made it after careful consideration.

Although he had no intention of returning to his family and serving the Kingdom of Walter, in the current turbulent situation, both he and the Dawn Society needed more solid support.

Without a doubt, the Kingdom of Walter is one of the most suitable partners besides the Legal Committee.

With that thought in mind, Hugh changed his clothes and left the cabin.

The members of the Dawn Society woke up very early. Except for two who were still resting due to severe seasickness, the rest had already begun their work. They gathered in a large cabin and, under the protection of protective magic, began to sort through the events of the past day and the conversations at the welcome banquet.

The young man who had previously participated in the capture of the Black Sun Society mages was also among them.

It was after that that Hugh learned his name.

After witnessing firsthand how Hughes resolved a powerful enemy with such violent aesthetics, this young man named Richard from Walter became Hughes's number one admirer. Because of the excellent qualities he had previously demonstrated, Felix also invited him to go to Merlinle to study.

Richard displayed an astonishing enthusiasm and initiative in all matters related to the Sword of the Dawn. The moment he saw Hugh, he smiled warmly and stood up to ask if there were any new missions that needed to be assigned to them.

"Don't rush, there's still a lot for you to do in the future."

Hugh patted Richard lightly on the shoulder twice, then turned to the Stream-level mage in charge of the communication cipher within the Dawnblade: "How's the cipher setup going? I have some letters I want to send immediately."

"Sir, the setup is complete."

The mage nodded and said, "However, the current magical stability is very poor, and the Windless One is already far from the shore. The messages transmitted through the communication devices we set up ourselves are very likely to be interfered with... Therefore, these messages need to be as brief as possible!"

How confidential is it?

“Ms. Veraine came over earlier and helped us stabilize the ritual and set up additional protective rites, so there is no problem with secrecy.”

Hearing this, Hugh nodded in satisfaction.

Soon, a short magical letter signed "Ghost" was successfully sent. This letter would be sent directly to the Dawn Society's headquarters. Whether to further convey the information within to Merlinler and the Ernst family would be decided by Mayer and others.

After all, even if the Dawn Society is prepared to strengthen its cooperative relationship with the other two parties, given Hugh's current situation, he will not be able to participate personally.

After sending the letter, Hugh turned his attention to the minute details gathered by the members of the Dawnblade. These details complemented and corroborated the search for the magical rats, and their importance was self-evident.

Among them, the passenger list, which was handled by Richard and two other members, caught Hugh's eye.

This is a basic working method originating from Walter's agents and spies: upon entering an unfamiliar environment, quickly compile a list of people who are stable within that environment or location, and then conduct repeated screenings and checks based on this list to ultimately identify the truly worthy targets.

Richard and his team had clearly been working on the list last night, as Hugh could now see numerous dense markings. Some names were boxed, while others were highlighted with red magical ink; the former represented "less important" individuals, and the latter "highly scrutinized." Other markings were assigned to those whose identities were unknown or yet to be investigated. "Sir," Hugh said, "these red-marked names are key individuals we selected after the first round of discussion and screening. The vast majority are important officials and nobles from the Duchy of Plains, with a small number of scholars and mages as well."

Richard lightly touched the marks on the form with his fountain pen: "The main reason these names are marked is that we believe they are most likely to abandon their original stance and choose to betray their beliefs and country when they come into contact with the Black Sun Society."

What are the criteria for this judgment?

"Some information collected in advance."

Richard turned around and took a thick notebook from another person. He handed the notebook to Hugh and explained, "Before the Dawn Society was officially established, there were people who had been organizing this intelligence. Although it was somewhat disorganized, it covered a very wide range of information. Before we set off, we mobilized manpower to extract a considerable amount of content that might be relevant to this trip."

At that moment, the door opened, and then Verine, dressed in a plain scholar's robe, walked in. She did not interrupt Hugh's "lecture," but quietly stepped aside and raised her hand to signal Hugh to continue.

Hearing this, Hugh slowly nodded: "Very good, but you need to understand that this list is still not a completely accurate basis for judgment. All beings who can stand in Vaan today—humans, elves, dwarves... and even ogres—are not stupid. When we observe each other, it is best to set aside past prejudices and not be disturbed by past impressions."

Hugh lowered his head and tapped the list a few times with his finger: "You see, these names clearly belong to the Giant-Eared Goblins, and they've all been highlighted. I know everyone has a bad impression of the Giant-Eared Goblins, especially their merchants, but there are always exceptions. Before we make in-depth contact and obtain decisive evidence, we must remain as clear-headed as possible."

A member of the Dawn Order from Waterloo, clearly not fond of the giant-eared goblins, frowned and asked, "The exception you're referring to, are you referring to..."

Hugh looked at him and then said slowly, "When Miss Virin and I first escaped from the city of Seren, we found a member of the Black Sun Society who was hiding in the camp of a goblin merchant group. He was a giant-eared goblin, and it was through some records he left behind that we gained our first understanding of the Black Sun Society."

"In many people's minds, giant-eared goblins are always cowardly, weak, and shrewd. When danger comes, they will always choose to run away and avoid it to protect their safety. But when money and wealth appear in front of them, they will pursue them at all costs."

Hugh tapped his fingers heavily on the table twice: "When we found the goblin member of the Society, he had already committed suicide, dying in a secret compartment of the merchant guild's headquarters... This goblin had joined the Black Sun Society a long time ago and had been infiltrating Seren City for a very long time."

"However, what supports him in doing so is not profit, not money, not even his own safety or that of his relatives and family members, but a kind of concept and idea that is difficult for ordinary people to understand."

Hughes emphasized, “Who would have thought that in the disappearance of Seren and the series of disasters it triggered, an ordinary, gigantic goblin who might have been laughed at by children on the street would have played such an important role?”

For a moment, there was no sound in the room, and the Dawn Society member who had asked the question earlier also composed himself.

"Alright, that's all for now... Our work has only just begun, everyone go and do your own thing."

Hugh waved his hand, dispelling the somewhat heavy atmosphere in the room: "Richard, come and help us go through this form and tell us which targets you consider the most special."

Upon hearing this, Weilin, who had been quietly standing to the side, came closer.

Veraine had clearly woken up very early as well. Hughes could smell a faint alchemical scent on her plain scholar's robe. It wasn't pungent, but the smell was fresh, indicating that she must have been busy concocting alchemical potions or some kind of magical potion.

Richard was slightly nervous because of Hugh and the other person's presence, but he quickly recovered and began to explain the list in an orderly manner.

"There are a few people on this list whom we consider to be extremely special."

Richard quickly pointed to the names with his fountain pen: "First is this one, Frans Ye Deepwood, a lake-level scholar among the plain elves. He used to be a professor at the magic academy in the Kingdom of Delan, but in the past few years, he has been transferred very frequently, first as an advisor in the Duchy of Black River, and then transferred to several other duchies in the south..."

Weilin asked doubtfully, "Could it be an academic visit?"

"We initially had the same suspicion, but in fact, the orders this elven mage received were not related to academics, but rather to internal military affairs... However, as far as we know, he is not an outstanding scholar of war magic, but rather leans towards the research direction of magical theory... After the outbreak of war, he has not received any special assignments, but has remained in the Duchy of Bult."

After introducing the elven scholar, Richard moved his pen to another spot on the list.

"Leger?"

Hughes read the name aloud, and immediately an image of a forty-year-old male scholar with a goatee appeared in his mind. He said, "I remember him, a magical biologist from Delan, right? He and I chatted briefly at the welcome banquet."

Richard nodded: "You two may not know, but this Leger scholar has a very bad reputation in the Kingdom of Delan. The reason is that, as a professor in the academy, he has made some shocking remarks in public on many occasions, and has also written some articles that are difficult to verify."

"These things happened almost ten years ago. His statements and articles were all related to the study of magical creatures, but these studies and discoveries were ultimately determined to be 'unverifiable absurd conjectures'."

Hearing this, Vilin raised her eyebrows: "Hmm, I remember now... I once saw his writings when I was in Merlinle, and they were indeed very absurd. At least the mages in Merlinle wouldn't approve of these things."

"Yes, that's what we find strange."

Richard said seriously, "This conference is very important, so those who accepted the invitation are basically very representative and influential figures. Why would a special figure like the Leger scholar be on the passenger list?"

(End of this chapter)