The black sun hangs high

Chapter 315 The Troublesome Dwarfs
Richard's language was already very mild.

In fact, using the term "special person" to describe this Legerian scholar is definitely a form of preferential treatment.

After Richard gave these descriptions, Veraine, who had a deep understanding of the academic community, added considerable supplementary information.

From Verin, Hughes learned that the Legerian scholar's "misdeeds" were not limited to publicly promoting various strange theories that could not be verified, but also included publishing false academic articles, suspected plagiarism, and even attempting to hire someone to steal some specimen collections for his own "academic research".

But then, Veraine added, "However, most of the things I'm talking about were done by the Leger scholar five to ten years ago. They are recorded in the official archives of the Legal Committee, and he himself has been warned by Mellinger multiple times for these actions..."

“After that, he became more disciplined, abandoned his initial research direction, and turned to a field with relatively less academic competition.”

At this point, Vera pointed out the window.

"You mean, the ocean?"

"Yes, to be precise, those magical creatures in the ocean."

Vera nodded gently: "Due to various limitations, there are relatively few scholars who specialize in this field, and because... because of certain reasons, there are very few spellcasters who dare to delve into the ocean and conduct research. Therefore, thanks to their interpersonal relationships and accumulation in various aspects, the Leger scholars have actually made quite a few achievements in this area very quickly."

Hearing this, Hugh smiled silently.

Although Verine didn't say it explicitly, Hugh could probably guess that the so-called "certain reasons" probably referred to the faith in the goddess of magic, Mel.

The goddess Mel, the ocean, magic, and the so-called "Sinar Sea" that connects all of Vaan's spirits...

Such concepts are very easy to link together, and as time goes by, the concepts and meanings they represent begin to merge and become confused, eventually forming a vast, awe-inspiring, and untouchable whole.

Similar cases had occurred countless times in the timeline where Hugh had lived.

Despite the vastly different backgrounds and circumstances of these cases, they all ultimately lead to remarkably similar outcomes. Perhaps this is an unspeakable commonality that exists within civilization.
These ideas existed only in the depths of Hugh's mind. Instead of raising them for discussion, he asked more questions about the Legerian scholar.

"My knowledge of what the Leger scholars did later is very limited."

Veraine has never been one to exaggerate, and when faced with Hugh's question, her answer was conservative and rigorous: "After receiving the last warning from Merlinler and being blacklisted by the Office of Magical Creatures Research, the Leger Scholar has become much more restrained... which makes him seem no different from any other normal person."

As Vera recalled, she said, "This kind of thing is not uncommon in the magical academic world. Every new discovery or new problem will trigger similar situations. Although the Leger scholars' way of doing things is annoying, similar cases have happened many times in the past."

"So when he disappeared, everyone just thought, 'That's just another 'clown' leaving the stage'?"

"Yes, that's a very accurate description."

Vera nodded: "For scholars and mages who don't care about magical creatures, this just means less laughs. Nobody will pay attention to the whereabouts of a 'clown'... I don't know what happens after that."

Richard, who was standing nearby, then added, “The Legerian scholar became active again two years ago. He re-established himself in the Duchy of Bult and used the advantages of the place to advance his research… However, his research seems to have strayed from the purely academic field.”

As he spoke, Richard opened the thick book of handwriting and finally stopped at the page with the word "Lego."

Here, Hugh saw a newspaper clipping tucked between the pages of the book. The magical photograph on the newspaper had stopped moving due to its age, but through the frozen image, he could still see the Leger scholar shaking hands with a giant-eared goblin merchant standing on a high platform.

This scene is truly bizarre.

However, after a brief moment of surprise, Hughes found some additional clues in the photo. He pointed to the shop sign in the background of the photo and asked, "Is this Blue Algae Harbor?"

"Yes, sir, it is Blue Algae Harbor... This news is about how the Leger scholar has successfully verified his research and is preparing to cooperate with the local business community in Blue Algae Harbor."

"Scholars collaborating with goblin merchant groups? Heh, that's certainly rare."

Upon hearing this, Hugh gave a noncommittal twitch at the corner of his mouth.

With Richard's help, Hugh and Richard quickly went through the other "key figures" on the list, but in the end, Hugh's focus naturally fell on this strange scholar.

"Don't rush to contact Leger."

Hugh addressed all the Dawnblade members in the cabin: "If this person is suspicious, he will definitely make some moves. We will monitor him using sufficiently safe and secure methods. Do not act rashly before I notify you, lest our potential enemies seize the opportunity."

"As for those goblin merchants on those ships, you can try to make contact with them... but you need to try to find a public place."

Hugh raised his hand and quickly pointed twice around him. The two Dawn Society members he pointed to had both served in the merchant guild in the past, and they would be more professional in dealing with the giant-eared goblin merchants.

"Note that you should not contact them in my name, but in the name of the Akatsuki Society. The Akatsuki Society is currently at a critical stage of development, which is a completely public fact. Those businessmen and politicians are also aware of this, so you can proceed with these matters normally."

At this point, Hugh paused slightly, brandishing his Black Sun Scepter: "If anyone requests a meeting with me during this process, you don't have to refuse. Instead, accept on my behalf and try to schedule a time to meet. I will handle the specifics personally."

While the members of the Dawn Society were busy collecting, organizing, and analyzing various important intelligence, the Windless continued its steady journey northward along its planned route.

After entering the open sea, the name of the Windless seemed to bring good weather. Although the black sun in the sky always exuded a depressing haze, the Windless sailed very smoothly for the next two days, except for the wind and waves on the night of departure.

In this seemingly peaceful environment, time seems to pass much faster.

Hugh's routine returned to normal. Although he had to deal with all sorts of complicated matters every day, he was always able to handle them all by relying on the rich experience stored in his body and his extraordinary energy.

A day earlier, he finally found an opportunity to give away the magic dagger he had brought out from the Dream Sanctuary.

It was ostensibly a return gift for the various magic textbooks and tools that Verin had given him.

Although Verine didn't seem very satisfied with Hugh's explanation, she eventually happily accepted the strangely styled magical weapon. Of course, she didn't inquire about the weapon's origin, but simply expressed her amazement at its rather unique magical craftsmanship.

As for the special potion recipe, Hugh gave it to Veraine.

After obtaining the recipe that Hugh had obtained in exchange for the "blood of the Fine-scaled Sea Serpent," Weilin immediately noticed the abnormality in the proportions of many of the drugs and ingredients in the recipe. What surprised her even more was the text used to write the recipe.

As one of the most in-depth magical scholars in Vaan who studied the "Poem of the Night," she was almost certain that the words written on old paper had many similarities to the "Poem of the Night."

Realizing that the paper was very likely related to those lost ancient beings, Verine felt as if she had obtained a priceless treasure and immediately plunged into her cabin—which she had transformed into a qualified spellcaster's study. Although, due to various limitations, Verine was unable to conduct overly precise and complex experiments on the cruise ship, which was experiencing occasional tremors, she was still able to carry out some basic research.

Having received two gifts, Weilin immediately returned to her original state.

After discovering that Hugh was perfectly capable of handling those troublesome scholars who wanted to find out about the Dawn Society, Vera simply delegated this part of the task to him as well.

And so, the Windless Ship entered the morning of its fourth day after setting sail.

As planned, the Windless will make a brief stop in this area this morning to allow the entire fleet to carry out routine maintenance and inspections.

For the passengers on the Windless, the morning was exceptionally relaxed and leisurely. After anchoring, the Windless became extremely stable, and even those who were seasick were able to walk freely on the ship. The happiest of all were the dwarves.

The dwarves' fear of the sea and ships is as well-known as their love of alcohol and forging.

Over the past two days, Hugh had hoped to find an opportunity to have a good chat with these potential master craftsmen, but they were always in a daze, either drinking, seasick, or fast asleep...

Moreover, the seafood served on the ship did not suit the dwarves' tastes, so they were unwilling to even appear in the restaurant, instead having the ship's waiters deliver some cooked food to their cabins.

Hughes went up to the deck of the cruise ship, and in the blowing sea breeze, he saw those short, stocky figures gathered on one side of the deck.

As the most devout followers of the sun among the Vaan, they had just finished praying to the gods. However, the black shadow in the sky was clearly not the object of their prayers, so the dwarves were generally in low spirits, which made them treat others even worse.

Dwarves behave this way in any public setting in Vaan. They like to stick together and are always hostile to other races. Almost every race that ranks high in Vaan is on the dwarves' "discrimination list." This rather extreme attitude is almost ingrained in their bones. Therefore, even if a dwarf behaves very politely on the surface, people cannot be sure whether he is cursing in his heart.

A cleric from the Legal Committee is struggling to communicate with these dwarves.

The members of Dawnblade have figured out in the past two days that the main reason these dwarves were invited to Merlinle was that Merlinle was preparing to formally "embrace" those new steam-powered machines in order to further strengthen its confrontation with the Black Sun Society and Saint Steel.

However, various signs indicate that a considerable number of mages still believe that magic and magical rituals can still play a sufficient role in this process, at least to ensure that machinery and magic are on an equal and complementary level, rather than allowing the former to dominate.

Hughes couldn't comment on this idea.

But he was certain that when they stated their demands to the stubborn, single-minded dwarves, they would hardly receive a positive response.

As expected, the Stream-level Law Council mage who tried to communicate with the dwarves didn't last long. His level and abilities were not enough to earn the dwarves' respect. Soon after, Hugh saw the mage walk away, his face flushed. Clearly, the dwarves hadn't said anything nice.

Hugh shook his head, then slowly walked over. Before he got close, the gazes of the dwarves shifted to him, their eyes sharp as razors, regardless of gender.

"In the name of the sun... Good morning, Master Badosa."

Hughes stopped in front of the leading dwarf. He did not bow or lower himself, as such behavior would likely be seen as disrespect and insult by the dwarves. Sensitive dwarves sometimes thought that bowing was actually a mockery of their height.

Bardoza was somewhat surprised by Hugh's greeting, which was in accordance with dwarven customs and etiquette, so he responded: "In the name of the sun, and to you, young man of the Dawn Society."

Hughes smiled upon receiving the response, and then, following the memories of dwarven etiquette in his mind, he took out a palm-sized flask from his pocket and handed it to him: "Master Badosa... this is a spirit from the highlands, mixed with a small amount of magic potion, which can effectively suppress seasickness. This is a personal gift for you."

(End of this chapter)