The black sun hangs high

Chapter 335 Merlinle and the Gulf

There are so many words that can be used to describe Merlin and others that it's frightening.

In the folk culture of Vanne, even ordinary farmers, miners, or hunters can readily recall a string of words related to Merlinle.

Even a homeless idiot could praise Merlinle in a trembling voice when questioned by the committee's enforcers.

Although there are many people who dislike the Legal Affairs Commission, the vast majority of people cautiously adopt a complimentary and laudatory attitude when talking about the location of the Legal Affairs Commission's headquarters in Mellinger.

What would a massive magical city look like, crafted over hundreds of years by countless mages, architects, and artisans of all kinds?
Those who have never actually been to Merlinle are not qualified to talk about these things. Even those officials and nobles who have supposedly seen the world and visited many prosperous cities cannot accurately describe the appearance of this ancient and prosperous magical city.

"Magic Pearl", "Northern Star", "Tears and Favor of the Goddess Mel"...

Such titles lend the city, situated in a cold world, an extra layer of dreamlike quality.

However, the real Mehrlinle is far more breathtaking than many people imagine a “great city” to be.

Although Merlinle is theoretically a city, its actual size is far more exaggerated than that of other large cities in Vaan.

This magical city uses a fairly typical inner and outer city structure.

Its core inner city, which serves as the headquarters of the Legal Committee, is comparable in size to Borden, the capital of the Kingdom of Wotel. Within this inner city, there are various expensive magical artifacts that are constantly in operation. These artifacts are ancient, powerful, and stable enough. After countless years of continuous maintenance and debugging, they have achieved an absolute balance. They can not only protect the safety of the inner city, but also supply sufficient magic power to facilities and buildings of all sizes.

The important laboratories, libraries, meeting rooms, and many important magical alchemy workshops belonging to the Legal Committee are also located here.

Contrary to rumors, those who can enter the inner city are not limited to mages, scholars, or artisans. In fact, the number of ordinary residents who can enter and move around in the inner city is very large. After all, to maintain a large city, it is absolutely not enough to rely solely on those who are the social elite and the slow, clumsy magical puppets.

However, anyone who needs to reside or move around in the inner city for an extended period must wear a magic pass issued by the Legal Committee. These special passes, which come with elaborate rituals, can directly prove the holder's identity and also allow members of the Legal Committee to track them.

If anyone enters the inner city without proper identification, it will trigger the reaction of the mystical rituals, exposing their whereabouts and attracting the pursuit of magical puppets, mage enforcers, and even sword-wielding hermits.

In comparison, the outer city of Merlinle is more spacious and has a more bustling urban feel.

Although the highest jurisdiction over Merlinle and the outer city also rests with the Legal Committee, most of the time, it is the collaborators closely associated with the Legal Committee who come into the public eye.

Various large chambers of commerce, mercenary groups with long-term contracts with the Legal Committee, large-scale factories requiring a large workforce, embassy districts contracted and built by different large kingdoms...

Of course, it also includes the areas and places that are typical of other large cities.

Residential areas, commercial areas, and of course, several huge plazas that combine different functions such as dining and entertainment.

Recently, due to the continuous influx of refugees from Saint-St., places that support the daily lives of residents have gained unexpected vitality, and some "entertainment" projects that were not allowed by Merlinle and the mages in the past have quickly emerged and taken shape.

These port areas near the sea possess a unique industry that other coastal countries and cities do not have.

"Look, do you see those ships? They're the ones with the slender-scaled sea serpents painted on their flags."

On the deck of the Windless, Verine, wearing a trench coat, pointed into the distance. There, several large ships flying dark blue flags were slowly moving forward. Just now, these ships had sent out magical signals and used their onboard secret devices to transmit their identities to the Windless fleet.

"The inhabitants of Merlinle generally call them 'sea beast ships' or 'sea whale ships.' These ships set sail to hunt giant sea whales and other magical creatures..."

Hugh squinted and estimated the size of these "sea monster ships," then said, "They look about the size of military gunboats."

"It could even be bigger."

Vera laughed and said, "After all, they don't exist for fishing. To hunt those ferocious magical sea beasts, you need not only large ships, but also a lot of manpower... These ships not only have fishermen and sailors, but sometimes you can even see mercenaries and mages carrying a lot of weapons."

As a mage who had lived and studied in Merlinle for a very long time, Vilin was very familiar with all of this. She added, "In Vain, there aren't many ships that can efficiently hunt those magical sea beasts and bring back important materials. So in the outer city of Merlinle, especially near the port, there are a lot of alchemy workshops and caravans stationed here. Some very famous merchant guilds have even set up their headquarters here."

She withdrew her gaze and smiled at Hugh: "When I was still a Stream-level mage, I even had the idea of ​​going out on a ship to participate in the hunting of sea beasts, of course, my mentor did not allow it."

Hugh noticed that after officially entering the waters of Merlinle and the surrounding area, Vera seemed like a different person. She was unusually energetic and talked a lot more. She was now like a friend visiting and touring her hometown, constantly introducing various things and situations about Merlinle.

Hugh was already aware of the things Verine mentioned.

Two days before arriving here, he deliberately dug out many images related to Merlinler from his accumulated memories to study, but even so, he still couldn't help but feel a bit excited.

Rereading someone else's memories is ultimately different from seeing it with your own eyes.

Moreover, Hugh really wanted to see what the vast magical city he had described so many times in words would actually look like.

As the Windless sailed, magical signals began to float in the sky. Soon, the three gunboats and two armored ships in the fleet successfully handed over their escort duties. After passing through a tight checkpoint composed of magical balloons, large airships, and several new warships, the Windless officially entered the bay of Merlinle and its surroundings. Its escorts became two smaller Legal Committee ships.

"At the time, I was wanted in Seren, and I thought I would never have a chance to come back..."

Looking at the two escort ships flying the flag of the Legal Affairs Commission, Wei Lin gently tugged at the corners of her mouth.

Hughes turned around: "You still like it here, don't you?"

"of course."

Veraine nodded decisively: "Although I've had the 'Ernst' family name since I was a child, I've spent the vast majority of my life in Merlinle... it's my true home." With that, Veraine sighed, suppressing the slightly out-of-control expression on her face, and then said to Hugh, "Alright, we can talk about other things later... I should go change into my formal attire. Hopefully, the Legal Committee won't send those most annoying officials to receive us."

And so, Hugh returned to his cabin and retrieved his clean clothes.

Before he could even put it on, an extremely peculiar feeling enveloped him. A slight buzzing sound rang in Hugh's mind, as if the entire Windless Ship had just passed through an invisible wall.

The metal disc hidden within Shug's body trembled slightly, and magical ripples instantly spread throughout Shug's entire body. This was the metal disc's standard reaction when dealing with external magical perception and invasion, something Shug was already very familiar with.

As the headquarters of the Legal Committee, Merlinle's cost in terms of protection is naturally incomparable to that of ordinary cities. The magical barrier that the ship just passed through is probably enough to crush the city defense rituals of a typical large city.

However, the invisible wall containing astonishing magic was not meant to block or isolate attacks from the outside. Based on the reaction of the metal disc, the true purpose of the ritual was probably to examine and search for magical traces on the visitors.

A distinct sense of fear entered the depths of Hugh's mind.

Hugh frowned, turned around and went to his packed luggage. He took out the huge water jug ​​containing "Justina". Usually, whenever Hugh made this move, "Justina" would eagerly emerge from her temporary dwelling. But this time, she was extremely cautious and "reserved".

"are you OK?"

Hugh held the kettle, and he could feel a slight tremor coming from inside; the little thing hiding inside was clearly shaking.

Justine naturally gave a negative answer.

At this moment, it was like a young animal intimidated by predators or natural enemies, its mind filled with nothing but fear and dread. When confronted with Hugh's questioning, Justina appeared completely bewildered, and the panic she had shown earlier did not reappear.

"strangeness……"

The scene before him reminded Hughes of a moment that had occurred not long ago.

That was a glimpse of fate he had seen in Justina after her transformation as he was about to flee the city of Seren—he remembered seeing a rather petite figure floating in a vast, icy lake…

"The frozen lake... could it be Mellinler or Saint Steel?"

As Hughes pondered, he placed his fingers on the kettle.

He channeled some of his own dark abyss magic into it, and this power, which shared the same origin as "Justina," immediately calmed it down.

"Perhaps there are still things or places in Merlinle that could be connected to 'Justine'?"

Hugh gently shook his palm, and as several magical models were constructed, a series of protective rituals mixed with dark abyss magic were applied to the kettle. This action finally brought Justine enough sense of security.

A knock came at the door, followed by Vera's voice drifting in.

"Why is it taking so long? How are the preparations going?"

"Okay, I'm coming right now."

Hugh responded and then stuffed the water bottle back into the suitcase.

……

The afternoon in Merlinle and the bay exudes a breathtaking beauty.

To ordinary people, this place seems no different from the bays of other countries, but to spellcasters like Shug, beneath the swaying azure waters, there are extremely regular magical lines.

The characteristic of "order" exists not only within that magnificent city that radiates magical light, but also within everything surrounding that city.

Seabirds with huge white wings and long, dark purple beaks circled above the ship. They were not afraid of the magical steam emanating from the ship; on the contrary, they were keen to quickly pass through the hot smoke. Their agile bodies easily cut the steam clouds into clouds of different sizes, and the seabirds uttered cheerful cries as a result.

It seems they see this behavior as a fun game.

"Mellinler and the bay are very beautiful at sunset."

Looking at the seabirds soaring in the sky, Vera said slowly, "When the sunlight shines obliquely through the seawater, even ordinary people who cannot use magic have the opportunity to see these beautiful and orderly lines..."

As she spoke, Verine looked up at the oppressive sky, where a thin wisp of cloud drifted by, and the chaotic, deep, and terrifying shadow was once again revealed and reflected in the depths of Verine's eyes.

No one can look directly into the shadow of the black sun for long, so Vera quickly lowered her head. Hugh saw her take a couple of deep breaths, and her face seemed to turn pale.

On the deck, the passengers who were visiting Merlinle for the first time stared wide-eyed at the distant wonders, while the members of the Dawnblade greedily scanned everything, wishing they could record everything they saw.

While the surrounding crowd was admiring the scenery, a hand gently grasped Vera's wrist. Then, a slightly cold magical energy swept over her, quickly clearing away the sense of disorder caused by the black sun.

"Don't be pessimistic, there's still a chance."

Vera heard a voice in her ear: "We came to Merlinlehe for this very reason, didn't we?"

(End of this chapter)