The black sun hangs high

Chapter 35 Visitors
The next morning.

The events of last night were being whispered about throughout most of Seren.

Exhausted after a long night, Hugh successfully returned to his temporary lodgings and "learned" from Mrs. Wendy about the terrifying story that had taken place around the Legal Affairs Commission's headquarters the previous night.

A sword-wielding hermit known as the "Blade of the Legal Committee" is subjected to inhumane treatment in a shop near the Legal Committee's headquarters on a stormy night.

According to descriptions from bystanders and police officers who witnessed the scene, the sword-wielding hermit was wrapped in layers of hair emitting a terrifying stench inside a clothing store. When he was rescued, all the orifices on his body were filled with hair, including his eye sockets and mouth. Witnesses speculated that the hair may have burrowed into his body and filled his internal organs.

Of course, under the control of the Legal Affairs Committee, news about this matter did not appear in the latest edition of the Peace Daily.

Just as Hugh had predicted, today's newspapers continued to relentlessly fuel the hostile sentiment in Seren, and on one of the pages, Hugh saw his own "masterpiece," which had already been edited by editor-in-chief Philip.

Philip is indeed quite adept at stirring up people's emotions.

This time, he published the article directly as the editor-in-chief of the Peace Newspaper. In the heavily revised article, he, as the editor-in-chief of a newspaper who has lived in Seren for many years, gave a “sincere” but baseless analysis of the “two-nation conflict” that has existed in Seren for a long time. His remarks seemed to take into account the feelings of both the Votel and Delan people at the same time, but in reality, they were alluding to and attacking the Kingdom of Votel and its culture for their oppression of the Kingdom of Delan.

At the end of the article, he also made an appeal in his capacity as the newspaper's editor-in-chief, hoping that the city's residents could exercise restraint as the armistice celebration approached and live together amicably as they had for the past two hundred years.

It would be a miracle if they could get along amicably!
Hugh felt nauseous looking at the distinctively Philippian writing. He crumpled the newspaper in his hand and then tossed it aside. Reading too much of this kind of stuff would pollute one's brain and eyes.

The familiar mage's hand appeared inside. After the door opened, the female mage, Virin, appeared in the doorway, though disguised, her haggard appearance was still undeniable.

She carefully used magic to check the room, and only entered after confirming that there were no problems.

She was probably exhausted. After throwing down a heavy bag from her hand, she sat down in a chair, not even bothering to dispel the disguise spell on her.

“Mr. Hugh, I always thought you would keep a low profile.”

Vera's tone was even colder than when they first met: "Now the whole city knows that there are wild mages in Seren who are directly confronting the Law Council."

She leaned forward slightly, her disguised red hair falling down her cheeks, and her voice was squeezed out from between her teeth: "As a collaborator, Mr. Hugh, shouldn't you tell me exactly how you dealt with that sword-wielding hermit?"

Hugh's body trembled slightly. He turned around and instinctively began to weave a relatively plausible story in his mind.

However, Vera's gaze was fixed on him first: "Mr. Hugh, don't force me to use magic to ask you."

"Alchemy bomb".

Hughes admitted it very directly, spreading his hands: "I was forced to do this, Miss Veraine... I never tested that thing, and I never expected it to cause this result."

However, Verine's gaze made Hugh feel a chill run down his spine, so he chuckled awkwardly, spread his hands, and asked, "Miss Verine, is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

"Ha, writers are very good at telling the 'truth'."

The female mage curled the corners of her lips, then leaned back wearily in her chair: "But you're all very good at controlling the proportion of 'truth,' aren't you?"

Xiuge sat upright, not daring to move.

Fortunately, although Verine seemed to be in a bad mood, she didn't seem inclined to delve deeper into the matter. She waved her hand, removed her magical disguise, and returned to her original appearance. After pouring herself a glass of water using her mage's hand, she said, "Don't worry, Mr. Hugh. I will maintain a certain level of trust in you until I leave Seren City. As a novice spellcaster, you were able to single-handedly deal with a sword-wielding hermit. If the details of this were to reach Merlinle and the city, it would probably be enough to put a wanted poster for you throughout Vaan. You should be proud of that."

"..."

Hughes wasn't happy at all.

Although the confrontation with the sword-wielding hermit last night was very brief, the terrifying ability to suppress magic displayed by the opponent had left a deep impression on him. He now only had one alchemical bomb left, and its previous effects had proven that this thing could only exert its strongest effect in a confined space. If it was detonated in an open space, then as long as the opponent reacted quickly enough, he could easily escape to a safe location in advance.

In other words, although he still has a trump card, the margin for error with that trump card is almost zero.

Veraine didn't dwell on the matter for too long. She quickly adjusted her mindset and began exchanging the information she had gathered the previous night with Hugh.

Hugh first explained his discovery in the secret chamber of the Legal Committee. However, after hearing the name "Golden Boot Caravan," Vilin frowned: "Golden Boot Caravan... Hmm, I know them. But these merchants never stay in one place for long. They leave after delivering their goods. It's impossible to be sure if they've left the city. We can try to find them though. A caravan organized by giant-eared goblins is quite easy to find."

Hughes nodded, then asked, "And you, Miss Vera, what did you discover?"

Upon hearing this, bitterness and helplessness appeared on Verine's face. She said, "The situation is not good. The group of mages who came to Seren City with me have all disappeared from the Law Council's residence."

"They... escaped?"

Vera glanced at Hugh indifferently: "They've all been dealt with."

Hughes was certain that, in the minds of the members of the Legal Affairs Commission, the word "dealing" would not be mild.

"However, I found a coded message left for me in the warehouse where magic crystals are stored at the base." "Does someone know you're going there?"

"Yes, that's right..."

Vera nodded slightly and said, "The person who left that coded message even prepared something for me, or rather for us."

As she spoke, she took the rather exquisite-looking bag and poured its contents onto the desk. The contents were several carefully polished magic crystals. Although Hugh had never actually used them, he could sense the rich magic contained within them from the faint light shimmering on these minerals.

Beside these crystals was a slightly smaller spellbook and a new crystal gun, along with two brand-new magic ink pens and a small bag of crystal bullets specifically for the crystal gun.

Without even glancing at the crystal gun, Verin flicked it and the bag towards Hugh, examined the spellbook, and continued, "The person who left the cipher must be an informant hidden among the higher echelons of the Legal Council. He is well aware of our current situation. In the cipher, he repeatedly warned me that the situation has changed beyond what was predicted, and that we should not attempt to leave Seren City now... The Kingdom of Delan and the Legal Council have completely sealed off the city. They have even set up numerous checkpoints and ambushes around Seren City. If we try to leave, regardless of whether we can pass through the ritual site they have altered, we will be killed on the spot."

"Other than that?"

"That's all. That's all the cipher text contains. It seems that the hidden informant doesn't know what to do now either. It's likely that something unexpected is happening inside and outside Seren City."

Hearing her say that, Hughes couldn't help but sigh. He reached into his pocket and pressed it, where he still kept the magic pass he had obtained from Editor-in-Chief Philip. It seemed that the promises made by the nobles of the Kingdom of Delan to Philip were just empty promises. Under the current circumstances, it was probably impossible for even a dog to escape from the city of Seren!
Just as Hugh was feeling lost about his bleak future, a smaller crystal with a relatively dim magical glow was placed in his hand.

The female mage picked up the remaining crystal and said, "Continuous loss of magic power can cause irreversible damage to the spellcaster's spirit. Try to resonate with the magic power in the crystal... Just do it like you manipulate the inscribed magic. Magic power is like flowing water; it will flow to the 'lower ground' on its own."

After saying that, she cast a series of protective spells on herself, then leaned back in her chair and held one of the crystals in her palm. In just two seconds, the crystal began to shimmer slowly, and its magic began to flow into Vilin's body.

"Oh, all right."

Hugh glanced at the crystal in his hand, then at Verin, who was focused on restoring her magic, before walking to the small bed in the corner and sitting down, shifting his attention to his mental world.

Veraine's warning seemed to hold true. Hugh discovered that the magic in his mental world had become extremely thin, the metal disc was basically still, and even the dark green crystal embedded in the center of the metal disc had become incredibly dim.

"It seems I did overuse magic yesterday... My own magic recovery is simply not enough to sustain such a drain."

Hugh made a silent judgment in his mind, then held the crystal in his hand. After closing his eyes, he clearly felt a steady and rhythmic magical tremor coming from the darkness. Under its influence, the metal disc in the spiritual world began to rotate again, and the dark green crystal at the center trembled slightly like a heart, as if it had regained its vitality.

The process of magic slowly flowing into his body felt very comfortable. Under its effect, the fatigue that had been suppressed by magic finally came to the fore. Before he knew it, Hugh, holding the magic crystal, lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

……

"Pat-a-tat-tat, pat-a-tat-tat!"

A dazzling display of light and shadow, a rapid and crisp tapping sound, and a chaotic commotion coming from ahead...

Hugh felt as if he had returned to a distant afternoon that he could never go back to. He was taking a nap on a beanbag chair in the "slacking-off corner" of the company, while not far away, his friends and colleagues were passionately engaged in their daily fighting game.

They're always like this, and sometimes they like to shout and yell. They've been complained about by people from other departments more than once.

"Keep your voice down."

Hugh rolled over, muttered something in dissatisfaction, and prepared to fall asleep again following his body's instincts. However, at that moment, a sudden, inexplicable feeling of panic surged up, a feeling so real, just like when he suddenly died.

"and many more!"

He immediately came to his senses: "I'm already dead, so where did this colleague come from?"

Spurred by this idea, he leaped up from the beanbag chair in the dream world, his heart pounding wildly. When he looked in the direction of the sound, he saw a tall, thin figure in black sitting in front of the game console not far away. The figure was dressed in a black tuxedo and wearing a top hat, holding a controller and intently controlling the game character on the screen.

As if knowing that Hugh had woken up, the figure suddenly raised his left hand and gently patted the cushion next to him twice.

After making this move, the strange black figure resumed controlling its character, and a series of dazzling combos were immediately displayed on the screen, sending the computer-controlled character soaring through the air.

This scene was so strange that it was almost unbelievable. Hugh couldn't help but look around, only to find that the rest of the dream world was as quiet as ever. The only difference was this area in front of him, and the door that was used to leave the dream was now closed.

"It seems they don't intend to let me leave directly... Oh well, I'll go check it out. How terrifying can a monster that can play games be?"

Hugh assessed the situation and then mustered his courage to walk toward the figure.

Just then, the battle on the screen ended once again, and the black figure turned around. His face, shrouded in thick black mist, trembled slightly. He raised his hand and pointed to the handle in front of the seat.

"You want me to play a game with you?"

(End of this chapter)