The black sun hangs high

Chapter 42 Traceability
Things at House No. 37 are developing in a direction that Hugh has never imagined.

He never imagined in his life that he would one day have a face-to-face conversation with a giant-eared goblin who was transformed from a shapeshifter.

The other person even used their newly repaired arm to pour themselves a cup of tea.

This tea is definitely not drinkable.

Because the shapeshifter had not yet fully digested the memories and knowledge belonging to old Sergei, it could not understand the process and method of making tea, so it not only added too much tea leaves, but also did not use hot water...

However, Hugh didn't intend to argue with a shapeshifter, because the situation inside House 37 was already absurd and outrageous enough.

Look at the people sitting in this living room right now!
A magic advisor who was originally loyal to the Law Committee, but was forced to resign for some reason.

A shapeshifter that transforms into the form of a giant-eared goblin.

And then there's himself, the illegitimate son of the Ernst family, a wild sorcerer, a vulgar literature writer, and a potential fugitive wanted by the Legal Committee...

"What is this? 'The three of us'?"

Hughes sighed, silently complaining to himself, before picking up the magic ink pen beside him and preparing to record the statement of the shapeshifter Sergei.

The mind and memories of these shapeshifters are very disordered, which is related to their absorption of the memories of the goblins. At this stage, the shapeshifters' own chaotic past experiences and the memories of their victims are severely mixed together, making their descriptions of their past very confusing.

Fortunately, Hugh had ample experience in taking notes. Based on his judgment, he quickly categorized Sergei's chaotic narration, and through his intermittent account, the events of the past few days gradually unfolded before Hugh and Verine.

The shapeshifters' memories of being taken to Seren are very fragmented. According to Sergei, he and all his kind were placed in "cold jars" and then remained in a "half-asleep, half-awake" drowsy state. However, this drowsy state ended after a series of tremors.

"The tremor? Does that refer to the explosion that night?"

As Hughes took notes, he pondered the text, putting a question mark on the passage and then circling the "vibration" that Sergei described.

"After the tremor... all the jars broke."

The old goblin said very slowly, “We crawled, flowed… crawled out, crawled out of the jar, didn’t know where, there was water, lots of things… It was terrible, but it wasn’t cold anymore.”

He tried hard to recall: "We could hear sounds and...calling? It made us...climb here, it was very attractive...but some of our companions still got separated and couldn't be found..."

While trying her best to understand Sergei's description, Vera asked, "You mean, after you left the 'cold jar,' you were able to feel some kind of guiding force? Was it that force that led you here?"

"strength……"

Sergei's understanding of the word was clearly not quite right. He paused for a while, then shook his head: "Uh, it's like light, very dark... but there's light there, and with light there's food. We were very hungry, so we came."

Vera nodded, then turned to Hugh and said, "If that's the case, it's very likely that some kind of beacon or decoy is at work."

"I understand 'decoy,' but what do you mean by 'beacon'?"

"Hmm...you can think of it as something more effective than bait."

Vera explained, "Generally speaking, it is a special product made for specific magical creatures that can continuously emit a weak magical power. However, in the eyes of some creatures, the power emitted by this beacon will be very obvious, just like he said, like a light in the dark."

Hugh nodded and noted down Vera's assessment.

He could roughly reconstruct what happened that night. The batch of shapeshifters that were originally stored at the Legal Committee’s headquarters and were later moved to avoid being seen were intentionally released into the sewer system of Seren City after an explosion. Except for one shapeshifter that was attracted by itself and went astray, the rest followed the power of the pre-set bait or beacon to the house at No. 37 where the Golden Boot Caravan was located.

Those unfortunate giant-eared goblin merchants would never have imagined that they would be used as food and nourishment for these shapeshifting insects. Therefore, apart from a few goblins who were awakened in the middle of the night, the rest were probably swallowed by these silent magical creatures while they were asleep.

And then, everything that followed happened.

Sergei, the first of the shapeshifters to complete the "digestion" process, left the warehouse. He transformed into the appearance of an old goblin, hastily put on clothes based on his still confused memories, and then, following old Sergei's original love for gardening and his obsessive-compulsive nature, cleaned the courtyard and house as much as he could... This behavior can actually be seen as a process of the shapeshifters understanding their new identity.

However, it would be quite difficult to make them perfect in one step and without any flaws.

Interestingly, the shapeshifters, who were originally like wild beasts with a greedy thirst for their prey, changed their nature after absorbing the wisdom and memories of the giant-eared goblins. Through their interactions, Hugh was surprised to find that these shapeshifters were now extremely afraid of pain and death. Instead, they were full of interest in "trade," "silverware," and other concepts that goblin merchants had once pursued.

“We need to search this place. You all go about your business, don’t bother us, and don’t try to ambush us… or you’ll know what happens.”

After obtaining some of the information she wanted, Verin showed her tolerance and kindness towards these shapeshifters.

Of course, according to Hugh's dark view, the main reason why this female mage did not completely eliminate the shapeshifters was that she hoped these magical creatures could further digest and understand the goblins' memories in order to fill in the missing parts of the intelligence and clues.

After Verin re-infused the protective magic of House 37 with magic, the two went up to the second floor of the mansion. Now, the ground was littered with the slime residue left by the shapeshifters, and naturally, Hugh suggested that they collect the slime.

"Mr. Hugh, do you have any unusual fetishes?"

Weilin did not stop Hugh, but instead tentatively asked a question.

"No...no, it's just that I know a merchant in the city who buys materials from all sorts of magical creatures, and he needs the slime from the shapeshifters too...as for what he'll do with it, I don't know." Hugh had long since mastered the ability to lie fluently, and he explained casually as he deftly shoved the still-vital slime into a glass jar.

As for whether Vera would believe him, he didn't care.

Under the current circumstances, as long as he can obtain more means of survival and trump cards from the Dream Sanctuary, even if it means social death, Hugh is willing to do it.

This act of scavenging the remains instilled immense fear in the shapeshifters who were trying to return to the collection warehouse to be with their kind.

Especially old Sergei.

He shuddered when he saw Hugh smiling at the several large glass jars filled to the brim, because he could clearly see that there was even his own severed hand inside!

While collecting the spoils, Hugh didn't stop exploring the old house. In a relatively safe environment, this task was perfect for the Running Rat. It nimbly darted through the rooms, quickly finding all the boxes and cabinets hidden in the nooks and crannies. However, most of the items inside were just valuables that the giant-eared goblins had secretly taken, and there were no particularly obvious magical items.

But soon, Vera made a discovery.

"Mr. Hugh, please come here for a moment."

The female mage called out softly, then bent down and began to observe a wall piled with miscellaneous items.

Hugh leaned closer and saw that what Vera was staring at was indeed a thin line on the wall. It was so inconspicuous that it would be hard to spot unless you pressed your face against the wall.

"Miss Weilin, you have an amazing eye!"

"Cat's Eye Potion".

Verine shook an empty bottle in her hand, then she looked up. Only then did Hugh notice that Verine's pupils had turned into yellow cat eyes. The vertical pupils looked very strange in the dim environment, while the special magical brilliance that shimmered in the human eye sockets added a touch of charm to her.

Vilin seemed unconcerned about her appearance. Pointing to the wall, she said, "The spaces inside these two rooms don't match the distances to the outside... There must be a hidden layer between them, and there might be steel plates mixed with sharded silver in the walls, making it difficult for my magic to penetrate."

“Miss Weilin means there’s a secret room here? Hmm, even a secret room needs ventilation ducts. I’ll try to find it.”

Hugh immediately understood why Vera had summoned him. He then directed the sprinting rat to wander around the area. After confirming that there were no gaps or holes to exploit in the two rooms or the outer corridor, Hugh then controlled it to slip outside the house, intending to look for an opportunity from the roof.

"It's a really good summon. Although it's not as good as those magical creatures that are mainly for killing, it's very agile... What's its name?"

"A madly running rat."

Vera raised an eyebrow: "I'm not asking about the species of the creature, I'm asking about what you call it."

“Uh… no, Miss Veraine, I didn’t name it.”

Upon hearing this, Vera's expression fell slightly: "Mr. Hugh, the essence of summoning magic is a contract between the summoner and the summoned creature. However, this contract is not as stable as one might imagine. If you want your summoned creature to be completely loyal to you and to understand your thoughts and ideas, then you should try to name it... This is a common conclusion in the Legal Committee and all magic academies."

Hearing this, Hugh was speechless. While directing the Running Rats to continue searching near the rooftop, he pondered. Naming things had never been his forte, let alone naming magical creatures... He thought Running Rats was fine, but considering that this summon had indeed gone out of control several times, perhaps he should consider Verin's suggestion.

"But what can a rat be called? We can't just make it surnamed Mi, can we? I wonder if the legendary strongest legal department can interfere with Van En... If they can get me out of trouble by suing me, that would be a good outcome."

While he was lost in thought, he made a discovery at the place where the scurrying rat was.

Beneath a small goblin statue used for decoration on the roof, it found a well-hidden hole. Around the hole, there were even some magical runes of unknown function. Based on the information it had received, Hugh drew part of the runes on a piece of paper. Through these runes, Vilin quickly recognized that they were magical runes that could absorb surrounding sounds and transmit them clearly.

"Hmm... It's a kind of magic rune commonly used by the Legal Committee's spies and enforcers. When it's inscribed on certain pipes, it allows the person on the other end to eavesdrop on conversations happening around them. That pipe should lead to a secret room."

Having received Verine's approval, Hugh immediately controlled the running rat to enter the pipe. The pipe was winding, but there weren't many obstacles or barriers. Soon, the running rat reached the end of the pipe. With its flexible tail and corrosive sharp teeth, it quickly opened the trapdoor of the hidden pipe exit and successfully jumped into the dark room below.

"It's confirmed, it's right next door."

Hugh put aside the matter of naming the rat for the time being. He could now clearly sense that the running rat was just a wall away from him, so he focused all his attention on his summoned creature, and things in the darkness gradually became visible.

Hughes first smelled a bloody odor, which came from a corpse.

To be precise, it was the corpse of a giant-eared goblin, dressed in the robes of a spellcaster from the Law Council, leaning weakly against a chair. At his feet lay an exquisite crystal gun, and his head had been riddled with bullet holes.

"Suicide...was it a crystallized gun?"

Hugh quickly determined the cause of death of the goblin spellcaster, so he controlled the running rat to jump onto the desk and looked around from a high vantage point.

The desk was covered with all sorts of documents, books, and magical artifacts. In the corner of the desk, there was a very obvious raised button. After determining that there was nothing else that looked more like a mechanism, the running rat immediately stepped on it as Hughes commanded.

With a crisp sound, the thin line on the wall in front of Hugh and his companion was immediately filled with magical light. Then, under the influence of magic, the heavy stone wall slowly slid open, revealing a narrow, hidden door that could only be used by giant-eared goblins.

(End of this chapter)