The black sun hangs high

Chapter 43 Planning, Plans and Programs
Hugh had always believed that whatever Wotel, Delan, or the Legal Council were planning, humans would be the ones to implement them. After all, humans had long been the dominant race in Vaan. Races like forest elves, dwarves, goblins, and sea people, while having their own histories, cultures, customs, and spheres of influence, were all insignificant in comparison to humans in terms of sheer numbers.

Until the last moment, he felt that these giant-eared goblins in the Golden Boot caravan were perhaps just part of a plan, and that they were all being used as victims of a struggle and a scheme—such cases were actually quite common on the Lovi Plateau.

Many nobles and merchants in the Kingdom of Walter would "raise" a group of giant-eared goblins as their white gloves.

If anything goes wrong, they can just push someone out to take the blame and that's it.

This behavior initially enraged the giant-eared goblins, but as cases continued to occur and time passed, a significant number of them accepted the reality. They no longer had to travel with caravans, worry about being captured by unscrupulous mines and enslaved, or be captured by slave ships and sold to the Eastern world... They now possessed the status and wealth of wealthy human merchants, able to spend a long time in the most luxurious cities, and with good luck, even a lifetime!
With such treatment, it wouldn't matter if I were executed one day.

It is precisely because of this that even Hugh, who possesses a different kind of soul, has a poor impression of the giant-eared goblins. But now, the corpse in the secret chamber seems to reveal a completely different possibility to him.

After quickly examining the giant-eared goblin's body, which had died by suicide, as well as the numerous documents, books, and files placed on the desk, Hugh and his companion reached a common conclusion—this was a goblin detective who had long worked for the branch of the Law Committee of the Kingdom of Walter.

Of course, he can also be called a goblin mage.

Although the Legal Committee's approach to things prioritizes the human race, this does not mean that the Legal Committee consists only of human members. In some multi-racial cities and regions, there are also many spellcasters of other races. However, compared to human mages, these members of other races often suffer unfair treatment within the Legal Committee because of their race.

"The beacon has been found; it's here."

Verine took out a rather strange miniature device from the corner of the bookshelf. It looked somewhat similar to the Magic Pendulum, or rather, it was simply a modified version of the Magic Pendulum. Until the moment Verine took it out, the strange device was still swaying slightly, but the magical power it emitted was extremely weak.

"A good idea. It adds a reverse magic circuit to the characteristics of the Magic Pendulum. It changes the original function of the pendulum to search for magical traces, so that it continuously emits specific magical fluctuations as it swings, thereby continuously guiding the shapeshifters."

Hughes was unfamiliar with this kind of specialized magical knowledge. He took all the documents and books left on the deceased's desk to the outer room and then quickly began to examine them.

He had a premonition, deep down.

Once the reasons for the goblin mage's suicide and the documents he left behind are figured out, the Kingdom of Votel's plans in Seren will be fully revealed.

As Hugh read through these documents, everything about the goblin spellcaster and the Golden Boot caravan gradually came to mind.

The goblin spellcaster hidden among the Golden Boot caravan is named Marcel, and he has been doing this job for nearly twenty years.

For the past twenty years, he had not been able to walk the streets in badges and uniform robes like any real mage; for the most part, he was just an ordinary goblin merchant.

Monitor the commercial development trends and flow of important goods in Seren, assess the influence of Votel and Delan on Seren, and compile opinions on steam-powered creations versus purely magical creations...

This is what the goblin mage Marcel has been doing for the past twenty years.

Among these entries, what surprised Hugh even more was that Marcel seemed to be using his position as a member of the Legal Committee to monitor the numerous instructions sent by Merlinler and the Legal Committee headquarters. His targets were the Kingdom of Walter, the Legal Committee's branch in Walter, and Walter's largest magic academy.

"The Legal Council has been divided for at least twenty years, or even longer... Judging from these documents, a significant portion of the instructions were issued directly by the Kingdom's spies and the mages of Wotel. The Academy, on the other hand, was responsible for organizing and analyzing the collected intelligence to provide reliable advice to the Kingdom to which it served."

Hugh carefully reviewed the memories of the magic academy stored in his body, and he suddenly realized that he had indeed come into contact with many new magical devices when he was still working as a handyman and apprentice at the magic academy.

Or rather, these are devices that are primarily steam-powered and mechanical, with magic as a secondary element. These things often lack official approval from the Legal Council. He had once been surprised that the Legal Council, which had always held an absolute monopoly and interpretive power over all magical items, could turn a blind eye to this phenomenon. Now it seems that the fundamental reason is that the mages of the Kingdom of Wotel and even the entire highland region have long since completely sided with the local royal family and regime.

"We're in big trouble..."

Hugh murmured to himself, setting aside the old documents in his hands, and then picked up a very old notebook.

It's clear that this notebook has been carefully maintained by its owner, but time has still left its indelible marks.

On the first page, there was a line of very neat text.

"I hereby swear an oath to Sinnarhai that I will believe in the coming of the Black Sun and will pay any price to expel the folly and hypocrisy of the corrupt Vannen."

The moment he saw that sentence, Hugh felt as if he had been hit hard on the head.

He finally saw concrete traces of the Black Sun Society's activities in this world.

Hugh would never believe that the Black Sun Society had no connection with Theseus and the Dream Sanctuary. He remembered clearly that there was indeed a large door in the Dream Sanctuary, and the condition proposed by the black mist that sealed that door was the "Crown of the Black Sun".

Although Hugh couldn't confirm what the so-called Black Sun Crown actually was, he was certain that it was closely related to the Black Sun Society and the prophecy of the Black Sun. "Sigh..."

He sighed softly: "It feels like after being tortured for days and nights, I finally left the tutorial and saw the main storyline."

The notebook mainly records the personal thoughts and opinions of the goblin mage Marcel over the years. It seems that the nature of this notebook is somewhat similar to a diary. However, perhaps because Marcel never intended to show his diary to others, the wording in it is quite intense, and you can occasionally see some swear words and profanities.

Moreover, judging from Marcel's decision to commit suicide in such a secluded room, he genuinely did not want his thoughts to be known by outsiders.

But Hugh still felt something was amiss, because if the mage truly harbored such thoughts, he could have chosen a more thorough approach, such as simply destroying these important documents and notes, instead of leaving them behind…

He quickly flipped through the pages.

"On the 15th of the month of the Beginning of Cultivation in 2694, everything is drawing near, and the air is filled with the damned stench of war! From now on, I not only need to monitor and record the flow of goods in the city of Seren, but also need to further track down the operators behind those shops... I need more manpower; the current few people are simply not enough!"

"On the 26th of the month of Ceasefire in 2694, the negotiations with the Delan people were a complete failure. Those guys are rigid and conservative, more disgusting than a goblin woman's socks. Their nonsense is long and stinky. A bunch of idiots! Go cry your eyes out while clinging to Merlinle's trouser leg!"

"On the winter festival of 2694, I finally got a break and went to see the children."

"2695 years..."

"In the month of branching in 2695, the Society rejected the decision to further promote prophecy and recruit new members in Seren and the surrounding area. The Legal Committee has been making great moves in the vicinity recently, and the Society lost three members. Until their execution, the Legal Committee thought they had only captured ordinary wild mages."

Marcel's records were intermittent, suggesting that he didn't keep a daily record, but rather it depended entirely on his mood and what happened. Sometimes his records were meaningless, consisting of long rants about certain things. For a secret agent with a complex identity and a member of the Black Sun Society, this seemed to be one of his few outlets for venting.

Hughes sped up his reading, and after omitting a large portion of the fragmented notes, he finally found what he really wanted to see at the end of the notes.

"In the month of the cattle herding in 2699, the final stage is about to begin. The prophecies of the Society are becoming clearer, and some of them have already come true... For the first time, I feel so excited and thrilled, but also a little scared. I don't quite understand why the newly presented prophecy describes the city of Seren as a 'magnificent pit of sacrifice.' If it is a 'pit of sacrifice,' then there must be sacrifices, but who will be the sacrifices? The residents here? The entire city? I don't understand."

"In the month of cessation of cultivation in 2699, another order arrived. I sent the children out of the city. Hannah will take them to the countryside of Hein. Mother will be very happy. She has written many letters complaining that she longs to be with the younger generation... The purge in the branch of the Legal Committee is complete. All the diehards who are still loyal to Merlinle have been completely expelled. They are ready... The Delan people are also in action. My informants told me that the Delan royal family has written a blank check for the independent government of Seren. As long as they can fully cooperate, Delan is willing to pay any price."

"In the month of Gin in 2699, new prophecies continued to appear: 'War will be the precursor to the Black Sun, and the only child of the Abyss will be born in the sacrificial pit.' I don't understand the second half of the sentence. I know that the Society's mission must be completed, but I am a little uneasy."

Then there were several blank pages.

Hugh was getting anxious. He flipped through two more pages and pulled out a thin magical letter from his notebook. When he unfolded the letter, a series of cold and chilling facts came into view.

The letter came from an informant planted within the Delan royal family by the Black Sun Society. It was signed "Alan Morel," and Hugh's intuition told him that the writer was the Delan nobleman he had met at the Peace Newspaper.

The innovations brought about by steam, metal, and complex machinery have given the highland kingdoms an unprecedented opportunity—lower costs for magic crystals, more efficient use of magic, and the possibility of mass production of weapons and equipment... Undoubtedly, these discoveries are extremely important to Vaan, and for the many secular kingdoms that have always been constrained by the Law Council on the magical level, this trend has shown them a possibility.

A possibility to completely break the Legal Committee's monopoly on magic and miracles.

Just as Hugh had predicted and guessed, a struggle over magical resources and new productivity had already fully unfolded within the realm of Vaan, and amidst this struggle and conflict, the nations of the Lovi Plateau and the Goddess Plains had all made their own choices.

The Delan royal family preferred to continue mediation and gain more benefits and time, but the Highland Alliance, led by the Kingdom of Votel, did not.

Perhaps recognizing the importance of this moment, or realizing the vulnerability of traditional magic and the military in the face of new weaponry, they resolutely chose to accelerate—activating spies and agents planted within the Delan royal family to completely disrupt the situation in Seren, publicly signing an alliance during the truce celebration and immediately starting military exercises. This series of actions brought the situation in Seren and the surrounding area to the brink of explosion.

However, within this powder keg about to explode, there were also traces of another force.

The Black Sun Society is not loyal to any side; they only want to use this impending conflict to achieve their own goals.

“I feel lost, regretful, and fearful… The Society’s plan is far more astonishing than I imagined. They want to completely replace the princes of both countries with shapeshifters, replacing all the important figures in the independent government. They may have even set up beacons… But is this really the right thing to do? The prophecy has also gone wrong. Why is the city of Seren called the ‘Sacrifice Pit’? Who is the only child of the Abyss?”

"How could all of this be more vicious and terrible than the things we have rejected in the past?"

"what should I do?"

At the end of the notes, Hughes saw a deep sense of confusion and despair.

(End of this chapter)