The black sun hangs high

Chapter 66 Allocation Problem
Before returning to his lodgings, Hugh, accompanied by Major Alfred, had a brief meeting with Sally.

Under the watchful eyes of the surveillance team, Hugh briefly explained old Schubert's current condition to her. After learning that her uncle had lost his left leg but had ultimately survived, Sally finally breathed a sigh of relief.

As the weight lifted from the girl's heart, her emotions finally spiraled out of control. She pursed her lips tightly, her expression shifting between crying and laughing several times, and tears streamed down her face.

Sally took a step closer to Hugh and hugged him again, this time with much more force than during the day.

Once the girl released him, Hughes comforted her, "Don't worry too much. With the help of healing magic, Schubert's life should be guaranteed... Besides, he's just an ordinary person, he won't be made to suffer."

As he spoke, Hugh turned to Alfred beside him and said, "You agree, Major."

The nobleman, a member of the Mookie family, looked over. He exchanged a glance with Hugh, then slowly nodded: "As you wish, Mr. Ernst."

While not overly enthusiastic, they weren't indifferent either.

This form of guarantee is actually more reassuring.

"Thank you, thank you!"

As Sally expressed her gratitude, Hugh nodded to her, and then walked with Major Alfred toward the other side of the temporary camp.

"If I were you, I would have already kissed you."

Alfred, a cigarette dangling from his lips, spoke with a strange, disappointed tone: "Mr. Ernst's character is far removed from your writing!"

Hughes chuckled, unfazed by Alfred's teasing: "I'm not really some kind of midnight dawn, am I?"

Hearing Hughes say that, Alfred chuckled twice: "Who can say for sure about things like that?"

He exhaled a puff of smoke, watching it slowly drift into the night sky.

"Mr. Ernst is indeed very good at bringing surprises... He has only been awake for a short time and has already solved a problem that even Mr. Klaus found difficult."

Upon hearing this, Hugh stopped in his tracks, put his hands in his pockets, and said, "Major, if you have anything to say to me, please be direct."

Alfred stopped beside Hugh and threw his cigarette butt into a puddle on the ground.

At this moment, snow began to fall again, the snowflakes drifting down as if to shut out the sounds from afar.

"I already had a feeling that talking to you would be very pleasant."

"I assure you as a major of the Fifth Guard Regiment and a member of the Muqi family."

"I will do my best to protect you and your friends, including those two beautiful ladies and that old man with only one leg."

Alfred stared at Hughes, then suddenly lowered his voice: "If you need, I can arrange for Miss Sally's accommodation to be moved to your carriage, how about that?"

Hearing this, Hughes frowned, then shook his head: "That's unnecessary. Even I know that such behavior is strictly prohibited in the military."

Alfred smiled but did not answer.

So Hugh continued, “Major, you should know that even if I were lucky enough to have the Ernst family name, I would still be a disgrace to the family.”

"Even if the family needs me right now, I'm probably just a temporary tool to them."

"that's enough."

The young major grinned: "Don't worry, what I need you to do is very simple: just deliver a letter for me."

Hugh pressed further, "A letter? To whom?"

"Marshal Zek".

Alfred finally gave his answer.

Marshal Zek.

Marshal Wotel, the "Three-Clawed Falcon" of the Kingdom of Wotel, renowned throughout the Lovi Plateau and the Goddess Plain.

Or perhaps, Hugh Ernst's grandfather.

Although the Kingdom of Votel has maintained a public peace with its neighboring countries for decades, its army has been active at all times.

Because the inhabitants of the Lovi Plateau are not only humans.

Although many human kingdoms exist on the plateau, there are also many groups of non-human intelligent beings in those vast mountains, forests, and uninhabited wastelands.

Highland ogres, mountain elves, and dwarves and goblins belonging to various tribes have formed different settlements, tribes, villages, towns, and even kingdoms here...

Among them, the highland ogre tribes that roam the mountains, are tall and strong, and are skilled in using various weapons, have always been a destabilizing factor that seriously threatens the Kingdom of Walter.

Therefore, when Zeke Ernst became the Kingdom's Marshal, he devised a series of military strategies to address the threats posed by non-human forces surrounding the Kingdom.

In this context, the soldiers of the Kingdom of Votel were active in those dangerous areas, and hundreds of large and small conflicts and wars, as well as the deaths of countless non-human races, gave rise to Marshal Zeke's unique military theories.

Anyone who questions the achievements and ideas of this Three-Clawed Falcon should first confront the dozens of missing ogre tribes of varying sizes and the large mountain elf towns that even the Legal Committee is powerless to deal with.

It is said that one of the main reasons for Zek Ernst’s resignation was that the Legal Commission believed he should be held responsible for the disappearance of those towns.

In short, Hughes was wary of the Ernst family's de facto ruler, who, though old, was still a formidable force.

He strongly suspected that the rescue mission that Verine accepted and the appearance of the Fifth Jaeger Regiment were related to old Zeke.

“The situation I face now is different from that in Seren City… Some foundations of cooperation and connections are very important, and as an officer of the Juggernaut Corps and a member of the Mook family, the possibility of Alfred wanting to use me to threaten the Ernst family and old Zeke is extremely small.”

Hughes silently calculated in his mind: "Moreover, he did not restrict the specific channels and methods by which I delivered the letter. If this powerful old man were to be killed by a letter, it would be too undignified."

After carefully evaluating Alfred's request, Hugh gave an affirmative answer.

Given the current situation, Hugh would rather trust a potential collaborator like Alfred than the vast family. "Making friends is fine, but making a grandfather figure out of the question is a different story."

Hughes muttered to himself as he walked into the carriage. He took off his coat, locked the door, and then sat heavily on the bed.

Now, nothing takes precedence over the restlessness emanating from his inner world.

Previously, due to environmental reasons, Hugh had not been able to deal with the Dark Abyss offspring that he had successfully "devoured" in time. After that, he felt a sense of restlessness constantly emanating from his spiritual world.

By the time he finished talking with Alfred and finally returned to his temporary lodgings, this restlessness had become extremely pronounced.

However, its origin was not the remains of the Dark Abyss Offspring that were quietly resting near the metal disc, but rather the three "tenants" within the disc.

Yes, right now, there's a huge commotion right at the very center of the metal disc.

Hugh was incredibly surprised to discover that the metal recesses where the three creatures were located were interconnected. At this moment, they were like three "friendly" neighbors visiting each other's homes, constantly intruding into territory that didn't belong to them and engaging in heated "arguments" with the inhabitants there.

The debate is in the physical sense.

As soon as Hugh's consciousness reached the center of the disc, he saw the mad rat Sniggy rush into the territory of the Mirror Messenger, and the ever-changing human figure immediately began to wrestle with the rat.

Before they could determine a winner, two tentacles of Calron reached out from the other side. The black tentacles immediately entangled the Mirror Messenger and Sniggy, who were twisted together, and then mercilessly thrashed them in the recessed space.

"What are you guys doing? A friendly sparring match?"

Hugh coldly voiced his doubts, but the three magical creations were already locked in combat, and even with Hugh's consciousness transmitted, they continued their endless struggle.

Now, the newly added Kalron's Touch has become the common target of the other two. Sniggy is biting one of the tentacles, while the humanoid smoke form of the Mirror Messenger is tightly binding the other tentacle.

However, the two were clearly not in a cooperative relationship, because Hughes saw the running rat forcefully lash out at the body of the messenger in the mirror with its magical long tail, almost pulling it into the corner of the groove.

"Enough! Does my word no longer carry weight? Are you rebelling?"

Amidst Hugh's stern rebuke, the three magical creations that were "wrestling" together finally quieted down a little, but they still did not let go of each other—Karlon's tentacles were wrapped around the neck of the Mirror Messenger, the Mirror Messenger was pulling on the tail of the Running Rat, and the Running Rat's teeth were biting into another tentacle.

They remained locked in a stalemate.

It appeared both bizarre and comical.

Hugh felt as if he had become a teacher mediating a conflict between children. He sighed and forcibly used his magic to separate the three restless kids.

He asked, "What exactly happened?"

A jumble of thoughts immediately flooded in, messages from three different ancient creations mixed together, making Hugh feel irritable and restless.

Fortunately, he eventually figured out what had happened from these messages.

Hugh had to admit he was a bit dumbfounded, because the reason these three guys were fighting was actually to fight over the "ownership" of that mass of Dark Abyss offspring remains!
Yes, it's like three greedy children fighting over the only candy.

"You guys..."

Hugh found it somewhat amusing, but he immediately realized the truth behind this behavior—as the deformed child Theseus spoke of, the power of the Dark Abyss Spawn was clearly the food that these ancient creations sought!
"No wonder the Messenger in the Mirror behaved that way before... It seems that they really need the power of this thing, and it might even bring about new changes under the influence of the Dark Abyss Offspring."

Hugh's thoughts became clearer, and for him at that moment, this was definitely good news.

However, Hughes then fell into another round of contemplation.

"How should it be allocated?"

At this moment, he felt like a gamer with a limited number of skill points, and in front of him were three completely different skill trees.

"This is even a blind selection!"

Hugh sighed inwardly. Making a judgment without knowing the outcome was the greatest torment for those with obsessive-compulsive disorder and decision-making difficulties.

Under Hugh's supervision and urging, the three entangled "tenants" finally returned to their respective metal recesses.

However, after Hugh used his magic to "pick up" the constantly wriggling and trembling black slime, they looked over expectantly, trying to get their food from Hugh.

"Given the current situation, what I need most is a means of self-preservation... that is, magic that can directly and effectively damage the enemy."

Hughes began to analyze silently.

"The usefulness of the Running Rat goes without saying. It is very competent as a magical summon, but it is obviously inadequate when facing special powerful enemies or large numbers of enemies. It is more suitable for gathering intelligence and carrying out dirty work such as assassination."

"The Messenger in the Mirror can provide me with many special abilities, but these abilities are primarily functional, and it is not advisable to use them for direct combat."

"At this point, my only option is the Touch of Caljon."

Hugh finally fixed his gaze on the black tentacles that had been "accompanying" him the longest. From the beginning until now, they had never disappointed Hugh. As a magic primarily used to kill enemies, Hugh was even more eager to see the changes it might bring.

Having made his judgment, Hugh brought the black slime above the Touch of Calron.

Amidst the dejected emotions of the other two magical creations, this essence of power belonging to the offspring of the Dark Abyss ultimately fell into the embrace of the black tentacles.

Changes then began to occur.

The moment after Hugh completed the distribution, the central area of ​​the metal disc began to tremble, and a dim magical light emanated from the groove as the Touch of Calron swayed violently.

It extends along the intricate patterns on the metal disc and slowly moves towards the outer edge of the disc.

Finally, under Hugh's expectant gaze, the magical line successfully reached the empty second ring.

Another groove was "lit up," and in this new groove, the pitch-black color gradually depicted several ferocious insect limbs, which looked as sharp as swords!
This new groove was now firmly connected to the original Touch of Calron.

(End of this chapter)