The black sun hangs high

Chapter 71 VIP Treatment

The question posed by Wei Lin was like a gust of cold wind blowing in from outside the window, instantly lowering the temperature of the warm room by two degrees.

After confirming that there were no problems using magic, Hugh summoned the Runaway Rat, which had been sitting idle for several days. The first thing the rat did after landing was to run around Hugh's legs twice and make a series of squeaking noises, as if venting its dissatisfaction.

It's unclear whether he was complaining about how boring the past period had been, or accusing Hugh of favoritism by allocating the important remains of the Dark Abyss offspring to the Touch of Calron.

Hughes reached out and lifted the running rat up with his fingers: "You've got quite a temper. If you keep this up, I'm afraid I'll have to change your name."

Vera asked curiously, "What's it called now?"

"Snich".

"A strange name... If you were to rename it, what name would you like to give it?"

"Quick."

The female mage raised an eyebrow: "It's also strange, where did all these names come from?"

"A fairy tale circulating in the city of Seren tells of a group of rat heroes' great adventures. Sniggy is an assassin, while Quake is a rat warrior..."

Hughes made up a story off the top of his head: "Well, it's a very popular story among children."

Vera glanced at Hugh.

She's now hesitant to readily believe anything Hugh says offhand.

At least she wouldn't believe these names came from any so-called "fairy tales," much less that the heroic characters in those stories had any resemblance to this strange rat with three tails.

Under Hugh's command, the sprinting rat Sniggy immediately ran to the corner of the room.

As Violet watched the magical mouse named Sniggy running around the room, she frowned and questioned, "Mr. Hugh, a certain degree of caution is certainly necessary, but this is the Adlon Hotel, after all. You might be going a bit too far."

Although he heard what Vera said, Hugh did not let Sniggy stop. Soon, it ran around the huge suite, but it found nothing. As a result, it became even more depressed.

It prefers narrow, dark crevices and mezzanines to bright, warm, and clean rooms.

Hughes chuckled. "Well, it is indeed very clean here. I was overthinking it... There are no hidden compartments, no magic, and no other rats."

"Um……"

Vera rested her chin on her hand and looked at the luxurious decor of the room. Then she said, "Bolden is completely different from Seren. In a place like this, I dare not act like I did before... I suggest that Mr. Hugh also keep a low profile as much as possible."

Perhaps because of the intense stress of the past few days and the fact that she was finally in a stable environment, Vera seemed particularly cheerful and relaxed at this moment: "As far as I know, the mages of Borden will not tolerate any terrifying legends spreading in the city!"

Vellin's tone made Hugh feel a little uncomfortable. He looked up and saw that she was turning her head to the side, carefully examining a beautiful bronze statue of a female elf placed by the door.

The statue's design is very daring, and its clothing is extremely revealing, so Vera's expression at this moment is somewhat similar to when she was reading Hugh's manuscript in Ernst's old house.

"So, what are Miss Weilin's plans next?"

"Ok?"

The female mage responded, her face momentarily blank, but she quickly recovered: "I think that powerful figure who wants to see us... or rather, see you, probably won't let us leave the hotel or even step out of this room anytime soon."

She curled the corners of her lips into a smile: "In that case, I'll take this opportunity to get some rest. I'll choose the room on the right."

"Hmm, you can choose whichever you like."

Hughes nodded, then stood up, walked to the suite door, and gently opened it.

Just as Weilin had predicted, four figures had appeared at the entrance of the suite, which had been empty before.

To be precise, there were four soldiers.

The soldiers of the Fifth Regiment were already elites in the Water's army, but compared to the four "sculptures" outside the door, who were completely wrapped in black coats, they were somewhat less imposing.

The stone statues are perhaps the most fitting metaphor for them.

Even the opening of the door and Hugh's step out of the room did not change the actions of the four soldiers.

Unlike the other people entering the hotel, these four were allowed to carry weapons even while standing there. Moreover, they were fully armed—with silver swords fixed to their sides and long-barreled crystal guns with bayonets, a very new style.

These soldiers wore hoods and standard metal masks on their faces.

Like their other equipment and weapons, the mask was also a deep black, and even the magic crystals embedded in its surface had a dark and oppressive luster.

The only thing that could be considered decoration on the four soldiers was the eagle claw pattern outlined in fine gold thread on the chest of their coats.

Upon seeing the pattern, Hugh abandoned his idea of ​​further probing the soldiers. He quietly retreated into the room and closed the door.

"how?"

Hugh sat down in the chair and then stated his judgment: "If I'm not mistaken, those soldiers should be members of the Ymir Legion... or perhaps they are known as the 'Claws of Voltel'."

Hugh recalled the golden eagle claw pattern on the chests of the four soldiers: "They were able to mobilize members of the Ymir Legion, and even have individual members serve as guards."

Vera tilted her head slightly: "The Walter Royal Family?"

"Perhaps, at least he is an important member of the military system."

Hugh clapped his hands lightly: "I agree with Miss Vera's previous opinion. We are indeed safer now than ever before. Apart from getting some rest, there's really nothing else we can do right now... So I'll choose the room on the left."

"uh-huh."

Violet stood up. Without saying anything more, she quickly set up some basic protective rituals in the living room and then walked to the luxurious room on the right side of the living room.

As a former office worker, Hugh could tell that Verine had entered a resting state. She was like an ordinary office worker who had finally gotten a break after a long day of overtime. She walked into the room with light steps. Hugh even heard her humming two songs in a very soft voice. They were very pleasant to listen to and sounded like folk tunes from Walter.

"Bang!"

The door on the right was closed.

Hugh stood alone in the living room. He glanced at the boldly designed female elf statue, then laughed, "On vacation, huh? I'm good at this." He walked towards the room on the left.

……

The Adlon Hotel reminded Hughes of his past life.

The decor, furnishings, and furniture made using a combination of steam and magic techniques left Hugh somewhat disoriented. As he immersed himself in the hot water of the bathtub, he felt as if he were not in Vaan, which was facing a great crisis of upheaval, but rather on a business trip.

However, the pale and emaciated body in the hot water was a constant reminder to Hugh that, apart from his gender, he was no longer the same as before.

“Lin...Shug.”

He tried to pronounce his old name, but it sounded awkward and difficult to say, as if he were hearing it for the first time.

In that brief moment of distraction, Hugh relaxed his control over his magic, and dark magical colors gradually emerged from around his body. Amidst the drifting steam, pitch-black tentacles slowly emerged from the surrounding air. These tentacles, which had "grown" sharp limbs under the influence of the Dark Abyss Offspring, swayed slowly in the air with Hugh's breath, their blade-like tips constantly cutting through the steam.

The deep, dark light and shadow began to sway continuously on Hugh's body. Under the influence of the power of the messenger in the mirror, Hugh's left hand, which was raised above the water, began to sway slowly with the steam, as ethereal and invisible as drifting water vapor.

Black, hard keratin and a shell began to emerge on Hugh's right hand, and sharp black claws continued to extend, leaving a narrow scratch on the edge of the bathtub.

The enormous magic disc slowly rotated, the sound of the metal gears turning and rubbing was extremely loud. Under its vibration, Hugh woke up from his dazed state. In that instant, the writhing black tentacles, the drifting shadows, and the hard keratin covering Hugh's skin all disappeared.

"..."

Hugh closed his eyes, sweeping all the jumbled thoughts and ideas out of his mind. Then he stood up from the bathtub and reached out to flip the switch made of crimson magic crystal on the edge of the bathtub.

The simple ritual inscribed on the bathtub stopped working; the hot water stopped flowing in and began to drain rapidly.

Hugh stepped out of the bathtub, grabbed a towel, dried himself off, and put on a pure black bathrobe.

That's one of the downsides about Waterl.

In this kingdom, black is so common that it's almost ubiquitous. Even in the Adlon Hotel, black appears frequently.

However, the Water people are not the "northern barbarians" who do not understand art and beauty, as the inhabitants of the plains say. In fact, there are quite a few artists in the Kingdom of Water, and different art fields such as literature, painting, and sculpture are also flourishing on the Lovi Plateau.

Borden is the best among them.

"According to Alfred and Duden, I seem to have quite a few readers in Borden..."

Hugh tied his somewhat long hair back and walked across the soft carpet to the window, looking at the night view outside.

From here, he could see the magnificent and beautiful garden below the Adlon Hotel, as well as the "Foreign Guests Avenue" he had walked on his way here.

"Ok?"

Hugh narrowed his eyes. He noticed that both the street and the garden below were very deserted. Although the garden and street lights were working properly, no one was stopping there, and not a single car was passing by on the foreign guests' avenue.

So Hugh immediately turned around and opened the wardrobe.

As the elf host Finn had said, the VIP suite provides its guests with everything they might need, including these clean clothes that are pre-installed in the closet.

The Adlon Hotel was extremely thoughtful, offering a wide variety of clothing from Delan to Walter styles. Hugh even spotted a standard mountain elf outfit and goblin clothing that looked like children's clothes.

Hugh quickly took out a set of dark clothes with fine gold trim. The coat was dark blue, and a golden magic eagle emblem was pinned to the cuff.

"Hmm... That's the good thing about Waterl's clothes, they're simple."

Hugh quickly changed his clothes and put on a coat.

Immediately, a typical young nobleman from the Ernst family appeared in the mirror.

Hughes pursed his lips.

Although he did not identify with the Ernst family, he had to admit that the Ernst family's bloodline was indeed very excellent, at least this was very evident in his body.

After taking his identification and belongings, Hughes pushed open the door and went into the living room.

To Hugh's surprise, Veraine had already arrived in the living room. She had changed into a very smart Walter dress, with a black trench coat draped over her shoulders and a beautiful corsage on her chest.

Perhaps because she had washed her hair, she had tied it up and was now engrossed in reading a book.

The subtle aroma of incense is interspersed with a refreshing scent of soap.

"That's a bit slow, Mr. Hugh."

Startled by Hugh's footsteps, Vera looked up and closed the book in her hand.

At that moment, Hughes saw the cover of the book—"Walter's Folk Tales".

A book published earlier this year, containing a multitude of anecdotes, folk tales, and short stories, which Hughes recalls including two or three of his own works, and in unabridged form... This is enough to prove that this so-called "folk tale book" is not a proper book at all.

It's not suitable for everyone, at least not.

"Mr. Hugh, do you have any comments on this book?"

Hugh shook his head: "No, it's just that I think Miss Vera's taste... well, it's quite unique."

The female mage raised her finger and tapped twice on the book cover: "I just saw 'The Tenants of Ladies Street' inside. As someone who has been to Ladies Street, I must admit that Mr. Hugh's work does have its own unique features."

"Thanks for the compliment."

...

Uh oh, I barely managed to write this chapter under the watchful eyes of my elders during the Spring Festival.

There's no way around it; even touching the keyboard gets me a scolding. It's so painful.

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(End of this chapter)