The black sun hangs high

Chapter 78 The weather is very cold
The war has begun.

Regardless of the pretext used, the situation accelerated further when those crystalline shells, capable of causing violent explosions, crashed into the city of Seren.

The shelling of Seren was a statement in itself. Although officially it was a "warning" shelling, judging from the magical photos in the newspapers, the power of those few crystal shells was probably far beyond imagination.

"Muchi Type 3 Steam Crystallizer..."

As Hugh read the strange name, he knew that this was probably another new type of weaponry developed by the workshop of the Muchi family, where Alfred lived. Combined with the reports he had seen in the newspapers about the Kingdom of Walter massively allocating funds to a certain area, Hugh had enough reason to believe that the shelling launched this morning probably also had the meaning of demonstration and showcasing results.

However, the city of Seren, which was once the target of the shelling, is now gradually fading from people's sight.

Because no one knows what's happening in the city of Seren anymore.

Even in this extremely tense situation, the Legal Committee is still unwilling to agree to relax the blockade of Seren. They refuse to lift the blockade ceremony imposed on Seren and have even gone to great lengths to reinforce the existing blockade ceremony site.

However, this blockade ritual was utterly powerless against the outside artillery fire. Its only function was to prevent any living thing in the city from leaving the city of Seren. In the first few days after the Legal Council implemented this measure, a large number of people in various countries expressed their opposition. However, as the atmosphere of war intensified, people's attention began to be quickly diverted and shifted.

Now, only a small number of people are still paying attention to the situation in Seren.

For most people, Seren is an "unimportant" city; they don't know the people in the city and have little awareness of what's happening there.

At a time when war could break out at any moment and engulf one's family and loved ones, simply forgetting about such a thing is a very, very ordinary decision.

Looking at the text that was compressed into the corners by major world affairs and military news, Hugh asked, "Miss Veraine, under what circumstances would the Legal Committee take such measures against a city?"

"I am not sure."

Vera shook her head: "However, when I was learning healing magic, I read some books on the subject. According to these books, the Law Council has only carried out three lockdown ceremonies targeting specific towns in the past three hundred years. However, such actions are generally aimed at large-scale magical plagues... the most typical example being the wolf plague."

Hughes nodded.

In his heart, however, there was another answer.

The existence of the Dark Abyss Offspring is clearly no secret to the Legal Council, and the blockade imposed on Seren is most likely to deal with these extremely dangerous and unpredictable magical creatures. However, what other plans the Legal Council has besides the blockade is something that Hugh can't know for sure right now.

Although Hugh had always believed that he had no special feelings for the city of Seren and its inhabitants, he still couldn't help but let out two helpless sighs when making those pessimistic predictions.

For the city of Seren, for the inhabitants of the plateau and plains caught up in the war, and even for the entire Vaan, this round of shelling was merely the beginning of disaster and turmoil.

……

The Adlon Hotel has once again become the focus of attention in Borden.

Following the shelling on the morning of the 10th, more and more people gathered at this location.

In fact, this is not the first time that the Adlon Hotel has been chosen as the venue for an important meeting, and this time, the meeting being held here is of a much higher caliber than ever before.

Many reporters had been waiting inside and outside the Adron Hotel all day, eager to know what new decisions the Kingdom of Walter and its allies had made after a full day of meetings.

Even more anxious were the legal representatives sent by the Legal Committee, as well as the envoys and diplomatic officials from the Kingdom of Delan.

They had been left waiting here for several days. The mages of Merlinle were alright, at least they had spellcaster officials of corresponding rank to receive them, but the envoys of the Kingdom of Delan were in a rather miserable state. Although they received very attentive hospitality in the hotel, that was all.

If officials can only eat and drink in the countries they visit, then their very existence is questionable.

In particular, the other side is preparing to go to war with its own country.

During the break between the two meetings, the official response from two guests in room 1049 of the hotel was successfully delivered to Princess Sofia. After receiving Princess Sofia's response, the surveillance on Hugh and his companion was lifted, and the two quickly left the Adlon Hotel, walking away from the reporters who were trying to enter the hotel.

After refusing several reporters who inexplicably tried to conduct interviews, Hugh and Vera finally managed to leave the Foreign Guests Avenue.

Here, both of them felt a sense of freedom that they had been away from for a very long time.

However, the golden eagle claw emblem they now carry serves as a constant reminder that they still have extremely important things to accomplish.

The streetlights on both sides of the road were already on, and Hugh and Vera stood together in the dim light at the intersection of Foreign Guest Avenue.

Watching the pedestrians passing by and the steam cars parked along the roadside, Hugh suddenly felt as if he had returned to the dream he had the night before, or as if he had returned to the past and become the ordinary office worker who rushed out early and returned late every day.

However, in the past, Hugh had never imagined that when he stood under the streetlight in a daze, he would have a female companion of the same age by his side.

Moreover, he was a mage.

Hugh pulled his thoughts back to reality and asked, "Miss Vera, what are your plans next?"

“I need to go back to the previous branch of the Legal Committee. There are still many things to take care of, and I’m afraid I’ll have to reapply for my Dharma Master certificate… The one issued by Merlinle in the past is probably no longer valid.”

Looking at the vibrant street, Vera seemed a little lost in thought. She slowly said, "By the way, I also need to help you register your official mage identity."

"They can even handle this kind of thing for you?"

"Hmm...all tutors can apply for these on behalf of their students."

Violet glanced at Hugh: "However, my years of experience as a mage registered with the Law Committee are too short. Although I have already obtained the Lake rating, I'm afraid I can only guarantee you a Raindrop-level ordinary certificate. You will have to deal with the rest of the assessment ratings yourself later."

"Thank you for your hard work, Miss Verin." "However, there is one thing I need to make clear: once I process your documents, you will be marked as Verin Ernst's student in all official records, understand?"

Without a second thought, Hugh gave Vera a positive answer.

In his understanding, this regulation seemed to have no essential difference from the authorship of the thesis supervisor.

However, after receiving a response, Verine gave a somewhat strange look, but she didn't say anything more. After the two agreed to meet at Ernst Manor, Verine, holding her magic book and wrapped in a scarf, walked to the other end of the street—she needed to catch a vehicle there to reach her destination.

Hugh, however, remained where he was.

His current appearance is rather strange. His thin figure and typical Ernst family features, along with the several magic books tied together with black velvet rope in his hands, make him look like a young noble scholar who is about to return home from a library or bookstore.

However, behind Hugh's back lies a crystal gun.

Although the revolver was wrapped in cloth, people could still recognize it by its appearance, which made Hugh's aura somewhat unique. Some young women passing by couldn't help but glance at him, and some newly arrived reporters were also attracted by Hugh's attire. Because he was carrying a crystal gun, they mistook Hugh for a reserve soldier who was about to join the army.

"That's enough."

Hugh shook his head. Under the watchful eyes of several whispering young girls, Hugh walked to a sculpture that offered shelter from the wind. Directly opposite him on the street was a shop.

It was a "herbal hot drink" shop, selling a type of herbal beverage that was very popular in the high-altitude region, not much different from the street-side beverage shops that Hugh remembered.

With the enhanced senses brought by the magic, Hugh noticed that when he and Verine arrived, two men wearing coats came to the hot drink shop. However, after ordering their drinks, they did not choose the warm indoor area, but instead stayed at the relatively cold outdoor table.

Hugh's senses told him that these two guys had been "spying" in his direction more than once.

It was obvious that these two guys were after him.

However, Hugh did not intend to go directly to "meet" them. He stood on the opposite side of the street, his gaze blank, pretending to be waiting for someone. However, the magic slowly began to turn, and the Messenger in the Mirror took effect at this moment.

In a gust of cold wind, a faint black mist appeared on Hugh's face and body.

At that moment, Hugh's gaze was focused on a metal billboard hanging in the beverage shop across the street. The shop owner must have cherished this billboard very much, as it had been polished and maintained very well. Under the streetlights, the patterns on it were constantly reflecting light, just like a mirror.

When the Mirror Messenger's power successfully took effect, Hugh felt his thoughts and consciousness successfully traverse an extremely long distance, as if he had plunged into water and plunged hard into the mirror-like metal sign.

The feeling of transferring and temporarily storing one's consciousness and thoughts in a mirror is truly magical.

The first thing Hugh felt upon entering that mirrored space was the cold.

"There is a discrepancy between the conclusions I reached during my previous experiments... Hiss, the space in this mirror is not independent. It looks more like a real world that is closely connected to the external environment."

Hugh's consciousness shuddered: "Thank goodness it's winter. If I were in a hot environment, wouldn't doing this overheat my brain?"

Despite the complaints, the help provided by the Mirror Messenger's abilities is equally clear and effective.

At least for this moment, Hugh was able to successfully peek at the situation at the store entrance and faintly hear people talking.

The two men were sitting at a table diagonally below the billboard, so their voices were exceptionally clear.

"I don't quite understand why an illegitimate child deserves to be treated this way."

A slightly younger man said this, the glass bottle of hot herbal drink he was holding was clearly not enough to ward off the cold. He breathed on it and then said, "If word got out that this treatment of illegitimate children was going to spread, people might guess that all the young men in the family were dead, which is why they were so eager to find illegitimate children."

"Shut up."

Compared to the young man's constant complaining, the middle-aged man sitting opposite him appeared much more composed: "Don't forget who you are loyal to. We only need to strictly carry out all orders from the family."

"Yes, I understand."

The young man responded, picked up the glass bottle and took two big gulps, then said comfortably, "Did you see that? What's he doing? He looks like a lamppost standing in the cold wind... and he's carrying a gun, huh, is he some kind of souvenir from the military camp?"

"Shut up!"

The middle-aged man muttered curses under his breath, but did not refute the other party's judgments. Clearly, he also had some doubts and dissatisfaction with the work he was currently doing.

He sighed and then said, "I hope this 'writer' stops standing on the street in the wind and settles down to write something. That would be better than this... Otherwise, we won't be able to take over. My wife is waiting for me to come home for dinner."

As they were talking, the figure who had been standing blankly across the street suddenly made a move.

He crossed the road and walked towards the hot drink shop.

At that moment, the two bodyguards from the Ernst family tacitly changed the subject and smoothly began to talk about the current tensions between Walter and Deland.

The illegitimate son who had attracted attention walked into the hot drink shop like an ordinary customer and quickly bought a bottle of herbal drink called "Warmth All Over," after which he walked out carrying the glass bottle.

And so we ended up at the table diagonally below the billboard.

"It's very cold, gentlemen."

Hughes extended his sincere greetings to the two Ernst family bodyguards who remained steadfast in their posts despite the weather: "The family must have arranged a vehicle nearby, right? If so, please take me back to the family estate now... Although I don't have high hopes, I still wish to be able to dine in my own bedroom tonight."

(End of this chapter)