The black sun hangs high

Chapter 334 The Snow and Ice Have Not Yet Melted
A flight of about ten days is neither long nor short.

Without any further unexpected events or severe weather, this journey could even be described as safe and relaxing.

After some pre-departure maneuvers and arrangements, Hugh had even successfully deployed the Ernst family rat swarm to the military ships responsible for protecting the Windless.

Hugh didn't need to pay too much attention to these things, because the family wills that could maintain their vigorous energy as long as they had enough magic power had long been eyeing these large ships that were ahead of their time. Performing search and patrol missions for Hugh on these ships would not make them feel tired or bored. The large crystal cannons mounted on the armored ships alone were enough for them to study and play with.

The continued operation of these rats completely reassured Hugh about the situation of the fleet. Compared to the Windless itself, the military ships, with professional soldiers and mages from the Legal Committee as their crew, appeared very clean and pure. The rats even discovered some rather unfamiliar new rituals on these military ships.

It seems that the Legal Committee has been making changes as much as possible in the face of the Black Sun Society's infiltration threat. These magical rituals, which can test and probe thoughts and minds to a certain extent, should be one of the temporary methods they have developed.

With his safety assured, Hugh's attention naturally shifted to other matters.

Under Hugh's management and coordination, the members of the Dawnblade aboard the Windless Knight resumed their original work rhythm. They began to transmit the important intelligence and information they had collected and organized in batches. This information would become an important reference for the Dawnblade in its communication with other organizations and principalities.

The temporary laboratory on the Windless has been handed over to Legel and a group of scholars, and several mages, including Vilin, have also participated in the research and analysis of the sea monster samples.

Scholars agree that to understand the true nature of these creatures, they must start with their extraordinary magical power, and in this process, they desperately need the magical support of a professional mage like Virin.

In these matters, Veraine never refused.

Whenever faced with topics related to lost creations and magic, she would resolutely set aside all her pride and insistence, and treat every step and detail with the rigor of a true apprentice.

In this process, Hugh gradually revealed his understanding and judgment of the power of "Life Colors" to these scholars at a steady and slow pace, using various methods such as suggestion and guidance. He believed that as long as they found the right direction, these elites among the Vaan should soon be able to make new breakthroughs.

Beyond these busy daily tasks, Hughes reserved the quiet hours of the night for his untitled novel.

Hugh's ability to maintain an active mind and concentrate for long periods under the influence of magic gave him astonishing efficiency. Without any external interference, his work, which seemed to be set in the world of Vaan but had many differences, quickly made great progress.

Hugh made some adjustments and modifications to his experiences in the Waterloo army and his observations on the front lines, and then reproduced them in his own words.

Thus, the young driver, who had once had a close relationship with a businesswoman but later went to the front lines for various reasons, was caught up in the cruel grind of war. The faces he had managed to remember were torn apart in explosion after explosion, and those familiar or unfamiliar names eventually became cold numbers in war reports and military records...

At the beginning of the story, the lover who had spent many days and nights with the young protagonist gradually disappeared from his memory.

The longing for a lover, the need for material things, the reluctance to leave one's hometown, and the resentment towards the enemy—amidst the endless gunfire and the chilling mud, such emotions inevitably become covered with a thick layer of blood and grime.

The vibrant colors that emerged at the beginning of the story have now been completely submerged in this cruel scene...

And so, as this story came to a temporary end, the Windless had successfully sailed past the coast of the Principality of the Black River, and the second group of important passengers heading to Merlinle and attending the conference had also boarded the ship. And a certain female mage, who had finally managed to extricate herself from her work on the sample research and who considered herself a Hugh magic mentor, naturally became the first reader of this new content.

That night, Vera sat down at Hugh's desk with curiosity and anticipation and opened the notebook in front of her.

Even though Hughes usually tries to ignore certain subtle details and behaviors, he has to admit that when Verine is completely immersed in books and words, she exudes an exceptionally attractive charm.

Perhaps because she wasn't reading magic books that required rigorous calculations, nor documents or reports that required extracting key points, her expression was unusually relaxed, and her eyes were unusually soothed. At times, Hugh could even see a faint smile on her face.

However, mages are always very perceptive. Before long, Verin raised her eyebrows slightly, her gaze shifting to Hugh's face: "What are you looking at?"

Hugh shrugged, instantly finding a suitable answer in his mind: "In the past, apart from the editors at the newspaper, I basically never showed unfinished works to anyone... let alone in person. This situation would make me a little nervous, or rather, embarrassed?"

Upon hearing this answer, Weilin let out a soft, ambiguous laugh.

The mage's hand floated up and adjusted the angle of the crystal lamp on the table for her. Then she turned slightly to the side, barely avoiding Hugh's gaze, and then plunged back into the text that bore traces of erasure and modification.

It was a very long time before Weilin finally raised her eyes again.

She seemed somewhat unsatisfied, a hint of dissatisfaction and longing for what was to come flashing in her eyes. But then, she put the notebook back on the table, turned to Hugh and said, "I have two questions for you about this story... but I have a question for you."

Hugh raised his hand, indicating that Vera could ask any questions she wanted.

So the latter gathered his thoughts and asked, "Is it actually telling the story of 'Van'?"

Seemingly worried that Hugh wouldn't understand her question, Vera immediately added, "What I mean is, although I can see a lot of familiar things in it, I feel that the story itself isn't exactly the same as what's happening right now?"

She paused, then continued, "At least for now, I can't tell which country of Vaan your protagonist belongs to. Did you do this on purpose?" Hugh nodded, then replied, "Indeed, when I was writing this story, no single country was clearly in mind. So this protagonist could be a Voltel, or a Delan, or of course, he could be from Saint Steel or the Principality of Black River..."

"I just hope that people who read this story, no matter where they come from, can have relatively similar feelings... Therefore, the protagonist can be a citizen of any country, and so can the reader."

Hugh's answer made Vera frown. She thought about it in silence for a while before replying, "Okay, I've decided to wait until we've read the second half of the story before we discuss this, otherwise you'll definitely launch into another long speech."

"anytime."

Vera breathed a sigh of relief. She gently waved her fingers, and the Mage's Hand appeared, bringing her a clean water glass. Because she was always "visiting other people's rooms," Hugh's cabin was already equipped with her usual beverage jug and cup.

After expertly pouring herself a hot drink, she held the cup and asked, "May I ask what the story will be like from here on out? It seems a bit heavy now, and I think your past readers probably only wanted to read the beginning, right?"

"There's nothing I can do about it. At least for now, I haven't found a suitable solution... But writing a few snippets occasionally to add color to the story is fine."

Hugh smiled nonchalantly: "If it's ever really necessary, or if there's someone important who wants to read it, I'll write that kind of thing then. It's not that difficult anyway..."

"whispering sound."

Vera gave a soft, complex laugh, but instead of commenting on Hugh's words, she said, "So, the future development of the plot probably won't be clear until you arrive in Merlinle?"

"Not necessarily."

As he spoke, Hugh's gaze shifted to a newspaper on the table.

This is the latest newspaper delivered by the Windless during its brief stop at the port of the Principality of Black River. On its front page, there is a magical photograph, the main subject of which is a restless crowd—soldiers dressed in basically the same clothes seem to be divided into two distinct factions, confronting and arguing.

This magical photograph is in black and white, without any special coloring. This characteristic suggests that the photograph most likely came from the front lines, or at least from a camp near the front lines. The heavy clothing of the soldiers arguing with each other in the photograph indicates their nationality.

Vera then noticed the news in front of her. She picked up the newspaper and exclaimed in surprise, "The army of Saint Steel...is in turmoil?"

"It hasn't come to that yet, but right now, their army is in a bad situation and could split or mutiny at any time."

As Hughes spoke, he gently placed his palm on the cabin window, where he could now easily feel the low temperature emanating from the sea outside.

Meanwhile, farmers in the southern regions were already nervously preparing for their first sowing under the black sun, but the area north of the Black River Principality was still shrouded in the cold of winter, and a new dark cloud seemed to be brewing in this chill that seemed to have no end in sight.

……

"The information is accurate. The Saint Steel army has now come to a complete standstill. It has been a full six days since they last launched an artillery barrage on the front lines."

In an elegantly decorated office within the headquarters of the Legal Committee, a Lake-level military mage was giving a report: "We have confirmed using magic and balloons that the supply line, which was previously interrupted by long-range artillery fire, has been restored, but the Saint Steeles have still not launched a new offensive."

Following the report from the accompanying mage, a sophisticated magical puppet, shaped like a tall, slender human with exceptionally long, thin arms, came to life, quickly making corresponding markings on the magical sandbox beside it.

The accompanying mage then added, "It seems that our attempts have yielded great results. Many soldiers in St. Steel are completely unaware of what is happening in their rear, and the fact that their military is deliberately cutting off communication between soldiers and their families has made the soldiers very dissatisfied."

"As far as we know, the people of the Kingdom of Walter are doing something similar, and they are indeed doing it better than the Delan people. Our people even received help from Walter spies when spreading those messages."

At this point, the accompanying mage changed the subject: "However, according to our reliable intelligence, some mages from the Black Sun Society and a few members of the Saint Steel royal family have already arrived at the front lines. The riots we caused in the army will probably be suppressed by them soon... Moreover, our informants are now finding it difficult to operate, and they will be caught in no time."

Inside the office, several senior officials from the Legal Committee, who were receiving a report, exchanged glances. Then, one of them sighed, "Who would have thought that the highlanders, who used to be the most hostile towards us, are now more willing to cooperate with us, while some of the plains principalities are..."

He didn't continue speaking, but everyone present understood the implication.

The attitudes of the smaller duchies closer to Saint Steel have become extremely volatile. Some of the greedy nobles have even started to try to "eat from both sides," and the Kingdom of Delan, which should have had complete control over them, is now overwhelmed.

Delan's army continued to move around, and their main focus had shifted to the north. However, with the changing seasons, the difficulty of logistics and transportation began to rise sharply. Coupled with the ambiguous attitude of some principalities and organizations, the speed of Delan's army's transport was further slowed down, and the front-line areas, with the Principality of Black River as the main pillar, were also in a state of tension.

The atmosphere in the office was somewhat oppressive, so a relatively young official spoke up: "Fortunately, the Windless One is about to arrive, and at least these people's attitude is very clear. Let's see if we can reach more cooperation next... I hope everything goes smoothly."

(End of this chapter)