The black sun hangs high

Chapter 363 "Greed"

"We need to head north."

Perhaps because the topic of their conversation was too important, after one cigarette burned out, the two people under the streetlights lit a second one without prior arrangement.

"Yes, to be precise, northwest... towards our hometown."

Mayer took off his hat and pressed it to his chest. On the distant sea, the lights of the Aurora and the other ships were still bright. Since the attack from the deep sea, these ships, which had been temporarily used as coastal defenses and gun emplacements, had been in a state of combat readiness.

"My hometown, ah."

Darswell took a deep drag of his cigarette and then slowly exhaled it. His hair was already somewhat disheveled, so in the dim light, Darswell looked somewhat like one of those refugees who had fled their homeland.

“My memory of Saint Steel is starting to fade; I’m almost forgetting what my hometown looks like…”

Darthwell leaned against a lamppost, glanced at his friend beside him, and sighed, “And now, we have to take so many people who have no connection with Saint Steel in that direction. If the war starts again, or if some new disaster breaks out, they may never come back.”

"To be honest, I'm not sure if it's right to make one group of people leave their hometown for the sake of another group's hometown and country."

He also looked at the Dawn Goddess in the distance, which was covered with a layer of bright light: "Mayer, when we first came together, it wasn't entirely for these things now."

"Yes."

Mayer nodded in agreement, but then added, "But back then, we probably never imagined Vaan would turn out like this, did we?"

As he spoke, he pointed to the document in Darthville's hand: "Look at the back. Hugh sent us a short letter from Merlinler, in which he emphasized some of his views on the current situation, including his thoughts on the future direction of the Dawn Society."

While his friend was reading the letter, Mayer said slowly, “I completely agree with his point of view. Although at first glance, our young comrade’s ideas may seem a bit 'practical,' in such a critical moment, practicality is often the best. I know you have more detailed and far-reaching ideas about the future of St. Steel and even the whole of Vaan, but all of this requires certain conditions.”

Darth Vader's gaze swept quickly across the letter, and soon he saw the words that Hugh had written in it.

"I believe that the Dawn Society's primary goal at present should be to align itself with the Legal Committee, Walter, and other nations and organizations within Vaan—any ideals and ultimate goals should be based on the premise that Vaan remains intact and civilization continues to exist. In other words, we need to focus our efforts primarily on combating those terrible disasters."

"I know, I know..."

Darthwell nodded, but a hint of disappointment appeared on his face: "And this is destined to be a long battle. We are not those long-lived elves, and we may not live to see the final outcome of this battle."

Meyer raised his hand and patted his friend heavily on the shoulder: "That's why I value Sally so much... I really hope that more young students like her will emerge. Perhaps after we change our base location, we should try to establish an academy and recruit more students?"

"Ha, didn't I already advise you about these things?"

"Isn't it a little too late to think about it now?"

Meyer stubbed out his cigarette and chuckled, “These plans can be organized by Felix first. He’s a young man, and he’s better at dealing with other young people than we are… As for us, we need to do some extra preparations before the actual march.”

“You mean things in the ocean? Hugh mentioned it in his letter, and I think it’s a bit too absurd.”

Darthwell frowned. "Does he really believe that those monsters in the ocean can make some kind of deal with us?"

“If the black sun also poses a serious threat to them, then I think this idea has a chance of being realized… Even if we can’t win them over as allies, we can at least maintain a peaceful situation for a certain period of time.”

Meyer shared his thoughts: "Remember what Gerald and the others found in the lab? These sea creatures can connect their power and mind together. Even now, we still have several 'captives' living in tanks in our lab... If we want to notify them to negotiate, it should be quite easy, it just depends on what they think."

"Oh well, anyway, all that's hanging in the sky is a black sun, so talking to a bunch of fish doesn't seem like a big deal."

Darthwell tossed his cigarette butt to the ground with some annoyance and then stomped it out: "Hopefully, by then, they won't look at us like we're food or enemies. I don't want to have to rely on guns and magic to communicate again; that's too tiring."

As he spoke, he reached out again, wanting to get a cigarette from Meyer, but this time, Meyer stuffed the cigarette pack into his pocket: "Now that you've finished talking, you're out of cigarettes... In my opinion, you should listen to what those doctors say. Anyway, it's just a minor injury, just bear with it!"

"I think you're the one whose ideas are too 'practical'!"

The two exchanged a few playful insults and then walked off in the same direction, continuing their conversation. Mayer's earlier statement that he had "finished talking" was nothing more than a casual joke.

On the crystallized street lamp where the two had just been, a brand-new poster promoting the Dawn Society was fluttering gently in the night breeze.

And on this poster, the latest flag logo of the Dawn Society has been prominently displayed.

The logo was spearheaded by Gerasimov, the painter who had previously created a massive magical artwork for the Firebearer. After incorporating submissions from numerous members of the Dawn Society and integrating suggestions from Hugh, the logo became simple yet distinctive.

It is round, and its outer frame looks like the huge gear in those heavy steam and alchemical machines, except that many fine magical patterns are depicted on this heavy gear frame.

Within this circular frame are several intersecting and overlapping patterns.

First is a standard revolver rifle, slender and stable, running from the lower left corner of the emblem to the upper right.

In the center is a classic-style silver sword, hilt facing upwards and blade downwards. To the right, corresponding to the revolver rifle motif, are tools representing craftsmen from different fields: a wrench at one end and a hammer at the other for striking parts.

Below these three overlapping patterns is an open book, which represents not only magicians but also scholars from almost every field.

These patterns are not the whole of the logo.

Just like other flags and patterns in Vaan that have undergone special magical treatment, the Dawn Society's emblem will reveal more details after being stared at for a long time. Fishermen have been surprised to find that after staring at the emblem for a while, they can see the faint ripples of water below the prominent patterns.

Farmers also discovered that a huge windmill pattern was hidden in the blank space above the sign, which was their symbol.

Far away in Merlinle and Hugh probably never imagined that the idea he had casually mentioned earlier could actually be successfully realized through the use of the magic drawing. This small symbol could indeed contain so many details and secrets.

……

Far away on the snowy plains of the North, Merlinle transformed into a massive and efficient machine.

After the Legal Committee successfully completed a rough alliance framework with the help of a group of deep-sea level mages, the originally somewhat sluggish meeting was immediately accelerated. All proposals that clearly targeted the interests of individual countries were removed from the meeting outline by the Legal Committee in the most direct way, and the participants who put forward these "useless proposals" were immediately reprimanded by the Legal Committee.

The Kingdom of Hein was the first to be affected.

It was clear to everyone that the Kingdom of Hein was eager to use this opportunity to further consolidate its maritime hegemony in Vaan. Even the sea people, who had long been isolated from worldly affairs, could clearly perceive the Kingdom of Hein's intentions.

However, Hughes himself was not actually that resistant to this matter.

Under the current circumstances, Vaan absolutely needs a sufficiently powerful naval force. Of course, this force cannot be simply controlled by a single country or organization. Faced with unknown threats in the sea and sky, it needs to demonstrate a sufficiently solid, effective, and long-lasting deterrent. More importantly, it must be stable enough. The blade of this sword must never be pointed at Vaan itself, much less be used for internal strife.

Hughes believed that the shrewd people in the Legal Committee were certainly well aware of these matters, and that someone like Master Edmund, who was hiding behind the Legal Committee, would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen.

It's not just the issues on the agenda that are starting to accelerate; a series of resolutions that have already been passed and are now being implemented are also being accelerated.

At the very top of the list are the special societies dedicated to dealing with ancient creations and magic.

“We can be certain that the ‘evil magic’ that everyone used to talk about has become a huge boulder in our way. If we don’t want to be crushed by this boulder along with Vaan, we must show the same spirit and attitude we had when we studied those difficult problems, use our knowledge as tools to smash it before it comes crashing down on us, or simply carve a path through this damned boulder!”

"I am well aware that those of you here may come from different countries and organizations, or belong to different societies or mage towers, but I hope that when you come here, you can temporarily put aside the limitations and constraints imposed on you by these identities... You will become the first members of the 'Vann Magic Society'. Note that this is not Merlinle, not the Law Committee, and not any other country."

“We take Vaan as our name, and everything we do here, whether it is academic research, cooperation or disputes, is for the future of Vaan and all its residents.”

"I hope everyone will keep this in mind."

The person in charge of this important speech was Professor Joan, the second-in-command of the emergency office who had met Hugh before. He was a steady, highly qualified magic scholar with rich academic research experience. Under the internal adjustment of the Law Committee, he had relinquished his original responsibilities and, under the supervision of those deep-sea level mages, became the person in charge of this new society.

Almost everyone voted in favor of this arrangement.

These mages and scholars may inevitably have their own opinions about the current Mellinger, but when those important deep-sea mages also appeared at this lecture, their inner enthusiasm was completely ignited.

"To the greatest extent possible, to the greatest extent possible, to the greatest extent possible, and to the greatest extent possible, tolerance for research methods."

When these three "maximums" that symbolize the tenets of the "Vann Magic Academy" were put forward, people were even more astonished.

In any case, the establishment of this special and massive magic society can be seen as the beginning of a new era.

At the same time, Merlinle issued a notice to the entire Vanne, announcing that from this day forward, the "Cartel" calendar, which originally symbolized prosperity and development, would come to an end, and the "Black Sun" calendar, named after the shadow of disaster overhead, would officially begin.

Merlinler also sent a copy of the notice in the direction of Saint-St.

The implications of this have naturally sparked a great deal of speculation among ordinary people.

Hughes walked out of the venue. In the center of the distant square, the huge "Cartel" calendar monument had been covered with a thick velvet cloth. Soon it would be moved and sent to the Merlinle and the Grand Memorial Hall.

"cough."

A soft cough came from behind. Hugh turned around and saw Verine handing him a small velvet pouch: "You'll probably need quite a few badges to carry with you from now on, so don't forget this."

Hugh took the cloth bag and poured the metal badge inside into his palm.

"You actually made it..."

He looked at the unusual badge, which had a peculiar design and a faint magical glow, and his expression became somewhat subtle.

Vera secretly observed Hugh for a moment, and then she discovered that there seemed to be a distant and vague passion hidden in Hugh's seemingly calm gaze. He stared at the pattern surrounded by the gear frame, and even seemed a little greedy.

(End of this chapter)