The sun is high

From the moment he saw Sophia, Shuge had already made up his mind and would not easily believe any of her words.

If the princess of Walter wants to understand and verify the strange events and disasters that happened in Salem City, Shuge can still understand. After all, Sophia is now closely related to Walter's military system and has extremely frequent contact. , understanding these events may be able to provide certain help to troops and soldiers on the front line.

But if Sophia said that she knew nothing about Prince Havid's death, Shuge would never believe it.

He was certain that no matter when and where, the struggle for imperial power had always been the center of conspiracy and struggle.

A princess who can gain the support of the people and win the trust of the military by virtue of her personal abilities... is not too simple no matter how you think about it.

In the past few days after waking up, Shuge had asked Alfred and Weilin more than once to confirm the circumstances of Prince Havid's assassination. When he learned that the vehicle in which Prince Havid was riding When it was theoretically possible to cross the battlefield filled with artillery fire, Xiuge knew that the path to this matter was probably much more complicated than he expected.

In this assassination incident that shocked most of Van En, there were not only the shadows of the independent government of Salem City and the Black Sun Society, but the traces of the Walter royal family were also very obvious. In comparison, he was hit on the head by that series of combination punches. The confused Delan Kingdom and those "hot-blooded youths" who were completely used as gunmen seemed particularly passive and pathetic.

Of course, Shuge could understand the meaning of Princess Sophia's last words.

She dared to call herself the princess in front of the two of them and the royal steward, which is enough to show that Sophia has indeed gained an absolute upper hand in the current struggle for heir power. Not only that, she has also started active preparations - —Expand your own sphere of influence and extend it to some new areas.

The Ernst family was apparently one of her targets.

Thinking of this, an idea quickly formed in Xiuge's mind, so he looked up at the tall figure opposite and asked: "Your Highness, let me ask a question... Marshal Zeke, or the Ernst family in the army Has the influence in the system hindered you?"

Sophia's eyes paused on Shuge's face. She did not nod or shake her head, but said directly: "Marshal Zeke is my military teacher, and he is also the founder of the current military theory of the Kingdom of Votel. The Ernst family, on the other hand, has continuously contributed precious elite talents to many fields throughout the kingdom, especially in the military field... They are all indispensable pillars of the kingdom."

At this time, even Wei Lin understood what Sophia meant.

The princess who is about to show off her talents seems to be dissatisfied with the current situation in the Kingdom of Walter where a considerable number of nobles divide and control the military power. After all, the army is her foothold at the moment, so in this field , she would never be willing to share it with anyone.

Now that the words have been spoken, Sophia's plans and ideas are very obvious. At least based on the current situation, she hopes someone can explore the internal situation of the Ernst family for her.

As for the statement that he hopes to compete for the position of family heir, Xiuge temporarily regards it as a superficial argument. After all, his current situation is really special. Even if he searches through the entire Van En, he may not be able to find an illegitimate child fighting in the family. cases of success.

"Your Highness, can you give us some time to discuss and think?"

"Of course, but only for the next two days."

Sophia seemed to know that Shuge would not give her an answer immediately. She nodded slightly, then turned to look at the housekeeper Finn: "Arrange a meeting for me with the envoys of Delan and Salem. As for Merlinle and Let the professionals deal with the mage... The meeting of the alliance countries will be adjusted to the morning of the day after tomorrow."

After Finn nodded, Sophia said to Shuge: "Then the afternoon of tomorrow is the deadline for you two to give your response."

After saying that, she suddenly showed a bright smile: "Don't worry, I won't do anything ruthless to keep the secret. Of course, I also hope that you two can keep it secret...Today's dinner was very pleasant. We can have a good conversation if we have a chance."

"Besides, Mr. Sugar, I really like your work."

…

Shuge and Weilin, who were "sent" back to the room by the Ymir Legion soldiers, sat in the living room and fell into a long silence together.

Wei Lin is a little autistic.

She had never regretted the decisions she had made in the past, but this time, she really regretted accepting the commission from the Ernst family.

Wei Lin thought about it seriously, and then confirmed that if she had not accepted the commission, she should be seriously studying her own subject or learning and dismantling new magic in a library now.

Rather than being sucked into this whirlpool that makes people tremble all over.

And this time, the upcoming troubles are more complicated than those she faced before. As a scholar who adheres to the idea and habit of "solving problems according to problems", she is really worried about this power swamp full of dilemmas and interpersonal relationships. ...thank you for not being sensitive.

Of course Shuge is also autistic.

It's just that what makes him confused and nervous is not the choice he may make next, but the mystery that exists in the Ernst family's movements.

"There is no need for Princess Sophia to lie to me, and what she said can be matched with the clues Weilin provided... If what Sophia said is true, that means that I have never really Out of sight of the Ernst family, surveillance on the original owner of this body had already begun when he left Bolden and was sent to Salem."

This series of conjectures made Xiuge feel very uncomfortable. Even though he was in a VIP room at the Adlon Hotel at the moment, and there were even elite Ymir Legion soldiers guarding the door, he still had a strong feeling. The feeling of being watched and spied on.

Not only that, but the behavior of the Ernst family gave him a not-so-good association.

"Black Sun Society?"

Xiuge silently read out this name that was full of strange and ominous meanings.

He always felt that the series of plans and actions of the Black Sun Society in Salem City seemed to be vaguely consistent with the trajectory left by the Ernst family. However, the problem was that Shuge had no direct evidence to prove this. a little.

"Miss Wei Lin? Miss Wei Lin?"

Xiuge called out twice, and the female mage who was a little dizzy finally woke up from her chaotic thoughts. She looked at Xiuge blankly and said "huh?" at the same time.

To be honest, her appearance is quite interesting.

However, Xiuge had no idea of ​​appreciation at the moment. He asked: "Miss Weilin, what do you... think of Princess Sophia's 'invitation'?"

Wei Lin looked at the young man in front of her. She leaned back on the chair slightly, and then she said softly: "Mr. Shuge, I want to explain one thing first... I actually don't have any objections to you personally. , In fact, you are easier to get along with than almost all the young nobles in my impression."

This time, it was Xiuge's turn to look strange.

As if realizing that there was something wrong with her words, Weilin coughed slightly, readjusted her state, and said: "I'm not praising you specifically, but just so that you can better understand what I'm going to say next. if."

"Well, it's even weirder."

Xiuge complained silently in his heart, while maintaining calm on the surface.

Seeing that Xiuge did not show any abnormality, Weilin finally returned to the usual state, and her voice became cold again: "My pursuit, or my personal goal, has always been To further dig and study the secrets of magic, I never mind paying any price for them, even if I may be in danger and pay the price with my life."

Xiuge continued to nod in cooperation.

"But I don't know what to do with Princess Sophia's invitation."

After a brief period of clarity, hesitation and entanglement once again occupied Wei Lin's eyes: "I must admit that the conditions proposed by the princess are very tempting, but my intuition tells me that once I accept this invitation, I, or we, will face Everything there is likely to be more dangerous than what happened in Salem City."

"I see."

Xiuge responded, then he fetched a kettle from the side and poured a glass of water for Wei Lin: "If it is really difficult to make a choice, you might as well rest for a night first. Maybe you can think more clearly after a night's sleep. .”

Wei Lin lowered her head and reached out to take the water glass.

"So, what do Mr. Sugar think about this invitation?"

Facing this problem, Xiuge grinned helplessly: "Miss Weilin, my situation is different from yours... Counting from the past, the choices I can make have always been limited. Many times, I even There is no room for choice at all, and the reasons for all this are very complicated. It may be my family, my life experience, or of course it may be something else."

"Faced with limited conditions, time and choices, all I can do is choose the lesser of two evils, that's all."

The light in the living room is still bright, and the female elf sculpture by the door is still charming, but under the light, there are inevitably some shadows and blind spots on her body that cannot be illuminated.

“But I always believe that the choices an individual can make often match the power, background and capital he possesses and controls, and when all of this reaches a certain limit, people will naturally be able to carve out a third line from it. Here comes the path.”

"So for this invitation, I will choose to accept it."

Xiuge said in a deep voice: "Because only by accepting it can I avoid facing such a dilemma again in the future... Only when I solve the mysteries in my body and solve the root causes of these troubles can I be truly free. "

Wei Lin frowned slightly, but she did not refute what Shuge said. After listening to the last sentence, she asked curiously: "Real freedom? Okay, then suppose Mr. Shuge is really free one day." What will you do if you get 'real freedom'?"

"Who knows? Maybe I will stuff all the princes, princesses, noble family law committees, etc. into the same work, and then write them in a way that everyone will like to read."

"What a great ideal."

Wei Lin rolled her eyes, picked up the water glass, then stood up and walked to her room.

"Good night!"

The moment the door closed, her voice squeezed out from the crack of the door and fell crisply into the living room.

This is bound to be a sleepless night.

Although the situation was unprecedentedly safe and the sleeping environment was extremely comfortable, Xiuge was still unable to fall asleep deeply.

And when he finally got rid of his chaotic thoughts and successfully fell asleep, he had that dream again.

Xiuge once again dreamed of the boundless ocean, and once again dreamed of the huge ship.

As before, he held the compass and walked on the deck, but this time the sea was calm and there was warm sunlight shining in the sky.

Strange fish with huge wings and stubby limbs jumped up in groups from the side of the big boat. They looked at Shuge, the only guest on the boat, in amazement. Their gills kept trembling and they made strange sounds in their mouths. .

There seemed to be an "island" slowly emerging from the sea in the distance. After casting a cold glance in the direction of the giant ship, the island sank into the water again.

Shouge held the compass and walked to the side of the ship, and he was surprised to see that this huge ship actually had "oars". To be precise, they were black tentacles twisted into oars. They moved from the hull of the ship. The side of it is growing out, and it is constantly paddling in the sea water.

Everything was so bizarre, but Shuge couldn't point out anything strange about it.

"I'm going to the bow of the ship to take a look..."

Probably because he was in a dream, when this thought came to mind, Xiuge had already reached the far end of the deck as he wished.

At the bow of the ship, Xiuge saw an extremely huge bow image.

Xiuge approached it, but when he got closer, he couldn't see the shape of the ship's prow clearly. It seemed to be constantly changing, like a twisting fog, and sometimes it seemed impossible to distinguish. The humanoid figures of both sexes sometimes look like a strange and ferocious beast, and sometimes they look like an octopus with countless terrifying tentacles.

In a strange change, the sun was gradually blocked by thick clouds.

Xiuge cast his sight into the distance, only to see a faint thin line appearing on the horizon.

The sea next to the big ship was still extremely calm, but under this calmness, there was a suffocating depression.