The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 97: 'Smoke and Roses' Siena

Faced with Herris’s teasing, Norez’s expression did not change. He knew all too well how malicious her personality could be. If he were gullible like those fools and actually believed her words, that woman would have him wrapped around her finger in no time. He had seen too many precedents to fall for it.

“No need for a duel. Today is the Silver Bell Festival, not the place for fighting.” With that, he waved his hand and dismissed the Tetis apprentices standing beside him.

Seeing this, Herris waved her hand in boredom as well, allowing the Hidden Grove members who had gathered to disperse and move freely.

Sylutia was about to leave when Herris’s voice suddenly sounded behind her.

“You, yes, the girl with black hair, turn around.” Sylutia thought for a moment — there were only a few black-haired girls here; could she be the one?

She turned and noticed Herris’s raised finger pointed directly at her.

Norez had not yet left. Seeing Herris blocking a student from his college, he walked over. Herris did not step aside when she saw him; she came straight to Sylutia’s front. They were similar in height, but Herris wore high heels today, allowing her to look down slightly at the girl.

“You’re special,” she said, blinking her purple eyes.

“Th-this…” Sylutia avoided the other’s gaze, feeling awkward.

Herris probably did not know Sylutia had come to the Mage Alliance. If she had, she would have avoided contact to prevent suspicion.After speaking, Herris circled Sylutia, scrutinizing her and occasionally nodding.

“I feel you’d make a fine candidate for becoming a witch. How about it? Interested in joining our Hidden Grove Alliance? I can promise you the best treatment, and as a senior and older sister, I can prepare a set of high-quality resources you’ll need for advancement, free of charge.”

Before Sylutia could answer, Norez frowned and stepped in front of her.

“What you’re offering, our college can provide as well. Also, even toward a guest, this conduct crosses a line.” He warned the witch.

“Giggling, of course I know what I’m doing,” Herris responded, withdrawing her gaze and looking at Norez.

“Compared to face and etiquette, I think this girl’s future matters more. You can see her mental power is very stable, and she has good looks and figure. With our school’s secret arts, we could maximize her charm and also amplify the Nightmare Aspect’s effects to the fullest.”

“A girl like this would be wasted as a mere mage.”

“Besides, she hasn’t advanced yet; anything is possible.”

Hearing them discuss her looks and figure, Sylutia felt embarrassed and only wanted to leave quickly.

“Heh, shy already, how cute.” Herris watched Sylutia fidget and suddenly felt the urge to tease the girl.

“All right, don’t bother my junior any more.” Norez stepped in to rescue Sylutia.

“Hedra, you’re free to move around now. No need to linger here.”

“Yes, thank you, senior.” The girl then avoided Herris’s gaze, turned, and walked away. As she left the area, she still heard the conversation behind her.

“Didn’t expect you to be so protective of your junior. Weren’t you rather cold before…”

Descending the steps and reentering the exhibition hall below, Sylutia finally shook off Herris’s entanglement and rejoined the Silver Bell Festival activities.

She continued wandering through the exhibition halls. She watched a performance at the Opera School’s hall, but Lovier wasn’t there today. According to people from Lovier’s college, Lovier was participating in the main campus’s Silver Bell Festival activities and thus did not attend here.

As the event time approached, Sylutia encountered the bard Ailofeis, who had just finished a meeting and was strolling through the corridor to admire the view. Two Hidden Grove attendants accompanied him, both roughly Seventh Tier.

Although they knew each other, at that time Res Tia did not greet him and quietly walked past.

Turning his back to many men, the bard looked at the pale sky nearby and murmured to himself,

“The dawn in the clouds blooms from above, like the ugly leaves of the white hyacinth.”

Hearing that line, Sylutia’s steps paused for a few seconds, then she continued. After the girl left the corridor, Ailofeis also finished admiring the view and departed with his two attendants.

When the agreed gathering time came, Sylutia returned to the Tetis College area. Apprentices were returning in small groups, chatting about their visits to the various exhibition halls.

Soon, guests began to leave. The central plaza’s stone steps could bring nearly a thousand people down at once, and Sylutia’s group was among the last batches to depart.

Afterward, Norez led his members back to the college. It was already past nine in the morning.

Having spent the whole night at the festivities, Sylutia felt a bit sleepy. She returned to her lodging and slept until three or four in the afternoon before slowly waking.

When she came to, she sat at the edge of the bed and recalled the line Ailofeis had recited. It was likely from the elf traditional tale “Syrlen,” which tells of Syrlen returning to her homeland decades after leaving, seeing the hillside and sea of flowers where she once lived, feeling bittersweet nostalgia, and then being welcomed by childhood companions to tears. The bard’s meaning was probably to express that the Hidden Grove still waited and welcomed her, and she shouldn’t feel like a stranger because she was away.

Indeed — they had even deliberately waited in that corridor for her.

Sylutia got out of bed, smoothed her messy hair in the mirror, then changed into a light dress and left her room.

The sun leaned westward and the warmth lingered; the sun-baked soil was slightly dry and still faintly warm. She went to the garden behind the house, removed some weeds, and sowed the new seeds she had bought. After finishing, Sylutia sat on the wooden bench beneath the eaves, stretched her legs, leaned back, and enjoyed the evening breeze with her eyes half-closed. She savored the peaceful scene and dozed off for a while.

When dusk fell, she returned indoors to prepare dinner, then bathed, changed into nightclothes, and read until she fell asleep.

A leisurely day had passed; now she needed to prepare fully for advancement.

She had already gathered the mithril needed for the Astronomical Clock’s core component. The remaining requirements were the gemstone bearings and other metal parts.

The gemstone bearings could use up to twenty-five pieces. If she used all Rare-quality gems, it would cost around 7,000 gold coins. If the metal parts all used high-quality mithril, that would be another 4,000 gold coins — a total of 11,000 gold coins.

This would be the top configuration for the Astronomical Clock Page. Including the earlier mithril, the total expense would be about 14,000 gold coins. With other materials and processing fees, it could reach roughly 15,000 gold coins. By comparison, the minimum resources needed for a Third Tier knight’s advancement cost only 100 gold, an ordinary mage might need 600–800 gold, and Tetis College elites might spend 3,000–5,000 gold — expenses ordinary people could scarcely imagine.

Although the cost was huge, the benefits were real. Completing such a core ability would improve effect delivery, make spell model construction smoother, and provide stronger amplification.

Sylutia counted her current savings: she had 900 gold from before, and she earned 1,280 gold from completing two tasks, totaling 2,180 gold coins.

She had gathered about one-fifth of what she needed. After thinking it over, she didn’t blindly take more tasks. Instead, she checked the Task Hall’s records and then went to the merchant stalls outside the college to gather information.

After two days of research, Sylutia summarized several ways to make money. The fastest three were: Shadow World exploration, enchanted artifact crafting, and alchemy. Since she wasn’t qualified yet for Shadow World exploration, she could only choose the latter two.

However, crafting enchanted items is best done when there is an urgent buyer; if she made items herself and waited to sell them, it would take a long time to recoup funds. The final option was alchemy. Due to war and exploration demands, mainstream potions always had steady sales. If she could supply them, workshops or organizations would purchase immediately.

First, she decided to take crafting-related tasks. Returning to the Task Hall — where she was now somewhat of a familiar face — the receptionist quickly recommended a newly posted job.

Task: Craft an Engraved Rifle. The client requires the rifle to be crafted per their specifications, and to have five enchantments applied: Lock, Explosion, Impact, Stability, and Armor-Piercing, all reaching Superior quality. Among these, Sylutia had never worked with the Lock, Explosion, and Stability runes before.

“You haven’t practiced these three runes yet, right? But that’s okay. The client can provide free tutoring.” The receptionist glanced at the paperwork in her hand.

“She’ll come tomorrow afternoon. Meet in the Task Hall at two. She’ll explain the requirements and teach those three runes.”

“All right.” Sylutia was curious. The client was so meticulous; they clearly cared about this weapon’s creation.

With nothing else to do today, Sylutia returned home and began experimenting with the White Moon Potion formula she had recently bought.

Because it was a Luminous Moon Aspect potion, its main materials required purified Luminous Moon ingredients. The recipe suggested using Evening Primrose; alternatively, Moonwhite Stone, Tear of the Weeping Moon, Purifying Herb, and Spring Water could be used.

Evening Primrose grew where moonlight gathered in the forest, absorbing Luminous Moon energy and mutating into a special flower. If in elf territory, elves would build moon wells to channel lunar power and cultivate such plants. Thus, most Evening Primrose on the market came through trade with elves.

Moonwhite Stone is a special ore containing Luminous Moon power, said to originate from ancient times when Proud Sun and Phantasmal Moon rose together, their energies dispersing and later forming many gems buried deep within the earth.

Tears of the Weeping Moon are said to be tears shed by high-ranking Luminous Moon beings; some came from fairies, others from unicorns. They are extremely rare on the market and indeed precious when used to craft White Moon Potion.

Purifying Herb is a rare plant with innate cleansing effects, rumored to be a blessing produced by a contracted fairy of ancient times.

Spring Water originally described the clear springs of the Land of the Moon. After the Silver Moon Dragon fell and the Land of the Moon descended into the Twilight Sea, Meleranke recreated such holy water as part of a powerful secret art to quell disasters. Because of this, she gained authority over purification and rose to become a Named One.

Sylutia paused on Evening Primrose and the Spring Water.

If she made the potion herself, she would certainly use Spring Water since she could produce it herself and wouldn’t need to buy it. The only downside was explaining she knew the Silver Radiance Church’s ancient secret art. Selling something crafted with Spring Water would be harder to justify; using Evening Primrose would make more sense for sales.

For practice, though, she decided to use Evening Primrose first. She closed her door, set up a sealing-imbued magic array, and went to the alchemy lab. She closed her eyes, calmed her mind, and a thick picture book appeared. Flipping to a certain page, the sealed Spring Water manifested and was placed on the table.

[Sylutia’s Spring Water] (Third Tier · Rare)

This was leftover ingredient from when she made purification potions in the Hidden Grove. If she used this, she could produce [Moon Dew of the Clear Spring] (Fourth Tier · Luminous Moon).

Thinking that using this to make White Moon Potion felt like wasting the core, she nevertheless decided to experiment.

Sylutia began manipulating the ingredients per the formula, preparing the base solution, then repeatedly transforming and adding other potions for modulation.

About an hour later, her first product appeared.

[White Moon Potion] (Third Tier · Rare), a potion that purifies Distortion erosion. It can be ingested or applied externally.

Looking at the potion in her hand, she summarized the shortcomings and lessons from the test and started a second trial.

The second bottle reached Fourth Tier standard quality. She spent the night refining the method, and by late at night she produced a bottle at Fourth Tier · Rare quality.

That was likely the limit — she had combined the Silver Radiance Church’s secret techniques to achieve it. Relying only on the recipe would not reach such quality.

Staring at the clear, faintly glowing potion, Sylutia stored it away in her space. She couldn’t sell it directly — explaining its origins would be difficult.

After a solid night’s sleep, Sylutia went to the academy’s materials exchange in the morning and bought ten Evening Primrose plants.

[Evening Primrose] (Second Tier · Good), a flower imbued with Luminous Moon Aspect, usable in potion-making.

Back home, following the previous night’s experience, she quickly produced White Moon Potion and, after adjustments, reached Third Tier · Good quality. That was the limit because the raw materials weren’t high quality.

Most people with those materials could make Second Tier · Rare potions, which is already decent.

One batch of material costs 10 gold and could be sold as potion for about 50–80 gold — quite profitable, Sylutia thought.

In truth, ordinary mages could make Second Tier · Excellent potions, selling for 12–15 gold. Failures could lose money. Professional alchemists could produce Second Tier · Superior or Second Tier · Rare potions, selling for 20–30 gold and making real profit.

It was not yet noon when Sylutia put the potions in her pouch and went to the academy cafeteria to eat, then headed to the Task Hall to wait.

By two in the afternoon, a man with a narrow-brimmed hat arrived. He wore leather armor and hunting gear, his blond hair bright. After enquiring at the counter, he slowly turned and looked toward a man sitting on a bench in the hall corner. The man had walked over before.

“Little sister, are you the one taking the task?” the blond man leaned forward and asked the seated man. His ample posture shrank in Res Tia’s view, radiating a faint chill and the smell of gunpowder and smoke.

“It’s you.” Res Tia stood up and took a step forward.

Seeing Sylutia’s shy demeanor amused the blond; he appraised her with a wandering gaze.

“Although I like cute girls, if you’re too clumsy and can’t finish, I won’t pay.”

“Ahaha, hope I didn’t scare you. I’m actually pretty tolerant.” He glanced around, then took Sylutia to the counter.

“Prepare a quiet room. I’ll teach her the rune techniques she needs.”

“All right, please wait here.”

Sylutia could hardly get used to it. Meeting someone and immediately being led to a room — though it was for learning — felt strange. But surely the client wouldn’t harm her; after all, this was Tetis College.

They followed staff to a quiet study on the second floor. The room had large bright windows, a tea stove, and a table — a perfect place for learning. Seeing the setting, Sylutia relaxed slightly. The blond lounged in a chair, crossing his legs and resting his head on his arm.

“Let me think. Right, I’ll teach you the Lock, Explosion, and Stability runes,” he said, snapping his fingers. Orange-red lines appeared in the air, forming diagrams.

“You can look at their structures first. Then I’ll explain the theory and how to build them.”

“Actually, these are secrets from the Fire Essence School. Their rarity isn’t too high, so sharing them with you is not a big problem. But you must promise me not to teach them to others.”

“I understand.” Sylutia nodded. If promising was enough, she would do it.

The blond then began a detailed explanation of the principles. “The Fire Essence School specializes in making gunpowder, explosives, and powerful blast spells. Their muskets and cannons are sought-after high-quality products by many nations.”

Sylutia’s prior experience crafting the Silver Purification Blade made her a fast learner. In one afternoon, she grasped the basics of the three runes.

“Not bad, at first I thought you were arrogant for being only Second Tier,” he said.

“Now I see you truly have talent. No wonder you could come to Tetis College.” He sat up, changed his leg position, and tapped the table lightly.

“Let me think. If you can craft a Fourth Tier · Superior weapon to spec, I’ll pay you 600 gold and give you three Third Tier · Rare rubies.” That combined value totaled about 1,500 gold. If she bought such a Fourth Tier · Superior weapon on the market, it wouldn’t be custom-made and thus unlikely to meet the client’s exact needs.

“I’ll do my best,” Sylutia replied, then prepared to open the door and leave.

“In a hurry to go?” the man rose and stepped forward as well.

“I forgot to tell you my name. Call me Siena. Codename: Smoky Rose.”

After saying that, he passed Sylutia, opened the door, and left. Before departing, he waved to the girl and tossed a small item to her.

“A gift for you~” With that, he left.

Sylutia picked up the slightly heavy metal square he had thrown. She fiddled with its mechanism and, with a soft click, a faint red flame instantly sprayed out.

It turned out to be a lighter. Its principle must be entirely different from the past world’s, but the workmanship was surprisingly exquisite.