The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 23: The Forestry Association's Investigation

Vol 2 Chapter 23 The Forestry Association's Investigation

After handing over the wheat of perfect quality, Sylutia was directly arranged by the association staff to stay in a high-end room within the association. This room was generally used to entertain distinguished guests, and it had been vacant recently, so it was just right for her short stay.

The fabrics and decorations in the room used large areas of deep blue, paired with a small amount of cold white, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a starry night sky. Various amenities were also exceptionally high-end and exquisite. A set of exquisite iris-blue porcelain tea set was placed on the table.

Sitting at the small round table in the room, Sylutia used the tea leaves provided on the table to brew a pot of orange-red tea, then slowly savored it.

'Rising Wind Black Tea' (Rare): Made from the buds and leaves of tea trees harvested during the Rising Wind Season, refined through typical processes such as withering, rolling, fermentation, and drying. Can relieve fatigue, boost spirits, and replenish vitality.

Although she drank tea relatively little, during the few months she stayed at the Camel Tower, she discovered that tea was always a scarce item among the apprentices.

This was because prolonged use of the Meditation Method for training would keep the mind constantly tense and in a state of exhaustion. If one did not rest properly and continued using the Meditation Method, it could instead damage mental consciousness.

She had been busy with gardener matters before, hadn't practiced the Meditation Method much, hadn't participated in intense battles, and hadn't used spell-like abilities frequently, so she had little need for tea.

In the future, she could consider growing tea trees to make money. High-quality tea was even more in short supply than food. After all, eating a little less food wasn't a big problem, but if mental fatigue wasn't relieved promptly, it would delay learning progress and also reduce combat effectiveness.

After resting and sleeping in this room, the next day arrived.Not long after getting up in the morning, Sylutia received a notification that a big shot wanted to see her.

Several maids from the association came to her room to help her straighten her dress and hair. They then simply tied a bow on the back of Sylutia's hair, making her look slightly cute and possessing the beauty of a young maiden, but not appearing too childish either, giving a just-right impression.

Following the maids to the reception room on the third floor of the association, where the floor was covered with deep purple carpets, when Sylutia arrived at that room, the guiding maid signaled that she could knock and enter.

"Hello," she said, knocking twice before pushing open the unlocked door and walking in.

In the spacious reception room, there was a large, dark-colored hardwood long table. The chairs were currently all empty. Only one man with deep red hair stood with his back to her by the window. He wore a bright yellow wizard-style coat, a color similar to autumn leaves.

Hearing the footsteps of the young girl entering, he turned around, revealing a face that wasn't old, looking to be around 40 years old. But as a Transcendent, his true age was hard to know.

"Hello, I am Sylutia."

"Hello, please sit first," he said casually, but even so, there was an undeniable authority in his tone.

This wizard in the bright yellow coat had strength around the 'Fifth Tier'. Even getting a little close gave Sylutia a powerful sense of oppression.

This feeling was similar to riding a small bicycle on the road, then having a large truck fully loaded with goods slowly drive past your side. The shadow of the entire truck blocked most of the light, and the heat emanating from the vehicle brushed over the skin, causing a slight fear to rise in one's heart. Even if the other party wasn't targeting you, just a slight change or mistake could crush you on the roadside, and then drive away without noticing.

The other party's Aspect should also be 'Verdant Nectar'. When he got close to Sylutia, she felt her Fate Card trembling slightly, as if it could be twisted and bent at any moment.

At this point, the other party also seemed to notice the situation, so he stopped walking. The invisible pressure emanating from him then slowly decreased, finally settling into calmness.

Only in this state could Sylutia catch her breath and relax a little.

No wonder Instructor Heide said that once the difference in Aspect tiers exceeded three, it would bring about terrifying suppression.

"I am one of the representatives responsible for the Glittergold Plains outpost here, and also the branch president of the 'Four Seasons Alliance' stationed here. You can call me 'Kuland Hill'," he said, pulling out a chair and sitting opposite Sylutia.

"Hello, Mr. Kuland Hill," Sylutia nodded.

"I heard about your matter yesterday and also reviewed the various documents from when you came to the Hidden Grove. I found that you have quite a bit of connection with the 'Four Seasons Alliance'."

"'Franne', the founder of the 'Sunflower Cottage', was my senior during his apprenticeship period and taught me many courses. Recalling that time is quite heartwarming," he nodded slightly, then continued.

"Although Senior Franne has currently left the 'Four Seasons Alliance', the 'Sunflower Cottage' he founded still has many cooperative dealings with us and can be regarded as a peripheral organization of the 'Four Seasons Alliance'."

"Since your former teacher is a member of the 'Sunflower Cottage', she should have told you about related matters."

"Yes, Mr. Kuland Hill," the young girl nodded.

"My teacher told me some situations about the Hidden Grove, saying that if I had difficulty achieving results there, she would also recommend me to study at a peripheral organization of the 'Four Seasons Alliance' in the future."

"Oh, is that so," he said, his gaze shifting to the table as he smiled slightly.

"It seems your teacher greatly underestimated you. Of course, it might also be that she didn't want to put too much pressure on you."

"Since there is this connection, I can also regard you as half a junior. I wonder if you would be willing to come to the 'Four Seasons Alliance' to study for a period of time?"

Sylutia understood this was a hope for her to join the Four Seasons Alliance.

"I have a very favorable impression of the 'Four Seasons Alliance', but I have just advanced recently and am not yet clear about what obligations I would need to undertake, so I would like to understand beforehand," she didn't immediately agree or reject.

"You are currently still at the Second Tier. This period can be said to have the smallest obligations and is the most relaxed stage," he answered after a moment of thought.

"Generally speaking, Second Tier apprentices receive limited benefits from the organization, so not many requirements are imposed."

"Many responsibilities and obligations are only assigned after stepping into the Third Tier. For example, as the president and representative of the organization's branch in the Glittergold Plains, I must ensure that the output of this region does not fall below a certain standard. Part of the produce is supplied to the Hidden Grove association, and another part must also be provided to the 'Four Seasons Alliance'."

"Furthermore, as one of the persons in charge of the 'Glittergold Plains', we also have the obligation to cultivate talent. If this can be done well, not only us as individuals, but even the organization behind us can gain greater say within the Hidden Grove."

"You might not understand what form of organization the 'Hidden Grove' actually is, after all, what apprentices can access is very limited."

"I can now tell you part of the situation, which is that the 'Hidden Grove' is actually a military and economic alliance formed through repeated compromises among the major supernatural schools in the southern continent after experiencing many major wars."

"We need the 'Hidden Grove' as an organizational structure to coordinate the forces of all parties, jointly develop the resources of the Shadow World, and prevent the calamities of the Shadow World from feeding back and affecting the main continent."

"On the other hand, we also need to unite together to resist the 'Mage Alliance' from the central continent. They are similarly a coalition formed by many organizations, though most of them are mages."

"In the countries of the southern continent, you basically won't see the mage profession, at most you've only heard of it, but they are indeed powerful, especially after stepping into the Third Tier."

"You will slowly learn about the specific details in the future. After explaining the overall situation, you should understand the environment you are in and the responsibilities you need to bear."

"If your achievements are verified without issue, the 'Hidden Grove association' will subsequently pour a large amount of resources into you and gradually assign you some responsibilities to begin training your abilities in various aspects."

"If you can shoulder these responsibilities, then your subsequent path will basically be smooth sailing to the top, becoming the leading figure among this batch of apprentices, which means the future backbone pillar of the 'Hidden Grove', enjoying great power in the various countries of the southern continent." He presented this beautiful future to the young girl.

Unfortunately, this silver-haired young girl was not the type who was passionate about power. She also didn't want to get involved in such competition and rivalry for the time being.

"I understand. I will do my part of the duties well. However, please allow me to have some freedom. My personality may prefer a quiet environment rather than a place full of noise."

"That is natural. Since you have demonstrated your talent and strength, you also deserve to win the respect of others," he smiled, stroking his beard with one hand.

"Afterwards, we will not disturb you too much. We only need you to complete some simple tasks on time."

After the main business was discussed, the two then chatted casually about some minor matters in life. For example, how he himself embarked on the path of a gardener back in the day, what difficulties he encountered in his early life in the Hidden Grove, his thoughts and experiences at the time, and so on. These resonated a lot with Sylutia's current situation and also let the young girl learn much common knowledge and information about the Hidden Grove.

About two hours later, their conversation ended. Afterwards, a procession of knights clad in white armor rode out from the White Stone Fortress. Under their escort, the carriage carrying Sylutia and this president swiftly and smoothly headed towards that valley.

The inspection of the valley farm took nearly five days. During this period, Sylutia meticulously demonstrated her cultivation process and the various traces left in the valley, such as the corpse residues of the 'Dark-Blood Sap-Sucking Insects', and so on.

"Alfalfa... so that's the reason."

Actually, Kuland Hill roughly understood the biggest difference between Sylutia and the other apprentices by the second day. The key point was the fertilization provided by the Alfalfa, which created many favorable conditions for the wheat's growth.

As for the soil contamination, he believed Sylutia probably first used the pure spring of 'Luminous Moon' to clean it, then cultivated Alfalfa, which rooted deep into the ground, absorbing the subsequently spreading 'Distortion' contamination and isolating it underground.

The 'Luminous Moon' Aspect could purify 'Distortion', which was no secret. In fact, some outposts did just that. However, Transcendents with the 'Luminous Moon' Aspect were ultimately a minority, and most gardeners couldn't afford to hire them. Even if they did, the contamination would likely return within a month, as the purification ability of Second Tier Transcendents was limited and couldn't completely clean up the 'Distortion' contamination.

Under these various factors, this cleaning method hadn't been promoted. After all, in the view of some gardeners, as long as 'Foundation Powder' was used to isolate the spread of contamination, whether it was 'Luminous Moon' purification or 'Blazing Sun' incineration, they were similar methods.

After observing Sylutia's results, this branch president nodded slightly.

In his view, isolating contamination was just a cost issue, not the key point. After all, there was so much uncontaminated land on the surface, yet no one had cultivated anything transcendent. This young girl had genuinely cultivated ordinary crops on a large scale to a 'Perfect' level.

Compared to this, the methods of handling contamination were just minor details.

Being able to achieve results far surpassing those of Third Tier gardeners while still at the Second Tier, this strength and talent were truly astonishing. In the following days, Kuland Hill viewed this young girl with increasing appreciation.

The several 'Four Seasons Alliance' gardeners accompanying them were initially somewhat skeptical, but after completely inspecting the situation of the valley farm, they gradually fell silent.

Even though Sylutia hadn't yet stepped into the Third Tier, in their view, this was completely just a matter of time accumulation.

'To think we could really see such a talented new star appear in the Glittergold Plains,' they whispered among themselves. Precisely because they were in the same profession, they could better understand how far Sylutia had progressed in the field of gardening.

"Let's go back. It's time to discuss the next steps with those few," Kuland Hill said with satisfaction five days later, leading the group back once more.

This time, the upper echelons of the Glittergold Plains were prepared to properly report this matter to headquarters.