The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 121: Return to Jiaoshi City

Vol 2 Chapter 121 Return to Jiaoshi City

Sitting by the campfire, Sylutia listened to these people recount the changes in Scorchstone City over the past few years. Originally, she had wanted to probe for some information from the pursuer captain's mouth. Unfortunately, the man was not strong enough, or perhaps her blade was too fast. He passed away before Sylutia could even use medicine to stop his bleeding.

"Ever since the Anty people occupied this place, they first seized Viscount Xuefeng's castle. There were constant banquets at first, then they searched the wealthy district in the west of the city one by one. All the original nobles and rich people were looted. They had to hand over a lot of money to avoid being imprisoned on various charges."

"During that time, I heard Viscount Xuefeng also suffered a lot of losses."

"But afterwards, Viscount Xuefeng left Scorchstone City with his family and Scholar Hyde, heading for distant lands."

"About half a year later, the new lord of Scorchstone City was established. It was the former logistics officer of the Anty army, Somerlin. He is cunning, treacherous, and cruel by nature, always using various reasons and excuses to increase taxes. Many people suffered terribly and were forced to flee Scorchstone City."

"During that period, the permanent population of Scorchstone City decreased significantly."

"Seeing the situation becoming unsustainable, he reluctantly agreed to reduce taxes. But not long after, he discovered the mines buried in the back mountains and started finding people to clear the mine tunnels and resume mining."

"After the mine tunnels were restored, they were usable, but they were exceptionally deep, winding, and treacherous. The dangers of mining were very high. He couldn't bear to risk his own Anty soldiers, so he announced a series of strict laws in the city. Making even a slight mistake would get you caught and sent to mine in the tunnels."

"That's how we were captured by his soldiers and forced to go there to mine.""People basically die there every day, and the work is extremely exhausting. Even if you dig up gemstones, you can only exchange them for a little food. Under such conditions, we had no choice but to look for an opportunity to escape."

"So much has happened." Sylutia sighed.

She couldn't quite understand why Somerlin was being so cruel and short-sighted. If things continued like this, Scorchstone City would surely decline gradually, with fewer and fewer people.

Without a population, having territory alone is of little use. You cannot use the School of Royal Authority's rituals to condense Aspects. Moreover, without a population, there is no tax base, and economic development is impossible.

Any lord with a bit of insight and foresight wouldn't be so harsh. Even if greedy, they would at least maintain some superficial reputation. Many nobles still care a great deal about face.

After comforting everyone, Sylutia took out her stored food and distributed it. Much of it was the high-quality food biscuits distributed by the association when she was in the Shadow World. Because what she grew herself was better, these had been left uneaten.

Just a small piece could fill you up. The high-quality hardtack biscuits quickly satisfied these fleeing people, and they slept by the campfire.

Sylutia did a quick count. There were 31 refugees in total. Originally, there were 42 when they escaped; roughly 11 had died on the way.

According to them, there were nearly 400 forced laborers/miners in the mine tunnels. Even if they escaped, they would be quickly replaced.

After a night, Sylutia gave everyone breakfast and then asked about their plans.

"We don't dare go to other cities because the Anty people are there too. They would definitely put out warrants for us."

"We can only head deep into the mountains. Perhaps we can find a place deep in the mountains to settle down."

If it were just one person, living deep in the mountains would be very dangerous. But with 31 of them now, if they divided labor and cooperated a bit, it might not be impossible to survive.

"In that case, I'll help you find a suitable place to settle down first." Sylutia thought for a moment and decided to help them to the end.

Afterwards, she spent about three days helping these people find a hidden canyon deep in the mountains for them to build a settlement.

Because Sylutia had previously led the establishment of Lantern Town, she was quite adept at handling a small settlement of about thirty people.

A well, sheds, small plots of land for farming in the woods. After setting these up, she also scattered many 'Sickle Thorn Vine' seeds around the settlement and accelerated their growth.

With these vines as barriers, ordinary beasts couldn't get close at all. The hidden path through the thorny thicket was only known to the residents inside.

"Thank you, Lady Tia."

After the settlement was built, these people bowed to the young girl with immense gratitude. Some were even so moved they couldn't speak.

"If you need anything in the future, please command us to do it." If not for this young girl saving them, they would have either died that night or been caught and sent back to that mine tunnel to suffer and wait for death.

Now, not only could they survive, but they also had a safe place to live in the future. In the current chaotic state of the country, there was probably no better place than this.

"No need to be so emotional. What I can do is actually not much." Sylutia shook her head, then thought of something.

She called over the white Windtrust horse and let it stay at this settlement for now. Firstly, it could protect these people. Secondly, she was going to Scorchstone City later, and bringing this horse would be too conspicuous. It would also be inconvenient for her to act alone later.

"You stay here for now. I'll come back later." Stroking the white horse's forehead, Sylutia patted its neck, telling it to stay.

After giving the people some instructions, Sylutia put her hood back on and left.

This place wasn't too far from Scorchstone City. Even walking, she could reach it in a day. Moreover, as a Transcendent, her speed far surpassed ordinary people.

On the way, Sylutia thought about the people she knew in Scorchstone City now. Probably Mareen from the Adventurers' Guild. She wondered if Ray was still in Scorchstone City. He might still be there, or he might have gone elsewhere to study or travel.

To avoid being discovered, Sylutia changed into a simple set of linen clothes, dyed her hair black, and then recalled that thief's diary she read long ago and the 'Concealment Method' technique. With her current perspective and Tier, mastering such a low-level ability was as easy as pie.

[Concealment Method Lv.2] (Mist Shadow): Blurs one's own figure, reducing presence and making it harder to be noticed. Can also make one harder to hit in combat.

With this assistance, she could barely suppress her Aspect aura to around 'First Tier' level.

As for her identity, she quickly thought of one. She would say she was a herb gatherer who usually lived in the countryside, coming to the city to sell the herbs she collected. However, considering the guards might not believe her, Sylutia also prepared a dose of 'Illusion Eyes' potion, whose effect was similar to the 'Phantom Eye' Komea used back then.

By evening, Sylutia arrived beneath the gates of Scorchstone City.

Looking up at these familiar gates, the scene of Lady Franne and Scholar Hyde seeing her off three years ago was still vivid in her mind. Who would have thought that after just a few years, everything would have changed.

Sylutia sighed slightly in her heart, then lowered her head and followed the crowd into the city gate.

"What are you here for?" Seeing this young girl wearing a hood, the Anty gate guard stopped her to inquire.

"I'm here to sell the herbs I gathered." Sylutia opened the basket she was carrying, revealing the various herbs she had collected inside.

After a simple check, confirming it was indeed correct, the guard still grabbed a handful of herbs and placed them on a table to the side.

"We need these for inspection. You may enter."

Losing a bit of common herbs wasn't a big problem for Sylutia, but she still lowered her head without protesting to avoid drawing the guard's attention.

Afterwards, she walked into the city with the other travelers. Only when they were quite far from the gate did her companions start complaining about those guards.

"Those guys are like wild dogs that have never tasted meat. They have to take a cut of everything." The speaker in front was an uncle selling fruit.

"Isn't that right? These Anty people have no manners at all." The auntie beside her also complained bitterly.

"Back in the days of the Regas Kingdom, I never heard of any noble anywhere allowing their subordinates to confiscate things brought into the city. Now, who would dare come to Scorchstone City to do business, except for us who live in surrounding villages and can't go far away."

"Just you watch. In the future, there will only be fewer and fewer people in this city. In a few years, once I save up some money, I'll move to my distant relatives' place and never stay here again."

"Where can you move to? Everything's occupied by the Anty people now. I hear other countries are fighting wars too." The uncle sighed.

Listening to the residents' hushed discussions around her, Sylutia didn't casually interject. Instead, she slowly walked through the streets, finally stopping her steps in front of the Adventurers' Guild.

Compared to the past, this place was also much quieter. Although some adventurers could still be seen, most were 'First Tier.' She didn't see any 'Second Tier' individuals appearing.

Sylutia thought for a moment, then walked in carrying her basket.

She first went to the bulletin board and looked at the recent mission list. As usual, there were tasks like clearing dangerous beasts and finding rare medicinal herbs, but the number was clearly much smaller.

However, compared to the past, there were now many more bounty missions. The most prominent one at the top was the notice for the bounties on Prince Jabers and Princess Mursa, followed by some dangerous criminals.

It seemed that during the period of transition between the two countries, many cases of property loss and theft had occurred. Thinking about it, it made sense. During that time, official forces were tied up in the war, and no one paid attention to the activities of thieves. As long as they didn't steal from the great noble houses, no one would investigate.

Then, at the very bottom, Sylutia saw a newly posted notice.

'Wanted Criminal (★★)'; This person wears a deep gray hooded robe, possibly an assassin, with elusive movements. Killed Scorchstone City guards and released escaped workers from the mines.

Uh... is this about me? Sylutia looked at the hooded portrait above. It seemed that aside from the general description of the clothes being roughly correct, it didn't look like her at all.

Those soldiers fled in panic yesterday; when would they have had the chance to observe carefully and remember? Besides, she was wearing a veil at the time, making it impossible to distinguish her facial features.

Reward: five gold coins. For reporting a confirmed sighting, reward: one gold coin. Sylutia silently read the rewards above, feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation.

So little? Wait, no. For ordinary people in the surface world, this was indeed a lot. She shook her head, trying to shed the price system ingrained from her time in the Hidden Grove and revert to her past understanding of prices.

However, with a notice like this, there was definitely no way to confirm her identity. She felt reassured and walked towards the inner part of the Adventurers' Guild. There, she had already seen a familiar face.

The receptionist, Mareen, was still sitting there, explaining mission details to an adventurer team.