The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 130: The Witch's Temperament Begins to Emerge

Vol 2 Chapter 130 The Witch's Temperament Begins to Emerge

What to do with the remaining soldiers was causing Sylutia some distress.

She wasn't the kind of person who relished slaughter. While these soldiers had done evil, they didn't all deserve to die. But if she just let them all go without any consequences, what would become of Scorchstone City in the future? Driven by a simple, heartfelt emotion, she didn't want the residents of this city to continue suffering under this kind of oppression and humiliation.

She should probably find someone to take charge and impose some order. Neither she nor Lucas could stay here permanently to act as the local city lord and oppose Anty.

Sylutia stood up, her gaze sweeping across the scene. There were roughly over 600 Anty soldiers here, including seven Second Tier officers. Originally, there had been five Third Tier combatants, but Sylutia had killed four of the knights, leaving only that powerful Third Tier Bloodline warrior.

It had to be him. She hoped he wasn't the cruel and despicable type.

Sylutia raised her hand. The wild grass on the ground spread and grew like waves of water. Many soldiers, unable to flee in time, were bound layer upon layer. Other soldiers and officers who possessed Aspects struggled to break free, finding it difficult to move, unable to escape this sea of verdant grass.

The seemingly powerful Anty army was completely crushed when facing this young girl alone. This was a mortal army, stripped of the knights who could check and defend against such power. Before a Transcendent of the Third Tier or above, they were as fragile as a flock of chicks.

If there had still been a Third Tier knight among them, they could have deployed a Veil, drawing upon the Aspects of the surrounding soldiers for coordinated reinforcement to resist this endlessly churning tide of grass.

Panicked cries spread among the Anty soldiers. They all thought they were going to die in this terrifying emerald sea. Only Lucas could tell that this young girl had no intention of killing.After struggling for several minutes, though many kept crying and shouting, the fact that no one had died slowly calmed the soldiers down.

At this point, Lucas directed his two skeletal monsters to bring the warrior who had been fighting him earlier, 'Aru', before Sylutia.

He held his great axe, his eyes full of wariness. As he approached, his gaze flickered toward Somerlin, who was already lying on the ground.

"Hmph, you want to recruit me to your side?" He stood there, planting his great axe on the ground. His tall, burly, and corpulent frame cast a larger shadow than both Lucas and Sylutia.

"That's not the idea." Sylutia tilted her head slightly, the light in her eyes swirling as she carefully examined the powerful warrior before her.

"I have some questions for you."

"Oh? And after the questions, what then? Dispose of me too?" His chest heaved, the blood circulation within his body accelerating. His entire being radiated a scalding aura that made the soldiers not far behind him feel as if they were being burned. Drawn by this influence, their own blood flow sped up, their heartbeats quickening.

"Probably." The girl thought for a moment before answering without evasion.

Hearing this, Lucas wanted to intervene but was too late, regretting that he hadn't taken the initiative to speak up and steer the conversation earlier.

"I don't have particularly strong feelings about whether it's Regas or Anty that rules, actually," Sylutia began to explain.

"But I did live in Scorchstone City once. There are people here I used to know. So, I hope this place can be relatively stable and peaceful."

"Unfortunately, Mr. Somerlin couldn't fulfill this wish of mine. Many of his actions were also things I couldn't tolerate."

"Now, Somerlin is dead. Scorchstone City can't become independent right now either. I don't want the next lord to be someone equally cruel and tyrannical."

"So what? Who do you want to be the lord? Or rather, what makes you think anyone will listen to you?" Aru sneered contemptuously.

"I despise hypocrites like you the most. You clearly enjoy all sorts of benefits, yet you still care about your reputation, terrified of people gossiping about you."

"Aren't you just feeling guilty because you were born here and the people of Scorchstone City are living poorly? Why don't you just take over from Somerlin and run the place yourself?"

"It's obviously you who's afraid of trouble and doesn't want to feel guilty, so you want to find someone to take your place. That way you can have peace of mind, right?"

"As for how that replacement actually performs, you don't really care. If they don't do things your way, you can just come back and kill them, claiming you're avenging the residents."

"I've seen too many hypocrites like you. You bastards!" Aru grew angrier as he spoke, the blood aura on his body surface deepening into a crimson, seething heat.

Lucas thought to himself, this guy is smarter than his size suggests. His words were brutally honest. He wondered if Tia could handle it.

After listening to Aru's accusations, Sylutia didn't rush to deny them. Instead, she quietly thought for a while.

"Some of what you said is correct. I do care about my reputation. I don't want people gossiping about me."

"If that weren't the case, you probably wouldn't be standing here alive right now." The starlight-like radiance swirled in her eyes. The imposing aura of the tall warrior before her gradually weakened, his gaze, his mind and body, slowly sinking into the depths of those blue irises.

"However, since you call me a hypocrite, what do you consider to be 'real'? To seize this place and declare myself king?"

"And then constantly fight with the Kingdom of Ante, even if it leads to the deaths of many residents, even if my own safety is greatly threatened, even if that's not the kind of life I want?"

"Not everyone craves the power and wealth-obsessed life you speak of. There are people who prefer other kinds of lives."

"Besides, I'm not mentally prepared yet to shoulder that responsibility. Right now, all I can do is slightly improve the living conditions of the local residents."

At this point, Sylutia sighed softly, feeling that her behavior probably still seemed somewhat cowardly in the eyes of others.

If it were someone more domineering, they'd probably directly refute and deny, make this warrior suffer a bit, or simply kill everyone here without a care for the consequences.

She was the type who easily considered the future and the possible developments of a situation. This tendency to overthink also made her actions carry a degree of cautious gentleness.

Oh well. Trying to explain this to a warrior from another nation like the one before her was probably pointless. He'd likely just think she was making excuses.

Her words were only heard by the warrior before her and Lucas at her side.

Lucas's impression was that this girl really did retain a touch of innocence, actually explaining herself honestly to an enemy. A typically 'mature' adult would just focus on achieving their goal. Even if they occasionally felt moved or their defenses cracked, they would hide it, because it exposed their weaknesses and made others look down on them.

If it were him, he'd just poison this warrior named Aru, tell him to do as he was told, otherwise he'd die from the poison after a set time without the antidote. As for the warrior's thoughts, he wouldn't bother with them at all.

The scene fell silent for a few seconds. Just as Lucas thought the negotiation had broken down and prepared to step in, to negotiate with the warrior in the girl's stead, the other party spoke.

"You're a very interesting person." Aru's voice was slightly muffled.

"Much more honest than many nobles and merchants I've met."

"Since you need the city's residents to live in peace, and it just so happens I can achieve that, then we can reach some kind of agreement."

"However, you need to give me enough benefits, enough to curb my greed. Otherwise, I'm someone who can't control my temper."

This... Lucas was slightly surprised. He felt the development of events had suddenly become interesting. In that case, he'd just watch a bit longer.

"What do you want?" Sylutia lightly lifted her eyelids. The dreamlike eyes beneath those lashes once again caused the warrior to momentarily lose himself.

"What do I want? Heh. I want a lot of things. Like endless wealth, beautiful women, fine wine, and so on. But what I want most is powerful strength. With that, I can live a safe and happy life."

"I see." Sylutia's finger lightly touched her chin as she thought about what she had that could increase someone's strength.

Her fair wrist, hidden beneath her long sleeve, lifted. Under the curious and tense gazes of the two men, a tiny sprout germinated and grew before Sylutia, quickly gaining height.

The plant rapidly bloomed, then bore clusters of blood-red berries. Each one radiated a scorching Bloodline aura, like the mythical fruits that lure living beings to their downfall.

Plucking one of them with her fingers, the girl deftly placed it in her mouth to taste, sensing the Bloodline Aspect power it contained. The Breathing Technique within her body circulated, quickly digesting this force.

"These are Second Tier Bloodline berries. Even for you, they have a decent enhancing effect." Sylutia plucked another cluster and tossed it toward the warrior opposite her.

After catching it, he examined it carefully, sniffed it, and then slowly placed it in his mouth to chew.

Soon, his eyes lit up, but he quickly restrained his expression.

"Not enough! One cluster like this is nowhere near enough!"

Sylutia had anticipated this. With a light wave of her sleeve, lush green shrubs grew and flourished beside her. These Blood Currants came from her Autumn Garden, naturally of extremely high quality and in no small quantity.

The faint fruity fragrance, mingled with the enticing aura of the Bloodline Aspect, filled Aru's eyes with desire. In his view, these weren't just incredibly delicious fruits; they were stepping stones that could enhance his strength, lead him to a position of power, and help him obtain everything.

"Give them to me! I want them all!" he said urgently.

"Ah..." Seeing this, Sylutia shook her head. The shrubs laden with blood-red berries beside her slowly dissipated, like phantoms.

"You're being a bit unappealing. I thought you could control your greed."

Seeing the girl question his willpower and self-control, Aru hastily retorted.

"I just spoke too quickly! Besides, who wouldn't be tempted seeing something this good? Testing me with this is too evil and unreasonable!"

"Yes, yes, I am very evil. So, can we discuss in detail what needs to be done from now on?"

Sylutia felt a strange, novel sensation. This was probably the first time someone had called her evil.

Afterwards, the two haggled back and forth, with Lucas also participating to establish certain detailed rules.

About two hours later, the agreement was finalized, and they signed the contract. According to it, Sylutia would provide Aru with 20 clusters of Blood Currants in one go, and thereafter an additional 10 clusters each year.

For the duration of the agreement, Aru was to ensure peace and order in Scorchstone City, uphold just laws, and not arbitrarily increase taxes or persecute the local residents. Otherwise, the agreement would be void, and the two of them would return to mete out punishment.

"I'm not interested in oppressing the residents of Scorchstone City. But what you said about peace, order, and just laws... even if I wanted to do it, it'd be a bit difficult. You can't expect a warrior who only knows how to chop people to understand so much about governance." After signing, Aru scratched his head. He felt he'd gained quite a bit, but also that it would be hard to fulfill.

"It will be somewhat difficult. Later, I'll recommend some people to you." Sylutia thought of some of Scholar Hyde's students, which included both established elders and younger ones like Yero.

They were all locals of Scorchstone City. With their assistance, solving problems should become much easier.

"What you should be thinking about now is how to prevent the Kingdom of Ante from sending a new lord here, and how to secure your own position as the local lord."

"If you cannot guarantee the terms of our agreement, we will no longer provide you with any future benefits."

By this point, the deal was largely settled. Afterwards, they watched as Aru walked back to the ranks of the Anty soldiers. From a concealed spot in the distance, they observed how he would pacify and win over these soldiers.

They saw the tall, burly, corpulent warrior wave his large hand, tearing the weed roots binding the men. Then he raised his voice and shouted.

"The lord is dead now. The ones who killed him were old enemies. They said they have no grudge with us and can spare our lives." These words made the soldiers present inwardly sigh with relief.

"However, they are men of Regas after all. So they want us to get out of Scorchstone City. Otherwise, they'll come back to kill us again within a month." Hearing this, everyone's hearts leapt into their throats again.

They had just witnessed several Knight Lords die inexplicably, now pierced by spears and pinned to the ground.

"But, I managed to persuade them! They also fear the formidable military might of us Anty people. They agreed that as long as we don't go too far in the future, they won't keep coming back to harass our rule over this territory."

"Lord Aru is amazing!" a nearby soldier said admiringly. He actually managed to persuade them.

"Heh, of course." Aru patted his wide belly.

"However, this matter still needs to be handled. If we report it directly, and they send a new lord later, we might not get a good deal."

"A new lord would definitely have his own personal troops and faction. He wouldn't trust or rely on us."

"So, we need to keep thinking of a way to stay here and enjoy ourselves."

"Listen up! From now on, we'll say Lord Somerlin fell ill after coming to the mine. Afterwards, all matters in Scorchstone City, big or small, are decided by us."

"This..." The crowd was shocked by this bold proposal, feeling uneasy.

"What's there to fear? I'm now the strongest person in the city. Who dares to stop us when we go back?"

"When we return to Scorchstone City, we'll split all the wealth Somerlin extorted. If you don't want it, then we can just give it to the next lord."

Hearing this, the remaining soldiers naturally didn't object. In fact, they were quite tempted.

"Heh, that's more like it! Keep your mouths shut, tight-lipped. From now on, I'll still be the city's patrol officer, and you'll all remain good soldiers of the Kingdom of Ante."

"If the situation really becomes untenable one day, we'll just say Lord Somerlin died of illness. Then we take the money and go our separate ways home."

"Got it?!"

"Yes, Lord Aru!"

"Do you understand?!"

"We understand, Lord Aru!"

So, humans are really quite interesting, Lucas thought, watching this scene from afar. Then his gaze turned to the girl in the shade of the trees.

By now, Sylutia had removed her hood, revealing her breathtakingly beautiful features and those gentle eyes that seemed capable of speaking a thousand words.

Although her personality and temperament were flawless and pure, the influence she wielded was like that of a legendary Sorceress—bewitching and terrifying.