The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 228: Recommendation Letter Assessment

Vol 2 Chapter 228: Recommendation Letter Assessment

The night in Switch City was still lively, and the bustling commercial streets were packed with pedestrians.

"Would you like to hold my hand, Hedra?" Kidi walked ahead, extending a finger clad in a black glove.

The young girl gave a slight wave of her hand, indicating it wasn't necessary.

"Thank you, but no need."

The other party withdrew his hand, lightly pressed down on his top hat, and responded with a smile.

"That's fine too, but do keep up." Afterwards, he led Sylutia through the bustling streets, found a high-end inn, helped Sylutia settle her luggage and belongings, and then the two had a meal at a restaurant not far from the inn.

Here, they could see quite a few guests dressed in luxurious attire. Many noblewomen wore extravagant clothing adorned with extremely intricate floral ornaments and paired with precious animal furs.

"Let's go to the second floor." Kidi led Hedra up a nearby red staircase. The waiters inside the restaurant, upon seeing him, actively made way and looked at the black-haired girl behind him with curious and admiring eyes.

Compared to the first floor, although many seats here were already occupied by guests, the environment was much quieter. Some guests conversed in hushed tones, not making any noise.Finding a seat by the window and sitting down, Kidi helped Sylutia choose her meal and then handed it to the waiter.

"Please prepare it as soon as possible. This young lady needs to return early to rest."

"Yes, Lord Kidi." The waiter took the paper slip and quickly departed.

Sitting by the window, Sylutia curiously looked outside. Her appearance was like that of a child who had just arrived in a big city, though she looked only about sixteen years old, which indeed was quite young.

"Is this your first time coming to the Mage Alliance area?"

"Yes."

"It's very different from the countries in the south." Kidi leaned back in his chair, relaxing his body slightly.

"When I was young, I also went to some southern countries on missions," he briefly recounted.

"Many places are still stuck in very outdated social systems."

"Outdated social systems?" Sylutia curiously, with a hint of incomprehension, pondered over these words.

"Yes, the Mage Alliance is vastly different from other kingdoms and empires," Kidi explained to the young girl.

"You can even think of the Mage Alliance as one giant, unified country. It has a unified currency, script, roughly the same systems, guild organizations that operate throughout the entire alliance, an evaluation and education system, and so on." Kidi gestured in the air as he introduced this to the girl.

"However, on the surface, the Mage Alliance is still a federation of multiple countries and organizations."

"The core consists of over thirty large academies in the central continent. They are the hearts of the various mage factions. With the academies as administrative centers, they extend into various subordinate institutions. The joint council formed by academy representatives also governs everything within the entire Mage Alliance."

"Next are the member states on the periphery of the Mage Alliance. These countries vary in size and are numerous. Although they still have nobles and royal families, a large portion of their administrative and financial powers are controlled by the Mage Alliance. Even the succession of kings requires permission from the joint council."

"I see." Sylutia nodded. Soon after, the restaurant waiters began serving the food, and the two stopped talking to quietly enjoy the delicious meal.

After the meal, Kidi took Sylutia for a stroll on the streets and then bought an exquisite pocket watch as a gift for her.

[Blue Butterfly Pocket Watch] (First Tier · Rare): A pocket watch that displays time with extremely high accuracy. It can also be used as an alarm clock and a small mirror.

The watch's casing was made of blue enamel and silver. The front was carved with blooming petals and a blue butterfly. It was less of a pocket watch and more of a work of art in the shape of one.

Taking the pocket watch, Sylutia, following Kidi's suggestion, hung it at her waist so she could take it out to check the time whenever she wanted.

"It really suits you well." The other party nodded with satisfaction.

"Well, that's it for today. Have a good sleep. Tomorrow, I'll take you to participate in the assessment."

Afterwards, Kidi escorted Sylutia back to the inn to rest, and the two bid farewell.

At night, Sylutia slept in the inn's spacious, luxurious room and had a pleasant dream. In the dream, she became a star apprentice of the Mage Alliance, even debuted as an idol, influencing tens of thousands of mages.

Early the next morning, Sylutia slowly woke up, feeling refreshed and clear-headed. After washing up and changing her clothes, she walked downstairs.

While she was having breakfast on the first floor of the inn, Kidi arrived.

"Good morning, Hedra." This mage, who appeared to be in his thirties, was still wearing a black hat and black trench coat. He sat down in front of the young girl.

After greeting her, he quietly waited for Sylutia to finish eating, then took her onto a carriage and headed to the Mage Alliance's subordinate guild in the city. A large crowd had already gathered here. Many of them were between fourteen and eighteen years old, standing in the open space in front of the guild with eyes full of anticipation, waiting for the qualification assessment that was about to begin.

On the other side, the carriage Kidi and Sylutia were riding in was clearly not taking the same route as the others. The carriage passed through a side street, entered through the guild's side door, and then stopped in an internal plaza area. Here, they could see many mage apprentices busily coming and going, preparing for today's assessment.

Getting off the carriage, Kidi opened the door and gently assisted the black-haired, black-dressed young girl inside to step down. If one looked only at hair color and clothing, the two had many similarities.

"Lord Kidi." A vibrant young apprentice greeted him and then curiously looked at the girl by his side.

"This is Hedra. I brought her to participate in today's assessment."

"Uh, okay." The other party was momentarily stunned but quickly nodded.

"Miss Hedra, which school did you study at?" The other party led the two towards the main hall, preparing to register.

"She doesn't need prior study. She'll directly take the exceptional exam to obtain a recommendation letter," Kidi briefly explained.

"Ah, this... the exceptional exam requires someone to recommend and guarantee..." The other party scratched his head.

"Am I not that someone?" Kidi smiled.

"Right, of course, I completely forgot." He suddenly understood.

"Sorry." As he spoke, he quickly walked to a workstation, picked up a form, and began filling it out for the two.

"Name."

"Hedra Griffin."

...

After filling out a series of information, he stamped the form and handed it to Kidi.

"Now you can take Miss Hedra to a separate location to take the exam."

"Thanks." Kidi then gestured for Hedra to follow.

A few minutes later, the two arrived at a building behind the guild. After some inquiries and applications, two official mages soon arrived to proctor the exam.

In a separate room, they gave Sylutia questions, asked her to temporarily construct new spell models, and demonstrate new spells, and so on.

After a complex morning of assessments, the two finally gave an excellent evaluation.

"This is the recommendation letter for Miss Hedra." After finishing, the two took out a recommendation letter with a blue border.

Regarding this, Kidi shook his head, extended a finger, directly opened the recommendation envelope, and pulled out the indigo paper letter inside.

"Too simple. Change it for a blue background with gold foil recommendation letter."

"This... Lord Kidi, even you probably don't have the qualifications to use a golden recommendation letter."

"Is that so?" Kidi still smiled, took a letter from inside his collar, and handed it over. That was a letter Nox had given to Sylutia.

After opening it, the two looked at it for a long time, then consulted some materials before returning and handing back the letter.

"It was presumptuous of us. If she is Master Nox's personal apprentice, she certainly qualifies for a golden recommendation letter."

Afterwards, they engraved another blue background with gold foil recommendation letter, sealed it properly, and handed it to the young girl.

"Congratulations, Miss Hedra. After receiving this letter, you can board the train three days from now and head to Asra in the central continent. There, you will begin a brand new life and gain the qualification to enter various major academies."

"Thank you." The beautiful black-haired girl bowed in thanks and then accepted the precious recommendation letter.

At noon, Sylutia followed Kidi and slowly walked downstairs. At this moment, she saw thousands of young people crowded together in the guild's plaza, queuing up to take the exam. When their names were called, they stepped forward one by one, performed the spells specified by the examiners, answered and wrote questions. There were also other procedures like physical checks and presenting proof of previous study at schools, and so on.

When Sylutia walked out of the building, many young people noticed the girl, looking at her with envy and curiosity.

"She's so beautiful. Those black stockings and skirt are also very cute."

"Is she Lord Kidi's daughter? I've never seen her before."

"Is such a girl also here to take today's assessment?"

Amidst the discussions and intense gazes of the crowd, Sylutia, feeling slightly shy, lowered her head and followed behind Kidi as they walked past.

"Hehe, still not used to it, are you?" Kidi's voice came from ahead.

"In the future, when you go to 'Asra', 80% of the faces in that entire city will be young people around your age."

"Actually, there's no need to be too humble. Your strength and talent are both very good. You should be a bit more proud."

"When you believe in yourself, the other party will also unconsciously be persuaded by you and willingly follow you."

"That version of you will also be more charming."

"Strive to bloom, Hedra. Your talent and beauty will both be your powerful weapons."

"I've always trusted my own judgment, and this time is no exception." After saying this, the mage in the black trench coat smiled and led the girl away from the guild.