The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 8: Bedtime Stories

The sky had completely darkened, with light rain falling outside. In the room, Lovier held a pale golden cat, whispering to it while occasionally glancing out the window.

"Hedra isn't back yet." She was a bit worried.

"Yes, if she's not back by eight, we should go look for her." Aurora sat at the table nearby, flipping through a book.

After spending this time together, Aurora felt her roommate wasn't the careless type or someone who would change her mind on a whim. If she was returning late, she must have been delayed by something, though Aurora wasn't sure what.

This was the Asra District in the heart of the Mage Alliance. For the safety of new students, security had always been quite good. Nothing should happen, right? Thinking this, she also found it hard to focus on her book.

Aurora glanced at the clock hanging nearby. It was only seven-thirty. Making a big fuss and searching just because someone was an hour late seemed like an overreaction. Besides, she wasn't very familiar with the area herself. If they really needed to mobilize people, they'd have to rely on her family's power, and her family... Aurora didn't want to contact them right now.

Time slowly approached eight o'clock. Watching the minute hand pass the mark with a crisp, subtle click, the two stood up, ready to change into clothes suitable for going out. Considering the rain on the roads, they also needed to find longer boots.

Just as the two were rummaging for clothes, preparing to head out, the door finally knocked.

After two polite knocks, accompanied by the sound of a key, the door opened. Sylutia returned with a damp handbag and wet hair. The lower half of her dress was stained with quite a bit of blood and water, and her calf-high socks were spattered with mud.

"Hedra, you're finally back!" Lovier wanted to rush over and hug her, but seeing the blood on Sylutia, she was somewhat startled."What happened?" Aurora walked over more calmly, helped Sylutia put her things down, and then handed her a towel.

"Well, I encountered some unexpected situations on the way." The girl wiped her face with the towel, then walked to the side, crouched down, found her slippers, and took off her thoroughly soaked shoes and socks.

"Was it very dangerous? Were you hurt, Hedra?" Lovier asked, worried and frightened.

"It's over now. I'm fine, not hurt." Hearing she was unharmed, the other two finally relaxed.

"So what happened?"

"That's a long story." The girl lightly tapped her chin with a finger, thinking about how to describe and explain.

"Can I take a bath first, and then tell you?"

"Of course, of course, go take a bath quickly. Getting soaked can make you sick." Lovier quickly replied.

"Thank you~"

Afterwards, Sylutia took her change of clothes and went into the bathroom to shower. Meanwhile, Aurora picked up the skirt the girl had changed out of, carefully examined it, and even cautiously sniffed it.

Seeing this scene, Lovier's eyes widened, seemingly a bit surprised by her roommate's behavior. Under her gaze, Aurora, usually a cool and aloof girl, felt compelled to explain.

"I just wanted to check and understand."

"So, any discoveries?"

"The smell of rain. The blood has been washed somewhat faint. Hedra probably found water on the way to rinse it off simply."

"If she could find water to clean up afterwards, it means the situation wasn't too serious." Aurora analyzed simply and rationally.

Half an hour later, Sylutia, having taken a hot shower, reappeared before the two wearing a loose nightgown and a fluffy headscarf.

Then the three of them sat together on the bed, looking at Sylutia who had simply wrapped herself in a blanket, listening to her recount what happened that afternoon when she went out to buy things.

"...There were no public carriages left at that time, so I had to walk back. It was drizzling then, the road was quite empty, and it was also pretty dark."

"So, unsurprisingly, I ran into some robbers. Of course, they weren't after my life."

"At first, they only wanted a few gold coins, but later their appetite slowly grew, and things just couldn't be settled." Sylutia recalled.

"How many were they? Were they strong? How did you escape, Hedra?" Lovier couldn't contain her curiosity and was very eager to know.

"There were four in total, all beastmen. They were very tall and large. The leader was at the Second Tier." Hearing "Second Tier," Aurora felt a sense of foreboding.

Most beastmen would choose the 'Beast Fang' or 'Bloodline' Aspects for advancement. These were the Aspects they could most easily perceive and comprehend. And in the lower tiers, these two Aspects provided a massive boost to combat strength. Other Aspects, when it came to combat in the early stages, often couldn't compare to these two, unless they were upper-tier Aspects like 'Scorching Sun' or 'Dragon Eye'.

"I was carrying things and couldn't run fast. My legs aren't as long as theirs either, so I had no choice but to fight." Sylutia thought about it.

"Coincidentally, I've been studying the 'Sobis Magic Thread Manipulation' course recently, so I tried to modify some spells I learned before and then used them in the fight." She knew quite a few beginner and intermediate bird-type rune spells, which had a traceable origin and wouldn't raise identity issues. Furthermore, the school's special course recently taught indeed covered various uses of 'thread' spells.

"After a rather thrilling fight, I finally managed to deal with those robbers." The girl omitted the detailed process. After all, if described in detail, it was essentially a one-sided victory.

"Huh? Just dealt with them?" Lovier looked left and right, seemingly trying to spot something different about Sylutia.

"There were four of them, and one was Second Tier!" Lovier felt that at the very least, there must have been some hidden trump card, or a powerful item, or something else to be able to win.

Fortunately, Aurora on the other side was more rational. After all, she was also a genius and could understand that a powerful person could easily take on multiple opponents of the same tier, and possibly even fight across one tier.

"Can we see the spell Hedra used?"

"Of course." It probably wasn't a secret, right?

Sylutia extended her hand from under the blanket. Several strands of threads appeared and outlined themselves in her palm, then quickly wove together into a beautiful purple flying bird. Its tail trailed fine threads as it flew in circles around the room, the threads drawing lovely arc-shaped trajectories in the air.

"So beautiful!" Lovier clenched her hands tightly. The little cat beneath her also curiously watched the flying bird, stretching its body out, eager to try. Unfortunately, it wasn't very agile. After hopping a couple of times and swiping its paws, seeing it couldn't catch the bird, it walked to the side and pretended to groom its fur.

A little while later, the purple flying bird dissipated. The two roommates also had a general understanding of the situation and asked about the final resolution.

"I took that defeated beastman and found the nearest police booth, then handed him over to them for processing."

"The police didn't keep you for detailed questioning?" Aurora was slightly surprised.

"They wanted to at first, but I said I was a new student, that my roommates would worry if I returned too late, and also that I was drenched and might catch a cold."

"They thought about it and finally just had me leave my name and address before letting me go." Sylutia finished recounting the situation.

"That's good then." Aurora nodded, then took some reserved snacks from her own cabinet and handed them to Sylutia.

"Have some, Hedra. You must be hungry by now."

[Blueberry Cream Cake] (First Tier · Excellent); A premium dessert sold by 'Vanilla Cottage', has the effect of restoring stamina and spirit. (Stamina Recovery +1, Spirit Recovery +1. Deliciousness +1)

"Wow, I want to feed Hedra too!" Seeing this, Lovier remembered something and in the blink of an eye brought over her own treasured stash of snacks and pastries, piling them up beside the girl.

"Alright, alright, thank you both. But I can't eat too much. Leaving them here will make them spoil." Amidst the laughter and comfort of the group, the night finally passed peacefully.