The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 12: A Minor Trouble Before the Silver Bell Festival

After sitting for a while at 'Wisteria Flower Moon,' the group got up to leave.

"Although I really like that shopkeeper, the clothes in her shop are truly expensive luxury items." Several classmates stated their reasons for not buying clothes. The cheapest item in that shop cost at least 300 gold coins, clearly not something ordinary people could afford.

Although Sylutia had money, the identity of 'Hedra' couldn't produce that much. Even though she didn't buy any clothes, Ying Zi still welcomed Sylutia to come again next time.

"If you come to my place for tea more than six times within a year, next year during the 'Silver Bell Festival,' I'll specially make you a beautiful dress. It's the perfect time for that, as various banquets will be held then, making it the best season for students to find partners." Just before leaving, Ying Zi teased her like this.

Although Sylutia wasn't currently interested in dating, she was quite intrigued by matters of the Eastern Continent, so she agreed.

Afterwards, the group strolled around Beetle Street for a while longer before parting ways around four in the afternoon.

The weekend passed, life returned to normal, and time moved into December as the weather gradually turned cold.

Over these four months, Sylutia had already caught up on all the basic courses, from 'Differences in Regional Language Systems' to 'Applications of Thirty-Three Types of Equations,' from 'Ancient Wedge-Type Script' to 'Anthology of Poetic Runes.' Like a sponge, she rapidly absorbed all the knowledge taught at school and continuously borrowed books from the library for self-study to increase her understanding of this world.

It must be said that the Mage Alliance was far superior to the Hidden Grove Alliance in the collection and organization of knowledge. As early as over five hundred years ago, the Mage Alliance had initiated the Central Grand Library Project, aiming to uniformly collect, compile, verify for errors and omissions, and complete any missing parts of all books and records ever published and circulated. Once this massive project was completed, it greatly advanced the Mage Alliance's educational system and made it extremely convenient to trace the development process of any specific skill or supernatural secret art, including the setbacks and improvements encountered along the way.

The more she learned, the more Sylutia felt the Hidden Grove Alliance's loss wasn't unjustified. Fortunately, the Hidden Grove Alliance was now clearly aware of the gap and preparing to begin reforms.Before coming to the Mage Alliance, she had heard that the Hidden Grove Alliance decided to establish specialized branch offices in major cities to scout and recruit talented young people. They also planned to imitate the Mage Alliance by providing preliminary subsidies and support to a large number of students from impoverished backgrounds.

The reason this plan could be launched was also thanks to the successful development of the Darkmist Mountains, which not only added a vast area of resource production but also greatly expanded personnel needs, making various organizations within the Hidden Grove Alliance willing to pay the price to compete for more new members.

Another day of classes ended, and Sylutia packed her things, preparing to leave. However, the instructor came over and told her she needed to go to the office.

"Someone is looking for me?" Since arriving at the Mage Alliance, she had kept a very low profile and couldn't think of anyone who would specifically seek her out.

Could it be that she had been too absorbed in studying lately and missed some important information? With mild confusion, Sylutia went to the office.

Upon seeing the man wearing a police badge, Sylutia had some guesses.

"We meet again, Miss Hedra." This Bureau Chief from the nearby police station seemed to have come specifically for her.

"Has something happened?" the young woman proactively inquired.

"Yes, several murder cases have occurred recently. The victims were all beastmen, and the injuries were all caused by extremely thin threads. Although I don't believe Miss Hedra would do such a thing, there's no choice. The higher-ups are pressing very hard now, and you need to cooperate with our investigation." The other party proactively explained the reason.

Sure enough, apart from that one encounter with robbery where she did something rather extreme, she had been the kind of good student at the Mage Alliance who kept to herself and hardly had any possibility of being involved in other matters.

"I understand. But can you tell me how much time this will require?" she asked.

"That's hard to say. For the next three days, it's best if you stay at the inn next to the police station. That would be the fastest way to clear your suspicion."

"Three days..." This time wasn't considered long, but she feared there would be more issues later. If the murderer was never caught, she would always remain under suspicion.

"Then I'll bring a few books with me. Also, I need to ask for leave from the instructors in advance." She looked at the instructor beside her, who nodded.

"Hedra is an excellent student at our school. I believe she wouldn't be involved in such matters. In fact, she often borrows books and attends every class on time, day in and day out. Where would she find the time to do other things?" This instructor held quite a favorable impression of Sylutia.

"We know that too, but duty calls." The Police Bureau Chief nodded slightly.

Afterwards, Sylutia told her two roommates about this matter. Their reactions were different. Lovier thought it should be a simple matter that would be resolved quickly, while Aurora was more worried.

"Don't worry, we'll bring delicious food to Hedra every day from now on."

After packing several books and notes, Sylutia got into a vehicle and, along with personnel from the police station, arrived at the inn next to the station. This place was considered a long-term partner of the police station, and there were always police station members stationed there.

Settling into a room on the second floor, Sylutia ate a little something in the evening and then slept peacefully through the night.

The next day, she read for a while. In the morning, a police station member knocked on her door to ask some questions. Subsequently, she also learned the general sequence of events from them.

"The earliest case occurred three weeks ago. A deceased beastwoman was discovered on Black Crab Street at that time. She was around 36 years old, worked in the entertainment industry, but didn't have a fixed residence."

"The second case was two weeks ago. The discovery location was under a certain bridge, where three beastman beggars were found dead."

"The third case also occurred two weeks ago. A beastman man was attacked on his way home after a gathering at a high-end hotel, and his head was severed."

"The fourth case happened last week. The victim was a pregnant beastwoman."

"Because these occurred consecutively, they caused immense anger and anxiety within the beastman community. Therefore, the official higher-ups ordered the Bureau Chief to accelerate the investigation progress. They must have leads within two weeks and must complete the arrest within one month." This officer explained.

"I understand." Sylutia nodded slightly.

"Earlier you said he killed using very thin threads. Were all these cases like that?"

"Yes, but the injuries from the first case were clearly not smooth; there were many irregular tears and pulls. The perpetrator probably killed first and then used threads to dismember the body."

So that was it. No wonder the police station people didn't suspect her initially. Because her thread manipulation when she injured those robbers before was already very skilled, and the wounds were exceptionally smooth, lacking that rough, crude feeling.

"Can I see more detailed reports?"

"I need to request permission from the Bureau Chief for that." The other party indicated they couldn't show her yet for now.

That day, Sylutia stayed in the inn, reading during the day, drinking tea and organizing notes in the evening, structuring her knowledge framework, and experimenting with rune combinations.

The second day, she still didn't leave the inn, just reading and studying as usual. In the evening, Lovier and Aurora brought over packaged delicious food. The three of them sat together to enjoy it, talking about recent interesting happenings.

"There will be an exam at the end of the year. After the exam, there's supposedly an event, and the Asra District will set off fireworks." The two mentioned things their classmates were discussing today.

"At the end of each year, the academies of various schools of thought hold the 'Silver Bell Festival' evening party. At this time, many members who have gone out also return. Although we aren't members of those large academies yet, if we receive an invitation letter, we can enter at the end of the year to tour in advance."

"They say such invitation letters might be resold for hundreds of gold coins on the black market, especially since many people want to attend the banquets inside to find a formal academy member to date and marry."

"The Silver Bell Festival..." This was the second time Sylutia had heard someone mention this festival. It seemed to be a very important festival within the Mage Alliance.

According to records, after the 'Mithril Clock' school rose to prominence, their school took on the responsibility of setting the standard time within the Mage Alliance. Every 'Silver Bell Festival' was the moment when school members returned to collectively check and calibrate the time.

Then these members would go to other places, spreading the calibrated time to clock towers in various regions. Even many countries within the Hidden Grove Alliance used the time they calibrated.

Later, this collective return and gathering activity expanded. Other schools of thought also began holding year-end evening parties during winter, eventually becoming a custom of the Mage Alliance.

As a key factor in the Mage Alliance's rise, the 'Mithril Clock' school played an extremely crucial role. They initially established the standard time, then, leveraging the promotion of clockmaking craftsmanship, also set standards for length, rotational speed, angular variables, etc. The promotion of these rules allowed a large number of members within the school who followed the 'Secret Word' Aspect to advance, and even gave birth to the school's 'Named One': 'Clockmaker' Rhine Hunter.

His rise also ultimately allowed the 'Mithril Clock' school to replace the 'Origin Hourglass' as the number one school within the Mage Alliance.

As the group talked about the Silver Bell Festival situation, they felt a bit curious and found it novel. Although they couldn't access the Silver Bell Festival themselves yet, the school they currently attended would also hold a simple evening party. Everyone would eat some good food and then sit together in the school's open area to watch the fireworks display.

"Hedra needs to get out quickly, or you'll miss it." Lovier cheered this young woman on, even though Sylutia herself didn't know how she was supposed to try to get out earlier.

On the third day, Sylutia reduced the time spent reading and studying, shifting her attention to the guests coming and going at the inn and the hushed discussions among the police station members.

With her hearing, she could easily distinguish the faint sounds from upstairs and downstairs, but she usually didn't have the mental energy to process them and would filter them out directly.

This inn had quite a few guards, and there were also many hidden arrangements for monitoring and preventing escape.

...

The fourth day was a weekend. Originally, Sylutia was supposed to be released, but unfortunately, just as she had predicted earlier, things didn't go smoothly.

"Another murder occurred, but we still haven't found the culprit." The Police Bureau Chief explained to the young woman with embarrassment.

"The victim was a child. He was killed on his way back after buying fireworks."

"Still haven't found anyone? When was the victim attacked?"

"Last night."

"That time... I was having dinner with classmates at the inn. Many waiters saw us." The Police Bureau Chief indicated he was aware.

"We'll release Miss Hedra today." When he said this, his tone wasn't very confident. Sylutia guessed that if the murders continued, she might be called in for questioning again.

If one day this Bureau Chief was pushed to desperation and decided to catch someone as a scapegoat, her situation would become very dangerous. After all, the identity of 'Hedra' had no power or influence within the Mage Alliance and would find it difficult to resist the pressure of authority.

"Although I'm still a student, this matter has also affected my life. I wonder if you could let me see the case files? Afterwards, I will also assist you in finding that murderer." Sylutia decided to quickly resolve the current difficulty.

"Miss Hedra." He shook his head.

Even though this young woman had exceptional looks and excellent grades, that wasn't of much use for solving the case. Moreover, involving her, a suspect, could lead to other complications that he would find hard to explain.

"You should go back." Without agreeing, he let Sylutia leave the inn and then rejoined the tense analysis and discussions.

Returning to the dormitory, the other two congratulated Sylutia on her return.

"Although it was only three days, these days without Hedra felt exceptionally long." Lovier greeted her longingly, hugging her.

Feeling the warmth transmitted from beside her ear and in front of her, Sylutia hugged Lovier back, patted her hair to comfort her, and then let go.

Afterwards, she mentioned her concerns. Aurora thought for a moment and nodded. "That possibility does exist. If the other party is never caught, Hedra's situation could still be a bit dangerous."

"Shouldn't the Mage Alliance have many methods to solve cases? Why haven't they found them yet?" Lovier asked curiously, not understanding.

"Powerful mages can see recorded temporal images of the past, but that's something only extremely powerful individuals can do. For such a minor matter, it's definitely impossible to invite such an existence." Aurora shook her head.

"However, the situation isn't without a turning point. I'll go ask an acquaintance."

"Oh? Is Aurora finally going to make peace with her family?" Lovier knew Aurora came from a well-known school family in the Greater Airo District but didn't know the reason Aurora had fallen out with her family.

"It wasn't a huge conflict with the family either. I just simply didn't want to be bothered by their lectures, so there's been little contact." Aurora explained helplessly.

"Even if I contact them, they'll definitely come to ask about my situation later. But compared to Hedra, that's not as important."

Having lived together for over four months, the feelings between the three of them had grown increasingly harmonious. Although Aurora was a bit aloof, to prevent her roommate from encountering trouble and danger in the future, she decided to get involved and help solve it.

"We're friends, after all." She finally answered like this.

"Wow, Aurora is so good~" Even though it was Sylutia receiving the help, Lovier was the one moved to the point of being unable to bear it. She pounced, hugging and toppling Aurora, pressing her onto the bed.

Afterwards, Aurora got up to resist. After a bout of playful tussling, the two sat up again, pulling Sylutia in to discuss the plan for what came next.