The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 34: The New Transfer Student

Boarding the train bound for Jianermi District, accompanied by the blaring whistle, the scenery outside the window began to change.

Sylutia leaned against the window, watching the ever-changing view outside, from the city of towering buildings to low-rise bungalows and barren mountains, then entering a long, black tunnel, traveling between the mountain ranges.

"Hedra, are you thinking about something?" Lovier sat beside the girl, handing her a piece of cake.

"Thank you." The girl took the cake, noticing that Lovier and Aurora also had cakes placed in front of them. These cakes must have just been taken out of the suitcase, and that golden shaded cat was also lying on the table now, with a few small pieces of dried meat placed before it.

"I was just thinking about going to Agate Street before we left." Sylutia tucked her hair behind her ear, taking a small bite of the cake that was as soft as velvet. A fresh, sweet taste spread between her teeth.

"That day you said you bought a lot of food and even specially delivered medicine to some sick people. If it weren't for those things, you wouldn't have come back so late." Lovier recalled the events of that day.

"Yes." Sylutia finished the small cake, wiped the corner of her mouth with a tissue, then put it down.

"I feel like as one person, what I can do is still quite limited." Even if she stayed in Agate Street every day, she couldn't completely solve all the various problems inside, such as hunger, illness, bullying conflicts, and so on.

Perhaps with her strength, she could single-handedly wipe out all the residents of Agate Street, but wanting them to live a basic, stable life was somewhat difficult. After all, as an individual, her energy was limited. At most, she could only use overwhelming force to compel everyone to follow orders.

But that wouldn't be the scenario Sylutia hoped for.While recalling what she had learned, Sylutia pondered how exactly to integrate the 'Gold Steam' into daily life, and how to make the entire national organization enter a positive cycle of development.

This was destined to be a question requiring a long time to answer, and for now, she could only construct preliminary ideas, needing more practice to verify them one by one.

Thoughts surged and tumbled amidst the countless pieces of information and knowledge in her mind, like a fish navigating a vast ocean. Time passed unnoticed.

After who knows how long, as the train emerged from the mountains, the light suddenly brightened, and an incredibly vast, flat world appeared before their eyes.

Vast stretches of golden winter jasmine flowers, like golden paint from an artist's brush, were smeared across the emerald green wilderness that stretched to meet the sky, one stroke after another.

Under this boundless expanse of sky and earth, the roaring train carrying the three of them also seemed to shrink, becoming a faint, almost invisible thin line, scratching across the canvas of this world, swallowed by the grand sky and plains.

In Jianermi District, Sylutia and the other two spent a pleasant seven days. They strolled through the scenic plains, held parasols while camping on the grass, watched the snowmelt streams flowing down from the high mountains, petted the distinctive local white-wooled black sheep, listened to the locals play unique folk tunes, ate honey-glazed barbecue skewers, and then drank tart raspberry juice to cut through the richness.

Bathing in the breeze of the wilderness and enjoying the bright sunshine, the seven days passed in happiness and without them even noticing.

After it ended, the three boarded the train for the return journey. Before leaving, they bought quite a few local specialties like flower honey and small handicrafts.

"I heard it's winter jasmine honey." Lovier gently shook the small bottle in her hand, inside which amber-colored liquid flowed slowly.

"I bought three boxes. If I hadn't considered the limited amount we could carry on the train, I probably would have bought more."

"I'll mail two boxes home, and keep one box in the dormitory for us to drink."

Aurora found it a bit amusing. Lovier was like a big child who had gotten a new toy. But she had always been like this, right? Even though she was also gradually maturing from a girl into a young woman, especially having the best figure among the three, she was also the most childlike.

On the other side, Sylutia was flipping through her diary from these days. It contained many simple scenes outlined in black ink. There was a scene of Lovier trying to play with a pony, only for it to dodge her face. There was a scene of Aurora nearly slipping by the stream, looking panicked. And there was a scene of herself sitting on the grass, petting a lamb.

Although they were only simple lines, they captured the essence of the girls very well, recording these happy and simple moments.

"I like this one the most~" Lovier leaned over, her golden hair tickling Sylutia's cheek slightly.

In the simple sketch in the diary, Aurora, wearing a black and blue long dress, walked ahead. She held a parasol, her silver-gray twin-tails fluttering in the wind, her gaze fixed on the distance. Lovier crouched in the shade under her parasol, trying to pick up a golden cat rolling on its back and acting cute on the ground. At the very bottom of the picture were knees covered by a skirt, with an unfinished drawing resting on them. A hand holding a pen was sketching lines. Beside them, wild grass and her skirt danced in the wind, ripples spreading to the edge of the picture.

Although only half of Sylutia's body appeared, it gave a sense of being right there in the scene, perfectly capturing everything the artist saw at that moment. It had a feeling of seemingly ordinary daily life, yet something nostalgic.

After returning to the Asra District, the three rested well at home for a few days, and then the new semester began.

"This new transfer student's name is Carmilla."

On a day in the new semester, a girl with long champagne-gold hair came to the class. She wore black and red clothes, held a handbag in front of her with both hands, bowed slightly in greeting, then raised her head.

"Wow, so pretty. She feels almost on par with Lovier." Currently, Lovier was recognized as having the highest reputation in the school grade.

"Indeed, she just lacks a bit of that radiant feeling compared to Lovier."

"You mean she doesn't have that inherent warmth and vitality Lovier has, right?"

"Pretty much. She seems a bit delicate."

Hearing the whispers and discussions below, the instructor simply coughed, interrupting the talk, then let the girl on the podium speak.

"Hello, everyone." Her voice was somewhat weak. If you weren't in the front rows, you might not even hear it.

"Alright, Carmilla just arrived and isn't familiar with the environment yet. Try to look after her and don't scare her." The instructor warned some of the less well-intentioned boys in the class.

"Yes." A chorus of responses sounded from below. Everyone was quite curious about this new girl.

"Why is there another transfer student?"

"Couldn't she stay at her previous school? Or is there another reason?"

"Looking at how weak her voice is, she probably isn't in good health." Amidst everyone's speculations, this girl sat down in front of Sylutia.

Sylutia was also somewhat curious about this new student because the other's 'Secret Word' Aspect was different from the ordinary kind that relied on constructing a framework of knowledge. It seemed to be condensed by relying on some kind of 'legend' or 'anecdote,' which was quite rare.

After all, at low tiers, even Transcendents could only do so much. It was difficult to condense an Aspect relying on this method unless her identity was special, like one of those historically famous, unique figures born with renown.

The disheartened Mage she had encountered before had completely failed, but today she rarely encountered someone who truly relied on intangible legends to condense their Aspect.

There must be some kind of story about her, Sylutia thought, temporarily filing this thought away.

In the new semester, she needed to start preparing for the entrance exam to Tetis College, which belonged to the 'Mithril Clock' school.

The situation was constantly changing. Time couldn't be dragged out too long. She needed to step into a position where she could change the situation as soon as possible.