The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 37: The Choice of Spring Outing

Although the peaceful campus life was interrupted by an unexpected incident, causing many students to discuss it heatedly for nearly a week, since no new news continued to arrive, everyone soon forgot about the matter and returned to focusing on their own studies.

In the Mage Alliance, if you can enter those higher-level academies, it can truly change your fate directly. The resulting changes in status, identity, and strength far surpass the college entrance exams from Sylutia's previous life, roughly similar to the imperial examinations of ancient times.

Therefore, whether it's to become stronger, gain power and status, or obtain freedom and wealth, entering a higher-level academy is the most direct and clear path.

Driven by this motivation, very few students don't care about their grades and their own futures, and those students with excellent grades would subtly gain higher status among their peers.

Sylutia currently enjoys a special status in the class. When other students pass by her seat, they would unconsciously lower their voices to avoid disturbing her. Furthermore, her choices in daily class activities would also influence the other students.

Carmilla and the other students were taken away for investigation and questioning for two days before being released. Afterwards, according to the instructor, this investigation had too few clues and failed to identify the true culprit. Although this was somewhat unsettling, fortunately, no other accidental deaths occurred afterwards, and the matter was gradually forgotten.

Another new week arrived. Before the end of the noon class, the instructor told everyone that a spring outing would be held next week and asked them to choose from the proposed plans.

Option 1: Go to the manor plains in the western part of the Asra district, suitable for simple activities like strolling, sketching, and horseback riding, and you could also fish and have a picnic.

Option 2: Go to the Senis district in the east, where the river network is dense and there are many beautiful lakes. You could see many flying birds like swans, and there are places for swimming and boating.

Option 3: Go to the Emerald Parrot Mountain Valley in the southeast direction, where you could hike, enjoy the scenery, gather some herbs along the way, and see the mountain animals."There's even a spring outing?" Sylutia was a bit surprised when she heard the instructor mention this. Back when she was studying over at the Hidden Grove, she had never heard the term "spring outing."

Thinking about it carefully, it seemed that made sense. The location of the Hidden Grove itself was in terrain like forests, swamps, and valleys. Seeing these things every day, there really was no need to go somewhere else specifically to see them.

Also, the second-tier apprentices of the Hidden Grove Alliance were actually relatively free. Unlike the students here in the Mage Alliance who had to learn a large amount of theoretical knowledge every day, they mastered much of their content gradually while carrying out missions and learning through practice.

"Where should we go?" Lovier lightly raised a finger, placing it on her chin as she pondered.

"My hometown has lots of plains and lakes, so hiking is relatively rare." She kind of wanted to go see the Emerald Parrot Mountain Valley, but she wasn't sure if it was suitable.

"Hedra, what about you?" When this young lady couldn't make up her mind, she would turn to her two roommates.

"I'm fine with any." Sylutia felt all three were acceptable.

"No, no, Hedra must choose one." Lovier grabbed Sylutia's arm, her soft body pressing close.

"Alright then, let's go boating." Sylutia thought for a moment; she hadn't experienced boating yet.

'Great, let's go boating~' Seeing Sylutia had chosen, Lovier immediately agreed and followed.

This child probably just wanted someone to play with her; where they went wasn't that important.

On the other side, after listening, Aurora looked up and glanced at the three choices on the blackboard. "Boating? That's fine too." Aside from not wanting to hike, she was fine with the other two.

After the three of them decided, the other students around them gradually followed suit upon hearing, and thus "going to the Senis district to see swans, boat, and swim" became the option with the most votes.

Most students didn't take this result too seriously, just following their feelings and the mainstream voice. However, there was one exception: the newly transferred student in the class, Carmilla, was feeling a bit annoyed.

Why was it boating again? She couldn't help but recall last year when she was alone in a boat drifting on the Ice Sea for a full three months before reaching the shore. Moreover, there was no extra food or water on the sea. If she weren't a Blood Clan royal, even though her rank had fallen, her physical constitution remained, she wouldn't have been able to last that long.

Although the matter was over, she still felt disgust and had psychological shadows regarding water activities like boating, probably never wanting to get on a boat again in this lifetime.

Why? Her hearing was also extremely sharp. Before Sylutia made her choice, actually more students wanted to go to the Emerald Parrot Mountain Valley because many were born in plain areas and hadn't seen much forest or high mountains. But after that black-haired girl made her choice, many people started following the trend. Those originally discussing going hiking also wavered and then changed their minds.

For no reason, Carmilla felt somewhat depressed and unhappy. However, her body was now delicate and weak, completely lacking the dignity she once had as a Blood Clan princess. As a result, when unhappy, her displayed demeanor more closely resembled the sadness and melancholy of a young maiden, making other students in the class feel pity for her.

"What's wrong, Carmilla?" a girl nearby couldn't help but ask.

"Ah, it's nothing, just a little curious." Carmilla organized her words.

"Is Hedra special in some way? It feels like everyone is somewhat afraid of her." In her eyes, this following was just like in the Blood Clan, where those of lower status feared superior existences, not daring to voice opposing opinions.

"Giggle, this..." The girl's eyes shifted as she thought for a few seconds, then answered mischievously.

"That's just how Hedra is. Not only are many classmates in the class afraid of her, but the police officers on the streets and even the gang members in various alleys all know of her and dare not offend her."

"Although her reputation is a bit intimidating, her personality isn't bad. If you run into trouble outside, asking her for help would probably lead to a decent resolution." The girl spoke half-truths and half-falsehoods, greatly surprising Carmilla who didn't know the truth.

"She seems to only be second-tier, right? Her family background probably isn't as good as Lovier's. Why does she have such a... well, intimidating reputation?" Although she hadn't been in the class for many days, she could still tell that Lovier was indeed that type of young lady of a prominent family, whether in terms of demeanor, conduct, or food, clothing, and daily necessities.

"Who knows? Actually, last year, people from the police specifically sought out Hedra and even pleaded with her to resolve troubles. You know, even the Bureau Chief of the police station came." She leaned close to Carmilla's ear again, whispering.

"Alright, I understand. I won't easily offend her." Carmilla thought that since she was still very weak now, she should indeed be careful and cautious.

"Mhm, that's right." Seeing Carmilla's weak and obedient appearance, the girl suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of accomplishment.

"Listen to your big sister from now on, and don't worry about daily life." She somewhat enjoyed this feeling of taking care of people and being relied upon, especially by this extremely delicate and weak girl before her, which reminded her of the feeling of being a big sister back home.