Cornflower Witch

Chapter 64 Recalling the 'Festival of the Vultures'

In mid-December, classes at the Hyde University were suspended. This was not due to any accident, but rather because the winter break had begun.

“Every year during the coldest part of winter, the school closes for the holidays to prevent any accidents from happening to students,” Komia told Tia. The group then had another meal together before the holidays.

Winter, the season of rising winds, has finally arrived, but it's not as cold as I imagined.

Hilti sat in front of the dressing mirror, looked at her black hair in the mirror, then pulled up the hood and walked out of the room.

Today she wore a dark gray coat and leather ankle boots, which kept her warm while retaining a touch of girlish cuteness.

Picking up the two swan orchids, Hilti walked onto the carriage in front of the mansion and then headed towards the Adventurers' Guild in the city.

More than ten minutes later, the carriage stopped, and she got off carrying a potted swan orchid. After looking at the still bustling guild gate, she went inside.

The temperature is around 10°C now. Although it's not very cold, many of the windows in the hall are still closed to keep it warm, which makes the interior smell messy and not very refreshing.

Bypassing the crowded central area of ​​the lobby, Hilti approached the front desk from the side and found a staff member.

"Is Sister Mai Lin here?" She pulled her mask down a little, revealing her slightly youthful face through her hair.

"Yes, she's here, but she's resting in the back right now. Are you looking for her?" The staff member replied amiably upon seeing that she was a lovely girl.

“Yes, I asked Sister Mylin for help before, so I wanted to thank her this time.” Hiltiya is now considered a novice gardener and has some free time.

"Ah, so you're Mai Lin's junior. I'll go get her." The staff member assumed the girl was a distant relative of Mai Lin.

Soon, Mai Lin came out with her employees. Since it wasn't her turn to start work yet, she was wearing a dark brown long dress with a thick coat over it.

"So it's Tiya." She was a little curious that the girl had appeared in front of her again.

"Sister Mai Lin." The girl stepped forward to greet her and then explained her purpose.

"So smoothly?" Mylene was a little surprised. She had thought that it would take at least half a year for this girl to make some progress and become a relatively skilled gardening apprentice. As for becoming Mrs. Fran's student, she didn't have high hopes, after all, she had seen too many failures.

“I guess we were just lucky.” With that, Siltiia handed the potted plant to Mylin.

"This is a Swan Orchid that I planted. It was given to me by Sister Mai Lin as a seed." Although this plant has not yet fully developed the 'Emerald Honey' morphology, it is not far off and emits a faint fragrance, dispelling any unpleasant odors in the air.

“This is…” Mai Lin took it and examined it carefully. Although she was not a superhuman, she could still sense the extraordinary nature of this Swan Orchid.

"This is... a very fine Swan Orchid." She estimated its value in her mind. If she sold it to those noble ladies, she could probably get more than 30 taels of silver, which was almost half a year's salary for her.

"Yes, I've planted quite a few Swan Orchids, and this is one of them." Actually, before the holiday, Hilti had already given a pot to Bachelor Hyde, and several other close classmates had also given one each.

"Unfortunately, I don't know how to take care of it, and I don't know if it can survive with normal watering." Mylene looked at the swan orchid in her hand.

"Just water it normally. If Sister Mailin finds it troublesome, she can transfer it to someone else." If it's sold, it would be a good source of income for Mailin.

"In that case, I'll accept it."

Before long, news of the flowers spread throughout the Adventurers' Guild, and Mylene began to transform.

"I heard it was given to her by a junior."

"Really? Sending such expensive flowers, I bet it's on behalf of an older brother or elder who feels embarrassed."

"Malene isn't married yet, that's true."

"Why can't it be that girl who likes Mai Lin? How can you be so prejudiced?"

"Ahem, don't spread such rumors, or you'll get beaten up by Mylin."

"However, that potted plant is really strange; it naturally makes the air in the room cleaner when placed there."

"In that case, it must be quite valuable. I wonder if it was bought from the Gardeners' Guild or grown by yourself."

"Don't even mention the Gardeners' Guild in Scorched Stone City. Their skill level is only second-rate. For real gardeners, you have to go to Valley City." After seeing Siltiya off from the Adventurers' Guild, Mylin gave her many instructions before returning. Now she heard various discussions among her colleagues.

"These guys, all they do is gossip." She thought for a moment and decided to teach the ringleaders a lesson to stop them from spreading rumors.

……

After leaving the Adventurers' Guild, Siltiia took the remaining pot of Swan Orchid to Winnie's house.

"Tiya is here." She had just knocked on the door when the other person opened it to greet her.

As she went inside, Hiltiah found Talil there as well; no wonder Winnie knew she was coming.

“Taylor came over this morning and asked me to prepare a delicious meal for you.” Winnie greeted Sylvia with a smile and then asked her to sit down.

A moment later, she brought over the brewed hot tea, and at that moment, Talil also came over and asked her sister Winnie for the same tea.

"When I came, my sister wouldn't make me any tea. She's so unfair!"

“You come almost every day, do you really need me to make you tea?” Winnie tapped her mischievous younger sister.

The three exchanged brief pleasantries and then sat down.

"So, Tia is currently staying with Mrs. Fran and her life has settled down."

Looking back three months ago, when she first arrived here as a shy and unfamiliar young girl, Winnie felt a pang of emotion.

"Now that Tiya has advanced to 'Tier 1: Emerald Honey', does she intend to pursue the path of a gardener?"

“Yes, but I told my wife a while ago that I wanted to go to the Hidden Forest, and she agreed.” Hiltiah mentioned her future goals.

“The Hidden Woods…” Winnie was lost in memories.

“Actually, I also competed for a spot in the Hidden Woods back then, but of course I was just there for show.” Her words immediately piqued the curiosity of the two of them.

"So what was the process like? You never told me before, sister." Talley couldn't sit still any longer.

"As for the process, since I only experienced part of it, it's not detailed," Winnie shook her head.

"The next one will probably be in January or February next year. At that time, someone will come to Jiaoshi City, and Viscount Xuefeng and Maester Hyde will submit the list."

"The other party will review the information on the list and then have these students participate in the initial selection on site."

“The selection process usually sets three goals. About one-third of the students can achieve the first goal, about one-tenth of the students can achieve the second goal, and no one may achieve the last goal.”

"If no one completes all the objectives, then a candidate will be selected from the remaining students who have completed the second objective. At this point, Viscount Schevon and Maester Hyde can nominate the candidates they deem suitable and then obtain the spots."

"My first goal was to find a red stinging wasp nest in a forest and bring it back."

“Red stinging wasps, aren’t those poisonous and highly aggressive wasps?” Taliel thought of something.

"Yes, just finding it requires a certain amount of luck, and you also have to risk being attacked by red stinging bees to bring it back, so only five people were able to complete it."

“I had some homemade ‘red snow powder’ with me, which was a kind of gunpowder-like powder that helped me subdue most of the red stinging bees in the hive,” Winnie recalled, taking a small sip of hot water.

"However, I was stung while retrieving the beehive. Due to the poisoning, I fainted after barely making it back to the camp. It was only after Teacher Hyde helped me detoxify that I gradually woke up."

"The second objective was to kill the 'first-tier beasts' entrenched in the forest on their own. Only two students completed this task, and they paid a heavy price for it."

"As for the third objective, it is located on a high cliff at the end of the forest, where the nest of the Gale Vulture is located. To achieve this objective, you need to obtain a Gale Vulture egg."

“Gale Vulture, you should know about it, right? It’s a 'blazing sun' type of ferocious bird that appears during the peak of the heatwave in the Ascending Wind Season. There are often multiple of them, and they are extremely vicious and dangerous, even more so than the 'Crimson Wolf'.”

"The appearance of these fierce birds symbolizes the hottest and most unbearable time of the monsoon season, so it is also known as the 'Festival of Vultures'."

(End of this chapter)