The Cornflower Witch Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Adventuring Party

A five-day introductory lesson allowed Hylial to quickly understand common knowledge of this world, such as copper coins, Silverleaf Coins, and Goldflower Coins, and how to judge their origin, year, and value based on the patterns of flowers and leaves imprinted on them.

100-110 rotten copper coins = 1 Silverleaf Coin

100 Silverleaf Coins = 1 Goldflower Coin

“Most Silverleaf Coins have leaf patterns on their backs. This is because the earliest Silverleaf Coins were silver leaves taken from the World Tree by the elves as currency. Later, various races adopted this design when minting their own currency, mostly using leaf patterns. Some also use patterns based on noble family crests, such as Marquis Warren in the east, who uses a wolf as his emblem.”

“Although Silverleaf Coins have different patterns, they have uniform size, weight, and silver content requirements. These are universally accepted throughout the continent.”

“Then there are Goldflower Coins, also known as Goldflower Coins. This is because many Goldflower Coins have floral patterns on their backs, representing the royal family that minted them,” Winnie explained.

“If other nobles, not just royalty, but marquises and earls, can’t print floral patterns on their Silverleaf Coins?” Hylial asked curiously.

“No, they can’t,” Winnie shook her head directly.

“Only royalty can use floral patterns as their emblems. This relates to a very ancient history and the world’s top powers.”

After understanding the currency classifications, Winnie then explained the general situation of the Regas Duchy to Hylial.

The current monarch of the Regas Duchy is Asathis, the 17th generation, residing in Whitecliff City. Due to its decline, Regas is no longer a kingdom, but has been downgraded to a duchy, and the monarch is also referred to as Grand Duke Regas.

Every autumn, large merchant caravans set out from various places to trade in the royal capital, Whitecliff City, and return before winter sets in.

This trade will stock up on materials and food for the entire winter. If certain territories lack winter provisions, they will spend huge sums during the trade to acquire surplus food from other territories to overcome the difficulties.

“The country has mostly forests, mountains, and plains, and local produce varies. Where we are now, the Burntstone City region, is primarily forest. So, every autumn, merchant caravans are dispatched to purchase grain reserves to prevent food shortages in winter.”

“Of course, we also have our own specialties, such as fir wood, tree sap, furs, smoked meat, and some pickled fruits.”

Winnie then informed Lia about the approximate prices of various common daily necessities in the area, to prevent the innocent young lady from being swindled.

…

Four days later, at Winnie’s house.

“Congratulations, Miss Lia, you have completed all your lessons. You now understand the local situation better than 95% of the people on the street,” Winnie closed the book and congratulated Hylial with a smile.

The young girl recalled all the knowledge she had learned these past few days, from the growing seasons of various local crops and animal husbandry essentials, to the map and terrain distribution of the Regas Duchy, the meaning and origin of various noble emblems, and the general structure and functions of various guilds. Winnie had thoroughly educated her on the local environment.

“Thank you, Teacher Winnie,” she stood up and bowed.

“I’m also very happy to have such a bright student,” Winnie sighed. Lia’s learning speed was the fastest she had ever seen. Many complex concepts didn’t need much explanation; she would just mention a term, and the other person would quickly understand it based on patterns and logic.

Talil would probably never catch up to this talent in her lifetime. Winnie glanced at her inattentive sister and could only helplessly press her head down.

“That’s all for today. You’ve learned a lot these days, it’s time to go out and see the world.”

“Talil.” She called her sister’s name, startling the distracted girl.

“I’m here, what’s wrong, sister?”

“Go out with Miss Lia this afternoon.” Winnie directly stated the task.

“Okay, no problem.” Talil was exceptionally happy to hear this, finally not having to study anymore.

…

After lunch, Hylial and Talil walked on the streets of Burntstone City. It was still sunny, and the city was still bustling.

Hylial, wearing a reddish-brown cloak, walked casually on the dark gray stone bricks, her hands naturally at her sides.

“By the way, can ordinary people go see the Adventurers’ Guild?” She remembered the letter of introduction Friein had given her.

“Of course they can, but those adventurers are much stronger than ordinary people, so commoners usually don’t dare to get close to them.”

“I see.” Hylial suddenly wanted to know what level the adventurers in the city generally were.

“Let’s go take a look.”

“I want to go too.” Talil was actually very interested in adventurers, but unfortunately, she wasn’t strong enough, so she had suppressed the idea of becoming an adventurer before.

The two soon arrived at the entrance of the Adventurers’ Guild, looked at the tall archway, and then walked inside.

The front hall here was exceptionally spacious, enough to be used as a pub, but they didn’t sell alcohol here. There were just many empty seats for visitors to rest.

As far as the eye could see, adventurers and mercenaries carrying weapons were everywhere. Most of them wore leather armor, and a few were equipped with half chainmail. Unlike soldiers, these adventurers carried various tools with them, such as ropes, iron clamps for capture, net cages, lamp oil, and so on.

At this moment, some people were gathered under the notice board, looking at the bounties posted.

“A monster of unknown form has been attacking merchant caravans near Gutter Town, bounty 60 Silver Coins.”

“Procuring fangs of first-tier beasts, single tooth price 3 Silver Coins, long fangs 20 Silver Coins.”

“Seeking ‘Watermist Orchid’, 23 Silver Coins per plant, need three plants in total.”

“Killing mutated otters upstream of Streamwood Village, 2 Silver Coins per otter, approximately twenty otters.”

…

Under the notice board, a party that Hylial recognized slightly was also standing there, searching for available bounties.

“Brother Jero, how about we go take care of those otters? This one looks easy,” said the young man in simple leather armor. His eyes were slightly long, giving him a somewhat fierce appearance.

“Those otters are not easy to deal with,” the strong man called Jero shook his head, placing his large hand on the young man’s head, almost covering it completely.

Rubbing the young man’s hair with his rough fingers, the man grinned and explained, “If we want to get rid of the otters, we have to go into the water, but once we’re in the water, our combat effective is significantly reduced compared to on land.”

“Those otters should be beasts contaminated with phase power. They are extremely fast in water and very intelligent. If we take a boat, they will bore holes through the bottom of the boat.”

“I’ve seen many adventurers suffer losses because of this in the past,” he said, recounting past experiences.

“Ah, then how do we do this mission? Do we have to hire professional hunters to help?” The young man asked, pushing the hand on his head away with both hands.

“Hahaha, that’s not necessary. I have plenty of experience dealing with otters. Come on, let’s take the mission first, and then we’ll go to the Apothecaries’ Guild next door to get some things.” He patted the young man’s shoulder, then had his companions push through to the front of the notice board and accept the bounty.

“Our adventuring party will take this mission.”

“Alright, I’ll register you. According to the rules, please pay a 5 silver coin deposit first.” The receptionist walked over upon hearing them.

“Heh, this time, let’s start with some appetizers.” With that, several people walked to the counter to register.

After these people left, the area under the notice board became a little quieter, and everyone discussed other bounties in low voices.

“The Gutter Town monster, 60 Silver Coins, looks very enticing.”

“I guess it’s a first-tier fanged beast, otherwise the bounty wouldn’t be so high.”

“If it’s first-tier, then 60 silver coins feels a bit low,” one person said, shaking their head.

“It depends on the harvest. If that first-tier fanged beast has a lot of valuable things on it, the hunting value alone would make up for the bounty.”

“Look at Jero and his team. The Red Wolf they hunted last time, the money from the bounty was only a small part, the bulk of it came from the wolf skin and other materials.”

The sound of discussions made the Adventurers’ Guild noisy. These people who lived by the blade eagerly looked at the bounties.

Even though the process was full of danger, the visible Silver Coins were so beautiful. Just taking down one bounty was equivalent to a year of hard work. Such a temptation was hard to resist.