The Cornflower Witch Chapter 241

The third day after Stream Valley City closed its gates.

Prince Jobs, City Lord Fabre, and a group of military officers and knights in the city were discussing countermeasures.

“The enemy is stationed upstream of the river. They don’t seem to be in a hurry to attack but have been sending out scouts to detect the situation around Stream Valley City. Their scouts have been seen in the nearby plains, the forest across the river, and the villages downstream.”

“It’s like they’re slowly grasping your throat with their hand. Although they haven’t made a move yet, it’s particularly suffocating.”

“If we let them continue like this and they clarify everything around Stream Valley City, then any retreat or action we take will be under their watchful eyes.”

Listening to the discussions of these officers, Jobs leaned back in his chair at the head of the table, resting his hand on his head, his eyes on the map laid out, his brows furrowed.

Although he had no military achievements before this, Prince Jobs had inherited the royal bloodline of Regas well, possessing beautiful short golden hair, coupled with his handsome facial features, which made many young girls in the city admire him. Even a few noblewomen from the Anti Kingdom were captivated by him.

“Why don’t we eliminate these scouts?” he asked at this moment, a look of disgust for the Anti scouts in his eyes.

“We would like to, but many of those scouts are extraordinary individuals with the ‘First-Order Mist Shadow’ Aspect, and there are several ‘Second-Order Mist Shadow’ squad leaders among them. They are exceptionally good at concealing their presence and moving rapidly. Ordinary people can’t catch up to them, nor can they defeat them,” an old Regas officer explained to the prince.

“Are there no natural enemies for these scout assassins?” Jobs was still somewhat displeased and continued to inquire.

“If it were a confrontation between nations, to deal with such scout assassins, one would either send similar personnel to harass the enemy or recruit hunters skilled in reconnaissance or wizards proficient in psychic perception.”

“Wizards possess many unconventional and strange abilities that even scout assassins find hard to anticipate or detect. Once they fall into a trap and are captured, it’s easy to eliminate them with superior combat power.”

“Then do we not have any capable hunters or wizards here?” Jobs was still unsatisfied and pressed on.

“When the Regas Kingdom was still in existence, the military had specialized reconnaissance personnel who transitioned from hunters. As for wizards, our country had very few wizards. Only occasionally would special female officers in the royal palace provide assistance; they possessed some unique secret arts to protect the royal family from assassins.”

“Female officers…” Prince Jobs recalled his childhood, when indeed there were a few mysterious old women in the palace. They would diagnose illnesses for the royal family, prepare special elixirs, and occasionally teach the princes and princesses some esoteric knowledge.

“Where are those female officers now?”

“After White Cliff City fell and the royal palace was destroyed, we are unsure where the people inside went. They might have died,” someone whispered in reply.

Upon hearing this, Prince Jobs impatiently scoffed, then picked up a wine glass and drank to drown his boredom.

Seeing this, the several officers present also felt that they indeed needed to find a solution, otherwise, this situation was too passive and uncomfortable.

“How about we recruit and form a patrol team? There are many mountains and forests near Stream Valley City, and there are also some hunters among the populace. Although their strengths vary, having them is better than having none.”

“Just do that,” Prince Jobs waved his hand, instructing them to proceed.

…

That afternoon, recruitment notices were posted on the main streets and at the city gates of Stream Valley City, attracting many residents to gather and watch.

“Recruiting hunters of ‘First-Order’ or above, generous compensation, 50 silver coins per month…” someone read the text aloud.

“50 silver per month? That’s good.” An ordinary person in Stream Valley City would only earn 5 silver coins a month.

“But it requires First-Order or above. For a First-Order hunter, hunting on their own would yield about the same income.”

“My uncle is a First-Order hunter. He occasionally hunts Congealed Nature Beasts, and his monthly income can be 1-3 gold coins, but it’s not stable. On average, over a year, it’s about 50 silver per month.”

“Adventurers are better than that. I’ve seen powerful First-Order adventurers earn 70-80 silver a month, but it’s more dangerous.”

People discussed animatedly. Although such compensation matched their worth, the appeal was moderate. After two days of recruitment, only a few responded.

For this reason, Prince Jobs once again threw money around, deciding to double the pay to 1 gold coin per month per hunter, and also provide a practical set of leather armor. Only then did many hunters enthusiastically sign up.

…

In a humble gray brick house in the city, a chestnut-gold-haired woman sat by the window, adjusting her bowstring and maintaining her bow and arrows.

“Knock, knock.” A knock sounded at the door.

“Just a moment,” she responded to the sound, then placed the oil brush back into the glass bottle and stood up. She unhurriedly went to the door and opened it, and a young girl, a head shorter than her, walked in.

“Sister Karen is still home today,” the freckled girl said, looking around the room with curiosity. Her eyes filled with admiration when she saw the hunting trophies hanging on the wall.

“Yes, what’s up? You came suddenly today.” Karen poured her a glass of water and handed it to her.

“The city’s been locked down recently, and I have nothing to do at home, so I came out to walk on the street.”

“Because of the Anti Kingdom’s army, Stream Valley City might be sealed for who knows how long. If I can’t leave the city to gather herbs, I probably won’t have money for food,” she complained a little.

“At this time, don’t even think about gathering herbs. It’s good enough to make it through safely,” Karen comforted her.

The other party nodded. In truth, she was just saying it; the short girl had also accumulated some money over the past two years and wouldn’t starve.

“Did Sister Karen go out these past two days?”

“No.”

“As expected.” She covered her mouth and chuckled.

“I was wondering why Sister Karen was still content to stay at home today. You probably don’t know what’s happening in the city now.”

“Prince Jobs had notices posted, saying he’s recruiting hunters to form a patrol team to clear out Anti scouts outside the city. The pay is 1 gold coin per person per month.”

“That’s a lot of money,” Karen nodded, but her expression didn’t change much.

“Oh, isn’t Sister Karen tempted? I heard them say that it’s not just 1 gold coin a month; if you catch an enemy scout, you get another 1 gold coin reward. So, you could even earn 2-3 gold coins a month.”

One gold coin, for ordinary people, was 100 silver coins, roughly two years’ total income, which was extremely tempting.

“I know, but I don’t want to get involved in conflicts between nations,” Karen shook her head.

“It’s better to be a pure hunter.”

“Are you really not going? The patrol team has great benefits and various subsidies and rewards. If I had Sister Karen’s strength, I would definitely go there.”

“Besides, the Anti Kingdom is so bad. What we do is also for everyone’s good.” The girl opposite clenched her small fists.

Hearing this, Karen smiled but still refused the other party’s suggestion.

“I’ll just stay home for a while. I won’t participate in the war.”

Seeing that Karen had made up her mind, the girl opposite could only reluctantly stand up and bid farewell.

After she left, Karen closed the door again, sat by the window, patiently adjusting her bowstring, and varnishing and maintaining her bows.

Only occasionally did she look up, listening to the discussions coming from the street not far away.

Her [Hear Wind Discern Position] had now reached Level 3, allowing her to easily distinguish conversations from a hundred meters away.

“So many people are attracted by the patrol team’s benefits,” she put down her bow and arrows.

“However, war is very cruel. If it’s just for that little money…” Karen shook her head, saying nothing more.

She took down a small notebook from a shelf on the wall. Its pages were already yellowed, covered with her notes from when she studied with Scholar Hyde.

Only the last page had several signatures and blessings.

Her fingers gently traced the names as she recalled the time they spent studying together. Although it was only half a year, that half-year was much more exciting than the past three years, and she remembered it with fondness.