The Cornflower Witch Chapter 247

Sitting by the bonfire, Sylphidya listened to these people recount the changes in Scorched Stone City over the past few years. Originally, she had wanted to ask some questions of the pursuing队长, but unfortunately, the other party was not strong enough, or perhaps her knife was too fast; before Sylphidya could even apply medicine to stop the bleeding, he passed away.

“Ever since the Anti people occupied this place, they first seized Viscount Xuefeng’s castle, then held banquets constantly. Afterward, they searched the wealthy district on the west side of the city one by one. The former noble rich were all plundered, and they had to pay a lot of money to avoid being imprisoned under various charges.”

“During that time, I heard that Viscount Xuefeng also suffered a great loss.”

“However, after that, Viscount Xuefeng, along with his family and Scholar Hyde, left Scorched Stone City and went far away.”

“About half a year later, the new lord of Scorched Stone City was determined to be Somaelin, the former logistics officer of the Anti army. He was cunning and cruel, always finding various excuses to raise taxes. Many people suffered greatly and were forced to flee Scorched Stone City.”

“During that time, the resident population of Scorched Stone City decreased significantly.”

“Seeing that the situation could not be sustained, he reluctantly agreed to reduce taxes, but soon after, he discovered the mine buried in the back mountain and began to find people to dig through the mine tunnels and resume mining.”

“After the mine tunnels were restored, although they could be used, they were exceptionally deep and winding, and the mining danger was very high. He was reluctant to use his direct Anti soldiers, so he announced a series of strict laws in the city. If anyone made a slight mistake, they would be arrested and sent to the mine to mine.”

“That’s how we were arrested by his soldiers and forced to mine there.”

“People basically died every day inside, and the work was very tiring. Even if we dug out gemstones, we could only exchange them for food. Under such circumstances, we had no choice but to find an opportunity to escape.”

“So many things have happened.” Sylphidya sighed.

She somewhat didn’t understand why Somaelin was so cruel and short-sighted. If this continued, Scorched Stone City would surely gradually decline, and the population would dwindle. Without a population, even having territory would be of little use, unable to use the rituals of the Royal Sealing Academy to condense attributes, and without a population, there would be no tax base, making economic development impossible.

Any lord with a bit of insight and foresight would not be so harsh. Even if they were greedy for money, they would at least maintain a superficial reputation. Many nobles still cared about their face.

After comforting everyone, Sylphidya took out her reserved food and distributed it to them. Many of these were high-quality food biscuits sent by the association when she was in the Shadow World. Since her own cultivation was better, these had been kept untouched.

Just a small piece was enough to fill their stomachs. The high-quality dry food biscuits quickly satiated these refugees, who then slept by the bonfire.

Sylphidya briefly counted them. There were 31 refugees in total. Originally, there were 42 when they fled, meaning about 11 people died on the way.

They said that there were nearly 400 laborers in the mine, and even if they escaped, they would quickly be replaced.

After a night passed, Sylphidya served breakfast to everyone and then asked them about their plans.

“We dare not go to other cities because there are also Anti people there, and they will definitely hunt us down.”

“We can only go deeper into the mountains, and perhaps find a place to settle down there.”

If there was only one person, living in the deep mountains would be very dangerous, but now there were 31 of them. With a little division of labor, they might be able to survive.

“Since that’s the case, I’ll help you find a suitable place to settle down first.” Sylphidya thought for a moment and decided to help them to the end.

Afterward, she spent about three days helping these people find a hidden canyon deep in the mountains for them to build a settlement. Because Sylphidya had previously overseen the establishment of Lantern Town, she was at ease with such a small settlement of about thirty people.

She built wells, sheds, and small plots of land for cultivation in the forest. After these were done, she also spread many ‘sickle-thorn vine’ seeds around the settlement and hastened their growth. With some vine blockades, ordinary wild beasts could not approach at all, and the secret path through the thorny bushes was known only to the residents within.

“Thank you, Lady Tiya.”

After the settlement was built, these people bowed deeply to the young girl in gratitude, some even too excited to speak.

“If you have anything else you need us to do, just tell us.” If it weren’t for this young girl saving them, they would have either died that night or been captured and dragged back to that mine, suffering and awaiting death. Now, not only could they survive, but they would also have a safe dwelling in these chaotic times. There was probably no better place than this.

“No need to be so emotional, I actually didn’t do much.” Sylphidya shook her head, then thought of something.

She summoned the white Wind Horse, asking it to stay at the settlement for now. This would both protect the people and allow her to travel to Scorched Stone City without the horse, which would be too conspicuous and hinder her solo movements.

“You’ll stay here for now. I’ll be back later,” she said, stroking the white horse’s forehead and patting its neck, instructing it to remain there.

After a few more words with the group, Sylphidya pulled on her hood and departed once more.

The Scorched Stone City wasn’t far; she could reach it on foot in a day, and as a Transcendent, her speed far surpassed that of ordinary people. On the way, Sylphidya thought of familiar faces in Scorched Stone City. Myrine from the Adventurers’ Guild was probably there, but she wondered if Lei was still in Scorched Stone City. He might still be there, or he might have gone elsewhere to study and travel.

To avoid detection, Sylphidya changed into plain linen clothes, dyed her hair black, and recalled the thief’s diary she had read years ago, as well as the ‘Disguise Technique’. With her current vision and Tier level, mastering such low-level abilities was effortless.

【Disguise Technique Lv.2】(Mist Shadow): Blurs one’s figure, reducing one’s presence and making it difficult to be noticed. It also makes one difficult to hit in combat.

With this assistance, her attribute power could barely be suppressed to about ‘First-Order’.

As for her identity, she quickly figured it out. She would claim to be a herbalist who lived in the countryside, coming to the city to sell her collected herbs. However, considering that the guards might not believe her, Sylphidya also prepared an ‘Illusion Eye’ potion, similar in effect to the ‘Illusion Spell Eye’ used by Komia back then.

By evening, Sylphidya arrived at the gates of Scorched Stone City.

Looking up at the familiar gate, the scene of Madam Fran and Scholar Hyde seeing her off three years ago was still vivid in her mind. Who would have thought that after a few years, things would be so different?

Sylphidya sighed inwardly, then lowered her head and followed the crowd through the city gates.

“What are you here for?” A guard from Anti stopped her, seeing the girl in a hooded cloak, and asked.

“I’m here to sell the herbs I collected,” Sylphidya said, opening her basket to reveal various collected herbs.

After a quick check, they found nothing wrong. However, the guards still grabbed a handful of herbs and placed them on a nearby table.

“We need these for inspection. You may enter.”

Losing a few common herbs was not a problem for Sylphidya, but she still lowered her head and did not protest, so as not to attract the guards’ attention.

Afterward, she walked into the city with the other passers-by. Once they were further away from the city gate, the accompanying people began to complain about the guards.

“These guys are like wild dogs who haven’t eaten meat in ages; they want to search everything,” said an uncle selling fruit up ahead.

“Isn’t that right? These Anti people have no manners at all,” a nearby auntie complained as well.

“In the past, during the Regas Kingdom, I never heard of any noble allowing their subordinates to confiscate goods entering the city. Now, who would dare to do business in Scorched Stone City, except for us who live in the surrounding villages and can’t go far?”

“You just wait, this city will only have fewer and fewer people. In a few years, when I save some money, I’ll move to my relatives far away, and I’ll never stay here again.”

“Where can you move to? The Anti people have occupied everywhere now, and other countries are also at war, I hear.” The uncle sighed.

Listening to the hushed discussions of the residents around her, Sylphidya didn’t interject, but slowly walked through the streets, finally stopping in front of the Adventurers’ Guild.

The place was much quieter than before. Although she could still see some adventurers, most of them were First-Order, and no Second-Order individuals appeared.

Sylphidya thought for a moment, then walked in with her basket.

She first went to the notice board and looked at the latest quest list. It was the same as usual, with quests like clearing dangerous beasts and finding rare medicinal herbs, but the number was significantly smaller.

However, compared to the past, there were now many more bounty quests. The most conspicuous among them were the wanted posters for Prince Jobs and Princess Masha, followed by some dangerous criminals.

It seemed that during the transition period between the two countries, many cases of property loss and theft occurred. It made sense; at that time, the official forces were all tied up in the war, and no one cared about the activities of thieves. As long as they didn’t steal from the homes of great nobles, no one would bother to investigate.

Then Sylphidya saw a newly posted notice at the bottom.

‘Wanted Criminal (★★)’: This person wears a dark gray hooded robe, may be an assassin, acts strangely, killed the guards of Scorched Stone City, and released the escaped miners.

Uh… was that about her? Sylphidya looked at the hooded portrait on it. It seemed that besides the general description of the clothes, there was nothing that resembled her.

Those soldiers yesterday fled in such a panic, they didn’t have a chance to look closely and remember. Besides, she was wearing a veil at the time, so her appearance couldn’t be distinguished at all.

A reward of five gold coins, with an additional gold coin for confirmed information on her whereabouts. Sylphidya silently recited the reward amount, feeling a bit amused.

Is that all? No, that’s actually a lot for ordinary people in the Surface World, she thought, shaking her head and discarding the pricing system she’d grown accustomed to in the Forest Land, trying to revert to her old understanding of prices.

However, this notice certainly couldn’t identify her, so she relaxed and walked towards the inner part of the Adventurers’ Guild. There, she already saw a familiar face.

The counterlady, Myrine, still sat there, explaining a quest to an adventurer team.