The Cornflower Witch

Ninth Epoch, Year 2160, Fourth Continent, Sinking Fog Season, Winter

Sylutia received an invitation from the Hidden Grove Alliance to attend the Harvest Festival celebration banquet being held this time.

The history of the Harvest Festival was not particularly long. It had first begun a little over three hundred years ago, when, due to the growing influence of the Mage Alliance's "Silver Bell Festival," the Hidden Grove Alliance felt they should organize a similar celebration of their own—one that would allow representatives from the various factions of the Hidden Grove Alliance to attend, strengthen their connections, and become familiar with one another. It was later set for November.

However, the Harvest Festival was held only once every three years, not annually. This was because travel through the Hidden Grove was inconvenient, and many faction members were not particularly fond of socializing. If the festival were held too frequently, attendance would actually dwindle.

In early November, Sylutia arrived at "Rainbow Glow Grove," the Hidden Grove Alliance's headquarters within the Shadow World.

The festival was scheduled to last about a week, and during that time, many people would gather to exchange items they needed, especially rare resources.

Currently, Sylutia did not lack resources. She estimated that fully digesting the knowledge and skills imparted by the several Named Ones would take her another seven to eight years, for those secret arts were far too profound and vast. Even for her, mastering them required time.

By seven years from now, she would probably be able to step into the Sixth Tier, Sylutia estimated silently. For her, this was hardly a difficult matter.

Arriving at Rainbow Glow Grove, her companions found the place especially novel and delightful.

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"Wow, I never expected the Hidden Grove to build such a beautiful stronghold in the Shadow World," Vincent remarked along with several fellow mages accompanying them.

This was likely their first time visiting the Hidden Grove's Shadow World stronghold. Unlike the Mage Alliance's industrial style—too practical and austere—the Hidden Grove's stronghold was far more diverse. Many of its structures had stood for centuries, and a considerable number of residents lived here, treating the place as a permanent town rather than a temporary fortress.

Rainbow Glow Grove was filled with towering trees, their leaves a riot of colors—pale yellow, emerald green, tangerine red, sky blue. The multicolored foliage adorned the landscape like scattered rainbows, and at the center of the stronghold lay a beautiful lake, along whose shores one could pick up countless fragments of colorful gemstones.

The higher-quality gems were collected by the stronghold's administration, while ordinary stones devoid of any supernatural Aspect were left by the lakeside for visitors to pick up freely.

"How beautiful." They strolled together to the lakeshore, and many paused to admire the scenery.

Sylutia was standing with Carmilla at this moment, the two of them whispering to each other.

"So, Hedra's real name is Sylutia, after all."

Through their time together, Carmilla had noticed quite a few anomalies—namely, that the Hidden Grove Alliance personnel all seemed to hold this young woman in great reverence, a respect that went far beyond what was reasonable.

Moreover, the Hidden Grove high-ranking officers she met displayed an inexplicable trust in Sylutia, rarely obstructing or rejecting her ideas and arrangements. Whenever compromise was possible, they compromised.

Their attitude was far too accommodating, Carmilla often grumbled inwardly.

It was only recently that Sylutia finally revealed part of the truth to her. It turned out that the identity of "Hedra" was an alias, and Sylutia—the Hidden Grove's pride and jewel—was her true identity.

Before going to the Mage Alliance, Sylutia had already been a successor recognized by the Hidden Grove's high-ranking members, a key figure being groomed for leadership, with her own team of subordinates now stationed at various nodes throughout the Darkmist Mountains.

No wonder, then. It was like coming home. Carmilla also felt a strange new sensation rising in her heart.

So, she and Sylutia were alike—both had concealed their identities when going to the Mage Alliance. This feeling of being accomplices sharing a secret inevitably bred a certain intimacy between them.

The two of them strolled and explored Rainbow Glow Grove together. The scenery there had barely changed since Sylutia had left. From time to time, they even ran into a few acquaintances.

After she had left the Hidden Grove, thanks to her deeds of slaying the "White Quis" and creating the "Bright Flame Cornflower," Sylutia had become a representative of the new generation within the Hidden Grove Alliance. This grand banquet in particular had also made many of her peers recognize her.

Now, ten years had passed, and many of those people had advanced to the Fourth or Fifth Tier, and quite a few were already mid-to-high-ranking members of various factions.

"Hey~~ Hello there! Would you like some ice cream?" Not far from the lakeshore, by the roadside, a golden-haired beauty waved and called out to Sylutia and Carmilla.

Carmilla naturally did not know this person. She turned to look at the young woman beside her.

"Do you know her?"

The girl nodded slightly, then took Carmilla's hand, quickened her pace for a few steps to reach the other woman, and cut off her shouting.

"Could you keep your voice down a little, Dorothy?" She recognized this tall, lovely young woman as a good friend she had known back in the Hidden Grove.

"Hehe~ Of course I can." The golden-haired beauty blinked her starry eyes and replied with a playful tone.

Dorothy then handed the two of them the ice cream she had just bought, before leading them into a small shop by the roadside to sit down.

"This is Carmilla. She's a friend I made at the Mage Alliance. Don't worry, we're very close, and she already knows about my identity in the Hidden Grove," Sylutia informed the other woman in advance.

"I see. That puts my mind at ease." Dorothy's eyes blinked, then she snapped her fingers, casting a soundproof barrier around the three of them.

"Now we can finally catch up properly~" Dorothy's voice carried a note of excitement and joy as she looked at Sylutia sitting across from her.

"Speaking of which, this is actually my first time seeing you with black hair. Your temperament seems more... gentle and quiet?" She tilted her head, appraising.

"Carmilla probably doesn't know this, but when Ti Ya first came to the Hidden Grove, she was still very shy and spoke in a soft, tender voice. It made people want to tease her."

"Ahem." Sylutia had to raise her hand to cut off the other woman's words. What was all this? How could she just blurt that out so casually? At the time, she really had just taken over the task of establishing a stronghold with no experience whatsoever.

"So that's how it was." Carmilla nodded, seemingly neither surprised nor astonished.

In her eyes, Ti Ya truly did have a quiet, gentle, and pure temperament. It was perfectly normal that she had been that way in the past as well.

On the other hand, the legends the Alliance told about the "Untouchable Black Griffin" and "Tetis's Despairing Chief" were somewhat harder to understand.

Soon after, the coffee and snacks the three had ordered were brought over, and Dorothy and Sylutia began chatting about the changes over the years and what had happened since Sylutia had gone to the Mage Alliance.

"After you left, development of the Darkmist Mountains continued. Because the foundation had already been laid, establishing subsequent strongholds was just a matter of following the template and repeating it. Within five years, more than thirty new strongholds were quickly built. And thanks to the successful transplantation of the 'Bright Flame Cornflower,' many regions have been able to maintain long-term purity, free from Distortion's corruption."

Once the strongholds were stabilized, the Hidden Grove Alliance surveyed and discovered a great deal of resources—among them eleven mineral veins of varying sizes, three black mud ponds, and six bloodstained forests.

"After driving out the monsters, purifying those places, and establishing beacon towers, they've gradually been transformed into permanent habitable sites, providing the Alliance with plenty of resources."

"The members who used to be at Lantern Town and Sunblaze Garden have all been promoted as well. Many of them are now figures who can stand on their own."

"By the way, do you remember Rachel?" Dorothy asked.

"Of course I do. She was an outstanding apprentice of the 'Holy White Knight Hall' back then. If I recall correctly, she had already advanced to the Third Tier before I left." Sylutia recalled.

"That's right. Right now, she's undergoing her trial to break into the Fifth Tier and is hailed as the 'Holy White Knight Hall's rising star.'" Dorothy held her ice slush cup, taking small sips as she continued.

After hearing this, Sylutia nodded, then looked at Dorothy with curiosity. While Dorothy had praised Rachel as talented, Rachel was still in the midst of her trial to reach the Fifth Tier and needed to overcome many obstacles. The golden-haired beauty sitting across from her, on the other hand, was a genuine Fifth Tier Alchemist.

"When did Dorothy advance?" she asked, somewhat curious.

"Three years ago. You should know, I'm a genius. You can't judge me by ordinary standards." The other woman wagged her finger lightly, looking as if she expected Sylutia to take her words to heart.

Three years, was it? Sylutia recalled and compared. Such progress would put Dorothy in the top tier even within the Mage Alliance, roughly on par with the former chief "Norez" and "Da Vinci."

"As for you, you're completely ridiculous." Dorothy's eyes blinked, her voice tinged with incredulity.

"In just ten years, starting from scratch, you managed to push your mage Path all the way to the Fifth Tier. And I heard you even received instruction from a Sage. It's honestly hard to imagine." Her voice was filled with astonishment and awe.

"Could there really be such an all-rounder? Someone who learns everything so quickly and can pass advancement trials so swiftly?" Dorothy murmured to herself.

"I suppose there might be. For example, that 'Meleranke' who founded the 'Silver Radiance Church' long ago." Sylutia thought of that departed legend. Unfortunately, very few people today even remembered her name.

In order to find a way to resolve the plague catastrophe, Meleranke had rebuilt her cultivation three times to reach the Sixth Tier, blazing three different Sixth Tier holy maiden professions, before finally discovering the method to quell the "Mad Crow Riot." She accomplished a feat of unprecedented grandeur and miracle, and thereafter advanced all the way from Sixth Tier to Eighth Tier, becoming a legendary figure who shook the continent in that era.