The Cornflower Witch

Five days later, the storm gradually eased, the most dangerous period passed, the Furnace core within Candela slowly reduced its power output, the roaring wind turbines fell silent, and the atmosphere in the city gradually relaxed.

In the morning, Sylutia woke up in her room. This was the western fortress of Candela. The entire structure loomed like a mountain, containing hundreds of rooms for the city's personnel to reside in. After arriving that day, she had also been assigned a room to rest.

After waking up, she opened the window. Looking down from here, it was about a hundred meters above the ground. On the streets below, she could see patrolling soldiers, local residents, and some laborers hauling goods.

Because the storm had weakened, the cloud cover had thinned considerably. She could see some sunlight today, which lifted her spirits quite a bit.

After gazing at the scenery by the window for a while, the young girl turned back, changed into a pair of relatively casual leather shoes, and walked out of the room.

Out in the corridor, she could see many members of the same train crew. Some had just woken up, others were returning from breakfast. When they saw Sylutia, they greeted her.

"Lady Hedra, good morning~"

To the people of the Ninth Train crew, Sylutia was somewhat of a celebrity. Practically everyone knew her name and could recognize her unique appearance and temperament at a glance. After all, it was hard to find a girl prettier and more adorable than her on the crew.

Since the mission was over and she had no work assigned for now, Sylutia could move freely around the city for the next few weeks. This was practically a vacation.

Having come all the way to the distant north, to the legendary giant city of Candela, Sylutia was quite curious about the place and wanted to wander around and explore.

Leaving the large fortress where she lived, she entered the lower district of the city. There was still a lot of standing water on the ground here, probably from last night's rain. The air was a bit damp and stuffy, likely due to water evaporation.

Although the temperature on the northern wilderness was below freezing, the temperature inside Candela was maintained at around twenty degrees, probably because the Furnace core was constantly radiating heat.

Walking down the street, the young girl looked around. There weren't many shops here, and the variety of goods for sale was limited—just a few types recurring over and over, such as common household items like pots, pans, and iron nail tools. The food was similar—mostly flatbread, with a small amount of smoked meat.

But the pedestrians on the street were vastly different from those in the interior of the Mage Alliance. Over half the residents of the lower district were local "gray-maned beastmen." Their skin was grayish, their body hair mostly dark gray, and some had thick, curved horns while others did not.

Adult gray-maned beastmen generally stood close to two meters tall and were physically robust. Some were members of the city's patrol team. When equipped in full armor, they resembled moving iron towers.

Passing by a shop, Sylutia could see gray-maned beastmen sitting inside eating flatbread stuffed with mixed leaves. Each one probably needed to eat about twenty pieces just to fill their stomachs.

In such shops, humans were virtually absent. They only sold that kind of leaf flatbread. The restaurants humans frequented had much richer food—Sylutia could see various familiar breads, pies, vegetable and meat soup, smoked meat barbecue, and so on.

Although the variety was somewhat monotonous, this kind of district occupied a vast area. There were probably over six hundred thousand gray-maned beastmen living in Candela. They undertook many basic jobs. Because they were strong and had few desires, as long as they were given enough flatbread to eat, these beastmen were very docile, much to the liking of Candela's mages.

Apart from these gray-maned beastmen, the other common sight was the legion soldiers stationed in the city. They not only guarded this giant city but also patrolled the North Wind Defense Line, ensuring that the equipment there was safe from damage.

After walking through a long, gray street, Sylutia arrived at a slightly more commercially prosperous area. The streets here were much cleaner. By the looks of it, most of the residents here were the city's craftsmen, who held a higher status.

Compared to the dim and gloomy lower districts, the upper streets often had potted flowers on both sides, shops decorated with glass windows, and a richer variety of goods.

The craftsmen stationed at the Candela Fortress received decent wages and subsidies from the Alliance. Their consumption level was much higher than that of the local beastmen. Their main duty was not only to inspect and maintain the various facilities there but also to participate in the city's workshops, crafting some products.

The goods and delicacies on the streets gradually increased. Some streets were not only on the ground but also threaded between tall buildings. Because Candela was built to the standard of a giant fortress, if all the buildings inside were only three to five stories tall, it would waste too much space. There were many large structures here, about a hundred meters high. Some people lived in these tall buildings, where there were interconnected aerial walkways. Not only could carriages pass through them, but also other steam vehicles, and there were even some shops.

The residential buildings within the entire city crisscrossed in a complex vertical and horizontal maze. If it was your first time here, you would probably get lost very easily.

Three tall towers were distributed within Candela's urban area, arching around the central Furnace core like satellites. These tall towers were each garrisoned by multiple mages, and each tower had a Third Tier master stationed there.

After navigating up and down through this enormous city for a while, Sylutia stopped in front of a shop on the middle level. It was a large store selling Transcendent Artifacts. Most of the people entering were local mages and officers.

Following the crowd, Sylutia, dressed in a deep blue dress, walked inside. She looked around the shelves with curious eyes. Under the bright lights, all the goods were marked with prices, and she could occasionally hear the sound of customers and shopkeepers haggling.

[Wind-Calming White Ox Horn] (Fourth Tier - Excellent) - 14 gold coins per piece

[Mist Crystal Wind Sand] (First Tier - Superior) - 3 gold coins per 10 grams

[Dirael Sheepskin] (Fourth Tier - Passable) - 9 gold coins per sheet

[Crack-Stone Dried Flower] (First Tier - Good) - 1 gold coin per 10 grams

[Stone-Milled Gray Wine] (First Tier - Excellent) - 3 gold coins per bottle

Among them, raw materials like beast horns and beast hides were more than 30% cheaper than in the Mage Alliance's Hinterland. Locally produced crafted items were mostly at Tier 1-2, and the quality improvement after processing was not significant.

However, there were some high-precision products visible, mostly industrial goods related to Candela's own responsibilities, such as:

[Fire Seed - Candle Crystal] (First Tier - Excellent) - 2 gold coins per piece

[Fire Seed - Azure Crystal] (Second Tier - Superior) - 34 gold coins per piece

[Fire Seed - Sulfur Fire Crystal] (Third Tier - Superior) - 360 gold coins per piece

[Furnace Fire Gum] (Second Tier - Superior) - 24 gold coins per bottle

[Black Steel Ingot] (Second Tier - Superior) - 35 gold coins per piece

[Mountain Copper] (Fourth Tier - Superior) - 1200 gold coins per 10 grams

[Gray Dissolution Stone] (Third Tier - Superior) - 220 gold coins per piece

[Angular Fang Heavy Hammer] (Third Tier - Excellent) - 150 gold coins per piece

[Seram Hand Cannon] (Third Tier - Superior) - 620 gold coins per unit

Sylutia guessed that these industrial goods probably came from the local mages and alchemists stationed there. Although most of the time they produced things for the Alliance, they would occasionally sell off their surplus output, making these items quite common in Candela's market.

Regarding "fire seeds," Sylutia didn't know much. The 'Mithril Clock' school wasn't skilled in manufacturing them; that was the domain of the 'Solar Furnace' school. As far as Sylutia knew, the workshops under 'Mithril Clock' only produced two types of 'fire seeds': the [Silver Flame Crystal] (Fourth Tier) and the [Time Gap Sphere] (Fifth Tier). The 'Solar Furnace' school, on the other hand, mastered the preparation process for Seventh Tier 'fire seeds.'

Different 'fire seeds' were suitable for different machinery and equipment. For example, the 'Azure Crystal' she had previously placed on the base of the communication copper sphere was a fire seed with very stable energy output, suitable for some low-energy precision devices.

The energy burst from the 'Scorching Sun Crystal' was the strongest among Fourth Tier fire seeds. That was precisely why 'Candela' needed this type of fire seed.

Because this world lacked natural coal and petroleum—those convenient and efficient energy sources—mages had developed many different energy crystals to make their various creations function. These energy crystals, due to differences in performance and effects, were classified into different 'fire seeds.'

'Fire seeds' could provide more powerful energy than ordinary coal. Otherwise, relying solely on the energy from burning coal would be completely insufficient to meet the power consumption of high-tier mechanical creations. This was their advantage over traditional energy sources. However, the preparation of 'fire seeds' still consumed many raw materials, a considerable portion of which were non-renewable resources.

The shortage of raw materials and the complex preparation process for high-tier 'fire seeds' were the two biggest obstacles currently hindering the development of the 'Gold Steam' Path. Although the Mage Alliance was stronger than the other major faction alliances, considering that once war broke out, the stored 'fire seed' resources would be depleted quickly and replenished slowly, if a quick victory couldn't be achieved, the outcome would be hard to predict.

Because there were so many items in the shop and it occupied a large area, by the time Sylutia finished looking around inside, it was already afternoon.

Her stomach was a bit hungry. After walking out of the shop, she looked left and right and found that there were no restaurants on this street. They were probably somewhere else, but she didn't feel like searching right now. So, pinpointing her direction, Sylutia lightly leaped up, her figure flying towards the place she had been staying for the past few days.

Returning there, she headed to the usual dining area. They provided free meals to the train crew personnel supporting Candela. Although the quality wasn't luxurious, it was still quite delicious. It was said the head chef was from the Feast Ritual School and was very skilled.

Arriving at this large cafeteria, even though it wasn't meal time, there were still quite a few people there, and some were even fighting.

"You piece of trash, what gives you the right to talk to me like that? Do you have any idea how much we suffered pushing forward in that blizzard?"

In the hall, two groups were pulling at each other. Sylutia was a bit unfamiliar with the side that spoke first, but she did recognize the people they were arguing with. That was the crew from the First Train, the earliest support team to arrive in Candela. The hot-tempered old man leading them was named Edre, the commander of the First Train crew.

A few days ago, under Master Ge Zhen's introduction, she had eaten with the First Train crew and exchanged a few simple words.

Facing the clamor and rebuttal from this group, Old Man Edre waved his hand, signaling the young men behind him to restrain that guy, then stepped forward and punched him.

"What gives me the right? You ask what gives me the right? Alright, I'll tell you what gives me the right. It's because you idiots didn't arrive on time before the final moment, and you delayed all the subsequent trains on this line! You almost screwed up a major event, an event that would have shamed the Alliance, and you still ask me why?"

Hearing him say this, Sylutia, piecing together the various noisy voices in the hall, finally understood that the people he was arguing with were from the Second Train crew.

It was probably because of the accident with the Second Train crew that the entire line was delayed, almost costing Candela its last chance to activate the Furnace core. As the leader of the eastern line, the people of the First Train crew held a grudge about this. Even though they were the first to arrive, the fact that all four subsequent trains had failed was a stain on their reputation.

Facing Commander Edre's interrogation, the members of the Second Train crew refused to back down and shouted back.

"How can you blame us for this? You left early, and the stations you stopped at had ample fuel reserves. But we left later and could only barely resupply at some stations. And those local officials had no idea how serious things were and even distributed the crucial fuel to the locals for heating. What were we supposed to do!?"

"Sit around and wait? That definitely wasn't an option, so we had to forcefully recover it. Who would have guessed these people had no regard for the bigger picture and even deliberately sabotaged things? Who could have predicted that!?"

"Hah, you're still making excuses here. As train crew members, shouldn't you have anticipated various situations in advance? Since you were forcefully recovering the fuel, you should have taken precautions. But you didn't even bother with a thorough inspection, and then an accident happened. Who's to blame for that?" Old Man Edre laughed loudly, and the soldiers around him joined in the jeering. The hall was filled with laughter.

Such humiliation made the faces of the opposing group flush red. The two groups started fighting again. Although it hadn't escalated to exchanging Transcendent spells and abilities, the punches they threw were still quite powerful. Some dining tables were smashed, and wood chips flew everywhere.

Seeing this scene, Sylutia took a few steps back to avoid being caught up in it. Looking at the chaotic situation, she figured she probably wouldn't be able to get any food now.

Ah, what a pity. The delicious free roast beef probably wouldn't be available today.

Fortunately, the fight didn't last too long. Someone must have gone to report it. Soon, the masters leading the two train crews arrived and stopped the brawl.

Master Hiden's face was as cold as frost. He paced back and forth, staring at the fighters. The thumping sound of his footsteps made these powerful Transcendents nervous.

"Very good, so you still have the energy to fight. It seems the advance across the snowy plains didn't pose much of a challenge to you after all," he said, deliberately speaking in sarcasm.

On the other side, the members of the First Train crew were also being reprimanded, but the master leading their group had a much gentler tone. Probably for the sake of appearances and fairness, he would just scold them a bit and let them go.

Just then, Master Ge Zhen and Master Welsa also arrived. The two of them calmed Master Hiden down, and then everyone dispersed. The few masters sat down in a corner of the restaurant and asked the staff to prepare some food.

At this point, Sylutia had wanted to quietly slip around, go to another counter to order some food to take away. But her silky, jet-black hair and blue bow were simply too conspicuous, and Master Ge Zhen spotted her immediately.

"Hedra, come over and sit for a while."

Even though it was a friendly invitation from an elder, when Sylutia heard these words, her foot involuntarily twitched, and she instantly regretted not leaving earlier.

Just great. She was probably going to be dragged over again to be cared for and lectured by these masters of her grandparents' generation. Although most of it was well-meaning advice, her seniority was too low and her experience too shallow. Being surrounded by several such masters was far too constraining.

But since Master Ge Zhen had already called her out, she couldn't pretend not to hear. So, Sylutia had no choice but to reluctantly maintain a dignified and ladylike demeanor as she slowly walked over.

"Greetings to all the masters and veterans. I am Hedra." She slightly lifted her skirt and bent her knees, then looked up. Her beautiful eyes and features made the several masters present admire her.