The Cornflower Witch

Racing through the night wind, the air filtered past her ears as the sparse dots of light from the distant city gradually grew larger in her field of vision.

By the time she led the group of Inspection Department members to their destination and descended, someone was already coming forward to greet them.

Seeing the group of deep blue uniformed members beside Sylutia, the originally wary people opposite grew somewhat tense. One of them instructed a companion to go notify the big shots in the city.

Sylutia did not stop this. She simply led her people forward at an unhurried pace, then stopped in front of these individuals.

"I am the accompanying Inspector from the Inspection Department for the Ninth Train. I need to ask you all some questions now." She displayed her identity badge, then spoke.

"Yes, ma'am! Please, ask away." The highest-ranked among the few opposite them was only Third Tier, while the rest were mere First and Second Tier guards. Although they all wore fine breastplates, facing these Inspection Department members instilled a deep, genuine fear in them.

At that moment, the four members beside Sylutia stepped forward, separated these individuals, and pulled them to different areas for questioning. This not only prevented them from colluding in their testimonies but also made them too afraid to casually lie.

Soon, the interrogation results came out. After listening, Sylutia nodded slightly.

"So it was a riot. No wonder they were so evasive in the communication."

The majority of Worze District's population was concentrated in the main city, where about three hundred thousand people lived. Aside from the native residents, there were also many workers who had come from nearby towns and villages for employment. Compared to farming, they could earn more here.

Originally, this was a decent model. Worze District's various industries had a large labor force, the economy was gradually developing, tax revenue was increasing, and the city's schools were slowly popularizing education, giving rise to more Mage Apprentices.

But after the storm disaster erupted, the torrential rains first destroyed many farmlands in the surrounding areas. The wild monsters roaming the wilderness gradually increased, while the mercenaries and patrol teams that could have handled these monsters in the past, faced with the harsh environment and numerous beasts after the storm broke out, were increasingly outmatched and had to retreat back into the city.

With their protection gone, the towns and villages became more dangerous. Many people began fleeing into the city. At this point, the urban area began to face immense pressure on public security, and grain also gradually became scarce.

The prices of grain and food skyrocketed. Many commoners who couldn't afford it starved to death on the streets. Then someone said that the city's warehouses had stored grain, and that opening them could save lives. Thus, the riots gradually began.

At first, with the cooperation of the city guards led by the City Lord and the local guilds, sporadic riots were quickly suppressed. Seeing the situation turning grim, the City Lord also agreed to provide disaster relief, opening up some grain for the starving commoners.

Up to this point, the situation was still stable.

But the storm disaster wasn't something that lasted just a day or two, or a week or two. As time passed, the grain stored in the city gradually became insufficient. Furthermore, every region under the Mage Alliance was suffering from the disaster. Even if the Alliance Council received the plea for help, it was difficult to scrape together enough grain to support every single place, especially a northern city like Worze District that didn't belong to the core regions.

Seeing that food was running low, the guilds in the city gradually raised their prices. Before the storm disaster, wheat was 30 copper coins per Jin. It rose to 1 silver coin per Jin, then 10 silver coins per Jin, and now it was 20 silver coins per Jin.

Twenty silver coins was roughly the monthly income of an ordinary person in the city, but it could only buy one Jin of wheat. With such a price, it was destined that many people couldn't afford it. Thus, the conflict gradually worsened.

Someone loudly denounced that the major guilds in the city were still making blood money at a time like this, and that the City Lord was even favoring these guilds.

Unfortunately, those who denounced and complained were mostly commoners without power. One could easily understand with a little thought: the income of Official Mages and professionals was still enough to afford wheat even at the price of 20 silver coins per Jin.

Discontent accumulated, but ordinary people simply couldn't defeat the powerful city guards and guild soldiers. Some commoners who were pushed to the brink, led by a few who had stuck their necks out, began to destroy the tracks passing through Worze District as a means of threatening the City Lord and the major guilds.

"Now the rabble have been suppressed. The City Lord is directing personnel in an emergency repair." Under the sharp gazes of the Inspection Department members, the few standing opposite had no choice but to confess the truth.

"They've been suppressed already?" Sylutia's questioning left the few standing men feeling uneasy.

"It should... be, yes." They replied hesitantly.

Knowing she couldn't get much more out of these people, Sylutia instructed the personnel at her side. She had a dozen or so stay put and wait, while she led the rest directly into the main city to survey the situation.

Passing through the main gate of the city wall under the night, Sylutia walked in amidst the anxious and uneasy glances of several guards. She hadn't gone far down the street before she saw traces of charred black marks from a fire, along with some unprocessed corpses still lying on the ground.

*Looks like the scale of the riot was significant,* she thought.

Continuing further in, this should have been the bustling commercial street of the main city, but it was now a scene of utter devastation. Many shops had been smashed and broken into, their contents mostly looted. Only a small number of guards were cleaning up, dragging and hauling away the corpses on the ground.

Seeing the team Sylutia led, the guards stared from a distance, their eyes somewhat panicked. But they didn't run. Some just averted their gaze, while others simply stopped their work and stood meekly to the side, waiting until Sylutia and her people had passed before daring to continue with their previous tasks.

Passing through the devastated commercial street, they arrived at the main city's square. Here, checkpoints and barricades were set up, and armed guards in fine steel breastplates patrolled.

Seeing Sylutia approaching quickly with her team, an officer led several guards forward, bowed, and greeted her.

"Where is your highest-ranking officer?" Sylutia didn't waste time on this minor officer.

"Reporting, ma'am. I'm not sure. Probably over by the damaged tracks with the City Lord."

"Take us there."

"Yes, ma'am." He nervously looked up, glancing at the seemingly young girl. Warned by the stern gazes of the members behind Sylutia, he was startled and quickly lowered his head again, walking ahead to lead the way.

As a knight of "Third Tier - Castle" and the captain of the guard, he was also a minor figure in Worze District in normal times. But in the eyes of these Fourth Tier killing machines from the Inspection Department, he was probably no different from a rabbit by the roadside. Just the spiritual impact conveyed by their gazes made his body run cold.

*Thank goodness I'm just a captain. Big shots like this shouldn't be coming for me. Even if there are punishments, it shouldn't fall on me.* He thought to himself, comforting his own mind, and his pace relaxed slightly.

Leading Sylutia's group, they arrived at the eastern part of the city. Here, the railway tracks passed through, and not far away was the towering train station.

On normal days, the station was guarded by soldiers, making it difficult for commoners to approach. But this time, they had attacked a section of track quite far from the station. By the time the city's defense forces arrived, several segments of the track had already been blown up.

Looking at the brightly lit repair site in the distance, Sylutia led her people over.

Three temporary lighthouses had been erected there. Their bright light shone down on the tracks below as a group of local Scholars, mages, and workers were refilling and reinforcing the foundations and installing spare rails.

Seeing Sylutia approach, the City Lord and several high-ranking officers of Worze District hurried over, ready to explain the cause of the incident.

"Greetings, ma'am. I am Gilson, the City Lord of this district. The tracks have already been mostly repaired. In about two more hours, we can resume train service."

Sylutia nodded, just about to ask about other matters when a violent explosion sounded in the distance. Shattered flames rose up like clouds, illuminating the night sky.

Faced with this scene, City Lord Gilson's face went pale. The accompanying officer hurriedly gathered his members and rushed to the scene of the incident. Several enforcers belonging to Worze District also mobilized immediately, sprinting toward the place where the explosion had occurred.

Seeing this, Sylutia shook her head and sighed.

*Looks like there's no hope of continuing on tonight. If this problem isn't properly resolved here, it will always be a hidden danger.*

Still, she was also a little curious. Just who was organizing those commoners to be able to resist the official forces of the Mage Alliance in Worze District?

Although this place was not the heartland of the Mage Alliance, both the City Lord and the strongest guardian mage in the city were at the Fifth Tier. They weren't just anyone you could pick a fight with.