The Cornflower Witch

July, with wind-born fluff drifting through the air.

Sylutia walked along a mountain path where sunlight sparsely filtered through, the world ahead radiating the heat of summer. The white glare was dazzling and burning; fortunately, occasional mountain breezes swept away the forest’s stifling heat.

It was still a bit hot. After walking for a while, Sylutia stopped.

She took off the sun hat from her head. A few beads of sweat had gathered on her forehead, and her collar and chest were slightly damp.

Although her current constitution did not fear this level of heat, her body still perspired from the high temperature, as if some innate code could not be erased.

But if she walked a little further it would be fine. She glanced toward the mountain stronghold not far ahead, now visible with its tall wooden palisade.

A few minutes later she entered the stronghold. Beastman guards who had seen her several times nodded to the young woman to show their welcome.

“Lady Hedra.” One of them straightened slightly, then returned to his post.

Walking over the heated gravel path, Ti Ya’s gaze swept across the interior of the stronghold. There were many newly built domed houses, and now and then beastmen came and went.

This was the Bloodflame Tribe’s stronghold. Their original home had been forced to relocate because of an outbreak of hidden-winged insects, so they moved to this place. During migration, because mountain tribes’ territories had already been demarcated, moving recklessly often meant trespassing on other tribes’ land and provoking conflict.

In the past such relocation inevitably led to battles to determine a new overlord, or required paying a heavy price to resettle. This time, however, under the City Alliance’s arrangements and mediation, they did not encounter violent clashes with tribes along the way and finally settled at this unclaimed, secure site. During the whole migration, the person responsible for communication and mediation was Sylutia.

She had wanted to obtain a great deal of first-hand information, and because her strength exceeded the personnel the City Alliance could dispatch in the area, Harlson had directly assigned the task to her.

After completing the migration, Sylutia developed a good friendship with the Bloodflame Tribe and learned many beastman secrets from them, which provided abundant material for her historical writings.

“Do you know where Shaman Huo Lan is?” In the stronghold’s hearth hall, Ti Ya asked a beastman tending the fire.

“Shaman Huo Lan should be napping in a cave by the cliff,” the young-looking boy stood and said, “I’ll take you there.”

“All right, thank you.”

Sylutia followed the boy in a leopard-skin vest to a cool cave by the cliff behind the village. A fair-skinned but well-built woman was leaning on a stone bed, sleeping.

Hearing approaching footsteps, she yawned and opened her eyes. Seeing Sylutia behind the boy, her expression brightened.

“Oh—Lady Hedra.” She sat up, bone ornaments clinking together with crisp sounds.

Huo Lan turned her gaze to the boy and instructed him.

“Go find Aunt Zelin and bring the jar of ice-distilled liquor from my cellar. I want to treat our guest.”

“Yes, Lady Huo Lan.” The boy nodded and hurried off.

Sylutia shook her head helplessly.

“You should know I don’t drink, and especially not spirits.”

“Hahaha, I know, of course, but I like drinking. It’s rare you come to visit; it would be rude not to celebrate.” Huo Lan invited Sylutia to sit on a stone bench, then took a seat opposite her.

“So, are the books finished yet? You came again that time—” She teased.

“Not finished yet.” Sylutia answered.

“That time you actually came to deliver books.” Sylutia produced a griffin key, opened a pale virtual door, and took out several neatly bound books.

She handed one of them to Huo Lan.

“Oh, so soon?” Huo Lan was surprised, took it, and flipped through rapidly, occasionally nodding and sometimes pausing to concentrate as if savoring the hidden knowledge within.

“Amazing, really impressive. I rarely praise anyone like this, but Hedra, you’re the first.” Huo Lan skimmed and nodded repeatedly.

“I didn’t expect you to research so thoroughly, visiting so many people along the way, even meeting Grandmother A zhelanqi.” Sylutia recounted.

“I heard about that grandmother from previous shamans when I was still small. They said she used to be a rare beauty in the Western Mountain Range, with great talent and strength. Back then, countless powerful beastman warlords wanted to marry her, but she refused them all.”

“Later she retired from public life and vanished from people’s sight. Occasionally someone would try to find her to ask for help with difficult matters.”

“If I count carefully, Grandmother A zhelanqi must be over 120 years old now. I thought she’d already passed away.”

At that moment the young beastman returned carrying a jar of liquor and set it on the table between them.

“Anything else?” he asked Huo Lan.

“Bring some fresh fruit too, remember to wash it.” She replied.

“All right.” He ran off.

Huo Lan uncorked the jar’s clay seal, hugged the jar to her mouth and took a long drink, then let out a satisfied breath, looking especially refreshed.

“Hedra, are you sure you won’t have any? This is my treasured ice wine; it not only clears heat but tastes exquisite.”

“No thanks.” The girl shook her head again. After sitting and enjoying the mountain breeze for a while she no longer felt so hot.

They returned to their previous conversation.

“The City Alliance leader said he plans to use this book as teaching material to give basic education to children of mountain tribes. What do you think?” Sylutia brought up Harlson’s decision.

“That… of course it’s a good thing, but I guess many tribes will oppose and reject it,” Huo Lan rubbed her chin.

“Why’s that?”

“Not for any other reason—mountain tribes are like that. They’re exclusive, distrustful of outsiders, and think everything outsiders do has ill intent.” She folded her arms and nodded.

“I don’t recommend forcing it from the start. That would only invite resentment and resistance. If you want to promote education, start from the towns. Work there first, learn something, gain qualifications.”

“To be honest, if Hedra hadn’t accompanied us the whole way and helped our tribe through many difficulties on the road, I wouldn’t have trusted you,” Huo Lan said, raising the jar for another drink.

“Beastman tribes don’t trust outsiders unless absolutely necessary. It’s too risky.” She shook her head and described the mountain tribes’ character.

“I know, but…” Sylutia thought about her experiences over the past year of visits and sighed.

Trust is not built easily. Although she had earned recognition and trust from many tribes personally, that was limited to her alone. Those tribes still harbored some resistance toward the Mage Alliance and the City Alliance, limiting interactions to basic trade.

“Then we’ll take it slow.” There’s no rushing things, and she’d need to speak with the Alliance leader again when she returned.

They chatted about recent news and curiosities for a while, and Sylutia asked Huo Lan a few more questions.

“I want to form a merchant caravan to trade through the mountains. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Oh? You actually thought of that.” Huo Lan looked surprised.

“I know where to recruit folks to run a caravan, but managing one completely is difficult. It’s tedious, worldly, and seems at odds with some people’s temperaments.”

“It is tedious, and if you don’t already have a loyal crew, they might not follow your orders. Management is a headache.” Sylutia recalled her experiences before joining the Mage Alliance and the people she had met in Yin Chunxue District.

“You can’t trust just anyone with it. If someone used their reputation as collateral and got cheated by a trader, it’s a mess.” Huo Lan laughed.

“Let me think. Mountain trade mainly circulates a few core goods; other items nobody can afford.”

“The primary needs are three: medicine, alcohol, and weapons or equipment. Others are secondary and hard to sell.”

“I see.” Ti Ya nodded, then took out three medicines and three bottles of alcohol she had recently procured in the Asra District from Fire Pig and Four Fingers.

“Clotting powder, Healing Potion (Bloodclam version), and quinine,” Sylutia listed.

Huo Lan had heard of and encountered the clotting powder and the healing potion before, but the last item, quinine, was new to her.

“What medicine is this?” She picked up the light-brown bottle containing white powder.

“This is my new drug, called quinine. It can treat malaria,” the girl said in a plain tone about something startling.

“Wait, you mean this can treat malaria? How effective is it?” Huo Lan looked uncertain as she examined the small bottle.

“I had some trials. The results seemed positive.” Sylutia recalled that a week earlier she had found several sick laborers in the Asra District and treated them, all showing improvement.

“Beastmen usually have to tough it out. Those of us Transcendents above Third Tier don’t fear such plagues because of purified bloodlines, but ordinary people cannot handle them,” Huo Lan shook her head.

“When tribes get malaria, shamans often use the Boiling Blood Drum to treat it—using drumbeats to boil the blood and purge disease. But its side effects are huge. Infants, the elderly, and the weak can easily be killed by the drum’s shock.” She explained the beastmen’s traditional treatment.

“Does your drug have big side effects?”

“There are side effects.” Sylutia thought for a moment and explained.

“It can cause headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, nausea, and in severe cases, fainting or shock. Pregnant people must not use it.”

“Geez, so many side effects?” Huo Lan sounded deflated.

“Yes. It’s not yet perfected.” Sylutia felt she had presented quinine perhaps prematurely and knew it still needed further refinement.

“Then let’s set the quinine aside for now and take it step by step. I’ll have them sell the basic clotting and healing medicines first.” Ti Ya decided.

“Still, leave one bottle with me. If something happens, having medicine is better than relying only on the body.” Huo Lan, curious to try it, asked for one bottle of quinine from Sylutia.

She then turned to the other two medicines. Clotting powder was common and many tribes could make it themselves; the Healing Potion was different. Few shamans in the mountains could make such a potion, and output was limited.

“What type of Healing Potion is this?” Huo Lan picked up the small bottle and sniffed after opening it.

“This is a Second Tier Healing Potion made using Bloodclams from Meteorite Lake,” Sylutia explained.

“Meteorite Lake? I remember that’s very far away, south of the Mage Alliance, I think.” Huo Lan squeezed a few drops onto her hand and licked to taste the medicinal properties.

“Yes.” The girl nodded obediently, looking rather endearing.

“Raw materials inside the Mage Alliance are mostly monopolized by large merchant guilds and organizations. I have to import supplies from afar. Meteorite Lake is my hometown; I know many people there who can provide stable materials.”

“Because it’s far, its cost is about 1.5 times that of other Healing Potions. But I improved the formula so it’s much more effective than ordinary ones and should offset the increased cost.”

[Healing Potion (Bloodclam version)] (Second Tier · Superior)

“A potion made primarily from Bloodclams, it accelerates wound closure and replenishes lost blood, speeding recovery.”

“The effect is indeed significantly better than normal potions.” Huo Lan, though unable to judge by sight, felt as a shaman that this potion was far superior to the usual ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ healing potions.

“Every tribe needs Healing Potions. Fighting is daily life; injuries are common.” She nodded.

“But your price is higher than other healing potions, so it may be hard to sell. Most beastmen can’t distinguish quality differences; they just think buying two bottles is more economical than one.”

“Hmm.” Sylutia admitted she wasn’t very skilled at business.

“The solution is simple—dilute with water, sell one bottle as two.” Huo Lan’s suggestion was crude but practical.

“Eek, that’s not right.” The girl felt a pang of conscience.

“You’re too honest.” Huo Lan shook her head.

“Here’s what you do: make a label with a small line that says, ‘50% purity potion,’ and also offer the original formula labeled ‘100% purity potion.’ Those who understand will buy the real one; those who don’t will buy the cheap one. Ha!” Huo Lan felt like a genius.

“That might be the only way.” Sylutia thought it over and nodded slightly.

After finishing that topic, Huo Lan’s gaze turned to the three bottles of alcohol beside them, eyes bright.

“You said you don’t drink, yet you brought three bottles.” She reached out eagerly.

“These are samples for sale,” Sylutia explained helplessly.

“I don’t drink, but I know beastman tribes consume the most alcohol.” She then described the three kinds.

“These three bottles are rums, distilled from sugarcane syrup. The brewing methods differ, so the tastes vary.”

Because sugarcane prefers warm climates, most sugarcane on the Fourth Continent grows in the south, around Meteorite Lake and further south.

“Rum? I’ve never heard of this.” Huo Lan tore open a bottle and drank immediately.

Sylutia began explaining as Huo Lan tried the clear, colorless bottle.

“The one you’re drinking is Silver Rum. It tastes mildly sweet; a small amount of coconut flavoring is added for a faint coconut aroma.”

“Not strong enough, too mild, though it’s quite refreshing.” Huo Lan moved to the next bottle, which was pale orange.

“This is Gold Rum. It’s sweeter, with a hint of vanilla added during brewing for a secondary fragrance.”

“This one’s better, I’m feeling it.” Huo Lan finished and puckered, then picked up the last bottle.

“This last one is Black Rum.” When she twisted the cap, a rich fruity aroma hit her. One sip delivered an explosive punch, like years of heavy tobacco rushing into the nostrils and making the head spin.

“Cough, cough, this one’s strong.” Huo Lan put the bottle down, but despite her words, her eyes shone with eager love for it.

Sylutia slowly explained.

“This one is the darkest and takes the longest to brew. One bottle costs several times more than the others.”

“No, price isn’t the issue. The feeling—once a beastman drinks something like this, they won’t forget.” Huo Lan shook her head, ignoring sales concerns.

“You don’t understand beastmen. When faced with something genuinely great, all that matters is the experience—you give someone a bottle and you can buy their loyalty.”

Sylutia sighed after hearing Huo Lan. Indeed, these beastmen were single-minded; when it came to powerful stimulants they’d toss practicality aside.

Could she really help the City Alliance popularize education among these tribes? The task felt huge and distant.

Still, although these big oafs were impulsive and foolish at times, most were simple-hearted. Once she earned their trust, getting along was relatively easy without needing to consider complex schemes.

From first contact with the beastmen in the Asra District to more than a year of surveys in the Western Mountain Range, she had gained deep understanding of these tribes.

After finishing the meeting, Sylutia rose to thank Huo Lan for her advice. She would return to the Asra District to prepare forming the merchant caravan.

Although it would cost effort, it was worthwhile and meaningful. Trade could improve many tribes’ living conditions and raise funds to expand her influence. If she later wanted to mediate between the Mage Alliance and the Hidden Grove Alliance, she would inevitably need contacts and clout. Otherwise, her admonitions would be nothing more than idle words.

War is politics continued by other means, and politics often pursues interests. If she could steer reconciliation through material benefits, conflicts might be averted. After all, there was no mortal grudge between the two major alliances.

Of course, it would be difficult—most people couldn’t do it.

She did not know how far she could go, but she wanted to try. At least she could do her best and have a clear conscience.