The Cornflower Witch

"Be honest. We have time now. If you don't want to suffer too much, it'd be best to confess quickly."

A member of the Inspection Department waved a thin metal whip as he paced behind the captured men. Each snap through the air sounded like bursting firecrackers, making the three kneeling men tremble with fear.

Although they had been coached before coming—taught how to avoid ordinary eyes, how to record footage carefully, how to look for certain evidence—those lessons had been cursory. None of them were professionally trained from childhood.

Amateur tactics like theirs were laughably naive when faced with the Alliance’s most professional investigators. A quick check and they were exposed.

After a full day of interrogation in a small black room tucked into a corner of the workshop, they had sweated through their clothes in the stifling heat; hair and fabric clung to their skin. By now they were nearly exhausted and dizzy.

Just as they were about to collapse, the door opened. A slightly cool breeze wafted in, bringing a touch of freshness that cleared their nearly fainting minds.

They could not turn their heads, but they heard light footsteps enter. The interrogators who had been so cold and severe just moments before changed completely; their voices softened noticeably.

"Lord Hedra." They greeted the girl who walked in. The kneeling men heard her voice, delicate and warbling like a nightingale.

"Any findings? And don't kill anyone. Try not to hurt them either." The sound was heavenly to the three men; they had never felt such gratitude. Their hearts swelled so much they were on the verge of tears.

Sylutia stepped before them, white sleeves brushing her cheeks. Her expressive eyes examined the three carefully.

All three were Second Tier apprentices who had worked in this workshop for nearly ten years; their resumes were unremarkable. If not for this discovery, no one would have suspected them.

"Reporting, my lord. After separate interrogations and cross-checks, we have a rough outline of these three's backgrounds and motives."

"Hm." Sylutia nodded. With a light sweep of her sleeve, a translucent light-blue soundproof dome enveloped the three. She then moved to the side to hear the team members’ report.

"The one who ordered them is currently another deputy of Master Sagna, that is, Paves from the Carving and Casting School."

"He is one of the most promising members in the Carving and Casting School," a member continued, "He reached Fifth Tier at thirty-six."

Reaching Fifth Tier at thirty-six did sound impressive. Sylutia recalled that the previous fifth-year chief, Norez, had reached Fifth Tier at around thirty—almost a record.

The youngest Fifth Tier mage in Alliance history appeared centuries ago in the Star-Gazing School; that genius ascended at twenty-eight thanks to leveraging power from the otherworldly Astral Plane, making that record hard to beat.

Though thirty-six wasn't as extraordinary as Norez or that ancient prodigy, across the Mage Alliance and even the Fourth Continent, such talent was rare. Some nations might take a century to produce someone like that.

"Because the masters in his school favored him, he was the first recommended to Master Sagna to study and assist him." another member added.

"How long has he been in the Mishil District?" Sylutia suddenly asked.

"Three years. Of all the people, his knowledge and skills align most closely with Master Sagna's."

"Besides him, there is another deputy from the Carving and Casting School named Vijel, but he’s been here less than a year."

Sylutia nodded slightly. The member continued.

"Mishil equipped the eight with many devices. Those without concealed auras, those without recorded footage, those without instant communication—excluding those, the eight could cover for each other and still exchange information in real time."

"Yes, and it was precisely such a communication device that you caught." The Inspection Department member admitted they lacked specialized means to detect those communication tools, so once we made contact, we were caught.

"Are we sure Mishil ordered it?" Runes Ya guessed it might not have been a frame-up.

"It should be accurate. Although we didn't meet Xin Meiqing directly, during training the eight saw a familiar associate near Xin Meiqing, so they knew who they were working for." After hearing this, Runes Ya nodded slightly.

They had captured the men, but what next? Report this to Master Sagna himself? Runes Ya pondered and felt that would be risky.

After all, Master Sagna hailed from the Carving and Casting School and would likely make the matter completely public. That would damage the Carving and Casting School's reputation. Even if Mishil was truly at fault, Runes Ya would find it hard to accept such an explosive public confrontation.

Moreover, she had only been here a little over a month. She was nowhere near the core of Master Sagna's system. If she publicly exposed conflict with Paves, Master Sagna might be forced to choose, and to preserve the school’s reputation and stability he could well make her leave early—she had only studied here a month while Paves had been in place three years. Paves was the safe backup choice besides his intended successor.

If she stayed completely silent, people might look down on her. If she delayed clarification, rumors could twist the truth into something strange.

Sylutia weighed the possible outcomes and made a decision.

"Blindfold them and take them to the Mage Guild, but keep the process low-key. Don’t let too many people know."

They still needed to inform Master Sagna and leave an official record with the Mage Guild, but she would not publicly expose the Carving and Casting School's shame. How to handle it afterwards would be left to Master Sagna entirely.

Hearing Sylutia's instructions, the members immediately understood her intent. The result matched Sylutia's character well: fair yet gentle.

They removed the soundproof dome and helped the three to their feet, giving them water first so they would not faint. Then the men were blindfolded, hoods pulled over their heads, and loaded onto a steam vehicle.

The group departed for the Mage Guild garrison.

An hour later, Sylutia waited in a side chamber and met Master Sagna. The old man still moved with brisk steps.

When he heard her report, Sylutia stood, offered a simple salute, and summarized the day’s events.

"...Although they confessed to being ordered by someone, I think the matter needs verification and careful consideration, so transfer them to the Mage Guild's professionals to handle." Sylutia did not explicitly name Paves, but Master Sagna was shrewd; any mage of his standing would quickly infer these men's significant background.

"I understand." He nodded and asked his assistant to bring something.

"You've been here a month now. Although we don't have a formal master-disciple bond, you have been studying under me. As an elder I should give you some care. This is a gift, consider it my compensation." He forced the gift on Sylutia; she could not refuse. After a brief conversation, he hurried off, appearing ready to thoroughly interrogate the three.

Sylutia then excused herself from the Mage Guild. On the return trip aboard the steam vehicle, she opened Master Sagna's gift: a sealed one-time spatial crystal orb containing a small silver bestial warwagon suspended inside.

Silver-Maned Lion Warwagon (Fourth Tier · Superior): A mechanical warwagon personally crafted by Master Sagna. It can transform into a lion golem for combat and can also transform into a steam vehicle for travel. Its chassis contains a small amount of Mithril, giving it a gorgeous silver sheen. The lion head sculpture is lifelike—a rare treasure suitable for collection.

This gift was of considerable value. Even Master Sagna would have expended significant effort and care crafting it. Just receiving a personally-made piece from Master Sagna placed Sylutia ahead of several previous deputies.

Still, she had no intention of using it now. Once she broke the one-time spatial crystal orb, resealing it would be troublesome.

If such a masterpiece were put on the market, wealthy collectors would offer tens of thousands of gold coins. Master Sagna's personal craftsmanship alone would draw countless buyers.

There were even anecdotes in the Mage Alliance.

"The plain-looking professor you saw in school might be a master in his field. He could be the highest-status, most powerful person you ever meet in your life. Once you leave the academy, you may never have the chance to meet him again."

In the following days, the Mishil District remained calm. Sylutia heard no special news, only that Master Sagna had summoned the other deputies over the next two days, assigning tasks and assessments to each and ordering subsequent inspections.

With assignments from Master Sagna, things would likely be quiet for a month or two. Completing these tasks would take considerable time and energy, leaving little bandwidth to meddle in other affairs.

Taking advantage of that quiet, Sylutia fully immersed herself in researching and exploring the new steam vehicle. Absorbing Master Sagna's taught techniques, she put her ideas into practice.

"The Carving and Casting School originated with sculptors who decorated architecture," she thought. They crafted exquisite stone statues recording famous figures and history, so the work required a level of scholarly knowledge.

Over time these sculptors formed an organized scholarly group, and when the Origin Hourglass founded the initial Mage Alliance, they were among the founding schools, mastering the art of inscribing runes to create golems.

As the technique developed, they absorbed mechanical knowledge to make more flexible and powerful golems. Over centuries their skills spread into many branches. Master Sagna’s pioneered 'Carving Machinewagon' was one such innovation.

The more Sylutia studied the Carving and Casting School's material, the more she felt patterns connecting different branches: like a faint invisible thread linking Carving and Casting, Puppetry, and Bionics School knowledge—but she couldn't clearly piece it together yet, only felt the hint of a connection.

Though she did not know exactly how to proceed, Sylutia began experimenting by integrating bird runes from the Bionics School into a new Machinewagon design for the "Mockingbird" series.

Bird runes typically related to flight, airflow, and wings. Applied to steam vehicles, they emphasized lightness and agility. The Mockingbird series had been famed for being nimble and won several competitions in its prime.

The more she researched, the more Sylutia realized that wheels were a burden. They greatly constrained form and limited evolutionary features to lightweighting and reduced drag.

Cutting drag had limits and diminishing returns; after several improvements, actual gains might be only about five percent compared to the previous generation—hardly revolutionary.

What if she abandoned wheels? Sylutia thought. That would make it like an airship, but airships were not fast. Without ground traction, they relied solely on propellers for thrust, requiring massive power and consuming enormous energy.

No good. Wheels were a tried-and-true method not to be discarded lightly, she tapped her pen.

Past Mockingbird models had already optimized the trade-offs. For a newcomer to surpass them with a superior design would be exceptionally difficult.

No wonder prior deputies had hit a wall. They were likely talented and intelligent; even if they lacked knowledge at first, time in Mishil revealed the true difficulties. Realizing how hard innovation under these constraints was, many chose to quit early rather than waste time.

Sylutia now faced the same dilemma: how to break the deadlock.

After two or three days of agonizing thought, she still had no perfect solution. She could reproduce a more refined version, but creating a fundamentally superior design remained elusive.

Must she submit only a marginally improved model? What would the other deputies have done?

That thought unleashed a new line of thinking.

Just because it was hard for her didn't mean it was easy for them. Why had they stayed? Sylutia suddenly sat up and went outside the room.

"I need some data: what works and achievements did the other deputies release after they arrived in Mishil?"

She assigned assisting members to the task. After just a day, they returned with compiled materials. Most of it was public knowledge; it only took time to collect.

Aside from herself and the two supported by the Carving and Casting School, the other two deputies were Drensu from the Mountain Copper School and Miyas from the Fire Essence School. Over a year or two they produced notable works that integrated their school’s strengths. For example, Drensu’s improved Golden Bull series used higher-strength metal structures, while Miyas innovatively added jet-like systems so a steam vehicle could briefly rely on bursts of jet propulsion for quick turns or sprints.

It became clear that her preconceived notion—needing to stick to the Mockingbird framework—had limited her. She could instead leverage the strengths of the Mithril Clock school to pursue a wholly new design.

If she went that route, the available techniques were numerous.

In an instant dozens of ideas flooded Sylutia’s mind: a steam vehicle that could temporarily traverse space, one that used time acceleration, one empowered by Astral Plane energies, another with multi-layer nested enchantment architectures across the chassis—countless inspirations came at once.

Modifications involving time and space would require profound theoretical fusion and be difficult to realize. Other avenues, however, were easier. In half a day she mapped out several brand-new design concepts.

Implementing them all would take months. First she should pick one with distinctive features that wasn't overly difficult.

After organizing her thoughts, Sylutia chose one: a design that used Astral Plane field essences to grant the chassis brief levitation capability. To match the new concept, she named it the Hovering Flyer.