Cornflower Witch

Chapter 121 Exposing the Scam
Most of the crowd that had been surrounding the girl dispersed, with only a few remaining at the stall to continue asking her about her training. She explained everything in detail.

"Because there are issues with the yield rate and survival rate when cultivating this plant, I suggest you buy 100 seeds at a time, as this is more feasible."

"100 grains?" someone asked, stroking their chin as they estimated.

"That's 10 gold coins, which is a bit high. Generally, a first-tier product would cost around 1-3 gold coins."

"Think about it, if you successfully cultivate them, you can sell the seeds and the finished eyeball fruit. You'll be able to earn it back quickly." The other party continued to promote the product, which made some of the students interested.

Those who will remain are all gardeners with the "Emerald Honey" attribute, and some of them have even mastered the first stage of the "Blooming Flower Method," so there is much anticipation.

A somewhat tall and thin student in a green robe gritted his teeth, made up his mind, took out 20 gold coins, and handed them to the other party.

"Give me two packets, 200 seeds."

"Wow, that's impressive! I only have ten packets of seeds." The girl happily accepted the 20 gold coins and then handed the other person two packets of seeds, each seed about the size of a peanut.

Seeing that someone was buying, another student from the remaining group paid for it, and soon four more packs were sold, leaving only four packs.

Florella glanced at the remaining seeds, then at Tia beside her. Seeing that Tia had been looking at the stall for so long, she figured she probably wanted the Eyeball Fruit seeds, but perhaps she didn't have enough money on her.

"I'll buy it." She raised her hand, gesturing to the girl behind the stall, and then prepared to take out the gold coins she was carrying.

"Wait a minute." Hilti shook her head slightly and grabbed Florella's wrist.

"Don't buy it yet, let me take another look." She felt something was off about this eyeball fruit.

Although she had never seen this plant before, she had personally cultivated many plants with the coagulation phase. The reason why the plant could coagulate phase was because it received the most suitable growth and development, allowing its unique rhythm to be displayed, and finally, as if completing some kind of wonderful ritual, it coagulated phase.

Plants successfully cultivated in this way all have their own unique rhythm, much like the innate numbering frequency that nature gives to each plant.

However, in her eyes, the eyeball fruit in front of her had a rather chaotic internal nature, not so consistent and harmonious, as if it had not been formed naturally.

"Tia, don't you want it?" Seeing the girl stop her, Florella also stopped and curiously examined the strange flower and fruit.

While the two continued to observe, other trainees came forward one after another. Some bought the items, while others hesitated for a while before walking away, deciding to save money and use it in the woods.

"There's only one packet of seeds left, do you need it, young lady?" The girl across from her was about to pack up her stall, but seeing that Tiya hadn't left, she waved to her.

"May I touch this eyeball fruit?" the girl asked, taking Florella's hand as they stepped forward.

“This…” The other party hesitated.

"If you're sure you want to buy it, you can touch it."

“I want to test this eyeball fruit, because I do know the flower-blooming technique,” ​​Hilti said.

"Wait a minute, classmate, have you forgotten something?" The girl stopped Siltiia.

“If the plant is not cultivated by yourself, the flowering method can only stimulate plants of a lower level.”

“I know, but I’ve already upgraded it to the second stage, so even other first-tier plants can use it.” Hilti raised her hand, and a faint halo appeared in her palm.

【Blooming Magic Lv.2】(Emerald Honey): A magic that blooms, amplifying the flower's inherent power by nearly tenfold. It can be used on plants of the same tier, even those not cultivated by the plant itself. (Completion 216/600)

"How is this possible!" The other person's pupils shrank as they looked at Hiltiya warily.

"You're here to cause trouble, aren't you?" Her tone suddenly changed.

"Even most second-tier 'Emerald Honey' gardeners have only cultivated to the first stage. 'Blooming Flower Technique' is a relatively complex ability. With each advancement, the difficulty increases several times over. First-tier gardeners, let alone advancing to the second stage, even learning it is not easy. Stop talking nonsense."

“If you insist on doing something reckless, I’ve already complained to the senior students in the camel building. If you openly violate the rules, you will be disqualified from entering the woodland.”

Faced with such a threat and warning, most trainees would become nervous and dare not take the risk.

Hearing the stall owner girl's words, the other students who hadn't left yet whispered among themselves, and then looked at Siltia.

"She must be a novice gardener; she doesn't even know this kind of knowledge."

"Perhaps it's because I have a high talent. I have indeed learned the first stage of the flower blooming method, which is why I am so confident."

"I guess he was spoiled in the past, so he'll just find some excuse to try out the stall owner's plants before buying them."

Before Hilti could say anything after hearing these words, Florella, who was standing next to her, couldn't hold back any longer. She stepped forward, took out the badge that had been covered up on her belt, and placed it in front of the stall owner.

“I am a first-level gardener, and I have also mastered the second-stage ‘Blooming Technique’. Do you have any questions?” The woodland badge emitted a faint glow as she activated it.

Upon seeing the badge, the students who had just been mocking him suddenly changed their expressions.

"That's...she should be one of the most promising students in this cohort."

"I remember now, isn't that Florella, the only elf student to receive a badge?" "She's no ordinary person; she's said to be royalty from some elf forest..." someone whispered.

"Let's go, let's not stay here. It would be bad if we got angry with them." The group of people who had just wanted to watch the show immediately pretended to be nonchalant and walked away, no longer crowding around the stall.

The girl behind the stall, who had just been mocking Hilti with sharp tongues, now looked uneasy, took a few steps back, and looked around, as if she was preparing to run away.

"You'd better not run away. Answer properly now, and there's still room for negotiation." Florella's voice was still soft, but now it carried a hint of authority, surprising the silver-haired girl beside her.

She had initially thought the elven girl was the shy and timid type, but it seemed she was wrong.

"I...I understand, please be lenient, Florella-senpai." Realizing that running away would only make things worse, she had no choice but to slowly walk back.

"Now can you tell me why you wouldn't let me touch this eyeball fruit earlier?" Hiltia asked, looking into her eyes.

The other person avoided eye contact, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly spoke.

"Because this eyeball fruit plant was not actually fully cultivated."

"Then where does the first-order aspect come from?" Hilti's gaze shifted downwards, observing the plant up close, then her finger moved slightly closer and gently pressed on the translucent cone.

A faint buzzing sound came from her fingertips, and she immediately realized what was happening.

"There's an insect inside the fruit pit? And it's a Tier 1 Emerald Honey insect."

"That's right, that's the senior student." The stall owner girl's body went timid, and she had no choice but to continue explaining.

"Actually, I was also scammed. I spent a lot of money to buy these Eyeball Fruit seeds, but I could never cultivate Eyeball Fruits with the right sexual characteristics. In the end, I had to ask a friend to lend me a 'Tier 1 Emerald Honey' Firefly Cicada and put it inside the fruit."

"So that ray just now was emitted by the 'Firefly'?"

"Yes, that's it."

"How powerful is the True Eyeball Fruit at level one?"

"I already know that, but I checked the local records and found that someone did cultivate it before, and it was even a Tier 2 Emerald Honey Eyeball Fruit."

After listening, Siltiia and Florella shook their heads, feeling that the book of records was not very reliable.

“How about this, you put up a notice later, asking the students who were scammed to return the seeds, and then you give them the money back. I won’t report this to Senior Adeqin,” Siltiya suggested.

"Okay, but I don't know if they'll see it, because there are too many students in the camel building and the space for movement is quite large." Hearing this, the other party breathed a sigh of relief, thankfully the punishment wasn't too severe.

"Let's keep them here for at least a month. If we still can't find you, then we'll give up." After a month, they'll be in the woods, and the trainees will be assigned to different places, making it even harder to find them.

After saying this, Hilti was about to leave, but the other party called her back.

"Senior, please wait a moment." She seemed to have figured something out and picked up the only remaining packet of seeds.

"I'm so sorry to give you this bag of seeds, but I hope you'll accept it and not hold it against me." She realized that if Florella was telling the truth, this unknown silver-haired girl was likely a genius on par with the elven girl beside her.

If that's the case, then she can't afford to offend them even more, because once they go to the woodlands, these students with badges often become the leaders of various student groups.

“This…” Hiltiya looked at the bag of seeds and thought for a moment.

Actually, she didn't want to accept it, but she was afraid that the other party would misunderstand and think that she still held a grudge against her earlier behavior, making them uneasy. So she hesitated for a few seconds and accepted it anyway.

“I have ten gold coins here, take them.” She handed the gold coins to the other person.

"No need, no need. Actually, I didn't spend that much money when I bought them. It only cost three gold coins for about ten packs." The other person waved his hand apologetically.

"So this packet of seeds doesn't actually cost much, please accept it."

At this point, Hilti could no longer refuse, so she put the seeds away.

"Oh, right, this is the cultivation instructions. I copied it from a book I read before." Finally, she handed Silti a small booklet with only a few pages.

"You walk slowly."

Only after watching the silver-haired girl and Florella walk away did she wipe the sweat from her forehead and slowly put her mind at ease.

This time, things finally went smoothly. If that senior Florella had dragged her to find Edelkin, her recent behavior would probably have resulted in a major demerit, and being punished in the woods would be a much more serious matter.

The money definitely needs to be repaid. Although these two senior students may not pay attention to it afterward, if they do remember to ask about it one day and her affair is exposed, it will be a slap in the face for them, and the consequences will be even more serious.

Sigh, going to study in the woods isn't so easy, she thought as she packed up her stall.

However, doing business here is quite good. In the few months she's been staying at Camel Tower, she's already earned dozens of gold coins, only occasionally making mistakes due to poor eyesight.

(End of this chapter)