Cornflower Witch

Chapter 13 Adventure Team
The five-day introductory course allowed Hilti to quickly learn the common knowledge of this world, such as copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins, and how to determine their origin, year, and value based on the floral and leaf patterns printed on them.

100-110 scrap copper coins = 1 silver leaf coin

100 Silver Leaf Coins = 1 Golden Flower Coin

"Most silver coins have a leaf pattern printed on the reverse. This is because the earliest silver coins were made by the elves from silver leaves taken from the World Tree. Later, various races adopted this design when making their own coins, mostly using leaves as patterns. Some were based on the coats of arms of noble families, such as the Marquis of Warren in the East, who used a wolf as a pattern."

"Although the designs of the silver coins differ, they all have uniform size and weight standards, as well as silver content requirements, which are universal on the mainland."

"Then there are the gold coins, also known as the gold flower coins, because many gold coins have floral patterns on the back, representing the royal family that minted the coins," Winnie explained.

"If other nobles, not royalty, but only marquises and earls, can't they print flowers as patterns on their silver coins?" Hiltiya asked curiously.

“No.” Winnie shook her head directly.

"Only royalty can use flowers as their emblem, which involves a long history and the world's top powers."

After learning about the currency classification, Winnie then told Hilti about the general situation of the Kingdom of Regas.

The current ruler of the Kingdom of Regas is the 17th monarch, Asatis, who resides in White Cliff City. Due to its decline, Regas is no longer a kingdom but has been downgraded to a duchy, and its monarch is now known as the Grand Duke of Regas.

Every autumn, large caravans would set off from various places to trade in the royal capital, White Cliff City, and then return before winter.

This transaction will provide supplies and food for the entire winter. If some territories lack winter food reserves, they will spend huge sums to purchase surplus food from other territories in the trade to help them get through the crisis.

"The country is mostly composed of three types of terrain: forests, mountains, and plains. The produce varies from place to place. The area where we are now, Jiaoshi City, is mainly forested. Therefore, every autumn, we send caravans to purchase grain for storage in case of food shortages in winter."

"Of course, we also have our own specialties, such as cedar wood, resin, fur, smoked meat, and some pickled fruits."

Then Winnie gave Tia a general overview of the prices of various common daily necessities in the area to prevent this naive young lady from being ripped off.

……

Four days later, at Winnie's house.

“Congratulations, Miss Tia, you have completed all the courses. Now you know more about the local situation than 95% of the people on the street.” Winnie closed the book and congratulated Hilti with a smile.

The girl recalled the various knowledge she had learned over the past few days, from the growing seasons of local crops and key points of animal husbandry, to the map and topography of the Kingdom of Regas, to the meanings and origins of the emblems of various nobles, to the general structure and functions of many guilds, Winnie had given her a comprehensive introduction to the local environment.

"Thank you, Ms. Winnie." She stood up and bowed.

“I’m also very happy to have such a bright student as you,” Winnie said. Tia’s learning speed is the fastest she has ever seen. Many complex concepts do not need much explanation. Just mentioning the terms will allow her to quickly understand them based on the rules and logic.

Taliel would probably never catch up to this talent in her lifetime. Winnie glanced at her absent-minded sister and could only helplessly push her head down.

"That's enough for today. You've learned a lot these past few days, it's time for you to go out and explore."

"Taliel." She called her sister's name, startling the girl out of her reverie.

"I'm here, what's wrong, sister?"

"I'll go for a walk with Miss Tia this afternoon," Winnie said, getting straight to the point.

“Okay, no problem.” Taliel was overjoyed to hear this; she was finally free from studying here.

……

After lunch, Hilti and Thaliel walked through the streets of Scorched Stone City. The weather was still sunny, and the city was still bustling.

Wearing a reddish-brown cloak, Hilti walked leisurely on the gray-black stone bricks, her hands naturally placed at her sides.

"Speaking of which, is it possible for ordinary people to visit the Adventurers' Guild?" She recalled the letter of introduction that Frien had given her.

"Of course, but those adventurers are far stronger than ordinary people, so the common folk don't dare to get close to them." "I see." Hilti suddenly wanted to know roughly what level the adventurers in the city were.

"Let's go over and take a look."

“I want to go too.” Taliel was actually very interested in being an adventurer, but unfortunately she wasn’t strong enough, which was why she had suppressed her desire to become one before.

The two soon arrived at the gates of the Adventurers' Guild, glanced at the tall gate frame, and then went inside.

The lobby here is exceptionally spacious, enough to be used as a bar, although they don't sell alcohol here; there are just plenty of empty seats for people to rest.

Everywhere you look, you can see adventurers and mercenaries carrying weapons. Most of them wear leather armor, while a few are equipped with half-body chainmail. Unlike soldiers, these adventurers carry various tools with them, such as ropes, traps, nets, oil, and so on.

A group of people are gathered under the notice board, looking at the bounty offered.

"A monster has appeared near Shuigou Town, attacking a caravan. Its form is unknown. A reward of 60 silver coins is offered."

"Buying teeth from first-tier beasts: 3 silver coins for a single tooth, 20 silver coins for a long tooth."

"Looking to buy 'Water Mist Orchid', 23 silver coins per plant, three plants needed in total".

"A bounty of 2 silver coins is offered for each mutated otter killed upstream of Linxi Village; approximately 20 mutated otters are needed."

……

Beneath the notice board, a group that Hilti looked somewhat familiar to her stood there, their eyes searching for any bounties that could be offered.

"Brother Jero, how about we go and take care of that otter? It looks easy." The boy, dressed in simple leather armor, spoke up. His eyes were slightly elongated, giving him a somewhat fierce look.

“Otters are not easy to deal with.” The strong man called Jero shook his head, his large hand pressing down on the boy’s head, almost covering his head.

Rough fingers stroked the boy's hair as the man grinned and explained, "If we want to take down the otter, we have to go into the water, but once we're in the water, our fighting ability is much weaker than on land."

"Those otters must be wild beasts tainted with sexual energy. They are extremely fast in the water and very intelligent. If we were in a boat, they would pierce the bottom of the boat."

"I've seen many adventurers suffer losses because of this before," he said, recounting his past experiences.

"Ah, how do we complete this mission? Do we need to hire a professional hunter for help?" the boy asked, his hands supporting his head.

"Haha, no need for that. I'm quite experienced at dealing with otters. Let's go, take the quest first, then we'll go to the apothecary guild next door to get some stuff." He patted the boy's shoulder, then let his companion squeeze in front of the notice board to take the bounty.

"Our adventure team will take on this mission."

"Okay, I'll register you. According to the rules, please pay a deposit of 5 silver coins first." The receptionist came over upon hearing this.

"Hehe, let's start with some snacks to whet our appetites." With that, the group walked towards the counter to register.
After the group left, it became quieter under the notice board, with people whispering about the other bounties.

"The monsters in Shuigou Town cost 60 silver coins; that looks very tempting."

"I estimate it's a Tier 1 Fanged Beast, otherwise the bounty wouldn't be so high."

“If it’s Tier 1, then 60 silver is a bit too little.” One of them shook his head as he spoke.

"That depends on the catch. If that Tier 1 Fanged Beast has a lot of valuable items, the hunting value alone will be enough to make up for the bounty."

“Look at Jero and his crew, the bounty they got for the red wolf they hunted last time only made up a small portion of the money; the bulk of the profit came from the wolf pelt and the materials on its body.”

The discussions filled the Adventurers' Hall with noise, as these people who had lived on the edge of death stared eagerly at the bounties.

Even though the process is fraught with danger, the tangible silver coins are so tempting. Just winning one bounty is worth a year's hard work, and such an allure is hard to resist.

(End of this chapter)