Cornflower Witch

Chapter 140 Building a Windmill
When she woke up the next day, Hiltiya felt that she had slept very well that night, and her mood was light and cheerful.

The sun had already risen and was shining through the window. I checked the time; it should be a little after 9:30 in the morning.

After washing her face with water, Hilti felt a little more awake. She then freshened up, changed into the pale yellow dress that Madame Fran had ordered for her last year, and went out.

The alfalfa in the fields was still lush, and the huts where the toads lived across the way had been opened. A few toads came out to work, while most were still sleeping.

Considering that there was nothing particularly important to do these two days, Hilti didn't wake them up, but instead gave them all a day off.

"Take a good rest today," she instructed the toads that had woken up.

"Quack, time to sleep, quack."

"Thank you, boss."

Several toads hopped around happily, and then some ran towards the pond, ready to stay there all day.

Meanwhile, Hiltiya went to the cellar on the lower level of the stone house, where a large number of seeds she had bought earlier were stored, and the alfalfa she needed was also taken out from here.

Because 'Emerald Honey' has reached the second tier, she can now easily accelerate the ripening of crops. If quality is not a concern, she can get some crops to flower and bear fruit in two or three days.

"What should we eat?" Hiltiya looked at the rows of seeds and then picked out the ones that had a short cultivation time and were relatively palatable.

"I'll choose strawberries and blueberries." She picked out two small packets of seeds and then walked out of the cellar.

Behind the cottage is her own small garden, which is currently mostly empty except for three white camellia trees.

She had been busy with wheat and alfalfa for a while and hadn't had time to take care of this place, but now she can finally focus on planting something.

She quickly turned over the loose soil, sprinkled two rows of strawberry seeds, planted two rows of blueberry bushes, watered them, and then sprinkled some dew on them.

Then she stood in the middle of the garden, focusing her attention on the strawberries. An invisible power of emerald honey emanated a halo as she began to observe and intervene. Soon they sprouted new buds and then unfurled their tender leaves.

About an hour later, the strawberry bushes here began to take shape and started to produce unripe fruit.

To improve the flavor, Hirutia decided to slow down the harvesting speed slightly, allowing the fruit to accumulate more nutrients and sweetness.

The blueberries on the other side were treated in the same way, and after a morning, both sides produced unripe fruit.

"We can pick them tomorrow," the girl thought, then strolled briskly through the valley, enjoying the rare summer scenery.

……

The next day, the girl washed the freshly picked strawberries and put them in her mouth to taste.

Slightly sour with a hint of sweetness, it brings a refreshing feeling to the summer, making Siltiya's mood soar.

The advantage of choosing [Cui Mi] is that you can quickly grow any fruit you want to eat, without having to consider the season.

Although the rapidly growing fruit lacks a coagulating phase and has no additional extraordinary effects, it provides an excellent experience simply in terms of taste and freshness.

That evening, she tried baking bread for the first time, and after some experimentation and improvements, she finally presented rows of freshly baked 'blueberry bread'.

[Blueberry Bread] (Excellent): Made with high-quality wheat flour and infused with blueberry pieces, giving it a sweet and tart flavor that is not cloying.

After eating alfalfa buns last night, the toads thought it was a special reward after the harvest, and that it would only happen once. But tonight they got to eat a whole new and delicious food.

"Quack, it's about to cry."

"So delicious, quail."

Compared to alfalfa buns, the bread with blueberries tasted much better, making the toads reluctant to leave. "Will we ever get to eat this again, ribbit?"

"Yes, there will be. If there's a good harvest in the future, I'll cook something delicious for you too," Hiltiya agreed with a smile.

The alfalfa fattening process is almost complete. The fertility of the field is now even better than when chemical fertilizers were used in her previous life. Hiltiya felt that it was about time to prepare for the next batch of wheat planting.

However, this time she had learned from experience, so she planned to go to the fortress to buy some farm tools and ask the association to send people to build a windmill in the valley. With a windmill, threshing and grinding would be much more convenient.

Before going, Hilti had the toads harvest the alfalfa in the fields and store it as animal feed. Although the alfalfa was no longer visible on the surface, Hilti could still sense the roots underground. If she wanted, she could catalyze it at any time to make the alfalfa in the fields grow lush again.

However, for now, it's best to harvest and clear the land first, because she'll need to hire someone to build a windmill later. If there were so many coagulated alfalfa plants in the field, she wouldn't know how to explain it, as such an achievement is simply too astonishing.

After making all the preparations, she set off with ten toads to White Stone Fortress once again.

The tall draft horse led the way, pulling the cart. Having completed the condensation of 'Tier 1 Blood Law', its stamina and speed were significantly stronger than before. It maintained a trot pace and did not stop to rest the entire way.

Around nine o'clock, Hilti and the others arrived at White Stone Fortress, having spent nearly half the time on the road compared to before.

After taking the sturdy draft horse and the toads to the inn to rest, Hiltia pulled up her hood and walked alone toward the Woodland Association to inquire about matters related to her advancement.

The same clerk greeted me, sitting leisurely behind the counter. I had expected it to be a peaceful morning.

"Hello, I'd like to inquire about things after a student advances in their level." Silti sat down, revealing a few strands of silver hair beneath her hood.

"Who are you?" The other person was somewhat surprised, and then remembered after being prompted by Hilti.

“I remember you’ve been in the woods for less than four months, haven’t you?” She looked at the roster in her hand, her face showing surprise.

“Yes.” Hiltiya nodded.

"You advanced so quickly?" The other person looked him up and down in disbelief.

"Are you sure you didn't use any shortcuts? I want to remind you that during the apprenticeship stage, there's no need to forcefully improve your skills using methods that offer high short-term profits but have significant side effects."

"It shouldn't be considered a shortcut, right?" The girl lightly pressed her fingers to her chin, looking to the side in thought.

"Actually, I didn't expect the advancement to be so fast."

Under normal circumstances, after entering the forest, first-level students familiarize themselves with their work tasks, then pay for classes to learn various new abilities, gradually improve their qualities by relying on meditation or breathing techniques, and then improve and advance each new ability step by step.

Finally, when a certain critical point is reached, with the support and assistance of various abilities, one's destiny rank will change, and one will advance to the next level.

Even for students with exceptional talent, this process takes nearly two years, and most students may need to stay in the woods for five years before they can reach the second tier.

"I can't make that decision right now. Please wait two days, Tiya. A specialist will come to check on your condition," the other party told you.

"Okay, then I'll buy some things in the city over the next couple of days." She had other things to do anyway, so she wasn't in a hurry to go back today.

Afterwards, Hilti began to inquire about building a windmill. Compared to advancing, the arrangements for building a windmill were much simpler. The other party quickly helped her complete the application and received 15 gold coins from the girl.

“The original cost was 20 gold coins, but considering that building the windmill also serves the forest and strengthens the region, a quarter of it will be paid by the forest,” she explained.

“I will contact the stonemasons’ guild in town tomorrow, and they will handle this matter.”

"Thank you."

Looks like I'll have to stay a couple more days.

(End of this chapter)