Cornflower Witch

Chapter 162 Summary and Farewell

The next day, after lunch.

Everyone was too lazy to get up and eat in the morning, and they didn't get together again until noon.

Captain Rodriguez, also known as the 'Bad Apple,' sat at the table with his hands folded, one leg crossed, and his toes dangling, waiting for the others to sit down.

When Yankar finally arrived and sat down, he snapped his fingers, drawing everyone's attention.

"Very good, it's time for the wonderful moment of taking stock of the harvest." With that, he glanced at everyone and nodded in satisfaction.

"We had a very good harvest this time, about twice as much as usual."

"We have to thank our newest member, Siltiia~" He clapped his hands after saying that, and the others followed suit, their eyes turning to the somewhat embarrassed black-haired girl.

"Hehe, I'll make something delicious for Tia tonight." Bona nudged her with her elbow.

"Mmm," the girl replied softly.

Then the 'bad apple' took a notebook that looked like a ledger and began to introduce and count each item one by one.

'Strange antlers', 'Color-changing deer hide', 'Deer blood'

"First, there are the special fruits and plants we picked along the way," he said, opening a basket on the table. Inside, various colorful fruits were neatly arranged, quite a sight to behold.

Three 'Morning Dew Pomelo' fruits, each worth 3 gold coins, for a total of 9 gold coins.

41 'Ringed Mushrooms', 20 silver coins each, for a total of 8.2 gold coins.

Two 'Ash Fruits', each costing 20 gold coins, for a total of 40 gold coins.

23 'Bloodstained Fruits', excellent quality, 3 gold coins each, total 69 gold coins.

4 'Moonlight Grass' plants, 1 gold coin each, 4 gold coins in total.

"Secondly, there's the harvest of prey."

'Strange Deer Antlers' can be used to make medicine and are worth 3 gold coins.

'Color-Changing Deer Hide' can be used to make a color-changing cloak, worth 6 gold coins.

'Deer blood' can be used to make blood wine, which is worth 1 gold coin.

Four 'Snake Gallbladders' can be used to make medicine. Each gallbladder costs 1 gold coin, for a total of 4 gold coins.

25 'Shadow Owl Feathers', 30 silver coins each, for a total of 7.5 gold coins.

One 'Vampire Fang (Tier 2 - Blood Law)' is worth 16 gold coins.

'Snake Scale Skin (Excellent)' 16 meters, worth 30 gold coins.

Five 'Ghost Bones', each worth 2 gold coins, for a total of 10 gold coins.

"Then there are other gains."

Four 'Rock Excavation Stones', each worth 50 silver coins, for a total of 2 gold coins.

Three 'Black Death Bird Eggs', each worth 3 gold coins, for a total of 9 gold coins.

"The final three items add up to 218.7 gold coins!" Bad Apple finished counting, his voice loud and excited.

Even after deducting all expenses, the final reward is still over 150 gold coins.

Ah, can expenses be reimbursed? Hiltiah belatedly realized.

Then came the inventory of each member's adventure expenses, such as Yann repairing damaged armor and shields, Karl replenishing various powders and ingredients, Bona using spices and ingredients, and the seeds used by Sylvia during her adventure, as well as the depreciation cost of the composite bow.

Looking at the 15 gold coins she was given for reimbursement, Hilti gently flicked them with her fingers, marveling at how great it was to have a team. Even in her previous life, many expenses weren't so easy to reimburse.

"Finally, after deducting the reimbursement expense of 57.3 gold coins, each person can receive about 32 gold coins."

The captain divided the remaining spoils equally among the five team members, and in the end, Hiltiya received 47 gold coins.

From departure to return, it took a week, yielding 47 gold coins. Some ordinary second-tier students who completed a year's worth of missions only received 30-40 gold coins in supplies. No wonder everyone is so enthusiastic about exploring the secret realm. Hiltiya recalled that she had sold 8000 jin of 'superior' quality wheat. Even at the market price of 3 silver coins per jin, that's worth 240 gold coins. It took her three months to sell, which, when divided among herself, would only amount to 20 gold coins per week.

However, growing wheat is indeed safe and stable, without the danger of exploration, and it can be done continuously. Based on this, and combined with what she has seen and heard in the woodland over the past six months, she has come up with this formula for the size of wheat.

Elite students who produce +3 quality items > Students with high exploration rewards > Excellent students who produce +2 quality items > Students with mediocre exploration rewards > Ordinary students who complete the mission

(Cultivating good quality wheat is +1, excellent is +2, outstanding is +3, rare is +4, and perfect is +5)

As for her, she can probably be considered a rare student with a +5 output quality at the moment. She is basically not short of money at this stage, and another benefit of exploration is slowly becoming apparent, which is to obtain rare resources that are difficult to buy in the market and the association.

For example, Karl needs the 'Ash Fruit', which is extremely rare. Hoping someone will list it for sale on the market would take an unknown amount of time, and since he urgently needs it, he can only rely on a reliable team to go to a secret realm with clues and try his luck in finding it.

After finishing the distribution, Hilti thought for a moment, then took out the gold coins she had just received and exchanged 9 gold coins for 3 'Morning Dew Pomelo Fruits' from her harvest.

"Does Tia want to take it back and cultivate it?" Because she was a horticulturist, the others quickly realized this.

"Yes."

【Morning Dew Pomelo】(Tier 1 - Emerald Honey): A fruit containing sweet juice that can effectively replenish moisture. It can also be used to make fruit tea, which, when combined with other teas, can restore mental energy.

"Although some horticulturists have successfully cultivated them, many of the plant fruits in the secret realm are the result of a combination of environmental factors. If they are planted outside, they may not produce usable fruits," other team members reminded.

"I know, but I'll give it a try anyway." There's not much point in her continuing to cultivate wheat now, so she might as well use other plants to practice.

The captain then wrapped the three pale yellow fruits in a paper bag and handed them to her, which Siltiah accepted.

Then came the arrangements made after everyone discussed them.

"After this expedition, it will probably take about two weeks to recover and remove the twisted erosion." 'Bad Apple' rested his head on his hand and leaned back in his chair.

“I’m going to get my equipment repaired, and then continue my training to improve the skills required for the [Greatsword] class,” Yaon replied.

"I've obtained the fruit; it's time to upgrade the black cat." Karl tapped the table with his fingers.

“I want to use that snake fang to forge a decent weapon; it’ll probably take some time,” Captain Bad Apple said.

Bona looked at the group, hesitated for a few seconds, and then said what she had agreed upon with Sylvia.

"I won't participate next time."

“You’ve only recently entered the second tier, and the secret realms you’ve chosen aren’t too difficult. If you continue onward, the places you go will definitely become more and more dangerous. If I continue to follow you, I’ll just be holding you back.”

"This……"

The others exchanged glances, unsure how to comfort her, because what Bona said was indeed true. During the expedition, they had all felt lingering fear, but it wasn't to the point of abandoning Bona. It was just that Bona herself had sensed the problem early on and pointed it out in advance.

"From now on, I'll prepare supplies for you from the rear. Just come to my place for a meal every time you come back~" Bona said with a smile, breaking the somber atmosphere.

"I am a chef, this is my job."

“Then remember to give us a discount next time, Bonna!” Bad Apple spoke first, breaking the silence of the others with laughter.

After a burst of cheers and laughter, the decision of Bona to leave the team was gradually accepted.

Even though everyone was reluctant to part, this arrangement was indeed the best considering the journey ahead. Otherwise, if an accident were to occur during the adventure, the emotional impact of facing injury or death would be even greater.

"Alright, it's not like we'll never see each other again." Bona shook her head and took the initiative to comfort the others.

Finally, she turned her gaze to the black-haired girl beside her.

"Tiya, you happen to have some free time later, would you like to learn some cooking skills from me? I see you're quite interested."

"Then I'll have to trouble you with your guidance, Sister Bona," the girl replied softly, with a hint of shyness.

"No problem, Xiaotiya will take my place in the team from now on." Bona hugged her tightly.

After a while, she reluctantly let go.

"But you are different from me, so you don't need to prepare food for them every day like before. Just feed them dry rations when you're on an adventure, and cook them a nice meal occasionally."

(End of this chapter)