Cornflower Witch

Chapter 354 Recommendation Letter Assessment
Even at night, the city remains bustling, with throngs of pedestrians lining the vibrant commercial streets.

“Would you like to hold my hand, Hedra?” Chidi walked ahead, extending his gloved fingers.

The girl waved her hand slightly, indicating that she didn't need it.

"Thank you, but no need."

The other person withdrew their hand, lightly touched their top hat, and responded with a smile.

"Alright, but stay close." He then led Siltia through the bustling streets to a high-end hotel, helped Siltia put away her luggage, and then the two of them had a meal at a restaurant not far from the hotel.

Here you can see many guests dressed in luxurious clothes. Many noblewomen are dressed extravagantly, with extremely intricate floral decorations and precious animal furs.

“Let’s go to the second floor.” Qidi led Hedra up the red steps to the side. When the waiters in the restaurant saw him, they made way for him and looked at the black-haired girl behind him with curiosity and envy.

Compared to the first floor, although many seats here were already occupied, the environment was much quieter. When guests talked, they kept their voices down and didn't make any noise.

After finding a seat by the window, Qidi helped Xilutiya choose her meal and then handed it to the waiter.

"Please prepare as soon as possible; this young lady needs to go home and rest early."

"Yes, Lord Qidi." The waiter took the slip of paper and quickly left.

Sitting by the window, Hiltia looked out curiously. She looked like a child who had just arrived in the big city, but she looked only 16 years old, which was indeed quite young.

"Is this your first time visiting the Mage Alliance?"

"Yes."

“It’s very different here from the countries to the south.” Qidi leaned back in his chair, relaxing slightly.

"When I was young, I also went to some southern countries on missions," he recounted simply.

"Many places are still stuck in very outdated social systems."

"An outdated social system?" Hiltiya pondered the words with curiosity and a hint of confusion.

“Yes, the Mage Alliance is very different from other kingdoms and empires,” Qidi explained to the girl.

“You could even think of the Mage Alliance as a giant nation with a unified currency, script, roughly the same system, guild organizations that operate throughout the alliance, an evaluation and education system, and so on.” Qidi gestured in the air with his fingers as he explained to the girl.

"However, on the surface, the Mage Alliance is still a union of multiple countries and organizations."

"At the very core are the more than thirty large academies in the center of the continent. They are the heart of the various mage factions. With the academies as the administrative center, various subordinate institutions extend out. The joint council composed of academy representatives also dominates everything in the entire mage alliance."

"Secondly, there are the member states surrounding the Mage Alliance. These countries vary in size and number. Although they still have nobles and royal families, the Mage Alliance controls a large amount of their administrative power and finances. Even the king's accession to the throne requires the permission of the United Council."

“I see.” Hilti nodded, and then the waiter began to serve the food. The two stopped talking and enjoyed their meal in peace.

After the meal, Chidi took Siltia for a stroll through the streets and then bought her an exquisite pocket watch as a gift.

[Blue Butterfly Pocket Watch] (Tier 1, Rare): A pocket watch that displays the time with extremely high accuracy. It can also be used as an alarm clock and a small mirror.

The pocket watch's case is made of blue enamel and silver, and the front is engraved with blooming petals and blue butterflies. It is more of a work of art in the shape of a pocket watch than a pocket watch.

After receiving the pocket watch, at Chidi's suggestion, Hiltiya hung it on her waist so she could take it out to check the time at any time.

"It suits you perfectly." The other person nodded in satisfaction.

"That's all for today. Get some sleep. I'll take you to the assessment tomorrow."

Afterwards, Qidi took Xilutiya to a hotel to rest, and the two said goodbye.

That night, Siltia slept in the spacious, luxurious room of the inn and had a wonderful dream. In her dream, she became a star student of the Mage Alliance and even debuted as an idol, influencing thousands of mages.

The next morning, Hiltiya woke up slowly, feeling refreshed. After washing up and changing her clothes, she went downstairs.

Qidi arrived while she was having breakfast on the first floor of the hotel.

"Good morning, Hedra." The mage, who looked to be in his thirties, was still wearing a black hat and a black trench coat, and sat down in front of the girl.

After exchanging greetings, he waited for Siltiya to finish eating before taking her to the carriage and heading to the guild of the Mage Alliance in the city. A large number of people had already gathered there, many of them aged 14 to 18, standing hesitantly in the open space in front of the guild, waiting for the upcoming qualification test.

On the other side, the carriage that Qidi was riding in with Xilutiya was clearly not taking the same route as them. The carriage crossed the street next to it, entered through the side gate of the guild, and then stopped in the open square inside. Here, many mage apprentices could be seen busily preparing for today's assessment.

Stepping out of the car, Qi Di opened the door and gently helped the black-haired girl in the black dress out. If one only looked at their hair color and clothing, the two had many similarities.

"Lord Qidi." A spirited young apprentice greeted him, then looked curiously at the girl beside him.

"This is Hedra. I brought her to participate in today's assessment."

"Uh, okay." The other person paused for a moment, then quickly nodded. "Miss Hedra, which school did you study at?" The other person led the two to the lobby to register.

"She doesn't need further education; she can directly take the special exam that will earn her a recommendation letter," Qidi explained simply.

"Ah, well, you need someone to recommend you for a special exam..." The other person scratched their head.

“I am one, aren’t I?” Qidi smiled.

"Yes, that's right, I'd forgotten all about it." He suddenly realized.

"Sorry." He said, walking quickly to a workbench, picking up a form, and filling it out for the two of them.

"name."

"Hedra Griffin".

……

After filling out a series of information, he stamped the form and handed it to Qidi.

"That way you can take Miss Hedra to a separate location for the exam."

"Thanks." Then Chidi waved for Hedra to follow.

A few minutes later, the two arrived at a building behind the guild. After some inquiries and applications, two official mages quickly came to supervise the exam.

In a separate room, they gave Hiltiya a challenge, asking her to create new spell models and demonstrate new spells on the spot.

After a morning of complex assessments, the two gave excellent evaluations.

"This is a letter of recommendation for Miss Hedra." After they finished speaking, the two of them took out a letter of recommendation with blue borders.

Qidi shook his head, stretched out his finger, opened the envelope of recommendation, and pulled out the letter paper on indigo paper.

"It's too simple. Change it to a recommendation letter with a blue background and gold foil."

“This, Lord Qidi, even you are probably not qualified to use the golden recommendation letter.”

"Is that so?" Qidi smiled again, took out a letter from his collar, and handed it over. It was a letter that Knox had given to Hilti.

After opening the letter, the two looked at it for a long time, then consulted some other materials before returning to hand it over.

"We have been presumptuous. If he is a direct disciple of Master Knox, he is indeed qualified to receive a gold recommendation letter."

Afterwards, they engraved another letter of recommendation with a blue background and gold foil, sealed it, and handed it to the girl.

"Congratulations, Miss Hedra. After receiving this letter, you can board the train three days from now to 'Asura' in the center of the continent. There you will begin a new life and gain the qualification to enter various academies."

"Thank you." The beautiful black-haired girl bowed in thanks and then accepted the precious letter of recommendation.

Around noon, Hilti followed Chidi downstairs. There, she saw thousands of young people crowding together in the guild square to take the exam. After their names were called, they stepped forward one by one to cast the spells designated by the examiners, answer and write questions, and also had to have their bodies checked and show proof of their previous schooling.

As Hilti walked out of the building, many young people noticed the girl and looked at her with envy and curiosity.

"She's so pretty, and her black stockings and skirt are so cute."

"Is she Lord Qidi's daughter? I've never seen her before."

"Is this girl also here for today's assessment?"

……

Amidst the whispers and intense gazes of the crowd, Hilti lowered her head shyly and followed behind Chidi.

"Hehe, not used to it yet?" Qidi's voice came from the front.

"When you go to 'Asura', 80% of the faces in the entire city will be young people around your age."

"Actually, there's no need to be too modest. Your strength and talent are both excellent, so you should be more proud."

"When you believe in yourself, the other person will be convinced without even realizing it, and then willingly obey you."

"You'll be even more attractive that way."

"Bloom forth, Hedra, your talent and beauty will be your powerful weapons."

"I always trust my judgment, and this time is no exception." With that, the mage in the black trench coat smiled and led the girl away from the guild.

(End of this chapter)