Cornflower Witch

Chapter 36 A Rainy Afternoon

For the entire morning, Hilti and the other students listened to Maester Hyde explain the key points and precautions of the 'bonfire and dance' ritual.

"You've all roughly remembered the relevant details, but did you notice the song you were humming and the drumbeats last night?"

"This one……"

Many people in the room looked at each other. A few of the aristocratic students had some exposure to music, but not in depth. It was still too difficult for them to immediately memorize what they had heard once.

Hiltiya sat on a tree stump to the side, trying to recall the rhythm. She could vaguely remember some of it, but she still couldn't quite put it into words. She hadn't studied music in her previous life, and although she might have studied it in this life, she had no memory of it and it was of no use to her for the time being.

"Hehe, you see, this is the importance of mastering several skills," said Scholar Hyde, stroking his beard.

"The content and skills involved in the 'ritual' are quite extensive. Some rituals even require the officiant to perform a dance. The most famous of these is the 'Flower Crown Dance' performed by the elves during the Spring Dew Festival. It requires exceptionally high skill from the dancers, but the effect is also obvious. This ritual can make flowers bloom and the earth revive. It is a rare ritual that can change the environment."

"Alright, that concludes today's lesson. I will have you transcribe the sheet music for the songs and drumbeats sung during 'Bonfire and Dance Steps' later. However, the best way to pass on this tradition is still for you to listen to the elders humming it yourself. Only then can you remember the unique rhythm, atmosphere, and emotions."

After class ended, the afternoon was free time, but before the students could go out and play, it started to drizzle.

Fine raindrops trickled down the thatched rooftops, wetting the ground, and the village roads, which were not paved with stone bricks, quickly became muddy.

"We can't go out." Komia stood behind the door, looking at the gray world outside.

Inside the room, Hilti was sitting by the window in the front hall, flipping through a book, while Karen was at her workbench, maintaining her tools and her longbow. On the other side, Valenie stood with her arms crossed, looking at the rain outside the window with some irritation. As for Iona, she was still in the room and hadn't come out.

Five girls live in this house. Normally, nobles and commoners rarely interact, but today they have to stay under the same roof.

After leaning against the door frame and watching the rain for a long time, counting the dripping water droplets and the tiny streams of water flowing through the cracks in the stone bricks in front of the threshold, Komia finally got a little bored and turned around.

She glanced at the people in the front hall, circled around Karen, asked Karen about the uses of various tools, then went to Hiltiah's side to secretly peek at what book the girl was reading that day. Afterward, she returned to her bedroom to try to continue taking a nap, but tossing and turning and couldn't fall asleep.

"I must have slept too well last night." She came to the front hall somewhat dejectedly and complained to her companions.

Hiltia and Karen just smiled at her complaints, finding them amusing and not taking them too seriously. Sure enough, after a while, Komia started wandering around the house again, looking around and searching for something interesting.

Another door in the corridor creaked open.

Upon hearing the noise, Valenie, who had been somewhat impatient, immediately changed her expression and ran over, where she indeed saw Iona just stepping out the door.

This blonde young lady had her short hair styled very well, with a thin red ribbon tied on one side. The color of the ribbon complemented her eye color. Then there was her uniform dress, which was out of place among ordinary students. The style was neat and gorgeous, the material of the clothes was excellent, and there was a small leather belt around her waist. On her feet were leather boots suitable for outdoor activities.

Even though her situation is not as good as before, Iona still cares a lot about her appearance. However, she can no longer afford to wear different styles of luxurious clothes every day as she used to.

Her crimson eyes briefly swept over the others in the room. Iona glanced at the rainy world outside and sat down at the table in the front hall.

Because the house itself is not large, and the front hall is also limited in size, the only tables here are a workbench against the wall and a wooden table by the window on either side where Iona and Sylphia sit respectively.

“Lady Iona.” Valenie followed quickly.

Seeing Iona sit down, she glanced down at Siltia, who was also sitting at the table, and felt a pang of jealousy and resentment. Why was this girl sitting next to Lady Iona?

But if she chased the girl away, she felt she would lose face and appear unrefined and ill-mannered, so she glared at the girl several times.

However, Hilti was busy flipping through the book in her hands and didn't notice the frequent gesturing glances from the side.

Valenie's little tricks didn't work, so she could only pace back and forth in frustration, hesitating whether to go over and wake up Sylvia directly.

"Just stand there and don't walk around." Finally, Iona waved her hand impatiently, telling Valenie to be quiet for a moment.

Upon receiving the order, Valenie immediately stood proudly against the wall, a behavior that puzzled Komia, who thought it was somewhat foolish.

Komia wondered to herself if she wasn't very bright, but she didn't dare to say it out loud.

The room fell silent for a moment. Hilti continued to turn the pages of her book. Komia sat beside Karen, glancing at her as she oiled and adjusted the tools, then turning her gaze to the others in the room. Valenie remained silent and still, while Iona propped her head up and gazed out the window at the rain, lost in thought.

Time passed slowly, and the only sounds in the room were the occasional turning of pages by Hilti and the endless sound of raindrops outside the window.

Half an hour later, perhaps tired of the unchanging gray rain, Iona turned her gaze to the quiet girl opposite her.

"Her name is Tia, right?" Iona tried to recall information about the girl, but unfortunately, there wasn't much. She didn't pay much attention to her classmates anyway, especially since this girl had always been so low-key, as if she had been forgotten in a corner. The only thing she remembered vividly was the bespectacled figure standing next to Maester Hyde when she first met him.

At the time, she thought she was Maester Hyde's granddaughter or a formal apprentice, but she later realized she was just an ordinary commoner student.

For ordinary people, studying is not an easy task. Her gaze returned to the book in Silti's hands.

"The Kingdom of the Mountain Peaks in the Snowstorm" is a travelogue that recounts the author's experiences traveling to the Kingdom of Winter hundreds of years ago. It is a cold country located north of the Kingdom of Regas. The entire country is situated on mountains, where snowstorms are constant and the population is small. However, this country has stood for nearly a thousand years. The Kingdom's Winter Knights are famous throughout the continent and are a holy land in the hearts of many knights and warriors.

It's quite rare to see a girl reading this kind of book. Although Iona wasn't interested in the book, she was very familiar with it, probably because of her father. He was very fond of the country described in the book, especially the legendary Winter Knights.

The Kingdom of Regas and the Kingdom of Winter share many connections, as their founding monarch, Regard Bouvier, was born in the Kingdom of Winter. The National Fir Knights of Regas also bear many traces of imitation of the Knights of Winter.

However, compared to the harsh geographical environment of the Kingdom of Winter, the Kingdom of Regas is much better, and the food is relatively abundant.

While pondering, Iona turned her gaze to the girl reading the book. The girl wore glasses, had delicate features, and upon closer inspection, her skin was also very good, seemingly even fairer than Iona's.

"It's probably because I've been sunbathing during my recent training sessions. This guy's been sitting in the corner reading, that's why he's so fair," Iona consoled herself.

The fact that she was competing with a country girl made Iona feel uncomfortable, just like the endless, gloomy rain outside.

Taking a deep breath, Iona composed herself and prepared to go back to her bedroom to be alone.

However, before leaving, she looked at the bespectacled girl who had been ignoring her and was engrossed in the world of the book, and refrained from speaking.

"Do you really understand it?" She knew that because the book was written hundreds of years ago, the vocabulary and language used were quite different from those used today.

"Oh, are you asking me?" Hilti looked up and then answered.

"Those who can understand it are probably those who have read 'The Annual Rings of the Cedar Tree ~ The Story of the Mountain Country' some time ago. The two books were written around the same time, so they can be connected and understood."

Iona was still somewhat skeptical, because her father had read these two books to her when she was a child, and he had to consult classical texts to explain some of the words to her.

“Then I’ll test you.” Iona stood up, and Valenie became excited as well.

As expected, Iona is really cool.

"Where was the Winter Knights founded, and what class did they specialize in?"

"When the Knights were founded, the leader was an elderly priest who lived on snowy mountain peaks year-round. He was skilled in the secret arts and abilities of the 'hibernation' nature, and the Knights were founded in his small chapel."

"The earliest members of the Knights were only five young people. They had not yet reached the first rank, but the old priest taught them with great patience, which enabled the five young people to eventually reach the strength of 'Third Rank - Winter Sleep' and specialize in the 'Frost Swordsman' class."

"With these five knights at the core, the original knightly order was established. They spread their beliefs in the mountains, uniting the various settlements scattered on the snowy mountain peaks to form a patrol cavalry unit to protect the local peace. Then the organization gradually expanded until the forty-seventh knight commander, Perein, who brilliantly integrated the area protected by the knightly order into a country. He himself was promoted to the rank of 'Winter Crown Knight' of 'Sixth Tier - Winter's Sleep Castle' due to the establishment of the country."

The founding process of the Kingdom of Winter is quite similar to that of the Kingdom of Legas. In other words, the Kingdom of Legas was established by imitating the history of the Kingdom of Winter.

Hilti's detailed and well-organized explanation left Iona speechless, even making her feel that the other party knew more history than she did. But how could that be? She had been exposed to history since childhood, and even though she had neglected it later due to her addiction to social gatherings, she was still far superior to ordinary country folk.

Instead of widening the gap, she felt that her knowledge was inferior to that of the common people in the countryside. This feeling stirred up inexplicable irritability and panic in her heart, making Iona restless.

She silently looked at the girl in front of her, her fingers twitching slightly, but then she put them down again.

A few seconds later, Iona finally spoke: "You read quite a lot of books."

No, she couldn't lose her temper here. She didn't want to cause any more trouble and ruin the impression she had made on Mathematician Hyde during this time.

Iona then went back to her bedroom and didn't come out again, which greatly surprised Valeny and made her resent Sylvia.

Seeing Iona storm back to her bedroom, Hilti pressed her temples; she could easily tell what had just happened.

It seems I wasn't discreet enough and embarrassed this young lady.

However, it would be too pretentious and uncomfortable to pretend not to know something when you already know it. She is gentle by nature, but she is not the kind of person who would distort her own nature to cater to others.

Hopefully, this young lady won't pay too much attention to her, otherwise her future life will be filled with unnecessary trouble.

(End of this chapter)