After the examination ended, things finally relaxed. Scholar Heide had deliberately given everyone a chance to unwind and get into a different frame of mind.
"For the next week, we'll be staying in a village outside the city," the scholar announced to the students.
"Each of you may bring only one suitcase. Pack a change of clothes and whatever else you'll need. We'll leave together tomorrow morning."
"We'll hold classes in a natural environment and give you firsthand experience with different crops and the conditions in which farmers work."
"All right, once this morning's classes are over, you can go home and get ready."
"Ooh!" The students cheered at the news of a break.
Afterward, they gathered in their own groups to discuss how they would spend the next few days in the countryside.
For the commoner students, it was nothing out of the ordinary. But for some of the nobles and wealthy students, it sounded quite novel.
"I wonder if we'll be able to hunt. I learned archery a year ago, but I've never had a chance to put it to use."
"Can I bring my beloved pet, Kaka? He's a loyal hunting dog."
"I wish we could go horseback riding, galloping across the grass with someone we love."
"I'm sick of Scorched Stone City."
"Is there a river there? Can we go swimming?"
"If there's a river, we can go fishing."
"Ugh, we can't bring servants? That takes all the fun out of it."
"Maybe we can go see some scarecrows. I just read a strange story about them a while ago."
Meanwhile, Comia pulled Sylutia and Karen aside so they could discuss their plans together.
"Karen, bring your bow and arrows. This is your chance to put them to use. Maybe we can even hunt something and have a barbecue," Comia suggested.
"That's no problem. I still have a set of outdoor gear from the last time I used it," Karen said with a nod.
"What about you, Tia? What are you good at?"
"I can probably help you identify wild plants. I can help prepare food, too," the girl said after a moment's thought.
"Then bring some seasonings. Or maybe we'll need a picnic blanket, too."
"As for me, I'll ask my dad to get a tent ready for us to bring along."
"Aren't we staying in a village? It's not like we'll be out in the wilderness," Sylutia pointed out.
"Huh? We're not camping outdoors? All right, then I'll bring some tasty food and a blanket. We'll want to sleep comfortably, after all." She loved sleeping.
"Then it's settled. We'll leave together tomorrow."
"Okay."
That afternoon, Sylutia began packing when she got home.
She didn't have much to bring. Besides the clothes she needed, she only had two books, a notebook, and a small bag of seasonings.
Should she bring her pillow? She rather liked the buckwheat pillow she'd made recently. Since she couldn't afford cotton, it was already quite comfortable.
She picked up the pillow and felt it over, then decided to bring it after all.
It wasn't heavy, and she could carry it.
Then there were the flowers and plants in the backyard she couldn't bear to leave unattended.
Thinking of that, she went to the bedroom and picked up the potion she'd just made. She examined it closely.
Her teacher, Heide, had given it to her yesterday. Apparently, the people at the Alchemist Guild had spent several days preparing it before they succeeded.
[Emerald Pupil Potion] (First Order—Emerald Nectar): Put a drop in your eye to see the flow of nutrients inside plants, their hidden Aspect Power, and their growth conditions. (Good quality. Each use lasts 3 minutes.)
Only three minutes? the girl murmured. Then she opened the bottle, carefully drew out a few drops with a special glass pipette, and put them in her eyes.
A cool sensation spread at once. Everything in her vision turned dim, like a black-and-white world. But... She blinked and looked at herself in the mirror.
One of her pale blue eyes had turned emerald. The girl in the mirror now had one green eye and one blue eye, giving her an unusual, mysterious allure.
She went into the backyard and looked over the flowers and plants. In this black-and-white world, they had taken on vivid colors. Even among the shades of green, she could distinguish hundreds of different forms and hues. It was incredible.
She returned to the Swan Orchids she had been growing and bent down carefully to study them. As if she could see right through them, she began to sense the "colors" inside the flowers. This kind of "seeing" was more like an intuition, revealing their patterns and differences.
Following the patterns in those colors, Sylutia placed her hand on a Swan Orchid and activated the potion's "Emerald Nectar" Aspect Power in her eye. A finer, clearer sense of the plant emerged. It was as if another layer of "touch" had been added to the "colors," along with the faint "rhythm" of the plant's breathing. The three kinds of perception blended together, creating a more vivid and entirely different way of sensing it.
The world hadn't changed, yet she saw things she'd never noticed before. It was as if she had left a narrow, dark cave and, for the first time, looked out across the open land beneath the sky.
Countless pieces of information converged in her eyes and mind. She understood and analyzed them all at once, gradually sorting them out.
Three minutes wasn't nearly enough. She had to add a few more drops of the Emerald Pupil Potion to her left eye. The green eye had a strange allure. Its emerald pupil seemed to flow and shimmer like liquid, drawing anyone who looked into it in.
With each new perception and each round of analysis, the secrets of the plant before her became like one closed door after another, opening before Sylutia's eyes.
The unknown behind those doors, the knowledge behind them, the mysteries behind them—all were revealed to her one by one.
(Insight into "Swan Orchid" gained. When encountering "Swan Orchid" plants in the future, gain an informational advantage. "Identification Pupil" completion +1)
A sudden realization surfaced in the girl's mind. Then, little by little, she emerged from that absorbed state.
Now, when she examined the Swan Orchids before her again, all the information she had sorted through appeared in her mind.
[Swan Orchid] (Good—58): Growing. Humidity is not at its optimal level; increase it by another 21.24%. The ambient temperature is slightly low; raise it by another 5.8 degrees. The soil has compacted from watering, reducing aeration. Nutrients are insufficient, and some trace nutrients are missing...
She hadn't known until she looked, and then she was shocked. Only now did Sylutia realize there were so many problems.
Humidity and temperature? There wasn't much she could do about those right now. She would probably need a greenhouse. But she had plenty of ideas for loosening and nourishing the compacted soil.
First, she could loosen the soil and replace the top layer, mixing in a small amount of gravel to improve aeration and prevent compaction. Then she could water some of the Swan Orchids. After that, she could find some eggshells, crush them into powder, and add them to the soil as fertilizer.
She recorded her proposed solutions in her notebook, then began loosening the soil. As she worked, she kept making adjustments and recording data, as if she were searching for the perfect fit between interlocking gears.
Sylutia stayed busy until dusk. Talia had gotten home from work by then, and only when she arrived did Sylutia finally straighten up from between the backyard garden beds.
"Tia, I bought some bread on my way home today." Talia set the bread she was carrying down in the kitchen, then went to find the girl, who had just come in from the backyard.
"Why are your arms and skirt covered in dirt? Were you that busy today?" She took Sylutia's hand and led her aside, brushing the dirt off as she asked with concern.
"Talia, I made a lot of discoveries today." Sylutia's voice was unusually lively, with a hint of excitement.
"You must be really happy today." Talia didn't know what Sylutia had discovered, but she was happy for her all the same.
"How about we skip the bread and go to a restaurant for a big meal tonight?" She was getting hungry.
Usually, Sylutia would have been reluctant to spend the money. She didn't have many silver coins left.
But she really was happy today, so she nodded in agreement.
"Then let's go tonight. But we'll have to wait a while before we go again. We still need to save up." Delighted that Sylutia had agreed, Talia bounced excitedly, then took one look at her and hurried into the kitchen.
"What are you going to do in the kitchen?" the girl asked curiously.
"I'm going to heat some water for you, of course. You can't go out looking like that, Tia!" Talia called from the kitchen.
About an hour later, after taking a bath and changing into clean clothes, Sylutia went out with Talia.
They went to the Gelia Restaurant again and found a quiet private room.
Tonight, they ordered Braised Oxtail.
[Braised Oxtail] (Excellent): Braise the oxtail in oil. Meanwhile, pan-fry onion and bay leaves in hot oil. When the oxtail is eighty percent cooked, add the fried onion and bay leaves, along with chunks of carrot, garlic cloves, salt, sugar, and tomato sauce for seasoning. When serving, add several roasted whole potatoes and enjoy with the sauce poured over the top.
The two of them enjoyed a rare, delicious feast. Afterward, Talia headed home with Sylutia, completely satisfied. By then, the girl had already decided what she wanted to ask Talia to do.
"So Tia, you won't be home for a whole week?" Talia was a little dejected when she heard. Sylutia was a good cook, and every evening she got to try something new.
It wasn't as good as the restaurant's chef, but she liked it very much all the same.
"If Tia isn't home, I'll be stuck eating dry bread and vegetable soup every day."
"Just put up with it for a little while. If you really can't manage, you can go mooch dinner off Big Sister Winnie," the girl teased.
"I can go, but I'd feel bad if I did it too often."
"Speaking of watering the flowers, Tia, how should I water yours? I see you record the amount of water and the time every day," Talia asked.
"Don't worry about that. I'll organize the schedule tonight, and then you can just water them according to the amounts listed."
Talia definitely couldn't be as precise as she was, but she'd already adjusted all the other conditions for growing the Swan Orchids. As long as the amount of water stayed within thirty percent of the target, the flowers would still grow to an excellent quality.
"Then I'll leave everything to you for the next week."
"Leave it to me! o(*￣︶￣*)o~" After she said that, the two of them walked home together, laughing.
It had been over a month since she'd last left Scorched Stone City. Now that she was going away again, Sylutia felt a fresh wave of excitement and anticipation.
Before you continue