Cornflower Witch

Chapter 1 The Girl and the Wolf
The Fourth Continent, the Season of Rising Winds, Autumn - The Wolf Festival

(Ti: a color of cinnabar and orange-red, also referring to armed personnel, the Tiqi. The Tiyi of the Five Earls today is a remnant of the color of ancient military uniforms. — "Spring Official · Notes on Clothing")
In the ninth year of the Ascending Wind Season, this continent has passed the most radiant season of the 'Blazing Sun'. The vitality of the blazing sun carried by the wind has allowed all things to grow. Over the years, the animals in the mountains and forests have multiplied in large numbers. The wolf packs chasing food are bathed in the forest wind. With abundant food, they have become stronger and stronger. They no longer disguise themselves or hide. After absorbing the vitality of the 'Blazing Sun' aspect, their gray manes are tinged with orange and crimson, making them even more ferocious and unruly.

;

A gentle breeze rustled through the trees, and a pale yellow-red leaf drifted slowly down from a branch, landing on the head of a girl standing beneath it.

The dry, hard edges of the leaves scraped against her long, white, and smooth hair, then slid down with the wind and fell onto the shady ground covered with fallen leaves.

A young girl is confronting a wolf.
At this moment, Hiltiya looked nervously at the orange-red wolf that was emitting a low growl. She twisted the side of her skirt with one hand, while the other hand trembled slightly in the air. She tried her best to look for something useful in the surroundings out of the corner of her eye.

Anything, whether it's a branch or a stick, is better than fighting this wolf with bare hands.

She couldn't remember why the previous memory was of her sitting on a bus back to her hometown, and the next moment she woke up in this deserted forest. She walked for an hour without finding any trace of human habitation. If everything in front of her and around her hadn't been so real, she would have doubted that she was dreaming.

"Woo..." The deep sound came again.

With a grin, the red wolf revealed its interlocking canine teeth and bright red gums. The orange-red mane on its back stood up slightly. It crouched low, its triangular eyes staring at the silver-haired girl, seemingly assessing her strength. As a wolf tainted with the 'blazing sun' nature, it had gradually transcended the realm of ordinary wild beasts and gained some intelligence.

The creature's snow-white, tender skin and clean, gentle scent indicated that it was an extremely rare delicacy. Although it had never eaten a human before, its instincts told it that the creature before it would be the most delicious food in its wolf life.

Eat her!
The red wolf moved, and the girl barely saw how it leaped up, but she reacted when the wolf's head was only half a meter away from her.

She turned to the side, her right hand blocking her chest. As the red wolf leaped into the air, her slender fingers from her sleeve deftly touched the wolf's head, her ring finger pressing precisely on the wolf's eyeball. The strong eyelashes and moist eyes made the girl's heart tighten, but she still suppressed her fear and pushed the wolf's head away, causing it to miss its target and fall to her right side.

After dodging the first attack, Hilti had no time to think and almost staggered forward. As she ran, she bent down, grabbed the wooden branch she had just found, and then turned around. At that moment, the red wolf pounced on her again.

Because Hiltiya fell to the ground while grabbing a branch, she didn't have time to get up. At this moment, she could only try to pull her lower leg back to avoid being bitten by the wolf.

Having failed to bite its target and only managed to nibble at the girl's skirt, the red wolf released its grip and lunged at Hilti's throat again with a fierce glint in its eyes. At that moment, Hilti stretched out the withered branch she had been holding and thrust it into the wolf's open mouth.

The rough bark of the branch inserted into the soft throat caused the red wolf to feel a strong urge to vomit. It pulled back, shook its head, and tried to throw the branch out of its throat.

Violent struggles and shaking came from the wooden branch in her hand. Hilti knew that she absolutely could not let the red wolf throw the branch away at this moment. She gripped the bottom of the branch tightly with one hand and inserted it into the wolf's mouth, while grabbing the fur on the back of the red wolf's neck with the other hand, trying to hold it in place.

The coarse, orange-red mane was a bit prickly, and the fleshy neck beneath the fur was also hard to grip. This guy is quite sturdy, the girl couldn't help but think.

To prevent the red wolf from breaking free, she practically pinned him down with both knees. Several times she was nearly freed, and the wolf's claws kept tearing at her skirt, leaving stinging scratches on her legs through the fabric.

time flies……

She didn't know how many minutes had passed, but just when she felt she couldn't hold on any longer, the red wolf beneath her began to struggle less and less. Blood-red foam spilled from the wolf's mouth, but the girl was still worried. She continued to stab the branch deep into the red wolf's throat until it was motionless and had no heartbeat. Only then did she finally calm down and regain some composure.

Slowly standing up, Hilti realized that her back was already soaked with sweat and some of her hair was stuck to her forehead. She took a deep breath to calm her rapidly beating heart and finally had time to look around.

Orange, crimson, and a little black—Hilti observed the fur of the dead wolf at her feet. She had never seen anything like it before, neither in shape nor color. She vaguely remembered wolves with orange-red fur in the Americas, but its appearance was completely different from the one in front of her.

As my fingers lightly touched the stiff hair, a subtle, intense heat emanated from it, which was weaker towards the roots and strongest at the tips, even with a slight prickling sensation.

【Tilang】

In the later stages of the Ascension Season, wolf-like beasts will have their fur turn orange-yellow due to being imbued with the power of the 'Blazing Sun' attribute, becoming 'Ti Wolves'. When their fur turns into a fiery red, they become first-tier 'Red Wolves'. The ferocious 'Red Wolves' will cause great harm to the villagers and livestock, so much so that the image of this kind of creature often appears in fairy tales.

Every year at this time, hunters would organize themselves to enter the mountains and forests to hunt and kill 'Tiwolves' in advance. Some nobles also loved this activity. They would hang the 'Tiwolf' pelts they obtained from hunting in their living rooms as a symbol of their honor and bravery. This activity eventually became a tradition in many places, and this season was also known as the 'Tiwolf Festival'.

Note: The fur of the 'Tilang' and 'Red Wolf' contains trace amounts of 'Blazing Sun' energy, giving it excellent warmth in winter. If it can be preserved until the foggy season, its value will increase further.

With a blink of her eyes, Hilti was surprised by the knowledge that surfaced in her mind. How could she know the origin of a dead wolf, and even learn about some of the history and customs of this world?

It seems I still have a lot to learn.

She slowly stood up, looked around, and then reached out to try to drag the wolf carcass beneath her. Its weight made her give up the idea of ​​taking it with her.

With no knives at hand, she couldn't skin or dissect the wolf, and besides, she had never killed a wolf before and had no idea where to begin. After thinking for a few seconds, Hilti decided to continue walking out of the forest. She didn't know if the dead wolf carcass would attract other creatures, but since she couldn't use it now, she could only stay away.

After resting for a few minutes, Hilti tidied her disheveled clothes and hair and continued walking along the shady path. Judging from the position of the sun, it should be 3 or 4 pm, past the hottest time of the day.

Not knowing where to find food or a place to spend the night, the girl touched her stomach, feeling that she wasn't hungry yet.

This body was clearly not her former self, but she moved around without any awkwardness, as if it were her natural state. Walking in the shade of the trees, Hilti slowly sorted through her memories.

She remembers clearly that this time it was because she received a call from her hometown that she applied for annual leave from her company to go home.

She boarded the high-speed train and left the big city where she had worked for several years, heading towards her hometown which she had not seen for many years. Since graduating from high school, she went to other cities to study at university, and after graduating, she went to work. She could count on one hand the number of days she had returned to her hometown, probably only during the few days of the Chinese New Year.

It had been a long time since she had walked through the mountains and forests like this. The girl looked up, lightly covering her forehead with one hand, and gazed at the light green and yellowing leaves above her.

When she was little, she would spend a long time playing at her grandparents' house during summer vacation. Her grandparents' house was not in the city, but in a remote mountain village with rolling green hills, streams, and all kinds of animals.

Grandpa raised a flock of goats, which he would let graze on the mountain every day. When she was little, Hiltiya would go with her and a few of her older cousins. Everything in the mountains was incredibly new to her, as she had grown up in the city.

Spiky, cracked chestnuts, bright red and appetizing wild strawberries by the mountain roadside, clusters of green berries, the occasional strange bird calls, and owls that were hard to spot among the fallen leaves on the trees—these things were like a splash of vibrant color in a life of poverty, making young Siltia especially happy.

Childhood in the city was rather dull. She recalled that most of her time was spent in school, tutoring classes, doing homework, and taking exams. Only when she went to her grandparents' house was she free to play without anyone urging her to study. Her uncles and aunts also doted on her, asking her what she liked to eat and trying their best to satisfy her.

Dragonflies, fireflies, caterpillars, butterflies, and even snakes in the woodpile—she first saw these things from books in her hometown's mountain village, and going there every summer vacation became her happiest time.

Sitting on the bus to her hometown, she leaned against the window, reminiscing about the past. The sunlight outside filtered through the roadside trees, making her vision a little blurry for a moment.

Going fishing at this time should be a great idea; it would be even better if you could catch a few crucian carp to make soup.

Crucian carp are relatively small fish, and this was the only fish she ever caught when she was a child. Back then, all she had were bamboo poles, fishing lines, and hooks, far less equipment than we have today.

After catching her first crucian carp, she and her older siblings stood around the bucket, unsure of what to do with it. Should they put it back in the water? The children were reluctant to give up the fish they had finally managed to catch, but it didn't look like it had much meat to eat.

The silvery fish scales felt slippery in my hand, and when I looked at them in the sun, they reflected a few iridescent colors. There was a row of small dots along the midline on both sides of the fish's body, which made the children particularly curious.

Finally, my aunt helped to process the fish they had caught and made fish soup.

"It's a pity Grandpa didn't get to eat it..." The girl sighed with regret as she recalled the scene when she was ten years old.

After that fishing trip, Grandpa heard about it and then laughed, saying that he hadn't caught one himself and asked when he could catch another one for him. She and her siblings readily agreed, but afterwards, the adults were afraid that the children would drown while playing in the water, so they never let them get close to the river.

She gradually forgot about the incident until a few days ago when she received a phone call informing her of her grandfather's passing, after which she embarked on her journey home.

……

She doesn't know if she can ever return to that world again. Even if she does, it will be a long, long time from now. But she still misses her hometown and the beautiful memories that warmed her entire childhood.

With her arms outstretched to maintain her balance, the girl's toes lightly touched the stones hidden by fallen leaves as she walked down the mountain. After many years, that familiarity with the mountain terrain returned to her heart, allowing her to easily traverse the rugged slopes and bushes, and walk through layers of shady trees.

And so, just before the sun was about to set, after crossing the last small hill, she saw wisps of smoke rising in the distance.

A peaceful and rustic medieval village, surrounded by fields, came into view.

There are no familiar telephone poles, no paved roads, only houses built of stone and rough wood. Rustic windmills stand slowly turning in the wheat fields, and piles of straw are neatly bundled and placed on the fields.
As a carriage with a tin outline slowly drove along the narrow path between the fields, the shield-skinned beasts pulling it came into view. Hiltiya finally realized that this was a completely different world, and that if she wanted to return to her homeland, she would probably have to travel a very, very long way.

Shouldn't the script be about receiving a letter from grandpa, returning to the old home to inherit the fields and ranches, and living a leisurely rural life away from work?

"The situation really took a sharp turn for the worse," the girl thought to herself before heading down the mountain towards the village.

(End of this chapter)