She Is Not a Witch

In the southern forest of the Tisilan Mountain Range.

A group of rabbits were busily reinforcing the wooden fence around the village. Though called rabbits, they looked almost identical to humans except for the rabbit ears on their heads.

The trees around the village were sparse, clearly having been felled. Simple crops like vegetables, beans, and some brown mushrooms grew sparsely on the hillside, though not thriving.

The village housed over 200 rabbit-eared people, all living inside large mushrooms.

Indeed, these mushrooms were taller than a person, hollowed out to form rooms. The mushroom caps came in vibrant colors—orange, bright red, light blue, and a few light green ones. The sight was magical and beautiful.

The mushroom houses of various sizes clustered together, giving the village a fairytale-like appearance.

Everyone in the village seemed busy, rushing about to bring stones, reinforce wooden fences, and sharpen the tops of wooden walls to increase their defensive capability.

Unfortunately, they had limited iron tools and few weapons. Most were sharpened wooden poles used as spears, with only a few spear tips fitted with iron heads.

These spear heads were notched and well-worn, but polished brightly without rust, indicating good maintenance.

Loranhil quietly observed this unique race from an opposite hill.

The rabbit-eared people were a branch of the beast-folk. In the First Era, beast-folk were widely distributed across the continent and even had their own countries, second only to elves in strength. They had their own unique culture, writing, and customs.

However, there were vast differences among beast-folk. Some were bloodthirsty and violent, while others were gentle and weak. They couldn’t be generalized.

These rabbits belonged to a relatively weak tribe. Even during the beast-folk empire’s peak, historical records showed they mainly worked as farmers and in support roles. Their only major battle participation left an unfavorable record.

The girl wasn’t very clear about the current situation outside, but she could guess that this group of rabbits wasn’t living well. Most were thin and weak, wearing simple clothes with many patches, looking quite frail.

On this autumn morning, the mountain air was chilly. Some young rabbits were shivering from the cold, only feeling better after the sun rose.

The only praiseworthy thing was that they were quite clean and united.

Though their clothes were old, they were washed white, without much visible dirt. They worked well together; if one rabbit couldn’t manage a task alone, others were always willing to help. They also appeared very hardworking. Everyone worked together, with no one slacking off. Even the little rabbits did simple tasks within their capabilities.

“Kanda… how are the preparations in the village now?”

An elderly man with grey rabbit ears, leaning on a cane, asked a sturdy young man before him. This young man also had rabbit ears, but they were black.

“Father, we’ve already renovated the village fence, reinforced it with stones at the back. It’s almost done.”

“Good… good… Are all the villagers gathered? Is anyone still outside?”

“Almost everyone is back, only Iden hasn’t returned. He said he was going to seek help from other villages.”

“Other villages, sigh… Don’t trouble them. The situation in the neighboring rabbit-eared villages, we all know in our hearts. Which one isn’t struggling to survive? How could they have the strength to help us?”

“When I was young, there were more than a dozen villages in this forest, big and small. Back then we could support each other, share resources, and even get some iron products. Now, only 5 villages remain, and I fear soon there will only be 4, sigh…”

“Father, can’t we leave this dangerous forest?”

The black-eared youth asked, confused and agitated.

“Leave? Where would we go if we left here?”

The elder sighed, stroking a yak-tail ornament hanging from his cane. The ornament’s main body was a yak-hair ball, with several thin cords wrapped around an ancient bronze nameplate below. If one were familiar with the beast-folk language, they would know the two characters on it meant “White Banner”.

“The Wild Fang Empire, that once powerful nation, has been gone for thousands of years. Now, it’s the era of humans. Where wouldn’t it be the same? At least in this forest, we still have some freedom. If we leave, we’d only become slaves.”

“But I’ve heard there are still many beast-folk tribes on the ancient Gufia grasslands. We could go there.”

“No… foolish child. In a foreign land, our own kind can sometimes be more terrifying than humans.”

“Humans might capture us as slaves, but at least we could barely survive. But meeting our own kind, we rabbit-ears might be treated as food. Don’t think this is alarmist talk. Such things happened quite often in the past.”

The rabbit-eared elder shook his head, looked at the busy tribespeople on the hillside, and after a moment of silence, said:

“If we can’t hold out later, take this nameplate and lead the remaining able-bodied adults and children to seek refuge with other villages.”

“This is the tribal plate bestowed upon us rabbit-ears when the Wild Fang Empire still existed. The entire rabbit-ear tribe only received three nameplates: Black Banner, White Banner, and Grey Banner.”

“Thousands of years ago, with this nameplate, one could have the right to cultivate grains south of the High Dan Grasslands and receive protection from the empire’s patrol cavalry. In return, the three rabbit-ear tribes had to pay sufficient grain to the empire each year to maintain this relationship.”

“It’s said that in the beginning years it was fine, but later as our tribe’s population grew, the empire, to control our numbers, started drafting our young and strong for battles or labor.”

“They said it was for battle, but in reality, they used us rabbit-ears as cannon fodder, even as marching rations.”

“Alas, our tribe was too weak to resist, we could only accept it. So, you needn’t long for the former Wild Fang Empire. Be even more cautious when encountering other carnivorous beast-folk tribes.”

The black-eared youth found this reality hard to accept. He had no other means to learn about this history buried for thousands of years and was hearing it for the first time today.

“I understand, Father.”

The youth’s tone was heavy. Then he asked again:

“Won’t you come?”

“I’m already old, I can’t walk fast or work anymore. I’d only waste food.”

“You’ve grown up now. I’ve taught you everything I should.” The elder stroked the youth’s head with his withered hand, showing a gratified smile.

“When people meet, there will always be a day of parting, so don’t be sad. Besides, isn’t there still a chance of victory? Are you, a young man, less spirited than me?”