She Is Not a Witch

After teaching the first batch of students, Loranhil could no longer hold on. She grew increasingly weary. After arranging the affairs of the Tisilan Mountain Range and future plans, she returned to the Maple Leaf Courtyard and fell into a deep slumber.

Winter passed and spring arrived, bringing a new year. Ice and snow began to melt, birds in the forest grew more numerous, and some animals started to emerge from their dens to be active.

Snake-Slaying Town, the village where the girl had slain the giant snake, had now become a small town. The earliest school for the rabbit-eared tribe was established here, and the market for the Tisilan Mountain Range was also located here.

Many rabbits would come here to trade things, and occasionally a few magical beasts would come to exchange their hunted prey for fruits they liked and other items.

The intelligence of magical beasts at low sequences wasn’t high, so usually the Vine Fairy would act as an intermediary to prevent either side from being cheated and maintain order.

Her dwelling had become a cluster of colorful mushroom houses outside the village, where she and her friends, some low-level fairy sprites, lived.

At this time, the former old village chief, now the town mayor, was meeting with several managers from other rabbit-eared gathering places in the council hall, discussing arrangements for the new year.

“That concludes what needs to be done this year. We’ll continue to focus on developing farmland and promoting education, striving for another bountiful harvest. Does anyone have any other questions?”

“No, now each village can basically eat their fill. Though clothes are still scarce, it’s not a big problem. Once this year’s batch of linen is harvested, it will be sufficient.”

The managers from other villages exchanged words below. Everyone expressed that life was much better now than before, each face filled with anticipation for the new year.

“Very well, I declare this meeting adjourned. Lastly, please stand.”

“Thank you to the great Lady Loranhil.” Everyone stood, paid their respects together, then dispersed in twos and threes.

A young man walked in. He was strong in build, but his legs were somewhat impaired.

“Father.”

“You’ve come, Kanda.” The old rabbit looked at the black-eared youth before him.

“How is your leg recovering?”

“Thanks to Her Ladyship’s potion, I can barely walk now.”

“Good, focus on recovering. Take this time to read more books, you need to use your brain more in the future.”

“Yes.” The youth felt a bit ashamed, his previous actions had been somewhat impulsive.

“Has Lady Loranhil not come this year?”

“No, Her Ladyship said at the end of last year that she would fall into a deep sleep for some reason, told us not to worry, and that she would come after some time.”

“But it’s been more than half a year now.”

“I don’t know the reason either, but Kanda, even if Her Ladyship isn’t here, we must handle things well ourselves.”

“Relying solely on Her Ladyship won’t do. We must find our own solutions, solve our own problems. This is how we can truly become strong.” The old village chief had his son sit beside him. By now, only the two of them remained in the hall.

“With Lady Loranhil’s talent and strength, she won’t always stay in this remote forest. We need to grow stronger more quickly to keep up with her pace.”

“I know it’s difficult, but I must tell you, this must be done.”

“When I was young, I traveled to many places and heard many stories. Some great figures can view you as a friend or partner when they’re starting out. But as they grow rapidly, becoming stronger and facing more powerful opponents…”

“If we don’t grow, we’ll become a burden to the great one, and gradually be marginalized. This isn’t due to others’ lack of feeling, but because reality isn’t child’s play. The price of mistakes and failures is too high for anyone to bear. If you’re weak, you must have the self-awareness to avoid key positions and matters.”

“I don’t want our rabbit-eared tribe to go back to the old ways, serving others as underlings, followers, or assistants. I hope my kinsmen and descendants can take on more important responsibilities in the future.”

“I want our tribe’s shame to be washed away, and for us to live with more dignity.”

“Do you understand, my child?”

“I understand, Father.”

“Good. After you’ve recovered, I’ll have you continue cultivating the supernatural sequence, and a large group of young rabbits will follow you to build their foundations.”

“You must set a good example and train a batch of warriors with strong will.”

And so the new year began. Schools in various villages were gradually established, young rabbits were sent to learn to read and write, and to establish their worldviews. At the same time, since the first batch of teachers were all Loranhil’s students, they unconsciously spread their respect and admiration for her to the younger generation.

This led to an unspoken agreement among teachers. Each student would have a small notebook, with the first ten or so pages always left blank, dedicated to recording things Loranhil had said.

If the silver-haired girl were to see this, she’d probably be so embarrassed she’d want to crawl into a black hole. It would be like discovering and publicly reading aloud one’s cringeworthy adolescent statements from years ago—utterly mortifying.

Unfortunately, Loranhil still didn’t appear in the new year, continuing to slumber in the small cabin in the Maple Forest.

Spring passed and autumn came, days rose and fell, and in an atmosphere of positive progress, three more years passed in the Tisilan Mountain Range.

During these years, the rabbits had stored more food than they could eat, with some starting to spoil. To avoid waste, they began animal husbandry, using excess food to raise chickens, sheep, cows, and other animals. Or they would give the surplus food to magical beasts in the mountains, asking them to work, excavate rocks, and search for ore veins.

Following the metal smelting methods Loranhil had left behind, they began building blast furnaces to smelt iron. However, they later found this wasn’t as effective as directly asking the Dragon Sequence 5 Lava Stone Turtle.

It lived in a dormant volcano in the mountain range. The dormant magma in the volcano, guided by the Lava Turtle, slowly flowed out, forming a natural high-temperature furnace. So the rabbits moved their metallurgy site nearby to utilize this abundant geothermal energy.

This also saved a lot of coal consumption, and there was no large smoke in the mountains, greatly reducing pollution.

With the help of the Lava Turtle, who often bathed in magma, metallurgy became much more convenient. It was not only unafraid of high temperatures but also sensitive to ore veins, and could sometimes spit out a stream of thousand-degree fire to melt ore. With this stone turtle’s help, the rabbits’ smelting speed increased significantly.

Soon after, iron agricultural tools and tin tableware began to appear in various small towns, and the elite warriors of the rabbit-eared tribe were equipped with fine steel spears, significantly improving their combat power.

Due to the abundance of food, there were many newborns in these years, so much so that each small town established a nursery next to the school, responsible for caring for the young ones of their kind.

Many magical beasts in the mountain range also indirectly benefited from this, increasing in number compared to before. The entire forest was immersed in constantly improving conditions.