She Is Not a Witch

In the central region of the Sigh Mountain Range, towering peaks stretched endlessly. Below the mountains, a river nearly a thousand meters wide meandered through. On both banks of the winding river lay alluvial plains, smaller to the south and larger to the north. A majestic bridge spanned the two shores, connecting north and south. Both ends of the bridge had sturdy bridgeheads, with entrance gates reaching a hundred meters high, large enough for even a giant dragon to fly through.

With a tremendous roar, the airship carrying Loranhil slowly descended. Accompanied by the faint sound of gears turning, the cabin door gradually opened. The passengers disembarked in an orderly fashion under the guidance of the staff.

Stepping out of the cabin, a bustling and clamorous scene greeted Loranhil’s eyes. People from various countries and races across the continent had gathered here. Some had come to send off new students, others were travelers passing through, and some were merchants who had come specifically to do business during the school opening.

“It’s a bit cold.”

The dew-covered grass felt a bit damp underfoot, and the air still retained a chill. Gena’s coat seemed a bit thin as she stomped her feet uncomfortably, rubbing her hands and exhaling white mist.

Loranhil walked down the stairs behind her. Outside the airship’s landing area was a field of tents of various sizes. People constantly moved in and out of the tents, some wearing fur coats in a grassland style, with additional ears and horns on their heads—these were beast-folk from the Gufia Alliance.

As Loranhil passed by a beast-man with leopard ears, she could smell the scent of someone who had spent a long time with livestock, mixed with the smell of grass. Clearly, he must be a herdsman.

In the world of Ival, the number of beast-folk had greatly decreased since the rise of humans. A thousand years after the fall of the beast-folk’s Wild Fang Empire, human countries had become much more tolerant of beast-folk and were no longer as hostile.

Past these tents and crowds was a circular plaza. Knights in cloaks and armor stood around the plaza maintaining order. In the center of the plaza was a row of tables where new students were registering.

Loranhil, carrying her rattan box, walked to the back of the queue and waited in line. Gena followed behind her. The staff at the front followed the procedure, checking recommendation letters and having new students fill out some information. It took almost an hour before it was Loranhil’s turn.

“Hello, I’m a student from Cransia. Here’s my letter of recommendation,” the girl said, handing over an elegant black envelope.

“Cransia? That’s rare.”

The grey-bearded staff member checking the letters was a bit surprised. Due to last year’s war between Western Wind and Cransia, the spots originally allocated to Western Wind had mostly become invalid. By the time Cransia was officially established, they had missed the deadline for reporting recommendation quotas. So this year, there were very few students from the former Western Wind, or rather Cransia. Things would probably return to normal next year.

The middle-aged man with a white beard carefully opened the seal on the envelope, then compared it with the list of code numbers on the form. Emenas had a fixed number of admission spots each year, usually allocated in advance to various countries and organizations. Students would then come to register with their recommendation letters, and the academy would verify if the codes and recommenders on the letters matched those they had issued. This was very similar to the invitation code system from Loranhil’s previous life.

“Alright, you’re registered. Here’s your badge. Please keep it safe and gather at the plaza the morning after tomorrow.”

After recording the girl’s information, the grey-bearded man handed Loranhil a white badge with an exquisite emblem of Emenas Central School.

“Hello, I’m a new student from the Black Rock Duchy, Gena.” Following the same procedure, Gena also received a badge.

As Gena was examining her badge, the surrounding crowd suddenly became noisy. A slight vibration could be felt underfoot, followed by the sound of dense hoof beats from afar.

A group of knights in bright armor approached from the distance in neat formation. They wore silver armor and rode white horses, each with a single spiral horn on its head. The knights held white lances in their right hands, with only the tips having a touch of ice-blue. Their left hands held shields bearing the emblem of a blue background with a white unicorn—the crest of House Lanzwas, one of the four great ducal houses of the Verdant Empire.

“The Lanzwas knights are here too?”

“It must be a direct descendant of the family coming to register, otherwise they wouldn’t deploy these personal guard knights.”

“I wonder who it is. I heard the Lanzwas Duke’s family has elven blood, and their heirs have always been beautiful.”

“The Lanzwas descendants all have such grace, like elegant and splendid poets. I’m so excited to see who it is this time.”

“Here they come.”

Amidst the chatter of onlookers, the disciplined knights had already halted their warhorses, standing at the edge of the plaza. A luxurious carriage, predominantly blue and white, also came to a stop. A light blue silk skirt was the first to emerge from the carriage door, followed by sun-like golden hair. As the girl raised her head, lake-blue eyes were revealed, her stunningly beautiful face astonishing everyone present.

“Who is that girl!?”

“…I don’t know.”

“With such a face and noble bearing, she must be a direct descendant of the Lanzwas family, right?”

“Yes, she is the current seventh young lady of the Lanzwas family, Flosia, hailed as the Sun Diamond of House Lanzwas.” Finally, a noble from Verdant recognized the young lady.

The surrounding onlookers had already been dispersed. Several servants laid out a soft red carpet between the carriage and the registration point. The golden-haired duke’s daughter, wearing blue shoes slightly darker than her dress, stepped onto the carpet and approached the registration point under the protection of the knights.

Loranhil stood with the crowd to the side, separated by the unicorn knights, watching this beloved duke’s daughter walk past.

She really is beautiful, probably even more so than Fenrai, Loranhil thought.

Roar!

Suddenly, a terrifying roar came from the sky, like summer thunder, echoing across the heavens and earth. Some timid people were even scared to the ground, and the crowd in the plaza swayed in confusion. Where did this primordial beast-like roar come from? Only then did people notice several black dots appearing in the eastern sky. In no time, these black dots rapidly approached, and people finally saw clearly—they were giant dragons soaring through the sky!

The deep red dragons had wingspans over a hundred meters long, cutting through the clouds. As the dragon roars grew closer, the people on the ground could see that there were actually people on the dragons’ backs. These dragon riders wore golden armor like scales, tightly gripping dragon lances bearing flags. The black-based flags depicted the intertwined images of golden daffodils and flying dragons.

These giant dragons and dragon riders came from the distant Eastern Continent. According to numerous historical records and travelogues, the Eastern Continent was a landmass comparable in size to the Western Continent. However, it was ruled by a single powerful centralized state—the Dragon-Affiliated Kingdom, the Golden Daffodil Dynasty, which had governed the Eastern Continent for nearly a thousand years.