She Is Not a Witch

As the two young ladies were engrossed in their discussion, a maid brought them some juice. The transparent glass contained ice cubes and light red raspberry pulp and juice.

The slightly sour yet sweet juice was refreshingly crisp. As they drank, their discussion gradually came to a pause.

Nearby, Lady Philia had also finished her writing and put down her quill.

“Have you finished writing, Instructor Philia?” Laniel asked curiously.

“Yes, the program design for the Dew Festival ceremony is almost done. What’s left is to find people and rehearse. I’ll probably need your help preparing some props during this time.”

“No problem, Instructor. There’s still some time before school starts anyway,” Laniel agreed.

“I’ve also written some songs recently, but I haven’t found a suitable singer yet.”

“Oh? Is that so? May I take a look?” Laniel stood up excitedly and trotted over to Lady Philia’s desk, picking up the music score.

She tried singing a few lines, but unfortunately, she was off-key.

“Alright, don’t push yourself. Your talent doesn’t lie in this area. I should have recommended you to the Poetry Department back then.”

“Even though I’m in the Alchemy Department, I have a heart that yearns to sing! Look at those speakers I invented, aren’t they popular with everyone?” Laniel said, a bit unwilling to give up.

“Yes, yes, we’re indeed grateful for that, little Laniel~”

Lady Philia smiled and walked over, sitting in front of Loranhil.

“You… are you Miss Lacey, the current head of the Carithes family?”

“Yes, I am.”

Loranhil thought to herself, this is trouble. This lady had met Angus and his daughter before, and now she didn’t have the will with her to explain.

“So… can you tell me what happened to Angus later? After all, we were acquainted,” Lady Philia asked, looking at Loranhil.

This former world-renowned Azure Songstress, though now retired, still had far-reaching influence across the continental nations. She was not someone to be casually deceived.

“Angus and his daughter Eileen were attacked on their way back. Eileen died on the spot, and Angus entrusted the merchant association to me before his death, asking me to fulfill some of his wishes.”

Loranhil didn’t hide anything, her eyes looking directly at Lady Philia, the former Emenas instructor and Azure Songstress.

Lady Philia’s gaze seemed to penetrate the blurry shadows under the hood, looking into Loranhil’s clear blue eyes. After a long while, she lowered her gaze, picked up the remaining glass of juice on the table, and asked,

“Will you avenge Angus?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Loranhil seemed unable to think of a reason not to do so. She wasn’t the type of saint who would forgive all wrongdoings. People should bear the consequences of their actions. If justice isn’t carried out, order becomes difficult to maintain, and civilization becomes mere empty talk.

“That surprises me a bit. I thought you were the kind, gentle type of girl.”

Lady Philia said this because of a series of new regulations from Carithes recently: improving the treatment of grassroots employees, providing help and protection for sick and disabled employees, and building new, uniform, clean employee housing. These policies had attracted a lot of attention in Hopland, with many praising her as a merciful angel.

Loranhil shook her head, her hair swaying gently.

“Kindness and justice don’t conflict, you know.”

She recalled her past life. Back then, she was more timid and gentle with those around her. Once, a friend had asked her a similar question: why are you so gentle with everyone?

“Because I want others to be gentle with me,” she had answered after much thought.

Her childhood environment wasn’t lenient. Her parents, especially her mother, were skilled in negative reinforcement education. They never praised her, and even when she achieved good results, they would only say, “You need to keep working hard, strive for first place.”

She once wanted to prove herself desperately, occasionally ranking first a few times, but all she got was, “Keep it up next time,” kind of responses.

Her mother’s wish was probably for her to never be satisfied or stop, to keep moving forward endlessly, to be more excellent than other people’s children.

But life’s experiences are like waves constantly coming to the beach. After one wave, there’s always another. No one can guarantee they’ll always be at the top and not be knocked down by the waves.

Everyone always talks about excellence and being first, but no one ever told her how to live life if she didn’t get first place, if she wasn’t that excellent.

Moving forward on the path, stumbling along, sometimes inevitably falling. She would feel inferior, fear others’ ridicule. Based on a simple principle of exchange, “I’m good to you, forgive your mistakes, so you should understand my shortcomings, not laugh at me, be a little gentler with me.”

Thus, in many people’s eyes, she was a very kind person. But precisely because of this, she became more concerned with issues of justice.

If those who cheat and break rules aren’t punished, it’s an injustice to those who diligently follow the rules. Perhaps that’s why the kinder and more law-abiding one is, the more they despise evil and chaos.

The Tisphone family must bear the deserved punishment, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The only reason she hadn’t acted yet was that the timing wasn’t ripe. Currently, the system showed that her share of the merchant association’s income during this period was over 50,000 gold coins. It wasn’t supposed to be this fast, but the outbreak of war had caused ship prices to rise, greatly advancing the progress. When the three major fleets return from Western Wind, she should be able to gather the remaining 50,000 gold coins, and then her task would be complete.

By then, she would also be close to advancing in the Demon Sequence. After a short time advancing to Demon Sequence 4, her abilities would be fully unsealed. Only then would dealing with Tisphone be as easy as a lion catching a rabbit, with full force. For now, she needed to be patient for a while longer. If she acted rashly now, she wasn’t afraid for herself, but it might cause massive casualties among the merchant association personnel, which she was unwilling to see.

“When I returned to Hopland, I heard that the new head of the Carithes Merchant Association was Angus’s daughter, Lacey. I was surprised because I had met Eileen before.”

“Later, I learned that Angus died from an assassination on the road, and that Chelsea and Ceres were assisting you. I guessed there must be deeper reasons, and now I know the truth of the matter,” Lady Philia explained her previous thoughts.

“Do you believe me just like that? What if I’m lying?” Loranhil blinked curiously, wanting to understand Lady Philia’s abilities.

Name: Philia Torbalan

Race: Human (82% adapted, 17% Elf)

Identity: Azure Songstress (former), Emenas Academy Poetry Department Professor, ‘Blooming’ brand founder, Wind Flower Opera Troupe Director, Vegar Industry Association Mid-level Committee Member, Aoni Merchant Association Special Gold Leaf Consultant.

Status: Healthy (No abnormalities)

Sequence: Origin Sequence 6 · Wind Flower Songstress (Rating: Perfect Pearl Grade)

Talent: Aqua Voice (Perfect Grade): A voice as gentle as water, seeping into hearts, making her singing easily evoke empathy in others. If she wanted you to cry, probably no one could resist.

Abilities: Wind Song (Perfect Grade): Makes voice transmission through air almost undiminished, with strong penetration power. Melodious singing can be heard within a thirty-kilometer radius. (Originally Rare Grade, Aqua Voice +5.)

Flourish (Legendary Grade): Can infuse special magic and emotions into singing, evoking various supernatural phenomena and emotions. (Originally Rare ability, Wind Flower Songstress occupation +7, Aqua Voice +5)

Soul Core (Rare Grade): After reaching Sequence 5, one’s soul fuses with the supernatural core, greatly enhancing overall abilities.

Floating Leaf Dance (Perfect Grade): Supernatural magic fuses with the body, greatly enhancing flexibility, agility, magic affinity, reaction ability, etc. It’s not just a dance posture, but also a kind of body technique and combat art.

Light Refraction (Outstanding Grade): Ability to manipulate light and shadow, with powerful illusion capabilities, minor attack and defense functions.

Pitch Control (Rare Grade): Ability to control vibrations of surrounding air and liquids, creating and silencing sounds. (Originally Excellent Grade, Aqua Voice +5)

Resonance (Perfect Grade): Greatly enhances allies or weakens enemies with singing. (Originally Outstanding Grade, Aqua Voice +5, Wind Flower Songstress +3)

Skills: [Resonance Melody] [Soul Harmony] [Mind’s Eye] [Synesthesia Extension] [Void Performance] [Quiet Mind] [Existence Concealment] [Fatal Dance]…

Looking at this luxurious and dazzling array of abilities and skills, Loranhil was amazed. As expected of a songstress who once stood at the pinnacle of Ivar. Although her supernatural strength might not be strong, she had truly reached the peak of individual achievement in singing and performance.

“You don’t need to worry about that, Lacey. No one can lie in front of Instructor Philia.”

Laniel walked over, still holding a large stack of music scores.

“Ugh, I still can’t sing it well. Loranhil, why don’t you give it a try?”