She Is Not a Witch

It seemed there were major developments between the two countries. The Vegar Business Alliance and Ruluna were neighboring countries with frequent trade and cooperation. As Ruluna served as a bridgehead against Verdant, the seven countries of the Snow Flower Alliance had been providing annual support to help resist the empire’s incursions.

However, as peace endured, support from other countries dwindled to almost nothing. Only Vegar continued to support Ruluna, for several reasons. First, if Ruluna fell, Vegar would be next in line to face Verdant, so Vegar was willing to spend money for self-preservation. Second, Ruluna’s mages produced excellent alchemical creations, often bringing new business opportunities that Vegar’s merchants valued. Third, Ruluna’s new magical technologies, such as the recent magitech airships and iron warships, had opened up many new trade routes, greatly stimulating the continent’s economic development. These technologies were desperately needed by the merchants.

At the time, due to Ruluna’s geographical limitations, despite its excellent technology, it was constrained by population and resource limitations. It had always relied on Vegar’s support, so the two countries were a perfect match. They had collaborated on several projects in recent years, and this year they were taking it a step further.

However, this step seemed quite large, Loranhil thought. For core technologies to be shared like this, Ruluna must be under significant pressure. Where was this pressure coming from? The most likely source was the Verdant Empire across the border, that enormous entity occupying nearly half the continent’s population.

“This price is really expensive,” a somewhat familiar voice came from beside Loranhil.

[Chromium Hope Magic-Breaking Mechanical Crossbow] (Outstanding Gold grade): Made of chromium hope gold, with four powerful magic arrays for acceleration, atmospheric stabilization, sharpness enchantment, and magic breaking. Exquisitely structured with excellent design concepts, easy to use, and very suitable for lower-level personnel.

She turned to look and saw the mistress and maid pair from the clothing store earlier.

“I’ve seen Gold Grade alchemical creations in Ruluna before, and they were only 50-80 supernatural gold coins. Even though Ruluna has opened up its technology, you’re really daring with your prices,” the red-haired young lady tapped the price tag next to the cabinet with her folding fan.

“Besides, there’s not just one of these, right?” she added.

“Lady Fenrai might have some misunderstandings about our Rulunan alchemical creations. Let me explain,” the clerk said.

“This piece was jointly developed by several high-level alchemists from Ruluna’s Fepua Academy. It was designed to match the Verdant Empire’s Emerald Moon Bow, for use in small-scale emergency conflicts as a ranged weapon. I’m sure many people know the fame of the Emerald Moon Bow. To create an equivalent high-level standard weapon, this piece consumed a lot of resources and energy during its development.”

“So to recoup the high development costs, we can’t possibly sell it at the old price. Otherwise, who would invest effort in developing new things?” The clerk’s explanation was clear and logical, leaving the young lady at a loss for words.

“Even… even the Emerald Moon Bow only costs a little over 100 gold coins in Verdant,” Fenrai said stubbornly.

The alchemy apprentice continued explaining to the Anemis young lady, “May I recite for you how people evaluated the Emerald Moon Bow hundreds of years ago? I believe this will help you better understand the value contained in this equivalent grade crossbow.”

How long does it take to make an Emerald Moon Bow? Some say ten days, some say half a year, some say three years… Actually, all of these are incorrect. So far, the most skilled elven craftsmen from the Emerald Forest have told us: A superior, lethally powerful Emerald Moon longbow must take at least five years to manufacture. From selecting materials like the horn of the Void Beast and Dark Moon Purple Sandalwood to enchanting the composite bowstring; from angle correction to test-firing thousands of arrow feathers. It can even be said that the value of a truly lethal Emerald Moon longbow coming into the world is no less than that of an artwork taking the same amount of time to create. When such a weapon exuding endless murderous aura is handed to a warrior, of the 60 long-feathered arrows in a quiver, at least half the targets will pay with their lives. Excerpt from “Research on Weapons Used by Forest Elves”

“In our Ruluna, excellent high-level alchemy workshops can produce equivalent weapons in just three months. With sufficient resources and assembly line production, it could be even faster.”

In fact, the apprentice was exaggerating a bit. Chromium hope gold was a rare metal in the Ivar world, not abundant in supply. Moreover, the high-level alchemists needed for production were not commonplace even in Ruluna. Nevertheless, this was indeed a remarkable achievement.

“Enough, enough, Young Lady, please stop,” the maid pulled back her mistress.

“Is your shop owner here? Tell him the Anemis family is visiting.”

“Shop owner?” The apprentice thought for a moment. The shop owner should be the workshop master, probably his mentor.

“Our mentor went out today. May I ask what this is about?”

“Oh, he’s not here… Well then, tell him the things he needs are ready. He can come directly to the Anemis Merchant Association to collect them.” At this point, the maid revealed a slightly meaningful smile, then continued.

“Also, our Young Lady really likes this crossbow. We hope you can relay today’s events to the shop owner. He’ll surely be pleased.”

“Certainly.” It’s just passing on a message, what’s the big deal? the apprentice thought.

Little did he know that Anemis was one of the five major merchant associations in Hopland, on par with Carithes, with great local influence. This apprentice who had offended the Anemis young lady would likely be severely disciplined by his mentor.

“That’s enough, my dear Lady Fenrai. Let’s leave it at that for today. I told you earlier, that clothing store’s gradient dyeing is just a gimmick to fool people, impossible to mass-produce. You wouldn’t believe me,” the chestnut-haired maid began to scold her mistress.

“Now, with the workshop owner not here, today’s trip was a waste. When we get back, you’d better study more. Didn’t you once boast about going to Emenas with Lady Rachel?”

“Sigh, Penny, how did you become like this, just like Dad? I was just saying that to humor Rachel, after all, it’s not easy for her to come to Hopland.”

“Young Lady, you might have forgotten something. If Rachel marries and moves to Hopland in the future, you’ll be able to see each other every day. Will you still feel comfortable saying such things to her then?”

“Ugh… I really don’t want to study. Learning is so boring. Please let me off, Penny. You’re my good sister, you understand me, right?” Fenrai reluctantly allowed Penny to pull her onto the carriage, which then set off towards home.