She Is Not a Witch

“The Ureia Merchant Association has sent 10 blocks of luminous olivine.”

As the maid’s voice announced, several guards opened 10 large, well-packaged wooden crates. Ten massive, perfectly cut stones appeared before everyone’s eyes. The semi-transparent giant stones gleamed a clear, light green in the sunlight, with a faint, shimmering radiance. These were naturally occurring supernatural objects that could be used to craft supernatural tools or serve as top-tier decorative building materials. Such large and intact specimens were extremely rare on the continent.

The Carithes Merchant Association staff looked at these beautiful, square-cut giant stones with expressions of delight and envy. Loranhil, however, felt a slight headache coming on. But it wasn’t over yet; the maid beside her continued to read from the list in her hand.

“The Aoni Merchant Association has sent a complete deluxe edition set of ‘The Poem of the Kingfisher’.”

Another box was opened, revealing seven thick, elegantly bound books. The book covers were wrapped in gray mooncalf leather, with light green pages inside that bore faint leaf vein patterns, making them quite beautiful. This was the unique leaf vein paper exclusive to the Aoni Merchant Association. The black text inside was elegant and clear, with exquisite illustrations on each page. These books, crafted with supernatural techniques, were impervious to oil stains and water damage. Even ordinary fire couldn’t ignite them, and they could be stored casually for decades without deformation or fading, often serving as family heirlooms in noble houses.

Some maids began to whisper upon hearing “The Poem of the Kingfisher,” with some even wanting to flip through it. “The Poem of the Kingfisher” was a book compiled jointly by seven renowned wandering poets about a hundred years ago, recording folk stories and legends from various parts of the continent. It was quite famous.

Loranhil rather liked these books, but they also put her in a difficult position.

“The Lamia Merchant Association has sent a supernatural snow-repelling velvet winter dress.”

The maids opened an exquisitely crafted wooden box containing an ice-blue winter dress set. Loranhil blinked, and its information appeared in her consciousness.

[Snow-Repelling Velvet Winter Dress] (Rating: Rare Gold Grade): Made from the fur of a Gold Grade Winter White Bear combined with cloud-patterned fabric. The lining has 5 layers of enchantments: [Heat Insulation], [Deflection Field], [Wind Stabilization], [Cold Current], and [Resilient Fiber]. It can insulate against both cold and heat to maintain a constant temperature, deflect thrown objects and weak attacks, stabilize surrounding air currents and reduce wind speed, provide some cooling ability to freeze objects, and greatly enhance the dress’s defensive capabilities through resilient fibers.

Looking at the dazzling array of special effects, the girl thought this was probably the most precious gift she had received today.

The appearance of the new owner of the Carithes Merchant Association in public at the Nisos family banquet had caused quite a stir. The guests present had spread word of her beauty far and wide. Coupled with the current civil war in Western Wind and the sharp increase in demand for ships, other merchant associations in Vegar began sending people to establish good relations with Carithes, hoping to gain the new owner’s friendship.

Loranhil sat in her seat, instructing her subordinates to store these gifts properly in the mansion’s warehouse and keep good records.

Gift-giving among merchant association leaders wasn’t uncommon, but they were rarely this valuable. These gifts showed that the givers had requests for Carithes, hoping to secure a larger share of the next batch of new ships, or at least to commission the Carithes Merchant Association’s fleet for transportation.

The girl listened as the head maid Chelsea introduced the associations beside her.

“The Ureia Merchant Association mainly deals in stone materials and construction. Many castles, temples, and famous buildings in the Snow Flower Seven Countries were built by them.”

“The Aoni Merchant Association has long focused on books and papermaking, and now they’re also involved in operas and concerts.”

“The Lamia Merchant Association primarily deals in animal husbandry, with famous smoked meats, cashmere, leather, and fur products.”

“Many of these associations’ raw materials come from Western Wind. Now that many roads in Western Wind are being blocked, they’re urgently looking for ships to transport their goods by sea.”

“But our ship numbers are limited,” the girl said, somewhat troubled, looking at the data compiled from various shipyards over the past two days. Even at full capacity, they could only produce 25-30 ships in the next two months, satisfying the needs of only 3-4 associations. After all, shipbuilding wasn’t like making dumplings; it took considerable time.

Before these three associations today, representatives from seven other merchant associations had already visited. Adding the representatives from the Methyl Merchant Association and the Rhea Merchant Association set to arrive tomorrow, a total of 12 major merchant associations had made requests. These large associations were all powerful, and offending any of them would be unwise.

Earlier, Loranhil had been thinking about making significant improvements in the cotton textile industry, introducing new looms to greatly increase production and profits. But man proposes, God disposes. Perhaps the gods thought this was too slow, so they immediately dropped a huge opportunity in her lap, nearly choking her. Each large ship could sell for over a thousand supernatural gold coins, and these merchant associations were offering prices 2-3 times higher than before.

“Chelsea, are there no other shipbuilding merchant associations in Vegar besides us?”

The head maid poured some hot tea into the girl’s cup, as the weather had started to turn cool recently. She pondered for a moment before answering.

“There is one. The Dayas family also has quite a few shipyards. They’re an old, established merchant association in Vegar, originally dealing in tung oil. Later, they applied it to shipbuilding, achieving excellent waterproofing. Their shipbuilding industry was once renowned in the southern part of the continent.”

“Eh? Then how did we rise to prominence?” the girl asked curiously, holding the teacup in her hands to feel its warmth.

“Well, this is where Angus’s good luck comes in,” the head maid chuckled.

“Mr. Angus once rescued an Easterner who had fallen into the water. He was a refugee from the Gillyflower Dynasty, reportedly a minor noble there. Due to failed court factions, fearing extermination of his family, he fled overseas with his relatives.”

“After rescuing him, Angus later helped him find his separated family members. Out of gratitude, he passed down his family’s inherited shipbuilding techniques to our association. By integrating these advanced shipbuilding technologies from the Eastern Continent, our Carithes suddenly surpassed Dayas. It was from that time that Carithes began to focus on the shipbuilding industry.”

“Is that Eastern family still around?”

“Yes, they’re currently living in seclusion in Cliff Harbor. The Easterner’s nephew is now the leader of the ‘Trade Wind’ fleet. You’ll be able to meet him shortly.”

“I see.” Loranhil had briefly met the three fleet leaders when she first arrived in Hopland, but there were too many people then, and she had only briefly noted their appearances. Afterward, the three leaders left on missions, and she hadn’t had the chance to get to know them better.

After receiving congratulatory representatives from some smaller merchant associations and finishing lunch, the afternoon arrived. The various high-level members of the Carithes Merchant Association were about to gather again. The spacious conference hall was already prepared with over a hundred seats. In the center was a large round table, with rows of fan-shaped seats and tables extending outward.

The hall’s dome was very high, about 5-6 stories tall, with luxurious chandeliers hanging from it. Ten tall load-bearing columns lined the stone walls on the sides, with large windows over 6 meters high between them, fitted with transparent glass.

Sunlight from outside shone into the temporarily quiet and empty hall. Behind the central round table, on the massive wall, was an enormous painting of a night lacquer flower. The black petals bloomed vigorously, with alluring deep purple stamens at the center. Half of this giant night lacquer flower was in shadow, half in sunlight, exuding a strange charm.