Lan Qingyou's Second Threat

The Tower: "Ugh... I didn't think it would turn out like this. I just shared everyone's quotes, that's all."

When Chu Yuan found Lan Qingyou and conveyed the situation, Lan Qingyou was also quite bewildered.

She was merely a messenger and hadn't even added a second word to the message.

And yet, those old-timers were actually looking to give her trouble?

The Tower: "Now that things have reached this point, what else can be done? The only move is to raise the witches' pay."

Lan Qingyou spoke with a hint of annoyance.

Was this a joke? They were immediately trying to take the moral high ground and claim she was the one instigating things?

You lot don't say a word about treating people like beasts of burden. What, have you all developed Alzheimer's and forgotten?

Justice: "If we do that, it certainly won't be easy to handle things with the others."

The Tower: "If it's hard to do, then don't do it. Once the magic circles in other regions are built, it'll naturally be the turn of the Supreme Council's Adventurers' Guild."

The Tower: "The Supreme Council surely wants the witches to pay off their debts sooner, right?"

The Tower: "If you don't want that, I can hire them in another way, allowing them to completely bypass that beast of burden contract."

Lan Qingyou was still making threats.

However, this threat was far more serious than the last one.

Before, Lan Qingyou was just a lone commander—or rather, merely a creator.

But after spending time with the 101 Witch Group and their subsequent promotion of her...

Lan Qingyou, who was the creator of the Witch race but had never intended to rule anyone, had effectively become a leader-level figure in the hearts of the vast majority of the ten thousand witches under the Supreme Council.

Therefore, this threat carried much more weight than before.

The Tower: "Alright, I have a lot to do here, so let's stop for now."

After giving her answer, Lan Qingyou put the card back into the herb bag on her belt.

On Chu Yuan's end, all he could do was offer a bitter smile.

He couldn't tell if this person was doing it on purpose or by accident.

Regardless, according to Lan Qingyou's terms, the witches' pay at the Supreme Council was not only tripled but also far higher than that of other races.

This was likely what the Hierophant meant by her being 'protective.'

He then conveyed Lan Qingyou's words, and everyone in the Supreme Council was stunned.

They had no choice but to be stunned.

It was bad enough that Lan Qingyou threatened them day after day, making them lose face, but they even had to suffer this loss in silence.

Because they had no alternative; the Adventurers' Guild's magic circles required people to build them. This was the only way for the Supreme Council's sphere of influence to keep expanding and for their power to keep growing.

Triple pay it is, then. It was no big deal; the Supreme Council wasn't short on money.

If they ever were, they could just turn on the minting machines immediately.

Thus, after a quick vote, the bill to triple the witches' wages was passed that very day.

They even posted the prices publicly just to spite the other clan leaders of the new races who were competing with them for workers.

Forget the clan leaders—even the witches were learning for the first time exactly how much their business trip subsidy was.

Whether this posted subsidy was the same amount as when things were vague before didn't matter. What mattered was that if any other race or organization wanted to hire witches now, they had to follow this standard.

Can't afford it?

If you can't afford it, then step aside and stop being an eyesore.

Meanwhile, Lan Qingyou was also quite depressed after putting away the card, as she felt she had become something of a contractor.

She was pulling in projects everywhere and then having the witches in the group rush from site to site like a construction crew.

Still... if it meant they could pay off their debts sooner, it was justifiable.

In truth, neither Lan Qingyou nor the other witches had ever thought about packing up and leaving.

Equivalent exchange.

It was a fundamental law of alchemy; if you received a benefit, you naturally had to pay for it.

That was why Lan Qingyou demanded high prices for the witches, and why the witches, despite their grumbling, gritted their teeth and persisted in paying off their debts.

"Alright, let's continue with what we were discussing."

Having spent some time going back and forth with the Supreme Council, Lan Qingyou finally found a moment to handle her own affairs.

"Diana, help me gather everyone here. I have something to announce."

After glancing at Shang Chuan, Lan Qingyou still chose to call Diana.

After all, while Shang Chuan was a partner, he was still an outsider. Diana, though they hadn't known each other long, was a witch—one of their own.

Though she didn't know what Lan Qingyou intended to do, Diana immediately went to carry out the order upon receiving it.

In no time at all, the humans throughout the Witch's Forest were gathered. Lan Qingyou took a rough look; there were about one or two thousand people.

Of course, this wasn't the entire population of the Witch's Forest.

Some were still doing construction elsewhere, as the Witch's Forest was a circle.

These one or two thousand people were absolutely terrified when they were called.

Whether they were shifty-eyed thieves, slender and shrewd fraudsters, or brawny, tattooed violent criminals, every single one of them stood below, not even daring to breathe loudly.

They couldn't even bring themselves to look up at Lan Qingyou, who was sitting on a magic broom in the air.

They had no choice.

Life in the Witch's Forest these past few days had been far too comfortable.

During the day, they used magic to build houses, and at night, they slept in those newly built homes.

When they had time off, they would leave the magic circle to do some harvesting, passing the time while earning a bit of extra pocket money.

And while the mana tide raged outside, they could feel the tranquility of peaceful times within the magic circle.

So now, no one wanted to be kicked out.

This was their home; they needed to live here.

And the witch in the sky was the only person who could pass judgment on them.

"Hello, everyone. Thank you for your hard work lately. I believe you all know who I am, so I won't waste words. I've gathered you all here for just one thing."

Once everyone had arrived, Lan Qingyou got straight to the point.

To be honest, this was her first time giving a speech in front of so many people, and it was impossible not to be nervous.

But after seeing that the people below weren't staring at her, she relaxed slightly.

After all, while Lan Qingyou wasn't socially anxious, she wasn't exactly socially fearless either.

There was a first time for everything, so a little nervousness was normal.

If possible, however, Lan Qingyou didn't want to do this a second time.

But this time was necessary because the matter involved was far too important.

"This matter is quite simple. I have five hundred Witch potions prepared here, and the cost is six hundred milliliters of blood for each. Furthermore, they must be consumed on the spot after the exchange."