"Vili is Wally’s master, and I’m Wally’s nanny! I’m responsible for taking care of all his daily needs!"
Vilia added proudly, a smug smile spreading across her face.
Kuer looked at Vili and Vilia with admiration. ’This brother and sister duo... to actually raise a bear as a pet.’
"Vilia, it’s time to give Wally his milk."
Vili said, "I’ll take Big Brother Kuer inside to rest."
"Okay!"
Vilia answered loudly.
At the dinner table, Vili’s family and Kuer sat together around a table laden with a sumptuous feast.
Cured rabbit, stir-fried rabbit, sliced roasted deer leg, a radish dish, noodle soup, and even white-flour cakes and grape wine.
Kuer’s eyes widened. This was the first time he’d ever had such a lavish dinner at Uncle Lake’s home.
He suddenly understood why Vilia had held Vili in such high regard before. The abundance of meat provided by a Hunter was truly hard to resist.
Kuer subconsciously swallowed. The exhaustion from rushing about all afternoon also had his stomach growling.
"Let’s eat!"
Uncle Lake announced happily.
"Then I’ll dig right in!"
Kuer extended his fork, placed a slice of roasted deer leg into his mouth, and the savory, meaty flavor instantly filled his senses.
His movements didn’t stop as he continued to stuff rabbit meat into his mouth. Rich fat flowed in his mouth, but Kuer didn’t find it greasy at all. Kuer was deeply satisfied; in the past, when he ate meat, he’d get a mere taste of fat at most. Never had he eaten with such hearty abandon.
After gulping down the meat in his mouth, Kuer poured a large cup of wine down his throat, a cool sensation spreading through his entire body. ’Eating great mouthfuls of meat and drinking great mouthfuls of wine... this is the life I’ve always dreamed of.’
Like Kuer, Vilia had stuffed her mouth full of meat, not looking like a proper lady in the slightest. If Mrs. Shaven hadn’t been in such a good mood, Vilia would have undoubtedly received another lecture.
An inexpressible joy filled the faces of Lake and Mrs. Shaven. Vili, on the other hand, appeared quite calm. Having eaten meat for more than ten days straight, tonight’s dinner held no special appeal for him. It was the wine Lake brought out that piqued his interest.
Alcohol in this world was still quite expensive. For commoners, drinking daily was simply impossible; the cost was something an ordinary commoner’s family could not afford.
Vili took a gentle sip of the wine in his cup, and a sensation both sweet and tart spread across his taste buds.
Vili frowned slightly. The wine’s taste was far worse than he had expected, not even comparable to the low-quality wines of his previous life. It was like a low-budget version of grape juice. The alcohol content was very faint; even if he drank a hundred cups, he would only get full, not drunk.
"Kuer, thank you for often rushing between Diamond Town and the village for Sopps’s sake."
Lake raised his wine cup to thank Kuer.
Kuer quickly swallowed the food in his mouth and raised his own cup in return. "Uncle Lake, you’re too kind. It’s what I should do. Sopps and I have been friends since we were kids."
Lake nodded, not continuing with overly sentimental thanks. He had also watched Kuer grow up.
"By the way, Kuer, is your work in Diamond Town going well?"
Not long after Sopps became a member of Baron Kels’s Guard Team, Kuer also went to Diamond Town and became an apprentice at an herbalist shop.
Kuer replied, "It’s going pretty well. My boss thinks highly of me. He’s taught me a lot, and now he’s even teaching me about bookkeeping so I can manage the shop’s finances."
Lake wasn’t surprised to hear this. Kuer had been a clever child since he was young, so it was only normal that he would win his boss’s favor.
"But I might have to live a little more frugally for the next couple of months, because the shop won’t be able to pay salaries."
As the conversation turned to this topic, a trace of worry suddenly appeared on Kuer’s face.
"The shop you work at is going out of business?"
Lake frowned. No matter how much his boss valued him, it would be useless if the shop went under due to poor management.
"Not exactly, but he’s run into big trouble recently." At this point, Kuer stopped eating, his face clouded with concern. "Just half a month ago, my boss imported a new batch of herbs from out of town. The herbs were all dried leaves, mixed together. But unexpectedly, there was a heavy downpour during transport. All the leaves got soaked, some even rotted from the water. After they were dried again, we found that many of them had been broken into unrecognizable pieces."
"It doesn’t matter if the herbs are broken, right? After all, the medicinal effects won’t diminish."
Vili possessed the knowledge of a Basic-level Gatherer, so he had some understanding of this.
"Of course, the medicinal effects aren’t affected. But the problem is, after the leaves of similar-looking herbs are broken and mixed together, it’s impossible to tell the different types apart. That’s the biggest problem."
As he spoke, Kuer felt sorry for his boss.
Hearing this, Vili instantly understood.
The leaves of some herbs are very similar, but they can be identified by detailed features on their roots and stems. However, if they were all crushed and then mixed back together, it would be extremely difficult to tell them apart, as the leaf fragments would all look alike. It would be impossible to distinguish which leaf belonged to which herb. If these fragments couldn’t be separated, they couldn’t be sold at all. Using the wrong herb could be fatal.
"Didn’t your boss hire a professional Herbalist to help sort them?"
Vili continued to ask.
Kuer showed a regretful expression. "Of course he did, but all the Herbalists said the herbs were too badly damaged to be identified."
"The boss lost a huge amount of money on this deal, so he can’t pay salaries for now," Kuer continued. "My boss is a good man. I feel really bad that this happened to him. I hope he can solve this problem."
Kuer suddenly grew somber.
Vili stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "Perhaps I can help your boss."
"You?"
Kuer shot Vili a skeptical glance, his face full of disbelief.
"I go into Morse Forest often, so I’m quite familiar with certain types of herbs."
Vili didn’t overstate his abilities.
"Maybe Vili really can help you," Mrs. Shaven suddenly said. "He can accurately identify the quality of Sweet Fruit. The Sweet Fruit he picked last time was so sweet and fragrant that it sold for a good price in Diamond Town."
This had originally been a small family secret, but now that Vili was a Hunter, there was no longer any need to hide it from outsiders.
"But..."
Kuer still felt it was a bit unreliable. Identifying the quality of Sweet Fruit and identifying types of herbs—the difference between the two was just too great.