If Kuer hadn’t personally brought Vili, Ladas would never have believed that this boy, who didn’t even look of age, was actually a Hunter.
Hunter was a highly respected profession, especially for Herbal Merchants like them. Whenever they needed to venture into the wilds to gather herbs, they would pay a hefty sum to hire a Hunter as a guide. In the ever-perilous wilderness, a skilled Hunter could help gatherers avoid many dangers. Some experienced old Hunters even knew more about plants than the Herbalists themselves.
Ladas forced a smile. "Vili, hello. I’m Ladas, the owner of this herb shop."
Even knowing Vili was a Hunter didn’t excite Ladas. Vili was simply too young; he surely hadn’t been a Hunter for long. A young Hunter like him couldn’t possibly possess extensive knowledge of plants.
"Hello. I’m a friend of Kuer’s. He asked me to come help with your herb-sorting problem."
Vili could tell from Ladas’s expression that he wasn’t very enthusiastic about his arrival.
Vili understood what Ladas was thinking. After all, it was hard for anyone to immediately trust someone who looked so young.
"Thank you for your willingness to help, but..."
Ladas understood Kuer’s good intentions, but his distrust of Vili still made him want to refuse instinctively.
But before he could finish, Kuer cut him off. Kuer could see Ladas was just being dismissive and knew he had to grab the boss’s attention another way. "Oh, right, Boss! Not only did Vili become an excellent Hunter at a young age, but his older brother is also quite exceptional—he’s the Sopps I introduced you to before."
"Sopps?"
Ladas’s eyes lit up.
Sopps. He was a member of the Guard Team for the Lord of Diamond Town, Baron Kels. Just yesterday, he had even passed the Junior Knight’s Squire assessment held by Baron Kels and become a member of the Personal Guard Team. For a small merchant like Ladas, Sopps’s status carried considerable clout. If a member of the Baron’s Guard Team or Personal Guard Team wanted to make trouble for a small merchant like him, it would be laughably easy.
The reason Ladas valued Kuer wasn’t just for Kuer’s own merits; Sopps was also a factor. The moment he found out about Kuer’s relationship with Sopps, he immediately used that connection to get acquainted with him. He knew that forging a friendship with such a person was the wisest choice he could make.
And things turned out just as he’d expected. Not long after meeting Sopps, Ladas was targeted by a competitor. To sabotage Ladas’s business, the rival hired a few local loafers to cause a disturbance at the shop. Ladas immediately went to Sopps, who was very straightforward about it. He just had to reveal his identity to scare the troublemakers witless, and the shop never had that kind of problem again.
That was why whenever Sopps needed Kuer to deliver a message home, Ladas would grant him leave without hesitation.
"So, you’re Sopps’s younger brother!"
A warmth and respect that had been absent before instantly appeared on Ladas’s face. "Thank you for coming all this way to solve my dilemma. I’m so sorry to have troubled you."
"Hm?"
Vili was momentarily confused by Ladas’s abrupt shift in attitude. But after a moment’s thought, he figured it out. Ladas clearly placed a great deal of importance on his identity as Sopps’s brother.
’It seems Sopps’s status provides him with a lot of conveniences...’
Vili had a rough idea of the situation.
A position like a Guard Member for Baron Kels was seen as a low-level bodyguard by the nobility, but to commoners, it was an unattainable peak. The salary wasn’t high, but the status and position afforded them many perks beyond their wages.
Back in his home village, Vili had only sensed the villagers’ envy of Sopps. Now that he was in Diamond Town, he was truly witnessing how self-interest drove small merchants to fawn over and curry favor with anyone connected to the nobility. It seemed he had seriously underestimated his older brother’s status.
’To have a status like that and not take advantage of it, even making the family pool money to buy supplies for his assessment... My older brother really is a straightforward man...’
Vili grumbled internally. If Sopps were a bit more cunning, he could have easily used his status to line his pockets with money from these merchants. But from what he remembered, Sopps was an honest and frank person, simply not cut out for that kind of maneuvering.
"I’ll have to trouble you this time, Vili. Whether or not you can sort this batch of herbs, I’ll pay you for your trouble."
The shrewd Ladas was already starting to build a relationship with Vili.
"Follow me."
Ladas led Vili and Kuer toward the back courtyard of the shop.
The moment they entered the back courtyard, Vili was hit by the potent scent of herbs, a result of them being constantly dried in this space.
Ladas went into a room off the courtyard and carried out a large wooden crate. He opened it, revealing a tangled mess of shredded herb leaves inside.
"This is the stuff," Ladas said. "The leaf fragments are too badly mixed, which is why the Herbalists can’t sort them."
A pained look flashed in Ladas’s eyes.
Vili crouched down, and the potent scent of the herbs washed over him.
He plunged his hand into the fragments, sifted through them a few times, and then picked out several pieces to compare.
After a brief examination, Vili finally understood why the Herbalists had been unable to sort this crate of herb fragments.
Being so badly broken was only one reason. The other major factor was that the fragments of the different herbs in the crate looked incredibly similar. The probability of making a mistake while sorting them by sight was just too high.
"Mam Grass, Vine Fragrance, Vodka Leaf..."
Vili muttered the names of the mixed herbs in the crate to himself.
Ladas, who was standing right beside Vili, froze when he heard him flawlessly identify the herbs mixed in the crate.
With just a look and a quick sift with his hand, Vili had accurately named the varieties of herb leaves! Ladas knew that even a veteran Herbal Merchant like himself couldn’t possibly distinguish those three mixed herbs so easily.
He had originally assumed Vili was just going through the motions, but now it seemed Vili might genuinely be able to solve his problem.
Hope finally sparked within Ladas. "Vili, if you can solve this problem for me, I’ll be sure to give you a generous reward."
Vili frowned and replied to Ladas in a low voice, "These three herbs are difficult to distinguish on their own. Now that they’re all mixed up, separating them completely will be very hard... I’ll do my best."