episode_0013

The next day.

Leon met the person in charge at the residence located on the hillside of the herb mountain.

Contrary to Leon’s expectations that he would be a strict person, he was a middle-aged man with a kind face.

‘I don’t believe it.’

For some reason, Porn’s face flashed through Leon’s mind.

“You know the recipe for a F-grade elixir?”

The man who introduced himself as Walter faced Leon with a faint smile on his face.

“I learned it from Pornnim.”

“Um… Did that guy know about the elixir?”

“I remember coming here several times to pick herbs.”

“I think it was like that… … .”

How can you not know this when you are in charge?

Leon didn’t show it, but Walter must have sensed it and laughed.

It was a somewhat sinister laugh.

“I don’t know much because I mainly manage areas 2 and 3.”

“I see.”

“Yeah, I’m glad you believe me.”

Walter handed Leon a blank piece of paper across the desk.

“Write down the herbs and management methods needed to make a F-grade elixir. In fact, the area you will be managing, District 1, does not require knowledge of elixirs. All you have to do is do what I tell you to do.”

Leon listened to Walter’s words without picking up his quill.

I thought you might have something to say.

“But a smart kid like you shows potential.”

“What… … .”

Walter gave a small smile instead of answering.

Leon didn’t ask any more questions, but picked up his quill and began writing down his knowledge of herbs on a piece of paper.

All of this was from the elixir recipe I got as a reward.

Walter’s smile grew wider as he handed me the paper, tightly packed.

“Are you confident that you can work hard?”

“Can I accept that if I just work hard, you will give me bigger tasks?”

“That’s it.”

So Leon started working at the herb mountain.

***

Leon had three main tasks to do when managing the herb mountain.

One is to patrol the mountain at regular intervals.

Since it was a natural cultivation of medicinal herbs in the vast mountains, all I had to do was go around removing weeds that caught my eye while patrolling, or spreading fertilizer when it was time to fertilize.

The second was the replacement of mana stones.

In order to make mana flow throughout the mountain as much as the herbs for elixirs were grown, artificial mana stones had to be placed in designated areas and replaced periodically.

The third, of course, was harvesting herbs.

Walter personally showed Leon how to dig up the roots while he was walking around the mountain with them on the first day.

Walter’s careful handling of the herbs gave off the distinct scent of an experienced herbalist.

Leon thought that learning Walter’s harvesting techniques would be of great help in the future, so he studied them carefully.

“Maybe it’s because he’s young, but he learns quickly.”

For some reason, Walter had a crush on Leon, but after the first day, it was difficult to see Walter’s face.

In addition to teaching herbal medicine techniques, he left me a book on herbal medicine and disappeared.

He was mainly in charge of managing other areas.

It was quite far from District 1, which Leon managed.

Zone 1 was mostly comprised of low-grade herbs.

I had all the herbs needed for the F-grade elixir, but one of the E-grade elixirs was missing.

Of the five herbs needed for the E-grade elixir, only four were in Area 1.

The other one seemed to be in Zone 2.

Anyway, it was true that most herbs could be obtained here.

At this point, Leon was troubled.

‘You just take the herbs grown in the mountains?’

This didn’t make sense.

Aside from the moral implications, it was necessary to accurately check the quantity of herbs harvested, and it was clear that if one stole them thoughtlessly, they would be caught right away.

As I gradually gained confidence in my skills at picking medicinal herbs, my worries deepened.

Then suddenly a good idea crossed my mind.

‘What if I take the discarded herbs?’

Herbs that could not be used as elixirs were discarded.

The reasons were varied.

The quality may have been worse than expected, the roots may have been damaged during the digging process, or the ingredients may have changed as they were grown naturally in the mountains.

These herbs were gathered and burned at harvest time, or given to other wizards who requested them for research.

‘I don’t think anyone would notice if I left out a few of them.’

It was a medicinal herb grown to make elixirs, so it was natural that it would become useless if it could not be used to make elixirs.

The problem is whether the defective herb can grow normally if transplanted… … .

‘I have to believe in the jewel of time and space.’

After that, Leon took out the discarded herbs one by one and transplanted them into the jewel.

The size of the herb garden Leon had created in the jewel was gradually increasing.

At first, it was made small next to Leon’s training area, but as the first herbs he transplanted began to grow, he had to make the space quite spacious.

It was not an easy task to cut down a tree, pull out the stump, and then level the ground.

So Leon ordered Kito to do it.

It had been over a month since Kito had entered the jewel.

It had been five years since he had been in the jewel.

Although he still could not fly, he was able to get up and move.

“If you have nothing to do, just cut down some trees.”

“I don’t like it… … It’s so good here… … I’ll sleep well… … .”

“Want to go out?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll do it… … .”

Of course, it was difficult to send them out at will because of the contract.

But Kito nodded slightly, watching Leon’s expression.

It seemed like he quite liked this place.

Whenever I came in to practice, I would always see him lying down and sleeping.

So, he ordered Kito to do the logging and began to expand the herb garden on a large scale.

And as expected, Leon smiled with satisfaction as he watched the herbs quickly disappear and start growing rapidly.

Leon also designated each herb a zone.

Root herbs were planted widely apart to allow them to absorb nutrients from the soil, while types of herbs whose leaves are used as herbs were planted as densely as possible.

The moss was grown under the shade of trees in a completely different space from the herbs.

I had only been able to transplant six types of herbs so far, so it felt like the area I had expanded was empty of herbs growing there, but I thought it would be better to divide the areas from the beginning, even if it was annoying, considering the future.

‘It’s comfortable not having to worry about water supply.’

The weather in this jewel was bright and clear all year round.

At first I was worried that there would be a lot of trial and error because of this weather, but my worries were unfounded.

The herbs grew well even without water.

‘Since it’s a herb needed for elixir, is mana the most important?’

Leon was going through the process of learning about the space inside this jewel and the herbs, one by one.

The reason I spent time creating this environment was, of course, for training.

More than anything else, training was the most important.

Leon felt this fact even more keenly through his battle with Porn.

You never know when you might get hit in the back of the head!

What is needed is more and more strength.

Leon had changed the quest reward to attribute constitution after the battle with the old man.

It is true that the artifact received as a reward was very useful in battle, but in the end, it was Leon’s own power that was the essence.

Didn’t you have to throw dozens of disposable artifacts at an opponent with only a 1-tier difference to be effective?

By raising the level and honing the original strength, you can deal with danger more easily.

Normally, you would choose a magic book as a reward to get a taste of it, or choose an elixir to prepare for reaching level 3.

However, the need for the magic book had decreased after receiving Arpina’s magic book, and the elixir was not urgent since I had already collected all the herbs needed for the F-grade elixir.

‘This time, let’s really aim for the fleshly form.’

An element that encompasses fire, water, wind, earth, wood, and electricity.

It wasn’t a talent for the rare attributes of light and darkness, but it was a talent just below that.

It was also a talent that Rowan had.

Three more months passed while I continued my herbal medicine management and training.

A sigh of despair escaped Leon’s mouth as he sat cross-legged in his private room.

“It’s about time you came out.”

Since I first started the quest, I’ve received rewards almost 300 times.

This is because I somehow managed to secure at least 10 hours of training time every day and unconditionally received at least one reward.

I haven’t seen an S-class one yet, let alone an A-class or B-class one.

“The probability has increased.”

Even in a gacha game that is blinded by money, it’s about time for something good to come out at least once.

“Sigh.”

Leon called out to his growth assistant, wondering who he was complaining to.

-General Quests

▶ Basic Magic Training (Completed)

Completed today’s quest.

Since my training in reality was over, I planned to just check the reward and then go into the jewel to continue my training.

There are 221 hours left to use the jewel.

I still had 200 hours left, which I had received as a level 2 breakthrough reward.

I also thought that in an urgent situation during the battle with Porn, I might need time to enter the jewel and escape danger, and I left it with the intention of using it in a rush when I break through to the third level after reaching the latter half of the second level.

Leon pressed ‘Done’ without much expectation.

▶ ———————————

A reward gacha that returns without fail.

And then the speed of return slowly began to slow down, and soon the details of the reward came to mind.

▶ Acquired all attributes (fire, water, wind, earth, wood, electricity, light, darkness). (Apply / Cancel)

“Huh… Huh?”

Leon rubbed his eyes with his hands and looked again.

I wasn’t seeing things wrong.

Something strong struck Leon as if it had hit the back of his head.

“It’s up… It’s up!!!”