The Herb King

"Sir Aethelwolf, here are the herbs that you asked me to purchase." Skylar said as she took out more than a dozen of herbs from her storage ring.

"Thanks." Leric kept them inside his storage space. With these herbs, he should be able to make enough pills that would make his strength jump to Level 4!

Skylar glanced at him curiously. She had spectated his refining sessions on more than one occasion and the herbs that Aethelwolf asked him to buy were definitely not the ingredients of the pills they sell in the clinic. She wanted to ask what kind of pills he was making, but she chose to swallow back the questions that were about to come out of her mouth.

"I'll leave the clinic in your care. You can close the clinic when the sun sets." Leric said to her before he went to the third floor. It was the only space where he could refine pills in peace since they still don't have a patient.

When he arrived on the third floor, he saw Samira, Lord Julius, and Madam Antonette. Their eyebrows were knitted closely together as they chatted between themselves, but when they heard someone's footsteps, they immediately turned their heads.

"Sir Aethelwolf, we apologize for spoiling your mood." Lord Julius said as he looked at Leric worriedly.

Leric smiled at the old man and shook his head. "You don't have to worry about it, Sir Julius. I'm happy that you guys are safe and I really want those bandits to be dealt with. If there is anything I can do to help you guys, just tell me."

Hearing this, the eyes of the three people flashed.

Lord Julius gave a signal to his granddaughter with his eye.

Samira saw this and she immediately cleared her throat as she said. "Ehem! There is actually something that we need your help with, Aethelwolf. You already know that our Reynolds Household is most likely being targeted by the Northern Viper Group. Although our family is strong, we still lack capable soldiers if we want to fight against them. It would be ideal if we can nurture a few more Espers into our army..."

Leric smiled widely after he heard her words. They wanted more of his Awakening Pellet. "You want more Awakening Pellets, right? If you can procure the ingredients for me, I can sell the pills to the Reynolds Household at half the price. However..." His eyes suddenly turned sharp as he looked at the three of them.

When they met his hawk-like gaze, their hearts unconsciously tightened. Even Lord Julius who was a Level 4 Esper was surprised when he sensed the ominous aura that Aethelwolf was emitting.

In truth, Leric merely activated his skill [Intimidating Aura]. It has no offensive or defensive uses. Its only effect is to radiate an oppressive aura that would instill fear in the people around him. It was a great skill for increasing the intimidation factor.

After seeing the changes in their expressions, Leric was satisfied with his skill. "My Awakening Pellet can turn a normal person into an Esper. I can make a thousand pills if I want, but I can only sell a hundred pills to the Reynolds Household."

"The Reynolds Household is already a very strong family among the noble households. I guess that you have a thousand Espers under your command. This strength is only beneath the Imperial Family and the major noble households. What would happen if you guys suddenly have another thousand Espers at your beck and call? How do you think the nobles would react to it?" Leric threw two questions that made them ponder deeply in silence.

After a moment, Samira furrowed her eyebrows as she replied in an uncertain tone. "The nobles of the Noble Faction would feel suspicious of our sudden growth and they might band together to oppress us. They might also send a few experts to force you into selling Awakening Pellets to them."

Leric nodded his head. "That's right. They will be wary of your rise in power and knowing how greedy they are, those people would certainly send people to get the recipe of my pill. If I don't hand it to them, they might even try to assassinate me." Leric already knew that the Awakening Pellet would make everyone go crazy, but he was confident that he could escape the tide if something unexpected happens. With his skills [Perfect Disguise] and [Conceal], he could retreat without being noticed in any situation.

The atmosphere became solemn when they heard Leric's words. He had thought already thought far ahead. In fact, he might have already expected that they would ask him about the Awakening Pellets. This guy's wisdom was frightening. Normally, he always has a carefree and smiley face, but the Aethelwolf in front of them was giving off a vibe that was similar to that of an ancient predator! They realized that this must be what he is hiding beneath his usual approachable exterior.

"Sir Aethelwolf is right. In that case, we won't ask for more than a hundred Awakening Pellets. Our Reynolds Household will also procure the ingredients for you and we will buy them at the original price of one hundred thousand gold coins per piece. We will pay you a total of ten million gold coins for everything!" Lord Julius was decisive and he also realized the complications of being too greedy. Besides, their Reynolds Household wouldn't be able to pay a thousand Awakening Pellets. Their total assets are roughly a hundred million gold coins and the amount that they can liquidate is only around twenty million gold coins. They can get more money, but doing so would shake the financial situation of their family.

Leric was laughing in his heart. Ten million gold coins! That was equivalent to ten million US dollars in his past life! That is a huge amount of money!

He maintained a composed look as he stared at Lord Julius. After a moment of silence, he retracted the intimidating aura and let out a smile. "It's a pleasure working with you, Lord Julius." He said as he extended his hand to the old man.

Lord Julius shook hands with him with complicated thoughts in his head. He thought that this young man was a carefree soul, but he was actually hiding a beast in him! Luckily, he was a good friend of their family and his granddaughter seemed to have a close friendship with him.