Arcane Innovator

The early morning mist clung to the city like a shroud as we briskly made our way out of Weisberg's main gate and onto the flat plains below.

Since today's job was all about herb picking, we had to wake up extra early to head out before the sun had even begun peeking over the horizon.

Arriving at the agreed-upon spot, we finally met with our new employer, who appeared to be already waiting for us there - a middle-aged herbalist with a greying beard named Master Finn.

After spotting us, the herbalist quickly came over with a friendly smile.

"Glad to see you're all here bright and early! It's a beautiful morning for herb-gathering, don't you think?" The man said merrily, with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Good morning!" Vixen greeted him eagerly, while, on the other hand, Ram and I only managed to give him weak nods in acknowledgment as we both were still half-asleep.

Especially Ram, who always takes his sweet time before waking up, appeared to be particularly suffering here.

Yet the herbalist seemed to not pay any attention to our condition as he happily continued.

"Today, we'll be heading deeper into the woods as we had already harvested all the herbs in this area before... It should still be quite safe so close to the city, but one never knows what might happen; therefore, we will be in your care today, valiant hunters!"

He then gestured to the others to come over. Only then did I register that the herbalist had come with quite a party.

To my amazement, there were seven other people apart from the herbalist himself.

Three of them were youngsters around the same age as us who appeared to be his apprentices and were accompanied by four additional helpers, each carrying a sizeable basket on their backs.

Not to mention, they even had a dedicated carriage with a driver parked at the clearing next to the road waiting for them.

Surprised by the scale of this operation, I slightly readjusted my hand that had been resting on the hilt of my sword ever since we left the safety of the city's walls behind while peering into the darkened forest that loomed ahead.

Despite still being relatively close to the city, which meant there shouldn't be any dangerous monsters lurking around, it was better to remain vigilant.

Looking to my right, I saw Vixen, who was, as always, brimming full of energy, her eyes glinting with anticipation as she was probably already counting the coins we would make today.

And slightly behind her trailed the groggy-looking Ram with his sturdy shield hung on his back.

After Vixen finished her talk with the merry-looking herbalist, going over today's plan once more, we promptly delved into the woods, walking ahead of the sizeable herb-gathering party that trudged with their large baskets a slight distance behind.

The rising sun cast long shadows on the forest floor, and the distant chirping of birds filled the air.

Vixen led the way, her steps light and agile, while Ram trailed behind, his eyes darting nervously at every sound.

I kept my senses alert, monitoring the area with my magic sense so that we wouldn't get any ugly surprises along the way.

Despite my earlier reservations about this job, there was an undeniable thrill in being out in the wilderness once again. The familiar scent of earth and leaves brought back memories of my past adventures, fueling a sense of excitement within me.

As we ventured further into the woods, the forest's silence enveloped us. The dense canopy above us filtered the sunlight, casting dappled shadows on the forest floor.

From time to time, we stopped while the herbalist's party diligently gathered every herb they could find.

Since we would be getting a bonus for every herb gathered, my companions and I occasionally helped with the gathering, too.

Thanks to the herbs' plentiful essence, I could locate each of them perfectly with my magic sense.

Still, for obvious reasons, I chose not to display any unnatural herb-seeking talents and rather decided to pick only about one-tenth of those I had found and leave the rest for the others.

Even so, we were leaving plenty of herbs behind, which was making me cringe, but I still suppressed my inner herbalist and forced myself to look away.

"Alright, that's a very nice haul! We are going to empty our bags into the carriage and then go at it again in the afternoon. With some luck, we might collect another batch of herbs before the sun sets." The herbalist said at noon, sounding more than happy for some reason.

Seeing them gathering so many herbs, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. I knew that Weisberg was a big city, but still... It looked as if they were either preparing for a war or there was an epidemic going on.

So I couldn't resist and asked the broadly smiling man about it. "Why do you need so many herbs... Won't they go bad before you can process them all?"

The herbalist turned toward me, an evident surprise reflecting in his eyes. "Oh? You've got a good eye and a sharp mind, young man! Indeed, we wouldn't be able to process all those herbs on our own, but recently, there were too many orders, so we had to increase our output significantly."

"Is there perhaps an epidemic going on?"

"Oh, Gods forbid! That's not something to joke about, young man!" He said reproachfully, but then his friendly smile returned as he continued.

"It's nothing serious like that... Only that one of our resident Alchemists began placing many herb orders, buying out my entire stock, so I need to replenish my reserves. Not that I'm complaining. He's paying a good coin for them, so I'm more than happy to sell!"

'Hmm, who would need so many herbs?' Smirking, I got an inkling about a possible suspect, but I didn't say anything, only nodding thoughtfully as I said, "I see..."

It seemed like I had unexpectedly managed to get another clue. 'What are the chances...'

"He's buying out all the herbs on the market, and for a good coin, you say? We are often venturing into the woods for our jobs, so if we gather some herbs, do you think he would buy them from us?" I asked, pretending to be curious.

"Well, I'm sure he would be delighted! He likes them fresh; the fresher, the better..." The herbalist answered thoughtfully.

"That's wonderful! Would you be so kind as to tell me the name of this illustrious Alchemist?" I leaned closer with an expectant face.

"Of course, I'm sure Sir Konrad would appreciate doing business with such a bright young man! Although I'm slightly surprised... going by your previous expression, you didn't seem very enthusiastic about this kind of work."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I was just a bit sleepy, that's all. I'm always enthusiastic when there is money to be made!" I said, smiling broadly.

I then quickly finished our talk before creating some ample distance. Hiding in the shadow of an ancient towering tree, I secretly took out the paper with the names that the manager of the glass workshop had given me yesterday.

And there it was - one of the names matched with the one the herbalist said they were selling the herbs to.

'Bingo...' I thought as a mischievous smirk formed on my lips. 'I guess I will have to pay a visit to the esteemed Sir Konrad.'

This time, I will even have a legitimate reason to visit him, and I wouldn't need to come up with any cover story.

Full of eager anticipation, I returned to the small clearing we were resting on. In the afternoon, to Ram's utter disbelief, I displayed even more enthusiasm for the job than Vixen while secretly gathering every herb I got my hands on, preparing to bring quite a bundle of them to the aforementioned Alchemist.

The rest of the day passed out pretty uneventfully. A few weak monsters were attracted by the sounds of so many people, but I quietly disposed of them with a stone bullet before they had a chance to endanger anyone.

As we were slowly returning to Weisberg, loaded with heaps of herbs, I was thinking about all the clues I had managed to come upon till now.

At a glance, it seemed as if the gang wasn't very good at covering their tracks. But on the other hand, I was the only one who knew what to look for.

For anyone else, it might have seemed a bit odd, but they would fail to connect the dots. Thus, I mustn't grow complacent about my quick progress and always remain cautious.

Now that the roles have reversed, and it is me who has the element of surprise on his side, I need to make the most of it, and when I finally decide to strike, I mustn't hesitate as I will only get a single shot at this.

Resolving myself, I tightly clutched the hilt of my sword as I looked ahead at the dark silhouette of Weisberg coming into view.