Dear Broom Knight.

Chapter 919 Gloria's Awakening

Then Gloria suddenly realized what she had done and slapped her forehead hard: "How could I be so stupid!"

The esteemed Master doesn't care about that little bit of money, but she does!

Others didn't react much to these random herbs, treating them all as weeds, but she could distinguish some of them!
Moreover, there's a highly accurate mage nearby; she just needs to follow him.
With so many herbs here, the Toronto monk clearly only needs to preserve their seeds and shouldn't care about her imitative behavior.

However, Gloria cautiously inquired, "Toronto Mage, may I also gather some herbs?"

Toronto keenly sensed her implication: "You can observe for yourself, but I won't teach you."

Gloria nodded immediately: "My family used to grow some basic herbs, so I know a little about them."

Even if I don't know something, I will try my best to learn and observe carefully. I can probably guess some things based on the fragrance and the shape of the leaves.

Thank you for your generosity.

Toronto glanced at her: "Magic is something that needs to be carefully considered and discussed. You should think it over carefully."

Gloria tried to ponder the words in her mind... The Toronto sorcerer seemed unapproachable, but in reality, he wasn't someone easy to talk to.

He doesn't say useless things.

The meaning of this sentence is...

Gloria turned and walked to a cluster of wildflowers that were blooming very romantically. She thought it looked like milk thistle, but she wasn't too sure.

After all, milk thistle has several relatives that look the same.

However, apart from milk thistle, the other types do not have the effects of protecting the liver, relieving depression, or assisting in the flow of magic. Instead, they are used to stop bleeding, reduce swelling, and detoxify.

The Austin family had considered introducing milk thistle, a valuable herb, but they lacked the resources to modify the plant's growing environment.

It is still a bit difficult to grow this material in colder regions.

As for thistle, this herb is almost everywhere, so there is no need to cultivate it.

Moreover, St. John's wort has similar functions but is much more expensive and is not too difficult to grow... If you want to make more money, you will naturally choose this herb.

Gloria's family only chose to cultivate the herb garden to make a living, and they didn't have any passion for it, so... she only knew some common knowledge about those distant herbs and hadn't studied them in detail.

In addition, this grassland has almost turned similar herbs into a single plant.

Gloria could distinguish the herbs she was familiar with, but she wasn't very confident about herbs she only vaguely knew about.

If you want to prove her doubts, this herb is the best option for her.

Gloria hesitated before picking the clump of herbs, sorting them, and putting them into her storage ring. She even carefully dug up the entire plant, just like the Toronto mage did... with some soil still protecting the roots, and stuffed it into her backpack.

She always felt something was off, so she didn't plan to put these whole plants into her spatial equipment.

Anyway, she only dares to advance using her common skills, so she has plenty of strength.

Then she slowly approached the Toronto monk who was still trying to dig something.

Is this... lemongrass?

Although she vaguely smelled a lemon scent, and the slender leaves did indeed resemble lemongrass, why did the flower in the middle look like lavender?

As for the color, there's no need to elaborate; she has never seen any flowers or plants that are only their natural color.

Gloria sniffed hard, and then she was sure she could smell lavender again... even stronger than the lemon scent from before.

She lowered her eyes slightly and suddenly realized that her backpack seemed to have become a little lighter.

Gloria took off her backpack... the herbs she had just dug up had indeed disappeared.

She sighed helplessly... At least those milk thistles, large thistles, and small thistles were all the same type of plant!

She could probably only look at the plant in front of her, whether it was lemongrass or lavender, without knowing.

It truly lives up to its reputation as the labyrinth of the Lord of the Earth.

If you don't have a definite answer in your heart, and you rely on guessing and wild speculation, you will only think more and more about the wrong answer... Your eyes and nose will be deceived by your own illusions.

That's impressive, but what's the point of using it here?

Does the Lord of the Earth intend to find a believer with a particular sensitivity to herbs in the northern lands where winter is the longest?
In the northern region, you'd be lucky to find one person out of ten thousand who recognizes more than ten kinds of herbs.

After all, although the Church of Storms has its flaws, they really do their jobs!

Why do nobles still go to great lengths to create trouble for themselves on their own territories, even knowing that these churches might become their eyes and ears?

It certainly couldn't be for the sake of faith or the will of the people.

The Church of Storms absorbs large numbers of believers in any territory who can sense the fluctuations of magical power, and then teaches them to comprehend divine magic. These children may not be able to advance to become full priests, or even become priest apprentices, but they can learn 0-level divine magic to heal minor injuries through their piety and barely perceptible talent.

With just ten or more such Storm Believers, the nobles' knightly orders could save a considerable amount of money.

Scratching your skin after a fall doesn't really count as an injury.

As long as it's not a broken arm or leg, but something as minor as a missing piece of flesh, a large patch of skin, or a burn, these level 0 divine techniques can heal it.

These people may never learn a single 1st-level divine spell in their lifetime, but they could very well spend decades honing three 0th-level divine spells.

Of course, they can only use one method at a time, but at least they can learn it!

This is the mercy of the Lord of Storms, and also the source of the Storm Church's confidence and arrogance.

But before they successfully learn their first divine spell, these people, who can at least sense the presence of divine power, will stay in the church to heal everyone who seeks their help.

The minor ailments caused by the accumulated fatigue of the poor are no problem at all in the face of this combined divine power.

Even if the problem is a bit serious, the treatment costs at the Church of Storms are not considered expensive.

The bishop looks down on the meager money of ordinary people.

Their usual source of income is to have lords pay exorbitant hush money for their "ignorance".

Even half of the treatment costs for apprentices will go to the apprentices.

Therefore, in the North, only people living in remote villages have a good understanding of herbs, but they don't need to know that much; three or four kinds are basically enough to meet their daily needs.

If it's really serious, it's better to go to the city where the lord is located and seek help from the priest.

Gloria was very confused, but she didn't intend to give up.

Only those who have done business, selling grains, herbs, and spices, understand that noble gentlemen are willing to spend a lot of money to be different from others.

Although she always wanted to escape from that strange family, Gloria simply couldn't bring herself to give up when there was a chance to help them find a way to make money.

After wandering outside for so long, Gloria's first reaction to herself was still, "If I take it back and grow a herb garden, I'll be rich," which was actually quite surprising.

But this is home, right?
Although it's a mess and has its own injustices, the Austin house is actually a place any child can go back to.

Regardless of whether they would slam the door and leave after a few days, it was simply because they didn't want to stay there and suffer any longer... The door to their home was never closed to them.

Even married aunts can go back anytime... but they have to bear their own living expenses except for food and sleep.

Gloria once thought she never wanted to go back and endure those bittersweet experiences, but it turns out she... wait!
With a slight glint in her eyes, Gloria swiftly rushed behind the Toronto mage... Was that a safflower?
It can only survive on mountains above 8,000 meters, and even then, it requires suitable sunlight to produce viable flowers... The world's number one fragrance, with its powder valued at the same level as gold.

Although she had never seen this flower before, it was the only plant she remembered vividly from the basic herbal medicine book that had accompanied her throughout her teenage years.

Gloria looked up in confusion, confirming that they were indeed in a dark field where even starlight was faint.

How is this thing grown?

Does it really work?
If the Earth Church had this ability, why would it need to create divisions?

The herbalist, who was not very familiar with monopolistic business practices, could hardly understand what she was seeing.

But without hesitation, she rushed to a clump of identical flowers nearby and began to dig carefully and with great enthusiasm.

If she could bring home a safflower that could be grown on the plains, then her little brother would never have to worry about what kind of life he could live without regrets!
The grandparents who were content with a simple life are not advisable, and parents who confine themselves are not to be learned from... Unfortunately, the Austin children only had personal talent, not the ability to make money.

The family members are all laborers; they simply can't afford to support others.

A once-great noble family in decline.

Supporting myself is no problem, but supporting another person is exhausting.

Really...

After Gloria knelt down under the safflower without hesitation, without considering whether it would be another futile effort, she realized that her hatred over the years was not because of her family's useless complaints... but because she couldn't support her family.

It's not her fault that she lacks talent, but she's not so bad that she can't even be a professional.

Many of the Edwards family's caravan leaders were worse off than her!
But they all carved out their own niche through their own abilities.

But she couldn't even figure out how to sell herbs properly.

As the roots of the crape myrtle slowly emerged, Gloria completely abandoned the shovel and began to dig away the soil bit by bit.

Unbeknownst to her, her body was slowly enveloped in a layer of illusory light, trembling along with the breath of the safflower's stamen.

Meanwhile, the Toronto monk on the other side was looking at her with a serious expression.

(End of this chapter)