Ten minutes later, Roy and Arlo, followed by several others, arrived at the foot of Ashen Mountain.
It was named as such not because it was devoid of life, but because it was once a part of the Forbidden Ruins, better known as the Ashen Land.
The Ashen Mountain became famous as a hunting ground among the locals after it was separated from the Ashen Land by a holy barrier.
It was divided into two boundaries, namely, inner and outer areas.
The inner area of the ashen mountain was inhabited by horned rabbits and boars.
The former traveled in packs of three to five, while the latter was an animal that disdained to be a part of a pack and hence walked in search of forage by itself or with its partner.
Horned rabbits weren't poisonous and were slightly stronger than snakes, but horned boars were as strong as lions.
The unique thing about them was that their sharp horns could easily pierce open holes in thick bamboo trees.
As long as their horns were avoided, they were easy prey.
The hunters in the village have long learned the way to avoid their frontal assault and trap or kite them. It's a known fact that a group of fully grown men equipped with ranged weapons can hunt down a horned boar without risking their lives, as long as no mishap happens during the hunt. That's why hunters would form groups and go there to hunt them weekly or thrice a week. But today was not one of them as everyone was busy harvesting the crops.
The outer area of Ashen Mountain was free of danger and full of life.
Thus, children and women would go there to hack down and collect bamboo trees and gather herbs that would add a crunchy and flavorful texture or spicy taste to their daily meals.
There was only one man-made road going up the mountain.
A handcart was parked next to it.
An old man was managing it.
A few kinds of stuff, such as insect repellents, bows, and arrows, were being sold, but only one caught Roy's eyes.
"Look there." Julian pointed at a certain item on the cart and continued speaking, "Isn't that eternal-… ahem?!"
Roy stared at him sternly before he could call out the entire name of the herb.
The word that was at the tip of his tongue was blocked, unable to be uttered, and could only be swallowed. He forced it to roll down his throat, causing him to choke for a bit, and after coughing, he cleared his throat and felt much better.
"It's a secret. We don't mention it in public, remember?" Roy said to him in a scolding tone.
Julian stiffly nodded his head.
He was too excited to see hundreds of eternal weed and, for a moment, forgot that Roy wanted to keep everything about it a secret, including its name. That's why he almost blurted out its name.
He lowered his head, apologizing to Roy.
Roy patted his shoulder, encouraging him to ease up.
Then he moved past him and made his way to the old man with the cloudy eyes.
He was blind and couldn't see anything, but he wasn't deaf, and his hearing was rather sharp.
His ears perked up as he heard someone coming toward him, and he raised his head, revealing a smile to the second customer he had today.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
Roy scrutinized the old man.
He was suspicious of him, and for good reasons.
First, it didn't make sense that the old man was here, selling stuff while nearly all the villagers were busy in the fields.
Secondly, how come this old man was selling what he had been seeking?
『Ding! You have inspected the hawker by the roadside. Congratulation. You gained his status screen and character screen!』
After telling the old man that he was still deciding what he wanted to buy, Roy quickly went through the story of his life.
The old man's name was Hubert, and his background was rather plain and tragic.
His wife had a difficult pregnancy and died a few years after giving birth to a baby girl.
He didn't marry a second time, afraid that the woman he would bring back home would be detrimental to his daughter, mentally or otherwise.
He did his job as a father, helping her grow up to become a fine woman.
She grew up to become just like his wife, who was a bombshell and the most beautiful woman the village had seen in a hundred years.
She caught the eye of a handsome tourist.
He easily had this simple village girl wrapped around his fingers.
She married and ran away from the village with him after emptying her father's vault and taking away all his retirement money.
Hubert never heard from her again and realized he had wasted his life raising an ungrateful wench.
But instead of feeling let down, he donated the rest of his land, which he initially intended to pass down to his daughter, to the poor and needy.
They, in turn, looked after him, providing him rations daily.
Roy went through Hubert's background in seconds, and tears welled up in his eyes after he realized that this old man had seen worse days than him but still had the courage not to numb the goodness in his heart and help others in need.
What a good man he was!
He wiped away the manly, crystal clear drops hanging at the edge of his eyelashes and beamed at Hubert, "I would like to buy all the stalks of weed you have."
"It's 100 copper coins a bundle."
Hubert was afraid that Roy would misunderstand him.
Who would buy weeds for such a ridiculous price?
Thus, he explained why it was worth so much to Roy, "You see… they grow close to the holy barrier. It's the riskiest place for us villagers, as horned boars are plentiful around that part of the mountain. It is quite hard to go around them and get these smelly weeds. But some risk their lives to get it, as a bundle of smelly weeds is worth about a silver coin outside the village. It's an excellent insect repellent. The rich folks like to pay extra for it."
Roy smiled and spoke.
"I understand."
He took out a huge gold bar and placed it in Hubert's hands.
He rubbed it, and his eyes widened to the size of saucers as he realized what it was.
"I would like to buy all of them. Would that suffice?" Roy inquired softly.
"It's more than enough," Hubert replied as he methodically packed the goods he had just sold and gave them to Roy.
Roy stored thousands of eternal weeds in his subspace and turned to leave but was stopped by Hubert.
He was greedy for the gold, but in the end, the goodness in his heart didn't allow him to scam a gold bar from a young and fine man like Roy.
"I can't accept it. If you have a change of 56 silver coins, please take it back."
Hubert held Roy's hand and tried to return the gold bar to him, but he pushed it back to him.
"If you think it's too much, just spread the word that a rich man from outside wants to buy bundles of these weeds and is willing to fork out gold in exchange for them. They can find me at the manor up the cliff."
Roy didn't want to take advantage of the weak, the innocent, and the ignorant, as then he would become what he hated.
He wanted to give Hubert more than just one gold bar, but he didn't, as he knew that giving him more gold would benefit him less and harm him more, and one thick gold bar was enough for him to live the rest of his life in peace.
"Okay, I will do that," Hubert promised Roy.
Roy rejoined his party, and they resumed walking up the road to reach the Draculian manor.
"Have you tested him enough, Water Celestial, or should I say father-in-law?"
Arlo looked at Hubert from the side of his eyes, mentally communicating those words to him.
"Yes, I have."
As he said that to Arlo, a mischievous smile appeared on Hubert's face.
