"But you came late—these Black Ginseng fields already have someone in charge," Sophie Sun said, then called out to the spiritual alchemist who had followed her, "Leo Bo."
"President." The spiritual alchemist named Leo Bo was a young man, probably not yet thirty, of average height. When he smiled at Sophie Sun, it was with a hint of flattery.
"From now on, Grace will be working with you," Sophie Sun said. "You two need to work together and take good care of the Black Ginseng. Don't let anything go wrong."
"Alright," Leo Bo replied with a smile. "You can count on us."
"Grace is new here, so you should help her out and look after her," Sophie Sun added.
"Yes, ma'am," Leo Bo said.
"Alright, I'll head back now."
"Take care, President," Leo Bo said, bowing slightly as he saw her off.
But as soon as he returned, Leo Bo's expression changed completely.
"Grace," Leo Bo called, his tone making it sound like he was ordering around a servant.
Grace looked at him. "What is it?"
"These Black Ginseng fields haven’t been tilled since they were planted. I’ll give you ten days to turn over all the soil," Leo Bo said, expressionless.
"What?" Grace’s eyes widened. "After planting Black Ginseng, you’re not supposed to till the soil, are you?"
"Just do it because I said so!" Leo Bo snapped. "I’ve been doing this for three years—don’t try to teach me!"
Grace paused for a moment. "Fine, if you insist, I’ll just hire someone to do it."
But Leo Bo’s eyes narrowed. "Hire someone? Who?"
"I’ll hire some local farmers to help with the tilling," Grace said.
Back at the Vermilion Spirit Alliance, whenever it was planting season, they’d always hire farmers from the outskirts to help out—pay them a bit and give them some spirit herbs, and they were happy to do it.
It should be the same here at the Blue Moon Spirit Alliance... right?
But Leo Bo just sneered, "Are you kidding? This is Black Ginseng! You think it’s wheat or something? Hire farmers?"
"Then what? You can't seriously expect me to do all the tilling by myself, right?"
"Of course it’s just you! Everyone else in the Alliance is busy!"
"But it’s a hundred acres! How could I possibly finish all that in ten days by myself?"
"That’s your problem!" Leo Bo said. "This is your first assignment since joining the Spirit Alliance. If you fail, President Sun will mark it as a major demerit! Rack up three of those and you’re out of the Alliance!"
"Come on, that’s totally unfair! Why would I get a major demerit for this?"
Leo Bo smirked, "Fair or not, it’s up to our President. What can you do about it?"
Grace paused, then asked, "Really?"
Leo Bo sneered and grabbed a hoe from the side of the hut, tossing it to her. "Quit whining and get to work! Ten days! All the fields!"
Grace didn’t say a word—she just silently hefted the hoe and headed up the mountain.
The terraced fields on the mountain were perfectly neat and beautiful.
There were two paths leading up on either side, and in the middle, rows of Weedbane Trees were planted in a wavy vertical pattern.
Weedbane Trees are pretty special.
Wherever you find one, no weeds will grow for two or three yards around it. They’re a must-have for any large field of magical herbs.
Grace slung the hoe over her shoulder, plucked a Weedbane leaf and stuck it in her mouth, then started climbing to the top of the mountain.
She’d known Sophie Sun would definitely make things difficult for her.
She just hadn’t expected it to be like this.
Making her till the soil?
And a hundred acres, no less!
Ha!
Even if she really finished tilling all the soil, would Sophie Sun just make her do the fertilizing next?
By the time she finished fertilizing, it’d probably be time to prune the Black Ginseng...
Once she reached the top, she tossed the hoe aside and walked over to the tallest Weedbane Tree, looking up...