The Herb King

"Aethelwolf, it's because of me that you're implicated with our family's feud. Sorry." Samira stared at Leric's side profile. Looking at his face, he didn't seem the least bit worried that he had become enemies with a major household.

Leric turned his head at her and smiled gently. "Even if I wasn't on the receiving end of her curses, she will still be my enemy for humiliating my friend. Besides, I have been planning to establish a business empire for a while. I wasn't in a hurry to do it, but it looks like I have to hasten my plans."

He is telling the truth. He wasn't the kind of man who was easily angered, but the woman irked him so much that he had to punish her.

Samira felt warm in her heart when she heard his words.

The other ladies were also looking at him with admiration and reverence. The words he said would have sounded boastful if someone else uttered them, but coming from him, it sounded plausible. In fact, they believed that Aethelwolf has the ability to achieve this.

Soon, they went back to the clinic. Leric then drafted a simple contract and had them signed by the ladies. After they signed the contract, Leric gave them their salaries in advance and they immediately thanked him emotionally. Samira's group of three also received their salaries. At first, they wanted to decline his gesture, but seeing that he was adamant, they could only accept what was given to them.

Since they still haven't found a residence, they temporarily slept inside the patient rooms. The clinic didn't receive a single patient on its first day so the rooms were empty.

After getting everyone to sleep, Leric started putting the products to be displayed tomorrow. He also put the rest inside the stock room.

Tomorrow is the one-on-one matchups of the battle event so Leric was expecting fewer customers. "I should look for a residence for the ladies tomorrow. They should be able to handle the clinic by themselves. Hopefully, we won't be receiving any patients soon."

With him as the sole Doctor in the clinic, it would be a disaster if he wasn't present to receive their first patient. Leric wondered where he could find a Doctor. He also thought of hiring Alchemists. He didn't have the time to refine all the pills for the clinic since he would be so busy in the future, but this idea has to wait because he needs to find trustworthy people first. His pill recipes are beyond valuable and he couldn't casually give them to any random Alchemist.

Leric realized that he couldn't sleep because of the random thoughts in his head. "A guitar would be nice in this kind of atmosphere. I'll look for the best wood and the most durable string tomorrow..." Leric muttered as he stared at the night sky through the window.

***

The next day, the ladies woke up one by one and they found out that Leric was already awake. He wore a smile on his face as he looked at them gently.

"Good morning. How was your sleep?"

"Good morning, Sir Aethelwolf! It was great! The bed is so soft and comfy!" They answered.

"That's good. I've already placed our products on display. You will open the clinic at the time I've designated. I will be away in the morning to look for a suitable residence for you guys so the clinic will be left in your care, but before that, we should have our breakfast first." Saying this, Leric smiled at them. He wasn't able to sleep last night so he spent his evening in meditation and practicing his skills. When morning came, he bought ingredients for cooking since he promised to let them taste his food.

"Sir Aethelwolf, we can cook the food." They suggested eagerly.

Leric shook his head with a smile. "Have you forgotten that I promised to cook for you guys today? Wake up the others. The food wouldn't take long to prepare."

Hearing this, their eyes lit up with anticipation. They couldn't wait to have a taste of Leric's cooking.

The clinic only had a simple kitchen, but he had everything he needed to cook.

Leric took out the ingredients. For this meal, he planned to let the ladies have a sumptuous meal. He would let them have a taste of what a real steak should taste like. The only issue is that he wasn't able to buy cooking wine so he would only be using a type of herb as a substitute for butter. Luckily, he found a lot of thyme, garlic, and ground pepper. Other than steak, he also plan to cook ramen, a type of food that didn't exist in this world. To be exact, no noodle-type food was sold in any restaurants.

Leric already made the noodles earlier so the only thing left to do was cook them.

This world didn't have electricity and the stove he was using was powered by magic crystals. It was a small stone that contains world essence. It was filled with impurities and could not be absorbed by normal means. However, it was a good source of energy for items like the stove.

Leric opened his Status Screen.

Talent [Chef] Level 4

- Even with rubbish ingredients, you can still make delicious food.

He had already seen this earlier when he was making the noodles, but he still could not help but grin. He knows how to cool, but the addition of this skill will make his cooking even more delicious!

Leric hummed a tone as he began preparing the ingredients. He didn't realize that a group of women was looking at him in secret. They were wondering what kind of food he was going to cook for them.

"Did you guys ask him what he will be cooking for breakfast?" Samira whispered to them.

The ladies shook their heads. "Sir Aethelwolf didn't give us the time to ask him. Does he really know how to cook?"

"Look at the way he cuts the meat. His skill is much better than mine!"

"I didn't know that an herb can actually be a substitute for oil. Is he planning to use that to fry the meat? Isn't that thyme? I thought that thyme is only meant to keep pests away from the garden. It can actually be used in cooking?"

"What is that fat string-like dough over there? Can that be eaten?"