Shire had seen some interesting livestreams before. In one, a mother followed her son around with her phone.

The little kid went through the trash cans one by one, picking out all the plastic bottles and soda cans, stomping them flat, and putting them in a bag. All the while, the mother just chatted with her viewers and didn’t help.

Once he had a full bag, the two of them went to a recycling depot, sold the stuff, and then the kid took the money, went to the supermarket, bought a bottle of ice-cold Coke, and chugged it down.

The mother even interacted with her audience, saying, "He’s out here because he wouldn’t do his homework. I’m letting him experience how hard work is."

After saying that, she even asked her son, "Son, would you rather scavenge for scrap or do your homework?"

The kid burped, tilted his head back, and said, "Scavenge for scrap."

’Why make him scavenge for scrap?’ Shire now wanted to say to that mother. ’Have him come pick Blue Thorn Grass with me.’

For a kid, going through trash cans is like a treasure hunt; there’s always a surprise. Then he gets to trade the scrap directly for a Coke. With the thrill of the hunt, the fulfillment of labor, and the satisfaction of a reward, how could that possibly teach a child what hardship is?

’Work is repetitive labor. You have to make the kid pick leaves one by one, and he has to push through thornbushes without fearing the pain.’

’Even if you get small cuts on your hands, you can’t stop. Because this is the only large patch of Blue Thorn Grass around. If you don’t pick it all now, you don’t know who might show up later to compete for the resources.’

’And those people are vicious Adventurers. They’ll come and take your leaves and your ears.’

’That’s the only way to successfully educate a child. After he’s been picking for two hours, you ask him again, and he’ll definitely say, "I’ll finish my homework before dinner from now on."’

Shire gave a wry smile. Though he was mentally mocking the kid, he himself had just done the real thing for two hours.

"So painful and tiring." He stretched his arms to work out the kinks in his muscles. "We’re almost done picking."

First thing in the morning, he had led his subordinates straight to the place where the Blue Thorn Grass grew. 10 goblins worked silently and diligently, spending two hours clearing the entire patch.

Now, every goblin was covered in small scratches, especially on their hands, all from the thorns on the Blue Thorn Grass stems.

"We’ll need to apply some poultices when we get back." Shire looked at his own hands, which were also covered in tiny cuts, and sighed internally.

His clan had temporarily solved its food crisis, but more problems lay ahead. He wanted to arm his subordinates. He wasn’t aiming for a full set of Chain Armor and a Two-Handed Sword for everyone, but Leather Armor and a Long Spear should be the minimum.

And on top of that, he needed to prepare a large amount of fur for the winter.

All of that had to be bought with Gold Coins.

Shire couldn’t touch his stored Gold Coins for now. He and Little John were still in a trial period; he could only use the funds once they trusted each other enough.

He wouldn’t risk it, because he knew that human nature couldn’t withstand being tested.

"Chief, we’ve picked ’em all," Red Eyes came to his side to report.

"Good. Gather it all up and put it in the bags." Shire ordered his subordinate, then stepped aside to wait.

Perhaps it was because they’d had two meals yesterday, but his subordinates worked today without a single complaint. Shire had expected them to slack off.

Last night, however, had been an ordeal for Shire. The chorus of his subordinates’ snores rose and fell, sounding like power drills—a grating "ZZZ-HNNNG, ZZZ-HNNNG" that was even more maddening than his college roommate’s. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Chief." Red Eyes heaved a large bundle before Shire.

Shire tried to lift it. It was quite heavy, probably over 20 kilograms.

’This should be worth 2 Gold Coins, enough for about two sets of Leather Armor,’ Shire thought, stroking his chin. ’Before winter, I need to equip at least half of them with Leather Armor and Long Spears.’

’It would be even better if I had more manpower.’

"Alright, let’s head back," Shire commanded.

"COO COO COO." A bird cried out from above.

"Someone’s coming. Everyone, up the trees!"

...

"It’s just ahead," Coulson said with a smile.

"You really are a living map of the forest," Lira remarked, looking at the sheepskin map in her hand.

"It’s nothing. You’ll start to remember the routes too after a few trips into the forest. A lot of things can happen in here, after all."

"Luna, in a bit, before we start gathering, cast Stone Skin Technique on everyone," Lira said to her sister.

"Oh, thanks a lot for that! Gathering Blue Thorn Grass is a real pain. With that Magic, we won’t have to worry about the thorns. It’ll make things much easier," Coulson said happily.

"It’s nothing. We’re teammates, so it’s only right," Lira said with a wave of her hand. "Besides, we wouldn’t have found the Blue Thorn Grass so easily without you guiding us."

"Luna?" she called out again. She turned around to see her sister pulling snacks out of Grant’s bag.

"I know, I know." Grabbing a handful of nuts, Luna immediately cast Stone Skin Technique on Lira.

"Honestly... I said before we start gathering," Lira said, exasperated, as she looked at her own darkening skin.

"Oh, right. No problem." After saying that, Luna plucked a dandelion from the ground and blew on it.

"My sister’s a bit spoiled," Lira said apologetically to Coulson, shrugging.

"It’s alright, she’s quite cute. Besides, Healing Personnel are rare enough as it is. Being able to team up with you two makes things much safer for us. We’re the ones getting the better end of the deal."

"If things go well, perhaps we can cooperate again in the future." Seeing how familiar Coulson was with the forest, Lira couldn’t help but wonder if they could form a long-term team. It would make it easier to search for traces of her father.

Their father had been one of Count Valentine’s guards. Nine years ago, he left the city for the forest on a mission and hasn’t been heard from since.

The two sisters were raised by their father’s good friend, Yu Le.

After coming of age, they swore an oath to find any trace of their father, even if it was just his remains.

But when they arrived in Yangjiao Town, they realized they had been hopelessly naive.