Chapter 40: Tutoring Plan
After concluding the outing and studies at Goldenrain Tree Village, the group once again boarded the carriage and returned to Scorchstone City.
Though this week hadn't been particularly long, everyone felt a strange illusion that much time had passed since they returned to Scorchstone City.
"So you see, going out to have fun is absolutely necessary."
Talier sat at the dining table, sharing her thoughts with Sylutia.
"How has Talier's work been going recently?" Sylutia asked about her situation while eating mushroom soup.
"I'm doing great! I've been all over Scorchstone City these days, and now no one knows the local situation better than me." She proudly introduced herself.
"Really? Then do you know where I can sell herbs for a good price?" Sylutia inquired playfully.
"Well, the most common place is obviously the Apothecary Guild, but many people go there to sell herbs. People from nearby villages deliver batches regularly."
"Next is the Adventurers' Guild. Some apothecaries or people from other professions who need herbs unavailable at the Apothecary Guild will post bounties there."
"Overall, the selling prices rank as Adventurers' Guild > guild > Apothecary Guild, but the first two only accept specific herbs, unlike the Apothecary Guild which takes many varieties."
"I see, that makes sense." Sylutia thought for a moment, realizing she should visit the city's Adventurers' Guild and the guild tomorrow.
After finishing lunch, Sylutia went to the backyard to observe her planted 'Swan Orchids' again. After seven days of transformation, the situation had changed significantly.
[Swan Orchid] (Excellent-76): Growing, humidity not at optimal state, requires additional humidification 21.24%, ambient temperature slightly low, requires increase of 5.8 degrees, optimal ventilation, sufficient nutrition, minor micronutrient deficiency...
The current quality had reached Excellent level with room for further improvement. Sylutia gently placed her hand on the Swan Orchid's bulb to sense it, a flash of emerald green passing through her eyes.
After a long while, she withdrew her hand, her expression thoughtful.
...
The next day, she first went to the Adventurers' Guild to check for bounties.
"Bounties for rare herbs?" Mareen thought for a moment, then took out the recent bounty booklet to look through.
"There don't seem to be any recently, but what herbs do you have? Were they gathered or cultivated?" She sounded somewhat curious.
"They were gathered recently from the forest." Sylutia took a piece of paper from her pocket that detailed the herb specimens she had collected over the past few days.
"Wow, that's quite a lot! You must have put in a lot of effort." Mareen expressed surprise.
"But girls really shouldn't go too far into the forests, or you might get carried off by Tili Wolves from the woods."
"That won't happen, Sister Mareen." The young girl shook her adorable head.
"Hehe, do you have companions accompanying you? That's good then, but safety is indeed important." She replied while looking through the directory.
"Found it! Viscount Xuefeng's butler previously inquired about bounties for Sickle Thorn Vine here, saying they always need it and will buy whatever quantity available - 50 copper coins per plant."
"This price is quite high actually. Ordinary herbs fetch at most 10 copper coins." Mareen informed Sylutia.
"You have 8 plants listed here. You can bring them all, and after I inspect them, I'll give you 4 silver coins."
"Thank you, Sister Mareen."
After leaving the Adventurers' Guild, Sylutia visited several guilds in the city. After inquiring at each one, she sold off some more herbs, earning nearly 10 silver coins.
The remaining herbs would probably only sell to the Apothecary Guild, likely fetching about 8 silver coins, she thought to herself.
Unfortunately, the local Apothecary Guild didn't deal with mushroom-related potions, so they didn't accept rare mushrooms either. Perhaps she could ask Teacher Hyde if he needed any.
...
The next day, after morning classes ended, Scholar Hyde listened to Sylutia's inquiry and nodded slightly.
"I rarely brew potions, but I do have several friends who genuinely need similar rare medicinal materials. Bring what you have left for me to examine."
"Here are ten glass bottles. Remember to cultivate precious mushrooms in them - this will preserve them for a longer time." He opened a drawer and took out ten empty glass bottles.
"Understood, Teacher." Accepting the ten small glass bottles, Sylutia expressed her gratitude.
That afternoon brought the usual combat training, though everyone seemed somewhat distracted today, probably not yet fully emerged from their holiday mindset.
"Baren and Mick are both recovering from injuries and didn't come today."
"Miss Iona isn't here either. Life feels so boring without that beautiful lady around." Several boys leaned against the guardrail, watching the few people training sporadically in the arena while complaining.
In the shaded rest area, Sylutia was currently reviewing her newly made notes, organizing some knowledge, and considering how to integrate these scattered pieces into an interconnected knowledge system.
Scholar Hyde possessed extensive knowledge, and when teaching, he didn't adhere too rigidly to the syllabus. He often mentioned various topics and would share some extracurricular content. In fact, if students truly understood these extracurricular elements, they greatly helped in comprehending the current knowledge.
However, students' aptitudes varied considerably. For some students, these extracurricular contents felt like incomprehensible noise that interfered with their simply constructed knowledge frameworks.
Considering the significant differences in foundational knowledge among classmates, and since Sylutia needed to assist those with poor foundations, she had to first exclude overly obscure knowledge and focus on building everyone's basics.
'This should be about right.'
After organizing throughout the afternoon, Sylutia had roughly structured this month's knowledge system and contentedly closed her notes and books.
She would spend two hours daily from now on tutoring classmates with weak foundations. But for the next couple of days, she'd start with Karen, suddenly thinking of practicing with the most familiar classmate first.
"Karen~" she called out to the girl who had just finished training and was resting nearby.
"What's up?" Karen washed her face with clean water, wiped it dry, and walked over.
"Tomorrow, well, and every afternoon after that, I'll tutor you in Secret History class. How does that sound?"
"This..." She hesitated somewhat, but seeing the young girl's earnest and expectant eyes, Karen eventually nodded.
"I might not be very smart, Tia. Please don't set your expectations too high." When it came to complex theoretical knowledge, she usually struggled to understand and worried about disappointing this young girl's kind intentions.
"That's fine, we'll start step by step." Sylutia lightly hopped down from the bench and came to Karen's side.
"I'll adjust according to your learning progress and situation."
"What are you two talking about?" Just then Komea walked over, curious about their conversation.
"We were discussing helping Karen with her studies. Komea, would you like to come listen tomorrow?"
"Ah, tutoring? That brings back unpleasant memories." Komea had previously had tutors arranged by her parents for studying, but she was too playful back then with poor results, and eventually it faded away.
"Come give it a try."
"Hmm, alright then. But if I can't learn it, Tia, you're not allowed to call me stupid."
The three girls' laughter spread under the bright blue sky.