Ron greeted Edith.
Edith returned the gesture and walked over to the table. "Your Eminence Ron, weren't you going to look for Harper? Didn't you find him?"
"I did. We talked for quite a while."
"How is he? Is he in a better state now?"
"Yeah. He's planning to resign. I'll build him a laboratory—just like your sister."
Edith: "?"
This sudden turn of events caught her completely off guard.
What exactly happened in just one afternoon?
"What's going on?" Edith looked at Illya in shock, only to realize she was already writing a resignation letter. "Hey, hey—this is way too hasty, isn't it?"
Illya ignored her and continued writing.
Ron had no choice but to explain everything to Edith in detail.
A few minutes later, Edith sat to the side, examining the water condenser in her hands while carefully sensing the changes in the Element Potato's internal reserves.
After setting it down, she looked at Ron—who had just taken a sip of water—and, after a moment of thought, said with a slight smile, "Then I'll resign too."
"Pff—cough cough!" Ron nearly spat out his water, coughing as he said helplessly, "Yours is the truly rash decision, isn't it?"
"I've already decided," Edith said casually, waving her hand. She pulled out a sheet of paper and began writing her own resignation letter.
"Professor Hicks' Meditation Potion 2.0 has already been completed, and nothing is interesting going on in the lab right now."
"Besides, staying in the academy doesn't feel like I'm learning anything new anymore. I might as well resign and follow you all instead."
"Hey, hey…" Ron felt a bit helpless. It suddenly seemed like he was abducting two elven Holy Maidens. "At least Harper and Illya are resigning because of experimental needs. You don't really have to, do you?"
"Hm? Are you looking down on me, Your Eminence Ron?" Edith covered her mouth and laughed softly. "I'm actually quite worried about your laboratory."
"One is an explosion maniac who only thinks about increasing destructive power."
"The other is a research fanatic who won't sleep for three days and nights once she enters experimental mode."
"If you leave the lab entirely to those two, would you really feel at ease?"
Ron's expression stiffened.
That… actually sounded like a serious problem.
He had only been thinking about their research capabilities and had almost forgotten about the risks they brought with them.
Seeing him fall into thought, Edith pressed her advantage:
"Think about it—when they're doing experiments, they'll need someone to assist them, right?"
"Someone has to handle the lab's daily maintenance, right?"
"Someone has to oversee and manage the progress of experiments, right?"
"They both can do these things, sure—but honestly, that's my specialty."
"I've been working with Professor Hicks' team all this time. My fundamentals are actually more solid than theirs."
Ron listened, nodding thoughtfully at first, then chuckled. "Are all elven Holy Maidens like this? Eager to become someone else's workforce?"
Their relationship had always been good, so Edith didn't mind the joke. She simply snorted lightly with a smile.
"It's not free labor. Illya and I won't be asking for a small salary."
"Of course, I wouldn't shortchange you," Ron shrugged. "As long as you've thought it through, I don't mind taking all of you in."
"Then it's settled." Edith smiled and lowered her head, continuing to write her resignation letter.
The lab fell quiet, filled only with the scratching of pens on paper.
Ron looked at their graceful figures and couldn't help but feel surprised at how things had turned out.
Elven Holy Maidens… buy one, get one free?
It felt like he had achieved something rather incredible.
After sitting for a while, Ron figured there wasn't much left for him to do and stood up to leave.
"You two can think it over a bit more. If you're sure, come find me at Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop after resigning. I'll introduce you to my manager, Guy."
"You can coordinate with Harper and report all your lab requirements to him. He'll handle the arrangements."
After saying their goodbyes, Ron left the Magic Academy.
As his carriage rolled back toward the flower shop, Ron tapped the seat beneath him and suddenly wondered—
Could he use Element Potatoes to create an "element-powered vehicle"?
He had discussed this with Illya before, but due to the production limits and high cost of elemental stones, cars simply had no place in this world.
Ordinary people couldn't afford them.
Even nobles would find them unnecessary.
After all, powering something as large as a carriage would require far more than just one or two elemental stones.
Who would burn money on that?
As for mages and warriors, using magic or combat techniques for high-speed movement was far more cost-effective than relying on element-powered carriages.
At the time, Ron had only mentioned the idea casually, and after Illya rejected it, he didn't think further about it.
But now, with Element Potatoes—
Not only could they be mass-produced, but they also came with a built-in "recharging" function.
Wasn't this basically a battery from another world?
Even better—like solar power, but without needing manual charging.
Solar power still had limitations like nighttime and cloudy weather, but Element Potatoes had no such constraints.
If their ability to convert other elements was proven true, then even environmental limitations would disappear.
Because in this world, aside from a few extremely special environments, elements of all kinds were everywhere.
If Element Potatoes could convert one element into another, then even in places like deserts or volcanoes—where water elements were scarce—large amounts of water could still be produced.
Of course, all of this still needed to be verified.
The idea of cars could wait for now.
He would revisit it once Illya's experiments progressed further.
With that thought, Ron temporarily set aside the matter of building a private magic laboratory and instead turned his attention back to Magic Duels with Element Cards.
In a few days, the renovation of the first floor of the Magic Battle Arena should be complete, and promotional efforts should start immediately.
With the huge traffic and popularity of the Spring Martial Tournament, it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.
Ron began planning in his mind.
After all, he had sponsored it with real money—it was only fair to hang up a banner promoting the Magic Battle Arena.
Hiring people to stir discussion in the audience about Wardson and Rowell's duel wasn't a bad idea either.
As the captain of the Royal Capital's top team, Wardson already had massive attention.
In just a few days, titles like "Iron-Blooded Wardson," "Cold-Faced Captain," and "Ruthless Commander" had already spread.
This was a perfect hype point.
If he also dug up the past grudges between Wardson and Rowell and stirred them up again, the Magic Battle Arena would instantly enter everyone's field of vision.
The cold-faced captain Wardson, seeking to wash away past humiliation, trains tirelessly for days just to challenge Duke Christine's grandson Rowell once more—and reclaim his true love!
Whether it was true or not didn't matter.
What mattered was the drama.