"Wardson's here?"
Nora sat in a temporary lounge on the second floor, holding a chibi Ron plush in her arms—it was the plush that was speaking.
"Mm, he's here," Nora replied. "He took a look around the arena, bought an Elementia card and a wall poster, and then sat down at the duel platform to wait for Rowell."
"Got it. Just proceed as planned," Ron's voice came from the plush.
Since they were communicating through the plush, Ron himself was naturally not present.
A few days ago, Harper, Edith, and Illya had all resigned from Chaos City Magic Academy and left, intending to follow him in establishing an experimental zone.
Over the past few days, they had been accompanying Guy to the outskirts near the Darle River, determining the location of the experimental zone, designing laboratory blueprints, and confirming the required materials.
By this afternoon, a preliminary plan had been completed, so they invited Ron over to make the final decision.
After all, this experimental zone was fully funded by Ron himself. No matter how much he trusted the three of them, he couldn't just hand everything over without any oversight.
Moreover, in Ron's view, while the Element Cards were fun—and creating pay-to-win Magic Duels and skins was something he genuinely enjoyed—compared to Harper's project, it simply didn't feel as significant.
One side was just a game; the other could involve the very nature of magic itself.
It was obvious which one interested Ron more.
He had already spent over a decade immersed in games in his previous world. Promoting card games in this new world was more about the novelty of seeing people here play them.
It couldn't compare to the appeal of Harper's work.
On top of that, Nora had been fully in charge of the Magic Battle Arena's opening, managing everything in an orderly fashion. Whether Ron was present or not made little difference.
Everyone knew the arena belonged to Prince Ron, the Seventh Prince—no one had the guts to cause trouble here.
As time passed, more and more people arrived at the Magic Battle Arena.
Many commoners, after experiencing the fun of Magic Duels, settled into the duel area.
With the help of dealers, even those who couldn't remember the relationships between elements could still play randomly and somehow beat their opponents badly.
However, even more people gathered in the small plaza deeper in the hall, occupying good spots in anticipation of the upcoming duel.
And getting to see Wardson—the captain of the Royal Capital's top team—up close wasn't bad either.
Betty and her group sat in the booth area near the plaza. A noble lady who knew magic cast a farsight spell, allowing them to clearly see Wardson on the duel platform.
If Ron were here and saw this scene, he'd probably feel like it was a group of fangirls chasing after an esports superstar, even bringing their own "binoculars" to the venue.
To be fair, Wardson's good looks, his somewhat aloof demeanor, and his exceptional strength among his peers made him extremely appealing.
If Ron ever wanted to cultivate star players, Wardson would definitely be at the top of his list.
Of course, that was just a passing thought—there was no way the general's son would fall to that level.
"Betty, you're amazing—you haven't lost a single match yet," one of her friends sighed, laying down her cards. "Why don't you go up and play Wardson first? He's not doing anything right now anyway."
"I wouldn't dare go up there." Betty gathered her cards, shuffled them, and looked at her defeated friends. "Anyone else want to try?"
"You just love bullying us," another noble lady teased. "Honestly, I think Betty's skills are really good. She might even be better than Wardson and Rowell."
"Stop joking." Betty shook her head modestly. "I just play casually."
The group chatted a bit more, gradually shifting the topic to gossip about Wardson, Rowell, and Leticia.
Around 2 p.m., Rowell finally arrived—fashionably late—with Leticia.
Under the guidance of the staff, the crowd in the plaza parted to form a path, allowing the two to pass through smoothly and reach the duel platform.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Rowell said with a polite smile.
Wardson remained seated, merely opening his eyes to glance at him and giving a slight nod.
To be fair, while both were nobles, if you set aside their family backgrounds and looked purely at personal achievements, Wardson far surpassed Rowell.
Unfortunately, Rowell was clearly better with words—and had successfully won over Leticia, the Flower of the North.
Wardson, the straightforward type, had fallen victim to the classic setup.
The story involving the three of them had long spread throughout the Royal Capital.
Now that people could see all three together, discussions immediately erupted across the plaza.
It felt like watching scandal-ridden celebrities sharing the same stage—everyone was excited.
"Do either of you have anything to say? If not, we'll begin," the host arranged by Nora asked as they stepped onto the platform.
Wardson shook his head and looked at Rowell. "Let's skip the talk. We'll let skill decide."
Rowell shrugged indifferently and sat down across from him. "As you wish."
A staff member brought a chair for Leticia so she could sit beside Rowell and watch.
"Dear guests, welcome to the Magic Battle Arena on its opening day. Thank you all for coming."
After a brief greeting, the host went straight to the point:
"Everyone is already familiar with today's duel, so without further ado—the match begins now."
As soon as the words fell, two dealers stepped onto the platform, each taking position on one side.
At the same time, two others stood behind each player to confirm their hands and report them to the staff managing the whiteboards above.
During this time, the host began explaining the basic rules of Magic Duels, ensuring that the many commoners present—who had never encountered it before—could understand.
Meanwhile, the dealers inspected both players' decks, removing duplicate cards of the same rank and suit in pairs.
This duel would be a best-of-five.
At the start of each round, both players could choose one card from a pair of identical rank and suit cards to include in their deck, forming a standard 54-card Element Card deck.
No more, no less, and no duplicates.
After the host finished explaining the rules, the dealers completed their checks, and the match officially began.
Staff members wheeled out two wooden frames from either side of the plaza.
Each frame had three red balloons hanging from it—though their purpose wasn't immediately clear.
They were placed beneath the duel platform on either side of the players, positioned so they wouldn't obstruct the audience's view.
"Alright, both players have confirmed their decks and are now drawing their hands. Let's take a look at what they've got…"
As the host spoke, staff had already confirmed each player's five-card hand. Enlarged Element Cards were then displayed on the whiteboards suspended from the ceiling.
The audience in the plaza could immediately see everything clearly.