In the early days of the Human Empire's founding, the Sunset Forest to the west marked the empire's western border.
What is now considered the empire's western territory—the lands beyond the Sunset Forest—was, at that time, an undeveloped and untamed wilderness.
As the largest natural forest within the Human Empire, the Sunset Forest spans an area comparable to nearly half of the Eastern Territory.
Because of its abundant internal resources, the forest attracted wave after wave of fortune-seekers during the early years of the empire.
Especially in the eastern border of the Sunset Forest, the city closest to the Royal Capital—Tansen City—was once known as the "Golden Bridgehead."
This symbolized that as long as one entered the Sunset Forest from Tansen City, they could reap vast amounts of gold.
However, due to overexploitation of the forest area near Tansen City, its resources rapidly dwindled.
Around the 50th year of the Empire Calendar, as nearby forest resources were exhausted, Tansen City gradually declined from its former peak, eventually becoming the ordinary and somewhat rundown town it is today.
Particularly after the large-scale development of the Western Territory began, opportunists shifted their focus further west—some even reaching as far as the mineral-rich Manchester Mountains.
As high-quality resources from the Western Territory were continuously extracted and transported to other regions, Tansen City's importance declined even further.
Moreover, due to its location on the eastern edge of the Sunset Forest—separated from the Western Territory by the entire forest—resources from the far west often had to bypass both sides of the forest.
And most of these transport routes didn't pass through Tansen City at all, instead heading directly toward the Northern Territory, Southern Territory, and the Royal Capital.
So when the convoy arrived at Tansen City on the evening of the second day, Ron could only see an ordinary, even slightly dilapidated town.
None of its former glory remained.
Closing the book, The Evolution of Tansen City, Ron sat in the carriage, gazing at the streets and shops outside before suddenly saying, "I'm thinking about buying a shop here."
"Huh?"
Nora, sitting beside him, was taken aback. She hadn't expected the Boss to suddenly bring this up.
"Why would you want to buy a shop here? Didn't the book say the economy here has declined a lot?"
"Exactly." Ron nodded. "That's why property prices have dropped significantly as well."
"But not many people here can afford the plants from a flower shop, right?"
"I'm not planning to sell flowers here," Ron shrugged. "It's mainly to establish a spatial transmission channel, so I can come here whenever I want."
"Although I've already bought a large piece of land near the Darle River in the City of Chaos and gathered a group of nuns there…"
"Many nuns from the Western and Northern Territories, even though they have plenty of free time, haven't chosen to go to the City of Chaos because it's too far."
"But Tansen City is relatively close to both the Western and Northern Territories. Land here is cheap, and since it's near the Sunset Forest, it's also quite suitable for transplanting Chameleon Radish."
After hearing Ron's reasoning, Nora didn't say anything more.
In the end, these were Ron's decisions—she wouldn't interfere.
Of course, Ron didn't make a final decision right away. It was just an idea for now.
They would be participating in hunts within the Sunset Forest over the next few days, so he still had plenty of time to think it through.
To be fair, if focusing only on the Human Empire's internal market, the City of Chaos—located at the intersection of the four races in the center of the continent—didn't actually have the best geographical advantage.
If possible, setting up a flower shop branch in Tansen City, slightly east of the empire's center, and acquiring nearby land to replicate the same production chain as in the City of Chaos might not be a bad option.
Now that the flower shop's business was growing larger and larger, his wealth had already exceeded 500,000.
And opening a spatial transmission channel for a shop only required 200,000.
At this point, if he didn't start opening branches and just let his wealth sit idle, it would be a bit of a waste.
So, while getting off the carriage with Nora to have dinner, Ron projected his consciousness into the puppet in the Royal Capital and found Sylvie, asking her about the number of idle nuns currently in the Western and Northern Territories.
He also asked her to conduct a survey—if Tansen City had infrastructure similar to the City of Chaos, how many nuns would be willing to go there?
Then he shifted his consciousness to the puppet left in the private experimental area and contacted Illya again, asking about the cost of making a staff capable of casting the Plant Manipulation Spell, powered by Element Potato.
In the future, the demand for productivity will only grow higher.
The number of wood-element mages was ultimately limited, while the number of ordinary people—compared to the manpower needed for production bases—was practically inexhaustible.
So if Element Potato could significantly reduce the cost of using such staff and allow ordinary people to operate them, could this model be scaled up?
A flood of ideas surfaced in Ron's mind, but they all remained as thoughts—he had no intention of putting them into action immediately.
This kind of thing had to be done step by step. For now, enjoying the spring hunt was more important.
After the convoy entered Tansen City, some of the more impatient members rode straight toward the Sunset Forest two kilometers away.
The advance team had already set up camp there, and since it was still evening, they could make it in time.
But Ron and Nora weren't in a hurry. After leisurely finishing dinner and with night fully fallen, they returned to a hotel in Tansen City, planning to stay the night and head into the Sunset Forest the next morning.
"Boss," Nora stood by the window, watching the horses heading toward the city gates, and suddenly thought of something. "Are we taking a carriage tomorrow morning, or riding horses directly?"
"Riding horses."
"But… I don't know how to ride…"
"Then what do you know how to ride?" Ron hugged her soft body from behind and teased with a grin.
"I—I don't know how to ride anything…"
"I'll teach you then." Ron held her wrists gently. "Like this—we'll ride one horse together, and I'll show you how to hold the reins."
"Mm." Nora's cheeks flushed slightly as she leaned quietly into Ron's arms, imagining herself on horseback with him behind her. The thought alone made her feel a little giddy.
"Let's learn how to ride first and build some experience," Ron said with a smile. "That way, when you learn to ride other things in the future, it'll be much easier."
"Huh?" Nora blinked, confused. "Other than horses… what else would I need to learn to ride?"
"Cough…" Ron touched his nose, then picked her up and slowly walked toward the bathroom. "You'll find out later."