Morning of March 7th.
"I've made plans with a few young ladies—we're heading out together today. Want to join?" Soven asked after finishing his breakfast, draining his hot milk, and wiping his mouth.
"Have fun. We'll pass," Ron replied without hesitation, already guessing what kind of "activities" Soven had in mind.
Soven had long since figured out Ron's temperament in such matters, so he didn't mind. With a grin, he got up, patted his backside, and left to meet his "playmates."
Half an hour later, Ron led two horses and brought Nora to the town gate.
Mounting one of them, Ron reached out, pulled Nora up onto the horse, and wrapped an arm around her waist.
Nora looked tense, bracing herself on the saddle. As the horse shifted back and forth, her body swayed uneasily.
"Don't be afraid," Ron said with a smile. "With me here, you won't fall."
Hearing his voice behind her, Nora relaxed a little. Following his instructions, she slowly straightened her back and pressed her legs against the horse's sides.
"That's it. Don't tense up—relax. Otherwise, you'll be shaken apart in no time."
Ron held the reins of the other horse, letting both move forward at an easy pace.
Nora's nervous expression was mixed with curiosity and excitement, like a child playing with a new toy for the first time. The experience felt fresh and novel to her.
"S-slower, Boss…" As the horses gradually picked up speed, Nora began to panic. "It's too fast—I can't handle it…"
"How about this speed?" Ron adjusted the reins, keeping the horses moving steadily.
After a while, Nora felt she had adapted. She turned her head slightly and said softly, "Boss, you can go a bit faster now."
"How much faster?" Ron teased, flicking the reins.
The horse instantly broke from a trot into a gallop.
Nora's mind went blank for a moment before she let out a sharp "Ah!" Her body stiffened as she pressed tightly back into Ron's chest, completely frozen.
"N-not so fast!" Nora's voice trembled as she squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing tightly at Ron's clothes. "Boss… Boss… it's too fast…"
Ron stopped teasing her and gradually slowed the horse, looking down with an amused smile at Nora's flushed face.
"If you don't let go, you're going to tear my clothes apart."
Only then did Nora realize what she was doing. She loosened her grip, but still felt uneasy, so she clung to the arm Ron had wrapped around her, refusing to let go.
The two of them rode together, stopping and starting along the way. At one point, Nora even tried riding the other horse by herself for a short while.
But in the end, she got too scared, and Ron pulled her back onto his horse.
After all that, what should have been just a two-to-three-kilometer trip from Tansen City to the outer temporary camp of the Sunset Forest ended up taking them an entire morning to complete at a leisurely pace.
At the camp, soldiers arranged a tent for them. Nearby were grilling racks and food supplies for outdoor cooking.
If needed, the soldiers could also help prepare the food.
After handing the horses over, Ron personally prepared a barbecue. Paired with seasoning made from Spice Pine Seed powder, the two enjoyed a satisfying lunch.
Exhausted from the morning's ride, Nora went straight into the tent to rest and sleep.
Meanwhile, Ron took the opportunity to project his consciousness into the puppets in the Royal Capital, managing various matters related to the flower shop and the battle arena.
During the past two days of Nora's absence, Guy had once again taken over handling visitors who came to negotiate partnerships with the flower shop.
Fortunately, the earlier matters—such as investing in the Royal Capital Magic Academy laboratories and establishing joint scholarship funds with the Royal Capital Magic Academy and the Royal Capital First Military Academy—had already come to an end.
Combined with the fact that the peak period for partnership negotiations had passed, Guy had managed to avoid being overwhelmed.
With Ron's approval, Guy had also recruited several experienced junior managers from the City of Chaos and the Gold Reserve Bank in the Royal Capital, forming an economic team to work under Ron.
Integrating flower shop funds, funneling money into hot pot restaurants in the Northern Territory, donating to the Spring Martial Tournament, covering joint promotional expenses with Kiel, funding the construction of the Moonview Street arena, and investing in the Royal Capital Magic Academy laboratories and the private experimental area…
All of Ron's various expenditures were now basically handled by Guy.
At the same time, Ron had begun intentionally involving Nora in these matters bit by bit, preventing Guy from accumulating too much power and potentially growing greedy.
When enormous benefit are at stake, testing human nature isn't wise; effective checks and balances are necessary.
After asking around, Ron got a general understanding of the situation over the past two days.
The arena on Moonview Street was basically completed. What remained were interior additions, which would be followed up by the battle arena staff and Kiel.
As for the upcoming large-scale magic dueling tournament—the "Magic Cup"—preparations had already begun under Kiel's direction.
By mid-March, when Ron and Nora returned to the Royal Capital, things could officially get underway.
Additionally, the Mana–Element Reaction zone in the City of Chaos had been fully constructed, and Harper was currently conducting a series of safety tests.
Because the facilities there were highly intricate, testing would take time—likely lasting until mid-March.
As a result, the side quest "Construct and activate the private experimental area" had not yet been completed.
As for the main quest "Make hot pot and barbecue restaurants popular across the Human Empire," it still seemed far off.
At the very least, it wouldn't happen this spring.
Capturing the Northern and Eastern Territory markets would already be a solid achievement.
Meanwhile, the main quest "Organize a magic duel tournament" wouldn't see results until April.
Just as Ron was thinking through all this, Sylvie contacted him through a puppet with a sudden report.
"Your Eminence Ron, this morning at the Royal Capital Magic Academy, a sixth-tier mage professor confiscated a student's Element Card during class and publicly denounced magic dueling as something harmful."
Sylvie continued:
"The matter has already spread throughout the academy, and many people outside are beginning to discuss it as well. This could potentially be detrimental to you."
Ron frowned upon hearing the news.
"Who is the professor?"
"Melken, age sixty-seven, specializes in light-element white magic. He is a devout follower of the Church of the Healing God, and his younger brother is one of its bishops."
Sylvie explained:
"Previously, the laboratory he leads refused the academy's supply of Nether Orchid and Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum. Later, after seeing good results in other labs, he shamelessly accepted them again."
"Additionally, he has privately criticized you and Prince Soven, and strongly opposes Element Cards, though his influence has been limited and not widely known."
After hearing this, Ron roughly understood the situation.
As the Chosen One of the Goddess of Harvest — Hervesta, he couldn't be liked by everyone.
Professor Melken clearly had a problem with him.
Although he had targeted Ron before, it had been minor enough that Ron barely noticed.
But this time—confiscating a student's Element Card and publicly condemning magic dueling—had stirred significant controversy among the academy's students.
"Keep monitoring the situation and see how it develops. If people gradually lose interest, we don't need to interfere," Ron said.
At its core, this was just a matter between a professor and a student. The Element Card had merely been caught in the crossfire.
If the impact remained confined within the academy and faded after a few days, there would be no need for Ron to step in.
Unless, of course, this had been premeditated.
Withdrawing his consciousness, Ron fell into thought.
Both Sylvie and Yuna had previously mentioned that after the military's internal purge ended, major factions had relaxed—and some had begun turning their attention back toward him.
For now, direct physical attacks were unlikely. But causing him trouble in other ways was certainly possible.
And if that were the case, Ron had no intention of sitting idle.
After all, the reputation of Element Cards and magic dueling directly affected whether his main quest could be completed.
If magic dueling were deliberately demonized, then his Magic Cup tournament might be strangled before it even began.
Perhaps someone had noticed that he had left the Royal Capital for the spring hunt and decided to make a move.
Unfortunately for them, they didn't know that Ron possessed a communication tool as convenient as puppets.