Putting the matter aside for now, after Nora woke up from her nap, the two of them messed around in the tent for a while before mounting their horses and leaving the temporary camp to hunt deeper inside the Sunset Forest.
Most of the participants in the spring hunt gathered around noble youths who were specifically there to recruit talent.
These groups spread out across the eastern region of the Sunset Forest, casually hunting while also "hunting" the real targets of this trip—the talented individuals among the crowd.
Ron had no intention of recruiting anyone. With Yuna, a sixth-tier assassin, and Sylvie, a sixth-tier mage, by his side, he simply wasn't interested in so-called geniuses who were only at the second or third tier.
So he and Nora avoided crowded areas, focusing only on enjoying themselves.
However, quite a few people had originally planned to consider joining Prince Ron.
Among the five princes still alive, the First and Second Princes held the greatest power, followed by the Fourth Prince, and then Prince Ron—there was no need to even mention Prince Soren.
But compared to the top three, Prince Ron had fewer direct subordinates and a relatively "clean" faction, making it easier for newcomers to secure important positions.
Moreover, Ron controlled a number of valuable resources.
For example, Nether Orchid and Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum were extremely attractive to both mages and warriors.
Although joining other factions might grant small allocations of these plants, the quantity would definitely not compare to what Ron could offer.
Especially for mages—Ron had strong ties with both Disaode Magic Academy and the Royal Capital Magic Academy, and he had even established his own private experimental area.
These conditions were highly appealing.
On top of that, since most people still leaned toward other factions, the competition on Ron's side would naturally be much lower.
As a result, some mages—who weren't particularly strong in combat but had some research experience—became interested.
But when they arrived at the Sunset Forest, they realized—
This wasn't low competition.
There was no competition at all!
Prince Ron wasn't recruiting anyone—he had simply taken his companion and gone off into the woods.
This left many people baffled.
Could it be that Prince Ron, like Prince Soren, was also a carefree playboy more interested in pleasure than power?
Wasn't this Chosen One of the Goddess of Harvest — Hervesta being a bit too irresponsible?
Of course, Ron had no idea about any of this. He was busy personally guiding Nora on how to draw a bow and shoot.
As for the warriors and mages from the Spring Martial Tournament?
He truly had no interest…
With two sixth-tier protectors, plus the Life Belt and the system's all-around protection, having one or two third-tier warriors as guards made little practical difference.
As for mages—
What he needed were research-type mages, not combat-type ones.
Even if the mages participating in the Spring Martial Tournament had some exposure to magical experiments, they were likely only half-baked.
Those who truly devoted themselves to research were usually weak in combat.
At the very least, they wouldn't make it into a nationwide competition like the Spring Martial Tournament.
Geniuses who could excel in both were extremely rare.
Especially since they were all so young—where would they find the time to master both combat and research?
If Ron wanted to fill positions in his private experimental area, it would be far easier to recruit graduates directly from the two major magic academies.
With his current financial resources, he could easily offer待遇 comparable to—or even better than—those academies.
That was much simpler than trying to pick out a research-oriented mage from among combat-focused participants.
"Keep your back straight, arms open. Your line of sight, the arrow, and the target should form a straight line," Ron patiently instructed.
Even though every arrow Nora shot went wildly off course, he didn't mind at all.
After all, the goal wasn't really to teach her archery.
The important part was the process, not the result.
Dates were meant to build closeness—something was charming about a girl being a little clumsy, wasn't there?
Would anyone seriously play games with their girlfriend and genuinely complain that she was bad?
No way, right?
Shouldn't you start with a low-level account and be fully prepared to lose points together?
The real focus was teasing and flirting along the way.
Ideally, guiding her hand-in-hand.
A bit of hugging, playful teasing—
Before you know it, you might end up on the couch or the bed.
At the very least, sneaking in a cheeky kiss or two.
If you approached it purely with the intention of "teaching," you'd be missing the point entirely.
"Ah! I hit it!" After who knows how many arrows, Nora finally got lucky. The arrow lightly struck a small deer's rear.
But due to the lack of force, it only left a tiny wound before falling off.
Startled and hurt, the deer cried out and bolted.
"Ah! It's running away!" Nora exclaimed in disappointment.
At the right moment, Ron reached over, took the bow from her, and fired an arrow ahead of the deer's path.
Whether it was skill or luck—or the deer "cooperating"—the arrow struck its neck, bringing it down instantly.
Nora clapped happily, celebrating the first prey she and Ron had hunted together.
For the entire afternoon, that was their only catch.
Mainly because Ron didn't want to take over—unless Nora could hit one herself, there was no need for him to intervene.
After all, hunting wasn't his main purpose here.
What mattered most was that Nora had fun.
Catching even one deer was enough to keep her excited all day.
They brought the prey back to camp and handed it to the soldiers to process into clean venison for their evening barbecue.
When Ron returned to the tent, he saw Nora chatting with a girl.
Looking closer, he realized it was Betty.
"Your Highness Ron," Betty greeted him with a respectful bow.
"You came for the spring hunt too?" Ron was a bit surprised, then quickly remembered. "Oh… I did hear you took leave a couple of days ago."
Ron knew Betty had taken leave from the battle arena for a few days, but he hadn't expected her to be here.
"Prince Soren invited my friend, and I got dragged along," Betty said shyly. "But this afternoon they… they…"
She trailed off, unsure how to continue.
Ron immediately raised a hand to stop her, rubbing his forehead. "Say no more. Knowing him, I already get the idea."
"Then have dinner with us!" Nora said, taking Betty's hand and glancing at Ron for approval. "We even caught a deer today—Betty can join us, right?"
Rewarding a future star commentator seemed like a good idea to Ron.
"Sure, let's eat together." Just then, the soldiers brought over the prepared venison. Ron gestured toward the large plate. "The two of us can't finish it anyway."
Betty nodded happily.
The three of them sat by the tent, grilling meat.
With the addition of Spice Pine Seed seasoning, even the slightly burnt pieces Betty made had a unique flavor.
"Our battle arena will likely host an official magic duel tournament in April," Ron said, taking a bite of fragrant venison. "Not like the usual arena matches—more like the Spring Martial Tournament format."
Betty's eyes lit up. "What scale are we talking about? Will it be inside the arena, or…?"
Nora smiled and added, "The venue is almost finished—on Moonview Street."
"Just the number of participants alone is expected to reach at least three digits," Ron continued.
"The current plan is to divide the competition into preliminaries, qualifiers, elimination rounds, round-robin stages, and final elimination matches."
"The preliminaries and qualifiers will be held inside the battle arena."
"Once it reaches the elimination stage, it will move to the venue on Moonview Street."
"I'd like to invite you to be one of the main commentators. What do you think?"
Betty froze for a moment at the invitation.
"I can do it… But I also want to compete," she said shyly. "Maybe I can commentate for matches other than my own?"
That put Ron in a bit of a dilemma.
It also made him realize a problem—there simply weren't enough commentators in the magic battle arena.
Even if Betty gave up competing and handled all the commentary herself, it would be too exhausting.
If the number of matches exceeded a hundred, covering everything alone would be overwhelming.
Up until now, Ron had focused on venues, participants, equipment, and audience experience.
He hadn't paid enough attention to the commentator side of things.
"No rush," Ron said. "I just wanted to give you a heads-up. We'll figure it out after we return. Either way, it won't interfere with your participation."
With Betty's strength, as long as she wasn't unlucky, she would definitely make it to the elimination rounds.
If she performed steadily, even reaching the round-robin stage wasn't impossible.
Compared to a pretty commentator, a skilled and attractive female competitor would draw even more attention.
Ron wasn't about to sacrifice the bigger picture for something minor.
Which meant—
He'd need to start recruiting and training a group of professional commentators.
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Ron made a mental note of it.