Before coming to the spring hunt, Ron hadn't expected something like this to happen.
But once it did, it gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.
It felt just like in his previous world—when teachers confiscated students' phones and declared that online games were harmful.
Although esports eventually gained recognition, the process of "de-demonizing" it had been long and difficult.
Ron hadn't expected to encounter something similar in another world.
If that professor's words continued to spread and gradually formed a consensus—"magic dueling is harmful"—
Then what would happen to his upcoming Magic Cup?
This was something he absolutely couldn't allow.
So after learning about the situation, Ron immediately decided to leave the temporary camp with Nora and return to Tansen City.
Meanwhile, inside the First Prince's tent at the camp, a shadow rose from the ground, a hoarse voice emerging from within:
"Your Highness, the Seventh Prince is preparing to leave. Should we follow him?"
"Mm, see what he's up to," Eil nodded, tapping his fingers lightly on his knee. After a moment of thought, he added, "If he leaves Tansen City and rides back to the Royal Capital, return immediately."
"But if he plans to buy a shop in Tansen City, and disappears from it… search the place."
"Yes." The shadow acknowledged and sank back into the ground.
In truth, ever since it became known that Ron's flower shop possessed a special spatial transmission ability, countless people had tried various methods to investigate it.
But so far, nothing had been discovered.
The only thing known was that aside from Ron, a few others had permission to use the teleportation space. Beyond that, everything remained a mystery.
Such a convenient ability naturally attracted attention.
This probe against Ron was meant to create an opportunity—forcing him to purchase a shop in a new city and use spatial transmission to return to the Royal Capital.
Of course, Eil didn't expect guaranteed success. It was merely an attempt.
After all, he was already attending the spring hunt, and there were indeed people in the Royal Capital planning to target Ron.
So Eil simply went with the flow and used the situation to his advantage.
If he could uncover the truth behind the spatial transmission, all the better. Even a few clues would suffice.
And if nothing was found, he would lose nothing.
After thinking it over and confirming there were no issues, he left the tent to continue the afternoon hunt, no longer dwelling on the matter.
Meanwhile, Ron had already entered Tansen City and gone straight to the town administrator, requesting a list of shops currently for sale.
Buying a shop in Tansen City was an idea he'd had since arriving.
Originally, he planned to wait until after the spring hunt to carefully inspect the area before making a decision.
But now that something had happened in the Royal Capital, he couldn't be bothered to take his time. After a quick selection, he made his choice.
After all, this branch in Tansen City wouldn't be used for living or selling plants—it would purely serve as a teleportation point.
What he truly valued was Tansen City's location and its low land prices, making it ideal as a second production base after the outskirts of the City of Chaos.
But that was for later.
The priority now was to return to the Royal Capital and deal with the professor's remarks.
As for long-term plans in Tansen City, there was no rush.
The production capacity outside the City of Chaos was currently more than sufficient. As long as Element Cards hadn't fully spread across the entire empire, supply would meet demand.
Plans for Tansen City could be considered gradually in the future.
While thinking this through, Ron followed the administrator to the entrance of a shop.
The seller had already been waiting. Hearing that the Seventh Prince wanted to buy his property, he was both excited and nervous.
When Ron paid 5 gold coins without hesitation, the seller beamed with joy, bowing repeatedly.
On Aikley Street in the City of Chaos, a single shop cost at least a hundred gold coins—prime locations could easily reach four digits.
But in Tansen City, a shop could be bought for just 5 gold coins—and the seller still felt he had made a huge profit.
That alone showed just how poor Tansen City's economy had become.
After purchasing the shop, Ron didn't even bother renovating it, since it wouldn't be used for business.
He directly spent 200,000 wealth points to unlock a spatial transmission channel, linking the Tansen City shop with the flower shops in the Royal Capital and the City of Chaos.
"You head back to the Royal Capital first. I'll handle something here and follow shortly," Ron said, sending Nora through the shop's storage room. Then he spoke into the air, "Yuna?"
A shadow emerged from the ceiling, forming Yuna's upper body.
She looked surprised, staring at the storage room door. "This spatial ability of yours… is it really granted by the Goddess of Harvest — Hervesta?"
"Of course. Do you think I could do this myself?" Ron shrugged, effortlessly shifting responsibility. Then he added, "Someone might sneak in later…"
"You want me to watch this place?"
"Mm, but don't guard it too tightly," Ron reminded her. "If someone wants to investigate, let them. That way, people will stop obsessing over it."
"You're sure they won't discover anything?" Yuna frowned.
"Unless someone bears the Goddess's mark, they can't use the transmission channel. Opening the storage room door will just reveal an ordinary storage room."
Ron spoke calmly.
"But don't let them get too bold. After they're done searching, give them a small warning."
"Understood." Yuna nodded and dissolved back into shadow.
Reassured, Ron stepped into the storage room.
The shop fell silent.
Not long after—
A shadow slipped into the shop—it was the First Prince's subordinate.
Since both Yuna and the intruder used Shadow Battle Aura, his movements were completely clear to her while she remained still.
The shadow darted around the shop, searching thoroughly from top to bottom—but found nothing.
He passed through the storage room door several times, yet sensed nothing unusual about the spatial transmission channel.
According to the system, unless one was a legendary-tier spatial mage, it was impossible to detect such a connection.
Let alone a mere sixth-tier assassin.
Once the shadow had finished searching, Yuna suddenly appeared behind him and lightly tapped him with her Shadow Battle Aura.
The assassin reacted instantly—his body shrank as two daggers shot out from beneath his ribs, stabbing backward.
But Yuna had no intention of fighting. The moment she made contact, she retreated into shadow.
"I didn't expect you could evade my detection now," the assassin said in a hoarse voice.
Before entering, he had carefully checked the area and confirmed no one was inside.
Yuna had only advanced to the sixth tier last year—she should still be relatively inexperienced at this level.
He shouldn't have missed her presence.
They had been longtime rivals in the shadow division, and thanks to his age, he had always been one tier above her.
Yet now, after just over a year, Yuna seemed to be catching up.
What he didn't know was that thanks to the resin's ability to heal hidden injuries, Yuna's strength had improved rapidly in recent months, and her Shadow Battle Aura had become even more refined.
In terms of aura quality alone, below the legendary tier, she feared no one.
Hearing the confusion in his voice, Yuna curled her lips into a cold smile—completely different from how she spoke to Ron.
"Search all you want. But if you don't leave now, you'll be leaving something behind."
The man didn't hesitate. Seeing no clues, he chose not to engage further and vanished into the shadows.