On the surface, Ron didn't give the Royal Capital Magic Academy any direct benefits, but there was plenty of room to maneuver when it came to the Card Research Institute.
In name, the institute was jointly established by the magic battle arena and the academy, but in practice, it relied mainly on recruited mages to operate.
Ron would assign staff to manage the funds. Mages would submit funding applications for research, staff would review them, and Ron would give the final approval.
Although the institute was affiliated with the Magic Academy, the Dean of Studies could easily designate a few mages to apply for large sums under the pretense of research—then redirect those funds elsewhere.
For example, into other magical research projects.
This wasn't even the Dean's own idea—it had been subtly suggested by Ron during negotiations.
In other words, this was essentially handing over money.
Or to put it bluntly—"a bribe."
Yet in reality, the Magic Academy hadn't actually done much in return. They didn't even punish Professor Hicks for his earlier remarks.
All they did was nominally cooperate with the magic battle arena, give the Magic Duel tournament an official title, and elevate the status of Element Cards.
This had virtually no negative impact on the academy.
At its core, they were simply lending their name in exchange for a large sum of money.
And after lending that name, the Magic Duel tournament would in turn benefit the academy—so why not?
As for claims that magic duels harmed students or wasted their time?
That was still better than letting these youngsters get into fights, drink, or chase girls.
And as a bonus, it helped reinforce the relationships between different magical elements.
Some open-minded young teaching assistants had even begun using Element Cards during lessons to capture students' attention—with surprisingly good results.
A dignified Dean of Studies wouldn't let the opinion of a single sixth-tier professor influence his judgment.
As long as the academy's interests weren't harmed—and were even improved—there was no problem.
Soon, recruitment for the Card Research Institute began, and mages eagerly signed up.
This development immediately shattered the brief downturn surrounding magic duels.
With the promotion of the Magic Duel tournament and the opening of registrations, the earlier criticisms from Professor Hicks and others were instantly washed away and forgotten.
"Magic duels" suddenly became a massive trend in the Royal Capital. The enormous prize pool sparked widespread discussion, and waves of new customers flooded into the magic battle arena.
In just one day, tournament registrations surpassed one hundred participants, perfectly fulfilling the first requirement of the system's main quest.
At the same time, recruitment for professional commentators at the magic battle arena also began.
Aside from someone like Soren, who got in through Ron's connections, all other applicants had to pass strict screening to qualify as official commentators.
Among them, Betty served as the chief examiner, testing applicants on their understanding of magic duels and their ability to explain them clearly.
After the Magic Academy announced its cooperation, an interesting phenomenon occurred.
Over the next few days, several ordinary magic academies from the Royal Capital approached Ron, expressing interest in collaborating.
It turned out that their mages had tried applying to the Card Research Institute but couldn't compete with those from the Royal Capital Magic Academy. So instead, they encouraged their own academies to seek cooperation with the magic battle arena.
However, in Ron's eyes, the Card Research Institute was essentially just a gimmick. At most, it served to let mages review newly developed cards for any inconsistencies.
The tens of thousands of gold coins allocated as "research funding" were, in reality, just a disguised "bribe" for the Royal Capital Magic Academy.
What use were ordinary academies in comparison?
Their name simply didn't carry the same weight.
Still, Ron didn't reject them outright. Instead, he proposed an idea.
He suggested that these academies establish "Magic Duel Clubs" within their campuses.
Students in these clubs could focus on studying strategies and improving together.
In the future, aside from the Magic Duel tournament, the arena could also host events like an "Academy League Cup."
Any prize money won would belong to the club, and how each academy chose to distribute it internally would be their own business.
Some academies saw no need for it, but others were willing to give it a try.
After all, it was just a club—something every academy already had plenty of. Setting up a new one was no trouble at all.
But that was a matter for later. Ron only mentioned it briefly before tossing it aside.
For now, the scale of the Magic Duel tournament seemed sufficient to complete the system's main quest, so he wasn't particularly concerned about the proposed "Academy League Cup."
If demand arose later, Nora would just have to work a bit harder.
At worst, he could compensate her properly at night.
As for Professor Hicks, Ron never met him nor mentioned him from beginning to end—as if the man didn't exist.
This was a classic move of cutting off the problem at its root.
Instead of arguing with someone like Hicks, Ron went straight to the person who could actually resolve the issue—the Dean of Studies.
And rather than using forceful methods, he achieved a reversal in public opinion through "cooperation" and the creation of the "Card Research Institute."
This left those who had publicly supported Hicks in an awkward position.
Originally, they believed that as more voices joined in, they would become the majority and overwhelm Ron through public opinion.
But in just a day or two, the situation completely reversed.
Since Professor Hicks was already known for privately disliking the Seventh Prince, the incident didn't affect him much.
However, those who had jumped in later found themselves in a far more uncomfortable situation.
Instead of becoming the majority, they were now pushed into the minority.
The quiet snickers and subtle ridicule from others were already hard enough to endure.
Worse still, they had lost the opportunity to apply for positions at the Card Research Institute, missing out on a lucrative side income.
In short, the wave of criticism against magic duels had barely formed before Ron slammed it flat onto the shore.
After all, few people could have imagined that Ron, far away in the Forest of Freyst, could receive real-time information from the Royal Capital.
Even if they guessed that much, they would never imagine that Ron could simply buy a shop in Tansen City and instantly return to the Royal Capital.
Were spatial teleportation arrays as common as cabbages?
Even cabbages needed time to grow!
What kind of situation was this?
Could it be that wherever a shop was opened, a teleportation channel could be established?
That sounded absurd.
There had to be some kind of limitation—they just hadn't figured it out yet… many people thought so.
But something like the system—
Even if they racked their brains, they would never guess it.
For Ron, there were indeed limitations—but not external ones. The only real constraint was whether he had enough wealth points.
As mid-March approached, good news arrived from the laboratory Ron had invested in at the Royal Capital Magic Academy.
The comprehensive healing potion derived from Scalevine had successfully passed multiple rounds of testing and was ready for mass production.
With that, Ron gained yet another cash cow.
Previously, plant sales from the flower shop had been his primary source of income.
Later, the Royal Capital Magic Academy developed a meditation potion using Nether Orchid seed as the main ingredient, and Ron took a share in its production, giving him a second income stream.
In addition, the hot pot barbecue restaurant and Element Card sales were thriving. However, compared to the previous two businesses, their profits, while considerable, were still on a different scale.
Only when these ventures expanded across the entire empire would they generate massive wealth through volume.
Ron wasn't in a hurry. His current wealth points were already enough for him to spend freely for quite some time.
Now, with the addition of the comprehensive healing potion, he felt even less financial pressure.
Aside from spatial transport permissions and the cultivation space, nothing else in the system shop particularly interested him.
Except for the once-daily free random skin draw, he barely even glanced at the shop.
Up to now, the Harvest Goddess skin on his system interface could only "blink."
He hadn't exchanged for any other dynamic skins.
These skins couldn't be touched, didn't make cute sounds, and didn't include anything like "clothing removal" or other… more "interesting" features.
So Ron maintained his usual frugal attitude—
Only free draws, no spending.