April 10th.
The Magic Cup elimination rounds had officially concluded.
Ron André hadn't paid much attention to the matches themselves. After listening to Nora's report, he simply confirmed the sixteen contestants who had advanced into the round-robin stage.
Among them were familiar names like Andy and Wardson, along with a few others Ron didn't recognize well.
Today marked the first day of the round-robin stage.
All matches would be held on the top floor of the arena on Moonview Street.
In this phase, each of the sixteen contestants would face all fifteen others.
Afterward, rankings would be determined based on accumulated points.
The top four would advance—
To the semifinals and finals.
And those final matches?
They would be held at the Grand Martial Arena.
Ron had already made a reservation and locked in the dates.
However, instead of attending the matches today, Ron rode a carriage to the royal palace.
In five days—
He would officially be granted the title of Count.
Everything had already been arranged.
He only needed to rehearse the process and familiarize himself with the ceremony.
Naturally, Ron followed the arrangement
But as usual—
Many people came to talk to him.
Their goal was always the same:
To probe his plans for choosing a territory.
By now, Ron was completely used to it.
At this stage, many factions had already assumed—
That he had secretly accepted one of their offers.
They believed he was either:
Testing other factions' limits
Or deliberately withholding information
As a result, mutual suspicion spread.
Various covert investigations were launched—
And ironically, quite a few spies ended up getting exposed because of it.
Ron dealt with them impatiently, went through the ceremony rehearsal once, and left as soon as possible.
He had no intention of lingering.
"So," Yuna's voice drifted into his ear inside the carriage, "you'll finally have your own territory."
"Sister would be proud."
Whenever Yuna mentioned Ron's mother—
He was reminded that this powerful sixth-tier assassin…
Was technically his aunt.
Looking at her appearance alone—
It was hard to associate her with that role.
By now, Ron had already used the convent's network to fully investigate the past.
He had confirmed Yuna's identity:
A fox-girl slave rescued by his mother
Later recruited into the imperial shadow division by Emperor André III due to her talent
Through certain negotiations, Ron had even obtained her personal file from the shadow division.
"Let's just hope everything goes smoothly," Ron said, resting his chin on his hand as he looked out the window.
"My choice of Tansen City probably won't make many people happy."
"Who knows if someone will try something?"
"I just hope they don't interfere with my peaceful farming."
Yuna laughed.
"And making element guns counts as 'peaceful farming'?"
"Of course." Ron nodded seriously.
"They're just for dealing with beast tides."
"As long as no one becomes my enemy, anyone is welcome to visit—I'll serve them a cup of pine-needle tea."
"But if they come with bad intentions…"
"We at least have some means of self-defense."
Yuna chuckled.
A shadow formed across from Ron, taking shape into her graceful figure.
She didn't continue that topic.
Instead, she smirked.
"I've invented a new drink recently. Want to try it tonight?"
"…."
Ron froze.
"Ahem… about that custom Element Vehicle seat I mentioned—do you prefer red or white? Or another color?"
"Nice attempt at changing the subject."
"…You can try it with Nora first."
Sorry, Nora… I'll make it up to you tonight…
Ron silently apologized in his heart.
Compared to Yuna's hobbies of speeding and shooting—
Her interest in mixing drinks was far more dangerous.
At this point, Ron was starting to regret giving her two realistic puppet bodies.
Now she had far too much free time—
To experiment with all sorts of things.
So far, he had indirectly helped cultivate three of her hobbies.
Whether that was a good thing or not…
Remained questionable.
"Hmph."
Yuna snorted, then steered the conversation back.
"So what's your plan after getting Tansen City?"
"Be a proper lord, of course."
Ron shrugged.
When he first arrived in this world—
He had only wanted to quietly run a flower shop in the City of Chaos.
But now—
The influence of his plants had grown too large to stay hidden.
Especially Nether Orchid and Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum—
These two alone could gradually reshape the foundation of mages and warriors.
For top-tier experts, their impact was minimal.
But for the lower tiers—
They would massively increase the number of practitioners.
It was only a matter of time before this became a trend.
Ron had also considered selling other system-provided plants:
Puppet Trees
pine-needles
resin
Chameleon Radish
Heartvine plants
Element Potatoes
Mimic Grass
But his cash flow had always been strong.
So he never rushed to put them on the market.
More importantly—
Some of these plants were too strategically valuable.
For example:
Puppet Trees → remote communication & safe exploration
resin → healing hidden injuries & extending lifespan
Element Potatoes → replacing elemental stones with sustainable energy
If these entered the market—
The impact might far exceed that of Nether Orchid and Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum.
So until he had sufficient power to protect himself—
He would keep them for internal use only.
And naturally—
They would all be used in developing Tansen City.
"You know," Ron suddenly grinned mischievously, "if I turned Tansen City into a place even better than the Royal Capital…"
"Wouldn't that be interesting?"
Yuna: "?"
"You've already seen buses that follow fixed routes."
Ron began counting on his fingers.
"What about devices that produce clean drinking water—no need for wells or canals?"
"Or something that keeps food cold for long periods so it doesn't spoil?"
"And beyond that—"
"Clean sidewalks, organized road systems…"
"Buildings dozens of floors high…"
"Machines that move people up and down…"
"Just thinking about it—there's so much to build."
Yuna listened, increasingly bewildered.
In the end, she simply sat there as Ron continued talking to himself.
Do these things even matter? She wondered.
She genuinely couldn't understand.