March 16th, early morning.
A gentle breeze lifted the curtains, helping the sunlight sneak a peek at the scenery inside.
Ron woke from meditation, still holding little Nora, her skin smooth and delicate, in his arms.
"Phew~~"
He gently blew twice beside Nora's cat ears, pinched her little cheek, and said with a soft smile, "Time to get up~"
"Mmm..."
Her dark gray cat ears twitched twice. Nora rubbed her little face against Ron's chest, then groggily raised her head and opened her sleep-heavy eyes.
Then she saw the manager's face infinitely magnifying before her eyes.
"Mmph... M-manager..."
After several minutes of good-morning kisses, Ron changed into his training clothes and left the room, leaving Nora behind with her purple hair draped loose around her. Her face was flushed as she pursed her lips and wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth.
After finishing his personal morning training, Ron held a practical combat drill with Husky in the rear courtyard.
Besides light battle qi, Ron had also begun trying to use magic in actual combat.
The results were poor.
It was even worse than simply using battle qi.
This was close-quarters brawling, after all. Spending energy to cast magic often wasn't as useful as throwing a punch.
It'd be great if throwing a punch counted as the casting gesture... Ron thought after the sparring session.
A mage who didn't want to be a warrior wasn't a good close-combat maniac.
A melee mage was what men pursued!
After breakfast, Nora washed the dishes, then hurriedly said goodbye and rushed to the Magic Battle Hall to inspect the situation on the second day after Gold Rank opened.
The employees had all gone to open their shops for business, while Husky headed into the yard for restorative training.
As time passed,