Chapter Summaries

Ron discovered that the Puppet Fruit let him control a miniature puppet remotely, freeing him to manage cultivation in the Dimensional Plane without leaving the shop. Sylvie arrived under orders to guard him, but Ron rejected her assignment and told her to remain at the church.

• Ron tested the Puppet Fruit and found he could use a puppet to monitor the shop, communicate remotely, explore dangerous places, and operate in the Dimensional Plane.
• Ron used a puppet to tend and harvest the plants in the Dimensional Plane, then handed another puppet to Nora as a shop decoration.
• Ron secretly descended into the puppet while Nora hugged it, enjoyed the sensation, and decided this was another use for the fruit.
• Sylvie visited Ron and said the Archbishop had ordered her to stay by his side as his guard and serve as a contact with the convent.
• Ron refused Sylvie's protection and ordered her to stay at the church, reminding her that she should follow his instructions while the Archbishop was away.

Ron asked Sylvie to recruit nuns to work in Chaos City, then agreed to buy Lyle’s barbecue shop after Lyle decided to leave for the Imperial Capital with Princess Mia. The chapter left Lyle preparing to pursue his restaurant ambitions while Ron took ownership of the shop.

• Ron asked Sylvie to gather at least thirty second-rank nuns who could use the Plant Growth Technique, and she agreed to contact convents across the Empire.
• Ron sent Sylvie back to the church after giving her the assignment.
• Lyle told Ron he had decided to follow Princess Mia to the Imperial Capital and open a hotpot barbecue restaurant.
• Ron encouraged Lyle to build capital in the Empire and later bring the cuisine back to the Dwarf Kingdom.
• Lyle asked Ron to look after his late father's barbecue shop, but Ron offered to rent it and Lyle decided to sell it outright.
• Ron agreed to buy Lyle’s shop and wished him success in the Imperial Capital.

Ron gave Mia a communication puppet before she and Irene left for the Imperial Capital, while hiding its ability to move and observe. He reviewed the approved factory plans and land, leaving preparations for Elemental Card production nearly complete.

• Mia and Irene visited Ron to say goodbye before returning to the Imperial Capital, and Ron gave Mia a puppet that let him speak to her from afar.
• Ron claimed only people blessed by the goddess could use the puppet and concealed that he could control its body and see through its eyes.
• Ron briefly connected to Mia's puppet, saw it among clothes and intimate garments, and decided not to give Puppet Fruits to anyone else unless necessary.
• Ron reviewed Guy's approvals for factory buildings and land near the Dalle River, along with plans for a prayer house to house future nuns.
• Ron prepared to begin Elemental Card production once the nuns arrived and he planted the Everchanging Radish.

Ron arranged a residence for Sylvie in the Barbecue Shop and received a new daily mission to renovate its first two floors into a beverage shop and tabletop game room. He hired Guy to find a construction crew, then checked the Flower Shop’s growing sales and estimated that the remaining Scale Vine quota would take two or three months to sell.

• Ron showed Sylvie the vacant rooms on the Barbecue Shop’s third floor and offered her a place to live, which she agreed to move into that night.
• The system triggered a daily mission to renovate the shop’s first floor into a beverage shop and its second floor into a tabletop game room, with Heart-Connecting Vine seeds and cultivation methods as the reward.
• Ron gave Sylvie a spare key and asked her to tidy the rooms while he inspected the floors planned for renovation.
• Guy reported on the factory building and land, and Ron instructed him to bring a construction crew the next day to discuss the Barbecue Shop renovation.
• Ron checked the Flower Shop through his puppet and saw that sales of Nether Orchids and Golden Red Chrysanthemums had risen, while he estimated the remaining Scale Vine quota would take another two or three months to sell.

Ron learned that Scale Vine grew into a powerful defensive method through continued blood feeding and mana cultivation, with its efficiency and defensive strength increasing over time. Harper’s experiments confirmed that the plant’s long-term potential made it more formidable than Ron had realized.

• The orc army attacked North Guard Pass, Beast Abyss Pass, and Dusk Snow Pass, then withdrew after failing to break through.
• Ron discussed hiring staff for the new shop and learned that twenty-three second-rank magician sisters would arrive in two days, with more expected later.
• Ron visited Harper’s laboratory with Sylvie and asked about the completed Scale Vine experiments.
• Harper explained that Scale Vine’s defense rapidly improved during its first half month, then continued strengthening gradually with daily blood and mana nurturing.
• Harper reported that Scale Vine used its host’s mana more efficiently over time and that magicians who used Wood Magic cultivated stronger vines.

Edith and the Elf Priestess discussed Harper’s Scale Vine research and the possibility of testing and buying the plants for the Elf Race. Ron reviewed Gil’s Magic Duel rules and heard his elaborate marketing strategy for Elemental Cards, which led Gil to call Ron a business genius.

• Edith showed the Elf Priestess Harper’s thesis, and the Priestess considered testing Scale Vines with her tribe before making any large purchase.
• The Elf Priestess said the tribe’s existing Scale Vines could be tested against the beastmen fleeing the winter war, and she asked Edith to secure Ron’s guarantee of future supply.
• Ron selected furniture blueprints and left the renovation of the Barbecue Shop to the construction crew.
• Gil demonstrated the evolved rules for Magic Duel and showed Ron the investigation records he had collected.
• Gil described plans to market noble and commoner editions of Elemental Cards and expand the card pool, then praised Ron as a business genius.

Ron put Gil's plan to divide Elemental Cards into noble and commoner editions into action and brought senior nuns to a field beside the Dalle River to harvest Everchanging Radish leaves. He was disappointed that the arriving nuns were not the cute young sisters he had imagined, but their Plant Growth Technique could power his card production.

• Ron adopted Gil's promotional plan for separate noble and commoner editions of Elemental Cards and prepared to grow more Everchanging Radishes.
• Sylvie told Ron that the nearby convents' nuns had arrived, and Ron brought them from the eastern city gate to his land by the Dalle River.
• Ron discovered that the nuns were senior, semi-retired mages and learned Sylvie had selected them because they could use the Plant Growth Technique without disrupting their convents.
• Ron transplanted more than a dozen mature Everchanging Radishes and instructed the nuns to harvest and sort their leaves in alternating shifts.
• Guy realized the nuns' magic could make Elemental Card production nearly cost-free apart from land, facilities, and wages.

Ron arranged for nuns to mass-produce Elemental Cards, which he planned to sell through merchant caravans. As Gil set out for the Imperial Capital with the first shipment, Sylvie mistakenly believed the project served a divine mission.

• Ron planted 540 Everchanging Radishes and assigned the nuns to harvest their leaves for Elemental Cards.
• Sylvie told the nuns to treat the work as a serious part of Ron’s possible plans for the Church of the Goddess of Harvest.
• The nuns produced two or three thousand decks in a day, and Ron expected additional workers to increase output.
• Ron’s workers packaged the cards and sent them through merchant caravans connected to Gil’s father and the Gem Trade Alliance.
• On the third day, Gil collected five thousand decks and departed for the Imperial Capital to sell them.

Yuna tore down Ron’s recruitment notice while Nora fretted about wanting to live at the flower shop. Ron checked on the nuns’ work, then took control of Mia’s doll and discovered it had been dressed in a gown and jewelry.

• Yuna walked past the board game bar and flower shop, found Ron’s recruitment notice, and tore it down.
• Nora returned to the flower shop and worried that she had missed her chance to move in with Ron.
• Ron visited the prayer house, checked on the nuns and Everchanging Radish, and heard that nobles had asked about the land.
• Ron traveled toward Magic Academy and took control of Mia’s doll while Mia was napping.
• Ron saw the doll dressed in a pinkish-purple gown and jewelry and realized it had been cross-dressed.

Ron arranged for Mia to promote Elemental Cards in the Imperial Capital and visited the Magic Academy to hear about new potion research and ask Ilya for help with protective magic arrays. He left with a guide to the necessary materials and planned to inspect his land with Ilya the following afternoon.

• Ron contacted Mia through the doll, asked her to promote the Elemental Cards, and heard that Lyle was searching for a hotpot restaurant location.
• At the Magic Academy, Ron learned that Harper's Explosive Potion and Professor Hicks's Meditation Potion had entered trial production stages.
• Edith told Ron that the Priest was testing Scale Vine and might buy it in bulk if the results were satisfactory.
• Edith brought Ron to Ilya, who agreed to help set up warning magic arrays on Ron's land.
• Ilya gave Ron a guide to restriction-array materials, and Ron arranged to inspect the site with her the next afternoon.

Nora met Yuna, a seemingly timid applicant for a job at Ron’s shop, while Ron learned from the system that she was a spy sent by Andre III. Ron hired Yuna to work at the neighboring bar and took her upstairs to sign a contract, preparing to expose her identity.

• Nora spent the evening working and secretly read A Viscountess's Diary of Rising to Power when Yuna arrived with an old recruitment notice.
• The system warned Ron that a spy sent by Andre III had come to infiltrate the shop and ordered him to expose her face-to-face.
• Ron observed Yuna through the doll and recognized her as the spy, while she resumed her timid act when he and Nora came downstairs.
• Ron asked Yuna about herself and offered her a job at the bar for five silver coins a week.
• Ron took Yuna upstairs to sign the contract.

Ron hired Yuna, a spy sent by Andre III, and arranged for her to live at the Flower Shop. Nora also moved into the shop, leaving Ron, Nora, and Yuna living together as Yuna began probing Nora about her relationship with Ron.

• Yuna staged a fall that revealed her fox ears, and Ron reassured her before taking her upstairs to sign an employment contract.
• Ron offered Yuna an empty bedroom on the third floor after she claimed she had nowhere to stay.
• Ron invited Nora to move into the shop, assigning her the guest room on the second floor.
• Nora led Yuna to prepare the bedrooms, and Yuna questioned her about Ron, her pay, and her feelings for him.
• Nora defended Ron and admitted she liked him, then hurried after Yuna to help finish preparing the rooms.

Nora spent her first night living in Ron’s home, nervously imagining what might happen while deciding not to lock her bedroom door. Ron remained unaware of her thoughts and meditated, reflecting on his growing security and the businesses running without his constant involvement.

• Nora bathed, changed, and went to the guest room, where she debated whether to lock her door before leaving it unlocked.
• Ron dismissed a system task without a reward, bathed, and returned to his bedroom to meditate with a Nether Orchid fruit.
• Ron considered his improving magic and battle qi, his protections, and the businesses he had delegated to others.
• Ron concluded that his enterprises were progressing well and entered deep meditation, briefly hoping Yuna would not cause trouble.

Yuna secretly dealt with suspicious people near Ron’s home before entering his room and touching his face while he pretended to sleep. Ron exposed her and confronted her, and Yuna revealed that she was his little aunt and could transform into an adult woman.

• Yuna used her shadow form to locate and deal with suspicious lookouts and spies near the Flower Shop.
• Yuna slipped into Ron’s bedroom and gently touched his face while he lay still.
• Ron opened his eyes, but Yuna escaped beneath the bed in her shadow form.
• Ron called Yuna out and confronted her about spying on him and touching his face.
• Yuna claimed to be Ron’s little aunt, then transformed from a small girl into a tall adult woman with fox ears.

Ron questioned Yuna’s claims that she was his aunt and learned that she had been sent by Andre III to serve as a spy and a bridge between father and son. He remained unconvinced by her story, but let her stay in her role at his shop, and Yuna left after confiscating his books.

• Ron doubted that Yuna was his aunt and suggested they get a bloodline appraisal at the Magic Academy.
• Yuna explained that she had been bought at Ron’s mother’s request, trained in Andre III’s covert division, and sent back after reaching the sixth rank.
• Ron said he would not believe Yuna without evidence and told her to do her spy and employee duties while he remained indifferent to her loyalties.
• Yuna transformed into her small form, teased Ron about liking pretty girls, and took his books before vanishing into a shadow.

Ron prepared the new tabletop game bar for opening and put Yuna in charge of organizing it. After the system rewarded him for renovating the shop, he absorbed the Heart-Connecting Vine cultivation method and examined its seeds.

• Ron told Sylvie to send the arriving nuns to the prayer house and arranged for the first group to train them.
• Ron gave Yuna a supply list and sent her shopping with a patrol escort.
• Yuna returned with the supplies, and Ron explained how the bar and its tabletop game rooms would operate.
• Ron received the system’s reward for renovating the bar and absorbed the Heart-Connecting Vine cultivation method.
• Ron opened the Heart-Connecting Vine Seeds and examined their description.

Ron grew a Heart-Connecting Vine and discovered how its telepathically controlled tendrils could handle everyday tasks, shuffle cards, and potentially assist his businesses. Seeing its promise, he bought four more Cultivation Spaces to grow additional vines.

• Ron spent 2,000 Wealth Points on a Cultivation Space and grew a Heart-Connecting Vine in the Dimensional Plane.
• Ron tested the vine’s telepathic control and used its suckers to hold and pass objects to him.
• Ron made the vine shuffle Elemental Cards and imagined using Heart-Connecting Vines in his gaming room and Mia’s hotpot and Barbecue Shop.
• Ron considered using the vines to automate sorting and packaging at his suburban factory.
• Ron bought four more Cultivation Spaces, spending 8,000 Wealth Points.

Ron tested the Heart-Connecting Vine while Mia advanced preparations for a hotpot restaurant and planned to promote Elemental Cards at a noblewoman’s tea gathering. The chapter ended with Ron advising Mia on several proposed shop locations while enduring her dress-up game with the communication doll.

• Ron transplanted more than twenty Heart-Connecting Vines, gave the Cultivation Space to the doll in the Dimensional Plane, and returned to the Flower Shop.
• Ron showed Yuna how a Heart-Connecting Vine could hold and open a book, but refused to give her one when she asked.
• Mia accepted Madam Haiman’s invitation to afternoon tea and planned to bring Irene and the Elemental Cards.
• Mia discussed the hotpot restaurant’s preparations with Lyle, who had recruited staff and gathered supplies while considering possible locations.
• Ron connected to the doll in Mia’s room, saw it dressed in a gown and jewelry, and asked Mia about the restaurant preparations.
• Mia read Lyle’s proposed shop locations to Ron and asked which one he preferred.

Ron helped Mia assess potential locations for a hotpot and barbecue restaurant by teaching her what information to research, then planned how she could introduce hotpot and Elemental Cards to nobles. The chapter ended with Mia agreeing to serve hotpot to Andre III and use his praise to attract interest.

• Ron questioned Mia about the Imperial Capital’s residents, foot traffic, and spending power, urging her to research carefully if she wanted to build her own career.
• Ron confirmed that Mia had not given away her commoner-edition Elemental Cards and advised her to explain the editions to her friends and promise them noble editions later.
• Ron proposed that Mia serve hotpot to Andre III and encourage him to praise it, then host noble ladies so word of his approval would spread.
• Mia understood that the same approach could help promote Elemental Cards and agreed to handle the plan.

Ron prepared his new board-game bar for business before taking Ilya and Sylvie to the outskirts of Chaos City. Ilya agreed to study a warning magic array for the growing number of nuns, and Ron began showing her the area.

• Ron visited the empty bar, told Yuna to experiment with drink recipes, and stopped her from teasing him in her adult form.
• Ron and Sylvie picked up Ilya at the Magic Academy and rode with her toward the outskirts, where Ilya asked about Ron's knowledge of magic arrays and ancient languages.
• Ron and Ilya arrived at three newly built prayer houses, where more nuns had gathered and two additional houses were planned.
• Ron gave Sylvie instructions for organizing the nuns' work and asked Ilya to handle the warning magic array.
• Ilya asked Ron to show her the terrain and surroundings, and he led her on a tour.