Special Edition Illustration Booklet (Seeking Recommendation Votes!)

After signing the contract, Ron and Jasper stood up to shake hands, and the atmosphere became amicable once again.

Jasper let out a sigh of relief, feeling that the outcome wasn't too bad after all.

Given that his supply of Golden Red Chrysanthemum was being held over him, being able to purchase it without a price markup was acceptable to him.

He likely would never have guessed that the price of the Golden Red Chrysanthemum was set by the system, meaning it would neither become cheaper nor more expensive.

As for the specific transaction, the mercenary group would send someone to handle the handover with Ron tomorrow; neither side was in a rush.

Ron saw Jasper downstairs and walked him all the way out of the shop.

Once Jasper reached his carriage on the street, he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he clapped his hands to summon the four mercenaries waiting by the carriage—the very same four who had successfully promoted to First-Rank Warriors last night.

Ron watched this scene, feeling a bit confused.

Jasper smiled at him and said, "Lord Ron, these four are the lucky ones who successfully condensed a Battle Qi Vortex after taking your Golden Red Chrysanthemum last night. Since the mercenary group isn't short on manpower right now, I'll just have them follow you to prevent anything like what happened before from occurring again."

Ron shook his head with a smile: "Jasper, there's really no need for that..."

"Lord Ron, please don't be so formal," Jasper interrupted. "I'm not asking them to live here with you, just to keep an eye on the surroundings and ensure the basic safety of the shop."

"Although I've already notified the patrol team, it's always best to be careful. Your shop holds such precious plants; once word gets out, there's no guarantee that some villain won't set their sights on it."

"In Chaos City, high-ranking figures have their movements watched at all times, but it's impossible to keep a complete eye on the people below. You may not usually pay attention to these things, but you should always be cautious."

After hearing Jasper put it this way, Ron found it hard to refuse.

Besides, these four wouldn't be entering the shop, so there was no need to worry about the shop's secrets being discovered.

Thinking this over, Ron nodded and looked at the four men: "I'll be troubling you then."

Holt and the others shook their heads repeatedly, indicating it was no trouble at all.

Jasper left the four men with Ron and boarded his carriage to depart.

Ron greeted Holt and the others one by one. He didn't go back into the shop, but instead gave Nora a few instructions at the door before heading out.

Since he had already hired employees, he didn't need to stay in the shop and could go visit the magic academy to see what it was like.

Disode Magic Academy is located in the southeast of Chaos City, near the Bondless Mountains.

Ron didn't rush on his way there; walking and browsing through the streets had a unique charm of its own.

Over the past half-month, he had basically stayed within the vicinity of the shop. The only time he had "traveled far" was to go to the Church of the Goddess of Harvest to pray.

So, although he had been in Chaos City for over half a month, today was actually the first time he had properly explored the place.

As the most prosperous commercial city on the Rexis Continent, almost anything that exists on the continent can find both buyers and sellers here.

Ron walked all the way to the entrance of the magic academy and showed the guards the pass that the academy had given him in advance.

After being allowed inside, Ron didn't rush to find Professor Hicks, but instead wandered around the campus.

The pass Professor Hicks had arranged for him allowed him to move freely through ordinary areas, though he was barred from important laboratories, classified archives, and similar locations.

While he was quite interested in the secrets of the magic academy, he wasn't about to go looking for trouble.

Walking through the corridor of the main teaching building, he peeked through the back door of a classroom to watch an Intermediate Mage teaching a group of magic apprentices. Ron found it both novel and nostalgic.

Ah, the student days of the past...

Ron shook his head and continued walking through the building.

As he passed a lecture hall, he glanced through the window at the podium and subconsciously stopped in his tracks.

Is that an elf lady?

The elf on the podium looked very young, with long, light green hair draped softly over her shoulders. Her delicate face looked very gentle, lacking the arrogance typically associated with the Elf Race.

The class inside had just begun, and the elven teacher was introducing herself.

"I am your teacher for this course, Ilya. I will be guiding you through the introductory course on the brief analysis of magic arrays for the next few weeks."

Ron raised an eyebrow, finding it interesting, so he snuck into the classroom through the back door and sat in an empty seat in the last row.

"To understand magic arrays, we must first understand what the essence of a magic array is," the soft voice of the elf, Ilya, reached the ears of the students in the room. "And to understand the essence of a magic array, we must trace it back to its original origins."

"Do any students have any knowledge of this?"

Since it was a class, she was naturally using a method of patient guidance, which made Ron, who wanted to hear the subsequent theories immediately, feel a bit restless.

Ron didn't really take in what the few magic apprentices who raised their hands to answer said; it was all content he could have found in books like Magic Beginner.

At this moment, a magic apprentice next to him poked him with an elbow, leaned over, and chuckled: "Brother, which class are you from? Are you here to see Ilya too?"

"Huh?" Ron, who had been zoning out from boredom, was stunned for a moment before he reacted. "No... I just thought this class was interesting, so I came in..."

"Nonsense," the sleazy-looking magic apprentice retorted. "Your eyes have been glued to her the whole time. You weren't even listening when others were answering questions, and you say you aren't here to see Ilya?"

"Uh..." Ron thought to himself that it was just because those people's answers were too boring. He couldn't help but laugh, turning to look at the guy with the Baby Fat next to him. "So you came specifically to see this teacher, Ilya? Is she very popular in the school?"

Baby Fat looked at Ron with suspicion, sizing him up and clicking his tongue in wonder: "Brother, are you really going to pretend like that? Who in the academy doesn't know that two saints from the Elf Race came here to study? You're being way too fake, aren't you?"

Ron was a bit surprised to hear this. He glanced at Ilya on the podium and asked: "That's an elven saint?"

"Are you a newcomer or just a bookworm?" Baby Fat rolled his eyes. "They've been at the academy for over a year. A few months after they arrived, they were promoted to Third-Rank Mages. One became a teaching assistant and opened this magic array course, and the other became a lab assistant, working on experiments with Professor Hicks. Everyone knows this kind of thing, right?"

"Oh, I am indeed new here," Ron replied with a casual brush-off, thinking to himself: An elven saintess working on experiments with Professor Hicks? Could it be Edith?

"Bullshit, a newcomer can just waltz into an elective course?" Baby Fat immediately "exposed" him, "Either you're a senior who specifically chose this class to see Ilya, or even if you really are new, you must have heard of Ilya's reputation and snuck in to catch a glimpse of her."

"Why are you so hung up on this question?" Ron was left between laughter and tears, "Fine, I'm here to see her, okay? What do you want?"

"Hehe, nothing much." Baby Fat gave an embarrassed chuckle, suddenly glancing around cautiously before pulling a book from behind his back. He opened it to a specific page, revealing it to Ron in a half-concealed manner, and whispered, "Ilya special edition illustration booklet, one silver coin each. Want one?"

Failed Author's Diary: I used to be someone who could churn out 17,000+ words a day... Now I'm old... my brain can't keep up anymore...