After signing the contract, Ron and Jasper stood up and shook hands. The atmosphere grew cordial once more.
Jasper breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that the outcome hadn't been too bad.
With the Golden Red Chrysanthemum supply in Ron's hands, being able to buy it without paying a premium was acceptable to him.
He could never have guessed that the Golden Red Chrysanthemum's price had been set by the system from the start. It would neither go down nor go up.
As for the actual transaction, someone from the mercenary group would come tomorrow to handle the handover with Ron. Neither side was in a hurry.
Ron saw Jasper downstairs and walked him all the way out of the shop.
Jasper was escorted to the carriage on the street, but he didn't leave right away. Instead, he clapped his hands, calling over the four mercenaries waiting beside it. They were the same four who had successfully advanced to First-Order Warriors last night.
Ron watched, unsure what was going on.
Jasper smiled at him and said, "Your Highness Ron, these four lucky fellows all successfully formed their Battle Qi Vortices after taking your Golden Red Chrysanthemum last night. The mercenary group has plenty of people now, so I might as well have them stay with you, to prevent what happened before from happening again."
Ron smiled and shook his head. "Jasper, there's really no need for this..."
"Your Highness Ron, there's no need to be polite," Jasper interrupted. "I'm not asking them to live here with you. They'll just keep an eye on the surroundings and make sure the shop is basically secure."
"I've already spoken to the patrol, of course, but it's always best to be careful. You have such a precious plant in your shop. Once word gets around, there's no telling what sort of scoundrels might set their sights on it."
"In Chaos City, the movements of high-ranking figures are watched around the clock, but no one can keep a perfect eye on the people below them. You may not pay much attention to this sort of thing, Your Highness, but you should still be cautious."
After Jasper put it that way, Ron found it difficult to refuse.
Besides, the four wouldn't come inside the shop, so there was no need to worry about its secrets being discovered.
Thinking it over, Ron nodded and turned to the four men. "Sorry for the trouble."
Holt and the others quickly shook their heads, saying it was no trouble at all.
Jasper left the four with Ron, then climbed straight into the carriage and rode off.
Ron greeted Holt and the others one by one. He didn't go back inside the shop, either; he gave Nora a few instructions at the entrance, then headed out.
Now that he'd hired employees, there was no need for him to stay at the shop. He could go see what the Magic Academy was like.
Disode Magic Academy lay southeast of Chaos City, near the Bondless Mountains.
Ron took his time getting there, strolling along the streets and enjoying the sights.
For the past half month or so, he'd mostly stayed around the shop. The only time he'd gone any real distance was to pray at the Church of the Goddess of Harvest.
So even though he'd been in Chaos City for over half a month, today was the first time he'd properly explored it.
As the busiest trading city on the Rexis Continent, Chaos City had buyers and sellers for nearly everything found across the continent.
When Ron reached the Magic Academy gates, he showed the guard the pass the academy had given him in advance.
After being allowed inside, Ron didn't hurry to find Professor Hicks. Instead, he wandered around the academy.
The pass Professor Hicks had arranged for him barred him from important laboratories, the confidential archives, and a few other places. Everywhere else was open to him.
Though he was rather curious about the academy's secrets, he wasn't about to go looking for trouble.
As he walked through the main teaching building, he peeked through classroom back doors at intermediate mages teaching groups of magic apprentices. The sight felt both novel and nostalgic.
Those days as a student...
Ron shook his head and continued through the building.
As he passed a lecture hall, he glanced through the window at the podium and stopped without thinking.
An elven beauty!
The elf at the podium looked young, with long, pale green hair cascading smoothly over her shoulders. Her delicate face had a quiet, composed air about it, rather than the usual elven arrogance.
The class inside had just begun, and the elven teacher at the podium was introducing herself.
"I'm your teacher for this class, Ilya. I'll be guiding you through Introduction to Magic Circle Analysis over the next few weeks."
Ron raised an eyebrow, intrigued. He slipped quietly in through the back door and took an empty seat in the last row.
"To understand magic circles, we first need to understand their essence," the elf Ilya said, her gentle voice reaching the students. "And to understand their essence, we need to trace magic circles back to their origins."
"Does anyone know anything about this?"
Since this was a class, she naturally had to guide them through the material step by step. Ron, who wanted to hear the theory right away, found it a little frustrating.
He didn't pay much attention to what the apprentices who raised their hands said. It was all stuff he could find in books like Magic Beginner.
Just then, an apprentice beside him nudged him with an elbow and leaned over with a cheeky grin. "Hey, what class are you in? Here to see Ilya too?"
"Huh?" Ron had been staring into space, bored. It took him a moment to respond. "No... I just thought the class sounded interesting, so I came in..."
"Yeah, right." The sleazy-looking apprentice beside him scoffed. "You've been staring at her the whole time, and you didn't listen to a word the others said. And you're telling me you're not here to see Ilya?"
"Uh..." Ron thought the others' answers had just been too boring. He chuckled and turned to the slightly chubby fellow beside him. "So you came here specifically to see Teacher Ilya? Is she really that popular at school?"
Baby Fat gave Ron a suspicious once-over and clicked his tongue in amazement. "Are you really going to keep up the act, bro? Everyone at the academy knows the Elf Race has two Saintesses studying here. That's a pretty bad lie."
Ron found that surprising. He glanced at Ilya on the podium and asked, "She's a Saintess of the Elf Race?"
"Are you new here, or just a bookworm?" Baby Fat rolled his eyes. "They've been at the academy for over a year. Within a few months of arriving, they both advanced to Tier Three mages. One became a teaching assistant and started this magic circle class; the other became a lab assistant and works with Professor Hicks on experiments. Everyone knows that, right?"
"Oh, I really am new," Ron said casually, thinking that the elf Saintess working with Professor Hicks might be Edith.
"Bullshit. How could a newcomer just walk into an elective class?" Baby Fat immediately "exposed" him. "You're either an old student who chose this class just to see Ilya, or, if you really are new, you must've heard about her and sneaked in to get a look."
"Why are you so hung up on this?" Ron was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. "Fine, I came to see her. What do you want?"
"Heh, nothing much." Baby Fat chuckled awkwardly. Then he cautiously looked around, pulled out a book from behind his back, and opened it to a page. He held it up half-hidden for Ron to see and whispered, "Special Edition Ilya Illustrated Book. One silver coin. Want one?"
A nobody's diary: I used to be able to write 17,000+ words in a day... Now I'm old... My brain can't keep up anymore...
Before you continue