After asking the Radiant Mercenary Corps to investigate the situation, Ron's life returned to its usual calm.
Each morning, he trained in the Light Sword Codex. With the help of the Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum, Ron was steadily progressing toward becoming a Tier 2 warrior.
Afterward, he'd take a bath, make breakfast, and enjoy it with his adorable employee—chatting with Nora while casually ignoring the system's tempting daily quests like:
[Daily Task: Stroke your employee's cat ears]
In the late morning, he'd enter the Dimensional Pocket to continue his assembly-line planting operation.
Once his Wealth Points reached 50,000+, Ron gritted his teeth and spent 4,000 Wealth to unlock 4 more square meters of cultivation space.
He finally turned his old 2×5+1 layout into a satisfying 3×5 formation. His mild OCD was soothed at last.
(Each square meter costs 1,000 Wealth Points, and he had 15 square meters of expansion space left.)
Looking at the 46,000+ points he still had, Ron was briefly tempted to unlock them all at once.
Fortunately, he was a man who had weathered many storms and quickly restrained his gacha-pulling urges with reason.
Now and then, the Shop would pop up with powerful, game-changing spells—but they'd disappear not long after.
Not because Ron purchased them, but because he'd already learned them from Edith.
A responsible, thrifty, and frugal man. That's him.
Opening his Task Panel, a long list of failed daily quests now appeared—labeled (Failed), including gems like:
[Find and buy the Illya & Edith Limited Edition Double Illustration Book]
[Force Nora to wear a frilly lace maid outfit]
[Run naked through Aikley Street at midnight]
[Help Headmaster Vosbites tidy his filthy, chaotic beard]
[Explore goblin anatomy "for science"]
[Make Mia yell "Onii-chan daisuki~!"]
…
Basically, a dumpster fire of morally questionable and totally rewardless tasks.
Well, "rewards" like:
"You know what I mean~."
"Hehehe~"
"AW~SL~!"
There were fewer "rewards" and more examples of the system's deep, dark sense of humor.
That said, Ron didn't outright reject all of them.
For example, [Hold Edith's hand], he completed under the guise of reading her palm.
Or little ones like [Pinch Nora's cheeks], or [Flick her forehead]—he knocked those off just doing his usual boss duties.
Of course, since they were so easy, the system didn't bother with any rewards either.
Ron only did them to… maintain peace with the system.
Yep. Totally for the system's dignity.
Because if he ignored every daily task, the poor system would feel so embarrassed, right?
Since Princess Mia arrived in Chaos City, she had practically turned Ron's flower shop into her second home—eating and playing there nearly every night.
If Ron hadn't handed over all his seasoning recipes, she might've just moved in permanently.
Knock knock knock.
"Come in," Ron said.
He was seated at his desk, reading a letter brought by someone from the Radiant Mercenary Corps. The report detailed their findings on the chain of bootleg barbecue restaurants.
As he reached the part revealing that the whole thing was backed by the foreign affairs steward of Count Walton, his brow arched in surprise.
Just then, Mia peeked her head through the door and came bouncing in with excitement, running up to his desk and leaning forward with her hands on the surface.
"Ron~ what do you think about me opening a hotpot restaurant in the capital?"
Ron was still processing the contents of the letter, but froze at her words.
"…You want to open a hotpot shop?"
"Yup yup!" Mia nodded rapidly, eyes sparkling. "I was chatting with Eileen, and I said I'd totally recommend hotpot to my friends once I get back to the capital."
"Then Eileen said, 'Why not just open a store yourself? You've got nothing better to do anyway.'"
"And I thought—hey, that sounds super fun! So I came to ask your opinion!"
"And since I'd be using your sauces and spices, of course, I need your permission first!"
Ron didn't mind. But he wasn't sure whether hotpot—this messy, communal eating style—would be accepted by those picky capital nobles.
And then—the system chimed in.
[System Notification: Side Quest Triggered!]
[Side Quest: Help Mia open a hotpot restaurant in the capital]
[Objective: Assist Princess Mia in establishing the first hotpot restaurant in the capital under her name. Ensure the store meets operational standards and successfully opens.]
[Reward: Spice Pine Seed and cultivation method.]
Ron glanced at the quest window and raised an eyebrow.
A side quest… his first one!
And with a plant seed as the reward? He definitely had to get it.
Besides, side quests usually led to follow-up quests—he could already see the chain of rewards waiting to be unlocked.
Spice Pine, huh? "Spice"… as in spices?
Wow. System's finally doing its job.
If fire is mentioned, give me heat-resistant crops.
If it's food, you toss me spice-related plants.
So, tell me, System—when I wanted an inflatable, um… toy… why didn't you give me a relevant item then?
Ron silently roasted the system in his mind, then looked at Mia and nodded.
"If you're serious, give it a try when you get back to the capital. If hotpot catches on, I'd love to see it become a trend."
"No problem! It'll definitely be a hit!" Mia raised a tiny fist with enthusiasm.
Ron smiled. Since Mia still had a few days left in Chaos City, there was no rush. He set the letter down and changed the subject.
"You know Count Walton, right?"
"Hm? I do, but not well. Only met him once during my stay here," Mia replied thoughtfully. "I've met Countess Walton a few times, though… tea parties and such. Super boring."
"Take a look at this." Ron handed her the letter. "Turns out his foreign affairs steward is behind the bootleg barbecue chains. Not only did he steal Lyle's seasoning recipes, but he's also been poaching his staff and trying to take over Lyle's shop."
"Huh!?" Mia blinked and quickly read the letter. Then she looked up in disbelief. "Wait—you mean that barbecue shop next door we've been eating at these past few days?"
"Yep. The seasonings came from me."
"Wait, wait, wait—you're involved? And they dare mess with your barbecue shop!?" Mia's brows furrowed in anger.
Ron shook his head. "The shop isn't mine. That steward probably doesn't know about my relationship with Lyle."
"My point is, since you've met Count Walton before, could you go speak to him sometime and pass along a message?"
"Tell him I'm not asking for the bootleg stores to be shut down—imitation is part of business here. But trying to force Lyle to sell his shop? That's crossing the line. I just want them to stop interfering with his operations."
After all, this world had no concept of patent law. Having your recipe stolen was just… bad luck.
Ron had been mentally prepared for this outcome from the beginning.
You couldn't rely on secrecy forever—recipes were bound to become public eventually.
In the end, only quality would speak for itself.
He wasn't looking to start a fight with Count Walton, especially since it was likely the Count had no idea what his steward was up to.
A noble of that level wouldn't bother with something so small.
"No problem! Leave it to me!" Mia raised her chin proudly and gave her chest a confident pat. Then her eyes gleamed as she added, "Buuuut… I have a better idea."