As the weather on the Rixis Continent gradually turned colder, war finally broke out in the north.
On the afternoon of November 3rd, the Orcish Royal Court led a massive army to launch attacks on Zhenbei Pass, Bestial Abyss Gate, and Snowfall Gate.
The battles at Zhenbei Pass and Snowfall Gate concluded by dusk, while the battle at Bestial Abyss Gate raged on late into the night, finally dying down at dawn the next day.
The Human Empire's fortresses stood as solid as iron. The orcish army left behind a battlefield strewn with corpses before retreating to their camps to regroup.
News of the battles quickly spread across cities along the northern border, reassuring citizens who had grown used to dreading the annual winter wars.
Since winter wars broke out almost every year, the commotion up north didn't affect the rest of the Human Empire much.
Even those living in the north didn't seem particularly worried.
After all, ever since Emperor André III ascended the throne, the three great northern passes had never once been breached.
The Orcish Royal Court's annual offensives seemed less about breaking through the Human Empire's lines and more about culling their own overgrown population to avoid food shortages and mass famine.
Emperor André III had even encouraged these yearly winter wars, maintaining the orcs as a looming threat to unify internal forces and provide real combat training for the military.
Toward the latter half of the war season, he would also sell food to the orcs via the Grain and Medicine Trade Alliance—one of the Three Great Goblin Trade Alliances—in exchange for rare mineral resources from the Frozen Tundra in the far north.
Beyond that, various levels of the Empire coordinated actions with the winter war, striving to funnel all the war's spoils directly into the Empire's pockets.
But for now, none of this had much to do with Ron.
The orcs were far up in the Frozen Tundra, and any attempt to march south would have to go through the three fortified human passes—unless they wanted to attempt crossing the Forest of Freyst, with its dense and treacherous terrain.
That forest was the domain of the elves.
Empowered by the Tree of Life, the elves were virtually unbeatable within their homeland, and the orcs rarely attempted to invade their territory.
As such, the winter war between humans and orcs remained mostly contained around the three great passes and rarely spread to other regions of the continent.
The City of Chaos, situated at the intersection of human, elven, dwarven, and gnomish territories, remained a haven of peace.
"Boss, now that the renovations next door are almost finished, are we going to hire new staff?" Nora asked curiously as she sat at the dining table, having lunch.
Sister Sylvie quietly sat to the side, eating a simple bowl of vegetable salad.
"Hmm… Probably, yeah. It'd be too much for you to manage alone," Ron thought aloud. "But the shop probably won't get many customers right away. For now, Sylvie can keep an eye on things."
Sylvie was about to take another bite of salad, but paused when she heard that. "Your Eminence Ron, if you plan to head out during the day, I must be by your side to ensure your safety. I'm afraid I won't be able to watch the shop."
"…," Ron sighed, massaging his temples. He hadn't expected Sylvie to be this persistent...
"Anyway, it'll be at least ten more days before renovations are done. We'll figure it out then." He changed the subject and turned to Sylvie. "How's the thing I asked you to handle?"
Sylvie swallowed her food and replied respectfully, "Some of the sisters from the southeastern convents of the Empire are expected to arrive the day after tomorrow. The first batch includes 23 sisters, all at the rank of Tier-2 Magus."
"And the rest?"
"Following that, there are 57 more from the eastern and central regions. As for the northern and western regions, the journey is longer, so word hasn't reached them yet. According to the latest quarterly registry, about 68 sisters from those areas meet the criteria."
Ron nodded in satisfaction. "Once the first group arrives, be sure to remind me."
"Understood."
The prayer house on the outskirts had already been completed and could house the first wave of sisters.
Ron had spent the past couple of days walking the grounds, roughly finalizing the cultivation scale for the Chameleon Radish.
As soon as the lovely sisters arrived, production of the Element Cards could officially begin.
Afternoon.
Ron headed to the Chaos City Magic Academy, with Sylvie in her black nun's robe following close behind.
The two of them arrived at Harper's laboratory.
After extensive research, the experiments involving the Scalevine had finally concluded.
"Ron, you're never going to believe how impressive the true effects of the Scalevine are!" Harper said, halting her experiment with explosive potions and pulling out a thick stack of lab reports.
Ron looked at the tiny Harper, who didn't even reach his chest, his interest piqued. "Let's hear it."
Ahem. Harper cleared her throat, handed him the data, and began her explanation:
"First, we need to understand that before the Scalevine is a defensive tool, it's a living being."
"Our tests showed that if a magician feeds it their blood and infuses it with mana continuously for three days, it recognizes its master."
"But after that, if the magician keeps up the daily blood-feeding and mana nurturing, the Scalevine's defensive power keeps increasing."
"The boost is fast and very noticeable—but it doesn't last long."
"After about half a month, that rapid growth completely stops."
"At that point, the Scalevine becomes a top-tier defensive asset. However, to maintain its peak defense, the magician has to constantly supply mana, which is still a drawback."
"But if the magician keeps up the daily nurturing, the Scalevine gradually requires less mana to fend off attacks of the same intensity."
"Or to put it differently, the Scalevine adapts to its master's mana signature, becoming more efficient at using it. With less mana, it can achieve even stronger defenses."
"Also, among different types of mages, those who frequently use wood-element spells can nurture Scalevines with noticeably stronger defenses—distinct from regular ones."
"Furthermore, as long as the nurturing continues, the Scalevine's defense ceiling keeps increasing. It's no longer a rapid rise, but a slow and steady one over time."
"So, the earlier someone buys a Scalevine, the more powerful it can grow over time."
"Due to the time demands of long-term testing, I didn't continue with further follow-up experiments, so I can't estimate its true upper limit."
"But even just based on what we have observed, the Scalevine's power is more than proven."
After hearing Harper's explanation, Ron finally understood just how powerful the Scalevine really was.
No wonder—every plant provided by the system was anything but ordinary.