Kiel continued to chatter excitedly in front of Ron, pitching seemingly flawless marketing strategies while casually bestowing upon him the title of "business genius."
After discussing it at length, Ron decided to adopt Kiel's proposed plan and sent off the true business genius from the shop.
Dividing the Element Cards into Noble Edition and Civilian Edition essentially meant creating two distinct product lines—both under the same brand name.
Or, more precisely, the Noble Edition was an upgraded version of the game Dueling Magic, targeting the upper class.
Kiel's marketing strategy was a direct hit—it perfectly exploited nobles' sense of superiority and commoners' desire to imitate them.
Even if Ron had tried coming up with a plan himself, he probably wouldn't have come up with anything better.
Of course, this also meant he'd need to plant a lot more Chameleon Radish.
After all, the illustrations on the cards differed between the two editions. That meant a single number and suit might require two different Chameleon Radish plants to produce.
Still, that wasn't a major problem.
First, land wasn't an issue. Thanks to his identity as the Seventh Prince and the cheap land prices in the suburbs, he could purchase large tracts of land around the Darle River for just a few hundred gold.
Second, the nun sisters capable of using the Plant Manipulation Spell were already on their way, which would solve the problem of production capacity.
Once even the farthest sisters from the north and west arrived in the City of Chaos, he'd have over a hundred mages working under him.
Combining magic and production, using system-provided magical plants as the foundation—in a world that hadn't yet realized that mages could be the primary productive force—Ron had full confidence he could build a business empire from scratch.
The Next Afternoon
Sylvie reported that the nun sisters from convents near the City of Chaos had all arrived in the city.
Ron immediately gave orders for them to bring their daily essentials and gather at the eastern city gate.
He took a carriage to the gate with Guy and Sylvie. As they stepped down from the carriage, the nuns who had already arrived in their own carriages came forward and greeted him respectfully:
"Greetings, Your Eminence Ron."
Hearing their voices—some raspy with age, others quivering—Ron froze in place as if struck by lightning.
He looked around at the more than twenty nuns before him, all dressed in black habits, and… his mind blanked.
This…
This wasn't right.
Why were they all…
Why were they all…
Oba-sans!?
Where are my cute nun sisters!?
The vision in his head had been of sweet, pure nuns working in the fields, glistening with youthful energy and sweat, not middle-aged women chattering about gossip!
"…How old are these nuns? I called them here to work. Are they even physically up to the task?" Ron whispered to Sylvie.
Sylvie answered seriously, "Please rest assured, Your Eminence."
"They're all mages. Their daily prayers involve infusing themselves with mana to nourish their bodies. While not as physically strong as warriors of the same tier, they're in much better shape than regular people."
"…And there are no younger ones?" Ron couldn't help but press. "Is this the average age in the convents?"
Sylvie glanced at him, puzzled, but still responded earnestly:
"As per Your Eminence's request, I was to gather nuns of around Tier-2 magic level, capable of using Plant Manipulation Spell, while also ensuring the convents' normal operations weren't disrupted."
"These nuns were all long-time convent staff who've recently retired or semi-retired from their duties."
"They're not particularly talented in magic, so they'll likely remain stuck at Tier-2 for life. But because they're no longer active staff, assigning them here won't affect the convents."
"They meet every single one of your criteria, Your Eminence."
"…," Ron was speechless. He couldn't even argue—just silently swallowed his disappointment.
Sure, these nun veterans could all use the Plant Manipulation Spell. His goal would be achieved.
But why did this leave such a deep… sense of loss?
After a moment of thought, it clicked.
Young nuns were needed to keep the convents running. Pulling them away would impact operations.
As for those adorable, sweet nun sisters who'd come to participate in the last ceremonial gathering? They were the crème de la crème of the convents—exceptionally gifted and likely successors to Sylvie's role someday.
No way they'd be assigned to help him… farm.
After all, his only requirement was "Tier-2 mages." Naturally, Sylvie followed the request to the letter. Sending elite nun mages here would be like using a warhammer to crack a walnut.
Realizing all this, Ron could only sigh inwardly and resign himself to reality.
"Get on the carriages."
Seated inside, Ron suddenly felt a little tired.
Had the arrivals been those cute nun sisters, he'd probably be in high spirits by now.
What a misstep... Total miscalculation!
The carriage convoy rolled out of the city gate, passed through the outskirts, and arrived at the lands by the Darle River.
A completed prayer house stood by the riverbank, with two more under construction nearby.
Ron had the sisters place their belongings in the prayer house and then brought them to the fields.
Over the past few days, he had been personally inspecting the area, using the Earth-Tilling Spell to map out where the Chameleon Radish should be planted.
So today, he directly opened his [Inventory] and pulled out fully matured Chameleon Radish plants he had already prepared in the Cultivation Space, transplanting them into the field.
A two-meter-tall Chameleon Radish appeared out of nowhere. Its rectangular, palm-sized leaves swayed in the wind, instantly drawing the attention of the surrounding nuns.
Ron transplanted more than ten in one go before stopping and waving the sisters over.
"See this plant?"
"Your task is simple: harvest the leaves every day, then use Plant Manipulation Spell to regrow them, and harvest again."
"Sort the harvested leaves by the patterns printed on them. Someone will come by regularly to collect them."
"You'll be divided into two shifts."
"One shift handles the spellcasting and harvesting; the other meditates to recover mana. Then you rotate."
"Understood?"
The nuns stared at the Chameleon Radish curiously, reaching out to inspect the different leaf patterns, visibly amazed.
After listening to Ron's instructions, they all nodded in agreement.
Guy, standing nearby, was stunned.
Up until now, he'd been wondering how exactly His Eminence Ron planned to produce the Element Cards and why he'd bought so much land.
Now… it all made sense!?
He had been puzzled about why Ron hadn't equipped the factory with printing presses or paper machines—but now he understood!
It was because he didn't need them.
With this incredible, magical plant, he had completely bypassed the need for traditional printing methods!
That meant—except land, buildings, and wages—the production cost of Element Cards was practically zero!