"What are we doing next? Lyle said now's the time to strike while the iron's hot and open more branches," Mia asked eagerly. "What do you think, Big Brother Ron?"
"We can go ahead and open up more branches in the Royal Capital first—get full control over our home base," Ron André nodded. "At the same time, send people out to scout locations in other major cities. Let's push forward on both fronts."
"Mhm, mhm!"
The two discussed the hotpot chain's expansion strategy, drawing up a well-organized plan.
With the system's side quest as motivation, Ron started working his brain in earnest—he wanted to complete the "Make the Hotpot & BBQ Restaurant Go Viral Across the Human Empire" quest as soon as possible.
"As for my share of the investment, just pick it up at the Gold Reserve Bank in the Royal Capital. I've already handled the paperwork."
"Okay, no problem!"
After their conversation ended, Ron withdrew his consciousness from the puppet avatar, letting out a wry chuckle.
...He was getting way too used to that puppet wearing a dress. That could be dangerous.
As for the transfer through the Gold Reserve Bank, that was part of the investment deal he'd made with Mia:
Mia would provide part of the funds, plus all the manpower and materials needed to launch the restaurant.
Ron would contribute the rest of the capital, along with his unique ideas for hotpot and BBQ, and his exclusive seasoning recipes.
That made it 60% Mia / 40% Ron in terms of shares.
Ron didn't care too much about the split anyway. Just from Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop, he was already raking in mountains of gold. His wealth was approaching 200,000 coins.
If it hadn't been for the system assigning this as a task, he wouldn't have taken the restaurant business nearly this seriously.
Seriously, wasn't it way better to just eat and drink all day?
Ron took out a pen and paper, jotting down tasks related to the hotpot expansion. He also noted down a few points about Element Card sales, making sure there weren't any loose ends.
That evening, Nora made dinner using Spice Pine powder as a seasoning.
After experimenting at lunch, she'd already gotten the hang of using the new spice. The result? A huge improvement in her dishes—several levels above what she could do before.
Ron took a bite and silently sighed in satisfaction. This was what another world was supposed to be like.
If everything had to be copied from his old world to be fun, then what was the point of transmigrating?
At the very least, the food from his flower shop's tiny kitchen had surpassed Earth standards in both taste and variety.
And if Nora kept improving her cooking, the meals could become even better.
After dinner, the four of them—stuffed and satisfied—went off to their respective activities.
Nora and Yuna did the dishes and cleaned up. Then Nora went downstairs to check on the flower shop, while Yuna headed to the neighboring Tabletop-Themed Tavern.
Before she left, Yuna tried to drag Sister Sylvie into helping her taste-test some new cocktails.
Originally, she wanted Ron to help, but after remembering how that ended last time, he refused instantly.
Drinking one of Yuna's creations was like panning for gold in a sandbox—it wasn't worth the trauma.
So… poor Sylvie got dragged along instead.
Ron gave her a silent salute in his heart.
"Hang in there, Sylvie. You're doing the Goddess's work."
Back in his second-floor study, Ron lounged in his recliner, casually directing the Heartvine vines to grab a book off the shelf.
He flipped through the pages while sighing contentedly.
"If only a cute maid came to massage my shoulders, and a servant offered me tea, then this would be the ideal noble lifestyle," he thought.
...Well, for now, he could only rely on the Heartvine for that kind of vibe.
A few vines snaked behind him, their suction-cup tips gently attaching to his back and shoulders.
Chu~ Pop!
The little "kisses" of the vines were surprisingly relaxing.
Meanwhile, two other vines snuck out to the living room, poured him a cup of hot water, and brought it back.
Ron sprinkled in some needleleaf powder, and a warm aromatic tea scent quickly filled the study.
He took a light sip—
Ahh… the warm feeling in his kidneys told him the Life Belt was enjoying this too.
With Nora handling the flower shop, Yuna running the tavern, the Element Card production stable, and the hotpot restaurant successfully launched, Ron was finally able to kick back and live like a proper lord.
He gave orders, and everything else was done by others.
Now that was how a noble should live.
To kill time, he flipped through historical records, looking for figures with colorful life stories to turn into new Legendary Kill character cards.
Or he browsed magical tomes like The Index of Forbidden Spells to prep new material for the noble edition of Element Cards.
Around 7 PM, Ron heard light footsteps, followed by a knock on the door.
Nora peeked her head in and whispered,
"Boss, Mason is here to see you. He's at the tavern with Sister Edith."
"Oh, got it."
Ron had the Heartvine clean up his desk, then headed next door.
"Sister Edith is so pretty!"
"Mhm. Yuna, you're really cute too."
"You and His Highness Ron seem close. How did you two meet?"
"Well, Mason bought a Nether Orchid from Ron's shop and introduced us."
"Really? I heard elf priestesses aren't allowed to marry outsiders. Is that true?"
"Hmm… There's no formal rule, but it's an unwritten one. Historically, no elf saintess has ever married outside the race."
"Eh~ What if you did fall for an outsider? That'd be kinda sad..."
"...From another perspective, maybe it's practical. We elves live much longer. If our partner died while we were still young, that'd be hard. That's probably one of the reasons behind the rule."
"So if that wasn't an issue, and your clan didn't mind, would you marry a non-elf if you liked him?"
"Let's not discuss purely hypothetical things..."
Just then, Edith noticed Ron walk in and stood up like she'd seen a lifeline.
"Your Highness Ron."
Mason stood as well and gave a polite greeting.
Ron greeted them in return and slid onto one of the high stools at the bar.
"One Green Trap, please."
"Coming right up, Your Highness," replied the 1.5-meter-tall Yuna with a sweet smile.
Soon, a glass of swampy green liquid was placed in front of Ron.
Sylvie, sitting nearby, looked at it with a pale face.
"Your Highness… is that drinkable?"
Ron glanced at her, barely holding back a laugh. In front of her sat several glasses of drinks that looked even worse.
"Yeah, this one actually tastes pretty good."
Thank the goddess he hadn't come earlier…
Sylvie… you really worked hard today.
Ron offered her a heartfelt moment of silence in his heart.