In a pure white space, a thin patch of soil floated, measuring ten square meters.
The soil was neatly arranged in a 2×5 rectangular formation.
"This is starting to feel more and more like a certain farm sim…" Ron floated mid-air, clicking his tongue as he looked down at the soil.
He took out a Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum seed from his backpack and began attempting to plant it.
From the cultivation method he had absorbed, Ron learned that the Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum was a plant that bloomed in autumn, bore three to five fruits each time, and withered in winter.
The following year, it would grow, bloom, and bear fruit again without naturally dying off.
It's an ideal environment requiring moist, loose soil, and during its growth phase, a steady supply of "Warm Yang Solution" was needed to bloom flowers with special effects.
All of these conditions could be easily handled by the cultivation space. Ron only needed to set the parameters according to the method.
Since this was his first time planting the Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum, even with the time-acceleration feature of the cultivation space, he still spent the remaining three hours of the morning just to grow one blossom.
Looking at the single orange-red flower blooming in one square meter of soil before him, a gratified smile spread across Ron's face.
The Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum had oval-shaped leaves with wavy edges. The flower rose proudly from amidst the leaves, its slender orange-red petals tightly clustered together into a sphere.
A gentle fragrance filled the air. Ron sniffed a few times and immediately felt his body becoming more energized.
[Upgrade Mission] — [Successfully Grow One Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum]:
"[Congratulations, Host, for completing the mission. The reward has been deposited in your [Backpack].]"
"[The Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum can now be transplanted to your shop. Proceed with transplantation?]"
Ron chose not to transplant it right away. Instead, he accelerated time, waited for the plant to bear fruit, and harvested both the fruit and the seeds.
Next, he spent another half hour using the four seeds he had just collected and the original plant to grow five Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemums in total.
System: "[Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemums can now be transplanted to your shop. Proceed with transplantation?]"
Ron still wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he reached down and snipped the stem just below the leaves, cutting off the entire upper flower before agreeing to transplant.
The snipped Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum was placed in a flowerpot inside his shop, leaving only a solitary root behind in the cultivation space.
Because the plant could repeatedly bloom and wither annually, its petals could be harvested once each year.
If he had directly transplanted and sold the whole plant, the buyer would basically be getting a continuously regenerating source of special-effect petals and leaves.
However, by severing the connection between root and stem, the transplanted Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum would retain some vitality in the flowerpot but would no longer be able to bloom after withering.
Ron continued to cut the other four blossoms and transplanted them into the shop. Then he spent some time regrowing the original five plants from their roots until they bloomed once more.
This time, he harvested a batch of petals and leaves, then set the time flow so that the next blooms would be ready the following morning when he returned. With that, he exited the dimensional space.
It was nearly 1 p.m. by then. Ron had a quick bite of bread, then opened the shop for business.
On the display shelves on the first floor, alongside over a dozen Nether Orchid plants, there were now also five "castrate" Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemums.
The price list on the wall had also been updated:
[Nether Orchid]: 20 gold coins each.
[Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum]: 30 gold coins each.
Ron settled into his lounge chair and opened the system panel for a quick look.
System Level: 3
And right on cue, the system delivered another notification.
System: "[Please choose one of the following three pattern upgrades.]"
(1) (2) (3)
Ron squinted at the vague choices, speechless. The system's upgrades felt utterly pointless to him.
He casually picked one and then opened his [Backpack] to absorb the mission reward: [Seed Acceleration Spell].
Just as he expected, since it was also a wood-type magic, the Seed Acceleration Spell required two prerequisite spells. Right on time, the system updated the shop's inventory:
[System Shop]
[Rainfall Spell]: 1,000 Wealth Points
[Earth Wave Spell]: 1,000 Wealth Points
"Tch!" Ron closed the system panel in annoyance, not even bothering to look further.
Trying to scam his wealth points again?
Well, the system was out of luck.
As one of the top academies on the continent, Chaos City Magic Academy definitely offered basic-level spells like these. There was no need to waste points buying them.
Better to save up for expanding the cultivation space or unlocking miracles from the Goddess of Harvest.
Ron mentally calculated his current wealth points, then casually pulled out a copy of Goblin Prophecies from the counter and began flipping through it.
Just then, another system notification popped up:
[Main Quest] — [Sell 500 Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemums]:
"[Requirements: As described above. No time limit. Just reach the target quantity.]"
"[Reward: Seed and cultivation method for Scalevine.]"
Ron raised an eyebrow, thoughtfully studying the name "Scalevine."
Since the mission hadn't been completed, he didn't yet know what the plant's properties or effects were.
But from the name alone, he immediately thought of "vine armor," which reminded him of a tabletop game that had been incredibly popular back in his original world.
Maybe he could recreate a set to play with sometime… Ron mused.
The afternoon passed slowly.
During this time, several students and assistants from the Magic Academy came to buy Nether Orchids.
Though the academy had just bought 100 plants from Ron, most of those were used for lab experiments. A small portion would be gifted to professors or placed in the Magic Tower, perhaps even in special meditation rooms.
But for students and assistants, the time they got in the Magic Tower was short. If their families could afford the 20 gold coins, it was much more practical to buy their own Nether Orchid.
So, even though Ron had already formed a deal with the academy, it didn't reduce the number of other buyers from there.
As a result, his wealth points slowly climbed up to 5,821.
Still, he hadn't seen the person he'd been waiting for.
"That's odd…" Ron rubbed his chin and stepped outside the shop, glancing toward the alley next door.
The job posting was still taped perfectly on the wall next to the trash bin, untouched and undamaged.
"Maybe they didn't come yesterday?" Ron muttered, returning to the shop.
He had expected that the homeless kid would see the job posting and come apply.
After all, he'd written the requirements to be extremely low. Basically, as long as the applicant met the age requirement, they could apply.
Surely that kid was at least 14, right!?
Didn't look that young...
What Ron didn't know was that Nora hadn't applied simply because she couldn't read.
A simple misunderstanding — but one that stemmed from a common assumption.
This wasn't the world Ron had originally come from. Here, education rates were low, and most commoners could only learn from their parents.
Illiteracy was the norm.
Ron had inherited the memories of the Seventh Prince, and thus subconsciously assumed that literacy was a basic skill.
And so, he waited all afternoon — but Nora never came. Instead, he received visitors from the Magic Academy and the Radiant Mercenary Group.
The former delivered a finely crafted emblem, about the size of a human head, and hung it next to the store sign per Ron's request.
The latter brought Jasper.
He stepped down from the carriage and happened to see the academy staff hanging the emblem.
His steps paused, and a serious glint flashed across his eyes.