Passing through the storage room door, Ron appeared inside the Tansen City branch of Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop.
The moment he stepped outside, Yuna—in her mature form—instantly appeared beside him.
Ron glanced at her and immediately recognized that this was her puppet body, not her real one.
"Come to think of it," Ron said curiously, "this is your real form, right? Or is this also some bone-shrinking trick of yours?"
"Of course, this is my real body," Yuna replied, standing just half a head shorter than him, giving him a sideways look. "That loli form before was just to sneak into your shop."
"That was your weird hobby," Ron shot back with a dark expression. "My shop doesn't only hire kids."
"Ha."
Yuna smirked, not bothering to argue. Instead, she suddenly pulled out an illustrated booklet, tapping lightly on the scantily dressed girl on the cover as she teased:
"Really? Took me a while to realize—you're not picky at all, are you, Your Highness~."
Ron glanced at the booklet in her hand and didn't even bother trying to snatch it back.
He knew it was hopeless.
The two boarded a carriage and headed toward the convent on the outskirts of Tansen City.
Since the city wasn't officially his territory yet, Ron had arranged for the soldiers to stay in the newly built convent.
There weren't many nuns yet, so the place had plenty of space.
Housing twenty-something soldiers was no problem.
But the moment Ron stepped inside—
He froze.
The soldiers and nuns were all gathered around a table…
playing mahjong.
Ron's eyelid twitched.
He walked closer and saw them completely immersed in the game, clearly enjoying themselves.
He rubbed his forehead, suddenly unsure whether bringing them here had been a good idea…
Noticing Ron's arrival, the soldiers snapped out of their War of the Gods "battlefield", hurriedly standing up to salute.
The nuns followed suit.
Ron returned the gesture with the Sheaf of Grain sign, then waved for the soldiers to follow him outside.
They exchanged uneasy glances as they followed behind him.
Would His Highness scold them for playing games…?
But there really wasn't anything else to do here!
And those nun ladies were so enthusiastic when they needed a fourth player!
It would've been rude not to join!
To their surprise, Ron didn't mention the incident at all.
Instead, he introduced Yuna.
The soldiers visibly relaxed—but confusion quickly followed.
This woman named Yuna…
Was it actually a beastfolk?
And she didn't emit even a trace of battle aura. She didn't look like a powerhouse at all.
But when Ron casually mentioned that she was a retired sixth-tier assassin from the Imperial Shadow Division directly under Emperor André III—
Every single one of them stiffened.
No one dared to underestimate her anymore.
(Of course, the puppet body wouldn't show any aura. Even her real body wouldn't leak anything if she didn't want it to.)
"…From now on, she'll be in charge of your daily training and patrol duties," Ron said. "Any questions?"
Looking at Yuna's smiling expression, everyone shook their heads obediently.
"Good." Ron nodded. "Where's the bus you drove here?"
"Your Highness, it's behind the convent."
They made their way to the open space behind the building.
Ron once again saw the Illya Model Bus.
Puppet Yuna immediately stepped forward, her curiosity obvious as she examined the massive vehicle.
She had only heard about this "element-powered vehicle" from Ron before—this was her first time seeing the real thing.
"So this is the vehicle you mentioned? Runs purely on elements?" she asked, circling it.
Then she shook her head.
"Ugly."
"As long as it works, it's fine," Ron shrugged. "Turn off the lights, and it's all the same."
Yuna: "?"
"Cough." Ron quickly changed the subject. "Want to try driving it?"
"Of course."
Yuna immediately climbed aboard and sat in the driver's seat, gripping the steering wheel with excitement.
"How do you drive this?" she asked, looking puzzled. "Where's the whip?"
Ron felt a headache coming on.
But considering the bus wasn't that fast, and they were in an open area—
Plus, Yuna's puppet body was practically indestructible, and he himself was already a third-tier warrior—
Nothing too bad should happen.
So he decided not to stop her.
"See that red knob on your left?" Ron pointed. "Turn it so the top and bottom magic patterns align. That activates the 'element engine.'"
The so-called "engine" was actually a composite of multiple wind-element magic arrays created by Illya.
Yuna followed his instructions and aligned the patterns.
Nothing happened.
"Huh?" she frowned. "Why isn't it moving?"
"That's just step one," Ron rolled his eyes. "Relax."
Only when mana from the storage array was fed into the system would it actually move.
"Now hold the steering wheel—yes, both hands. That controls direction."
Ron continued:
"Look down—see two pedals?"
"The right one controls reverse. The left one controls forward."
"When moving forward, the right pedal acts as a brake—and vice versa."
"Start slow. Gently press the pedal, keep the speed low, and get used to steering. Then you can gradually—"
VROOOOM—!
Before he could finish—
The bus shot backward at full speed.
"Hey!!" Ron shouted instinctively—
Then, I suddenly realized:
Behind them… was the convent.
"Brake! Brake!"
"No—press the LEFT pedal!"
Ron yelled.
But the moment he spoke—
The rear of the bus was already inches away from smashing straight into the convent wall.