The Rise of the Black Plain

While Enan's family discussed the change that could happen in the Yellow City, several other families had already received the same news.

In one of the city squares, there was a group of almost 20 people actively talking about the recent events.

At that moment, an old man said out loud. "Hmph, regardless of who has done this, does not mean that our situation will change. Did you forget that rascal from Gul? When he and his group return, another fight will take place."

He stopped for a second and then said. "Can those responsible for that act deal with Gul and his group?"

Upon hearing what the old man had just said, the group quickly stopped their conversations. Indeed, eliminating the group that had stayed in the Yellow City was good, but it was not a definitive solution.

Just by killing Gul and his cronies who left the city yesterday, they could solve the problem in the bud.

A bald man then said. "Well, it never hurts to dream... They've done a lot. I don't believe some fools would take unnecessary risks for a poor place like our city."

"That is true..."

While some thought it was just a matter of time to have these bandits stay only in their memories, the discussion continued.

Many others were much more skeptical about this and did not want to have false hopes.

...

While people in all parts of the city discussed the new news, Minos was in one of the mansion's rooms having a big meeting. Ten soldiers from the rank of Sergeants were seated beside a large table, while Dillian was sitting on the right side of Minos.

Elen was sitting on the other side of the room, together with Ruth and Eduard. They were not very interested in Minos' affairs. However, it was still a good opportunity for them to learn about their ally's plans. With that, Elen could also make her own arrangements, considering the actions of Minos.

As for Ruth, she liked to watch Minos since there were many doubts about him in her mind. So, while she was accompanying him, she would participate in these events.

Minos, sitting in an oversized chair, started the meeting when he said. "Good morning, everyone; first and foremost, I want to congratulate all soldiers on completing the missions I assigned; as a result, when we return to the Dry City, I will grant you a month's leave."

"Pass this on to the other soldiers later." Minos said with a smile on his face.

Upon hearing this, all the soldiers who attended the meeting smiled happily and then continued to pay attention to their young master.

"Ehh, to start with, tell me about the items looted in yesterday's attack." Minos said while looking in the direction of the soldiers.

On hearing Minos' words, one of several soldiers quickly got up and began to report. "Good morning, young master. I have this information. Of the items left by the bandits, we collected about 48,000 low-grade crystals that were distributed equally among the 54 soldiers who came to Yellow City. There were also 216 copies of Blue-grade techniques, divided between cultivation, attack, defense, and movement techniques."

"We also collected seven copies of Black-grade techniques, including attack and defense. All the techniques we found were passed on to the butler Dillian. We also collected 11 spatial rings and some grade-1 pills. We split the pills between us and gave the spatial rings to the butler Dillian." The soldier said while reading a paper that was in his hand.

Although Minos said that the soldiers could share all items except the Black-grade techniques, they still delivered much more than that to the butler Dillian.

They did not need Blue-grade techniques since they were all trained with Black-grade techniques provided by Minos.

Thus, the best option was for Dillian to take these techniques. The butler could put these techniques in a public library so that anyone could learn them. After all, Minos would not distribute Black-grade techniques to his citizens at this time. He could even do that in the future, when they were strong enough to protect themselves, but not now.

However, these Blue-grade techniques were still helpful for the ordinary population of the Dry City. After all, most of them were not subordinated to Minos, and many had only White talent.

Consequently, these techniques would be welcome for these people.

As for the spatial rings, there were few of its so that it could be divided among more than 50 soldiers. Thus, the soldiers concluded that it would be better if the butler Dillian distributed it on his own, avoiding any disagreement among the soldiers in this group.

Minos then continued to ask some questions about the previous fights and then went straight to his main subject. "Well, changing the subject, do you already have data on the Yellow City?" He asked in a low voice.

After that, Sergeant Humbert got up from his chair and started talking. "I have some information, young master. I was able to find some documents about a census that took place eight years ago. According to the data from that census, the Yellow City had around 68,000 inhabitants at that time."

"Of that number, almost half have White talent, followed by almost all the rest with Blue talent. But at that time, there were four people with Black talent, but they were all youths who just turned 10-years-old. Therefore, they are probably not around anymore, since at that time there was a subordinate of the royal family in this place, who certainly tried to attract these youths to his family's side." Humbert finished his report and then sat down.

"Hmm, you must be right about that. But it doesn't matter. Our main objective here is to attract people with White and Blue talent." Dillian, who was sitting next to Minos, spoke for the first time.

Minos then said. "Ehh, but let's send someone to the local spiritual academy to see if we can find someone with Black talent."

"What about the occupations of these inhabitants? Is there a lot of unemployment around here?" Dillian asked the soldiers.

Another soldier got up from his chair and said. "I can talk about this. Eh... I also collected some data from documents from the time of the former regent. I found that about 20% of the population had a fixed job at that time. In comparison, 30% did various random jobs in the region, and 15% were unemployed. The rest was made up of children and people with disabilities, or sick people."

"However, although we have no more recent data, I believe that unemployment in the city has increased since the bandits took over the city."

"According to the people I spoke with, the Yellow City was badly damaged by the kidnappings of the traders. That reduced the supply of certain items, making these products more expensive and decreased the number of workers hired in the region. It also became more difficult to sell items from the region, such as the beasts that were hunted here, outside these areas." The soldier said while looking in the direction of Minos and Dillian.

"Hmm, it's true. I heard that too." Other soldiers nodded when they heard what had just been saying.

And that was a fact. By kidnapping those traders, the bandits caused the many noble families to deviate from the Yellow City region. And with that, both the export and the import of items were significantly weakened in this city, increasing unemployment and the local cost of living.

"There was also an alchemist living here at that time, but I don't know if he is still around." The soldier said after recalling this essential data.

"Oh! I get it. Well, let's do this..." Minos then began to expound his orders to the soldiers at that meeting.

It was decided that Minos' soldiers would spread some information around the city.

First, their group did not come to stay and would leave after resolving matters with the still alive bandits. That served to let the population know that they were not taking over the city and avoiding creating a bigger problem with the Kingdom of the Waves.

That is because the Kingdom of the Waves was still the absolute sovereign of this place. Therefore, even if this region were impoverished, the great noble families would not look with good eyes on someone taking one of their cities.

However, if they were only here until the bandits were eliminated, even if the noble families found out about it, they wouldn't care what happened.

Second, Minos directed the soldiers to spread the rumor that they were recruiting many people with White and Blue talents in the Dry City, located in the Black Plain's central region.

But not only that, he wanted to draw these people's attention to their needs, the crystals. Minos wanted them to know exactly how much they would earn by working in the Dry City, considering, of course, the level of cultivation each of them was on.