The Rise of the Black Plain

While Minos was in his office reading the latest information from the Dry City, Dillian and Eda were together right now, walking around the town.

The two people who appeared to be middle-aged were dressed formally, as would be expected of individuals of their status.

The butler was dressed in a close-fitting black suit that went well with his pronounced mustache.

On the other hand, Abby's bodyguard was not wearing her traditional armor. After all, she wasn't on duty at the time, and the Dry City could be considered pretty safe at the moment.

Abby was quietly cultivating in Minos' mansion's cultivation room, so Eda took advantage of this free time to walk around with her old 'friend.'

Eda was wearing a gray cotton dress, which had some slight embossing but nothing too flashy. If someone didn't look closely, one wouldn't see the tiny flowers on that outfit.

Anyway, the two walked together, through the main avenue of the Dry City, while they were walking arm in arm, as a couple would...

The two did not seem in a hurry and walked along with one of the sidewalks of that place, from where they could see the cityscape and the streets' movement calmly.

There was a particular lane on that avenue, where sometimes people would run by as if they were late for something important. There were also four main lanes in the middle of the avenue, where carriages passed in opposite directions.

Although there are not so many people able to have this type of transport in the city of Minos, there were already some capable of it. And it was enough for any local citizen to see one or two of its passing through the streets at almost any time of day.

And while the movement entertained them both, the wind passed through that region, shaking the trees between the sides of the avenue. This was a pleasant feeling and made outings like the one the two were doing even better.

The tranquility of feeling the freshness brought by the air currents, the sounds emitted by the swaying trees, combined with the visual stimulus, made anyone feel good.

Anyway, the two followed arm in arm while talking about different subjects.

"Dillian, even the idea of ​​living in this town isn't a bad one. With the current growth, it shouldn't be long before this location reaches the standard of other good cities in our region." She said with a slight smile on her face.

Abby had decided to join Minos' army a few days ago. But, even though they hadn't formally done it yet, Eda was already getting used to the idea of ​​living in this place. And for her, that wouldn't be bad, the perks were excellent, and still, she could live closer to an old friend...

This place was decent enough for Eda, and she felt it would continue to improve in the future. She would also be much more valued here and would not have to deal with such severe punishments from the Miller family. After all, Abby had made that decision for her...

As for why the two of them hadn't formally joined the Black Plain Army, well, that was due to the bureaucracy involved.

There was a procedure for new soldiers to be admitted and given access to the facilities and advantages of that organization.

But the soldiers responsible for these areas were doing background research on the selection of new soldiers. The army's strength was not yet large enough to handle so many different situations.

There was background research for selection, regular services such as patrolling the city, protecting entrances and walls, escorting carriages to the army's seaside base, organizing the selection, and so on.

For all that, there was no staff to admit these two women from the Miller family, nor Peter's three 'slave companions.' Consequently, these people would have to wait a few days for things to settle down for the army when they could finally enter Minos' organization.

Anyway, upon hearing Eda's comment, Dillian smiled and said. "But of course. The Dry City will become the center of the northern part of the Central Continent in a short time!"

"Haha, are you that confident?"

"Yea! Many services here are already desirable to the common population. But gradually, this place is also improving in those areas geared towards the most talented or the strongest people."

Eda then looked at him for a moment, still walking arm in arm, and said. "Are you talking about the cultivation tower and the fighting arena? These two places are perfect indeed, but they are not enough."

"First, there are few rooms in the current cultivation tower, and due to the prices charged, there is a lot of competition for each one. Because of that, this tower will not attract stronger people who have more crystals but don't want to compete for rooms."

"Second, even if the arena has no problems and has good prizes, that alone is not enough to make Spiritual Generals decide to move here."

Hearing Eda's honest assessment, Dillian immediately nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, that's still not enough. But it's only been two months since these places opened. In another year, we could have an expansion in the number of rooms in the cultivation tower, where we could even triple the number of them!"

"But that's not all. We also already have two grade-2, low-level alchemists in our city, and who charge prices below the regional average!" He said confidently.

Eda then turned her gaze to the well-lit street they had just entered, from where many shops could be seen. She then commented. "The prices charged for locally produced pills are very cheap. As for the increase in the number of rooms in that tower, I still think it's insufficient."

"Given current prices and the size of the local population, I believe the government needs to increase the supply of cultivation rooms at least ten times. Only after that will this service be able to meet local demand."

"Hmm, you're right. But that will be resolved when we have the necessary crystals for these expansions. But, we will have another relevant service in our city in a short time." He spoke when the two finally reached the end of a street, where there were many construction sites.

At the moment, it was pretty dark in that place, as there weren't many streetlight posts around there yet. After all, this was one of the many construction sites of Dry City, which still didn't have people living.

Because construction was not permitted overnight in Minos' city, there was no reason for them to invest in lighting arrays until these construction sites were near completion.

But even though it was dark at that point, with the advent of spiritual energy, the two people who appeared to be middle-aged could undoubtedly see that place.

There were many tall buildings there, some reaching up to 30 meters in height, while the average was around 20 meters. But there was a large complex in the middle of these buildings of different heights and shapes, which drew the attention of anyone passing by.

That complex had an "H" shape, with six floors and covering an area of ​​0.25 square kilometers. Lawn spaces could be seen in front of each of the openings of the 'H,' through which two distinct entrances could be seen to different streets in that part of the city.

Anyway, this complex already had the first floors completely ready. Also, the glass facade in part of the building was already adequately fixed. Other than that, nothing else attracted much attention in this place.

Eda then looked around and then heard Dillian's voice again. "That big 'H' shaped building you're seeing will be the Dry City's Hospital, where I'm going to start developing the medical profession around here!"

Hearing Dillian's proud tone, Eda was happy for him.

After all, even though he was happy to be Minos' butler and before that, he was Albert's, Dillian had always loved his profession and had even exposed his willingness to teach medicine to others.

Allied to that, Eda could understand why Dillian believed that this place could be another attraction service for the strongest and most talented people in this part of the continent.

After all, who in the Spiritual World didn't need medical treatments? Fights were constant, and sometimes an individual did not have the option to refuse it...

On the other hand, diseases could reach even strong cultivators, even if it was unusual...

And even though doctors could not produce external healing items, as alchemists could do with their pills, medicine was still an essential profession in this world!