The Rise of the Black Plain

After finishing her first activity of the day, the update meeting, Mia left that place and went directly to Minos' office.

At this time, the young Stuart is usually almost there, later his morning cultivation session. So, with that, Mia had to hurry to be ready when that happened.

She was responsible for updating the local sovereign on most matters, so she needed to be there when he arrived.

Anyway, it didn't take her long to get to her position.

Minos' mansion was not that big yet, having less than 10,000 square meters of built-up area. So, no matter where she was before, wandering around this place wouldn't make Mia waste too much of her time.

At the same time, as she was moving around the administrative part of the mansion, Mia had passed several people and exchanged a few words. Despite being the beginning of the day, this place was already quite crowded, with people from the army, primarily, and others from agriculture, city cleaning, commerce, etc.

Mia was well known for most of the people who frequented the government's headquarters, so there were always those who stopped to wish her a good day.

Anyway, after passing through several of the corridors of this property, the young Stuart's secretary had already arrived at her principal place of work.

Minos' room was divided into two large areas: his own office and the other where the waiting room was.

In that place, some chairs were strategically positioned on the sides of this place, facing each other. Then, finally, there was a high bench in front of where Mia's desk had been.

Other than that, there were a few paintings around, but none of them were of great value. They only served to decorate the space and had not been painted by high-level spiritual painters.

Because of that, such items were there just to show landscapes of the Black Plain.

Spiritual pictures could have specific effects on cultivators, but only high-level people could produce something like that. However, there would not be high-level paintings in the Dry City, as Minos himself had never tried to buy anything like this before...

As for painting, that wasn't exactly a profession in the Spiritual World. In fact, there was even the use of spiritual techniques to produce these paintings, but this involved techniques from different areas, not from a single specialization, as happened with the profession, for example, of alchemists.

There were several subclassifications of alchemical techniques in the world, but all of them were still aimed at spiritual refining. It could even act in different ways, such as, for example, there would be a technique that would control the flame, another that would remove excessive impurities from the components, another to form pills, etc.

But all these techniques were for the purpose of producing refined pills!

But with painting, it was different. As long as a cultivator had learned at least one support technique focused on mind power, then anyone could become a painter.

For example, warrior painters painted about fights, wars, alchemist painters who created paintings about the refining, etc.

And the result of this was different for each painting. A painting done by an alchemist could be very beneficial to alchemists, as it could give them insights, understandings of those experts. And the same was true for the paintings made by specialists from other fields.

Anyway, but none of the paintings in this reception room in Minos' office could have much effect on cultivators. The level of its creators was not high, meaning there was not much understanding in it.

But it fulfilled the role of decorating the environment, at least in the short term.

Anyway, Mia had already started preparing her activities in that place when Dillian arrived.

He was wearing a black suit, with a white shirt underneath, which gave this gentleman an inviting appearance. The pronounced mustache and short hair, already with some gray strands, indicated that he had already lived long and could already be considered an individual of many experiences.

Finally, he had a discreet smile on his lips as he walked calmly through that place. "Good morning, young Mia."

"Good morning, butler Dillian. Do you seem to be satisfied with something?" She asked vaguely, noticing the expression on the figure who had just entered there.

"Haha, it's nothing. I just woke up feeling good today... I'm feeling my progress getting closer, hehe." He said with satisfaction while disguising the reason for his morning happiness.

Of course, being closer to the advance was an excellent thing and would make anyone feel good, but that wasn't why Dillian was in such a good mood...

Anyway, there was no need for him to get into personal affairs with other people, and he indeed was very close to breaking through to level 50.

"Oh? Great! This will be an important mark for the Black Plain…" The two then talked for a while until finally, Minos walked through the door of that place.

He was wearing brown trousers while wearing a beige shirt that was still half unbuttoned at his neck.

His brown hair was damp as if he'd just gotten out of a shower and headed straight here.

Anyway, he finally greeted the two people there, and then the three went to his office.

...

At this point, Minos was sitting on one of the sofas there, next to Dillian, while Mia was in front of them. She was already beginning to notify them about recent events in the city, about matters she had heard earlier.

"Recently, the alchemist guild requested the local government to try to obtain Blue-grade techniques aimed at alchemy. Unfortunately, there are none at the local public library, so they feel they are missing out on the potential of new students."

Hearing this, Dillian was the first to comment on this subject. "That was expected. After all, while warriors can learn different types of techniques in the library, alchemists and other professionals cannot do the same..."

Hearing this, Minos immediately nodded in agreement and said. "True, but we have nothing to do. These library techniques came from our enemies, who were all warriors." He then sighed for a moment and then continued. "Mia, tell them I'll work this out on my next trip. But for now, they will still have to wait for a few more months."

"OK. Ehh, on to the next topic... The hunters in the city are complaining that the number of spiritual beasts in the region near the agricultural fields has increased, and they need more workforce at night."

Such a thing was normal to happen. After all, with the growth of plants in the region near the Dry City, many spiritual beasts were already migrating to this location.

Food was something that was lacking for those beings who inhabited the desolate Black Plain, and because of that, with the appearance of many plants in the Dry City, these beasts could not stop coming here!

"Young master, I think we can follow that idea I suggested earlier. That can resolve this issue more quickly." Dillian said quickly.

Minos then looked at the butler for a moment and remembered a conversation they had had a few days ago. "Oh? Are you talking about the mercenary guild? It might be a good idea. Even if it's still early, it won't do the city any harm."

Mercenary guilds could have an advantage over government services, which was freedom.

That is, while government officials had to work certain hours a day, generally, at the exact times, as a routine, mercenaries had more freedom in this regard.

People could join a guild and only do quests when they have free time or are in urgent need of crystals.

On the other hand, there were several options for local employment, and many people might not be interested in living as hunters, doing this daily. After all, there was no fixed salary for these professionals, as their income depended only on their respective hunts!

Consequently, it might be easier for certain services to be done through the use of this type of organization rather than the traditional method of contracting.