It didn't take long before the meeting with the soldiers came to a conclusion, and they departed to carry out their missions.
Minos was eager for the local population to be informed as soon as possible about these that would be available for them if they went to Dry City.
And it wasn't long before the news started to spread throughout Yellow City.
With the 54 soldiers of the Black Plain Army disseminating the information directed by Minos, much of the populace quickly learned about the identities of these people who had attacked the bandits and also what they were offering for this city.
...
In a restaurant in the central region of Yellow City, two elderly men were having their meals when they suddenly overheard a conversation from another table which caught their attention.
"Ros, I heard that the group responsible for attacking the bandits in our city comes from Dry City," a middle-aged woman informed a tall, strong man.
"Hmm, I heard that too. One of the members in that group came to my store earlier today and spread the word on behalf of their leader," the strong man replied with a mouth full of roasted meat.
"Ahh! So, did you hear of that firsthand? I only heard about this from my younger brother. So? What do you think of all this?" the woman asked, her face filled with excitement.
She was a small local merchant with Blue talent and was at level 30. And although this job offered in Dry City was not very impressive for her, the consequences of that certainly were.
That's because many of her customers were people with White talent who would undoubtedly be interested in this opportunity. And as a result, the business in Dry City would certainly expand even further, and since these people could finally have a guaranteed income, it was significantly better than what they could get here in Yellow City.
For this reason, she could anticipate an increase in her customer base, and these customers would also consume more of her products.
The man took time to chew his food before responding, "It is quite interesting. They offer 40 low-grade crystals to the weaker ones, ranging between levels 20 and 29. As for those from levels 30 to 39, they are offering 100 crystals."
He then drank a large swig of beer before continuing, "With this, people with White talent, as well as those with Blue talent, can get jobs that generate a decent income when there is nothing else to do. And undoubtedly, this is a great opportunity for small stores like ours."
Minos had raised the remunerations of farmers who reached the Spiritual Warrior stage. He had taken this step because he needed to encourage more people to continue and enter agriculture, in fact, he even wanted to encourage people with Blue talent to do this job, even if it was only on a temporary basis.
After all, the number of vacancies for the Black Plain Army was limited, and the demand for various services in Dry City wasn't so significant that all people with Blue talent could have a job. For this reason, agriculture was the best alternative for these people for the time being, who could earn a decent salary by doing this until some better opportunities started to arise in the Black Plain.
"Of course, if all of this is true..." the man finished with a smile on his face. After all, one couldn't trust these people right away. Who knew, maybe they were just another group of criminals. And as far as they knew, Dry City was more flawed than Yellow City...
"Hmm, it's true. But it was mentioned that they would leave as soon as they dealt with the other bandits who left yesterday. If that's true, we can send someone to Dry City to verify the truth once they depart if this is true," the woman said confidently.
"Oh! That's an excellent idea..." the muscular man agreed as his smile widened.
"And it looks like they also have a high-level grade-1 alchemist over there. That's quite unbelievable. Is the Black Plain really that good? Even our Yellow City has only one alchemist," Ros exclaimed, remembering the crucial piece of news he had heard.
"Hmm..."
With that, the two continued to talk about rumors of this group that had arrived in the city last night. Meanwhile, the two old men were utterly shocked by what they just heard.
"Did you hear what I did, Edric? Is Dry City recruiting?" one of the elderly men, sporting a long white beard, asked doubtfully.
He wanted to be sure if he was hallucinating because the mere idea that Dry City could afford to pay for hiring anyone below level 39, and even offering generous compensation at that, was simply unbelievable.
These two were Lance, a merchant from the Kingdom of Waves, and Erdic, the only alchemist in Yellow City. The old alchemist had lived in this city for a long time and usually obtained the required medicines through this old merchant from the Kingdom of Waves.
The two had met yesterday to do their business dealings as usual. And today, as old Lance would be returning to his family in the innermost region of the Kingdom of Waves, the two took the opportunity to have lunch at this restaurant.
As for how old Lance managed to get into Yellow City without getting into any significant problems, this is because of Edric. As the city's sole alchemist, the criminals could not risk hindering Edric's production of pills due to a lack of resources. Therefore, Lance was not disturbed by the bandits when he passed through the city.
Edric, who had long white hair and a full mustache, spoke with a serious expression. "Hmm, I heard that too, but I can't believe it."
Both of these elderly men possessed little knowledge of the Black Plain that surpassed the ordinary people in this city.
They were well aware of how dire the condition of Dry City was. After all, old Lance was a merchant who traveled in the northern region of the Central Continent for a long time!
"This can't be right," Lance said in disbelief. "I passed through Dry City about three years ago, and there was no way anyone in that place could pay a salary of 40 low-grade crystals to a cultivator in the third stage! Even more so for a large number of people as they are boasting about."
From his perspective, Black Plain had no large-scale export activity. In fact, only the sale of some animals hunted in the region was barely enough to keep the lives of these hunters' families, so it could not even be counted as an export activity in the eyes of any trader.
Other than that, the import of resources was also limited to food, which certainly did not generate many job openings in the region as well. As for crystal mining... being an area lacking in spiritual energy, the number of crystals mined per year might only be insufficient for what they just heard.
For all these reasons, Lance didn't believe that any power within Dry City could sustain such expenditures.
Edric then spoke with a smile on his face. "Maybe this really is another group of bandits trying to take over this city?"
"But the suggestion of the young woman behind us was just excellent. How about that? Let's go to Dry City to see if there's anything there that's giving these people the thought of making this possible.," the old alchemist said, looking at Lance.
"But what about your business?" Lance asked doubtfully.
"There will be no problem. Now that Gul's group is almost destroyed, I have lost more than half of my clients in Yellow City. So, I won't have any problems if I were to go out for just a week."
Although he disliked their behavior, Edric had no option but to become the supplier of spiritual pills to Gul's group. If he had refused, he would have already been killed, and this was not a world of the fair, so he might as well earn something from those people.
When you can't do anything about it, just accept it and try to take advantage of the situation. That was how Edric thought.
"Oh! Since it is like that, then let's go, I also don't have much to do for now."
After that, the two paid the bill at the restaurant and then headed towards one of the two exits from Yellow City in the old merchant's carriage.
...
While the general population of Yellow City debated the bandit group's destruction and the possibility of Dry City recruiting, in the meantime, Gul and his group had arrived at the cave where the Nine-tailed Fox was located.
"Guys, be prepared for anything that might come our way. Even if that fox is weakened, I don't want to risk too much," Gul said with a smile on his face. He was very excited to capture these foxes because that would give him many crystals!
Gul then looked at two of the commanders before saying, "You two, don't forget, your job is to capture the cub, don't worry about fighting with the beast. We will defend the attacks that might come in your direction."
After that, the group moved on to enter the cave that was just 100 meters away from their current location.