While Enan's family discussed the potential change that could happen in Yellow City in a short while, several other families had already received the same news.
In one of the city squares, a group of nearly 20 people gathered, engaging in an active conversation about recent events.
At that moment, an elderly man spoke out loud. "Hmph, regardless of who is behind this, it does not guarantee a change in our situation. Did you forget about that rascal, Gul? When he and his group return, another fight will take place."
He paused for a second and then continued. "Can those responsible for yesterday's act be able to deal with Gul and his group?"
Upon hearing the old man's words from just now, the group quickly stopped their conversations and fell silent. Indeed, eliminating the group that had stayed in Yellow City was good, but it wasn't a definitive solution.
Only by killing Gul and his cronies, who had left the city yesterday, could they solve the problem from the very root.
A bald man then chimed, "Well, it never hurts to dream... They've done a lot and I can't believe some fools would take unnecessary risks for a poor place like our city."
"That is true..."
While some believed that it was just a matter of time to have these bandits only remained in their memories, the discussion continued.
But there were many others who were much more skeptical about this and did not want to have false hopes.
...
While similar discussions about the recent news were spread and discussed by many people in all parts of the city, Minos was in one of the mansion's rooms, having a crucial meeting. Ten soldiers from the rank of Sergeants were seated beside a large table, while Dillian was sitting on Minos' right side.
On the other side of the room, Elen was sitting together with Ruth and Eduard. Although they were not very interested in Minos' affairs, 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 Minos' actions.
Ruth, on the other hand, wanted to watch Minos since there were many doubts about him in her mind. So, while she was accompanying him, she would participate in events like these.
Sitting in an oversized chair, Minos proceeded to start over the meeting by saying, "Good morning, everyone. First and foremost, I want to congratulate all the soldiers on successfully completing the missions assigned to you. And as a result, when we return to Dry City, I will grant you all a whole month's leave."
"Make sure to pass this on to the other soldiers later," Minos added with a smile on his face.
Upon hearing this, all the soldiers who were attending the meeting beamed for a moment before continuing to pay attention to their young master once again.
"Now, let's start with discussing the items that were looted after yesterday's attack," Minos said, directing his gaze in the direction of the soldiers.
On hearing Minos' words, one of the soldiers quickly stood up and began reporting. "Good morning, young master. I have the information that you requested.
Among the items left by the bandits, we collected approximately 48,000 low-grade crystals, which were equally distributed among the 54 soldiers who came to Yellow City to participate in the operation.
Along with that, there were also 216 copies of Blue-grade techniques, which were classified between cultivation, attack, defense, and various movement techniques.
We have also acquired seven copies of Black-grade techniques. They include attack and defense. All the techniques we had recovered were then passed onto the Butler Dillian.
Additionally, we also collected 11 spatial rings and a number of grade-1 pills. The pills were divided among us, while the spatial rings were handed to the Butler Dillian," the soldier reported, reading from a paper in his hand.
Although Minos stated that the soldiers could share all the items except the Black-grade techniques, they had still delivered much more than that to the Butler Dillian.
But that was to be expected, as they did not need Blue-grade techniques since they were all trained with Black-grade techniques provided by Minos himself.
Thus, the best way was for Dillian to take possession of these techniques. The butler could make sure that these techniques were soon made available in a public library so that anyone could learn them.
After all, Minos did not intend to distribute Black-grade techniques to his citizens at the present time. Perhaps he could do that in the future when they were strong enough to protect themselves, but not now.
However, these Blue-grade techniques would still be very helpful for the ordinary population of Dry City. After all, most of them were not subordinated to Minos, and many only had a White talent.
Consequently, these techniques would be much welcomed by the people.
As for the spatial rings, there were too few of them to be divided among more than 50 soldiers. Thus, the soldiers concluded that it would be better if Butler Dillian were to distribute them on his own as he saw fit, avoiding any disagreement among the soldiers within this group.
Minos then continued to enquire about the previous fights and then went straight to his primary subject. Speaking in a low voice, he asked, "Changing the subject, do you have any data on Yellow City?"
In response to this question of his, Sergeant Humbert rose up from his chair and started to speak. "I have some information, young master. I managed to find out some documents about a census that was conducted about eight years ago. According to the data from that census, Yellow City had around 68,000 inhabitants at that time.
Of that number, nearly half possessed a White talent, followed by almost all the rest with Blue talent. However, at that time, there were four individuals with Black talent, but they were all youths who had recently turned 10.
Therefore, it's likely that they are not around anymore since, at that time, there was a royal family's subordinate in this place, who certainly attempted to recruit these youths," Humbert finished his report before resuming his seat.
"Hmm, you are likely to be correct. But it doesn't matter. Our main objective here is to attract people with White and Blue talent," spoke Butler Dillian, who was sitting next to Minos for the first time voicing his thoughts from the start of the meeting.
Minos then added, "Indeed, but let's send someone to the local spiritual academy to see if we can still find someone with Black talent."
"What about the occupation status of these inhabitants? Is there a high rate of unemployment around this area?" Dillian interjected again, asking the soldiers.
Another soldier stood up from his chair and spoke, "I can address this. I also collected some data from documents dating back to the time of the former regent.
I found that about 20% of the population had a stable job at that time. In comparison, 30% were engaged in various random jobs within the region, while 15% were unemployed.
And the rest of the population was made up of children and ones with disabilities, elderly, or sick.
However, although we lack more recent data, I believe that unemployment in the city has worsened since the bandits took control of the city.
According to the people I spoke with, Yellow City suffered significantly due to the kidnappings of the traders, leading to a reduction in the supply of certain items, making these products much more expensive and also decreasing the number of employment opportunities in the region.
It also became more difficult to sell items from the region, such as the beasts that were hunted here or outside these areas," the soldier explained, looking in the direction of Minos and Dillian.
"Hmm, it's true. I heard that too," the other soldiers nodded in agreement upon hearing the soldier's account.
And that was a fact indeed. By kidnapping those traders, the bandits caused the many noble families to divert from the Yellow City region, which resulted in a significant weakening of both the export and the import of items in this city, thus increasing unemployment and also the cost of living for the locals.
"There was also an alchemist living here at that time, but I am uncertain whether he is still around," The soldier added after recalling this essential data.
"Oh! I get it. Let's do this..." Minos then began explaining his orders to the soldiers at that meeting.
It was decided that Minos' soldiers would spread some information around the city.
Firstly, it was to spread the information that their group did not intend to stay for long and would leave after resolving matters with the still remaining bandits. That was done to let the population know that they were not taking over the city, thus avoiding creating a bigger problem with the Kingdom of Waves.
After all, the Kingdom of Waves still held absolute sovereignty over this place. Therefore, even if this region was impoverished, the great noble families would not look favorably at someone after taking one of their cities.
However, by making it clear that they were here only until the bandits were eliminated, even if the noble families found out about it later on, they wouldn't care what happened or who had helped.
Secondly, Minos also instructed the soldiers to spread the rumor that they were recruiting many people with White and Blue talents in Dry City, situated in the Black Plain's central region.
But it wasn't just about recruitment. Minos wanted to draw their attention to their needs, the spiritual crystals. He wanted them to know exactly just how much they could earn by working in Dry City, taking into consideration their cultivation level.