9 Beginning of Agriculture 2

It has been three more days since the artificial lake was completed, and at the same time, the seeds and the farming group were also prepared. Whereas, Minos had reached level 6 as well.

Today, a group of 200 farmers who were selected would start preparing the soil. They were going to work on just 3 hectares initially. This was the current limitation, given the labor they couldn't afford.

However, after three months, when harvests would be made, if everything was to be sold on the domestic market, a yield of 55,000 low-grade crystals would be obtained, even if the grains were sold at a similar price as the competition.

With that amount, Minos could triple the labor force for the next irrigation and also be able to pay for the construction of a low-level array to improve the city's spiritual density, and even increase the number of local guards.

Minos also planned on building an academy for the future members of the Black Plain Army in a few more months. The youths there would receive Black-grade and Silver-grade techniques and an additional large amount of resources in the future.

However, this was only the beginning. With a production of about 10 tons in the first few months, they would only reach a small share of the monthly demand in the Black Plain region. Therefore, for this region to have a strong presence in trade in the North of the Central Continent, it would still take time.

But this was also a time that they needed to strengthen themselves since some economic powers wouldn't like the presence of a new competitor!

…

That afternoon, Minos went out to meet three young students from the Black Star Academy, the local spiritual academy of the region. 

Spiritual academies were locations where children aged between 6 to 10 could acquire fundamental knowledge about cultivation, conventional specializations, and, depending on the location, even geopolitics.

Such academies existed in virtually every human city. After all, it was not possible for everyone to learn essential information in their families. Thus, these places have been created for ages.

Even the most prominent families would send their children to the best spiritual academies!

Of course, the Black Star Academy wouldn't attract as much attention when compared to the academies that were in the capital of the Brown Kingdom. Nonetheless, it was what the citizens of Dry City could have.

Anyway, Minos was here to see the three students who were going to be graduating soon because the census he had ordered was already finalized. 

And much to Minos' surprise, these three youths from the Black Star Academy all had Black talent!

That was incredible! But despite being challenging to find such individuals in this region, as almost all the residents had talents ranging in White or Blue, it wasn't entirely impossible for some individuals to be born with talent far superior when compared to their parents.

This kind of situation could happen with a large population. It was just that the chances of stumbling with such individuals were small.

And as to why such individuals weren't seen more often in this region, this is because their families usually moved after discovering their children's talents. This was rather something done before the children turned 10 and stepped on the path to cultivating.

Minos sought to bring these individuals to his side and wanted to make a generous offer to encourage these families to stay and develop in Dry City.

And to prepare for this meeting at the Black Star Academy, he had asked his secretary, Mia, to do the arrangements. This was because the academy had a social program which exempted two of these youths from paying the academy fees, just like these two youths, Ralf and Lee, who were admitted through this program.

This program was similar to a loan that these students would have to pay after they graduated if they possessed a Blue talent at least. And if they didn't, they would simply be exempted from payment.

This is because all regional forces required people with weaker talents to do certain services. Since most people with Blue talent could easily reach level 39, there would always be a great demand for people with such strength in the North of the Central Continent.

And of the three, two were boys by name, Ralf and Lee, and one was a girl, Alison. None of them was members of a large family or nobility, so they had no surnames.

In this world, individuals usually obtained a surname after establishing their own force or after being born into a wealthy family.

Anyway, after a few minutes of walking, Minos had already arrived at the entrance to the Black Star Academy, accompanied by two of his personal guards at levels 35 and 37.

Today Dillian was taking care of agricultural matters and so couldn't come along. But then again, for such a negotiation, there was no need for more strength.

The academy wasn't too far from his mansion, just a few blocks. It was a building that was in good condition and was shaped like a star, and just one level above the first floor. It was gray and had many windows facing the street.

While the three men were entering the building, they were stopped by a middle-aged woman who appeared slightly overweight and had a large mole on her right cheek.

"Welcome to the Black Star Academy. Can I know the intention of your visit?" she asked carefreely.

Minos responded, "I'm Minos Stuart. My secretary had set up a meeting with the principal Lionel Gill, and the students Ralf and Lee."

The woman was surprised to learn that this young man before her was the new sovereign of the Black Plain. After all, although the population knew their current sovereign was young, most people didn't realize that Minos was only 15 years old. Since the rulers are typically much older…

"I... I see, you are the young master Stuart. Mr. Lionel is in his office. I'll take you there," she said a few words before guiding Minos to the principal's office.

After some time, they arrived in front of the room, where two boys were sitting on a large wooden bench and talking. It was not hard to guess that they were Ralf and Lee.

Soon after Minos entered the principal's office following the middle-aged woman, he noticed that in the room were three men having a discussion.

Two were sitting on the same side of the table and were responsible for Ralf and Lee, while the latter sitting at the edge of the table was the principal Gill.

"Mr. Lionel, this is Minos Stuart," Minos introduced himself to the principal of the academy, Lionel.

Lionel replied with a dull face, "Nice to meet you. I heard from Secretary Mia that the young master wanted to meet the students Ralf and Lee, is that correct?"

"That's true, I recently arrived in Dry City and received some information from the census that was recently conducted. And through it, I learned about the talents of these two youths," Minos replied politely and then turned to the other two men.

"Today, I'm here to make an offer that I believe will attract the families of these two. I can understand that you may have already made a lot of plans to leave the Black Plain, but before that, I would ask you to consider my offer."

One of the two responsible for the boys responded with a mocking face, "Hmph, do you want us to stay in this place without a future? I don't know what offer you're going to make, but I doubt that you can offer anything better than the Gill family!"

This was Ralf's father, Railan. He seemed similar to that simple type of person who didn't usually think much about the broader situation and only valued what was in front of him.

The other man was Gryff, Lee's older brother. Their parents had passed away long ago, and he was responsible for his two younger siblings.

One was Lee, and the other was a 7-year-old girl, Ayn. Gryff was more of an astute person than Railan and was curious about this new sovereign who had miraculously solved one of the biggest problems of the Black Plain.

At least, that was what was most talked about these days.

Gryff then asked, "What can young master Stuart offer us? We also already have an agreement with the Gill family. I don't know if that can be undone."

The principal then nodded and said, "That's right, we have invested in Ralf and Lee for almost four years. We cannot just give up on them."

After listening to the three, Minos finally spoke again, "I understand the situation, but I have an offer for both sides. Of course, those responsible for the two young boys are those who have the choice here. As for the Gill family, it only paid for basic education. That should not have cost even 1,000 low-grade crystals for those two..."

Minos then looked at Lionel and said, "What I offer is something that the Gill family cannot offer. I'm not disparaging your family, but they will be less important if they go there. They'll receive fewer crystals and inferior techniques than what they can earn with me.

I'll pay the Gill family a refund of 4,000 low-grade spiritual crystals for each of the two boys, who decide to stay on the Black Plain. As for the youths' families, I would suggest that you think for a few days about what you can gain from the Gill family and come to talk to me at my mansion. I'll explain my offer in detail at that time. But I can assure you that I can provide a Black-grade cultivation technique as soon as the two reach 10 years old."