Three weeks later...
After departing from the previous camp, Minos followed alongside the women who owed him to the first city he would meet in this state.
That was where men were technically forbidden to live, the home of some of the noble families of this state.
But make no mistake, even the cities in this state that forbade men to live had people of that sort living there.
These were the eunuchs, fathers of female warriors of the kingdom, or the male nobles, sons of the female warriors.
For some reason, the sons of women of royal lineage in this state were born sterile. Because of this reason, they could live in this state without problems, although in the remote past, some women of royal lineage had tried to induce the reproduction of members of their lineage with cousins.
That had ended the lives of those noblemen but saved the lives of all those who came after, who, until the present day, could live peaceful lives alongside their sisters, mother, and many aunts.
But apart from these two types of men, no others were allowed to live in these cities, and only during the day could visitors like Minos pass through.
Because of his situation, Minos had already received a few more challenges in the previous days, even considering the rumors about his strength that had already been spread since his first battle against women in this state.
He had not fought other groups in the days he had traveled to this city, as the women and eunuchs traveling with him had 'helped' the women on their way, bypassing every camp in their vicinity. But the other people who had seen him fight, especially the servants, had spread what they had seen to their friends and acquaintances, quickly spreading the news about him to people in those areas of the kingdom.
But even with the rumors that he was a monster capable of defeating even level 79 eunuchs without effort, some women in this city had already challenged him.
He had won several of these challenges, so he had already collected a few thousand high-grade crystals, medicine useful for feeding Maris, and high-level grade-3 equipment for the Black Plain Army.
In the middle of his days in this city, Minos had signed partnership agreements with the families of two of the three women he had demanded.
In these agreements, the Black Plain would sell high-value-added resources to the Flowers Kingdom, such as the special wine from that area, aphrodisiac plants, and products forged by spiritual professionals.
Currently, the empire of Minos would still not have much to sell to the families of those women. Still, this emperor had guaranteed buyers for these items when this day came.
And with that, those families would also have to provide some hard-to-find items in Minos' territories, but also military support.
The forces commanded by those women would have to be friendly to those of Minos. In case of problems between the Black Plain and Flowers Kingdom or high-level states on the continent, those families would have to intercede on their behalf.
In a way, these agreements were similar to what Harold had achieved for his state before.
Anyway, today, Minos would finish formalizing the last of the three agreements so that he could finally return to his journey toward the Flowers City!
...
"What do you think? Does it suit me?" Minos asked Maris and the level 78 woman traveling with them to pay for their expenses on this journey to the kingdom's capital.
In this instant, they were in a grand and beautiful hotel in the city they were stopped in, where the three families of those women were located.
Although this place was not exactly the destination of most people on the continent, women from all over the Spiritual World had this state as a point to visit in their lives.
Those who were financially and spiritually able to come to this place eventually did so. Because of this, the tourist attractiveness of this place was not zero, and there were in this kingdom hotels and all kinds of infrastructure necessary to receive people from outside.
In one of these places, Minos was staying with those two, and at this very moment, he was trying on one of the armor he had won the day before.
That was a dark purple armor, which covered the upper parts of the arms, shoulders, chest, abdomen, and back, with small reliefs that made it look beautiful. But the most impressive thing about this armor was not its refined appearance but its classification.
That was a low-level grade-4 armor, something Minos had been lucky enough to get after defeating a level 79 Spiritual Saint the day before, a wealthy local challenger.
He wasn't strong enough to last long with armor that required level 80 cultivation from its wearer, so he was only trying it out to use in the future.
Items of this quality were almost 20% more efficient than those of high-level grade-3 classification, so Minos was eager to use something like this!
"It looks excellent on you..." The level 78 woman said as Maris observed the details of that armor.
That spiritual beast asked. "With that armor, you have one defensive and one offensive item of low-level grade-4... But will you be able to use them? Or is it too heavy for you?"
Minos had gained a sword of the same rank as that armor three days ago, so Maris wondered how strong he would become after adding that item more.
"Hmm, I'll only be able to use one of these items without a problem after advancing to level 73, whereas to use both simultaneously, I'll have to reach level 75, so no, I won't be able to use them for a while." He was sincere.
He already had a low-level grade-4 armor and sword that Henricus Longus had left for him in the Spatial Kingdom. But even so, Minos had never used them until then because he knew he was incapable.
"Level 75? Sigh... It'll take a while for that to happen." That beast sighed, imagining it would not be able to see Minos using such items yet on this trip.
It had started this trip with anger at Minos for all that had happened when they first met. But after weeks of traveling together, she had grown accustomed to him and his unusual abilities.
So Maris wanted to see this fellow using all his skills and those grade-4 items, which would undoubtedly put him above his current strength.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do such a thing in the short term!
"Anyway, it's impressive that you can at least use this to show us." That level 78 woman commented, seeing Emperor Stuart removing the armor. "I hope to see you getting stronger in the future... It will be interesting to see where you can get to as a eunuch."
"Eunuch?" Minos chuckled as he looked at that woman, who, every now and then, teased him with lines similar to the one above. "That's not going to happen, Emma."
"If you eventually reach the level of the chief eunuch, with your exceptional skills, you could probably reach the power level of the continent's leaders!
At this time, the kingdom would become as strong as our neighbors!"
...
