Quickly two days passed...
While preparations were being made for the start of the mission of Minos' army in the Maritime City, Viola had crossed all the distance between the Dry City and the City of Waters.
This woman had returned as quickly as possible to her town, where she could finally decide what to do with the information she had previously obtained with the help of her experienced mother.
That was something she had given a lot of importance to, and it wasn't long before she arrived at the local government mansion.
...
Upon entering the mansion's interior, the young woman with green hair quickly crossed the public parts of this building until arriving at Mirya's training room, where usually this woman used to stay..
In that place where Minos had already spent a few hours having fun with the mother-daughter pair, Mirya was now calmly cultivating.
She was sitting in the center of that room, in a meditative position on a pillow typical of this type of activity. And while she was doing that, the spiritual energy of some medium-grade crystals was gradually being sucked into this woman's spiritual cultivation, to the point where the air in that room was slightly distorted right now.
It was as if there was a small mirage in that room, surrounding the body of that mature woman, like those typical of hot summer days.
While she was doing this, this woman's powerful cultivation gradually became denser, which Viola could feel, even standing outside that room, watching her mother through a glass door.
After so many months that the agreement between Minos and Mirya had ended, this mature woman had already received all the crystals from that previous transaction. Because of that, her cultivation had increased a lot!
She was currently at level 52, a level that she wouldn't have dreamed of reaching in less than ten years before that deal!
But not only had she gotten much stronger in that period because of that deal. No, like a good mother, Mirya had also nurtured her daughter with lots of crystals, something that had raised that young girl's strength to level 47!
Anyway, while Viola was waiting for her mother, watching from outside that room, Mirya finally began to show signs that she was finishing her meditative state when the crystals around her had wholly stopped glowing, and she slowly opened her eyes.
"Ahh, at this rate, I can reach level 53 in less than two years!" She celebrated in her mind while sighing in satisfaction.
It was nice to have so many crystals at her disposal!
But beyond that, this woman was already thinking about the day when her mission in the City of Waters ended, and she would obtain a status boost in the Stokes family due to her leveling up.
That is because each cultivation level in the 6th stage was challenging to achieve in this region. Hence, highly valued by local authorities.
So, even though Spiritual Kings were treated as regional experts and were seen as equals in public, the truth was that the status gap grew higher and higher, considering the cultivation levels of these people.
And a level 53 Spiritual King, the level this woman would be at at the end of her mission in the City of Waters, was far more valuable to a noble family than a level 51, this woman's previous strength.
The very possibility of her starting an organization in the Stokes family would no longer be impossible, as her prospects had already completely changed after she made that deal with Minos!
Anyway, because of all that, this woman was delighted with her staying in this region and had a smile on her face whenever she woke up in the mornings and after her cultivation sessions, like this one at this time.
After that brief moment of self-satisfaction, this mature woman soon felt that someone was watching her when she finally turned to the door and saw her daughter.
"Viola?" She commented as she watched that young woman enter that place and sit down beside her.
Mirya then looked at the young woman who had sat on a big sofa, noticing the grave expression on Viola's face. "What happened? You don't usually come to talk to your mother in the middle of the day..."
"Remember what I told you before? About the many students who left the local spiritual academy because their families were leaving this town?"
Viola's mother nodded and made a sound of agreement. "Hmm."
"So then, I decided to pursue one of these families, and I think I figured out where they're all going."
After hearing this, Mirya's eyes narrowed abruptly as she finally realized that this matter actually mattered more than she had previously thought. That's because this woman knew a lot more than her daughter...
After all, Viola didn't know Minos and Mirya's negotiation details, which involved thousands of locals. And even though the deal had ended more than a year ago, Mirya knew there were still people leaving the City of Waters constantly.
But she couldn't do anything about it...
She had invited a predator into her home, and now she couldn't control it!
Minos' men were already infiltrated among the local inhabitants, and these individuals already had all the necessary data to continue attracting people to the Black Plain.
With that, what could Mirya try to do?
Killing these people would be of no benefit to her, and as for the possibility of her interrogating them, she had even tried to bribe some people. Still, strangely none of them had accepted the 500 reward crystals that were offered!
As for torture, this woman hadn't reached that point, as she was afraid of suffering heavy consequences for it, as Minos seemed to have far more excellent financial support than the Stokes family, the power behind her.
So, to not offend a potential wealthy ally, this woman had not used extreme methods.
And she had even tried to send some of her men to chase these families on a few occasions, but her subordinates always returned a day or two, with dozens of broken bones and with the warning not to do anything about it again...
Anyway, but for some more significant reason, Viola had managed to do this job Mirya so desperately needed.
'Perhaps they didn't consider she was chasing them due to her strength? Or maybe that's because they are willing to receive us at this time?' Mirya wondered, remembering Minos' figure.
She then asked seriously. "And where is this place? Is very far?"
Hearing this, the young woman moved her head in denial and then laughed. "You won't believe me if I say it!"
"Oh? So, it must be something very unexpected…" Viola's mother muttered in a low voice, already trying to guess. But nothing came to her mind. After all, there were several strange parts in the region where they lived.
"But by the time since I last saw you, this place must be within 2,000 kilometers of where we are... Don't tell me that..."
"It's the Dry City!" Viola answered her, looking steadily into her mother's eyes.
"I did not enter that area because the moment I approached it, I sensed a massive defensive force surrounding the city, something that could only be generated by medium-level grade-2 defensive arrays!"
"What?" Mirya screamed in shock as she got up from that sofa and stared at her daughter, trying to figure out if this was a joke.
'How can this be? Arrays of this classification are not cheap!'
'How would anyone spend so much just to protect a city? What use would that be?' She couldn't understand how such a thing could exist.
Noble and royal families did not make this type of investment in their cities. After all, why would they care about defending common areas?
For them, as long as their mansions, palaces, and headquarters were okay, even if the entire population was sacrificed, it wouldn't be the end of the world...
