After a few minutes, Minos' carriage finally passed through the wall's south gate, heading for the central part of the Dry City.
There was no longer much movement on the city streets. After all, it had been a few hours since the sun had disappeared over the horizon.
At this moment, it was cold in the city and windy considerably, to the point the noise of the wind was easily heard. And in an environment full of buildings, as was the case of this town, this further elevated the sound effects caused by winds.
Vuum!
And finally, the group's carriage arrived at the town mansion, where several soldiers were scattered, patrolling the surroundings of that building.
"Ahh! How good it is to be back!" Alison said that with a smile as she got out of the carriage quickly.
Traveling was good, but there was nothing better than her own home!
"Hmm, you two should get back to your homes without delay. It looks like we are going to have a storm soon..." Minos advised the two youths who had accompanied him while looking at the cloudy sky, full of heavy clouds.
"All right, master!" Lee responded promptly, preparing to leave this place. "Come on, Alison, our houses aren't too far away..."
"OK."
And shortly after that, the two youths ran off through the desert streets of the Dry City, at the same time as the soldiers who had traveled with them, took the carriage to a place at the back of the mansion.
One of them then said. "The weather is very muggy... It looks like it will start to rain soon."
"Ehh, I hope it stops raining before dawn... With the days off I got, I wanted to go fishing with my son..." The other complained while feeling the saturated air of the Dry City.
"Ehh, I remembered something, you..."
While the two soldiers who had brought Minos and those two youths back from the City of Waters were talking, the young Stuart had already moved all the way to his residence inside the mansion.
Upon arriving at his room, he immediately went to take a hot bath to relax from the tiredness of the trip. After all, two days of traveling in a carriage still made one feel tired, even for people like the young Stuart.
"Ah! It's terrific to be back..." He exclaimed in a low voice, going to lie down on the big bed in his room. 'I'm going to sleep for a while, and then I will visit little Kyla and her mother...'
After that, the young Stuart slept while it rained heavily outside the mansion.
...
A few hours later, Abby was in the guest apartment she had received while quietly cultivating there.
The apartment she had received was a good size, divided into two rooms. There was a simple room with a double bed, some decorative furniture for this type of environment, and a suite.
As for the other niche, it was a room with an open kitchen, where there was a bench with four high stools, a dining table with six seats, and a leisure area.
Abby was sitting on the floor of that leisure area right now, right in front of a glass balcony, which looked out over the south side of the Dry City.
She then opened her eyes, finished her cultivation session. 'Oh? Began to rain...'
"It is a pity. I wanted to go out and see this place, but I think I will leave it to do it tomorrow... No problem, sleeping in the rain is also excellent!"
...
And while the young Abby was getting ready for bed, the young Stuart had finished his rest and was getting ready to eat something and go to the Spatial Kingdom.
Ding!
The doorbell of Minos' residence rang, and a middle-aged woman entered the place right after while pushing a cart with various food and drinks.
"Oh! Madam Renata, thank you for preparing my meal." He thanked her at the same time when he took a slice of cake and started eating.
"No need to thank, young master, this is my job." She laughed and said. Renata had been Minos' cook since he lived in the capital of the Brown Kingdom. And even though she wasn't a culinary expert, she was still the most skillful cook in the Dry City.
Other than that, Renata had increased her level a lot during the past period, so her meals were getting better and better.
But it was not easy for her to improve.
After all, even if she had a better-classified cultivation technique, Minos did not have any specialized cooking techniques! Therefore, Renata and other cooks in the Dry City could not improve their skills quickly...
'Hmm, madam Renata's cultivation level is already at level 34. Well, sooner or later, I will have to go after specialized support techniques, such as cooking, alchemy, etc...' He thought, savoring his snacks.
"Young master, I think I have news for you." Renata spoke, standing next to the dining table where Minos was eating.
The young man then turned his head towards her, with a glass of orange juice in his left hand, and then said. "Oh? What it is?"
"A young woman who claims to be your friend is staying here at the mansion."
Renata knew this because she was the cook of this place. So, she had already prepared Abby's meal, having discovered the young woman's identity in this way.
"A friend?" He said while having a thoughtful look on his face.
"She is called Abby Miller."
And hearing that, Minos couldn't help but smile at this pleasant surprise. 'Hehe, it seems that she has already forgiven me for that offer that I made... Or is she here for this?'
The young Stuart couldn't help but have these ideas running through his mind, smiling in rejoicing. He was a manly young man, and even though Abby was his friend, there was nothing wrong with them both going deeper into this relationship.
After all, what was wrong with friends if they 'have fun' intimately?
Sex didn't require commitment, and it certainly wouldn't derail their friendship. And as two single people, there was really nothing to indicate that this was a wrong decision.
For this reason, Minos thought of his old friend from the times of the Spiritual Academy in a somewhat different way. And Abby honestly did look excellent, perfectly matching the young woman's beautiful blue hair and eyes.
And after thinking about it for a while, he finally asked Renata. "Where is she?"
"She is in apartment 21, young master."
...
After that, Minos finished his meal after a few minutes while talking about the day-to-day things with cook Renata. He had promised her that the next time he traveled on business outside of the Dry City, he would try to get some specialized cooking techniques.
This was not just an essential thing for Renata but the entire Dry City. After all, each service offered in the city could increase the influence of this place, making the territory of Minos more attractive to people from outside.
It was good to attract people with White talent, but these people would work mainly in agriculture. Minos' forces could not depend on these people alone! So, it would be better for the Black Plain to have high-quality services, which could attract more talented people and increase the local strength!
And specialized techniques were just one of the things that were missing at the moment. Alchemists and other professionals living in the Dry City could not count on Blue-grade techniques from the public library, as was the case for the population trained in combat techniques.
Therefore, the improvement of these individuals was slower, not ideal for the young Stuart's plans.
Anyway, after he finished eating, Minos went to the apartment where Abby was staying, thinking about this and other matters he had to take care of in the future.
Ding!
The sound array of apartment 21 sounded.
Inside that place, a young woman with blue hair was dressed in silk pajamas, which consisted of long, loose trousers, and a long-sleeved shirt, both gray.
'Eh? Is it the older sister Eda?' Abby wondered as she got up from the bed that she had just gone to sleep. She wasn't too tired, but there was nothing else to do, so she was already getting ready for bed.
She then got up and went to the door of that apartment to see who was visiting her in the middle of the night.
And opening the door, Abby saw a young man with brown hair and eyes, standing at her door, wearing a white T-shirt and black trousers.
"Minos!" She exclaimed in surprise.
Abby thought that she would have to wait for a few days to see him, but for her happiness, he had returned from travel the same day that she had arrived.
"Hehehe, it's good to see you again!" He said before finally entering the young Abby's apartment.