The Rise of the Black Plain

Finally, Ruth's great eagle landed at one of the entrances to the great city in front of them, Odella, the seat of the Miller family.

Abby had already given directions to her two traveling companions about what should be done upon arriving here. To begin with, they had left White in a suitable place, where this great beast could rest and wait for the return of these three. Next, they had hired a local carriage service and proceeded directly to her family headquarters.

As they traveled through that city, Minos and Ruth learned a little more about Abby's hometown.

Odella had about 3 million inhabitants and was one of the wealthiest cities in the Brown Kingdom. And as a city ruled by a prominent merchant family, this place had every kind of service that one could find in this northern region of the Central Continent.

The city's structure was magnificent. It mixed the high-quality buildings with many gardens and squares, places where people could be seen enjoying themselves at almost any time of the day.

But in addition to the beautiful places that exist here, the culinary options of this city also attracted attention due to the existence of many restaurants with grade-2 chefs.

Anyway, after a while passing through the middle of the city, Minos' group finally arrived in front of a large property on the northern side of the town. 

Many trees surrounded the area of that property, with a wall of the same color as most of these trees protecting the inner territory.

From outside the street next to that property, Minos and his two companions could see several guards around that place, some of them standing at a large main gate. In contrast, others could be seen walking on top of the walls.

And as they got out of that carriage they were in, Abby smiled and said. "We're here!"

After that, the three quickly made their way towards that entrance post of that property, where they needed to get permission to enter such a place.

A guard stationed at that place then said in a loud voice as he turned towards the three, "You there, identify yourselves!"

However, when he came closer to the group, this person soon noticed Abby's blue hair and changed his tone. After all, that was the common characteristic among all the nobles in the Miller family!

And even if there were people with such hair coloring all over the continent, it would be too much of a coincidence for such a person to appear in this place. So this guard had naturally behaved so as not to attract trouble for himself.

"Misses, young master, may I know what your distinct identities are?" He said this in a soft tone, while having his two hands 'hugged' each other at his chest height.

Abby then pulled out her Miller family identification and gave it to that guard. "My name is Abby Miller, and these two are with me." She said calmly, without showing much emotion.

Usually, visitors would have to identify themselves when entering the family property. But since they were with her, a noblewoman, things could be done somewhat more simply...

Furthermore, Ruth was already at level 51, which would give her a VIP pass in any regional family, even if she didn't use her background.

And with that, soon, that guard from before returned Abby's ID. "Lady Abby, it says here that you were traveling with your bodyguard, Eda. Any particular reason why she is not accompanying you?" That man asked as he filled in some information on a clipboard.

"There is no special reason. We were traveling, and I gave the order for her to wait for me at the location we were at since I don't intend to stay here for long."

"I see..."

After saying that, this guard finished his work and allowed the trio to enter the Miller family property.

...

As they passed through the gates of that property, Minos walked hand in hand with his two girlfriends while observing the surroundings and chatting.

The Miller family property was quite large and looked like a large farm, subdivided into several sections. The headquarters, the nobles' neighborhood, the subordinates' neighborhood, training areas, etc.

In short, this place looked like a small sect, where the members of this organization lived and took care of their official affairs.

"Ruth, I don't want you to mention the Flaming Empire or your sect in this place, OK? I don't want them to think I have any relation to outside powers." Minos said in a low voice so that only they could hear.

"Don't worry. I had already intended not to say anything about it..." She said casually.

And indeed, she felt no need or desire to talk about it with the people of this place. After all, she was only here to accompany Minos and nothing else.

On the other hand, it wouldn't make any sense to use this to attract attention or anything like that. Ruth was not a person who would do such things unless an extraordinary circumstance arose that forced her to do so. Therefore, she naturally wouldn't talk about it, even if Minos hadn't advised her about it.

"I'm glad you understand... Anyway, let's try not to talk about what there is no need for, nor about very relevant details..."

The three then continued talking until they finally arrived in front of Abby's parents' residence.

...

Meanwhile, inside the residence of Nicole Miller and Eliot Miller...

Abby's parents were at this moment in a large room, a place where there was a fireplace, a medium-sized bathtub, and various decorative furniture typically found in places like this.

Both were inside that bathtub, quietly drinking wine and eating snacks while chatting about their day-to-day problems.

"Recently, the family leadership has been worried about this Stone Island matter. It seems that very soon a big battle involving many Spiritual Kings will happen..." Eliot said this while looking into the eyes of his beautiful wife.

"That's terrible! How much will the family business be affected because of this?" Nicole asked in doubt as she sat face to face with her husband.

Abby's father then reached out to the wine glass that was next to him and said. "It may affect us quite a bit... Sigh, but at least this will only be significant regarding the spiritual artifacts produced by blacksmiths. As for the other products, we can handle that with the other states in the region." 

"But apart from our kingdom, these other local states have been somewhat tumultuous recently... Not long ago, the Schmidt family was wiped out in the Kingdom of the End."

"Hmm, and soon King Walker will succumb... Sigh, the times truly are passing." 

Pa! Pa!

And while the two were talking, the housekeeper of their residence knocked twice on the door of that room before finally saying something. "Lord Eliot, lady Nicole, Miss Abby is here."

"What?" 

Upon hearing that, the two were surprised for a moment, just before smiles appeared on their faces and the two left that bathtub.

"Little Abby is back... I wonder what level she has reached in these two years she has been gone!" Nicole said with a gleam of happiness in her eyes as she wrapped herself in a completely white robe.

"Hehe, I'm sure she's stronger!" Eliot laughed out loud and said, just before he left that room next to his wife.

...

Upon arriving in the entrance hall of their residence, Eliot and Nicole immediately saw the backs of three people sitting on a couch there.

The three were talking, while a young man with brown hair was in the middle of two women, who were very close to him, almost as if he was embracing them...

One of them had hair as black as night, while the other had a more common peculiarity for these two Spiritual Kings.

"Little Abby?" Nicole said in a sweet tone as she approached where her daughter was standing.

Upon hearing this, Abby immediately turned around. She saw her mother and father, both of whom at this moment had slightly wet hair and were wearing the same type of robe.

"Mom! Dad!" she said in delight as she stood up and walked towards the two of them.

At the same time as this, Ruth and Minos had also turned to look at these two people. 

As they did so, they immediately saw the figure of a woman very similar to Abby, only with some markings present in mature women. And standing next to that young woman's mother was a tall man who had a short beard that was completely blue, as was his hair.

"Abby, have you already reached level 48? Congratulations!" Eliot said in disbelief as his smile got bigger and bigger.

"Well done, my child. Soon you will pass your old mother, haha...."