The Rise of the Black Plain

After meeting those people coming from the Flaming Empire in the middle of one of the fields under construction, Minos did not take long to release his team and return to the Dry City alongside the visitors.

Since they were not there for chaos but rather to talk about matters already expected by Minos, this man quickly took him to his governing mansion.

Minos naturally knew that the Flaming Empire had local privileges, something agreed upon by the Spiritual Church long ago. Among these privileges was the Spiritual Tournament, something he already knew would sooner or later bring people from that place to his region.

Since he had assumed the regional leadership position, it was only natural to expect House Edwardstone to come looking for him!

So, quickly those three individuals were already seated around King Stuart's office, opposite this brown-haired young man, who was opposite them at his desk.

"What you were going to say before? It was about the Spiritual Tournament..."

Minos resumed the previous dialogue, seeing some of them drinking the tea he offered earlier.

Warner then began to say. "Well, the Spiritual Tournament was delayed for a few years because of the Black Plain's War of Independence. So, our organization hopes to resume this competition as soon as possible."

"Hmm, I see..." Minos closed his eyes for a second, trying to understand exactly why these people were visiting. He then said. "Well, am I to assume that you people are here to propose that the next edition of the Spiritual Tournament take place on the Black Plain?"

Warner nodded in agreement. "Indeed."

"Your Imperial Majesty wishes the next edition of the Spiritual Tournament to occur as soon as possible. Since the Black Plain won the war, we suppose it would be interesting to give you that possibility."

"Of course, there are privileges in doing so, not just the honor and costs."

"For example, your royal family will have the opportunity to win a spot in any of the empire's sects every time the competition takes place in your territory."

Minos laughed upon hearing that. 'How can I accept such a thing if I myself intend to steal the talents that should logically participate in the Spiritual Tournament?'

'It won't be long before you see me as a competitor...'

He then said. "Well, I appreciate the offer, but right now, I'm afraid the Black Plain is in no condition to host such a competition."

"As you saw outside, Dry City is now a large field under construction. And that's no different for other places in the Black Plain."

"Because of that, we don't have enough infrastructure to host a competition as important as the Spiritual Tournament."

"My organization would only embarrass itself in front of the region if we hosted such a thing now..." He smiled at those people, not lying to them.

"Uh?"

"This..."

"That's true..." Then, in a low voice, the weaker Spiritual Emperor commented on the irrefutable fact that Minos had just spoken.

"This..." But Warner still wanted to push the issue. "I understand the problem, but I'm afraid the other royal families are not much better off either..."

"No." Minos interrupted him. "I'm sure they are. Incidentally, the Stone family hardly suffered from the war, so I suggest the next edition of the Spiritual Tournament take place on Stone Island."

"Oh? You don't mind losing the privileges offered by the empire to the Stone family?" The Spiritual King of that group said, trying to stimulate Minos' competitive side.

"No."

"Besides the fact that the Stone family is my ally, I have no intention of sending anyone to the empire. After all, I just won a war and have a lot of need for personnel now."

"This..."

"Oh, all right, forget that..." Warner stopped that individual from continuing to press Minos. "I think it will be better to do such a thing as you suggested."

"The Black Plain is still under construction, and the other continental states are in 'tatters' after the war."

"Stone Island is the only one left for that..."

"Hmm, glad we agree." Minos nodded in satisfaction.

He did not think House Edwardstone would cause trouble for him needlessly. But, still, he also did not want to have to refuse these people emphatically. Thus, this development was the best for this situation.

"Then let's leave the matter of the Spiritual Tournament happening on the Black Plain for the future. How about in two competitions after the next time?"

Minos laughed and said. "It sounds perfect to me."

"Great!"

"Anyway," Warner continued. "In addition to matters related to the Spiritual Tournament, we are here to talk about relations between local royal families and the empire."

"Oh? Is there something special?"

"Yes, indeed there is." Warner turned to the Spiritual Emperor next to him and said. "Hector, explain it to him."

"Hmmm."

"Your Majesty, for hundreds of thousands of years, the Spiritual Tournament has been organized by the eight major sects of the empire on behalf of the Edwardstone family. And in all that time, we have provided business opportunities for the local royal families."

"In particular, we can facilitate the importation of high-level food resources into this region, as well as some high-level grade-2 artifacts."

In the northern region of the Central Continent, it was challenging to get high-level grade-2 artifacts. After all, there was a lack of high-level professionals in the region!

And since the Church did not prevent trade between regions, local families imported many of the products of their interest.

"Food, eh?" Minos asked. "Are there other possibilities besides that and artifacts? For example, minerals and materials needed to produce grade-2 items?"

"Yes, we can do that too..." That man said with a somewhat uncertain tone since such materials would not be helpful without people capable of manipulating them.

But since Minos was still ignorant about their relationship to the region, he simply did not ask questions.

"Well, I'm interested in that, but tell me something. What do you guys want in return? I don't think you are after my crystals, right?" He laughed.

"As expected from someone who won such a complicated war! Your Majesty is really very clever!" Warner complimented with sincerity.

"Well, we have some requirements beyond the crystals needed for these purchases."

"To cut to the chase, anyone sent to the Flaming Empire by the royal family, whether through the Spiritual Tournament or the privilege of the families hosting the competition, will have to sign an agreement with the imperial family."

"Oh? What kind of agreement?" Minos was not going to send anyone to the empire, but he just asked to fool the people in front of him.

"Nothing too problematic. They'll just have to join a group of the imperial family that connects each sect in the empire. Of course, there are also some promises that they will never act against the imperial family and things like that. Nothing too complicated." Hector said this without telling the whole truth.

Actually, the Edwardstone family did such a thing to keep an eye on these vassal organizations of theirs. But since the people who went to that state through the Spiritual Tournament signed Soul Contracts that involved that secrecy, none of those organizations knew about the spies in their ranks.

The same was true for the powers in the northern region, who thought that such a thing was just a way for House Edwardstone to maintain good contacts with potential vassals and talents.

When they came to the empire, most people from this region did not get far. But now and then, someone impressive would emerge, as in the case of Dennis Red, a man who had only been out of the Brown Kingdom for a few decades but had already reached level 64.

Since it was always good to be on the good side of talents like Dennis, the local families judged that the motivation of that imperial organization was not strange.

"I see..." Minos nodded, showing that he saw no problem in that. "Well, I am agreeable to making all members of my forces who go to the sects of your empire sign such an agreement."

"That won't be any problem for me."

"Hehe, that was easier than I had imagined," Warner commented as he remembered how difficult Minos had been in the attempted peace negotiation months ago.

"Then let's talk about what the Black Plain is interested in..."

So, they soon began to discuss other details concerning their future relationship, relying, of course, on the minerals of interest to King Stuart.