The Rise of the Black Plain

After seeing her boss' gesture, that secretary approached one of Minos' royal guards and handed him a spatial ring.

Lulu then said. "In this spatial ring, there are several low-level grade-3 arrays, pills, and some weapons of the same rank. Our family offers this to King Stuart in the hope that we can restart our relationship as if that past didn't exist."

"Oh?" Minos opened his eyes in surprise, liking how these people handled the matter. "That's better." The expression on his face improved.

Lulu sighed in relief, but she did not feel much for having to give these resources to Minos. After Furious Shadows' destruction, her family collected many items from that organization.

Also, with one less power in the kingdom, they had auctioned off the area of the headquarters of such an organization to another power.

Because of this, the West family had gained much more financially than they had given Minos as an apology for the actions of those vassals.

Lulu knew this since her mother had communicated to her about everything that had happened and given the order for her to give these gifts to Minos.

She then said. "So, Your Majesty, would you be interested in discussing business with my estate? We have many things to offer that can probably help you on your journey."

"Business, eh?" Minos interestedly looked at Lulu. "I enjoy doing business, but for now, I don't have much to offer them in return. So, answer me something. What do you want?"

"I'm not interested to hear that you want to be my friend. You could just remain silent and wait for me to grow more to make a friendship. So why now? What do you want?"

Every benefit would come with a problem, responsibility, or negative point. As Minos knew this, he wanted to understand precisely what these people expected from him.

Minos' wives and the royal guards in that place continued to look at those three people, and Lulu said. "I can see that Your Majesty is direct in your actions, hehe."

"Then I will also be direct. Our state and the Flaming Empire, your family's home, have never had good relations. In fact, we are enemies."

"But we don't want a war with that place, so we want to have more friendly connections with forces capable of keeping the peace."

"We know you are not part of that sect of your family, but you certainly have an easier time communicating with them than we do." She gestured with her hands, speaking in a solemn tone.

Ruth looked at that woman with hair the same color as hers and understood what they wanted. "So, you want to use my husband to create a means of dialoguing with the forces in the empire, huh?"

Minos and Abby heard that, but before they could say anything, Gloria stepped forward and said. "I hope you aren't considering involving the Black Plain in your problems."

"I will keep an eye on your family's every action, so don't overdo your wishes, or the Church will deal with you too."

Gulp!

The two people and Lulu swallowed their salivas. They did not care about the people of the Black Plain, but Gloria they respected tremendously. So, being threatened by her, they could not help but feel a little fear in their hearts.

Lulu bitterly grinned and said. "We expect nothing but a peaceful means of communication. As for everything else, even if it all goes wrong, we won't blame the Black Plain for that."

Minos then said. "Well, that can be done. I can't promise much since I don't have such good relations with those people in the Gray Clouds Sect. But if you are sincere with our business, I can eventually try to speak on your behalf."

"Hmm," She nodded in appreciation. "And what does Your Majesty need most? Minerals? Food? We have a little of everything, so we are willing to negotiate good prices for your state."

The queen then said. "We have many things of interest that your state can export to the Black Plain. But what we are looking for most at the moment are people of common origin who are interested in our region."

"What does that mean?" Lulu did not understand what kind of strange business this was. 'Do they want slaves?'

Minos then took the word of his queen. "Lulu West, your state has many useless people over there, but who would make a lot of difference in my state."

"I want only a fraction of them." He paused, thinking of a plausible number that he could safely receive, control, and still turn into Black Plain supporters. "I won't ask too much. Fifty thousand Spiritual Kings will work."

"What?" The three individuals exclaimed, causing saliva to leave their mouths and spread through the air.

The bodyguard looked at Gloria and asked. "Aren't you going to say anything? He's asking for outside interference! The Church will not accept that!"

Lulu's secretary agreed. "Are you trying to trap us? This kind of thing is impossible to ignore!"

As Lulu looked at Minos in amazement, Gloria said. "You can't send your people here. We will consider it a disregard for the laws of the Church. But my husband can ask for whatever he wants."

"Husband?" Lulu questioned Minos, surprised that her wildest suspicions had been confirmed.

Minos laughed as he saw Lulu's expression and brought Gloria onto his lap. "Soon, we will have an heir of the Black Plain who will also be a member of the Spiritual Church... Isn't that great, Lulu West?"

The eyes of the three opened wide at the meaning of Minos' words.

This young king was basically telling them that he had the Church on his side and that they had better be careful with their actions!

He was threatening them by announcing to them that he was expecting a baby!

Lulu then forced a smile and said. "That's amazing, Your Majesty, Archbishop."

"Congratulations." All three said almost simultaneously, making some of Minos' royal guards smile in satisfaction.

Gloria then continued. "So, you don't have to worry about that. As long as you follow the orders of our state, these 50,000 individuals won't cause you any trouble."

She coldly looked at Lulu and finished. "But don't even think about putting spies among these people!"

"Of course. We would never do that..." She said in a sighing tone, noting how difficult the Stuart family was to deal with. 'I didn't realize he would actually be so connected to the Spiritual Church.'

'Sigh!'

'But that's a good thing too. At least the chances of him managing to become someone capable of keeping the peace between the Flaming Empire and us will be greater!'

...