The Rise of the Black Plain

When the people on the outskirts of that area above the Vogel capital temple heard the Spiritual Sage referring to that young man as Minos, they soon connected the dots and understood the situation.

"Minos?"

"The King of the Black Plain?"

"So it was that fellow who was here at that time? No wonder he acted so vigorously against the Vogel family! He already wanted to take that kingdom for himself!"

The people there commented on the matter briefly, while the Spiritual Emperors in the surrounding area also watched everything from afar.

The Spiritual Sage had left this city earlier, and everyone there had stayed on the outskirts waiting for him, as this man was the local ruler and could not stay away for long. As such, among the many curious to see this group returning, the woman who had made the previous deal with Minos was there watching them from afar.

Seeing his face without a mask covering it and learning this person's identity, she was surprised that King Stuart was behind everything that happened in this place back then.

'I wonder where the resources he promised to come from?' She wondered, but already with an agreement signed with Minos, there was nothing else for her to do.

Besides, if he could not fulfill such a thing, he would be the one to suffer the consequences, not her nor her companions. So, Louise was not worried about him keeping the promises made earlier.

'Did he do that considering that he would take the kingdom?' She opened her mouth in surprise, unable to believe Minos' risky move. 'What a dangerous thing! He's risking his own life with such a deal!'

Meanwhile, Minos looked at the surroundings of that city and felt the frustration of having to return to this place that was months away from Payton.

'Damn, now I'll have to pay to use the teleportation service!' He complained in his mind, feeling that this was the only way he could shorten his return to the capital of the Flaming Empire.

"Sigh..."

'I guess I'll have to make the most of this situation!' He accepted his new circumstances and soon considered visiting the local noble families to try to speed up those organizations' agreements with the Black Plain.

Minos was more than happy with the royal families of Vogel's three allied states and Elen's team negotiating in this kingdom. But since he was in this place now, there was no harm in participating in the talks to speed up the whole process of royal succession.

With that, his forced return to this place would not be wasted!

"There was no need for that. We could have talked in the Flaming Empire..." He muttered in a low voice, knowing that figure would hear him.

But that Spiritual Sage ignored him and said to the Spiritual Saints in the area. "You may return to your duties now. I will take the statements of these people, and then you can talk to them."

"Yes, Cardinal!" Several replied as they looked carefully at Minos before departing from there.

Some of them were the reinforcements sent by the Church after the battle against the Vogel family, so they did not know Minos. But others there, like the original leader of this post, Clarissa, had been with him before and could not help but watch him twice as closely.

Minos saw this and smiled just before following the Spiritual Sage toward one of the many rooms in that temple.

After a few moments, the four youths sat side by side while that old figure had his back to them, pouring spiritual tea.

"Let's start with where you got the information that Vogel's family was behind the actions in the northern region..." He said as he placed the cups of tea on a small table in front of those young people and drank some from his cup.

Gloria then said. "Minos' mother, Maisie Coleman, said she had suspicions against the Vogel family. Hence we decided to investigate that organization further."

"Just for that?" He asked in surprise.

This man wanted to know about this because the Spiritual Church had investigated the matter for some time before their actions, but nothing relevant had emerged. Thus, he naturally wanted to know how these children had bypassed the Church's investigators.

But upon hearing their answer, he could not help but be disappointed. It had only been instinct, luck that had led them to the real culprits of this crime!

Minos then replied. "That was enough. After all, we didn't need to justify our actions against this family and were willing to cause mayhem with a possible innocent."

It was better to kill an innocent than to let a guilty one loose. Minos believed this, so he had rather risk creating enmity with the Vogel family than let this organization pass itself off as innocent when it could not be.

That man understood their point and went on. "So what did you do to ensure the Vogel family was guilty?"

Minos laughed and said. "I think it was when we were just trying to kidnap one of Abe Vogel's men, and a Spiritual Saint tried to sacrifice himself to kill us."

The old man closed his eyes upon hearing that. "I already know that. The temple survivors have told me everything you said that day. When I asked that question, I was referring to what made you decide to act against this family even before that. Only your mother's instinct?"

Minos replied. "We met Abe Vogel days before that situation. On that occasion, he seemed upset when I mentioned the Black Plain. But that didn't even matter since we had already decided to interrogate members of that family before we even met him."

"So that's it... But tell me, did you have any other suspects who were after the Spiritual Saints who traveled the northern region? For that matter, what is the reason for House Vogel wanting to act against you? Is there some kind of old grudge between you?" The old man dressed in silver asked after he finished drinking his tea.

"There was no grudge between us. In fact, we always thought that the Vogel family was acting on behalf of others. But we have no idea who might have convinced this family to do something so foolish, nor the motive of this person or organization that did it." Minos seriously commented.

The Spiritual Sage's eyes narrowed, and he quoted a piece of information that had come to his attention during his time in Vogel. "One of our groups found a trace that connects the Vogel family with the Saints Killing Sect, two supposedly enemy organizations..."

"What?" Minos and his wives exclaimed in surprise upon hearing such a thing since, unlike House Vogel, the Saints Killing Sect had more than one reason for wanting to act against Minos!

They were enemies of the Gray Clouds Sect, which Minos' family led. Such an organization had also sent several people to the Black Plain during the latter part of the Black Plain War of Independence to kill him.

Unfortunately for these groups, they had all been wiped out, which invariably created a new justification for at least part of this organization to wish for Minos' downfall!

...