The Rise of the Black Plain

The Spiritual Church was not the strongest organization on the Central Continent. Still, it could be considered the most present group in this region.

In fact, it was said that this organization was present in more than 50% of the cities on this continent!

Each kingdom or empire had branches of the Spiritual Church and their respective leaders. In general, Patriarchs and Cardinals were the command posts in high-level states. On the other hand, in weaker regions, these branches were commanded by Archbishops and Bishops.

And these individuals of the highest office in the church, in a given state, remained in the greatest cities, generally the capitals of those kingdoms and empires. Thus, for example, in the Brown Kingdom, the branch led by a Bishop was in the City of the Setting Sun.

However, any town with a population close to 200,000 or above-average natural wealth would have at least one small church post. In general, such places would be led by Priests or Deacons, depending on the influence and power of that particular city.

Anyway, publicly the church was spreading its word about the truth of life worldwide, teaching the people of this continent about the wonders of Natural Law and its doctrines...

But the church also had a lot of influence, even in high-level empires on this continent. That's because this organization used its entire network of influence through its many branches and, consequently, its millions of followers.

Consequently, spreading across the Central Continent was not something they did to just spread their beliefs!

Anyway, the two formers captives who were now cleaning the streets of the Dry City had been curious about the fact that there was no post of this power here.

They were not people who attended this organization, nor did they care about religious beliefs. But it was tough for the two of them not to notice the difference of not having influences from the Spiritual Church in the Dry City.

After all, this organization had been around for thousands of years in the northern region of the Central Continent, and it had almost become a cultural institution.

Even those who did not practice this religion were accustomed to the beautiful church buildings and customs, such as commemorative dates, parades, and other popular events promoted by it.

In fact, the Spiritual Church created many regional customs, such as the propagation of important historical figures, even those who had no relationship with this organization.

For example, anyone who has ever attended spiritual academies on this continent would know the name Henricus Longus. Not because this individual was part of the church, wasn't it, but because he was one of the few humans to reach level 100.

Each of these people who became a God was remembered by the Spiritual Church in the books produced by this organization, which were part of the material of the spiritual academies...

That was why Minos could have recognized the name of Henricus Longus as soon as he heard of that soul fragment, long ago when he received the inheritance.

Anyway, those individuals who reached level 100 were remembered in the Hall of Honor of the Spiritual Church, consequently being remembered, even after millions of years had passed since their deaths.

But it was not just historical figures that the Spiritual Church remembered. Specific social characteristics were also developed by this organization, as with the attitude of humans on this continent towards spiritual beasts.

The Spiritual Church was created in a chaotic age when humans from the Central Continent and beasts from the Continent of the Beast constantly fought each other.

Legendary wars had been fought back then, long before even the birth of Henricus Longus, the first human God!

With such a long existence and spread over most of the Central Continent, to say that this organization had created the contemporary culture of this region would not be an exaggeration.

Meanwhile, the third person next to Nail and Carl, sweeping that street, looked at the two of them and joined in the conversation. "It is natural that you do not understand why the Spiritual Church is not present in our city. After all, you didn't know this place before Mr. Minos arrived."

And hearing this, the two former captives then looked in that man's direction with interest, curious to know more about this city. Both had only heard of the Black Plain, but neither of them had ever been here before.

On the other hand, the person who was there with them at that moment was a native who had grown up in this city.

They already introduced themselves to each other, including talking about where they came from and some of their stories.

As a result, Carl and Neil were already familiar with this co-worker, even if they had only been doing this for a short time. "Travis, is there any special reason? Maybe some local problem..."

As Neil was speaking, Travis laughed for a moment and said. "The Spiritual Church is like any noble family in our region. It only cares about their profits."

"Obviously, in a place as poor as the old Dry City, where there was not even agriculture or attractive mineral production, no power would be interested in this place. So, what could they possibly gain here?" He looked at the two of them simultaneously as he dumped the shovel contents in the trash in that carriage from before.

"We had no crystals. There was no use for the thousands of square kilometers of the Black Plain. The population was neither talented nor strong, nor numerous. The spiritual beasts of our region are the weakest, and every part of this place has been explored in the past."

"In other words, our region was well known for thousands of years as a poor and worthless place. So, why would a powerful organization be interested in investing in such a place?"

Finally, the two men who were talking earlier understood the problem. "Was it that bad?" They wondered dubiously.

Carl then looked at Travis and asked. "Not even the sovereign families of this place in the past haven't tried to resolve this?"

"Haha, none of them ever cared about us. Even the royal family exempted us from the tax levied by the capital on cities ruled by other powers because they didn't want to have to invest or hear about this place."

"Really? But I've heard that there is a seaside town in this region that is pretty decent." Neil said.

"Yes, the Maritime City is decent, but it is not considered part of the Black Plain. It may even be within this territory when we look only at the geographic factor. However, this port city is entirely administered by the capital of the kingdom."

"And there in this town, there is a branch of the Spiritual Church." He commented.

"So, this is how it is..."

After that, the three continued to do their jobs for a while, cleaning the central part of the Dry City streets while the group behind them washed the places they had already passed.

"Do you think the Spiritual Church will open a branch in our city? It would be interesting to see a building of this organization around here!" Carl commented to the other two as he recalled the large building with the gold and silver walls that were in his hometown.

He had grown up not far from that place and had positive memories from his childhood days.

Anyway, after hearing Carl's question, Travis shook his head in denial as he answered the question. "Probably not."

"Why?" Carl and Neil asked simultaneously.

"It's simple. Mr. Minos established it as one of the city's rules. I heard about it from my grandfather. He is working in the city administration, at the local government mansion."

"Anyway, I heard from him that the Dry City would soon release a set of written laws. Among its, there is one that prohibits the construction of religious temples in the territory of the Black Plain, including religious acts in public."

"Citizens will have the right to have their religions and beliefs, but this must be done within their own homes." Travis completed.

And that was true. Minos had established this rule to prevent a parasite from entering his territory. After all, it would be a problem for him if an organization with positions different from his entered the Black Plain.

The influence of power like the Spiritual Church was not small, and allowing them entry into the Black Plain would be like sacrificing his local sovereignty!