The Rise of the Black Plain

While Minos continued to deal with Vogel's affairs in that territory's capital during the 48 hours he had to act freely, the nobles of this place had already sent messages to other territories.

In particular, those harmed by Minos' actions had informed their allies, Albano, Rosser, and Blackrock, about Minos' deeds, asking for help against his autocracy.

With that, different concerns were on the minds of the leaders of the three states!

...

In the capital of Albano, Queen West was with her heiress, dealing with the latest information coming from the Black Plain Empire, this place that was increasingly worrying them.

They were benefiting from the agreements they had with Minos. Still, it was undeniable that the rapid development of the Stuart family scared anyone not deeply connected to it.

Iris did not know if her kingdom would continue to have good business conditions or if she would end up in a terrible situation if Minos continued to prosper.

In that case, her state could be surrounded by two states stronger than hers!

With that, she and her heiress was trying to find a solution to their current uncertainties.

"What can we do? If we support the powers of Vogel, our old allies, Minos may turn away from us, and the Black Plain Empire become less receptive." The Crown Princess said, for the first time in a long time, not knowing how to proceed with a situation.

Iris agreed with her daughter's words. "Not to mention that the current Black Plain is already more relevant than Vogel. But one side keeps developing, while the other is practically stagnant, like us."

In this situation, it would seem obvious to stay on the progressing side, but there were risks in doing that as well. That is, that was a path with fewer problems at first. But it could become the fate they did not want, lose their autonomy, and be dominated by a greater force.

Or not. Maybe Minos would be a good leader. They would have the minimum autonomy not to feel suffocated and benefit from losing part of their freedoms.

On the other hand, the opposite option put them against the empire. If they made a mistake, they would end up being dominated, but this time by an enemy power, not an ally, which was much worse.

No matter how attractive a path was, depending on the goals of the one thinking of taking it, they both had problems. So, those women needed to think carefully before choosing one.

...

On the other hand, in Rosser, the queen was much more decided than Albano's leader about which way to go.

"Let's side with Minos on that one." She said to her subordinates, not wanting to stand against Emperor Stuart and still have the Flaming Empire as her enemy.

For this woman, it would not be worth being surrounded by enemies, one much stronger than her and the other still not so superior but constantly growing, far beyond what her people could.

Hence, even if Vogel was an old partner, she could not help them in this situation.

"But Your Majesty..." Someone tried to make this woman think about it a little more, but she did not listen.

She said. "Vogel is already part of the Black Plain Empire. Those families themselves chose that. That way, I won't be the one to meddle in Minos' affairs when he is just dealing with his territory."

"Besides, from what I hear, Minos is following the rules agreed upon by the nobles of Vogel themselves!"

This woman's subordinates could not disagree with her after those words, feeling that as much as Minos' action was not so simple, he was acting within the game's rules.

If Vogel's powers were unwilling to abide by their own rules, then could they be trusted?

That was a point that these people could not ignore!

...

On the other hand, in Blackrock, the situation in the royal family was not as favorable to Minos as in Rosser.

Blackrock did not border the Black Plain Empire and was not surrounded by enemy powers. Instead, this state bordered the Snow Kingdom, Albano, the Flaming Empire, the Evergreen Empire, and the East Sea.

So even if the local powers found themselves in serious trouble, they would still have the opportunity to escape either through the East Sea or into the Evergreen Empire.

The sovereigns of that state were under less pressure from Minos to 'forget' their many years of history with Vogel.

But the current situation was severe, and the king was worried!

"We will send one group of envoys to Dry City and another to the capital of Vogel." He said this from his royal throne room, ordering his men to move. "I want to talk to both sides and understand if there are options for dialogue before we make a final decision on the matter."

Besides not being surrounded by enemies, Blackrock was the largest and most powerful alliance state among those enemies of the Flaming Empire. Therefore, the local sovereign, although favorable to Vogel, was not in such a hurry and wanted to settle the matter without taking a vigorous stand already at first.

"But Your Majesty, we cannot underestimate the Black Plain." A level 77 elder said this. "Currently, Minos Stuart is the master of the Gray Clouds Sect, an organization that is very close to us..."

The territory of Oswald's sect was on the southeasternmost side of the Flaming Empire, which bordered the southwesternmost area of Blackrock.

The state's capital was not in that area, but on the coast, near the border with the Evergreen Empire. But still, that was not a great distance, and that sect was one of the main opponents that this state had to worry about in times of war with the Flaming Empire.

The king said. "I know. But the forces of that sect are subdivided between the Flaming Empire and the territory of Minos. So they are not a danger to us."

"Sigh..."

"But let's prepare ourselves in case our current ally decides to turn against us and begin a journey of conquest through the central region."

With those orders, the men in the surrounding area rushed from there to settle this matter, a little tense since ever since Minos had appeared in their lives, trouble kept catching up with them.

...

Meanwhile, in the capital of the Flaming Empire...

Isabella was meeting with the staff of her family's supreme elder, having finished hearing about her man's recent accomplishments.

Considering his victory against Abe and the action against Vogel, she and everyone there was satisfied, as Minos seemed willing to fulfill the agreement he had made with Harold earlier.

This state was still interested in defeating the enemies to the north, so seeing one of them being 'subdued' by the master of one of their sects was good news.

The only downside of it all was that Minos was not as loyal to them as they would have liked...

But better an ally than an enemy!

"Now, let's talk about the situation in the Gray Clouds Sect. Soon the house arrestment of the elders and the sect master will end, and they will be able to act more freely. But, on the other hand, the leader of this organization has sent us the proposal..."

They continued there dealing with local matters.