The Rise of the Black Plain

"There, we have a much greater freedom concerning situations like this." Elena started to explain to him. "In fact, the Stone Island royal family does not exert a power of control over the noble families of that region as it does here on the mainland."

"While the royal families generally rule by suzerainty on the mainland, it is something more autonomous on Stone Island."

"They govern our territory as a city mayor would do in their territory. The zones and public roads are governed by the rules of the city, while on private property, as long as it is not something too extreme, what counts is the rule of the owner of that place."

"And the royal family in our state acts that way. As long as the noble organizations pay their taxes, don't rebel, and follow some of the few laws of the royal family, then each noble family has plenty of freedom to act within their territories."

"These powers can even destroy each other, and the royal family won't interfere if it doesn't violate its rules."

"They're pretty strict on this.." She made a point to emphasize that.

The Stone Island royal family was truly peculiar in their mode of government. However, they did it because they could!

In general, there were two lines of thought concerning territorial management in this region of the Central Continent.

The first, and most common, was the kind of concentrated administration, where a power, or a person, defined almost everything that was relevant and those vassals or ordinary citizens had to accept.

The second was something similar to what happened on Stone Island. A royal family was giving a lot of freedom to the noble organizations, as long as those powers followed their few rules.

And the second option could be an interesting thing to do when the royal family was strong enough and didn't need more support!

In the first mode of administration, the royal family had such power with its subordinates, but the opposite was also true. These overlord organizations had to protect and act in defense of their vassals on certain occasions.

And that could be quite costly and inconvenient...

However, there was the possibility that rulers simply acted as if they were renting their territories!

Such a mode brought few responsibilities to the royal families. The tenants had to pay practically the exact amount that would usually be paid in the first management mode, but the owner would have no responsibilities!

Of course, there was a difference, which was mutual support. While the royal family was under no obligation to help regional noble families, the other side was also under no obligation to follow the king during a war.

But a state with a powerful family like Stone Island royalty didn't need the help of local noble powers!

Anyway, after listening to Elena's explanation, Minos understood a little more about the customs of that state. 'In the future, I can do something like that with the northern kingdoms, hehe.' He thought to himself.

He had no intention of annexing any territory beyond what he considered his right. But that doesn't mean he couldn't make those kingdoms in the region obey some of his laws...

He then asked. "Looks like this royal family is pretty strong, huh? Otherwise, these nobles would not stand it and would rebel."

"Hmm, I heard from my dad that there are three Spiritual Kings at level 59 in the Stone family!" Elena said with a sparkle in her eyes.

She admired the power of such a family. After all, how many levels 59 people were there in the northern part of the Central Continent?

Less than 20!

And of those numbers, almost all of them were among the numbers of royal families in the region.

However, apart from the House Carline, Kingdom of the End, and Hause Walker, Kingdom of the Waves, only the Stone family had reached the mark of more than 2 Spiritual Kings at that level!

For this reason, this young woman, who had always dreamed of reaching this level before meeting Minos, could not help but admire her state's royal family.

She could even feel that one day she would surpass that level with Minos' help. However, that didn't change the respect she had for that organization!

"Oh? That's truly good for them…" Minos commented in awe.

He had signed an agreement through Elen with the Stone family for him to sell his resources. In return, in addition to the crystals, he had also won a non-aggression treaty with that organization!

Because of this, Minos was not concerned with the number of Spiritual Kings of the royal family in that state.

Anyway, after they had talked about Stone Island for a few more moments, the two had taken a shower together. After that, they quickly dressed and then left that residence, heading back to the official part of the mansion.

And as they walked through the corridors of that place, the two were talking about other matters, this time related to the activities of the Elite Squad.

Elena was one of the instructors of that group of 20 soldiers, and because of that, she was involved in all activities related to that part of the army.

"Soon, we will start a new selection for another 30 soldiers to join the Elite Squad." Minos started talking as Elena walked beside him. "For this reason, I want you to prepare a temporary instructor among the current 20 soldiers in the squad so that he can take your place during your absence."

"But that person will only be responsible for training the 30 new soldiers. So, this person will still have to continue his training routine with Eduard, Ernest, or Eda."

"I understand. In fact, I already have a good name..."

"I think that young woman who was rescued from slavery by you, Sergeant Barbara, she is probably the best."

"Pyke would be the best if she weren't here, as army soldiers highly respect him. However, due to the disparity in talent between the two, as well as the fact that Barbara had previously been a subordinate of a noble family, whereas he was only a guard of the former Dry City, he cannot be the best choice."

"Hmm, that makes sense. But watch this carefully and then talk with the person you choose. I want her to be prepared to train these new squad members as soon as the competition is over."

"OK."

After that, Elena said goodbye to Minos and went to the headquarters of the Black Plain Army to resolve some matters. As for the brown-haired young man, he went straight to his office, where he had some business to take care of.

...

And soon after arriving at his office, it didn't take long for secretary Mia to start coming and going, taking orders from Minos and taking care of the reception in this young man's office.

"Mia, I want you to let the army know that from now on, we are going to reduce the number of selections for new soldiers to just once a year. In addition, I want them to increase the rigor of the tests, along with the minimum period of residence in the Dry City." He spoke to her as he watched his secretary pick up the papers from his desk.

"All right, young master, I'll notify the army as soon as possible." And as Mia was leaving that spot, young Stuart noticed a ring on the ring finger of her left hand.

"Oh? The rumor I heard must be true…" He muttered with a slight smile on his face. "Congratulations on your engagement, Mia. Hehehe."

And upon hearing this, that woman was a little embarrassed, but she thanked Minos for the words.

From what he'd heard, his young secretary had caught Sergeant Peter's favor, and this guy hadn't been slow to propose marriage...

After having a good laugh remembering that Peter had complained to him about a few things recently... Minos finally went back to his work, putting those casual thoughts aside.