Three days later...
After Minos' return to power in the Dry City government, time had passed quickly, and leaders of Brown Kingdom families had already arrived at this place for their surrender.
Earlier young Stuart had 'invited' these Brown Kingdom organizations to come to Dry City to surrender. And even though it was counterintuitive for these powers to decide to do such a thing, they had still come to this place.
But it was not for nothing. They might fear Minos and the Black Plain. Still, for people in a position of surrender, who would soon have to accept the decisions of former enemies, they could do nothing but obey.
And thinking about what Minos was capable of, none of them wanted to risk having to receive a visit from this young man at their headquarters...
That would be much worse than coming to Dry City!
So, all the patriarchs of the remaining noble families in the Brown Kingdom, or the heirs of those killed in the war, were in this city that was already the most important in the region.
It was no different for the heir of the Brown Kingdom, who had also had to come to this terrible place to accept Minos' conditions.
...
After a few minutes of transit from the east entrance of the wall to the local government mansion, all those people arrived at the surrender site.
They had been transported together, not having been permitted to walk around Dry City unaccompanied, nor even the freedom to move around or get to know this place.
They were people who had caused significant damage to the Black Plain, who would be punished and never have the chance to enjoy this place. Thus, it was not in the plans of the local forces to let them experience even a little of this city.
Therefore, they arrived at the local mansion with blindfolds on their faces while they had arrays around their necks.
But they were quickly led to a large meeting room in that building, a place better suited to host so many people at once than young Stuart's office.
When arriving there, they quickly uncovered their eyes, finding themselves in a well-lit area with a long table and several chairs around it.
At the same time, several local soldiers were already guarding the place, giving a dangerous impression to those people who could not use their cultivation at the moment.
However, while they were silent and waiting for what would happen there, Minos finally entered the area, accompanied by Abby and Dillian.
They then sat down on chairs opposite that table where the rest of these people were, with Minos standing face to face with the heir to the Brown Kingdom.
The silence continued in that place for a few more moments until Minos finished watching the faces there, hearing from Dillian the names of the people in front of him.
"Well, you guys made the right decision to surrender to Black Plain..." Minos finally started the discussion. "At least that will be true for your families."
"If you accept my conditions, of course."
Gulp!
One of those Brown family vassals then took the front of Raynard Brown and asked. "What do we have to do to stop hostilities between our organizations?"
Upon hearing this, Minos smiled and massaged Abby's back, allowing this woman to answer some of these people's questions.
"Well, you Brown Kingdom people are the main culprits in starting the war, so in order for us to accept your surrender, we will have to receive compensation and guarantees."
Hearing that, the people in that group said nothing. Still, each of them clenched their fists in frustration since even though the Black Plain had acted much more for the start of the war, they would be blamed for everything in the end.
It was correct that the Brown Kingdom had created the situation in which the entire region became involved in the Black Plain's war of independence. But Minos had acted first, and it was he who had refused to live in peace and pay his taxes to the royal family.
If it had not been for his will to independence, none of this would have happened!
That was the view of these people, especially of the crown prince.
And realizing that they would be held responsible for everything, these people could not help but feel terrible about the manipulation of the facts that these people were willing to do.
'This little bitch was part of our kingdom... Her family was one of the strongest, and yet... Yet!' One of the survival patriarchs there thought of this as he looked at Abby in indignation.
'Tsk!'
'And to think that we would come to this terrible fate!'
Abby then continued. "For starters, all of their families will have to pay a penalty of 50 million low-grade crystals and turn over all of your grade-2 items to the Black Plain."
"At the same time, your strongest descendants will have to agree to sign Soul Contracts with us, promising to serve the Black Plain for the rest of their lives."
"On the other hand, your families will not be allowed to enter the Black Plain for the next thousand years and will have to rule the Brown Kingdom on behalf of Minos for that period." Abby said this as she looked at that young level 54 Spiritual King, the future king.
"After that, your families will be able to enter the Black Plain again without risking death punishment."
"What?" An old royal family member asked in surprise, thinking that the conditions of these people, although harsh, were not as bad as he imagined.
The financial part was something that each of these organizations could handle without having to risk their future. As for the spiritual artifacts, considering the small number of such items left in these organizations, this would not be a significant loss.
And subordination was only to be expected of people in such a situation.
That is why that individual and others there were surprised to hear Abby's words.
Dillian understood what was in the minds of those people and commented. "Don't get happy so soon. That's just the simplest part of punishing your families."
One of those people there then asked Abby, temporarily ignoring Dillian's comment. "After those thousand years, will we regain our families' freedom?"
She laughed along with Minos and replied. "Of course not. You lost your freedom by fighting against us, and you won't even have the chance to choose your leaders in the future."
The eyes of several of those people trembled in anger, sensing the terrible place they had arrived.
"In addition, we will have to reshape the map of the Brown Kingdom."
Hearing such a thing, finally, the future king said something. "You people want to take our territory? What difference does it make to you? Isn't this place already much better than..."
Before Raynard could continue with his protest, Minos looked at him coldly, causing this person to stop talking while trembling with fear. "Don't misunderstand the situation. That is not a negotiation."
"Accept my conditions, or prepare to die," Minos said in a low voice.
Gulp!
Someone from the Brown family then made a point of taking charge of that fool and said. "We are aware. His Majesty is just curious..."
"Humph!"
"Abby, go on."
"Well, Lord Albert Stuart had previously received the Red Valley from your family, Raynard Brown. That way, that place and a portion of the central and southern parts of the Bronw Kingdom will pass to the control of the Black Plain."
"The populations of that area will also come under our control..."
"Oh, don't be confused. When I stated that your families would be unable to enter the Black Plain, I was not referring to the territory that has existed for hundreds of thousands of years. Instead, I was referring to the Black Plain state, which will have, among other parts, the Red Valley in its territory."
"Then it would be good for you to withdraw your troops from that area soon..."
"We will not spare anyone who disregards that previous condition."
Gulp!
"Is there anything else we have to do?" The strongest one there asked, already considering that the punishments were not as light as they seemed.
Losing territory and population was one of the worst things for these people!
And realizing that there seemed to be more to it, that individual was already starting to break into a cold sweat at the thought of what could be worse than the worst than that.
Minos smiled and finally took the word. "There is one last condition you must fulfill for me to accept your surrender."
"Your families have caused me problems for far too long. I believe our relationship will fail unless the new generation is allowed to transcend the habits of the old."
"Thus, to avoid trouble, I demand that all the Spiritual Kings in your organizations surrender to Dry City to die for the sake of your families."
"If you refuse, I hope you are prepared to face extermination!"
...
