"Oh? Is that what you are talking about?" Blake's eyes sparkled in interest as these points raised by mother and son could change the Kingdom of the Waves.
Suppose the Walker family could get with the Bank of the Black Plains collective funding options for the Kingdom of the Waves. In that case, their organization could gather crystals with its citizens without relying solely on taxes or savings.
That could accelerate local growth considerably!
On the other hand, even with all the difficulties in the war period and the investments in recent years, the Walker family still had a robust crystal gathering capacity. In other words, if they were allowed to invest in the Black Plain through this bank, their future earnings could be enhanced.
After all, as much as investing in one's own business usually had the most significant potential among all types of investment, the Black Plain undeniably had much more room to grow than this kingdom. In this case, betting on Minos could bring much better results for them in the future than investing in themselves!
Thinking about this, Blake soon became anxious about the matter. "This is truly something significant!"
He then looked in the direction of some subordinates and gave his orders. "Start the dialogue with the government of the Black Plain. Let's see what we can expect regarding these branches opening in the regional state capitals."
"But don't forget to mention the possibility of creating investment funds with a focus on our state."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Some people there said simultaneously before leaving to write messages.
After that, Blake looked at those two level 59 Spiritual Kings and said. "I don't know if Minos will allow his enemies' organizations to invest in the Black Plain. But he will certainly allow other powers to do so, or he would not have started the expansion of his bank."
"There is no reason he should not replicate his success on the Black Plain throughout the region..." He said, remembering how much that state had developed in recent years, which only that bank could explain.
They had not been to the territory of Minos in this period. Still, various tourists and regional travelers who had passed through there in this period from time to time helped update the region on the prosperity of the Black Plain.
Because of this, these people knew that Minos had hired more than 70% of the migrants who had come to the Black Plain since independence, something ridiculously costly.
Wilfred's mother then said. "I agree. But I hope he won't be so stingy to refuse our crystals..."
"That..." Blake did not know what to say, uncertain whether Minos still harbored grievances against the regional powers.
Wilfred said. "That's what we can't be sure of... But when the possibility of us using the bank to finance our projects, I think it extremely likely that he will accept that."
"At most, the Black Plain will get a fat slice of the profits..." He laughed. "But that is acceptable. After all, we would be improving our state with resources that would originally be unaffordable."
"That's true..."
...
While the previous group was discussing the future of their kingdom, a young guard from the local royal family had just finished her service and returned to her residence.
As she passed her family, she suddenly saw a headline in the periodical her father was reading in the living room.
'So humble Spiritual Tournament competitor years ago, now Duke on the Black Plain: Peter Freeman.'
Seeing that briefly, Ava's body shuddered at the thought in her mind. 'Peter... Is that you?'
Seeing the look of astonishment and doubt on his daughter's face, Ava's father sighed and said. "You are thinking right, Ava. That is young Peter. After being elevated to the Black Plain's nobility, he earned the surname Freeman."
"That..." This level 50 woman froze where she stood, feeling her heart beating faster. 'He became a Duke? Peter?'
Her father then sighed but said nothing. It was not his right to get involved in his daughter's affairs, so he merely left that sheet of paper there for her to read.
He was very fond of Peter at the time when that young man and Ava had studied together. But his daughter's preferences and decisions were not under his power, so he had never said anything excessive to her. But on the other hand, he did not even know about his daughter's plans during the period that Charles had been the successor of the Walker family.
With that said, in this situation where Peter was doing so well, and she was just an ordinary subordinate of House Walker, he would not say things to her to make her feel even worse.
But that was not even necessary. Ava was very strict with herself, and reading that Peter was already at level 56, married, and with a daughter, she could not help but regret her decisions.
She fell to her knees with that sheet of paper in her hands, vigorously shaking as she bit her lips in disappointment. 'Damn it!'
'Damn it, I bet so much on Charles and the Walker family, but Peter, who was right next to me, is the one who did better in the end!'
'He will probably surpass the entire Walker family in a few years, just considering his current position on the Black Plain!' So, she correctly assessed the situation, making her disappointment grow even more.
Then, as tears flowed from her eyes, she could not help but conclude that she was doomed to failure in her attempts to rise to power through other people.
She wasted her contact with Peter, then saw her bet destroyed right in front of her. Then, in the intervening four years, she tried to approach the king several times, but even though she used her body, she at most got a 'thank you' from Blake.
As for Wilfred, this guy fucked her once and never brought it up again, as if he had just used a defective product and discarded it.
Thinking about how she had used her body to try to connect with powerful men, Ava finally regretted getting dirty with people she had no feelings for. She had sold out for her bets, 'played on a merry-go-round,' and then ended up in her current position, alone, with no prospects.
If only she had stayed with Peter...
Unfortunately for her, the 'if' did not exist, and now she had to live with the weight of her past choices!
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
She bellowed aloud, putting out all her disappointments as she tore up that paper, full of anger at herself.
...
While Ava was going through her moment of great difficulty, having hit rock bottom, other people in this region were almost as sad as she was.
In particular, in the Brown Kingdom, the ruling family of that state was experiencing a decline never before seen in its history.
The situation had improved in the last four years, but after the sacrifices made by the Spiritual Kings of that state, it was impossible to recover in just four years.
Only 2 Spiritual Kings had remained then, while the state had lost a large part of its territory, meaning it had lost a lot of taxes. Thus, the situation was not encouraging!
However, the Brown Kingdom had improved. After all, it would be difficult to get worse from that terrible situation...
Like the other states in the region, this place had invested vigorously in its subordinates, considerably decreasing the difficulty of obtaining Black-grade techniques.
Because of this, 2 Spiritual Kings had increased to 70!
Unfortunately, these were low-level Spiritual Kings, individuals different from the many invaders from Albano, people who were not just going to the Black Plain...
Thus, King Brown was full of trouble on his mind, while his older sister, Diana Brown, could not help but feel anger at Minos' deeds, especially at his inability to act.
...
"Damn it!" Diana exclaimed in a tone full of anger, just after she finished hearing from her mother about the situation in the kingdom. "Even though I have reached level 60, I can't do anything to help the family!"
"That is so unfair!"
She then looked at her mother, level 56, and asked. "What will we do? At this rate, our state will be ruined by these invaders from Albano!"
...
