After a few hours, Minos and Abby had had a great time together, and Ruth had joined them, having also enjoyed this happy day.
Then, upon finishing their things at the Spatial Kingdom lake house, the trio returned to Dry City, where they celebrated alongside Abby's family the advancement of the queen.
The next day, Minos awoke early and got on with his work in the royal office, where Dillian and Lizzie were with him at the moment.
"Your Grace, we have received a communication from the Walker family regarding the branches of the Bank of the Black Plain." Lizzie said this after Minos sat down in his chair while she stood beside him, between him and Dillian.
"Oh? What do they want?"
"They are in doubt whether we will allow families from outside the Black Plain to invest with us. They also want to know if there is a chance to launch funding programs for locations outside our state."
"They want me to invest in their kingdom?" Minos asked in surprise.
"No, Your Grace, they want to know if there is a possibility that investments in the Kingdom of the Waves will become available to the people of that state." She corrected him. "They want the Bank of the Black Plain to become the intermediary between them and their population."
After hearing that, Dillian's eyes widened in interest at that idea. "That's not a bad idea. We'll be able to facilitate regional development without having to invest outside the Black Plain."
Minos nodded in agreement. "That's true. Well, I can accept that. But they will have to hand over a 20% share of the profits from the businesses financed by this option to the bank. On the other hand, the investors will get 70% of the profits."
He looked into her eyes and continued. "Inform them that this is the only option for this possibility to become a real thing. In fact, inform all the other royal families in the region that we will make the same option available to them."
"OK, Your Grace."
He then answered House Walker's first question. "As for who can invest in the Black Plain, obviously anyone with crystals in the region will have that possibility."
"I don't care if part of the crystals that will develop the Black Plain will come from former enemies. They at most will have a small share of the profits anyway, so nothing to worry about." He smiled.
The investment model provided by Minos' bank only made profit sharing possible but did not give any kind of voting rights or privileges. As such, the final say in any of the businesses financed by the Bank of the Black Plain was the government of King Stuart, so past enemies would have no influence, even if they became significant investors.
After Lizzie wrote down Minos' decisions to sort it out later, Dillian asked. "Your Grace, what will we do with the crystals accumulated by these branches that will open in the coming months?"
"About that, we will put teleportation arrays in those banks. Unfortunately, we don't have any arrays capable of teleporting people or items those distances, but nothing stops us from creating special pathways."
"We can connect, for example, the Kingdom of the Waves capital with the Kingdom of the End and the Snow Kingdom's capitals through just one stop. Then we only need to have two more branches between those three capitals. From then on, the crystals in the Kingdom of the Waves would go to Yellow City and then here."
"As for the Brown Kingdom, Cromwell Kingdom, and Stone Island, their capitals are already close to our cities. So, we wouldn't need any stopping points."
"That truly sounds like the best..." Dillian sighed. "It would be a problem if we had to take care of the crystals of so many customers around the region. It definitely wouldn't be worth the risk."
"Hmm," Minos nodded in agreement. "Even Spiritual Emperors wouldn't be able to defend those places. But, on the other hand, we can't afford to send away any of our 7th stage cultivators just to do a basic protection job."
With that matter decided, they continued with other local problems, some connected to the problems of the invaders, others unrelated to that.
...
A few days later...
After Minos decided on how to increase the number of Spiritual Kings in his state, the powerful families of this region soon gained knowledge of the Black Plain Tournament through the regional periodicals.
From the published information, this competition would take place every four years on the Black Plain, opening up the possibility for regional talents under 18 to join the Black Plain Army.
Along with this possibility, the regional periodicals also explained that such an opportunity would function similarly to the Spiritual Tournament. Members of regional organizations who became soldiers of Minos would still have their freedoms and even remain members of their original organizations.
Furthermore, since there were no church restrictions on powers from the northern region, then in case of need, those organizations could get their descendants' help without having to depend on church approval!
With that, if any family member became a Spiritual Emperor, such a family could benefit directly from that!
In any case, the publication also communicated the region of the soldiers' salaries, the exclusive possibilities existing only on the Black Plain, and the date of this competition's first edition.
Such a thing had been scheduled to occur in six months in the capital of the Black Plain.
...
Stone Island's royal palace...
"Sister, have you seen this news? Minos is recruiting soldiers from outside the Black Plain!" King Stone said this in an excited tone, already full of ideas regarding who to send from his family.
"Hmm, I just heard that," Lorelei said as she entered her brother's office, smiling as she had been doing since she arrived at the 7th stage.
Lorelei previously had a somewhat aged appearance given her advanced age. And like every woman, she naturally missed her younger days when her beauty was enough to move kingdoms.
Consequently, after she advanced to the 7th stage and went through her rejuvenation, she could not help but feel happy to see some of her 'young' self. She still looked like a middle-aged woman but was much closer to her stunning beauty.
So, even if she had not received this good news coming from the Black Plain, she would still have a genuine smile on her face.
"In any case, this is a great opportunity for the family to solidify our relations with the Black Plain. Once we have members in Minos' army, our future will be assured, even if the three of us are not around for much longer." She was sincere.
"Yes," Eugene said in an excited tone. "In fact, I already have some names in mind. How about we take care of that now? I think we'd better form this group and immediately send them to the Black Plain. We might improve their chances of being accepted into the army..."
They continued talking about this for a while until they left the palace to settle this matter as quickly as possible.
...
Meanwhile, in the capital of the Snow Kingdom...
After finishing reading a statement coming from the Black Plain, Adam looked at his son and said in a deep tone. "Minos wants me to go to Dry City immediately."
Gulp!
"I wonder what he wants? He has barely spoken to us in the last four years..." Ambrose Snow, level 55, asked in a worried tone.
"I don't know. That notice doesn't talk about that. Just that it's an urgent matter."
"That..."
"Anyway, I'm leaving tonight. When I get to Dry City, I'll find out the problem."
"But..." Just as Ambrose was about to say something, his wife, Misty, level 51, came running into the courtyard where the two were talking, carrying a newspaper in one of her hands.
"Honey, I have good news coming from the Black Plain!" She said in an excited tone, already beginning to plan her future.
She had done many meritorious services for the Black Plain and could not help but imagine the day she would see Minos again. Would he reward her? She did not know.
"Good news?" The two looked at each other strangely since there were full of doubt about Minos' call just.
"Yes, great news, I would say." She reached over to their side and opened the front page of that newspaper. "Minos is opening up slots in his army for talent from all over the region!"
"We'll be able to send our most promising men to the Black Plain!"
