Hearing Minos' justifications, the people there could not help but make a brief silence as they looked at each other, looked at the ground and the rubble there.
They had all thought about it. But, unfortunately, the odds were not on their side, and all the alternatives, besides Minos, ended in risks to them that were far more significant than what this young man represented.
Finding out that Minos was the 'Pyke' who had appeared in this city before the Spiritual Church's battle with the Vogel family had guaranteed them a new doubt about him because of the Black Hole.
But even considering this, Minos was still the best option for them since they did not want to surrender to the Flaming Empire.
As for the other options, a local noble family taking over the kingdom would be like giving the key to a chicken coop to a wolf. They would take this state for themselves and use a possible confrontation against the Flaming Empire to diminish rival forces and increase their power. Eventually, it would be impossible to recover the state of such an organization with a chance for others to rise to power.
On the other hand, they had the option of subdividing that state into several autonomous regions and eventually fighting alongside the three allied kingdoms against the Flaming Empire. But this would put them in a situation where some could stay out of this conflict, affiliating with other states, such as the Empire itself.
None of them wanted to be dominated by the Empire. But if one of them received a very generous offer to weaken the others, none of them were sure that all their organizations would refuse the Flaming Empire.
In short, many uncertainties would arise with a possible subdivision of Vogel, which might be against the interest of these local organizations.
And even if this did not happen, the option of moving forward with Minos was much more promising.
Besides the fact that he had contacts with the Church and the Empire, something that could help maintain peace in the region, he was just a Spiritual Emperor from the Black Plain. So, with him, these families would at least have a chance to compete for local power in the future on better terms than at present.
Since more than four major local organizations had an interest in eventually taking over this state, all of them and their main partners preferred the option of relying on Minos!
But, of course, even noting this option as the best, they would not accept such a thing without at least negotiating the best possible terms and some guarantees.
"You're right." Another local leader, a level 75 Spiritual Saint, said this while playing with some debris in his hands. "You are the best option for Vogel and our families at the moment. But how long will that be? And how much exactly are you willing to offer?"
They had all already heard Elen's introductory offers, but they wanted confirmation from Minos and also something more.
The representatives of the royal families of those three kingdoms paid attention to Minos' direction and then listened along with the other people there. "Well, recently, I bet with someone from the Spiritual Church, which will be decided in less than 20 years. So we can put a preliminary agreement for that same time."
He continued. "We will form an assembly in this state that will have great powers to legislate and even counter my orders as king. It will also be able, every 20 years, to vote for me to remain on the royal throne."
"Then you can choose my permanence or removal for the first time when this bet expires." He opened his arms, gesturing to the people there.
The most influential individuals in that hall opened their eyes to Minos' offer, something enormously interesting to them.
"And what would that be like? How would we be represented?" One of them questioned.
Minos thought of something and said. "Each local noble family will have a representative on this council for every five Spiritual Saints in their ranks. Each family can choose these representatives, and there is no obligation regarding their level."
"If someone feels that a Spiritual King can represent the family well, so be it."
"But each representative will be entitled to one vote, which will carry equal weight regardless of who the representative is. The joint decisions of this assembly will be passed with a simple majority." He explained, adding. "But to unseat the king, at least two-thirds of that group will have to choose such an option."
Those local leaders received these comments from Minos positively, feeling that this would be a fair system for their families, giving them power equivalent to their current positions, somewhat fair.
Since the time frame for deciding whether he would continue as king would also be relatively short, they did not see a problem with that either.
What could Minos do in 20 years?
Hell, at higher levels, that time interval was not even long enough to advance a single level!
So, Minos' rule and the advantages that the Black Plain could have with Vogel would be limited.
Moreover, if their families could decide the state's future through this assembly, they would take a slight risk of being ruled by an incompetent or unprepared young man.
Thus, with the assurances that Minos was willing to give them, they could not help but view this situation more positively and have some of their worries diminished.
"Well, I agree with those conditions..."
"Me too..."
"Yeah, it's not bad."
Several of them voiced their opinions on this matter.
Minos then continued. "Apart from this matter concerning the local powers, I will keep the taxes already levied by the Vogel family, but the share remaining with the royal family will be reduced to 10% of the original amount. The difference in that amount will be at the disposal of this assembly for the best use for the benefit of Vogel."
"Furthermore, we will have no further additions or demotion of noble families until the first vote on my continuance as King of Vogel. Then, finally, we will give you all the advantages already promised by Elen."
After he finished speaking this, the people there started talking among themselves, arguing among their families, and then with those opponents, they respected the most.
But, in general, except for a few points, everyone agreed with what Minos had to offer and thought that going ahead with him would not bring any significant risk to their organizations.
The big risk to their organizations was not a young Spiritual Emperor, even considering his powerful weapon. After all, at the end of the day, none of them had significant grudges against Minos or the Black Plain. Instead, their problem was a war with the Flaming Empire, so this whole negotiation went more smoothly than one would expect from a meeting that would become known as the one that decided the future of this state.
With that, when they had been in that place for more than an hour, those Spiritual Saints began to leave the area, promising to send their definitive answers in the next three days.
Some of them still wanted to discuss the state's future with other relatives, so evidently, they would not promise something just after this one conversation.
But Minos and his wives felt that most of them were already convinced to stay on their side, so they left satisfied with all of this.
'Now I just need to sign some agreements and check with the Church when this state will have its freedom to officiate a new ruler!' Minos smiled as he flew back to the local temple.
