Upon receiving the group of envoys from the imperial family, Minos faced some of his acquaintances and strange people he had never seen before.
Among these men, Warner, level 69, was there to accompany the high-level Spiritual Saint who had been dispatched to take care of this situation.
Warner was already an acquaintance of Minos from the time of the end of the Black Plain's War of Independence. So even though he was weak within the imperial family, he had relevance to be sent to this service.
Then after the words of that Spiritual Saint, he said to Minos, trying to do diplomacy. "Sect master Stuart, the imperial family needs justification for your recent actions... The whole empire is on alert because of the destruction of the Lizard Men tribe."
Minos heard that from that person and continued cleaning the blade of his medium-level grade-3 sword in the middle of his group.
Silence was present in that area as the people there waited for his answer, and he continued his work as if nothing was happening.
After a few moments, he replied without looking at the group of newcomers. "The imperial family has forbidden us to act with high-ranking members and exterminate each other. Am I wrong about something?"
"No, you are right." Warner said, not understanding what Minos was getting at since such a previous act had broken those two rules imposed by the emperor.
"So, we acted within what the emperor required. The high-level members of my group only acted when the high-level opponents of the opposing group attacked me. And we did not exterminate the Saints Killing Sect. Only one of the arms of that organization." Minos said, showing his arguments to these people.
"What? You want me to believe that?" The Spiritual Saint questioned him in an irritated tone.
"You can ask everyone here. I acted first on the side of my ally, Gavin. Then the members of the Lizard Men tribe acted together with some humans. That put high-level people into the opposing group, which forced my reinforcements into action." He reported.
"Excuses!"
"You all intended to attack that place from the beginning. Or why else would you be traveling like this?" This high-level Spiritual Saint questioned, looking at those people in disappointment.
He knew many there and respected them. So, seeing their shameless way of acting, this man could not help but lament the point his acquaintances had reached.
But Minos then said. "No. If they didn't attack us, only I would act. My elders are only here to protect me in case the enemy leaders decide to break the emperor's rules."
"Then you don't need to thank me, elder. I will do my best to punish those who disregard the empire's rules, no matter who it hurts."
Hearing Minos' words, Warner looked at him with his mouth open, shocked to see Emperor Stuart being so shameless. 'I didn't expect he would use an excuse like that...'
"That I will not accept, Minos!" That important figure of the imperial family said in indignation. "You are clearly playing with me and disrespecting the empire's integrity. How could the enemy leaders not attack you? Do you expect them to accept being destroyed?"
He and some elders of the imperial family just wanted an excuse to punish Minos because of what had happened to the emperor. Because of this, he was there to take it hard and would not make it easy for this young man full of excuses.
"Well, you should go talk to the emperor. He was the one who established that high-level Spiritual Saints should not act unless they were threatened or had to protect their own force." Minos laughed as he looked in the direction of that angry elder. "Perhaps I have exaggerated in saying that the enemies are defying the emperor's laws. None of us are. They are defending themselves, and my elders are protecting me from them."
"That's not illegal, right? The emperor has not pointed out anything about it. So I won't stop my actions until the emperor issues a new order saying I can't act."
"Shameless!" That man stepped forward, releasing his aura in irritation. "You know very well that the emperor can't do that! You're the one who put him in that situation, right?"
"Tsk!"
"Maybe you planned all this after all!"
The people there felt uncomfortable with such direct words, with the imperial family's group and the Gray Clouds Sect becoming tense.
Then Minos rose from where he was and put his sword on his shoulder. "That's all I have to say, elder. I will continue my actions until the emperor changes the game's rules. Until then, I will defend myself against any kind of abuse that violates the rules imposed by the emperor."
"Will you violate my rights and try to stop me from fighting?"
"Minos!" That figure turned red at the sight of this young man's games, who was using the imperial family itself against its interests.
As much as Harold was not around, no one could go against the decisions of an emperor other than another individual of the same position. So unless the imperial family elevated Isabella to the position of the empress, they could not change the rules for this war between these two sects.
With this, this man knew he could not stop Minos or risk punishment from the imperial family itself.
Rules could be broken, but the same rules provide stability and ensure predictability in people's lives. That is, if they were easily broken, they would lose their purpose, and people would stop believing or fearing them.
In this case, even if the imperial family itself had created these rules, if it broke such things without following the protocols, all the organizations in the empire would be on alert.
In a sense, this organization had taken itself, hostage. It was now in a difficult position to stop Minos from continuing with his plans!
This elder in front of Minos knew what he was saying, and after a moment of trying to control himself and not hit this person, he gave up his task there and left.
Acting with a hot head and without consulting the upper echelon of the imperial family would only bring problems for everyone. Thus, he decided to leave it to 'counter-attack' Minos when he was better prepared.
As such, a group left the area looking at Minos as he smiled in satisfaction, feeling that Isabella might become more useful to him before long.
'If they want to get in my way, they'll have to make her the empress... But I'm the one who will gain the most if that happens.' He thought, considering the possibilities these people would have to get in his way.
Meanwhile, Minos' grandfather was proud of how his grandson had handled the situation, seeing that Emperor Stuart was not only talented in battle.
"Get ready!" Minos shouted after a few moments of silent thought. "We're going to make the next attack in the next few hours. So be prepared to follow the strategy!"
With those words, he and his group soon departed from there, heading for what would become Minos' first encounter with Mortimer on the battlefield.
...
