"I will invite those individuals behind the Night News to have some of their representatives attend the trial and execution of Otis Silva," Minos said resolutely.
"Oh?"
"Don't you think that will bring even more trouble for you? I mean, it will only make it even more clear to the powers of this region just how capable you are..." Ruth said promptly after giving the matter some thought.
Upon hearing this, Minos laughed as he realized that Ruth did not fully understand his logic. "This will not cause any more problems for me. On the contrary, this will bring some benefits to the Black Plain in the future."
"In any case, the big regional organizations will already know through House Brown that my army is strong enough to handle even level 58 cultivators."
"If they are going to use the Counter-Revolutionary Statute, then we can expect that our enemies will talk about their losses occasioned by those last attacks."
"With that, me showing that I can capture and execute Otis Silva will not be new to these people."
"Also, I will not show the full power of my army to the people of that periodical, for that this information doesn't turn against me."
"So..."
'That doesn't seem to have the negative points that I thought...' Ruth thought about it in silence, still not understanding what exactly the upside was here.
"So, what do you hope to get out of it?"
"The great families will know about my organization by House Brown. But the other smaller powers in the region, as well as the common people, will not have the same information at this time."
"With that said, if I don't take this action, only when things get tumultuous throughout the region will the common portion of the population learn about my rebellion. But in that situation, what they will hear about us and consequently think, would be totally in line with the views of our enemies."
"Many people would probably think that we are fanatical rebels, fighting for twisted motives, for selfish reasons, and mainly for greed."
"They would see us as individuals trying to break into the home of an innocent person, who by attacking us would only be in their right of defense."
"But things are not so simple!"
"And having the common people of our region have these thoughts contrary to my territory would be quite negative for the Black Plain in the long run." He said seriously, looking at his girlfriend's alert expression.
Since the information about part of the power of his organization would already be released to the regional leaders anyway, then he might do it on his own and use such an opportunity to reap benefits!
With this, what young Stuart wanted to do was to create a favorable reputation for the Black Plain.
He wanted to show the regional community how serious he was about making this territory independent from the Brown Kingdom.
To show that he was not at all crazy for rebelling, that contrary to what his enemies would say, he was the innocent who had had his home invaded!
In coming up with this plan, he wanted to use the trial and execution of Otis Silva as a means of presenting to the regional population why he would do this against such a person. At the same time, he would use this opportunity to show how the Silva family had attacked him several times before he finally acted vigorously against them.
In addition, he wanted to show the fact that the Black Plain was a place abandoned by the local royalty, which had been saved by his organization and not by the Brown family.
It was a place that was even said to have a free pass to become independent from how useless it was to that local royal family!
And by doing it his way, he wanted to show who was genuinely acting greedily in this conflict.
But would that help in his war of independence?
Very unlikely.
Would it affect the Counter-Revolutionary Statute?
No.
"And why would that be beneficial to the Black Plain?" Ruth asked curiously.
"Ruth, a good leader needs to plan by considering victory and defeat. Especially victory. After all, you can't wait until things settle down to take certain actions."
"Certain actions need to be taken with the thought that victory will be certain, even when one is not certain of such a thing."
That was logical!
Supposing a state were a house, the builder could not expect to build a three-story house if its foundation had not been prepared. Construction can even be done slowly and adapted within certain limits. Still, the foundation needs to be done right from the beginning.
Otherwise, the builder would have to tear down and rebuild.
But this would mean significant losses of time and resources.
As such, it was better to plan considering that the three-story house would one day be built, even if, at the moment, the builder could barely make the second floor.
And such was the life of a ruler. He had to make decisions favorable to the future of his territory, even if in the meantime things could go wrong, plans would change, losses would occur.
Maybe Minos would lose the war, and none of it would mean anything. But he could not simply wait until he had a result about this before he acted!
After all, time waits for no man!
Hence, he was planning the future of the Black Plain, considering that he would win his war of independence. And for this reason, he had considered this action.
"I need to plan the future of the Black Plain considering that we will win this conflict. And by winning the war, we will need millions of immigrants, people from all levels and social classes."
"But these people are not going to migrate from their homes to a place with no connection to them without there being certain incentives. Without them having positive opinions about us, that opportunities are verified." He said, finally pointing out the benefit that this plan could bring.
The average migrant was an individual who left his city, his state, out of necessity. There were exceptions, of course, but most immigrants fit this profile.
But in a world with so many possibilities, why would an immigrant choose state 'x' instead of state 'y'?
Several possibilities explained this decision. Among them, what would most attract the attention of migrants was culture development opportunities, mainly. But also language, distance, security.
The regional culture was very similar in this region. As for language, all humans in the Spiritual World spoke the common language. As such, neither of those two variables would be relevant to migration in this northern region of the Central Continent.
But things like opportunities, the assurance that migrants would arrive and not be exploited, that all needed to be propagated somehow. Otherwise, such people would not consider that territory as a possibility.
Therefore, Minos wanted to build a favorable image for his territory by showing the regional population that he had no desire for domination. He just wanted to rule his territory peacefully.
He wanted to expose that Dry City, and consequently the Black Plain, was not a wild place but a stable area with opportunities for growth and rules favorable to peaceful living.
By showing these things to the regional population, at least part of them would not see the Black Plain as it would be if he didn't take this attitude.
At least some of the regional population would see Minos' group as they were. Ordinary people, defending their rights and freedoms!
Rights and freedoms...
Beautiful ideas to defend, especially when you are oppressed...
How many people in this tremendous Spiritual World would see themselves this way?
It would be easier to count the numbers of the other group!
In any case, even if these people who favored the Black Plain did not help this territory win the war, they would be potential post-war immigrants!
With a Black Plain-friendly mindset, not only would many of them become migrants. But they would identify with and be assimilated into the population of this place more quickly once they got here.
That was what Minos sought most!
"So, that's it..." Ruth said in surprise, realizing that her boyfriend was thinking a few steps ahead of his present situation.
After that, the two were interrupted by the sound of the door opening as Abby walked into that office with a smile on her face.
