A few days later...
By now, more than 95% of the members of the Parkinson, Austin, and Miller families had arrived in Dry City.
In the days that had passed since Minos' first action, many of the members of those families who were among the enemies had abandoned their positions and headed toward that city.
With this, the arrival of the allied families of the Black Plain coming from the Brown Kingdom had significantly been accelerated, with only a single group left to join the others.
In fact, the only group of people left to arrive was one that was, at this moment, being escorted by Minos and the supreme elder of the Miller family, old Vince.
After several days of sailing, the final group that escaped from the Miller family territory arrived in a relatively quiet spot on the Black Plain coast.
After a significant battle in the vicinity of that area, the Black Plain rebel forces had made room for the passage of Abby's family ships two days ago. Then, Minos and Vince had joined in escorting them, clearing the way for this last portion of allies to reach Dry City safely.
It was necessary to do so for only a few thousand individuals because, in addition to the Soul Contracts that required each part to assist the other, the individuals in this group possessed value to these organizations.
And that made them precious!
Even those not specialized in certain professions, noble families always had members who were blacksmiths, array masters, chefs, etc.
So, every noble family had its members who were not warriors but contributed significantly to these powers.
In the case at hand, the group under Minos and Vince's guard had such individuals, among them the spiritual judge who had validated young Stuart's contracts with Celeste and Mirya.
Because of people like this, it was worthwhile for two people of the caliber of Minos and the supreme elder Miller to escort them!
It may seem to those who do not understand that the cultivation of warriors and spiritual professionals was similar. But the truth is that, for each of the specializations, there were crucial differences that made certain professions more challenging at certain times of cultivation than others.
And although there were also crucial differences between types of warriors, the differences between them were not so significant compared to that of spiritual professionals from different fields.
That made these individuals much more valuable, as the cost of raising a single one of them, whatever their specialization, would already be higher than that of warriors.
Because of this, any organization would take extra care with its blacksmiths, array masters, etc. These were people difficult to nurture who had valuable skills for thousands.
Consequently, Minos and Vince were accompanying this group.
...
"Young Minos, how far do you want to go?" Vince asked as he mounted a big flying beast, a few meters away from the Feathered Serpent that young Stuart was standing on.
Upon hearing that old man's question, Minos continued to observe the surroundings of that barren area and said. "After I win the war of independence, I will naturally change the regional borders."
"What?"
"But hadn't you said you had no interests in other parts of our region besides the Black Plain itself?" The old supreme elder asked, remembering Minos' words when they first met.
"And I was telling the truth!" Minos began to answer truthfully. "But look at all that has happened..."
"I am being attacked from almost all sides. Enemy forces are commandeering part of my territory, and every single continental family in our region wants my head..."
"What can I do except winning the war based on force and then punish them?" Minos asked, looking in the direction of that man with a smile on his face.
'So, you wanted that all the time!' Vince realized Minos' intent, sensing that perhaps this young man was not as peaceful as he claimed.
"So, you were lying before?"
"No. I was telling the truth. If no one had attacked me or demanded absurd things from the Black Plain, I would have done what was necessary peacefully."
"And even if I wanted more territories adjacent to Black Plain in the future, I would negotiate with the royal families responsible for such areas."
"In the same way that I negotiate with you."
And Minos was telling the truth.
Doing such a thing could generate an extra cost to his territory, which would be something for any leader to consider. After all, as tragic as wars were for both sides, there were situations in which conflict generated more wealth for the victor than peace.
In any case, by doing something like negotiating, there would be no human losses for the Black Plain side.
On the other hand, the thousands of enemies that could die in this war could eventually become part of the Black Plain's workforce in a more peaceful development.
Hell, even if that did not happen, such people could become consumers of the products of young Stuart's territory!
So, despite the costs, there was indeed a possibility that solving these problems without war would have been feasible for both Minos and the regional families.
But it was challenging to solve problems like this peacefully.
The war was part of human nature, after all.
For example, a hunter goes out hunting in a strange area, where dangerous beings could be hiding, some of them, also hunting. But upon coming across another hunter, one could fear the other. Maybe think about how the other could be an enemy.
Perhaps stepping forward, putting down one's weapons, and shaking hands would be the scenario with the highest long-term success rate.
But doing so would take a lot of courage on both sides!
And in a scenario where one fears the other, perhaps the one who shoots first might have the advantage in a conflict and might have a better chance of coming out the winner.
In such a situation, where two beings are fighting over something, fearing each other, laying down one's weapons, and talking would rarely replace conflict.
Because of this, it would be complicated for this war not to have happened.
Human nature was still too immature to overcome greed!
So much so that, in the case at hand, the only way Minos could have achieved peaceful independence would have been if he had nothing to offer.
Suppose the Black Plain was a place that was still entirely barren, had no valuable resources, nor so many mighty warriors. In that case, the desire for independence could be achieved without wars!
But would that be permanent?
Suppose Minos chose to live miserably, yes. Otherwise, once he developed his territory, even insignificantly, problems would start to arise.
And then, sooner or later, such a war would still happen.
Anyway, Minos knew all this since Henricus Longus' experiences had taught him such a thing. Therefore, he had never been wrong about the fights ahead of him, having prepared himself from his first day in Dry City for such moments.
Only the powerful could change things with just words in the Spiritual World. Consequently, he was prepared to fight his way through, whoever the enemy might be!
'Ah, so all this could have been avoided...' Vince lamented in his heart.
He wanted to become stronger and had, therefore, betrayed the Brown family. But that did not mean that he did not care about degrading his honor.
So, this old man lamented the current situation.
"But you should not worry, elder Vince." Minos said with a smile on his face as he imagined the future. "You, sir, will see my ambition come true."
"It won't be long, and the Black Plain will become a place as strong as a high-level kingdom, like the Flaming Empire's neighbors!"
"Is that so?"
"Of course! The day will come when there will be Saints living in Dry City!"
But while those two were talking about Minos' wishes for his territory, a flying being had been approaching that two while waving its long tail.
"Uh?" The serpent carrying Minos looked at that junior of its tribe, curious to know what that was all about.
After hearing the words of that newly arrived Feathered Serpent, that beast that had been serving as a mount for Minos used its grave voice to inform this young man.
"Young Minos, headquarters has just sent information regarding the location of King Brown!"
...
