While Minos was in the capital of the Snow Kingdom, news about the rebellions around the northern and southern borders of the Black Plain kept arriving in the Dry City.
After establishing those hotbeds of insubordination in the Cromwell Kingdom and Kingdom of the Waves, some of the fightings in the Black Plain had shifted toward those states.
At the same time, the new circumstances of the war generated by the increased enemies of the counter-revolutionary forces in that area had created various social upheavals.
In both the Kingdom of the Waves and the Cromwell Kingdom, slavery was an existing problem since those states allowed this kind of market.
And precisely because of this, there were cities in these states with thousands of these individuals, each of them suffering and waiting for an opportunity.
So, several of these cities had been affected because of the changes in those two regions bordering the Black Plain. And now, Minos' forces were fighting, but freed slaves or slaves in rebellion had joined the war.
Such slaves might have been relatively weak and insignificant compared to those directly involved in the Black Plain's war of independence. But they were very numerous and could act silently against enemy bases!
In this way, the insurgent movements of the Hayes, Stokes, and Cohen families had incited a movement of these oppressed masses. Then, now, they were hell-bent on the counter-revolutionaries who used towns or camps in those areas to rest and store supplies.
They were getting help from the allied forces of the Black Plain to get rid of items that might limit their movements or seal off their cultivation. And then, they were acting against their masters.
At the same time, terror spread through the most prominent organizations in that part of Farmland, where crops were burned almost every day.
Not only this, even the forces of the underworld were suffering from the many actions around that area!
For example, the Black Market in Hadria, an organization that not only traded in slaves but also had other businesses related to that market around that northernmost area of the Cromwell Kingdom, was suffering from these actions.
They were being attacked practically every day, often irritated by escape attempts, small acts to bewilder them, and constant escapes.
And the more people who fled, the more problematic the situation had become in that city, where the masses seemed to have finally reached their tolerance limit.
Even women forced into prostitution were fighting on the revolutionaries' side, trying to break down the established society in that area.
And with this, the ruling forces could not help but feel as if the actions of Minos' allies were inflaming the hopes of the oppressed!
That was a problem!
After all, the dominant organizations were always the minorities in terms of numbers.
Suppose entire cities decided it would be better to eliminate the tumor in their body. How would these forces support hundreds of thousands of enemies within their own city?
And it was precisely this movement that was slowly beginning to develop around these areas in rebellion, where ordinary citizens became angrier and angrier with their leaders as time went on.
For ordinary citizens, it would not make that much difference to be a subject of Minos or whoever would become the new king of the Kingdom of the Waves or the Cromwell Kingdom.
Minos was already powerful, so the only advantage that could make these people wish to continue being led by royal families no longer existed.
On the other hand, the local leaders insisted on fighting against the young Stuart, creating unsafe situations for those who could not benefit from this conflict.
They lacked strength and clung to the hope that a surprise attack would not kill them or take their loved ones from this world.
In addition, jobs were becoming scarcer and scarcer, while the short supply of food was increasing food prices almost daily.
And with this came hunger.
So, with all these problems mixed up in the heads of the ordinary men of this region, many people were losing patience with their leaders and starting to rebel!
That had started in Hadria, where the presence of the Black Market, such significant antagonistic power in this region, had incited the local population even more vigorously!
...
"A New Day for Hadria..."
"Public Dismembering in Hadria..."
"Insurgents Kill Local Black Market Leader..."
Various headlines appeared around sheets of newspaper scattered around young Stuart's desk, where his fiancée was working at the moment.
Abby was sitting comfortably in Minos' armchair, reading some of those articles about recent events in Hadria, the newest home of rebels in the Cromwell Kingdom.
Hadria had spent days of revolutionary and Black Plain allied forces movements until the population had acted against its rulers.
In those days, a few thousand people had died during the chaos that had led to the invasion of the main bases of oppressive forces in that city. However, after much fighting and killing, even the Spiritual Kings who had failed to flee that city in time had died!
And only after much blood flowed through the streets of Hadria did that place finally free itself from its oppressive past and see new day dawn.
'It's amazing how these people acted in that moment of desperation...' Abby pondered the incredible strength the collective might have.
'Will they refuse to lose their city to us shortly after fighting for their liberation?'
The Black Plains obviously did not plan to let these territories go free for other powers to absorb in the future. So, sooner or later, the troops of the Black Plain Army would take over that place.
With that, Abby was worried that the population of that place would understand things the wrong way and make things difficult for them in the future.
'It doesn't matter.'
'When the Black Plain starts to receive immigrants after the war ends and grows by leaps and bounds, even if we didn't order it, I believe they would still ask to be part of our territory.'
'After all, even in times of peace, no city can bear the tensions of this region alone.'
After thinking about this, she read over some reports from the local mercenary guild, which talked about the results of a mission passed by Minos months ago.
That concerned the mission created for local mercenaries to exterminate groups of bandits in the southern part of the Kingdom of the Waves, where there was one of the regional crime hotspots.
Like the place, Peter had passed previously, where there was a town of criminals on the coast of that region.
'... Finally, after interrogating the prominent figures of those bandit groups, all the outlaws in the southern region of the Kingdom of the Waves were eliminated by the mercenaries...' Abby continued to read one of the reports written by the soldiers sent by Minos to protect the local mercenaries.
'... However, it was discovered that part of these groups was working for an organization listed in the book of enemies of the Black Plain...'
'... The Blood Triangle Pirates had groups of pirates from this region doing outside work for them. In particular, they were after a certain map that could be anywhere in the region...'
After that, Abby read those reports for a few more minutes until she finished doing that.
'A map?' She wondered, remembering Emlyn's story and that pirate organization, as she considered why such a powerful organization would be looking for something like that in this region.
'Sigh...'
'I can't think of anything to solve this mystery...' She sighed in disappointment as she relaxed her back into the armchair that still had remnants of Minos' scent.
She then turned her face sideways and smelled the masculine scent of her fiancé. 'Perhaps Minos can solve this mystery...'
'When he gets here, I'll talk to him about it!' She made up her mind, getting up from there and heading towards their house.
"I can't relax even though I've already reached level 53!" She muttered in a low voice as she made her way to the cultivation room of her and Minos' house.
"Minos is probably halfway through that level already, so I have to try harder!"
And with that, she made her way to her destination, thinking of her fiancé as an encouragement for training. But thinking about Minos, she also misses him and his touches.
But she was not restless. She already knew that her partner would be back to hug her and make her happy in the next two months!
