The Rise of the Black Plain

After the shouting in that place diminished, finally, one of the most prestigious elders of that family began to speak. "Well, everyone here already knows the basics about this subject, but I'll bring it up once more so that we don't ignore anything here..."

"After several days since the departure of the group led by Oliver, when they should have been investigating the Black Plain, we have lost the soul sign of Margot."

"Hmm." Several people agreed, still keeping their mouths shut and listening to that man's speech carefully.

Margot was not a noble but rather a subordinate. However, as a person of humble origin who had come so far in power within this organization, she was undeniably influential. And due to the many centuries dedicated to this organization, she had gained the respect of many of the nobles of House Silva.

As such, upon hearing her name, many people there had made mourning expressions while nodding in agreement with Milo's speech.

This elder then continued. "However, the most unexpected thing was that we found out that the little Gill family..." He began to turn red, getting anger and anger as the veins in his neck became more pronounced.

"The little Gill family dared to attack us!"

"Tsk!"

"Those wretched people! It seems we are no longer respected!"

"What a degradation! Our ancestors must be turning in their graves with such disgrace happening to our noble family!"

Several negative comments were made in low voices. At the same time, each of those people felt a tremendous sense of humiliation deep within their beings.

Milo then continued. "After that, we lost the soul sign of Oliver, but we did not find out anything regarding his death, nor the fate of those who accompanied him..."

"However, a few days after that, another of our 6th stage subordinates died in that territory. But we finally discovered the reality!"

"The power behind everything that happened to us has a base on the coast of the Black Plain, one that is protected by a medium-level grade-2 defensive array!"

The Silva family had discovered such a thing because some people had fled from that location in time had managed to send this information to the Red Valley!

As such, these elders already knew about the Black Plain Army's naval base.

"Finally, a few days after that event on the coast of the Black Plain, we lost the soul signs of the last two 6th stage subordinates who were on that mission!"

That was the last information that the Silva family had gotten since so far. None of the subordinates of this power who had participated in that mission had returned until the moment. On the other hand, no other letters had arrived during these past days.

But this was not strange. After all, the battle that had taken place in Dry City had been much harsher than the one that had taken place in the vicinity of the naval base. 

Also, because there were more soldiers near Dry City, those who had escaped alive from there had faced far more difficulties than those who Ernest's group had attacked.

"Brothers..." Milo looked from one side of that hall to the other as he observed the older and more powerful people from this family. "Patriarch, supreme elder, this power that is behind these defeats our family has recently had needs to be contained as soon as possible."

"However, we have a critical problem regarding this matter!"

"This is something that could very well lead us to a big mistake, to bad decisions that could result in us being stabbed in the back!"

The patriarch then looked at that level 55 elder and asked. "What does elder Milo mean?"

"The Gill family is against us. That we already know..." He then looked steadily into the eyes of the late Darell's father and asked. "But... But what if there are other noble houses on the side of this mysterious organization?"

"Obviously, our family would not be frightened by small or even medium-sized organizations like the Gill family allying themselves..." Another person was about to speak when suddenly he was interrupted by the voice of the supreme elder.

"That's not the problem... Of course, we fear no one, except for our sovereign, King Brown!" He said while trying not to lose his calm in this very problematic situation. "What the elder Milo is telling us is that we must take precautions!"

"We can take this matter to King Brown, but we need a better understanding of the situation. If we have no idea the ones against us, the motive for such actions, how what is happening on the Black Plain could be a danger to both us and the kingdom, our actions will have little or no effect!"

"Not only that, we may even alert the enemies of our plans and help them set an even better trap for ourselves!"

"Hmmm, that's what I had thought..." Milo commented in a low voice as he closed his eyes and nodded in the direction of the supreme elder.

"So, that's it..." Patriarch Otis muttered as he finally realized they didn't know who might be on the Black Plains side.

After all, until a few days ago, nothing could indicate that the Gill family would one day attack them!

As such, they should be cautious about the other noble families in this state, especially those with more significant rivalries with House Silva, as in the example of the Miller family!

On the other hand, many members of noble families were part of the royalty. That is, many were married to royal descendants and dedicated their lives to the royal family. So, these elders could not risk communicating such things indirectly to the king...

At worst, such a thing might very well never reach King Brown's ears and even alert the enemies of House Silva. 

Hence, the Silva family needed to speak directly to the king, have the necessary evidence to make such a matter a kingdom problem, and know whom to trust...

"All right, people, quiet." The patriarch shouted once again, causing many of the conversations to stop once again. He then suggested. "Well, what the supreme elder and elder Milo have talked about here really makes sense."

"We need to be more careful. And to this end, before we talk to King Brown, I want to change our operations so that we can know the necessary details as soon as possible."

"First, I want all of our spies outside the Brown Kingdom to return here. Each of them will be sent to the headquarters cities of the other 19 noble families in our state so that the surveillance of these powers will be more efficient."

"I want to know about every detail of the specialists of each of these powers, especially their recent movements!"

"Second, let's send some small groups to each of the cities bordering the Black Plain..."

"Let's see who is coming and going from such a region!"

...

Quickly, several hours passed, and that group from the Silva family had decided many things relevant to the future of this noble house.

But after two days since the conversations about many of these necessary actions had ended, new letters from some of the survivors of the battles on the Black Plain had arrived at the headquarters of such a family.

With this, they had finally discovered the total damage they had suffered on this investigative mission. They had found that more than 70% of the people sent to the Black Plain had died at enemy hands, with many of the survivors needing urgent help.

But in addition to these casualties, they had also found out about the Dry City dome, something that had frightened them considerably. After all, having defensive barriers generated by medium-level grade-2 arrays at bases or headquarters was something that anyone could encounter when traveling through the northern part of the Central Continent.

However, there was not even a single city fully protected by such defenses in this region!

Therefore, the Dry City had become an even bigger mystery to the leaders of this organization.

So, from now on, the Silva family's entire focus would be on collecting evidence and information about the Black Plain and its potential allies to attract King Brown's attention.

Previously, the elders of this power wanted to prepare for the tumultuous times the northern region was going through to take advantage of the best opportunities. But when they least expected it, they had already been caught up in turmoil, even though they were unprepared and didn't know who the enemy was.

With this, there were no more options for them to try to profit in the current scenario. The Silva family's only goal now was to overcome this calamity and continue to exist in the future!