The Rise of the Black Plain

After a few hours since he left the Spatial Kingdom, Minos was already in his office, receiving a visit that should have happened earlier today...

Previously, it was scheduled for Lee, Alison, and Peter to leave Dry City earlier this day. However, since those Feathered Serpents had arrived in this city during this period of the day, Minos had not had the opportunity to talk one last time with those three.

So, their journey had been delayed by a few hours.

But it didn't make that much difference to them. After all, it had only been a few hours late in a journey that would last at least a year.

Anyway, at the present moment, those three people were sitting side by side on the large sofa in Minos' office.

On the other hand, the young Stuart was sitting in front of them while talking about the last details of this mission that the three would be responsible for.

"... Well, these are the things you need to look for in the Snow Kingdom beast tamer associations."

"We still don't have many beasts to be tamed or be raised in our city, but with the increase in population this town must go through in the year you will be away, that will change quite a bit."

"We still won't have many beasts that were native to our territory, but we will have many of them coming from outside. So, that will become a new trade for our city."

"So, don't come back here until you get those techniques and some highly skilled professionals." Minos said as he finished talking about part of that group's mission.

"All right, master!" The two youths agreed simultaneously, while Peter nodded in agreement.

Lee then said. "Leave it to us, master. We will negotiate carefully and bring you good news when we return!"

"Hmm, that's good." The young sovereign commented in appreciation as he looked at those two young soldiers. "Well, Lee will be the mission leader, while Alison is in the second position."

"OK."

"Other than that, I have some good news for you..." He smiled and remembered what he had already talked about with those Feathered Serpents.

After leaving the Spatial Kingdom, before coming to his office to settle some matters and talk to those three, Minos had once again met those two serpents who were at the 6th stage.

He had told those serpents that he was willing to accept a deal with their tribe on such an occasion. But before talking about the more specific points of an agreement between the two parties, he had made a particular request.

He knew that Lee's group did not have beasts compatible with their strength to make this trip to the Snow Kingdom. That was because, while the Black Plain Army had a few hundred beasts, almost all of them were only beings at the 3rd or 4th stages.

In fact, the beasts in Minos' army that were already at the 5th stage were only 3. That is, Ebba, Abby's beast, Kyla, who this young man would not allow leaving Dry City for an hour, and Myria's beast. Other than that, there were no other beings at that stage of cultivation.

Elena, Ernest, and Eduard, who came from Stone Island, had brought no such beings with them. As for Celeste, her beast had died previously. 

As for Regina, she had a beast at this stage, but this being was in Allamanda. After all, she and Angela had come to Dry City with Eduard using White.

As for White, this beast was not from the army, and even if Minos wanted to use it at this time, Ruth would not lend it. That is because, by the time this group returned, it would be time that she would be returning to the Flaming Empire.

Hence, it would be too risky for her to lend her beast to that group to make such a long trip.

Because of all this, the local army did not have any suitable mounts for this group. And since those serpents had communicated to Minos their interest in establishing a deeper relationship, this ruler had thought he could use this to solve such a problem!

At first, he had thought those three going to the Snow Kingdom using only one beast at the 4th stage. But things had changed. It wasn't long before he contacted those two serpents to discuss this matter.

As a result, Minos had won the approval of those two beasts. They had agreed to send a serpent with Lee's group, who was already at the 5th stage and could transport those three humans.

Such a beast could fly, so this group's journey could be even smoother, increasing the chances that they wouldn't have to face too much trouble during their time away.

As for the price of this 'service,' well, Lee's group would only have to feed that beast. Other than that, the only demand was that Minos remain well-intentioned in having a long-term agreement with that tribe.

"... On account of this, you will be able to travel with that serpent that is at the 5th stage." Then, Minos finished explaining the whole situation to those three.

Upon hearing such a thing, Peter was the first to ask something. "Oh? But will that Feathered Serpent hear us? I mean, if it were an army beast, I would be sure that it would listen to us..."

"Hmm, don't worry."

"The beast that will accompany you already knows me and has a lot of respect for me..." Minos said vaguely, without going into the details about those beasts having high expectations for him. "This beast knows that this mission to accompany you on this trip was requested by me, and as such, unless it is something very extreme, it must respect the hierarchy of the mission."

"Then don't worry too much about it. Just try to get along with it and take the chance to learn new things... Spiritual beasts know a lot more about our region than humans do." He stated, looking at those two youths.

He did not know much about the past of the northern region of the Central Continent. That is, what little he did know was related to a history of over 5 million years ago and the things that happened from 100,000 years ago to now.

Hence, if even he had things to learn from such beings, these two could not miss this opportunity to be with someone with a lot of information!

"Anyway, you two can go ahead... Let me talk to Peter for a minute or two."

"OK, master." The two young adults said as they stood up and quickly departed from that spot.

In doing so, as they crossed the door of that office, Lee and Alison soon made their way toward a corridor in that part of the mansion, where no one else was present at the moment.

They then leaned over a wall, side by side with each other, as they talked. 

"Are you excited?" Lee asked as he looked sideways at Alison.

Upon hearing this, this young woman let go of the male hand she was holding and then murmured to Lee as she stood face to face with him. "Hmm. We finally..."

...

While those two were chatting about their affairs, Minos and Peter talked in that office.

"Peter, your job is to ensure the safe return of this group. Other than that, unless it is an alarming situation, you should let those two make their decisions on their own."

"I want to use this opportunity for them to train their skills, things that will be useful when the Black Plain has more cities to be run."

"Oh? Are you already thinking about that?"

"Yes, well, in no more than five years, I plan to have at least two other cities in the Black Plain. So, I will need part of my soldiers to be able to do the administrative work of those places for me."

"I see..."

"OK. I won't interfere unless I have to." 

He didn't care about this leadership thing. And since he knew that those people had learned many things from Minos and Abby, they should be better prepared than himself to lead this mission.

So, he couldn't be bothered to be led by people weaker than himself!

"Lastly, see if you can track Maxwell's whereabouts. If you find him, we can use the information he has to get the Snow Kingdom royal family on our side."

"Oh? All right, I'll look for him."

After that, the two said their goodbyes, and Lee's group left Dry City, heading toward the Snow Kingdom!