The Rise of the Black Plain

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed since the incident between the soldiers of the Black Plain Army and the envoys of the Brown family.

As such, by now, most of the crows that had departed from Dry City had reached their respective targets at the headquarters of the organizations allied to young Stuart's forces.

The first to receive such contact had been the Millers, the organization geographically closest to the Black Plain. Then, in sequence, House Cohen of the Kingdom of the Waves and the two allied families of Minos in the Cromwell Kingdom had received such.

Finally, Elen had received on Stone Island a letter sent by Minos, communicating about the immediate start of the war of independence and his plans for the Allen family.

And with all the allies having received the warning of what would happen next, each of them was already taking their respective measures for this troubled period that was about to begin.

The Millers would decrease their actions outside of the Brown Kingdom.

They were already preparing their measures for the moment when they would cease to be an undercover agent.

That could take time, but sooner or later, things would reach the point where they would be forced to fight openly alongside the Black Plain Army. But that couldn't happen anyway, or they could very well suffer significantly from attacks by the group led by the local royal family.

So, the preparations for this action had already begun!

Its members were already dealing with war preparation, something necessary, even if at this point they were not going to fight seriously.

As for the Stokes and Cohen families, both organizations had more commercial than military agreements with Minos. Because of this, although they were worried about war and were already preparing to fight if they had to, the main thing for them was to find a way to maintain their trade route with the Black Plain.

So, both organizations, which often used the land to send people and resources into Minos' territory, were now preparing to change their mode of transportation.

From now on, they were going to use their cargo ships to access the Black Plain, as this territory would become somewhat dangerous for them to send items by land.

However, as slow as it was, the sea route would be much safer in this period. Therefore, those families would use the naval base of Minos' army to communicate with their allied organization and deliver resources during this period.

As for the Hayes family, this organization was by far the one that would participate the most in the Black Plain's actions in the future. However, instead of going directly to Dry City, its members would go to the City of Waters, a place over the Stokes family sovereignty.

And the Nash family wouldn't get involved with any of this for the time being since they had more significant problems in mind and had no obligation to help the Black Plain in war.

They would even do so in other situations. Still, such an organization had already suffered a lot in this recent period and was at risk now.

But still, they had been warned about what would happen from now on since such a thing could somehow affect their business with the Black Plain.

Finally, the Feathered Serpents, which had already reached the number of 400 individuals in Dry City, as agreed earlier, had also been notified of the present situation.

They would deal more with the issues related to the Kingdom of the Waves and the transportation of resources from the Dry City to the naval base of Minos' army. But they needed to know that young Stuart would fight his war of independence, just in case they had to become more involved in this situation.

It was not agreed that they would fully commit to this. Still, after dedicating to a relationship with Minos' forces, it would be a shame if their investment was lost through lack of effort on their part.

So, the serpents led by Virtus were also ready in the Flooded Valley!

...

At the same time as Minos' allies had been warned about the impending conflict, so had his subordinates.

First, the soldiers in Dry City and the Gill family had received the information and the order to prepare for war. But after those days had passed, all the soldiers in the outer bases and around the Black Plain had already been notified about this.

Some groups were the front line, the first who would fight against the enemies sent here. But, on the other hand, many soldiers were scattered throughout the territory so that Dry City would be able to receive information regarding the arrival of enemies as soon as possible.

And with such important tasks, they couldn't help but worry about making small changes in their routines for this new period that was beginning.

Usually, there weren't many people traveling through the Black Plain, so they didn't need to be extremely careful. But with the Brown family becoming enemies of Minos' forces, tens of thousands of people could soon enter this territory.

Therefore, they would have to work harder and more carefully from now on!

On the other hand, some of the army's external bases were preparing to take surprise action against their enemies. So, they also needed to prepare for the new times!

...

In Dry City, in the region where the Gill family was living...

By now, all members of the Gill family were aware that in a few days, they could be ordered to join the war against the Brown family.

At first, only those above the 4th stage would be at Minos' disposal. But all the people in this family were worried about their futures.

After all, the worst that could happen to them was about to become a reality, and death was probably the most likely future for many of them.

But in any case, they had arrived here by their own decisions and acted according to the music.

They would at the very least strive not to be killed in this period!

And to that end, patriarch Gill and his fellow high-ranking members in this family had already made several decisions since their arrival in Dry City.

Anyway, at this moment, some of these elders were talking in a large room in one of the buildings that this family had purchased. 

"How are our subordinates doing? Are they already learning the Black-grade combat techniques?" The supreme elder of that family asked as he looked in the direction of another old man in that room.

"Yes. As ordered earlier, we are already distributing Black-grade techniques among the strongest subordinates." Such a person replied, still feeling a certain strangeness at having to do this.

But he and everyone there understood that this was necessary. After all, Minos' army did this, and many of the family's members already knew that they would have chances to enter this organization in the future. 

So, they had taken this difficult decision not to lose the loyalty of their members who might join the local army and the respect of the other subordinates who would not.

This way, they could at least earn some gratitude!

So, this family acted on Minos' recommendations, learning to live according to local customs. 

"Good!"

"I hope this will help them survive in these difficult times." The patriarch commented while having a look of concern on his face. "Then we will start dividing these subordinates into groups of those who have already learned at least attack and defense techniques."

"They will be sent out first in case we have to join the war right away."

"As for the rest, tell them to work hard. The time is short, so they had better be quick to adapt to their new techniques!"

"Yes, patriarch!"

...

While Minos' allies and subordinates were preparing, the royal family had just received the letter sent by the late royal guards, describing the suspicious attitudes of the Black Plain.