The Rise of the Black Plain

"Silence!" The supreme elder of the Edwardstone family roared as he looked toward that old local expert, who had not been given the right to speak.

Minos returned to his seat and said. "The trial cannot be about the victims of the Saints Killing Sect. That is a trial about a sect master's loyalty to the emperor and His Majesty's impositions."

"I did not disregard His Majesty's words in my act. It was merely a fluke of fate, created by the very members of the Saints Killing Sect, something that, yes, favored me. But I did not plan or intend for this to happen at any time."

"I could have gone against the enemy headquarters, but I didn't do that because I knew the consequences." He said, looking for the first time at those judging him. "Thus, I end my defense. I trust the imperial family will decree a fair and favorable verdict for me."

Those members of the imperial family who wished to make Minos at least suffer a little expressed discomfort on their faces, regretting what looked like it was going to happen.

Minos' words had been very well thought out, touching on crucial points already in the minds of each local leader there.

Now, the biggest concern of these men was not even that the empire was getting weaker nor that Minos might be rebelling. But Mortimer could change many things about this state in a short time.

They knew that Minos had no means of opening spatial cracks to the headquarters of the Saints Killing Sect. Only a member of that organization could teleport to a location within the core of that sect.

With all this evidence and new problems to think about, the members of the imperial family already had a good sense of where this whole trial would go.

"Very well, I will now pass the word to the witnesses, and later, the sect master under the trial will have a chance to defend himself against their accusations." Supreme elder Bush said, moving on with the formalities of this trial.

Meanwhile, Isabella was looking at Minos in a satisfied manner, feeling that he would be able to escape from a bigger trouble in this place.

'You're very clever indeed, Minos.' Her eyes arched downward in a happy expression. 'You used Mortimer, your victim, to become the focus of the discussions and make him everyone's real enemy...'

'Great move!'

Oswald was also pleased since, like many there, although he knew some of the histories of the Destruction Eyes, he did not know enough to identify Gavin, Mortimer's motivations, and the future of this man. As such, if it were him, this man would not be able to use this information to his advantage and would probably end up suffering more punishment in a trial like this!

'That red-haired fellow must have told Minos many things...' This bearded, white-haired man thought about it in silence as the witnesses talked about the atrocities they saw and blamed Emperor Stuart.

Minos would eventually defend himself against the accusations made by those individuals connected to the Saints Killing Sect, showing the jury that such individuals wanted to force the situation against him without any real evidence.

After some time of trial, the members of the Saints Killing Sect who had attended this event had already left. They were sure that they would not achieve anything in this place. Instead, there was a chance that from now on, they would face antagonism from some of those organizations present at the trial!

That was the worst-case scenario for them!

Therefore, the trial soon ran to its conclusion when the supreme elder spoke the jury's recommendation for Isabella to proclaim the sentence of this trial.

The one sitting in the emperor's position was the one who had to give the sentence in trials like this, and they could follow the jury's recommendation or not.

Isabella called for silence from everyone and soon stood up to pronounce.

"On behalf of His Imperial Majesty, Harold Edwardstone, I declare Minos Stuart free of responsibility over the recent incident over the headquarters of the Saints Killing Sect." She said loud and clear.

Almost no one in that place was surprised by this, but Sarah jumped for joy upon hearing this since she was the only one who did not quite understand what was happening.

As the people in the surrounding area looked at that child dressed in a pink dress jumping next to Gloria, Isabella continued her speech. "But due to the previous disagreement with the imperial guards and such an unintentional event, we will limit the sect master Minos Stuart in two ways."

"First, the sect master is prohibited from using the mass destruction weapon called the Black Hole Bomb within the empire. The penalty for non-compliance with this will be the declaration of the sect master as a rebel and measures already expected..." She said suggestively, without mentioning it, which was somewhat obvious to everyone there.

"Secondly, the sect master Minos Stuart will have to remain under house arrest for one year and renew his loyalties to the imperial family..."

"I hope you don't quarrel with imperial guards in the future, sect master." She said as she looked at him, considering that this was not an unfair punishment for Minos' threats to the group that had gone to arrest him.

Even though he was innocent, no one could react to the imperial guards, or they would commit a crime, contempt of law, and the emperor!

Because of this, even though he had been declared innocent, Minos was still going to be punished in some way.

But of course, this was not what would happen to ordinary people as the crown princess favored him.

Even though this was clear to everyone, no one said anything against this favoritism since that was life. Connections were everything, and those who had the best individuals close to them could live even better.

With that, Minos' punishment was final, and he soon questioned. "It's okay for me to serve my house arrest in the Black Plain Empire, right? That whole state is my home."

The members of the imperial family closed their eyes to avoid looking at this shameless person, but Isabella agreed with him. "But of course. As a sovereign, that is your privilege. But since you will serve your time in that state, I forbid those involved with the attacks of weeks ago to leave the headquarters of the Gray Clouds Sect for that same period."

"Only those who participated in the attack?" Minos was not bothered by this since several other Spiritual Saints had not joined them. "Very well, we will follow with Your Highness' decisions."

Thus, Minos' imperial trial ended, with the people there finally beginning to discuss today's outcome, concerned about Mortimer and less interested in Emperor Stuart.

Minos returned to his family's side and quickly began preparing for their return to the Black Plain, something that had to happen immediately, given his 'house detention.'

He also wanted to give some orders for the Gray Clouds Sect members to leave for the Black Plain. Thus, he and his group soon left the area, missing the opportunity to fraternize with those local leaders.

It was time to return to the Black Plain and solve the Abe problem!