The Rise of the Black Plain

After Minos and Gloria left that inn, it was not long before the two arrived at a small business establishment where breakfast was served.

However, before they reached that place, the two had seen a bit of the early day in this village, where the residents seemed to get up very early to work.

But the strange thing about all this was not that the locals worked early. After all, that happened everywhere!

No, the point that had caught the attention of these two was related to the number of people who lived in this village.

From the size of this place and the number of houses, this village should not have three thousand people.

However, as they went out to get something to eat before their departure, Minos and Gloria noticed that there were people working in houses, plantations, and streets everywhere they passed.

It was as if all the people in this place, including the children, had been working since the beginning of the day!

That was strange!

Generally, in small places like this, society lived from the work of a fraction of the residents. However, this place had presented this strange phenomenon.

And because of this, when ordering his breakfast, Minos could not help but question another customer in that place.

"Buddy, do you know what's special about this place?" He asked in doubt as he looked at the man at a table four meters away from his.

"Special?" Such a person took his attention away from the piece of meat on his plate to look at Minos. "I don't understand the question. Can you elaborate a little more on that, sir?" He behaved a little better immediately after realizing that it was those figures everyone was talking about.

This place was small, so it had not taken long for rumors that two superpowered youths were passing by. Therefore, even that level 34 cultivator understood that Minos and Gloria were not people he could dare to offend.

Minos then said. "I mean, I find it strange that so many people start working so early in this village. Is there something going on?"

"So, that's it!" That man said this in realization before explaining it to Minos and Gloria.

"Sir, ma'am, this is a consequence of the war in the Brown Kingdom!"

Upon hearing this, Minos' eyes sharpened, with him finally understanding this whole situation. 'I see...'

As for Gloria, this woman did not have the same information as Minos. Still, it was not hard for her to understand that a war would always bring negative consequences, even for those not directly involved.

"With the war, the general price of food in the region has increased greatly. So now, many people have to work twice as hard as they did before to afford the same pre-war expenses."

"On the other hand, some more unlucky ones have had the misfortune to have emergencies just at this difficult time... With that, with prices so far above normal, many lost everything they had in order to be able to solve their most immediate problems."

"It's truly a pity." He lamented before finally returning his attention to the meat on his plate, which had cost the sweat of several hours of work for him.

And everything that man had said was true. The war was a pity for people like the inhabitants of this village, those who depended on the services of others to survive.

War was complicated and changed all the economic schemes of a nation. As a result, this showed itself in the inflation of various products, even those that might not have to suffer from it directly.

An example of this was the low-quality foods sold in this region. Such items should not suffer much because of war.

This market demanded little from items affected by the sanctions or foreign markets.

But with the war, the roads became more dangerous, as criminals became more confident due to fewer law enforcers.

On the other hand, many mercenary warriors were charging more to protect merchant caravans, as the demand for their services had significantly increased.

Not only were more escort services available to them in the regional mercenary guilds, but there were also enlistments for soldiers in the royal forces.

As a result, the number of opportunities for warriors had increased dramatically since the beginning of the war and had thus raised the price of this service by a great deal!

Nevertheless, the food producers selling their items cheaply on Stone Island were passing on their losses to the products sold in the other kingdoms in this region!

After all, they would never take that loss!

Anyway, all this and much more was affecting the value of food in this part of the Central Continent, which pressed the 'less well-off' population to despair.

That's why so many people in this village have been working since the beginning of the day!

That was for the sake of their livelihood!

After understanding this, both Minos and Gloria sighed in lament for this reality.

To Gloria, what was happening in this region was a pity, something that, if she could, she would help stop through conversations. But unfortunately, in her opinion, both sides were crazy for power and would do no such thing.

As for Minos, this young man was sorry for the pressure that these people he did not know were under because of his territory. But this was for the greater good!

He was obviously more concerned about himself than about strangers. But once he gained his independence, the whole region could benefit from the rise of the Black Plain.

So, he just lamented the situation of these people at the moment, hoping that most of them would at least endure a little longer while he solved his problems.

"This Minos is truly terrible!"

"I never imagined that his actions would affect the regional population so much," Gloria commented to the young Stuart, sensing that sovereign was worse than she had imagined.

Upon hearing this, Minos almost choked, but he knew how to restrain himself fast enough not to be noticed by Gloria. "I don't think so."

"I think he is just doing what he is obligated to do..."

"From what I read in the news, he wanted peace, but the regional kings, specifically King Brown, chose war."

"They are the big culprits of all this misfortune," Minos said confidently.

"You think so?" Gloria asked in surprise. "I'm not from the region, so I have a hard time assessing the situation."

"But I don't think this Minos is as nice as he claims to be..."

"Is that so?" Minos' eyes sparkled in interest. "If you were to meet him, wouldn't you give him the benefit of the doubt? Maybe he's not nice, but maybe he truly wants peace."

"After all, the instability of war is bad for almost everyone."

Gloria then smiled and said. "If I were to meet him, maybe the right thing to do would be to arrest him and throw away the cell keys..."

"Your church would never allow that."

"Haha, that's true. But that's probably the solution that would solve everything without more blood being shed." 

"Is it?" He asked skeptically. "What do you think would happen to the hundreds of thousands of inhabitants of Dry City if he disappeared?"

"Remember, the local kings are not pious and will not let accomplices escape their responsibilities..."

"The example of the Kain family cannot be forgotten!"

Hearing this, Gloria nodded in agreement, understanding 'Albert's' point. "Well, you are right."

"I'm wrong."

"More blood would be shed even if he disappeared from the world..."

"That is the reality of war, my dear Gloria."

"If you want an answer on how to avoid the slaughter and indirect losses that millions end up having to bear, the only way to do that is to prevent at all costs wars from starting."

"Once a confrontation begins, the madness of war will hit one or all of the parties involved."

"The idea that getting out of the war will result in losses without gains will scare the leaders of the organizations involved, and soon they will want to fight to the last consequences."

"At least that is what usually happens between enemy powers of similar strength."

"Other than that, you can only pray that one side gets enough power to oppress the other. Otherwise, they will fight until mutual destruction is inevitable." So, Minos said quietly to that beautiful woman.

Gloria's pupils then contracted, with her realizing Minos' knowledge. But before she could say anything, he gave his final opinion.

"If you're looking for any side, then 'his' looks the most promising... At least that's what I think."

'Maybe he is the most promising now, but those families still have a chance...' She thought about it in silence, watching her traveling companion even more interested.

'In any case, I made the right decision!'

'Traveling with Albert will be much more interesting than continuing to travel alone!'