The Rise of the Black Plain

The woman who had seen all of Minos' actions from afar continued to watch his group entering the Church temple, interested in these visitors.

She had seen when Minos showed the Church symbol, so naturally, she did not think he was there to cause trouble. So, she saw no problem in him teaching those individuals a lesson.

The people in this organization placed a high value on hierarchy. Since Minos was stronger than those individuals and had a special status, he naturally had the right to act that way.

Even more so considering that he had not overstepped his limits.

With that, she soon walked towards him, curious to meet this person.

"Hi, my name is Louise. Do you need any help?" She asked as she approached Minos' group.

Hearing that, the four people looked at this blonde woman, level 67, wearing an outfit similar to Gloria's.

Gloria looked at her and said. "We need to collect some local information. So, you can take us to the area responsible for that."

"Oh? Don't you know the kingdom? Where do you come from?" She looked at Gloria, but she was interested in Minos.

"Flaming Empire."

"Oh? It is unusual for our temple to receive people from this place..." She commented as she looked ahead and began to lead their group. "Why would a group from the Flaming Empire come to our state? Any problems?"

"Several problems..." Gloria commented without giving details.

Minos then said. "Louise, in addition to seeking information, we are searching for Spiritual Emperors of this post who are not so involved in local affairs."

"Can you help us with that? I want to meet my wife's colleagues in this place who can help me regarding something."

'Your wife's colleagues?' She looked at Gloria, who was wearing a church uniform similar to hers. 'So she is your wife...'

She then asked. "People without much involvement in local affairs? There aren't that many people. After all, it's hard not to get involved in one's own reality..."

"Can you explain more about this to me? I am interested in what you intend with these Spiritual Emperors." She looked at him with interest.

Louise had her local involvements, but as someone who was only at level 67, far from the peak of local power, she was still not influential. At least not to the point of being fully committed or limited by local powers.

Minos then said. "We are not from the Flaming Empire. We're just temporarily part of that state's branch."

"Is that so?"

"We are trying to develop our contacts in other branches of the Church so that we have certain options when we are no longer in the Empire." He left out of his comments the northern region and the fact that he was trying to form his own faction.

Naturally, there was a power struggle within the Church. Thus, faction members would not simply help develop or allow new competitors and divisions to emerge.

Therefore, to avoid people trying to sabotage him, Minos wanted to appear as just an individual concerned with his influence within the Church, with the contacts that could help him establish himself away from his 'homeland.'

And that was what Louise understood from his comment, finding it appropriate for a person in his situation not to limit himself only to the contacts he had in the Flaming Empire.

"Where will you go?" She asked.

Minos smiled, making that clear to Louise in his tone of voice. "A place that the Church does not yet have a branch..."

She stopped walking and looked at him with interest since there were few places in the Central Continent where the Church did not have its feet planted.

Moreover, if such a thing were true, would not that mean the Church was working on an expansionist project?

That was important!

'Is it the western region?'

'Apart from the Flowers Kingdom, only states in the western region are free from the Church's presence.' She pondered while looking seriously at Minos' mask.

The western region had three states without the presence of the Spiritual Church. Among them were the two colossi, the Western Empire and Eastern Empire, which were so strong that they only cared about one dominating the other, not caring about the rest of the region.

And considering that in the past, they were one, as well as one of the strongest states in the entire Spiritual World, it was no wonder that the Church had not been able to enter such territories.

The third state without the presence of the Church in that region was the neighbor to the west of the Western Empire. Such a kingdom did not border any other state and heavily depended on this empire. So, naturally, it had stayed away from the 'clutches' of the Spiritual Church.

As for the Flowers Kingdom, that state was unique, with connections in virtually the entire Spiritual World. Thus, without the Queen's own will, the Church would never attempt to set foot in such a place.

That would be looking for trouble over something small!

The population of the Flowers Kingdom was very loyal to its state, so even if the Church had a post there, it would probably have no gain, only costs.

Knowing all this, Louise could only think that Minos' comment indicated shocking changes, probably related to the westernmost state on this continent.

"The headquarters chose you for this? Are they already so far along with the planning that Spiritual Emperors are already being sent?" She seriously asked.

"You could say that," Minos casually commented. 'Gloria truly has been chosen to command the northern region...'

"So, you want to have contacts beyond the Flaming Empire to facilitate business with other states?"

"Not exactly." He replied. "We want to grow within the Church from this post. So, we need contacts with factions in other areas..."

"I see..." She pondered, not finding Minos' line problematic since someone growing within a Church post would hardly affect the dynamics of factions in that organization. "I am interested."

"I can see that your future will be great. Besides, I'm sure your wife will go very far in the future." She commented in a low voice to Minos while his wives looked strangely at her.

'Do you really understand?' Abby wondered.

As they walked back down a long corridor in that temple, going to the place Gloria had requested, Minos said. "If you are interested, help me find people as I told you. For now, if you can get a half dozen people, it will be fine."

"I will make an offer to you, and we will leave the growth of our network in this post for the future."

She nodded at him. "OK, I can do that."

After that was decided, she left them at a library, where the local information they wanted access to was located.

In this place, Minos and his three wives soon began to learn different things about the Vogel family and the kingdom, which was necessary for them to approach this organization.

...