The Rise of the Black Plain

Noticing that Abby had entered his office, Minos smiled at her and then got up from his chair and walked to the middle of that room, where there was a large sofa.

Minos' young girlfriend had grown quite strong in the months that had passed since their journey through the Kingdom of the Waves and was now at level 47!

She looked terrific, dressed in a green, understated dress that perfectly matched her personality and appearance. She then sat on young Stuart's lap on that sofa and kissed him for a moment.

"Mmmm~"

After that, the two began to talk about daily issues related to this young woman's responsibilities. Her duties had changed somewhat since the time they returned from their journey.

For example, now she was no longer at the Dry City border posts, as she had back then. Instead of doing such a thing, Abby now held a role within headquarters, similar to what Eda had held months before.

In addition to solving some administrative matters, Abby was also the strongest person within that place, at least most of the time. That's because the Spiritual Kings of the local army and Elena, people above this young woman's levels, generally didn't spend much time inside headquarters..

Either they stayed in the Spatial Kingdom, or they did other activities outside headquarters.

And as Abby was already strong, she could assume this role with ease. But it wasn't just that. In fact, as time passed, the soldiers saw her as a worthy figure to lead them, not just because she was their leader's girlfriend, but because she was genuinely respected!

Moreover, besides being on guard at headquarters for much of the day, this young woman managed the Dry City's leader training division with Minos.

This group had started its activities shortly after the selection for the Elite Squad soldiers ended, just as the number of local soldiers surpassed 7,000.

And since the opening of this sector in the army, about 40 soldiers had already joined this division, whose purpose was to prepare the future leaders and managers of the Black Plain.

This part of the army had minimum requirements that its members study in this division for ten years and reach level 50 to graduate. After these two requirements were met, these people would finish the course and actually begin to exercise leadership activities outside the army.

Anyway, after talking about these matters for a few minutes, Abby finally asked Minos about something else. "Do you know if the Kingdom of the Waves royal successor has already been chosen?"

Hearing this, Minos closed his eyes for a moment, recalling everything that had happened in the nearly year and a half that had passed since this young man's 'encounter' with Charles and Blake.

Shortly after that event, the two younger princes had greatly diminished their actions because of the significant losses they had suffered to Minos.

At the same time, the first prince had taken advantage to improve his position.

Consequently, the competition for the throne had become a little more balanced, with Prince Wilfred coming closer to the third prince's influence!

After that, several fights occurred between those three individuals, with the three brothers suffering numerous losses, to the point where one relinquished the state's royal throne...

However, things had not been very favorable for one side.

Although the third prince initially received much more support than his brothers, over time, strangely, Charles had lost about 30% of the external support he had at the beginning!

Such a thing had immensely helped his brothers survive this troubled period in that state, making these choices for the royal successor even more difficult.

That is because in the Kingdom of the Waves, as in other states in this region, the crown prince had to be the one with the most internal and external support.

Such a thing was cultural and was related to the regional balance of power established by the Spiritual Church...

Anyway, Minos then started talking. "My interference seems to have messed up that miserable one's life, but he'll get the crown prince post!"

Of course, many of the losses Charles had incurred were related to Minos, either directly or indirectly. For example, he had made several deals with the Stone Island powers in the past. Basically, he had forbidden all those noble families of that place from supporting that guy...

But this young man's actions went much further than he knew. After all, due to his business with the Nash family, the Allen family had been forced to stop supporting Charles, to focus entirely on the trade war with their opponents.

On the other hand, several families in the Cromwell Kingdom were occupied with the war between the Hayes and Chambers families, so they had not been involved in external problems.

Apart from Minos' interference, things were also tense in the Snow Kingdom, where a prince had been assassinated several months prior, causing quite a stir in that state...

Because of all this, Charles had lost much of his support with families from these places!

"So that's how it is... But what about that other prince?" Abby asked as she firmly squeezed her hands.

Minos then looked at the glass wall of his office with a stern look and said. "After Wilfred lost one of his arms to Charles and withdrew from the dispute for the throne, Blake grew a lot in the competition, but that only delayed that worm's favorable outcome."

"And when will that person assume the throne?"

"I am not sure. By the last letter I received from Elen, it seems that he will be made the crown prince later this week. After that, the Kingdom of the Waves will be ruled by a regent until King Walker dies." He replied, remembering this information he had obtained just this week.

This type of configuration, in which the crown prince would officially receive that position and not become the king until later, was another regional tradition.

It was considered a great disgrace in all the states of this northern region of the Central Continent for a new king to assume the throne before the previous king's death.

In fact, such a thing could only happen a month after the royal burial, two occasions traditionally performed by a high-ranking representative of the Spiritual Church.

And as for the possibility of the king abdicating his position before he died, giving immediate powers to his successor, well, that never happened before.

Because dying as the king was considered a top honor for the people of this world, and those who went through it received the maximum prestige, often being considered heroes.

And one of the Spiritual Church tenets said that the heroes of this world had an opportunity to go through reincarnation because of the faith that these millions of people had in these people.

They believed that as long as someone was not forgotten by the living and remembered by millions, those dead people could have a chance to reincarnate!

Most people didn't know where this belief came from, but it had been around for so long that no one questioned it... And consequently, no dying king would miss the chance to die like a hero and perhaps gain a 'pass' to a second life.

These were the local traditions regarding the royal succession.

Minos then used his left hand to touch Abby's right cheek and then told her. "Do not worry about it. Before that king dies, we'll still cause trouble for that worm."

"He may have defeated us in this matter, but it doesn't matter that the Spiritual Church recognizes him as the heir to that throne."

"If he dies, none of this will matter!"

"Hmm..." She nodded to him before moving closer to his face and kissing him.

After that, the two parted, with Abby returning to her duties at the local army headquarters and Minos to his sovereign matters.