The Rise of the Black Plain

'What do I do? Suppose I do business with him, and he will not be the sect master in the future. In that case, I won't gain anything!' She pondered as everyone at her dining table tasted the dishes she had ordered.

'But if he changes his mind in favor of the sect and I have refused to do business with him now, I will lose the opportunity. Then, he will not let me sit at the same table as him in the future...' She clenched her fists as she hid them under the table to avoid appearing nervous to her guests.

'Sigh... I have no alternatives here. By helping him now, I at least won't lose anything and will gain the possibility to get closer to him in case he decides to run for the position of sect leader!' She made up her mind after a while.

"All right, I can help you regarding those deals just for the promise that if you decide to become the sect master, you will follow through with that initial demand of mine." She said after much thought.

Hearing this, Minos thought she was pleasing, enjoying seeing how decisive this woman was in making a friendship with him so quickly, even without guarantees.

"I'm glad to hear that, but tell me something. Weren't you Maisie's adversary? Why do you want to help her son?" He asked as he finished cutting a piece of meat on his plate.

Hearing this, as Minos savored that protein, Ivory answered him. "In this world, there is no ultimate rivalry. As long as interests converge, anything is possible."

"But weren't you the most opposite in terms of opinions toward my master when you two were competing?" Ruth asked, considering some stories she had heard recently.

From what she had heard from Maisie, Ivory had a mindset about 90% different compared to Minos' mother. So this woman trying to support him was a little strange to Ruth.

Ivory then smiled. "Minos seems to be quite different from Maisie too. So what's wrong with me trying to ally myself with him?"

Ruth and the other wives of Minos understood her point. They even thought it immoral of this person to use a son's problems with his mother to benefit herself.

But Minos saw no problem with that. "Hmm, no problem here. You have a good motivation..."

After talking about it, they did not take long to discuss the specifics of a possible arrangement between them. But since this kind of conversation could not be solved in a single conversation, they scheduled a few more meetings for the next few days.

Then, at the end of that meal, the group left that residence, going on to their affairs locally.

...

Four days later...

Minos had not tried to visit the array masters store these past few days, having focused on his conversations with Ivory and training with his wives.

He had enjoyed himself once again with Talia during this period, having also been forced by Ivy to have dinner with his mother for two nights without other people present besides herself and the two.

But Ivy was playing a dangerous game with Minos, giving more and more liberties to this young man she had once taken into her arms and played with.

She could see him as a child at first, but he was slowly beginning to play with her in a way that children did not...

Anyway, for him, his routine was smooth in this sect, quite different from Lance's, who was getting tense every day because of the meetings of King Stuart and Ivory.

Lance already knew that the woman he loved would probably make contact with Minos and negotiate something with this young man. But still, he did not like a womanizer like King Stuart next to his goddess, and he was suspicious of things that might happen.

At first, Minos had gone accompanied by his wives to the meetings with Ivory. But now, for two days in a row, he had met that blonde alone, always at her house, where no one could pass on information about what happened between them to the rest of the world.

Because of this, Lance was nervous, even considering that he had complete confidence in the judgment of his goddess.

'She would never choose him...' He thought every time he caught himself thinking about it.

Another thing he constantly thought about was scheduling another occasion with Ivory for him to remind her of how inferior Minos was compared to him.

But while Lance was despairing because of his unrequited love, one of Minos' deals had been accepted!

Because of this, he had already received copies of the Silver-grade techniques he had done business with and paid for the orders for the Black-grade techniques for blacksmiths.

As for the other deals Minos had already made, he was waiting to sign an agreement with Ivory to receive confirmation about those proposals.

Thus, he would still have to stay in that sect for some time before returning his way to the northern region.

In the meantime, he and his wives made their way to the main array masters store within the headquarters of this sect!

...

"So you are here to do original technique business, huh?" An official welcomed Minos' group while smiling at them. "I'm sorry, but there is no one here capable of meeting your requirement at the moment ..."

"If it is in your best interest, come back here later, and maybe we will have a chance to do business."

Minos looked at his wives, and they at him, noting that this person was refusing them by giving this excuse.

They already knew that they would have more difficulty trying to do business with people funded by the Terry family, who had an opposition against Minos. But these people, not even wanting to hear what he had to offer, seemed a bit much.

But while Minos was thinking of something to try to get that person to stop making excuses, a blond man they had met earlier appeared.

"Well, if it isn't King Stuart and his wives..." Lance said in a teasing tone, smiling as if he had been waiting a long time for this moment.

Minos and his wives looked at him and quickly understood that all this exaggeration had a finger of this person.

Gloria then continued with her hands on her belly and said. "You are very stingy. With that personality, you will never become a real leader... No wonder you were the third choice in the last contest for the sect's successor position."

After these words, even Lance's minions felt a little embarrassed by Gloria's words that targeted the reputation of this blond person.

Lance then clenched his fists and looked at that pregnant woman dressed in the clothes of the Spiritual Church, but before he could say anything, he heard Minos' voice. "Are you going to get in the middle of Black Plain affairs over something so small?"

"Humph!"

"Who cares about the Black Plain?" Lance replied with an arrogant attitude.

"Very well, don't regret it later..." Minos said and then took one of Gloria's hands and one of Ruth's, directing his wives out of there, paying no further attention to Lance.