Minos then asked that person. "Linden, are you being here of your own free will?" "Yes, Lord Minos." The witness calmly said but without any fear. "You are under the effects of a Soul Contract that obligates you to tell the truth in exchange for your agreement to relax your sentence. Am I right?" "Yes." At the same time, the golden leaves of the agreement that Linden had signed with Minos were demonstrated to the audience present, as that could be easily felt through a spiritual sense. On the other hand, while the leaves belonging to Linden were being demonstrated to the public, the leaves from Minos' part were passing through the VIP box. "It's true!" "That person signed a Soul Contract with Lord Minos!" Several people in the crowd who could probe that information said that simultaneously. 'Looks like that's valid...' One of the journalists pondered as he quickly read the contents of that contract and analyzed its validity. He couldn't use the spiritual sense to perceive such a thing, as he was only at the 4th stage. Still, he could directly use his spiritual energy to analyze it by getting his hands on that item. With that, even these Spiritual Warriors could verify what Minos was saying! "Well, since everyone already knows that this person won't lie, let's get it over with..." "Linden, did you attack the Dry City forces?" "Yes." "Why did you and thousands of Silva family members accomplish that? Was there a reason?" "There were reasons, yes, Lord Minos." "Before we were sent here, the upper echelon of the family had discovered that the Black Plain was behind the deaths of some of our members and could become a danger." "Because of this, they decided to send a force with five Spiritual Kings and 5 thousand Spiritual Generals to annihilate this city." Gulp! "It can't be..." "They wanted to exterminate us?" "What an absurd thing to do!" "They would sacrifice us just because of the death of a few people?" After hearing such a thing, those people who had been in Dry City since that time then began to utter their shocking questions and comments. They knew that strange things were happening on the Black Plain months ago. And considering the deaths and injuries people regularly appearing in the meantime, many had experienced days of pure tension back then, afraid of the future, not knowing what was happening. Hence, these people could not help but be shocked by today's revelations, finding out how they had been saved by the actions of the Black Plain Army. Minos then asked again. "But what about this group in question that you say was killed by our forces? What were they doing here? Did we do something against your family?" "No. Such a group was in search of something unrelated to Dry City. The patriarch was mad after losing his only son and had sent investigative groups to many places." "That was one of the last groups sent, which also had a mission to investigate the disappearance of another people." "Oh? So, you guys acted first?" "Yes, Lord Minos." "Well, my citizens, are you hearing this? They came to bother us, and when we gave our response, they tried to exterminate us." "That..." Otis was about to try to say something. Still, suddenly, he felt as if his ability to speak had disappeared while young Stuart's eyes glowed in rainbow colors. 'Quiet!' "In other words, our territory was only acting in its right, in its right to protect the local population from an outside force!" "We didn't want to get involved with the Silva family," Minos said as he looked at his population and gestured with his hands. "Sooner or later, I would get revenge on this person, but I would not involve the Black Plain if it were not necessary." "Proof of this is that I have always avoided outside actions during these years I have been here..." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂 "You know that." "But I had no choice but to defend Dry City and act against the Silva family forces and create this whole mess!" "My population was at risk of extermination. You, your children, were under the threat of death." He said as he pointed to the crowds in that place. "Don't get me wrong, if I wanted to leave, it would be as easy as taking candy from a child. But I chose the hard way and decided to defend my city!" "And I don't regret my choices, even if they have led us to the current war of independence!" "But don't make a mistake. That is the full responsibility of this person, the one causing the current tensions, of forcing us to become a rebel territory!" "I wanted to live in peace on the Black Plain, without having to get involved with the Brown Kingdom. But when the Silva family found out about what we have and that they couldn't defeat us on their own, they would involve the Brown family." "Knowing that I had no choice but to act on my own to defend the interests of the Black Plain." "Or would it be better to hand over everything we have to the Browns?" He once again asked his citizens. "We have people in our city from five of the six states in our region... Is there any place like our city in the northern region of the Central Continent?" "Do you guys think things would be the way they are if the Brown family took this place?" "We have many inhabitants of the old Maritime City here... What do you think would happen in this place if the Browns ruled it?" After those words, several voices in agreement with what Minos was saying sounded throughout that place. "Indeed, we would lose all local benefits if Lord Minos were not our rule if he didn't have the freedom to act as he does!" "Those damn greedy bastards never gave us a chance!" "Always exploiting our services..." "Wretched Silva family! I cursed them! All this is their fault!" "Crazy fanatics! They destroyed the peace in the kingdom for so little..." "They deserved their destruction!" "Kill him!" "Execute this demon!" "Cut off his head!" "Sons of bitches! My wife died because of you!" And then the populace began to get angrier and angrier, calling for the end of Otis Silva while cursing him and all generations of House Silva. Minos was not manipulating the local population. They had just been introduced to the facts by this young man. It did not take a genius for these people to realize that everything Minos said was the truth. All his actions had happened for the good of this city, while he avoided leaving this place whenever he could. At the same time, although young, Minos was very serious and discreet. So, he did not make typical youthful mistakes and did not act corruptly, as young masters usually did. On the contrary, he rarely went out in public. His actions that benefited the local citizens were hardly done by himself, as a populist ruler would do. He acted in a way that gave the local citizens opportunities without waiting for their gratitude. And this made people trust him. He did not use his position for self-promotion. Anyone who saw him on the streets of Dry City would see just a powerful young man but, otherwise, had just ordinary characteristics. He would easily merge among the people of this place if it were not for his level! Minos could easily have thousands of women from this city, young women who wanted to be with him and could easily be manipulated by the typical young masters. But he did not do any of that, and there were no reports of passion scandals from him. Not because his control over the city was exemplary since situations like this would rarely not reach the masses. But because he did not use his position to do such things. For all that, the inhabitants of this place trusted him to be a peaceful person who would not fight if it was not necessary. With that, before long, those hundreds of thousands of people were enraged by what Otis had caused, constantly calling for the end of this person. 'And to think that alone made all those people that way...' One of the three journalists thought about it as he felt goosebumps on his body. 'It seems that most here trust this young ruler a lot...' 'On the other hand, Otis' actions seem to have really accelerated the conflict in the Brown Kingdom!' 'Minos Stuart certainly wouldn't want to cause all this trouble if he could continue to grow up in peace in this place...' 'And even if he were to seek his independence in the future, everything would be different!' Such a journalist understood the situation of this city while writing down his thoughts. But while the three journalists had much on their minds, Minos stood up from his throne and looked at Otis sternly. He waved to his soldiers in that place and saw the witness being taken back to the local prison. After that, he pulled his golden sword from one of his spatial rings and said in a deep tone. "Otis Silva, you have committed many heinous crimes against the Brown Kingdom and the Black Plain." "You desire war and are cruel in your actions..." "In that way, I, Minos Stuart, the sovereign, nay, the...."