"The person who murdered your brother was Minos, one of the finalists of the Spiritual Tournament!

" He said it all at once while feeling sorry for those people who couldn't take revenge on the person responsible for Tristram's death...

And upon hearing this, the three individuals from the Reid family stood there, stunned by the truth. The three of them had their mouths open, forming an 'O', while their pupils were completely contracted, as thin as a needle.

'What a tragedy…' One of Christian's subordinates thought to himself, feeling a shiver down his spine. 'We have to stop this investigation immediately, or something bad might happen!'

'But what a disgrace! How did young master Tristram get involved with such a monster?'

'And that bastard was only level 39 at the end of the Spiritual Tournament… Imagine how strong he's going to be in the future…' The other man pondered this matter, with his face becoming paler and paler.

This bodyguard then looked at Christian for a moment and then thought of something. 'Damn it! It would have been better if we hadn't discovered anything!'

"This…Aren't you kidding us? Are you saying that that person who pulled a tie against a level 44 person being only a level 39 cultivator was the one who killed my brother?

" Christian asked in disbelief while clenching his fists as if trying to return to reality.

That young native of the Snow Kingdom then shook his head in denial and said.

"I'm sorry, but that's the truth.

"

"At that time, Minos was only at level 37, and none of us, including Tristram, could have known of that person's monstrous strength. And his partner was as strong as a Spiritual King, although she was only at level 46!

"

"Because of that, neither Tristram nor his bodyguard had had a chance, let alone the rest of us.

" He recounted as he replayed scenes of what had happened back then in his mind. 'I wonder how strong that guy must be now...'

And after hearing such confirmation, Christian couldn't help but take a step back and rethink everything he had been doing for this mission. He didn't care about the death of the person responsible for his younger brother's death.

Hell, such a person had done him quite a favor!

But it would have been much better for this young master if he could avenge his brother's death and win the heart of that widow...

However, now such a thing had become entirely impossible!

But not only that, but now he also felt a particular fear deep in his being. 'I hope that person doesn't remember what happened at the Peak of the Fog...' So, he thought as he tried to stabilize himself from the shock he had taken at hearing such information.

A strong individual who returns to oppress those who have offended him in the past might seem petty. However, the truth is that there were not a few who did such a thing.

In fact, several historical cases were known in this part of the Central Continent, often about the powerful in power.

These used to be the proudest people who would never forget an offense and would even come back to get their justice...

Consequently, Christian felt fearful right now. From what he had heard from this young man in front of him, Tristram's offense had not been so exaggerated, but how could this young master remain reassured?

Minos was a ruthless individual who didn't mind murdering the young master of the Chambers family in front of tens of thousands of people!

He had even crippled a level 43 cultivator just because that person had gotten in his way...

'Shit!' Christian cursed Minos in his mind, realizing there was nothing for him to do about this young man.

It would be stupid for him to think he could kill someone of Minos' caliber, a guy who had gone to the Flaming Empire...

'What am I going to do now?' He tried to find an answer to get out of this dead-end he'd fallen into. 'Even if I kill someone else and say he was responsible, Misty can find out the truth, and my situation won't improve...'

'Shit, I have to warn dad too! We have to be careful with this Minos...'

'Ahh, I just hope that woman gives up on this idea of revenge. Otherwise, I don't know what might happen...'

"Cough, you two, let's go.

"

"Let's go back to the family headquarters. It doesn't make sense to continue this.

"

After saying this, the group quickly left that spot, as the young man from before watched them leave this mountain.

'What a good guy! He looked so sad that he couldn't avenge his brother's death!'

...

Meanwhile, in the capital of Stone Island, in a specific luxury property in that city, there was a room with several people talking, pondering how a particular matter should be resolved.

"Our six spies were killed just over an hour ago! How could such a thing have happened? Weren't they just chasing two Spiritual Generals?

" Someone said it angrily.

"Maybe the opponents got reinforcements... I heard that those cowards had been hiding inside Athela's cultivation tower for almost two months!

" Another person commented.

"This is an unacceptable loss! How can the Nash family attack us like this? We have to react somehow, old man!

"

"Ahh, it's truly a shame! These six could reach level 50 in less than two years... What a terrible loss for our Allen family!

"

And while they were talking about this subject, one of them finally asked the other part of it.

"There's not much we can do about it right now. But what about those Nash family ships coming and going from that island south of our state? Have we been able to identify where they are going?

"

Hearing this, one of the older men in that place shook his head in denial and said.

"No, there are several ships that are making trajectories to that location. As a result, it may take us more than a year to reach the source of these resources.

"

Pa!

"Miserables! If we can't identify who this Nash family partner is or steal this thing from that little bitch, we can't let this go on!

"

"The third elder is right. I suggest we start negotiating with pirate groups. They can do much of the dirty work without us having to risk our ships and personnel.

"

"We're going to sink the Nash family ships and disrupt their business as much as possible!

"

Upon hearing these comments, an old bald man, who had remained silent in that place, finally said something.

"Okay, let's do it like this. Suppose we can't negotiate with this organization behind these products sold by that girl. In that case, we're going to sabotage their business on Stone Island.

"

"Contact the Kingdom of the Waves pirate groups, let them know that we want to sign a deal within a year at most.

"

"If that girl thinks we're going to watch everything she's doing quietly, then she is an idiot!

"

"If she and the Nash family think they can grow smoothly, we'll show them why they lost their deal with the Rossi Kingdom!

" The supreme elder of the Allen family said this firmly, with a determined look on his face.

Economic powers didn't like wars because the risks were always too great, and even if there were chances of vertiginous growth, the same could happen for the opposite...

And the more one goes up, the higher is the fall!

Consequently, it would be complicated for a great power to recover from a fatal blow in the eventual war. Because of that, these families didn't like random wars.

However, from the point of view of this mercantile organization, they would fight or be entirely overtaken by the Nash family in a few decades. And in this situation, the war was very worthwhile, as they could reverse this unfavorable scenario that was circling them!

"Talk to our associates. We will increase the supply of certain products internally and decrease the value of the main items sold by the Nash family...

"

Finally, this meeting continued for a while, having been very important for the following actions of the Allen family against Elen's family.

Many things had been decided, but basically, this power started a trade war against the organization selling the Black Plain's resources!

...

And so, time flew by and quickly 15 months passed!