The Martial Unity

“What did you just say?” The man growled.

“I said…” Rui leaned in closer, “Your plan is sub-optimal. My specialty does not lie in infiltration. I can hide my identity as a Martial Squire very well, yes, but there’s more to infiltration than that. I would effectively be no different from a normal human trying to infiltrate the Senate building of the Capitol block. The intelligence and security agencies or departments or whatever they are will instantly sniff out someone of my caliber. Furthermore, my unnatural features draw attention to me, so there will be eyes on me.”

Rui sharply and aptly highlighted the problems with the plans that the man had laid out. He was sure that the man was somewhat aware of these considerations, he didn’t come across as a fool. Yet the fact that he proposed such a plan meant that he had some reason to.

(‘He’s likely constrained by resources and funds.’) Rui mused. (‘The Republic of Mernea doesn’t have Martial Artist above the Squire Realm it seems.’)

This wasn’t particularly surprising considering how difficult the path to Martial Senior seemed. There were other clues that Rui had picked up to gain a clearer understanding of the limits of the security at hand.

(‘I’d learned that they were very low-grade Martial Squires protecting the target,’) Rui thought to himself. (‘The fact that low-grade Martial Squires are the best the nation can muster to protect the senators of the Republic is very telling…’)

Rui speculated that the Republic of Mernea probably discovered or obtained the secret to the Squire Realm very recently, historically speaking.

(‘Definitely no more than five years ago, purely based on the grade of the Martial Squires at hand.’) He mused.

Had it been more than ten years ago, then he highly doubted that the best they could muster would be low-grade Martial Squires, they would have at least developed some mid-grade Martial Squires in that timeframe.

Because of this, Rui considered a straightforward assault from the outside considering he was definitely much stronger than any individual Martial Squire. Though he ultimately tossed the idea away.

(‘If they have sensors, they will see me coming from a mile away.’) He sighed.

He was confident in his strength, but there was a limit to the number of Martial Squires he could fight at once. He was not confident of taking on the entire outer team, winning, and killing the target before the target would undoubtedly have been swiftly evacuated by the security. He was not at the peak of the Squire Realm, to accomplish a feat like that.

The man considered Rui’s words, stirring a bit before finally looking back at Rui. “You said you have a better plan?”

“Yes.” Rui nodded. “It’s simple. I snipe him from outside the Capitol block.”

The man’s expression darkened as his jaw grew tauter.

“That’s a moronic plan.” He huffed. “I already laid out why. There is no way you can possibly make that shot with the distance and the windy conditions that are common in the town of Rjavoi.”

Rui smiled underneath his mask. “Trust me, I can make it.”

“And why should I trust you?” He leaned forward. “When you, a grade-four Martial Squire who doesn’t even specialize in long-range accuracy, make outlandish statements about your long-range accuracy?”

“I’ll sign a conditional contract.” Rui shrugged. “If I fail, I’ll do you ten commissions for free.”

The man’s eyes widened, as he wordlessly stared at Rui.

Rui had already made certain inferences regarding the man’s situation. Firstly, the commission was only about exploiting a ripe opportunity, it was not a desperate last resort of sorts, based on the information he had at hand. Furthermore, the consequences of Rui’s failure probably weren’t even that severe, Rui speculated. Hell, a failed assassination was probably not that bad either as far as fulfilling the purpose of the commission, though the man probably had incentives to want the assassination to succeed. It clearly wasn’t the case that the man’s career or life was at stake with the nonchalance and the core motivations for the commission that he gave Rui.

Both of these meant that the costs of Rui’s failure were not too high.

Thus, Rui simply had to give the man a payment, if he failed, which exceeded the costs of failure.

Based on the information regarding the wealth and Martial prowess of the Republic of Mernea, Rui was relatively certain that ten free commissions from a Martial Squire himself was a highly attractive deal.

“You’re willing to sign that right now?” The man asked with a serious face as he put aside the cigar.

“Well, I don’t trust your words, I’ll sign it after I’ve obtained all the information from the Martial Union to verify that the information you just provided is accurate.” Rui shrugged.

“But you will have accepted the mission by then.” He growled. “How can I trust you’ll sign the contract after?”

“I’ll sign an agreement that if the information you provided is accurate then I’ll sign the failure-conditional contract.”

“And who decides whether the information I provided is accurate?” The man asked with a skeptical expression.

“The Martial Union, of course.” Rui shrugged. “The Martial Union can judge whether the information you provided me here today, something we both agree upon, is accurate. There is nothing to be afraid of, the Martial Union works hard to maintain its fair position.”

“Unless, of course…” Rui continued as his eyes met his gaze. “…the information you provided to me was inaccurate.”

“Hmph. I did no such thing of the sort.” The man snorted. “I’m going to hold you to your word. Let’s chalk out all the information I’ve provided here before I have you sign a declaration promising what you promised me.” The man stared at Rui with furrowed eyebrows. “I presume that sounds fine?”

“No problem on my end.” Rui smiled.

The two of them quickly whipped out a statement that contained all the elements that they had agreed upon before Rui signed it.