The Martial Unity

Guildmaster Bradt simply listened to Rui continue with his offer until he was done. He had fallen into thought at how far the Kandrian Empire was willing to go to assuage his concerns.

His only problem with Emperor Rael’s previous offers was that they required him to surrender far too much power to the Kandrian Empire, leaving him beholden to the nation. It didn’t matter how trustworthy the Kandrian Empire was; he simply couldn’t offer such a high level of trust.

This new offer cleanly circumvented that problem by simply offering to sell their coastal territory and surrender it to his full control.

Of course, that didn’t mean that it was absolutely safe from the Kandrian Empire after it would still be on their border, having once been inside the border. However, even he understood that the Kandrian Empire meddling with it after surrendering all rights to it was an extremely unlikely event.

It would essentially be an invasion of one nation to another, and the Kandrian Empire simply had no history of imperialism or colonialism in the past three centuries. It was absolutely unheard of, and no amount of paranoia could make him take its threat seriously.

This was all to make Bradt feel comfortable enough to take the offer and become an ally of the Kandrian Empire.

It was extremely extravagant treatment from a Sage-level powerhouse.

He could understand why they were willing to go this far to get his alliance.

It didn’t matter what territory they had if they were destroyed due to being too unwilling to part with it. The Kandrian Empire was an extremely large nation with enormous territory; it wasn’t as though they were going to even notice it.

In that case, it was better to bleed it if it was able to secure his aid.

“I have heard your offer,” the guildmaster began. “However, this just means that the liability of allying with you is taken care of. A lack of liabilities is not enough. There needs to be

incentives to ally with you. Simply replacing land-faring with sea-faring to dodge the oppression of the alliance is not enough.”

Rui smiled. “Of course, we were merely focused on addressing the biggest issue you had with a potential alliance with the Kandrian Empire. Once those issues are solved, we can get right to the good stuff. You are hardly unaware of the extraordinary circumstances that the Kandrian Empire finds itself in. We have access to extraordinary resources, intel on untapped resources in the Beast Domain, and the medical services of the Divine Doctor. We also offer breakthroughs. Intel on the future. Longevity potions. You name it, we got it.”

Guildmaster Bradt’s eyes deepened with interest. These were all deeply alluring, and he would have been lying through his teeth if he had said otherwise. These offers had always been extremely alluring from the very start. The only reason that the guildmaster resisted them before was that he didn’t think it was a good idea to replace his land-faring with sea- faring if the latter was in the control of Kandrian territory, yet that problem had just been solved with an extreme concession.

“Guildmaster Bradt, you have nothing to lose.”

Rui’s voice drew his attention once more. “In the first place, thanks to the Silas Clan, the Kandrian Empire has been able to protect each and every single one of our allies from meaningful harm from the alliance. We have met every attack and repelled every attack. We have foiled assassinations, staged coups, and triggered rebellions and other covert sabotage and disruption measures that the alliance has taken in order to harm our allies, thanks to this extraordinary source of intelligence. We are able to do the same for you.”

This was yet another strong point in favor of the Kandrian Empire.

If half the countries allying with the Kandrian Empire were destroyed by now, then they wouldn’t have been even remotely trustworthy or reliable when it came to protecting potential allies from the wrath of the Kandrian Empire.

However, the guildmaster was a tough nut to crack.

“Protecting the Shionel Confederation is an entirely different beast compared to other nations, Prince Rui,” he replied with a firm tone. “This nation is essentially a large consortium of merchants, a consortium that happens to own land that is the Shionel Confederation. We have businesses across all of East Panama. Centers, bases, branches, offices, headquarters, and other kinds of real estate assets that are even more important to us than Shionel territory. I alone have two hundred and seventy-six centers and bases across East Panama that are vital to my distribution and transportation business. There is no doubt that they will be targeted if I pronounce my alliance with the Kandrian Empire. Will you be able to protect me, us, and all our real estate resources?”

Rui stared at the man for a moment.

He could, of course, give a passionate speech about how they would be able to protect them at all costs no matter what and that they were willing to do anything to protect their allies. But Guildmaster Bradt was far too pragmatic a man to be moved by that.

“Well, firstly, the Shionel Confederation is not a united polity, nor is it a uniform polity, Rui began. “I am well aware of the fact that there are two factions when it comes to which side to support. The faction that has lobbied for support for the Kandrian Empire has already been targeted by the alliance, and they have already decided that it is worth the price of gaining the Kandrian Empire’s favor and alliance. In other words, they are not relevant in this discussion. The only thing that is relevant to this discussion is the Shionel Confederation’s territory and national security. Of which we are able to guarantee the security and protection of without any shadow of a doubt.”

Guildmaster Bradt smiled uncharacteristically. “I suppose you are right. However, what if I don’t want to ally with the Kandrian Empire and still want all those benefits you mentioned?”