The Martial Unity

Chapter 3390: Attempts At Appeasement

WHOOSH!

Rui appeared a few kilometers in a forest out of thin air as stealth techniques erased his presence. He was surrounded by trees drowned in the darkness of night, each bio-engineered to be more than ordinary flora lilfeforms. He immediately activated his nature manipulation, manipulating the flora to not transmit any information that it might have tracked.

He was keenly aware of how the Whisperer gathered information and was careful not to give her anything. He threw one last glance at the palace behind him in the distance within which the Empress rested, before simply taking off back towards the port city to return to Amare while deep in thought.

His idea was good, as far as he was concerned.

Prophecy was powerful, there was a reason that the Silas Clan had to become nomadic and go into hiding. The world desired the power to behold the future precisely because it allowed them to alter their destiny.

If he could show the Empress what lay in wait for her if she sided with the Evolutionary Army, then he could potentially dissuade her from moving away from her neutrality. Of course, it was possible that what he showed her would only persuade her to go with the Evolutionary Army, but he lightly doubted.

She underestimated the Panama Continent.

She underestimated what human civilization was capable of.

What his father was capable of.

Rui was confident that by the time the threat of the Evolutionary Army matured, his father would have gathered the forces needed to fell the powerful army. Moreover, he was confident in his own rate of growth that he would have grown strong enough to become as powerful as was needed to trounce Anthea’s strongest descendants.

These were things that he could convince her with words, but he could potentially convince her by showing a prophecy of the future.

The reason he didn’t do it right then and there when he came up with the idea was that prophetic depth surrounding a particular topic or subject was directly proportional to one’s understanding of the topic.

If he didn’t know much about the Hlakaschken Trade Empire, then he wouldn’t be able to come up with much of a prophecy either. Thus, in order for it to be as convincing and clear as possible, he needed to gather all the information on the matter that he possibly could.

It wasn’t just about theoretical knowledge, either. He needed to gain more experience with the Hlakaschken Trade Empire in order to truly scry its fate down the crossroads it found itself at.

”Time to take Amare on more dates around the country.”

Of course, he wasn’t sure if she was in the mood for it, given how displeased she was.

WHOOSH...

He arrived at the inn that they had resided in as he softly landed.

”I hope she’s gotten over it,” he murmured with uncertainty as he made his way to his room through the inn.

STEP

He arrived before the door, sensing her emotional energy within.

Before he could even knock, the door flew open as Amare leaped from within, crashing into him, her arms wrapped around him, and burying her face in his chest. ”Where did you go?!”

Rui smiled, pulling her into a deep embrace as he sensed relief and affection from her, even if it was mixed with a little anxiety. Her expression softened as she felt his warmth spread across her body, causing her nervous system to tingle with excitement and bliss.

”Just some prep for the therianthropes, even if it is a little long-winded,” Rui replied as he fell into thought. ”We might need to stay here for a bit longer than I initially planned so that I can cultivate a better understanding of—”

”You smell like yet another woman.” She sniffed at his chest. ”You met with another woman, didn’t you?”

”...Yes, but it was purely professional,” he replied with a wry smile, scratching his head. ”Your sense of smell is quite keen, I must say. I didn’t even spend that much time in her personal chambers—”

He paused as he felt a surge of anger and anxiety within her mind, realizing his mistake too late.

”You were in her personal chambers at night?” She stepped away from her, folding her arms.

”Well, yes. But only because she was in her personal chambers, so I had no choice but to infiltrate her room if I wanted to speak to her.” Rui explained with a matter-of-fact tone.

”You broke into a woman’s room in the middle of the night?!” She stared at him with a hurt expression.

”...” Rui simply stared at her before scratching his head and wincing. ”I suppose when you put it like that, yeah.”

”I can’t believe you.” She walked away from him, heading inside as she curled up on the double bed in their room, hiding under the blanket.

Rui heaved a sigh, following her in, closing the door behind him before walking over and sitting by her side. She has turned into a ball underneath the blanket, which Rui found adorable if not for the anxiety his mind sense detected in her heart.

”Hey...” he tried for a gentle tone. ”What’s the matter? You seem particularly down today.”

He tried not to point out a potentially obvious reason for it, not wanting to stoke her anger or dismiss her emotions and experience. Instead, he lay on the bed beside her, wrapping himself around her as his larger body spooned hers gently, before gently patting her head.

He could sense the relief and bliss the gesture and touch brought her.

It made her feel better.

”...I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gone to see those women without putting you at ease beforehand,” Rui remarked, hoping to make her feel better. ”But I can assure you that it was all entirely professional, perhaps even a hostile interaction in both cases.”

”...” She didn’t respond, but he could sense her attention on him.

”The first woman, the furry—” he paused as the adjective triggered a small spike in anger in her mind. ”The half-therianthropic, half-elven hybrid woman I met in the first encounter is known as the Whisperer...”