The Martial Unity

The Saiful Region underwent a significant shift in geo-political dynamics now that the militaristic regime of Senior Albus had been brought to an end. 

The entire nation rejoiced when the shocking revelation of King Albus' death spread across the entire country. A wave of vindictive satisfaction rippled across the impoverished and oppressed people of Ferendul who had suffered under the tyrannical rule of King Albus.

Farun Ferendul quickly began reforming and reorganizing the government once the former king's supporters surrendered after his death was confirmed. He had already rescinded the exploitative system of taxes, fees, and tariffs that had been imposed by King Albus that drained the nation only to empower a bloated military. Furthermore, he issued subsidies and distributed accumulated resources reserved for the military to kickstart the recovery process of the economy and the nation.

The nation inhaled a breath of fresh air as the market began regaining a few signs of vitality. Of course, it would take some time before it made significant progress towards a full recovery.

Hardly anyone could believe that the notorious tyrant who had become nothing short of the greatest source of dread and horror in the hearts of the citizens had died a dog's death just ten minutes after the coup was launched.

It was jarring. It made them feel as though the anguish that they had been put through was trivial. 

The Martial Senior who executed King Albus drew a lot of curiosity and attention from not just the citizens of the Ferendul Republic but the entirety of the Saiful Region.

In most places on the continent, Martial Seniors were absolute powerhouses that were game-changing strategic weapons. The Saiful Region was no exception, most of the nations of the Saiful region possessed one, or at most, a few Martial Seniors.

Thus, the presence of a new Martial Senior in the region could significantly impact the political balance of the region. Many wondered if the new Martial Senior had already joined the Ferendul Republic to become its new Martial Senior guardian. 

Many nations sought to pull over the new powerful asset to their nation. The new Martial Senior had become the most highly desired target in the Saiful Region.

Yet Rui didn't care. He had simply focused his attention on the new mission that he had undertaken, going through the intelligence once more. Tracking the man that he was looking for was not as simple as it was when he fought Senior Albus.

Senior Minneson was a lot more careful and discreet. None of his subordinates were privy to his location most of the time, and because he even went as far as often using his Martial Heart while traveling to avoid being tracked by anybody, it was quite difficult to pinpoint where he was at any given location.

Rui knew that this measure was probably because he was afraid of the Beggar's Sect. The Beggar's Sect relied on the sheer quantity and variety of intelligence of ordinary people to gain a deeper understanding of the state of affairs. Senior Minneson was probably relying on his Martial Heart to avoid being completely transparent to the Beggar's Sect.

This was an expensive price to pay to throw the Beggar's Sect off his tracks. This was only partially effective, it appeared.

The Beggar's Sect was not able to pinpoint his exact location at any given moment, but it did possess a good grasp of his movements and all his bases of power, which was the next best thing.

Rui had decided it was best to go for a brute force method of tracking him. He simply decided to camp near one of his most important bases of power for the human trafficking ring. 

Rather than waste time on more sophisticated methods to predict where he was, Rui estimated that simply using Riemannian Echo and waiting for signs of the man's arrival was at least twice as likely to be successful in locating him.

As soon as he found him Rui would immediately challenge him to a fight. He was most certainly aware that he could resort to more covert ways of gaining an advantage even before their fight started. But he wasn't interested in these ways as they impeded a pure fight that would allow Rui to test himself against other Martial Seniors

Although Rui's desire to cripple the human trafficking ring was definitely strong, his desire to test himself was even stronger. At the end of the day, he was not a saint, and his own personal interests outweighed that of his moral compass. 

Still, he was confident that he would win.

The most important base of power of the Minneson human trafficking ring was actually in the Ferendul Republic. The man had shifted there once the previous queen fell due to how exploitable the oppressed population was. The law enforcement and military did not protect them, they merely exploited them. Thus they were left to fend off for themselves, which made them easy targets.

That was quite convenient for Rui. 

"If you are able and willing, we would have bottomless appreciation for you if you successfully expel that scourge from our country." Prime Minister Farun bowed his head to Rui once he explained his intentions. "Unfortunately, we do not have a Martial Senior to combat the head of the trafficking ring. Please do not be concerned about the collateral damage to the region, it is largely devoid of population for the most part."

With the blessing of the new head of government of the Ferendul Republic, Rui set out to the southern region of the nation a largely abandoned region after the previous king had taken over.

It wasn't long before he perched himself in the center of the broken town, lying down on his back, facing the sky as he monitored the entire area with Riemmanian Echo.

A few days passed by. Rui simply sustained himself with dense nutrition pills that he got from the Beggar's Sect while taking simple daily measures and utilities to cleanse himself as the days passed. Long waiting periods were not uncommon, thus there were several utilities that made the wait more managable.

At long last, Rui's senses picked up a an incredibly swift figure discreetly entering the region.