The Martial Unity

The Beggar's Sect expressed a lot of confidence in Rui's capabilities, however, Rui wasn't sure whether their confidence was justified or not. 

"The circumstances of the Great Forest of Hypnonarak are completely different from those of the Shadow Isles," Rui narrowed his eyes. "First of all, the size of the narcotics supply operations is vastly larger than the assassination industry of the Derschek Region. That alone makes even straining all of it much harder than taking out the assassination industry. Second of all, the Great Forest of Hypnonarak is a dangerous place even for me, and I can't afford to focus on hunting others in it."

"We do not require you to work against the entirety of all drug trafficking rings that harvest supplies from the Great Forest of Hypnonarak, Senior Falken," The man replied. "We require you to work against a specific number of drug trafficking operations. As long as you oppress them, we will gain what we need."

The man procured a document from a shelf, before passing it to Rui. "These contain the list of the organizations and nations whose mafia we require you to suppress."

Rui grabbed the document before opening it, looking to scour through the list and add it to his Mind Palace. Yet his eyes froze on the first name.

[Carnil Mafia; Kandrian Empire.]

Below the title was a list of organizations and their locations in the region surrounding the Great Forest of Hypnonarak. Apparently, these organizations were a shell-front for the Carnil Mafia that was based in and operated out of the Kandrian Empire.

"...Carnil Mafia?" Rui murmured, this was the first time he had heard of the name.

"It's the part of the Kandrian underworld that is ruled by Don Carnil Reoulia," The man explained. "The Kandrian Empire's underworld is divided into six distinct mafias centered around a specific black market or set of black markets. Don Carnil oversees the mafia surrounding prohibited substances and products. The mafia under his rule is known as the Carnil Mafia."

Rui stared at the name with narrowed eyes. "I was not aware that the Commonwealth Duchy of Vinfrana, the Republic of Gorteau, and the Kandrian Empire had such large drug trafficking problems."

Rui threw in a bunch of names in addition to the Kandrian Empire to obscure his interest in that nation in particular. The man explained the situations of the mentioned nations, before arriving at the Kandrian Empire.

"The Kandrian Empire is our most important target," The man remarked. "In particular, the Throne War of the Kandrian Empire has long entered its cold war stage as the various powers of the Kandrian Empire are bracing for what may very well be a civil war within a decade."

"What does this have to do with that?" Rui asked, narrowing his eyes. 

"The underworld of the Kandrian Empire is highly invested in the outcome of the throne war. What they seek is a libertarian ruler who will get rid of prohibitions and restrictions, allowing them to legitimize themselves under the law, increasing their market capture." The man explained. "For that purpose, they have been taking many measures to increase their political capital by spreading narcotic drugs across more impoverished parts of the nation. Smaller towns, villages, settlements, orphanages, that sort of thing."

It took a lot of effort and all his diplomatic training to ensure not a single trace of his internal reaction to the word 'orphanages' leaked out. However, he was tremendously displeased by what he heard.

"By increasing the demand for narcotics, the new ruler, whoever they are, will be immensely pressured by many stakeholders to either eradicate the narcotics industry or legalize it," Rui mused. "Eradicating it from within the country is basically impossible."

The man smiled. "The Kandrian Underworld is a powerful force. Its military might makes it the third most powerful entity of the Kandrian Empire and it is protected by Sage Aggragor, who is also a don of the underworld. Attempting to erase it will take immense resources and wealth, even by the Royal Family's standards. Furthermore, the resulting conflict will weaken the country."

Rui narrowed his eyes at those words.

"However, increasing demand isn't the only extent of their efforts. We believe that they have a prince or princess."

Rui already understood what direction this was going. "They have someone who bears royal blood. So they can fight for the throne themselves."

"Correct." The man nodded. "The narcotics trafficking ring is just one part of a much larger political lobbying effort. This is their only chance to legitimize themselves and thus avoid persecution. It is an outcome that the Beggar's Sect would rather avoid, thus we intend to oppress their operations."

'He's being remarkably candid.' Rui mused inwardly. 'He's hoping I have some connection to some of the nations on this list, such that I may be persuaded to agree to this operation.'

Unfortunately, it was working. He had heard about the throne war from multiple different sources by now, and unfortunately, that was not something that could be avoided.

However, for the first time, he realized that it was harming his interests directly. 

"Alright, I accept," Rui sighed. "But I don't intend to complete this operation until I train under the Hypnomaster. The Great Forest of Hypnonarak is an extremely dangerous place, and if I intend to operate within it, then I want to make sure that I have everything that I need in terms of my Martial Art."

The man nodded. "We understand, that is a prudent measure. We hope for your success in finding the Hypnomaster and gaining his tutelage. Some of the most powerful mind-oriented Martial Artists are those who have gained tutelage from the Hypnomaster. Your chances of successfully completing the operations we need from you will also significantly go up if you do gain his tutelage."

It appeared that the Beggar's Sect had been impressed with how cleanly he had wiped out the assassination industry of the Derschek Region, hoping that he would be able to partially replicate the feat temporarily in the Great Forest of Hypnonarak.