The Martial Unity

He was unable to deceive them, much to his dismay. However, there were still ways to avoid helping the Martial Prince become a Squire. He stared straight at the Martial Prince."I am unable to provide you with proof that it will work," Rui replied. "It may even be dangerous to your psyche if your drive for the Squire Realm is weak."

"My drive to reach the Squire Realm is strong, rest assured," The Martial Prince's eyes flashed with determination. "What is this method that you have in mind?"

"Let us not get ahead of ourselves, Your Highness," Rui heaved a sigh. "In the first place, I have made my stance regarding your policies as ruler, have I not?"

"But our agreement…"

"Our agreement also specifies a severance pay for any unwarned discontinuation on my part," Rui replied. "It's expensive, but I can pay for it."

He simply stared at the Martial Prince head-on with a composed expression, conveying a subtle message. Even if Rui could help him, that didn't mean he wanted to, or would.

He had already made his stance about a warmongering nation under the rule of the Martial Artists clear. He did not like what would happen if Prince Raijun became Emperor. So why should he support him by helping him break through to the Squire Realm?

"This goes against the spirit of our agreement, you know," Prince Raijun heaved a sigh.

"I won't insult you by denying that," Rui replied. "Still, there are things more important than principles."

Rui did not deny that he was not acting in good faith. The fact of the matter was that he did agree to help Prince Raijun out earnestly, and now he came to regret that decision, thus he was trying to back out against the spirit of the agreement.

Rui didn't feel good about it, but he felt even worse helping the Martial Prince. Thus he sucked down a bit of his guilt and put up a defiant facade.

Thankfully, the prince was far too driven to reach the Squire Realm to care.

"First, tell me what your solution is," The Martial Prince told Rui with a stern voice. "It could be nothing, or it's possible that your solution is flawed and the two esteemed Masters by my side will inform me if it is."

Rui scoffed inwardly, they weren't even able to articulate the problem that the prince had in a clear-cut manner. While he did not doubt their Martial prowess and wisdom through their centuries of pursuing their Martial Paths, there were things that they couldn't do.

"The solution is rather simple," Rui began with a calm tone. " First, I study your Martial Art and observe it extensively. Then I copy it."

Prince Raijun's eyes widened. "Copy…it?"

"Correct," Rui nodded. "It should be quite simple all things considered. Once I copy it, I will fix all the micro-flaws and then show you how your Martial Art ought to be, then I can train you to fix those flaws with that copied Martial Art."

The three of them stared at Rui with a shocked expression.

"Copy my Martial Art…?" Prince Raijun murmured. "You can do that?"

"Well, yes."

"…Do you have any idea how many years I've worked on my Martial Art?" Prince Raijun softly murmured.

Rui heaved a sigh. "It isn't that big a deal, honestly."

Rui wondered how they would react to Ieyasu's copying if they were stunned by his much inferior ability to replicate.

It just went to show how abnormal both their Martial Art was.

"Such an ability would need to be proven," One of the Martial Master standing beside the prince remarked. "Your word is not credible, Senior Quarrier."

"The prince was the one who asked me what the solution was, I just answered" Rui shrugged. "I still haven't decided to supply the prince with my service, so if I was disbelieved, then that would be fine by me as well."

He didn't particularly care either way, it was just unfortunate that he had an epiphany at the wrong moment, giving it away.

"No," The Prince's determined voice cut through the atmosphere. "You are the most prodigious Martial Senior ever. The potency of your Martial Art is well-known. I believe that there is some credibility to your solution. I'm interested in witnessing it."

"Like I said," Rui replied with a composed but firm tone. "The severance pay is within my wealth. It would behoove you to talk about your offer, rather than your demand. The price for helping a prince that I disagree with ideologically is rather high, Your Highness."

The Martial Prince stared at Rui with a surprised expression. "Senior Quarrier, I don't think any other Martial Senior would have dared to utter those words to me. I am the seventy-

second prince of the Kandrian Empire. I am the sole prince who joined the Martial Union and harnessed its power and is the sole Martial Artist prince at the moment. I am one of the seven candidates to become Emperor."

"And I am the only one who can elevate you to the Squire Realm," Rui replied calmly.

The air grew taut being wrung by the tension that brewed between the two figures.

However, the prince did not retort.

He did not dare to.

The sound of his silence elicited a small smile to crack at the edge of Rui's mouth.

'He's more desperate to reach the Squire Realm than he lets on.'

Rui had increasingly begun suspecting this ever since the conversation had begun. The Martial Prince had done a good job hiding it at the start, but he had let slip when he intuitively realized Rui had a solution. Displaying the direness of one's need was never a good idea since it strengthened Rui's position in their negotiations.

Rui didn't need anything from him.

Ordinarily, Rui would be afraid of the sheer amount of power that the prince had accumulated. Martial Seniors, Martial Masters, and even a Martial Sage.

Yet Rui's calculations had accounted for those.