The Martial Unity

Prince Raijun could not feel as though something had changed.

"What is happening?" Prince Raijun stared at the reports with disbelief.

From the various actions of his siblings, he could feel a shift in their mindset. This was not the action of someone who had hope left. The sheer rate at which they were spending resources just to cripple him was a troubling sign.

It seemingly signaled an apparent lack of hope in the prospects of their ascendance to the throne.

Yet, Prince Raijun couldn't imagine this happening.

As much as he disliked and even detested his siblings, he did respect them. They were indeed powerful competitors who had managed to develop a massive power bloc centered around them, enough to compete with him and potentially emerge victorious.

Yet, currently, they had begun a self-destructive bid to do everything they could to stop him.

'They wouldn't do that as long as they were still aiming for the throne,' Prince Raijun stared at the reports before him, completely flummoxed. 'What has changed? What could have caused such a drastic change in the four of them?'

He felt like he had missed something.

Something really important.

"Your advisors have prepared a briefing for you," Her secretary remarked as she handed him a single sheet.

"That is very much appreciated," Prince Raijun nodded his eyes. "I must listen to what they have to say after I've familiarized myself with all recent developments."

Prince Raijun hurriedly tried reading through the documents at superspeed, only to discover that a Martial Squire's enhanced speed did not apply evenly across the board, much to his chagrin. In general, the cognitive boosts that the Martial Path provided as a result of maximizing the potential of the brain came from areas of the brain related to combat.

The further away an activity was from physical combat, the less it would be empowered above human limits.

It wasn't long before he had caught up to the state of affairs of his campaign. He had made the choice not to let it impede him while preparing for the Squire evolution breakthrough procedure, thus he did need to spend some time overlooking the reports and records.

"Something has changed since I was away," His eyes narrowed as they flew around. "What happened to the four of them? Why are they acting like this? What has caused them to take such a suicidal approach to hampering me?"

"Your advisors believe they have some explanations," His secretary explained.

"Then I must speak with them at once." Prince Raijun narrowed his eyes as he immediately got up and walked away, accompanied by his secretary.

It wasn't long before he found himself seated at the head of a long table with many elderly figures around.

"Your Highness, welcome back," One of his advisors smiled. "On behalf of us, I can say that we are sincerely proud of you. Congratulations on stepping into the Squire Realm."

"Thank you, but this is not time for that; let us save the congratulating and well-wishing for the celebration party," Prince Raijun remarked. "Cut to the chase, what is happening?"

His advisors grew solemn. "We believe that…Princess Ranea, Rafia, and Raemina, as well as Prince Randal, have formed an alliance dedicated to stopping your ascent at any cost."

Prince Raijun's eyes widened with surprise. "What?"

"It is clear that they have learned about your breakthrough, but the timing is far too suspicious," one of his advisors sighed. "There must have been an information leak somewhere."

Prince Raijun narrowed his eyes. "Even if they learned about my breakthrough to the Squire Realm, that alone does not explain this. Twelve billion gold donations, signing away military protection, giving away the Karokann, selling massive treasury bonds…These are rather extreme measures. Extremely extreme. The kind that would not be taken unless they were willing to burn themselves alive to stop me, even if it meant their deaths."

The atmosphere grew severe.

Everyone fully understood his words. Someone who didn't care about getting hurt could spread more damage and destruction than someone who cared about their well-being.

The measures that they were taking were those of the former than the latter. If Princess Rafia continued making such absurd The measures that they were taking were those of the former than the latter. If Princess Rafia continued making such absurd donations to tear away his most supportive patrons, she would go bankrupt. If Prince Randal handed away military capital with such ease, he would lose the resources needed to win the war and lose the support of his militaristic power bloc. If Princess Raemina kept issuing such debt, she would weaken her position as the finance minister. Ranea giving away the Karokann would shatter her relationship with the ship-building bloc of her faction.

Yet they had taken these measures all just to impede and hurt him.

"We…have been unable to find the case for the extreme shift in their aggression toward our campaign," His advisors heaved a solemn sigh. "They have always been aggressive towards you, but this is quite different. The measures that they have been taking recently make it abundantly clear that they are willing to hurt themselves and their ambition at the cost of holding you back."

"That is not the scariest possibility, Your Highness," One of his advisors murmured. "We believe that they have not just allied against you…but also have been compromised. This is not their work nor their idea…this might be the work of someone else."

Prince Raijun's eyes widened with shock. "You mean…someone has gained control over them?"

"…Yes, Your Highness," His advisors nodded. "They have always prioritized their ambitions over halting yours; the only way for their decisions to make sense is…if it's not their decisions. Otherwise, it is inconceivable that Her Highness Princess Ranea would ever give away the Karokann."

That was a compelling point. His sister had loved that submarine-like it was her own progeny. The fact that she would give it away for something like impeding Prince Raijun was unthinkable.

In other words, it could not possibly be her decision.

"Someone powerful may have gained control over the four royals. Someone who doesn't want to see you become Emperor."