"Good," She nodded. "The competence and knowledge that you've demonstrated in your role as a diplomat, and as the interim leader of a settlement of the Martial Union is quite impressive and desirable. The Department of Foreign Affairs has informed me that you most likely meet the qualifications to become a qualified entry-level ambassador of the Martial Union. A Martial Artist that also satisfies the expertise and competence requirements to become an officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs is a greatly valuable asset."
She gave him a measured look, before asking. "What do you think?"
Rui raised an eyebrow at her question, a little at a loss for words. "I think that the Department of Foreign Affairs might be overestimating my capabilities. I have no formal education at all. I was home-schooled by my mother and older brother. I certainly have no higher education in diplomacy, foreign affairs, and international politics."
"Oh, it is probably true that, at the moment, you lack a foundation in some of the aspects that we expect from our foreign affairs officers," She casually replied, nodding. "However, given your demonstrably high ability to absorb information, that isn't much of a problem is it?"
Martial commissioner Derun had received reports from the Department of Foreign Affairs that stated that the assistant diplomatic team that they had assigned to Rui had reported that he was the most knowledgeable out of all of them when it came to understanding, and knowledge regarding Vilun Island.
She had been considerably impressed by this considering that the assistant diplomats assigned to the mission had been studying Vilun Island for more than a year. Yet Rui, in the span of one month, had already reached a level where he could be considered one of the foremost experts of Vilun Island and the G'ak'arkan Tribe.
A Martial Artist who could also serve as an ambassador was a desirable asset for the same reason that it was needed in this particular mission. This was the Age of Martial Art and Martial Artists were by far among the most respected and exalted beings in human civilization. Just by being a Martial Artist, he would be able to accomplish more as an ambassador than another with a similar level of competence.
"Are you sure you don't want to consider this line?" She asked gently.
"I am," Rui replied unhesitantly. "I do not regret this mission that I undertook or my role in it. However, in the past four months, I haven't gotten the opportunity to train or fight all too much outside of the conflicts that I participated in against the K'ulnen Tribe. That is a huge gap for someone who is accustomed to constantly fighting or training. Now, this mission has been helpful and insightful in many ways, but at the same time, I cannot say that it is something that I would be willing to do more than one time,"
"I see, for what it's worth, I agree," She nodded. "I was merely passing on the suggestion from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Personally, I believe that Martial Artists should stick to what they're best at, and leave the rest to others who are qualified."
"I agree with that as well," Rui nodded.
It was one of the most effective and efficient divisions of labor. Society could not afford specialists practicing in another field that was entirely separate from their field of expertise. Civilization would only progress if the people did what they were best at, and continuously got better at it.
Rui quickly concluded his call with the Martial commissioner, before growing absorbed in his thoughts. It would seem that his execution of the mission thus far was quite satisfying to the Martial Union. Perhaps there was a chance that he would be able to earn extra credits.
He put the matter aside, after all, he had actual urgent matters to tend to.
It was time to roll up to the G'ak'arkan Village once more and request an audience with the leaders of the tribe. He quickly sped to the diplomatic office, gathering the entire team.
"Alright, as you all have surely learned by now. The war against the K'ulnen Tribe has come to an end; our victory. The two leaders of the K'ulnen Tribe are dead, and every long-range Martial Squire in our settlement has participated multiple times, demonstrating the prowess of our techniques thoroughly." Rui announced to all of them. "We have finished our little sales pitch, and now it's time to actually conduct the sale. The intelligence department has supplied us with all the information that they can gather on the G'ak'arkan Tribe, and it is your duty to go through it all, gain a good grasp of the impact that our war with the K'ulnen Tribe has had on the G'ak'arkan Tribe, and then formulate a course of action that will serve as our negotiation strategy. Once that's done, we'll refine it before executing it. Get to work."
The assistant diplomats scrambled once more as they went through the stacks of documents and files consisting of the intelligence reports of the Intelligence department. Now that the war had ended, the spotlight once more fell on the diplomats of the Martial Union. They would be taking action once more.
Honestly, Rui felt quite confident that if they walked up to the G'ak'arkan Tribe right at this very moment, then there was a very good chance that they would immediately jump at the opportunity to trade techniques. Yet Rui had still chosen to take a cautious and thoroughly prepared route anyway because he didn't want careless overconfidence to ruin what was otherwise a slam dunk opportunity.
There was more to negotiation than merely getting both sides to be invested in cooperating, which was the stage at which they were right now. After the actual trade that was going to take place was training the Martial Artists in their techniques while having their own Martial Artists be trained in the techniques of the G'ak'arkan Tribe.
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