"And thus… we require you to reign over the settlement for the time being of the exchange…" Martial commissioner Derun told him.
Rui had contacted Martial Commissioner Derun soon after, to find her beaming at him as though she was his aunt.
"You've really managed to cleanly complete this diplomat endeavor that has been plaguing the Department of Foreign Affairs for many years, in just a matter of three months," She sighed in appreciation. "They're quite impressed, so much so that they have insisted on retaining you."
"I've already made my stance on that quite clear, I'm afraid," Rui shook his head.
"And I have conveyed that to them, don't worry," She told him, before turning to Rui. "I forgot to inform you, but your grade will most likely be pushed to grade five."
Rui raised an eyebrow at that.
"You were already quite close, being able to keep up with grade-five Martial Squires quite well, and then you got even stronger. On top of that, your feats in the battles against the K'ulnenTribe are quite impressive."
"I see…" Rui nodded with a smile on his face. "That's very nice to hear."
He had known he could take on grade-five Martial Artists for a while now. Though he wasn't too very hurried with getting the Martial Union to allow him to leave.
After all, he cared more about progressing in his Martial Art than he did care about the fact that he was officially a grade-five Martial Squire.
"Grade five within three years of reaching the quire Realm. That's a record, you know," She glanced at Rui with immense interest.
Rui found the piece of information interesting. Aside from taking a bit of pride in it, however, there wasn't much of a reaction from him.
"Martial Art is not a race, commissioner," Rui replied. "It's a marathon, and you are your only competitor."
"That is remarkably wise coming from a Martial Artist of your inexperience," She mused.
"Normally, it takes thrice as much to make the progress that you have. Your body is that of a grade three Martial Artist, and yet your combat prowess is two grades above your physical limit. That indicates an immensely potent Martial Path and powerful techniques." She remarked. "I've heard that you have expressed interest in one of the techniques of the G'ak'arkan Tribe?"
"Yes," Rui nodded. "I hadn't realized it when I went through the descriptive reports, but actually witnessing it in the flesh was quite revealing. The technique will definitely benefit me a lot just by learning and straightforwardly applying it. However, if I am able to realize my ambitions, then I should be able to progress my Martial Path significantly better."
"That's quite pleasant to hear as an executive of the Martial Union, Squire Quarrier." She smiled. "The growth of all Martial Squires is highly desirable to the Martial Union. We need every ounce of power that we can get our hands on, you see. The greater the power we possess, the greater the ability we have to deal with the greatest threats that lay just beside us…"
Her expression grew intense.
Rui had a strange feeling about those words.
His eyes narrowed. "What… are you referring to?"
"The Royal Family, of course," She replied as though it was the most obvious thing ever. "The very Kandrian government is our enemy that we have no choice but to cooperate within our mutual interests against the other Sage-level super-nations in the geographic vicinity."
Rui furrowed his eyebrows as he felt something was off.
"…The Kandrian government are our sworn enemies…? Why in the world would you say something like that, if I may ask?"
"That should be obvious by now, am I right?"
"Uh… no?" Rui felt lame saying that, but he was being honest.
"…Martial Artists are humans who have shed a portion of their mortality and surpassed their limits. They have transcended ordinary humanity. How does it make sense for Martial Artists like you to acquiesce to the royal family, who are merely ordinary humans?" She turned towards Rui. "Martial Artists ought to be the ruling class. Anyone who opposes that is an enemy of our civilization and species."
Rui just stared at her for a few seconds, waiting for her to say 'I'm just messing with you lol'.
But it never came.
"Take a look at the Martial Tribes of Vilun Island," She smiled when Rui refused to respond. "Look at how cohesive they are. Look at how united they are. Look at how much loyalty their tribes-folks possess toward their leaders. Ordinary humans cannot convey such natural dominance over others."
Rui furrowed his eyebrows as he realized what was happening.
('She's part of the Martial supremacists!') Rui realized.
He had heard about the political factions that supported the political, socio-cultural, and economic dominance of Martial Artists. He thought he had never run into a single one of them.
Yet he could now see that he had known one for quite some time now. He wondered how such a crazy entered the Martial Union in the first place.
('Well, it is the Martial Union. Pro-Martial Artist sentiment is probably never welcome.') Rui noted belatedly. ('Her political faction is probably an absolute enemy of that of Colonel Geringan's political faction.')
He recalled the Martial colonel who had hired him to train his daughter. The man belonged to the Merger Faction that wanted to fuse the power and resources of the Kandrian Empire and the Martial Union so that they created a single entity that was stronger than the sum of the two individually and separated.
('Is that part of why she had me undertake this mission?') Rui wondered. The Martial Tribes of Vilun island were a good embodiment of her ideals and political beliefs. She took the initiative to introduce him to them.
Rui wondered if that was the motivation for sending him to Vilun Island. There were many ways in which she could influence his view on this matter without directly trying to convince him of her political beliefs.
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