The Martial Unity

"And what exactly do you have in mind, young man?" Guildmaster Bradt raised an eyebrow.

Rui sighed from beneath his full-body suit. "I want to purchase your services and capital to help me get out of this mess."

"I'm aware that you do not require my help to leave the nation, given the stealth prowess of your little friend," Guildmaster Bradt narrowed his eyes. "Thus, I suppose you wish to do more than just run away from the country."

"That's correct," Rui nodded. "His target is me, he may target my family, but at the end of the day, he only wants to get to me physically and psychologically. If I simply disappear, then he would rather spend greater resources on a target whose location he knows, like my family, than to waste resources on searching for someone who has disappeared without a trace."

Guildmaster Bradt understood what Rui was worried about and intended. "You want him to focus his resources on you, and you only. In order for that to happen, he needs to be convinced of the merits of spending his resources chasing after you."

"And that requires letting him believe he knows the country in which I am hiding from him," Rui continued. "If he doesn't know that, then it won't be worth focusing on catching me directly, he'll turn towards trying to abduct my family to blackmail me to submit myself to him. That is an undesirable outcome, thus I need him to believe with certainty that I am hiding in the Kandrian Empire."

"This will also turn away his attention from where you actually will be since you evidently do not intend to actually return to the Kandrian Empire given that you want to fool him into believing it," Guildmaster Bradt stroked his beard. "A little rough around the edges, but a solid plan. Still…"

He turned toward Rui with a sharp gaze. "…What makes you think I'm on your side?"

Rui narrowed his eyes. "As opposed to Chairman Deacon, your greatest enemy, and your biggest threat?"

Guildmaster Bradt snorted. "Do not be conceited, boy. You are not my equal in this negotiation, not anymore. You can no longer enrich my business by giving me half your esoteric ore harvest since the Shionel Dungeon is nigh empty, you have already given me the full map of the Shionel Dungeon as well. Chairman Deacon may be my greatest competitor, but I do not need to help you to suppress him. I have been doing that just fine by myself for nearly the past twenty years."

Rui had to admit that he was right. Rui's negotiation and bargaining power in this negotiation was far lower than it was when he first interacted with Guildmaster Bradt. Guildmaster Bradt, on the other hand, was more powerful than he had ever been in his entire life.

"You seem to have forgotten the bargaining chip that you yourself handed to me five minutes ago," Rui raised the cheque statement that he had received from Guildmaster Bradt. "Seven-point-four billion Shionel gold coins is not a trivial amount."

Shionel gold coins were a heavy currency internationally, and while they weren't a world reserve currency within the local economy of the segment of the continent encompassing the various nations that participated in the Shionel Dungeon raid, they were certainly valued far and wide.

Guildmaster Bradt snorted. "Are you willing to bleed? Are you willing to watch a substantial chunk of that little cheque statement disappear in a heartbeat? The value of money reduces the more of it you have, it's not enough to purchase my strategically valuable assets and services by itself."

"It's not just money I'm offering," Rui replied with a calm voice. "If you know my identity, then you know my potential. I'm asking you to invest in me in the form of your services, in exchange for a hefty sum of money, and a future Martial Senior for a friend, perhaps even a tentative ally."

That earned a moment of silence from the guildmaster.

"…That's a bold assertion," Guildmaster Bradt narrowed his eyes. "You cannot guarantee that you will become a Martial Senior, nor will I take your word on your friendship."

"You've surely studied any and all information you could get on me since you know my identity," Rui replied. "My potential should be self-evident. My rate of growth is nearly unprecedented as a Martial Artist, and my Martial Art is potent. Or did you think dominating the Shionel Dungeon despite thousands of high-grade Martial Squires is something that any Martial Squire can do?"

"…"

Guildmaster Bradt definitely had the upper hand in the negotiation, but not even he could dare deny the value that Rui represented as a potential ally, even if a distant one. The sheer feat that the young man had accomplished was unprecedented in the Martial community and had sent ripples across more than just the Martial community in their segment of the continent.

"As far as my word goes, I have a stellar reputation of reliability and credibility. I cooperated with you even after your traitorous attempts to try and track me with your little tricks in your deliveries of the information I have purchased from you from time to time," Rui replied. "I have operated with good faith the entire time even in circumstances where it would have been easy for me to not do so. I am relatively certain you have the means to verify my sincerity, esoteric technology, and Martial Art techniques are capable of a lot. I am willing to be subject to any verification you want."

Guildmaster Bradt didn't even bother considering employing those means, he could tell Rui meant what he said with a single glance. Furthermore, lying when he knew that his lies could be proven was far too foolish a move for someone as insightful as Rui.

"What do you want from me, young man?" Guildmaster Bradt asked, this time with a more inquisitive look in his eyes.

Rui smiled. "I have a plan that cannot be executed with your help."