The Martial Unity
chapter-2270

"…And just how do you intend to do that?" Sage Roschem raised an eyebrow.

"By winning the war for allies, and the entire war, of course," Rui replied. "As long as the Kandrian Empire gains a lot of allies, it will become increasingly impossible to not cater to us. Once the Kandrian Alliance grows large enough, we will give them no choice but to cater to us. However, that is a long-term solution. There is a more short-term solution."

"Oh…?" The Masters at the table were curious about what he had to say. "It's simple, we make the cause of the problem serve as the solution," Rui calmly remarked. "We are receiving a huge influx of Squires and Seniors, yes? On top of that, we have a ton of more Apprentices, though I'm sure my father has taken measures himself. What we can do is offer suppliers either a highly discounted or free service of protection, security and other Martial labor in exchange for accepting our supply commissions. Like I said, have the problem work to serve as the solution."

They stirred at his words, startled. "Free is a bit…"

"Money is the least important asset in war." Rui snorted. "Resources matter far more. Just take debt, sell bonds, or use a share of our earnings. Whatever. What matters more is that we broker a deal with suppliers by making them an offer that they cannot refuse. Martial labor for free is something that they will be forced to accept, for if they refuse, their competitors will accept the deal, reducing the cost of production and outcompeting them in the market with lower prices. We won't have to worry about the increase in the net number of operations that Martial Artists will have to do because that number is equalized by the increasing number of Martial Artists. This is a much more immediate albeit imperfect solution."

A silence occupied the table as they realized the merits of Rui's genius, yet simple and brutally pragmatic solution to the supply problem that plagued the Martial Union. While Rui refused to undertake the role of a politician, it didn't mean that he had lost his ability to be extremely good at it.

"…That idea does make sense. No, there isn't any other solution that allows us to deal with the problem this elegantly," they murmured.

"Your idea sounds quite compelling, but we will have to run it by our analytics department. After all, this is well outside of our field of expertise. We only make the final decision based on the findings and reports of people who are experts," Sage Roschem clarified. "I, for one, am in favor of this solution. It seems like it ensures that we will be able to handle the influx of Martial Artists and obtain the resources we require for them in a practical manner."

His voice was filled with concern and relief.

Rui wasn't surprised that he cared so much given that he was voluntarily in charge of educating and guiding the young generations of Martial Artists within the Martial Union.

Looking at him reminded Rui of Fiona. They certainly bore a resemblance to each other. It had been a while since he had seen his friend, or any of his friends aside from Kane and Nel.

He had been swamped with matters that were far beyond anything they could ever imagine. Unless they grew strong enough, he would only ever see them at infrequent get-togethers.

"Master Rui?"

His attention was abruptly drawn by another Master at the table. "Sorry?"

"We were wondering if you had anything to offer regarding the issue of the Panamic Martial Federation being weaponized by the other Sage-level powerhouses to pass legislation that specifically targets the Martial Union and the Kandrian Empire?"

Rui heaved a sigh as he fell into thought. "This is a problem. However, I do not think that it can be too weaponized. The Panamic Martial Federation functions as a constitutional democracy. In other words, there are inalienable rights that are reserved for its constituents, though, I suppose that I am exempt from them. What works in our favor is the fact that the East Panamic Treaty Alliance cannot do this alone—they need support from the rest of the Martial World to weaponize the Panamic Martial Federation against the Martial Union and the Kandrian Empire."

It would take too much time and effort to go across the entire Panama Continent and hold long-term negotiations to get everybody to agree to passing legislation that was specifically designed to cripple and whittle down the Kandrian Empire.

"Furthermore, it isn't as though we will sit still. As I mentioned earlier, I am willing to conduct a small amount of breakthroughs for the most powerful of forces. This will better our relationship significantly and make it extremely difficult to get everybody to pile on us through the Panamic Martial Federation," Rui continued. "On top of that, even if they do somehow succeed by pursuing it at all costs, it will easily take more than a decade, maybe even two. By the time they actually get around to passing some law that harms Kandria specifically, we will have already grown astronomically more powerful. So much so that even the Panamic Martial Federation will find it impossible to actually enforce its laws against the Martial Union and the Kandrian Empire."

The others stirred at his words, once again growing compelled by his reasoning. Indeed, what he said made a lot of sense.

"Hm, we shall certainly note that down. Now, I was hoping to get your thoughts and solution on this next issue…"

Rui heaved a sigh of resignation.

The reason that they called him here was not just about the breakthrough leak, but also to get him to use his mind to solve all the problems plaguing them upon the dawn of the war. They essentially treated him as a problem troubleshooting software.

Still, he remained. It was indeed true that there were a lot of problems born from the war and it was also true that it was in his interests to solve them.