The Martial Unity

"Good," Rui narrowed his eyes. "I need to appeal to as many people as I need to for my plan."

"Yes, sir," His secretary nodded knowingly.

The only hiring of which Rui had personally partaken was that of his secretary; he had even chosen a candidate who, while extremely qualified, was not the very best because her background was fully transparent. In the past three months, he had fully vetted her time and time again with Martial Masters and had placed her under permanent surveillance.

This was because he needed her to be aware of his intentions. Otherwise, the probability of someone finding out would be much higher if she was not aware enough to cooperate with him.

Regardless, she wasn't kidding about his speech having made waves. By the time Rui even returned back to his office in the town of Hajin, large developments had already occurred.

"The Martial Union has made a hundred billion gold donation along with the announcement of its official patronage to the Rui Faction," His secretary murmured, shocked.

The report shook Rui.

"What?!" Rui's eyes widened.

A hundred billion gold was an astronomical amount of wealth. For the Martial Union to make that donation as a whole organization and not from individual sects was an incredible start.

"And you said the Martial Union as a whole made that donation and officially announced its support of me?" Rui's eyes widened. "That's…incredible!"

While he knew that he would beat his half-brother Raijun in winning over sects and factions of the Martial Union, he didn't know he would win over the Martial Union as a whole.

He quickly studied the statement provided by his secretary in disbelief, along with the financial statement from the National Bank of Kandria providing a statement that confirmed the donation from the Rui Foundation.

"Damn…" Rui murmured in disbelief. "…I guess the Rui Faction is already rich."

While he was sure that the wealth of the other seven candidates exceeded his, he could be confident that he had already gained the capital to compete with them with this enormous donation alone.

"Has the Martial Union expressed a desire to meet me?" Rui furrowed his eyebrows.

"No, sir, they have merely announced their support with you along with a donation and have remained entirely silent after that."

"Huh." Rui frowned.

That was atypical. Usually, patrons, benefactors, and stakeholders sought to meet with the candidate they were supporting in order to gain a better mutual understanding of what they wanted from each other.

It was very rarely the case that public statements of support were made with massive donations before some prior mutual understanding was established between the benefactor and receiver.

That was why Rui wasn't sure what the Martial Union's intentions were.

They gave him a hundred billion gold coins and a public announcement of support the second that Rui officially declared the commencement of his campaign. That sounded like they simply wanted to support him unconditionally without any expectations in return.

"That's absurd," Rui murmured. "Nothing is unconditional."

"Perhaps you should meet with the highest leaders of the Martial Union, Your Highness," His secretary suggested. "It would behoove you to convey your gratitude for the donations and public support."

"You're right; tell Mikhaila to arrange for an invitation and appointment," Rui remarked. "I don't know if I'll get to speak to the very highest leaders, but I'm sure the highest Martial Masters of the Martial Union will form a collective representative."

For the Martial Union as a whole, the sheer scope of the money involved and the stakes at hand were so great that none of his Martial Master friends within the Martial Union, like Master Ceeran or Master Vericita, could singlehandedly represent the entire Martial Union.

Only a diverse panel of Martial Masters across different sects and factions possessed the qualifications to represent the Martial Union as a whole to one of its supported princes. Either that or a Martial Sage. A Martial Sage was qualified to represent the Martial Union even at the highest of levels and stakes.

Rui didn't think Martial Sages would go out of their way to meet him. While it was true that his power and capacity to impact this nation had increasingly grown on par with them, they undoubtedly primarily judged him as a Martial Artist more than anything else.

And so long as he was a Martial Senior, even if he was the youngest and among the most accomplished, he was not qualified; it was difficult for him to earn the personal time of mighty vaunted Martial Sages.

Sage Sayfeel did so primarily because of the fact that he was chosen by the Emperor of Harmony as his heir.

"Regardless, this is an incredible development," Rui murmured. "With the public support of the Martial Union, it's almost entirely game over."

Prince Raijun never managed to earn more than the informal support of a solid chunk of the Martial Union. That was why he was never able to overwhelmingly crush his rivals.

Rui, however, had gained the full support of the Martial Union. He had gained the full support of the most powerful bloc in Kandria, entirely unrivaled by any other faction now that Emperor Rael was permanently out of commission.

How could any prince or princess resist him?

"They can't."

It was overwhelming to the point he may as well not bother with any other patron or benefactor.

"That's unwise," Rui shook his head, turning to his secretary. "Tell me about the others who have expressed an interest in my campaign."

"The first one to do so immediately after hearing your speech was the Director of the Kandrian Border Patron Force," His secretary explained. "She sent an inquiry and a request for an appointment with you soon after the conference ended."

Rui's eyes lit up.

The director of the Kandrian Border Patrol Force was undoubtedly powerful and authoritative, entrusted with the important duty of ensuring the borders of the Kandrian Empire were never breached, covertly or openly.