The Martial Unity

This had happened before. He was unable to maintain his calm when it came to matters surrounding children. It was a psychological weakness that had, thankfully, yet to be exploited by an enemy. The most optimal course of action was to ignore and go about his business simply.

Yet it was one he struggled to take.

He briefly considered activating his Martial Heart and launching an omnidirectional Transverse Resonance attack, before restraining himself.

He would probably die very quickly if he dared to do that. He would be making a sworn enemy out of every single person in the Derimont Bazaar, and he had no doubt that he would be confronted by multiple Martial Artists, even Martial Seniors, and that would be it. And yet, when he looked at the terrified expressions on all those girls and boys, he felt his restraint slipping.

STEP

He walked away with a grave expression. 'I'm sorry...'

He wasn't strong enough to save them then and there.

However...

'They willpay.' Rui swore as he narrowed his eyes. 'I swear they will. Every last one of them.'

He recorded the appearances of all the sellers and providers and their staff. Killing them later on would have been too impractical and dangerous as a Martial Squire, but that was no longer the case anymore.

He was a Martial Senior, he could butcher them all with casual ease in the briefest of moments so short in time, that time would essentially have been frozen for everyone else.

His expression grew severe as he recalled what he had heard about the Beggar's Sect. That it was a sect that existed of and by the common folk, and naturally as a result, it existed for common folks as well.

'What a joke.'

It was not even funny when they were the ones who allegedly created an abysmal cesspool like the Derimont Bazaar that spread so much suffering.

Or so he felt.

In reality, his rational side knew that the truth was a lot darker. It wasn't that the Derimont Bazaar created this misery.

No.

It merely collected existing misery, and gathered it in a single place. Even if the Derimont Bazaar was disassembled and destroyed, the number of people and children suffering would not be reduced.

The demand for these heinous commodities and services would still be rife in the Saiful region, and scum who wanted to make money would commit unspeakable acts to fulfill that demand. Nothing would change.

A Martial Senior did not have the power to make it change. Hell, he doubted that Martial Masters or even Martial Sages possessed the power to change that. It was a constant in the fabric of human civilization.

If anybody possessed the power it would be...

'Martial Transcendents.' Rui's eyes clouded in thought.

He couldn't even begin to fathom what kind of power that beings an entire Realm above Martial Sages possessed. However, whatever it was, it had most likely reached the level where it could impact all of human civilization by itself to a certain degree.

He would probably need to reach such a stage of power to erase the evils of humanity from the world. Yet the Martial Transcendents that possessed the ability to endeavor on such a path, hadn't.

'Those that care don't have the power, and those that have the power don't care.'

He shook his head, putting the matter aside.

He needed to focus on the things most important to him, and the things that he did have the power to save. Unfortunately, for now, that amounted only to his family. When he grew stronger and entered the upper Realms, he would have the capital to start considering more grandiose ventures.

For now, he needed to focus on finding the Beggar's Sect so he could gain the information he needed to eventually eliminate the threat to his family.

He had yet to spot even a single place that bore the crest of the Beggar's Sect, something that was actually publically known, interestingly enough. But no person or stall bore that crest.

He even spoke to some local information brokers, yet all of them simply stopped speaking to him, going their ways as soon as the name of the Beggar's Sect escaped his mouth. It appeared that the Beggar's Sect had a tight, yet invisible grip on the Derimont Bazaar.

It took him quite a long time, the entire night, yet he eventually concluded that there were no signs of the sect anywhere in the Derimont Bazaar.

Or at least, in the surface bazaar. He was sure that the underground bazaars would provide more information about the Beggar's Sect.

"M-Mister?" A young girl called out to him, drawing his attention.

She looked to be no older than sixteen. An adult in most nations on the Panama Continent, yet nothing more than a child in his eyes.

"What is it? Do you need something?" He asked her with a gentle tone.

"I-If you want, I can serve as a guide for you in the bazaar." She stuttered as she averted his gaze. "It will only cost 3 copper coins per hour."

That was not what he was expecting. He thought she was lost and needed her help, but it turned to out to be the reverse.

"Guide eh...?" He glanced around, noticing that nobody else needed one.

"B-Because it clearly is your first time here and so I thought y-you might want some help." She murmured, still not looking him in the eyes.

Rui cracked a smile for the first time since arriving at the Derimont Bazaar. "Do I stick out that much?"

"L-Like a sore thumb...sir." She responded meekly.

"Is that so?" Rui chuckled. "Well, I don't have any copper coins but..."

He pulled a handful of the remaining reserve of gold coins that he had left.

"E-Eh...! That's too much! P-Please put them back!" She urged him with a panicking expression as she glanced around worried with a panicked expression.

'Ah right...' Rui noticed the hungry stared from the people around him. 'They don't know that I can annihilate all of them with the slightest exertion.'

"It's fine," Rui reassured her as he put three gold coins in her palm instead of copper coins. "Take this, and in return tell me how I can get to the true depths of the Derimont Bazaar."