The Martial Unity

Rui shook his head. "It is sub-optimal to divulge the cause of their fiasco to them. Currently, they haven't the foggiest idea what happened. Or why they failed. Put yourself in their shoes. You hired an assassin to kill Rui Quarrier, and he supposedly does, only to trap you by revealing that Rui Quarrier was actually alive and had even recorded evidence of your misdeeds. Then the assassin then protects Rui Quarrier by deterrence and ensures that he gets away scot-free with the damning evidence."

He turned to Reina. "What questions present themselves?"

"…'Why did the assassin betray me?', 'How did Rui Quarrier find out?'" She thoughtfully replied.

"That's right," Rui nodded patiently. "What are the biggest reasons that assassins betray their contractors?"

"Money, blackmail, a belatedly-known high risk of death," She instantly replied with confidence. As the pinnacle of assassins in the Master Realm, she knew what made them tick.

"Right," Rui nodded. "Loyalty. Or the fact that the assassin is actually the target you're trying to kill. These things literally almost never happen. Thus, if one of the reasons you provided was the reason why the Voidreaper betrayed the royals, then what can be further inferred?"

"…Rui Quarrier might have paid them an ungodly amount of money," She remarked, narrowing her eyes in thought. "Or, he might have blackmailed the Voidreaper."

"…Which means?"

"…" She stared at him blankly.

Rui sighed. "It means that Rui Quarrier needed to know that he was being assassinated well ahead of time. This much is absolutely inescapable. Thus, based on the perspective we have just constructed, what does Rui Quarrier learning about your assassination attempt on him ahead of time tell you? Where did that information come from? From the assassin? Or…?"

Master Reina's eyes widened as she understood what he was conveying. "…An information leak from my operation."

"That's right," Rui nodded. "Rui Quarrier learned about the assassination through an information leak in their operation. He bribed or blackmailed the Voidreaper and then used that to spring a trap to gain damning evidence to blackmail you. This is the most likely explanation of what happened. The true explanation that Rui Quarrier is the Voidreaper is something that they likely haven't even fathomed in their wildest dreams."

He narrowed his eyes. "That's good. It is better for me if they think it is an information leak. It means that despite them taking great measures to avoid the Martial Union or the Beggar's Sect from learning, Rui Quarrier was still tipped off by someone in their operation."

"If they believe that, then they will think they have a traitor amidst their operations, someone they trusted absolutely but has now revealed to be a traitor," Master Reina continued down the chain of logic as she realized the sheer depth of Rui's strategic considerations.

"Your capacity for thought is still shallow," Rui smirked. "Think deeper. What is the most common way of vetting trustworthiness in the Age of Martial Art?"

"Using a martial master's ascended sense of mind," she replied. We possess the ability to sense depth of mind, emotion, and general nature of intent."

"And yet, despite them undoubtedly using Martial Masters to vet each and every single person involved, there was an information leak," Rui grinned. "Not just any information leak. The mother of all information leaks. Rui Quarrier didn't get a vague tip-off. He basically learned everything way ahead of time. What would you, in such a position, conclude?"

"…" She stared at him blankly.

Rui heaved another sigh. "If a tea filter allows teapower to slip through, then the tea filter is not working."

His eyes mer her. "If a Martial Master allows a traitor to slip through, then the Martial Master is not working."

Her eyes widened. "…!"

"Seems you figured it out," Rui replied, grinning. "From their perspective, everything can be explained if there is a traitor among their Martial Masters. The information leaks, Rui Quarrier learns about everything, and the Martial Masters fail to kill Rui Quarrier. Everything can be cleanly explained if enough Martial Masters had secretly betrayed the operation."

"'Why was Rui Quarrier so confident against sixteen Martial Masters despite being protected by only two?'" He smirked. "'Why did sixteen Martial Masters fail to kill Rui Quarrier when there were only two protecting him? Why did sixteen Martial Masters insist they ought to retreat in such advantageous circumstances despite the fact that Rui Quarrier getting away was a catastrophe?'"

There was one answer that presented itself.

"Rui Quarrier wasn't facing sixteen Martial Masters from the very get-go…He was being secretly helped by the traitors…" Master Reina whispered. "…All this time, this was the true depth of your considerations? All of this? All of it was a part of your plan?"

"Well, there's more, but the latter half of my plan won't be relevant for another fifty years. So meh."

Master Reina stared at him dumbfounded.

She felt a chill crawl down her spine.

At that moment, she swore never to become his enemy.

Not that she ever would.

But the resolution to avoid ever doing that would antagonize him was deeply embedded in her mind.

Even now, as she gazed into his eyes, lost in thought, it was almost as if she could see something.

A void.

"Alright, time to get going," He jerked out of his thoughts with a cheery voice. "The high-grade anti-sensory artifacts they've lined this place with work both ways, so the Martial Union probably hasn't detected the battle. Still, we ought to get going. Undetected."

He put a hand on her shoulder with a pointed look.

"Shame," She remarked, shrugging. "I still wish you let me assassinate them."

"That's sub-optimal."

"Boo."

WHOOSH

They disappeared as Master Reina activated her many powerful stealth and misdirection techniques.

The other quiet town remained as was.

Not a single one of them had been made aware of the historical events that had occurred in the little warehouse. Events that would change the fate of the Kandrian Empire and beyond.