The Martial Unity

In a wide hall was a large number of individuals seated semi-circular, facing a podium at the center.

The atmosphere prickled.

The air was wrung taut with tension.

The many men and women seated were garbed in ostentatious business attire, yet none as much as the man standing at the speaker's podium.

"…And on to the main agenda of the day," Guildmaster Bradt announced. "Motion for the re-consideration of the Shionel Confederation's neutrality stance towards the candidates for ruler of the Kandrian Empire. Agenda proposed by…"

Guildmaster Bradt glanced up from his paperwork. "…Me. I hereby commence an open-forum unmoderated caucus on the motion."

The first thing that Guildmaster Bradt did when the revelation of Rui Quarrier's princehood and heirship had reached his ears was pass notice for the termination of some of the more ambitious agreements with Princess Ranea that involved her becoming Empress.

The moment he learned that Rui was of royal blood, he knew that Princess Ranea never had a chance of ascending the throne.

Even when he removed the fact that Rui Quarrier was a powerful Martial Senior, the gap in competence and ability to navigate circumstances by exploiting opportunities prudently alone would have been enough to make him deeply reconsider supporting Princess of the Seas. He would most likely still defect from her to a certain extent.

Of course, he didn't burn the bridge. After all, he was still connected to the Kandrian Seafare Association, and that connection was quite valuable regardless of the Kandrian Throne War.

However, he completely removed Princess Ranea from his mind when it came to choosing somebody to support the throne.

However, this time, he didn't just try to approach Rui as the chairman of Bradt Distribution Services. Unfortunately for him, Rui's status, power, influence, and authority within the Kandrian Empire had spiked to an unimaginable degree.

He was no longer Prince Rui Quarrier Kandria's equal by himself.

That was why he sought to leverage the power of the Shionel Confederation as a whole. If he could approach Rui with the authorized support of the entirety of the Shionel Confederation, then he would have much stronger bargaining power.

He needed the vote of the entirety of the Merchant's Guild to do that. Unlike the Emperor of Kandria, the position of Guildmaster did not lend him the authority to levy war or forge alliances on behalf of the state by itself.

The established system of checks and balances ensured that the guildmaster could not go out of control unchecked.

Unfortunately, he had also run out of all his veto authority and decision votes to essentially force his way through the voting session, having exhausted his limited supply for them this guildmaster term.

That meant that he was going to have to compel the cabinet merchants of the Guild Council join the yet-to-emerge Rui Faction.

Unfortunately, that was not going to be easy.

"I am against it!" One cabinet merchant boldly declared, drawing attention.

She glared at Guildmaster Bradt. "I know what your game is. You wish to drag the Shionel Confederation into your secret alliance with Prince Rui Quarrier Kandria! I refuse to allow it! I, along with many others, have been deeply disenfranchised at the hands of the bastard prince!"

Chairwoman Veros had been the third-most powerful merchant in the Shionel Confederation after Guildmaster Bradt and Chairman Deacon. Ever since Deacon Industries took a massive hit after the fiasco of the massacre on the final floor of the Shionel Dungeon, causing him to lose the election against Bradt narrowly, the company had been on a slow downward trajectory.

Chairwoman Veros had overtaken the young Chairman Decker, who had taken over the previously sinking company, to become the second-most powerful merchant in the Shionel Confederation.

While the sensible leadership under the qualified Chairman Decker had managed to stop the sinking company and even cause a small hint of growth for the first time in ten years, it was not enough to preserve rank number two.

"It is objectively the most profitable option by any metric of evaluation," Guildmaster Bradt narrowed his eyes sternly. "Prince Rui Quarrier Kandria has the highest probability of victory."

"A high probability of victory is not the only variable to be considered when evaluating the merits of forging alliances," Her eyes sharpened in retort. "Compatibility of interests and history of cooperation are also equally important variables."

"Converging interests are not a requirement since what I propose is merely a monetary investment, a transaction, that will net us massive profits should he successfully ascend the throne," Guildmaster Bradt calmly rebutted. "I am not proposing we hold hands with him and entrust our lives in his hand. However, the promises of far greater benefits, ones that wealth cannot buy, can be obtained upon his victory in exchange for relatively humble capital investments. On top of that, Rui Quarrier does have a history of cooperation with important stakeholders in the Shionel Confederation."

Namely, him; the most authoritative stakeholder of the Shionel Confederation.

"I beg to differ," Chairwoman Veros snorted. "He may have a history of cooperation with you. However, he does not have a history of cooperation with most of us. Can we have a show of hands of those who have been adversely affected by Rui Quarrier in this cabinet?"

Many hands across the entire room flew up.

These were merchants who were a part of the late Chairman Deacon's now-dissolved anti-Voider faction formed during the raid of the Shionel Dungeon roughly a decade ago.

They had not forgotten their grudge against the Voider, Prince Rui Quarrier Kandria.

There were more hands up than there were hands down.

"You're making a foolish blunder," Guildmaster Bradt narrowed his eyes. "Do not antagonize Prince Rui Quarrier Kandria a second time."

"He antagonized us!" Chairwoman Veros retorted fiercely.

"By freely and fairly competing and winning the Shionel Dungeon?" Guildmaster Bradt snorted contemptuously. "By beating you at your own game through brilliant lobbying efforts and a genius strategy for exploration and extraction? Despite possessing zero venture capital while the lot of you had billions?"