"Yes, the time has come, hasn't it?" The manager remarked, smiling. "By the way, my name is Fern. I will be aiding you while you complete your commission payment during your time here in the Gereign Region."
"I look forward to that. Now, from what I recall, the operations that the Beggar's Sect wanted me to undertake was sabotage and elimination, correct?" Rui asked. "Specifically, you wanted me to eliminate the operations that the Carnil Mafia had set up in the Gereign Region."
"That's right," Fern nodded. "That was, and still is, one of our main agendas. We would like for you to eliminate the drug trafficking ring set up by the Carnil Mafia in the Gereign Region."
Rui recalled the conversation he had with the Beggar's Sect two years ago. "It was in order to prevent them from spreading the drug in the Kandrian Empire, correct? So that they would be unable to generate a market for it?"
"Indeed," Fern nodded. "The underworld of the Kandrian Empire seeks to change the status quo that has been around for centuries during Emperor Rael's reign. By normalizing and generating demand for it, they hope to be able to decriminalize the black market and its various goods and services by supporting a prince or princess to become the next ruler of the Kandrian Empire."
"Do they have a prince supporting them?" Rui asked, raising his eyes. "Would a prince or princess of the empire really have any incentive to work with the scourge of the Empire? That's no different from throwing the privileges, authority, and power of their status."
"You have a valid point, Senior John," Fern replied. "However, there are princes and princesses born with the emperor's blood without much of the privileges, authority, and power that comes with being a prince or princess."
Rui raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming this refers to princes or princesses lower down the inheritance line?"
"As well as those whose mother is of lower birth," He remarked. "Most of the powerhouses princes and princesses who have a real chance of ascending the throne are children of the Empress or His Majesty's royal concubines. However, there are plenty of princes or princesses who had been born to commoner women."
"...I see," Rui murmured. "Interesting. So which prince or princess is being supported by the underworld?"
"This isn't publically known information, but it is young Prince Rajak El Kandria," Fern replied. "Born to a commoner mother, he turned to the underworld to obtain the power he needed to eventually contend for the throne."
It was a name that Rui hadn't heard about before.
"Interesting stuff," Rui murmured. "I have heard about the Kandrian Throne War, but it looks like it's boiling up."
"Indeed, the Kandrian Empire is a continental powerhouse with a whopping fourteen Martial Sages, over a hundred Martial Masters, and over a thousand Martial Seniors. Furthermore, it possesses a large developed military with nigh cutting-edge military technology," The man explained. "Whoever ascends the throne will possess the power to affect the dynamics of the geopolitics of the entire continent.
"..." Rui narrowed his eyes.
He would have liked to have asked the Beggar's Sect for a deeper account of the Kandrian Throne War, but he knew that expressing any more interest than this would significantly the probability that the Beggar's Sect would tie him to the Kandrian Empire.
Of course, he shared a decent working relationship with the Beggar's Sect so it wasn't the worst thing in the world, but he didn't trust them very much. He would have to learn about the Kandrian Empire's political turmoil from another source.
"Alright, let's get back to business," Rui heaved a sigh. "Carnil Mafia. Specifically, what do you want to be done to them?"
"Please inflict enough damage to their operations that will make them abandon them altogether," Fern firmly requested. "We would like you to make their cost-benefit plummet towards losses. We would like the detriments of operating in the Gereign Region to far exceed any profit that they could ever make."
Rui narrowed his eyes. "That's a hefty goal. The underworld of the Kandrian Empire is extremely powerful. What makes you think a young Martial Senior like myself can take them on?"
"It is true that the Underworld of the Kandrian Empire is astronomically more powerful than you," Fern remarked. "However, the forces of the Carnil Mafia gathered in the Gereign Region do not exceed the Senior Realm. I'm sure you already know why."
A smirk appeared on Rui's face. "The Hypnomaster."
"That's right," Fern remarked. "The many forces operating in the Gereign Region come from parent forces that do have Martial Masters, yet none of them deploy them. That is because the Hypnomaster does not tolerate Martial Masters in the Gereign Region. There was once a time when twelve Martial Masters arrived at the Gereign Region as political tensions between several forces rose. Do you know what happened to those Martial Masters?"
"Let me guess," Rui made an amused remark. "They all died, except maybe the females."
"It appears that you have an intimate understanding of what the Hypnomaster is like," Fern remarked. "He dismissed the directive levied against him by the Master Council of the Panamic Martial Federation for creating such a hazardous zone in the middle of human civilization. He is an Elder in the organization, allowing him to get away with a lot. As a Martial Master who is over four centuries old, he is part of the second generation of Martial Artists ever and has accrued an enormous amount of power across his long life. According to our intelligence, he is close to the ceiling of the Master Realm, a powerhouse Martial Master who is not to be trifled with."
"Ha..." Rui smiled, amused. Such high accolades and reputation were hard to reconcile with the impression that Rui had formed of the shameless lecher. However, he knew that they were true.
"The one and only Martial Master known to make Master Zeamer retreat was the Silent Shadow, however, she is also of the same caliber as him. Conversely, he is one of the few to have ever survived an assassination from her. Furthermore, he is even stronger near the Great Forest of Hypnonarak. To put it simply..." Fern continued. "The Carnil Mafia will not deploy Martial Masters under any circumstances. So rest assured that you will not be dealing with forces far beyond you."
