Julian stared at Rui's forlorn figure for a few seconds, before smiling, shaking his head. "Forget about it. It was not my intention to unfortunately sour the mood. The fact of the matter is that you did successfully protect the orphanage with an exorbitant amount of protection. The fact of the matter is that you have undoubtedly worked extraordinarily hard for nearly eight years all for the sake of your family. To eliminate the threat to your family. Your devotion is admirable and heart-warming, that much cannot be denied."
He walked up to Rui putting an arm around his shoulder. "Chin up. I have missed you."
"As have I…Julian."
"Tell me about your time away," Julian remarked. "You have become a Martial Senior in record time. That is an astonishing accomplishment that will undoubtedly ripple across the Martial World. It is a great sign of progress in Martial Art."
Julian seemed particularly enthused by this. As a researcher in Martial Art, this was undoubtedly a good thing for all of Martial Art.
"I'm surprised you can tell," Rui keenly noticed. "I haven't told any of them that I'm a Martial Senior yet. It seems you have become much more intimately familiar with Martial Artists than I'd have expected. As expected of the deputy director of the Martial Art department."
Julian smiled with pride at Rui's praise. "It means much to hear that from you of all people, Rui. I have grown very familiar with Martial Artists of the Lower Realms. I've led many teams that have made progress in improving the existing training program models meant to help novices discover their Martial Paths. I've also applied my background in esoteric material science to improve the configurations of the filtration evolution processes during the Squire evolution breakthrough procedure to produce more powerful Martial Bodies, and in the past four years, I have been working on developing on a research project that studies the development of the Martial Mind."
Rui's eyes widened with surprise at the last one. The fact that Julian, as a non-Martial Artist, had been authorized to learn about the Martial Mind showed just how much the Ministry of Research and Development had recognized his brilliance and genius as a researcher scholar.
The Martial Mind was a highly confidential subject. Rui couldn't even begin to imagine just how much expertise a researcher needed to accumulate and how many contributions he needed to make in order to be enlightened about the breakthrough to the Master Realm, and also be allowed to undertake a research subject regarding it.
"It seems you have been informed about the breakthrough to the Master Realm, as you rightfully deserve and need to," Julian smiled knowingly. "I'm sure you've made a lot of progress too. It is almost as if you were born for the Master Realm."
Julian had known Rui his entire life. He knew better than anybody just what kind of a monstrous talent for the Master Realm Rui hid. He was even excited at the prospects of Rui's ascent to the Master Realm.
"I did learn about it from a Martial Master more than two years ago, Rui responded, before smirking. "And you're damn right about that."
"A Martial Master hm? Well, do go on. I can't wait to hear the adventures you've been through," Julian's curiosity got the better of him.
"Don't worry, I'll tell you along with everyone else, it's too long of a story to repeat over and over," Rui sighed. "I'm more curious about yourself. You… don't look too well."
Julian's expression fell as Rui pointed out his less-than-healthy appearance. "…I was actually doing quite well, until recently, about half a year ago."
Rui waited silently, curious.
"I was approached in the Ministry by a woman by the name of Marin Vilmentine" Julian stated. "She's the chief of staff of Princess Raemina's faction. A high-level executive in the Raemina Foundation."
Rui's eyes narrowed at that revelation.
"She made a large donation," Julian sighed. "And when I say large, I do mean large…before inviting me to a ball held by the princess."
It didn't take a genius to figure out the intentions behind such actions, even if it did, both of them were geniuses so they were fine regardless.
Rui grimaced. "I see, so the conflict for the throne has begun revving up…" Julian nodded. "I'm surprised you are already aware of it, but yes. It had been more of a slow cold war in the past five years, but it has begun escalating in both intensity, pace, and openness. More and more ordinary civilians are becoming aware of the brewing tensions between the Royal Princes and Princesses. If that was just the one happening, it wouldn't matter much. But my department had received several more donations at regular intervals since then, and I have been receiving an increasing number of visits from Miss Marin Vilmentine since then."
Rui could tell that Julian was deeply uncomfortable with being entangled in this business. He was a researcher with a deep curiosity for the sciences, he was not someone who was politically adept.
In that regard, Rui was actually far better. He had received training in diplomacy and geopolitics and was even said to exceed the threshold of competence that was required to serve as an ambassador for the Kandrian Empire to Senior-level forces. The experience that gave him was also more relevant in handling such dicey situations.
His experiences with Guildmaster Bradt also allowed him to better navigate such situations and successfully get what he needed.
"If you want, I can…"
"No," Julian shook his head. "It's discomforting, but ultimately it is something that I need to face head on. I intend to inform Marin Vilmentine straightforwardly and bluntly that I do not wish to participate in Her Highness' political campaign."
Rui didn't think that was the best way of going about it. "Did you actually meet Her Highness?"
"I did," Julian sighed. "She spoke many a kind word about the Ministry and its accomplishments, but I could tell that she didn't give the slightest bit of a damn about the actual state and progress of research and development. She just wanted to gather as many higher-level executives within the executive government as she could."
