The next day, Rui got out of bed earlier than he normally did, quickly preparing himself. It wasn't too long before he wore his Martial Art attire before quickly heading out after bidding his family members goodbye.
Today was his first day training the Martial Prince.
He immediately set off for the town of Vargard at high speeds, sailing through the Kandrian Empire.
Prince Raijun's staff had offered to take care of transport both ways, but Rui firmly denied it.
He knew what the Martial Prince was trying to do. He was trying to increase the association between himself and Rui, to increase the difficulty of Rui joining other parties.
That was why Rui firmly insisted that the contract between them occur through the Martial Union as a broker, making it seem much more business-oriented than a personal commitment.
Furthermore, Rui refused to allow the Prince to take charge of the security detail for his family, insisting that he transfer the amount needed to sustain the security detail. He also refused any personnel change in the security detail.
There were multiple reasons for this.
The first reason was to ensure that Prince Raijun did not gain any meaningful leverage over Rui.
Rui was far too sharp to not realize the ramifications of handing over his family's safety to a Royal prince who wanted something out of Rui. That was why he simply had him pay the amount needed for the security to Rui, and Rui would then personally purchase an extension for the commission of the security detail protecting his family.
Hell, he could even get rid of the Martial Union as the broker between himself and the security detail protecting his home, if possible.
But these were all measures to ward off the little trap that Prince Ruijan had set up. All of the remaining six princes and princesses would undoubtedly realize the significance of Rui's refusals of the deal that Prince Ruijan provided and instead take the matters of the protection of his family into his own hands.
It was a message, a message indicating that not only was he not in the same camp as the Ruijan Faction, but also that he did not trust Prince Raijun.
In this manner, he flipped Prince Raijun's cute attempt at implicitly roping him in to instead put greater distance between them.
"I see that the Martial Union was not joking when they said that your political acumen was befitting that of a Senior Ambassador," Prince Raijun smirked mischievously at Rui when the two of them met for the second time after Rui arrived at his manor. "It seems you are truly unwilling to join my faction. Such a shame."
"I did make my stance clear back then," Rui replied calmly. "Naturally, I would not allow myself to get funneled into a path that I am unwilling to go down."
Prince Raijun flashed a knowing smile at Rui. "I heard you met my sister. What do you think of her?"
"I'm sure you already know that I rejected joining Her Highness' Faction," Rui replied.
"Ah you don't have to address her with such a lofty title, Senior Quarrier," Prince Raijun chuckled. "That psycho does not deserve deference from someone like yourself. I told you did I not? I want to create a nation where Martial Artists don't have to bow their heads to people undeserving of such a gesture. That includes mere Martial Apprentices like myself as well as controlling women like her. If not for the fact that only those of royal blood can ascend the throne, for now, I would not have allowed so many esteemed Martial Artists to follow someone like me."
"…I see," Rui simply replied.
Prince Raijun was an interesting character. Although he did hide it well, Rui could sense that he did possess the aristocratic and royal bearing that one would expect from someone of his background.
Although his tone was remarkably line and informal, there were subtle hints in his body language that betrayed it.
His chin never dipped below a certain height. His eyes did not match the deference in his words.
It was an interesting contradiction. Subconsciously, he retained the bearing that was undoubtedly programmed into him by his upbringing. Consciously, he was genuine about his Martial supremacist philosophy.
After all, Rui highly doubted that he could fool all the Martial Masters who had chosen to support him.
Martial Masters were extremely sharp and had an extremely high ability to peer into people and gauge the truth.
The fact that they had decided to become his patrons meant that there was truth to his claims.
Rui shook his head inwardly. He was not a psychoanalyst, he did not care about Prince Raijun beyond ensuring that the man did not become emperor.
"Let us begin, Your Highness," Rui replied. "We do not have much time in the first place. For the first session, I simply wish to know you better as a Martial Artist, not as a prince or a politician. This first session will be merely a learning session for myself so that I can familiarize myself with you."
Prince Raijun smiled. "As you wish, teacher. Allow me to tell you about my Martial P-"
You don't need to," Rui got up, walking towards the training ground beside them. "Tell me with your Martial Art, not your words. That's how Martial Artists communicate."
Prince Raijun smiled enthusiastically. "Then so I shall."
He got on to the training ground, standing ten away from Rui.
The two Martial Master bodyguards stood at the edge of the training ground. They did do anything special, yet their eyes were fixed on Rui, placing immense implicit pressure on him.
Rui could sense that both of them were of the same caliber as Master Zeamer. While such powerful Martial Masters were unicorns in most places in the world, they were far less uncommon in the Kandrian Empire. He would die before he knew it if he did anything that even remotely resembled a threat to the prince's life.
