FSHHHHHH…
In a well-guarded medical room in the Martial Union, a chamber opened, releasing steam.
Around the chamber were several Martial Masters.
Further away was a large team of medical experts monitoring some readings on their panel.
"Preliminary evaluation; the procedure is a complete success," One of the more senior doctors announced with a relieved expression on her face.
She would face a lot of heat if something was wrong.
CLASP
A hand emerged from the chamber, grasping at the side.
Prince Raijun pulled himself up and gazed at his new body with shock and bewilderment.
It was euphoric.
At that moment, he felt like a god.
He felt like he was an unstoppable force.
Nothing could be a match for his newfound power!
Of course, his rationality was more than strong enough to recognize that that was a stupid thought or belief to have.
He was logically cognizant of the fact that he was a grade-one Martial Squire.
Of course, grade-one Martial Squires today were now what grade-two or even grade-three Martial Squires were before the Hungry Pain technique. But even considering that, he was still extremely low on the totem pole of the second of six Realms.
Getting arrogant would be the height of foolishness.
Still, he found it difficult to humble himself.
"It is alright to indulge yourself for a bit, Your Highness," Master Zentra assured him. "Congratulations on becoming a Martial Squire."
"…Thank you," Prince Raijun murmured. "Now what…"
"Normally, you would enter into isolated acclimatization training for however long it takes to get you acclimatized to your Martial Body. However, in your case, that cannot be afford to be done," Master Zentra explained patiently. "You have a throne war to win. Thus, we have specially adjusted our acclimatization body suit to be sleeker, thinner, and less noticeable so that you can acclimatize to your body even whilst you go about your duties and obligations."
"I'm grateful to the Martial Union for taking my circumstance into account, Master Zentra," Prince Raijun smiled.
He was glad to know that he could immediately get back into the working. While it was true that his growth and now successful breakthrough to the Squire Realm would yield him a great amount of political capital, he could not kick back and relax.
He needed to capitalize on it.
Only a few days later, he left the Martial Union in his new bodysuit.
It greatly restricted his raw power to that of a human for now; it would slowly be released at about one percent every day so that he would completely be acclimatized to it over a span of a little over three months.
"Alright, what do we have on the agenda?" Prince Raijun asked his secretary, sitting at his table for the first time in two weeks.
"There have been some concerning developments, sir," His secretary handed him a stack of papers.
"What am I looking at?" He asked, skimming through the pages.
"A report regarding the six tier-five patrons that have passed notice for the termination of their contracts with the Raijun Foundation," His secretary explained.
Her tone was calm.
Yet her words physically rocked him in his seat.
So much so that his secretary would have died had he not been wearing a suit that suppressed his raw power.
"What?!" An expression of shock flashed on his face. "Which ones?!"
"Chairman Frenek, Minister Zioschek, the Kandrian Distribution Service, Nereau Defence Enterprise, and Naracka Limited."
"Damn, why didn't you inform me?!" He exclaimed, frustrated.
"Your instructions were to not disturb you during your breakthrough unless it was urgent," She calmly replied.
"…" She was right.
"What is the net change to our patronage count?"
"We have gained six and are losing five, thus the net gain is one," His secretary told him.
"What are the reasons those five offered for the notice of termination?" He incredulously skimmed through the documents.
"The official reasons are perfunctory, as evaluated by the analytical team," His secretary informed him. "The Martial Union's intelligence department has found out that each of the five patrons has received…surprisingly generous offers from four different royals."
She placed another document before Prince Raijun.
"Randal, Raemina, Rafia, and Ranea?" Prince Raijun glared. "Just what have they offered to steal my patrons away from me?"
"Princess Rafia made a four billion gold donation to Chairman Frenek shortly after he filed a notice for termination. We can assume this was part of the deal."
Yet another shock struck Prince Raijun. "What the hell?! Twelve billion gold donation?! Is she trying to go bankrupt?!"
He was stunned into silence.
Twelve billion Kandrian gold was a large amount of money, it was similar to the entirety of all of Rui's profits from the Shionel Dungeon raid. To donate this enormous amount of money in a single donation was an absurd and absolutely shocking move.
Donations were typically in the millions of gold, maybe even a few hundred million, to genuinely incentivize people into doing things.
A twelve billion gold donation just to immediately terminate the contract that Chairman Frenek had made with Raijun and join her faction was insane. There was no way she was making any profit with that investment. Raijun was truly surprised because it did not sound like the meticulous, calculating sister he was familiar with.
It was no wonder he had lost Chairman Frenek, there was nothing that Raijun was willing to offer that could possibly beat match twelve billion gold, it just wasn't worth it.
Yet the same should also be true for his sister; there was no way this was worth it for her either.
"Randal stole my patron through an authorized defense-
security contract signing away official military protection…?! Raemina stole my patron by issuing two billion gold worth of treasury bonds…?! Ranea stole a patron by selling the Karokann???" Pure and unadulterated bewilderment overtook him. "This is insane! They're burning through their capital just to hurt me."
He stared at the report in disbelief.
"Have they given up on the throne or something?"
