The Martial Unity

Rui left the office a few hours later rushing towards the dungeon as fast as he could, entering a tunnel.

"Finally!" Kane sighed. "What took you so long? I thought it was supposed to be a simple final transaction."

"The situation has changed," Rui narrowed his eyes. "Guildmaster Bradt knew of our identities."

Kane's eyes widened as his expression morphed into one of shock. "WHAT?!"

"It's true," Rui nodded grimly. "He even shared the source of his information which was through his sources in Deacon's staff, just a few hours ago. This means that Chairman Deacon also knows, most likely extremely recently. He knows who we are, and we're in extreme danger."

Kane just stepped away as he stared at the ground with a dropped jaw. "We're so dead."

"No, we're going to make it outta here alive," Rui put a hand on his shoulder, shaking him as he reassured him. "Regardless, this is my fault."

He sighed. "If I had been more insightful and careful, I might have been able to prevent this from happening. No, perhaps taking on so much in the first place was a mistake."

Kane shook his head. "I knew the risks of what we were signing up for after our first shocking success. You even asked me back then if I was still willing to continue despite the risks and stakes, and I said yes, knowing full well that you and I were going to create a storm. I'm not saying you're wrong, but at the end of the day, I always knew this was one possible outcome, and it did end up happening."

He smirked wryly. "If we do die, it's been a fun ride. At least we can go down knowing that we made a mess of an entire country."

He shrugged.

to blame Rui for everything, and he had the right to since Rui was responsible for the catastrophe, even if he had been scrupulously careful and insightful about the way he went about the safety and security measures. The fact that they went nearly a year being effectively the most wanted Martial Squires anywhere in that little of the Panama Continent, and nobody had any inkling of who they were despite

let any other Martial Squire take Rui's place, including himself, they would have been caught and killed in the very first week of the Shionel Confederation. It was only through Rui's extraordinary insight and competence that they were

end, it turned out that not even he could avoid making a mistake, or a sub-optimal

than not if we have a choice," Kane

get us out of

the plan?" Kane asked with an expectant look towards Rui. Knowing him, he had probably already thought of a dozen plans and had begun filtering them by how optimal they were, and

He wasn't wrong.

expression. "Kane, are you willing to cut all

seriously considering the

to Rui's surprise, Kane did

agree, it made him feel entitled. But given how suffocating

expression. "Almost everybody… Out

perhaps he did not possess the full picture of

gotten close, given how much they used to bicker back when they were kids in the Academy. It turned out he didn't understand how they had come to feel about