The Martial Unity

In a large office filled with hurried employees and stacks of documents was a large table in the center. A large map covered the table, a table assorted with all kinds of notes, pins, and pictures. Heaps of documents were stacked around it.

On one end of the table was the only seated man who studied the map while those around him stood each taking their turn to make reports.

He quietly listened as he studied the map in front of him with great care and attention, processing all the information. His eyes fixed on a picture pinned to a point on the map.

The picture was of a young man.

A young man with startling black hair and black eyes.

Just the sight of that picture caused his lips to curl and his eyes to sharpen. His jaws gritted while his teeth clenched.

"...According to a report from squad CF54 of the long-range surveillance division, we have yet to observe any signs of the target. Thus far we can only conclude that the target is not present in the town of Haj-"

"Enough," Deacon declared, interrupting the report. "Enough of this nonsense."

"But sir..."

"I SAID ENOUGH." Deacon bellowed loudly, shaking everyone in the room. "DO YOU THINK I'M A FOOL? IT'S BEEN MORE THAN FIVE YEARS."

He stopped, panting as he tried catching his breath and calming his racing heart down. His constitution had grown a lot worse in the past five years. His hair had begun whitening while his hairline had receded. He had lost weight, causing him to look gaunt and haggard.

His skin complexion had deteriorated, causing it to look sickly. There were eyebags underneath his eyes, causing him to look quite exhausted.

once since we began our

have only spotted figures matching the details of Rui Quarrier to a high degree of accuracy. We also have many eye witness testimonies of those who know his appearance

eyewitness testimonies, correct?" Deacon growled. "In the past five years, how many times have our own people actually spotted Rui Quarrier

"...Four times, but..."

each of those testimonies have been recently revealed to be compromised due to the suspect being under the

"Yes..."

spending years to establish a powerful intelligence network and surveillance ring in the Kandrian Empire, not once has Rui Quarrier actually been spotted in the flesh by even a SINGLE one of our people, despite FREQUENTLY BEING SPOTTED BY

secondhand intelligence sources

analysts being outplayed by a single Martial Squire. THINK. Why is that everybody EXCEPT US spots Rui Quarrier,

analysts flinched,

ones searching for

"...Yes, sir."

only ones spending millions of Shionel gold every

"Yes, sir."

AND THEIR MOTHER SPOTTING HIM AND NOT US?" he bellowed, banging the table in

are you suggesting, sir?" One brave analyst mustered the courage

it." He growled, as his mouth curled. "And everybody is in on it. The Martial Union. The Kandrian Empire. That bastard Bradt. The

of them knew what to

Shionel Confederation through firsthand intelligence operations," Deacon tapped the map looking around. "Yet the secondhand intelligence is glowing with all kinds of wonderful reports of 'credible' people claiming to have spotted Rui Quarrier. IT'S

furiously parsed through all the intelligence that had been collected recently since the intelligence network had been gathered since his intelligence network had been fully

him. Not an actual instance of credible firsthand confirmation and verification of both his identity and his presence in this nation,