The Martial Unity

Weeks passed before people moved on from the man's death. According to reports, one of the man's sons, an executive in the company who had been groomed to succeed him eventually, had inherited his stake and ownership of the country, becoming the new chairman of Deacon Industries. According to the Beggar's Sect, the new chairman had already begun dismantling, assimilating, and liquefying all the investments that Chairman Deacon had made in the Kandrian Empire over the past eight years.

It appeared that the apple had not fallen anywhere near the tree this time. The new chairman appeared to have regarded all of his father's efforts in the Kandrian Empire as a waste of capital for a goal that yielded no profit.

He immediately began absorbing or selling whatever he could to at least salvage as much as possible to use those funds to strengthen the core of the business rather than to focus on fringe activities that did not bring in revenue for the company.

'It doesn't appear that the man gives a damn about Rui Quarrier,' Rui mused. 'That's good. It would be a pain in the ass if he had the same inclinations that his father did.'

Apparently, he didn't care for his brother as much as Chairman Deacon cared about his son.

This was the green light that Rui needed to finally make a move and head back home. All the preparations had been made, he had returned his hair back to its original color. He had gotten used to the silver all this time and it actually felt quite dysphoric to have black hair and eyes after all this time.

He pulled out the original license that had been supplied by the Martial Union when he first became a Martial Artist, a document that he hadn't touched in a long, long time, before setting out to the Kandrian Empire.

The journey back home was unlike anything he had ever experienced.

It was as though he had become a Disney princess. The world seemed brighter. He could have sworn that flowers bloomed as he passed them while all of nature seemed to rejoice in his return back home.

He was unable to even contain his excitement. A small grin cracked at the edge of his mouth throughout his entire journey back as he sky-walked through the clouds feeling as free as a bird.

Yet he also couldn't contain the nervousness in his heart. An uncomfortable tingling sensation deep in his heart was stronger than even how nervous he felt when he undertook the assassination from Chairman Deacon.

It couldn't be helped.

He had left his family for nearly eight years. He hadn't even bid them goodbye.

He had put his family at risk.

He knew that Senior Xanarn would have divulged a fraction of the truth that would have allowed them to understand what happened, at least just a little bit better than before, however, he also knew that that would have caused pain to them.

Although he was happy to return to the Kandrian Empire, he felt a deep amount of guilt for all the torment that he had put his family through. He felt especially guilty when he thought about how his adoptive mother Lashara and the kids that looked up to him must have felt. He had been missing during a crucial era of growth that the twin siblings Max and Mana would have gone through when they were kids. The only refuge he had was knowing that Headmaster Aronian, Squire Kyrie, and Squire Dylon would have undoubtedly guided them better than he could. While being separated from him would have undoubtedly caused them pain and uncertainty about their future, it would undoubtedly have done them good for their growth as Martial Artists and as individuals.

One of the people he felt most guilty thinking about, however, was Julian. The two of them had shared a special unique bond that was different from any other they had. The two of them would often thoroughly discuss and debate about a variety of topics, having the kind of conversations they knew that they couldn't have with anyone else.

He had heard that Julian had taken his disappearance particularly hard, something that made his heartache with guilt.

Another group of people he looked forward to meeting were his friends. He was certainly looking forward to meeting Kane whom he hadn't seen in four, now nearly five, years, but he was especially keenly looking forward to meeting Fae, Nel, Hever, Dalen, and Milliana.

A complex muck of emotions and thoughts flooded his mind as he made his way back to the Kandrian Empire.

It was only days later that the nostalgically familiar mighty walls bordering the Kandrian Empire came into view. Unlike most nations, the Kandrian Empire was wealthy enough to fortify its borders extremely well. With the highly competent Kandrian Border Patrol Force that manned and patrolled the walls, most Martial Artists could not infiltrate the borders through force or stealth.

It was a symbol of power and prestige. It stretched as far as the eye could see, disappearing deep into the mist that characterized the air during this time of the year. As Rui sky-walked towards the massive empire, he could see that the queue at the transit port to enter the nation was much longer and denser than the line of carriages departing from the nation.

There simply was a much larger influx of people who wanted to enter the nation than the people who wanted to exit it. And Rui was one of them.

It wasn't long before Rui found himself at the entry check-in for traveling individuals.

"ID please. Name and purpose of visiting?" The officer on the other end of the table asked.

"Rui Quarrier." He spoke the name loud and proud. "…Coming back home."

He placed his Martial Union license in front of the man, pushing it forward.

"Squire Quarrier, is it?" The man noted Rui's details down, nodding with respect. "Welcome back, sir. Hope you had a smooth journey back."

"Smooth…" Rui chuckled softly. "I wish."