The two of them spoke a bit more about the Princess of the Seas. Rui was surprised to learn that not only did she intend to expand the shipbuilding industry, and the seafare through new port towns, but she also intended to build underwater ships!

"Her Highness calls these artifacts 'submarines', I hear," Master Ceeran remarked.

"That's extremely ambitious!" Rui's eyes widened with surprise.

"She has been cooperating with the Panamic Naval Guild to develop the world's first 'submarine'." Master Ceeran remarked with an intrigued expression. "The details are far beyond me, but Her Highness extremely intelligent so I trust that she's making the rich choices."

Rui, on the other, hand was deep in thought.

Submarines were revolutionary, he knew that this world didn't have them, but if they did, a lot of things would change. He hadn't realized that the Kandrian Empire might become the birthplace of this new means of seafaring.

On the other hand, it made sense that the Kandrian Empire would be the place where it would be born. After all, it was an economic and technological powerhouse. It had the funding, the technology, and the resources to endeavor such a bold ambition and potentially succeed.

"Interesting…" Rui murmured. "You were right, she is a visionary."

He had already garnered a lot of respect for the princess, which was saying something. In comparison to her, Princess Raemina was so unattractive as a prospective ruler that it wasn't even funny.

He could understand why the Sea Princess was able to compete against her influence as a Minister and push back against the Martial Prince as well. She was looking to be quite an attractive candidate for support. It was a pity that their interests did not align. He had nothing to do with the domain of the seas and the coast, and neither did his family. Her ideals and visions of the future did not do anything for them.

'Though not being extreme is also a point in her favor,' Rui noted. 'Prince Raijun and Raemina are so extreme that a civil war will probably ensue if they get their way,' Rui noted. 'Perhaps I should consider supporting Princess Ranea. Though I do look forward to meeting her more than ever now.'

"It's interesting how she has managed to harness the entire seafare industry as a part of her faction," Master Ceeran remarked. "Part of it is undoubtedly the fact that she is said to have spent more of her life living in the Vargard Royal Manor in this very town, developing a deep affection for this sector of our nation."

"I see…" Rui remarked. "It makes sense then." This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

To think that that would have turned out to be the source of her campaign for the throne.

"You should be prepared," Master Ceeran replied. "Because her vision for the future is not the most favorable for Martial Union, she is the least in need of Martial support. She most likely will not take as much of an effort that Prince Raijun did when he personally invited you to the Royal Manor."

Rui shrugged. "That's fine. Prince Raemina didn't take the greatest amount of effort to try and garner my allegiance, she actually accepted my refusal rather quickly."

"She is arguably the most diametrically opposed to Martial Artists," Master Ceeran snorted. "Just the very notion of the state oppressing us. What a joke!"

Rui was not inclined to disagree. There was no way she would succeed, and even if she succeeded, it would be after a bloody civil war that ruined the nation.

He didn't understand how she couldn't see that.

"I will say, playing this little game is tiring," Master Ceeran heaved a sigh. "It is rather unfortunate that only those of Royal blood can descend the throne. Frankly, there are most likely far more optimal people out there who can do a much better job leading this nation with all of the pros of each prince and princess and none of the cons."

He turned towards Rui. "At the end of the day, these princes and princesses have only ever known luxury their entire life, asides from the Underworld prince perhaps. That makes them fundamentally flawed in ways that no amount of even the most extravagant education can possibly correct."

"If anything, extravagant education would only exacerbate the problem," Rui remarked.

Master Ceeran nodded. "The Republic of Gorteau is one such nation. Although it has its own weakness, I admire how the population is able to control who becomes the leader of the nation. I hope that some day the Kandrian Empire follows its steps."

"That could be considered treasonous speech, you know," Rui smirked.

Master Ceeran snorted. "That bullshit isn't enough to stop someone of my stature. Or yours, even. We are far too important to this nation to be tried for such a farce. Not even the Emperor would hold me accountable. It's not worth losing a Martial Master."

The two of them continued to chat together for a while about a variety of topics. Rui found the man's stories about his time in the past eight years to be quite interesting, especially the time period after Master Ceeran broke through to the Master Realm.

"I broke through to the Master a little after last year's annual fiscal budget allocation meeting, thus this year's meeting will actually be my first time as a constituent of the Assembly. I look forward to securing more resources for my sect," Master Ceeran remarked. "I shall vote in favor of instating you as a constituent so you can levy for your Martial Path, of course."

"I appreciate that," Rui nodded. "However, I have heard that the conditions to actually entering the Assembly are quite stringent. I will have to earn the approval of many Martial Masters in the Martial Union."

"Ah, don't worry about that, Rui," Master Ceeran remarked. "I'm sure that you of all people are capable of earning their support to let you enter, especially since you have already earned their respect as the most prodigious Martial Senior in history."