The Martial Unity

"Apprentice Rui Quarrier, Missus Nartha Freier is ready to receive you." A staff member addressed him bowing deeply as a sign of respect. "Please follow me."

"Alright, thank you." Rui nodded as he got up, and trailed after her.

Today was the day of his appointment with the chairwoman of Freier Ester Inc who had commissioned to him to be a representative champion for Freir Ester Inc. They would likely engage in negotiations over several details of the commission contract.

This was one thing that separated personal commission contracts from regular commission contracts. Since the client had approached Rui and specifically desired him, Rui had obtained some amount of bargaining power. The Martial Union had very little active control over the contract asides from the standard conditions and rules.

Soon they reached an office. The staff member stepped aside, bowing as she gestured to the door.

"Thank you." Rui said as he entered the office.

"Ah my." A feminine voice remarked. "It's a pleasure to meet the finalist of the Martial Contest, Apprentice Rui Quarrier. I am Nartha Freier, the founder and chairwoman of the Freier Ester Corporation."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Chairwoman Nartha." Rui replied bowing a little as she performed the smallest of curtsies. "Thank you for commissioning me, and thank you for the invite."

Nartha Freier was a beautiful older woman, with long flowing blonde hair. Yet her sharp eyes caught his attention more than her aesthetics did. She was a powerful woman; he did not feel particularly comfortable under her gaze.

"Not at all, young man." She laughed dismissably. "I've been looking forward to meeting you ever since I personally witnessed your performance in the tournament. Come, let's have a seat."

The office was extravagantly luxurious, with posh sofas of remarkable comfort. Rui had already figured this was the office she used to greet guests she wanted to impress, hence the impractical architecture and décor that facilitated aesthetics at the cost of practicality.

"Would you like to have a drink?" She asked courteously.

"Water, please." Rui smiled, as Nartha immediately signaled to an attendant in her office to heed Rui's request.

"I have to say, I'm quite surprised that someone of your age made it to the finals." Nartha remarked. "Even more surprising is that someone your age managed to win the Martial Contest. Usually, the Martial Contest is won by an extremely senior student past the age of twenty or something of the sort."

"You flatter me" Rui smiled.

"Am I? I do believe in your potential and prowess, young man." Nartha told him. "What considerations do you have of my commissions? We can negotiate on the price, however I do believe it's a reasonable price."

"I'm satisfied with the price." Rui remarked. "However, I do have some questions and conditions."

"Go ahead." Nartha replied.

"First, I wanted to inquire about the level of the Martial Artists that I will generally be facing." Rui told him.

In reality, Rui already knew the level of the Martial Artists he would be facing. The Martial Academy provided him with reasonably detailed information on the matter that the intelligence department had managed to procure. But he deliberately pretended not to know because he wanted to gauge how sincere and honest Nartha was, it would tell him how careful he had to be.

"I'm not an expert on Martial Artists." She replied thoughtfully. "But I do believe your prowess should be most, if not all, of the representative fighters that participate. There are a few here and there that are powerful enough to be a threat to you, but for the most part, I do believe you would be a force to reckon with."

"I see." Rui replied.  This largely matched with what he's learnt from the Martial Academy through the mission bill. "What are the odds that by being your representative, I won't earn the ire and hatred of your competitors and enemies? I may be a Martial Artist, but I cannot make powerful enemies."

Frankly, if he was by himself, he would be less concerned. But he had the Quarrier Orphanage that was extremely vulnerable. He was not powerful enough to protect himself and his family. If he made powerful enemies, the Quarrier Orphanage could possibly come under danger in the worst-case scenario. He was not a naïve fool.

"You do not need to worry about such things." Nartha told him, reassuringly. "It is merely a sport with low stakes. There's some amount of money involved in gambling to make things more exciting, but asides from that, there isn't such a large conflict of interests between yourself and members of the circle whose commissioned fighters you will be fighting. Any conflict of interests will come about between myself and the others."

"I see." He replied. ('Hmph, lies.')

In reality, things were not this peaceful. There was not only money at stake but prestige as well. Commissioned fighters were not excluded from being targeted simply because they won the wrong fight and earned the ire of some arrogant haughty wealthy and power individual.

Of course, it wasn't as though these people would immediately resort to something as extreme assassination, since such things would be more counter-productive to themselves within their circle and in general, and they would become pariahs. The Martial Union would investigate the disappearances and deaths of Martial Artists as well and nobody wanted to earn its ire.

Still, Rui wanted to be careful.

"I have two conditions." He said. "First, I will take several measures to conceal my identity and any trace of it. Second, I will require you to sign a non-disclosure agreement regarding the details of my identity."

Nartha fell into thought as she twirled her long hair, before sighed and nodding. "I accept those conditions."

"The non-disclosure agreement will need to be officiated by the Martial Union." Rui added. The officiation of the agreement by the Martial Union effectively meant the Martial union would be undertaking some responsibility for ensuring the agreement is fulfilled by both sides. This was a measure Rui had taken to ensure that Nartha would not blab about his identity to show off. With the threat of the Martial Union, she would have no choice but to strictly abide by the agreement.