"Are you having all your men go with you? Isn't that a bit crazy?" Asumi asked, feeling like Minos was constantly surprising her.
"We've got to show our sincerity, and since we plan on joining them, doesn't it make sense to join in full?"
"Join, but not in full! You should leave at least one man behind as a lifeline, just in case the others are eliminated." Asumi suggested.
"That'll just make them wary of me. Since we plan to join, we have to make it clear that we're determined to fight with them to the end, hence no hiding, we'll show all our cards right off the bat."
"This is too much!"
"Hey, it was your suggestion. Besides, if you don't want to join, you can just stay here."
"... Dammit, fine, we'll do it your way! Anda, prepare yourself as well, let's see this through to the end!"
"Yes Miss!"
…
By this point, the gathering points of the different factions were already known, and in fact these factions made sure to spread the news so they could gather as many people as possible.
Since he already knew where to go, Minos and Asumi completed the journey without any hiccups, of course part of this was because of Minos's discrete use of his team's abilities.
Up until this point, Minos had kept his team's true skills a secret, so in Asumi's mind, his men were no different from her previous one's, only really good for fighting.
Soon enough, the group arrived at a large building that didn't even attempt to camouflage itself.
One could even hear the sounds of groups chatting from within the walls, making it clear that at this stage, no one was trying to hide anymore.
Walking up to the building, Minos knocked heavily a few times before waiting patiently, soon enough receiving a response from beyond the door.
"Who is it?"
"My name is Minos, and this is my partner, Princess Asumi. We are here to join your faction." Minos replied succinctly.
"Princess Asumi, as in the Sixteenth Princess?" The man asked with some surprise, ignoring Minos's name completely.
"The same one." Minos smiled, not minding.
"Give me a moment." The man said, the sound of his footsteps walking back off into the room before soon coming back.
"How many men do you have?"
"Including me and Princess Asumi, 13."
"13? Very well, come in." The man said, undoing a dozen locks before creaking the door open.
Peeking inside, Minos immediately spotted the few other groups also within the room, the leaders of which all gathered around a large round table.
In total, there were only five men, two of which were familiar faces, being the Eighth and Ninth Prince.
Almost immediately, the men gathered around the round table all looked towards Minos and Princess Asumi, though it was clear they were mostly focusing on Asumi.
"Sixteenth sister? What a pleasant surprise. To think you'd come and join our team." The Eighth Prince said with a large smile, standing up from the table to greet her.
"Eighth brother, ninth brother." She said, nodding towards the both of them cordially.
"And you are?" The Eighth Prince said, turning towards Minos.
"Minos."
"Ahh, Minos. It's a pleasure to meet you as well. Quick, come have a seat with us, we were just discussing our future plans."
Nodding, Minos and Asumi headed inside while their men joined the other soldiers who were standing guard around the room.
Despite seeming quite casual, it was clear that the other guards had their guards up completely, ready to dispatch Minos's and Asumi's men at any moment.
Taking a seat at the table, Minos took a better look at the other three men, who he quickly remembered thanks to his perfect memory.
"Before we start, how about we all introduce ourselves once more, just to get comfortable." The Ninth Prince suggested.
"In that case, my name is Minos, a civilian who is mostly here for fun." Minos said with an honest smile.
"Civilian?" One of the three men said with slight disgust, though neither the Eighth or Ninth Prince seemed to mind.
"I'm Princess Asumi, as for introductions, I don't think I need one."
"Always casual, aren't you sis?" The Ninth said with a laugh, before turning his attention to the three men.
"My name is Taiki, I come from the Fifth Imperial Family. I've already realized that a top ten placement overall is near impossible, so instead I would just like to perform as well as possible so I can retain my current position." Taiki explained honestly.
"The name is Getu, and my goals are the same as Taiki's."
Finally, it was the turn of the last man who just so happened to be the one who was repulsed by Minos's civilian status.
"You can call me Zasro, and unlike these two, I plan on getting a top ten placement, the higher the better." Zasro said with some arrogance.
"Well then, with that out of the way, let's get back to our previous conversation. Currently we have six enemies, all stronger than us, so how should we position ourselves?" The Ninth Prince asked.
"Considering our current weakness, I recommend we form an alliance with the First Princess, who happens to share our same ailment." Taiki said, clearly a pragmatist.
"Won't that inspire the others to do the same?" Getu asked.
"Not necessarily… Think about it, my first brother and third brother are irreconcilable, so any sort of alliance between them is near impossible. As for my seventh brother, given his nature, it goes without saying no one would want to partner with him."
"Then comes my fourth brother, who's always been an incredibly hard person to figure out, much less work with, and finally my sixth brother, who's explosive personality makes him a general nuisance, especially in matters like this." The Ninth Prince explained.
"Isn't that great then? With all of them at each other's throats, we may actually have a chance to win this fight!" Getu said excitedly.
"I wouldn't get happy so fast." Minos suddenly said, drawing all eyes towards him.
"What does a civilian like you understand about matters like this?" Zasro couldn't help but ask with a snide.
"Let him explain himself." The Eighth Prince said, causing Zasro to let out a harrumph as he looked at Minos with further irritation.
"Zasro, is it? I'm not here to fight you, so I hope, for the time being at least, you can leave your contempt behind. Right now isn't a time for infighting." Minos said sincerely while at the same time discreetly using his Heart Path to alter Zasro's feelings towards him.
"... Fine, I apologize for my earlier outburst. Please, explain yourself." Zasro said, the others shocked at his words.
Zasro was a well-known snob, who was especially disdainful of the civilians, so to see him apologize to one was akin to watching the sun rise from the west.
"Thank you. Anyways, back to my point, I believe that not only are those so-called impossible alliances possible, they are inevitable."
"Oh? Explain?" The Eighth Prince asked with interest.
"It would be foolish to presume we are the only intelligent one's in this game, and since we can see something so obvious, why can't they?"
"If I had to say who worries me the most, it would have to be the Fourth Prince, who's shadowy nature makes them hard to figure out."
"And it's exactly that nature that makes me believe they are likely to team up with the Seventh Prince, after all, what's more deadly than a snake hidden in the shadows?"
"Interesting? Do you have any reason to believe that though?" The Ninth Prince asked.
"Just instinct at this point, but I believe everything will become clear with time. As for alliances, I am actually against them."
"How come? Everything you just said makes it clear that an alliance would be necessary for us?"
"Because, to be completely honest, we can't afford one."
"Can't afford it?"
"Simply put, we're too weak. Creating an alliance would be no different from just joining those factions out-right. At that point, we may as well just disband and join the others."
"Even the First Princess? I hear she only has eight people so far, which isn't much more than our seven." Taiki added.
"You're right, we could possibly work with her, but why join an alliance when we can do something better?"
"Better?" The Ninth Prince asked with intrigue.
"Here's my plan." Minos said, bringing everyone closer as he explained, their eyes shining brighter with each word.