"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! To be within the game, yet operate outside of it at the same time." The Eighth Prince said, truly amazed by Minos's plan.
"But while this sounds amazing on paper, don't you think it would be a bit hard to actually implement?" The Ninth Prince asked.
"It might have been if we only had one team, but with all of us working in tandem, I'm quite confident we can pull it off." Minos said assuredly.
"... With victory already a nigh-impossibility, I say we gamble. I'm willing to follow your charge completely. Anyone else?" The Ninth Prince said, immediately making his stance clear.
"Me as well." The Eighth followed.
With the two princes joining, it went without saying that the three other men didn't have much of a choice, but even if they did they would still join, after all Minos's plan was far better than anything they could come up with.
"Then that does it, from now on, Minos will be our temporary leader, what he says, goes!"
"I'll take my duties seriously." Minos said with a smile, Asumi having watched this whole debacle with eyes wide open.
Minos had barely stepped into the room, yet he had already gotten authority tossed into his hands? While she had to admit his plan was good, she found it a bit odd that everyone was willing to capitulate so easily.
Of course what she didn't know was that Minos had been using his Heart Path to subtly influence their emotions, which was easy to do given they were all suppressing their cultivation for the sake of the competition.
With his Heart Path and already charismatic personality, obtaining power was a simple matter, though what he planned to do with it next was the important part.
…
Spending the rest of the day cementing the plan and figuring out the details, they were finally ready by the time morning came.
With the sun rising and a new day beginning, Minos sent the five men out to begin operating.
Watching them all march off with conviction, Asumi couldn't help but look towards Minos and ask him the question she had been holding in the entire night.
"So tell me, what is this plan really about?" She asked seriously.
"Haven't I already explained it all?" Minos replied with an honest look, as if he had no idea what she was talking about.
"Oh come on, don't give me that bull. While they may be naive enough to not see through the surface, I'm not!"
"... You've figured me out, huh?" Minos finally gave in with a sigh, standing up and signaling Asumi to follow behind him.
Walking for a bit, the two arrived at the war-room, aka the room where last night's planning had taken place.
"Before I explain, can I ask you, what made you suspicious?" Minos couldn't help but ask after making sure no one was listening in on them.
"To be honest, I wasn't suspicious at first, but the more I thought of it, the less your plan really made sense."
"First of all, you want to act as an intermediary, offering to guard a few soldiers for the other teams so that they could fight with less worry."
"It sounds good on the surface, after all you'd essentially turn us into a neutral force that all the factions would have to avoid."
"But the more you think about it, the less it makes sense, after all if all their men were really eliminated, why would they trust us to keep them in the game?"
"At first, the answer seemed obvious. The more they fought, the less we had to, so naturally it made sense that we would keep them in the game for as long as possible for our own benefit."
"But what kind of fighting can a force that's already been mostly decimated do? Of course beyond that, there are a few other holes, but that one was big enough for me to realize this plan was fundamentally flawed!" Asumi finished with triumph, satisfied at her own analysis.
"You're right, the plan is certainly flawed, but you don't seem to realize the true service we're offering."
"True service?"
"That's right. Rather than protecting per say, we're essentially selling places. To put it simply, what happens when we're the last force left around and we control a few soldiers from each team?"
"... We get to decide their placement!" Asumi exclaimed, having not realized this point.
"Exactly, of course in the case the leaders are taken out it's a moot point, but it's pretty easy to escape on your own, especially in a kingdom as vast and populated as this one, so that should rarely be the case."
"But why didn't you explain that to the others? Aren't you worried they'll fail to explain things properly." She asked.
"No need, after all what we truly offer is up to them to decide."
"What do you mean?"
"It means exactly that. What value they can see in us exists, all we need to do is offer them a means to work through. Whether they want to take advantage of us, work with us, or even use us, it's all to our benefit."
…
"My good ninth brother, what made you crazy enough to waltz in here without any protection? Have you already given up prematurely?" Orino asked with a laugh.
"Of course not, instead I'm here to offer you business."
"Business? You know that's a word I love to hear, so go ahead and explain yourself, but I'm warning you, if it isn't worth my time, I'll have to eliminate you early."
"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll interest you…"
As he explained his plan, Prince Orino couldn't help but rub his chin in interest, savoring the idea and all its potential.
While he didn't necessarily see the point of sending off some of his soldiers to be protected by a weaker team, he did actually see other potential within the idea.
The most obvious one was a spy, someone who could keep him updated on their plans and whereabouts, which would make his life a little easier.
While his ninth and eighth brother's weren't much threats, they still constituted a pseudo-faction, and with that came real strength, strength he didn't want to be blinded against.
"Fine, I'll give you one of my men, but I hope you don't betray my trust…" Orino said, his threat clear.
"Don't worry, it doesn't benefit me in any way to do so."
"I know as much… Jikron, go with him, I trust you can escape even if things really do go haywire."
"As commanded, Sir."
With a satisfied smile, the Ninth Prince and Jikron headed off, Orino watching them disappear with a smile, whispering a few words to the man beside him before putting his focus back on his previous plans.
…
The same thing happened with most factions, all of them giving up a soldier except for the ever-illusive Fourth Prince who still acted against sense.
However, even without his addition the results were much better then they had ever expected, and with it, their neutrality was also asserted.
With a big smile, the Eighth Prince headed inside the building, nearly hugging Minos as he broke out into laughter.
"I take it you had a good hull?" Minos said, returning the smile.
"It went exactly as you expected! Now we can just sit in peace as we watch the others fight."
Smiling, Minos didn't say anything, though Asumi couldn't help but look at this naive brother of hers like he was an idiot.
While Minos had yet to explain this plan's true purpose to her, she was wise enough to at least understand things were far from that simple.
Because of that, she was almost certain this ship was going to crash, and she was ready to abandon it at any time.
With the Eighth Prince's arrival, the others arrived soon after, all of them happy except for Zasro, who had been snubbed by the Fourth Prince.
"Don't be too sad Zasro, the Fourth Prince isn't an easy character." Taiki laughed.
"Hmph, at least I was brave enough to even go there!" Zasro said with a harrumph.
"He's right, besides, to have not been eliminated right away is blessing enough, so let's drop it there." The Ninth Prince said.
"That's right, now is the time to celebrate." The Eighth Prince said, pulling a large bottle of wine he had hidden away.
Pouring everyone a glass, they cheered and drank, Minos laughing and chatting like everything was all peachy.
When Asumi was offered a glass, she just declined, her eyes looking sharp at Minos as if trying to see through him.
No matter how much she asked earlier, he refused to explain himself, making her begin to doubt this partner of hers.
At this point she had reached an awkward cross-road. The first option was to run away before things got bad, and the second was to follow Minos's lead till the end, and she didn't know which to choose…