The Martial Unity

"There are several issues that we are facing, however," Sierra pointed out. "For one, the wealth needed to commission all these Martial Senior assassins will not go unnoticed. While we have extremely secure official channels, we cannot use official channels, considering the nature of the commission we are making. The Royal Family collaborating with foreign assassins to take out a domestic asset is a scandal that is bordering on treason. It will shatter your campaign."

The four Royals considered her words.

She had a point; while the Royals had access to a small share of the titanic Royal treasury as well as the wealth from their patrons, allies, benefactors, and partners, all of it was legal and official revenue that was above board and transparent.

They would face great suspicions from the Martial Union in their faction if that wealth, within their factions, was known to be going to a dubious source. They could not use their faction's official financial staff for something this sensitive and delicate. The patrons of their faction had access to the financial statements of the Randal, Rafia, Ranea, and Raemina Foundations so that they could have a good understanding of how their money was being used.

If they found that shady foreign assassination guilds and freelancer assassins were recipients of their money for confidential reasons, there would be more than just a few questions.

"We will have to use other channels," Prince Randal narrowed his eyes.

"I have a proposal," Princess Rafia remarked. "We should rely on the Underworld. Specifically, the Schambiei Mafia."

The three Royals narrowed their eyes in response.

"As we discussed, we cannot allow anyone to gain wind of these transactions and commissions," Princess Rafia told them. "What we need is a third-party organization with high credibility and reliability when it comes to illegally laundering and transacting money illegally."

An electric silence took over the task force meeting.

The Schambiei Mafia was one of the six pillars of the Kandrian Underworld, just like the Carnil Mafia, which specialized in the supply of illegal substances and other resources. The Schambiei Mafia specialized in any and all illegal financial services, including unreported transactions, illegal under Kandrian law, and involving recipients or donors who supplied criminal activities.

Kandrian law required all international transactions to be reported and recorded. The purchase of illegal services from abroad could thus never occur legally. In fact, the fact that the donor foundations of the four royals had transacted with criminal organizations like assassin guilds was enough to trigger an investigation case from the Kandrian Bureau of Investigation.

Naturally, the Kandrian Empire had more than its fair share of anywhere between veteran and career criminals and shady businesses that weren't entirely clean. The demand for illegal financial services like money laundering was high.

That was where the Schambiei Mafia came in, swooping in to save the day.

They had a rather ingenious way of transferring funds and transactions in and out of the Kandrian Empire without it being reported and recorded under Kandrian protocol. They did not actually furtively smuggle physical gold coins through the borders of the Kandrian Empire.

What they did was accept the amount that their clients and customers wanted to be laundered and deposit it in their reserve inside the Kandrian Empire. A branch of the mafia outside of the Kandrian Empire would then take the same exact amount out of their reserve and supply it to the desired recipient.

Thus, no actual gold traveled inside or outside the Kandrian Empire.

No gold traveled at all. The amount of gold in the Kandrian Empire stayed the same before and after.

Yet, effectively, the money had been transferred. All the Schambiei Mafia had to do was accept the gold and inform their foreign branch of the amount that they had to separately withdraw from their foreign reserves to deliver to the specified recipient.

They balanced their reserved by also transferring money from abroad into the Kandrian Empire, to ensure that their two branches possessed balancing amounts of wealth.

No clues. No footprint. No physical transfer. Nothing.

In turn, they charged a much higher tax and fee for each transaction than the equivalent legal services would, earning enormous lump sums of wealth.

This service that the Schambiei Mafia offered became so incredibly popular that it became the richest syndicate in the entire Underworld, earning it a place among the six pillars of the Underworld.

The Kandrian Bureau of Investigation had tried and failed to curb this practice over many decades and even centuries. It had become firmly entrenched in the Underworld and was unshakable.

If the Royals wanted to transfer large sums to various assassination guilds around the continent, then there was a significant chance of it being leaked to the Beggar's Sect or any other information broker. It was possible that the Kandrian Empire and the Martial Union would come to discover it, in which case, they were screwed.

They didn't have exceedingly high skill sets or experience in such matters. Too much was at stake in order to risk messing it up by doing it themselves.

That was why it was best to turn to veteran experts and masters of financial laundering. Although it sickened the four Royals, who held great pride in their blood, authority, and nation, to work with the filthy Underworld, they had no choice.

Rui Quarrier needed to go. They could not rely on domestic assassins or Martial Artists whatsoever; thus, foreign Martial Artists were required. Thus, the Schambiei Mafia's services were required.

Yet the elephant in the room had not gone unnoticed.

"If we want the help of the Schambiei Mafia, then we need the help of Rajak," Prince Randal's mouth curled with disgust. "It is a bitter pill to swallow. But this time, he should not be prone to disagreeing. He hates Raijun and does not want to see him become Emperor either; thus, he should have no problem helping us assassinate the source of his growth."

A resolution had been reached. To procure the services of the full cooperation of the Schambiei Mafia, they needed the full cooperation of the Carnil Mafia.