At that moment, in his mind, Bastian was facing a dilemma. He was not sure just how much Tino could be trusted, nor was he sure enough that she would be able to execute the plans he had in mind. At times like those however, there was only one option, move forward and hope for the best. Well as far as Bastian was concerned anyway.

Bastian signaled for Kenshin to down the barrier he had put up and nodded toward Shasha. “Tino, come here immediately, I have a mission for you.”

It wasn’t even ten breathes when Tino suddenly arrived within the room. To her surprise, Bastian and Kenshin were in the room as well.

That’s odd, how did they enter here without me noticing?

After looking at Kenshin for less than a fraction of a second, Tino’s eyes flashed with awareness.

“I am here your highness, what can I do to serve you?” said Tino with her typical seductive tone. Shasha was usually affected by it, but at that time, in such a situation, he knew he could not falter. He then kept his face stern, much to Tino’s surprise.

“Tino, I want you to come over here, and look at the documents on the table. Read over all of the information on it.” Tino smiled and followed the instructions. She walked elegantly toward the table, gently swaying here incredible hips sideways. Shasha tried his best to not be affected, but after Tino had closed the distance between them, Shasha found that his willpower was waning.

Kai and Kenshin had incredible willpower. Rven though they were men who had gained quite a bit of insight into the Dao; their hearts were as steady as a mountain. Bastian on the other hand was completely nonchalant. As she walked past Bastian, she was surprised at the fact that he didn’t even bother to look at her, in fact his eyes had changed from the last time she had met him. This change was small, barely noticeable, yet it still caught her eye, like a small burning ember at the end of a vast dark tunnel.

She had seen this ember plenty of times in many men of stature within her lifetime. Hence she knew very well that given enough time and fortune, that tiny flame within Bastian’s eyes would turn into a flame that would engulf everything that got within its path; such was the power of ambition.

Tino got to the table and quickly skimmed over the papers. After a few seconds, she signaled to Shasha with her yes that she was finished. “Tino, that was all the information I had about this city. I assume you know all of that information and more do you not?” asked Shasha.

Tino couldn’t help but show a smug grin. “Yes your highness, my sisters and I have collected quite a bit of knowledge on this city, enough to suite whatever needs you might ha-“

“It’s not enough.” This time Tino was interrupted by Bastian. He had not intended to interfere in this conversation, seeing that he had no standing in Tino’s eyes, but he couldn’t help interject at that moment. Tino turned around, looking down upon Bastian as if her arrogance was the most natural thing in the world.

This woman, she thought that she could hide it, and she almost did, but there is no doubt about it. This woman’s eyes have worship whenever she looks at me!

At first Bastian had thought he was seeing things thus he had dismissed it the first time he met her in the streets, yet when she entered the room, she couldn’t help but reveal the worship within her eyes, and when she turned around she tried to mask her worship with disdain, but Bastian did not miss a single thing.

On earth Bastian had been taught to read faces by his father. This required incredible observational abilities, with this new body, his vision had improved drastically, to the point where Bastian was confident he could read anyone he met. Bastian however had no interest in understanding humans in the past, so he cared little for using that ability. It wasn’t really something one could switch off, but Bastian’s ability to ignore what he didn’t care about was at a level that even deities would envy! 

“Whatever knowledge you think you have on this city, whatever information you and your companions have collected is not enough. Unless you can tell me what the mayor’s favorite song is, what the dominant hand of the city’s best chef is, how many bricks the city walls have, the average amount of footsteps a citizen in this city takes, how many times in a day the army commander takes (what)in a day, who the favourite prostitute of the head tax collector is, what ships will dock within the harbor within the next 20 minutes in chronological or alphabetical order, then miss Tino, you do not. If you think you do, then you make light the art of war.

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. I fear not a thousand battles, nor will I fear a million, but I will be damned if I allow an arrogant tramp like you to think that she knows enough,"added Bastian.

Bastian did not shout, but his words resonated in the ears of everyone present. His words were as heavy as a tidal wave, smashing into the hearts of everyone. It was at this point that they realized the importance of what they were doing. That’s right! We are at war!

Tino’s eyes were glazed with admiration, she had completely been enamored by Bastian’s words, this however, only lasted for a less than fraction of a second. She retained her arrogant demeanor

“Who do you think you ar-“

“Pa!”

Within Shasha’s office, the loud sound of a face being slapped echoed across the room, but the image itself had a far more devastating effect.