Second Prince's Support

"How about you give up and we call it a tie?" Minos suggested as his fists and legs attacked her from every angle.

"Hmph, no way!" Tylia responded stubbornly, not giving up even though she was beginning to lose.

"Fine, have it your way." Minos said, before suddenly breathing in deeply.

Confused, Tylia was about to ask what Minos was doing, but before the words could leave her mouth, Minos released his breath.

Like an arrow made of air, his breath hit Tylia in her right eye, causing her to shut her eye instinctively

At the same time as she blinked, Minos's foot flew in from the right, but Tylia naturally couldn't see it, only hearing it as it swooshed towards her.

But hearing was a much slower response than seeing, so despite realizing the attack was coming, she failed to respond, allowing the tip of Minos's foot to land gently on her temple.

"Good fight." Minos smiled, pulling his foot back as Tylia looked at him with a blank face.

"W-Wait, that wasn't fair, you breathed on me!" She said after a moment's silence, wanting to find an excuse to avoid her side of the bet.

"And? That wasn't against the rules."

"... Still…"

"Hey, I knew you'd do this." Minos said with a sigh, as if disappointed in her.

"Fine! I admit it, you win, so what now?"

"How about we start with a massage? I'm a bit sore from that fight."

"... You really know how to push things, don't you! Fine, come here!" Tylia groaned.

Walking over, Minos presented his back to Tylia, but rather than getting a massage, it was more like she was trying to knead his flesh into dough.

"Why are you so rough? Gentle."

"This better?" Tylia said, actually listening to Minos for once as she lessened her pressure.

"Much better." Minos replied, enjoying the comfort for a moment.

Unfortunately good times always came to an end, and while Minos was enjoying his massage, he noticed the sound of footsteps in the distance.

"It sounds like Suki is back."

"So soon? Well let's go greet him!" Tylia said, though it seemed she just wanted to escape her punishment.

…

Walking back to the main entrance, Minos immediately noticed the downtrodden looking Suki, clearly having not obtained what he wanted.

"It's alright Master, the world is large, I'm sure we can still obtain a Yin-Yang Technique if we look hard enough." Butler Setsu advised from the side, trying to uplift his spirits.

"It's large but we're small… How are we meant to find a technique like that if even the royal library, as vast as it is, doesn't have one?" Suki said with a sigh.

There was nothing more depressing than being presented with a cure just to find out you didn't even have the materials to bring it to life.

It was like the light was one step away, but that one step was infinitely wide, an illusion that could drive one mad.

"I take it you had no luck?" Minos interjected, grabbing Suki's attention.

"Unfortunately not… We've got plenty of Yin-Based Techniques, and even more Yang-Based Techniques, but none of them together…"

"That isn't surprising, after all the path of Yin-Yang is incredibly rare, and unless you have the nature for it, other roads are much easier." Minos said.

"So what do I do now?" Suki asked, hopeful that Minos may have a solution.

"I may be able to help you-"

"Really?! How?" Suki shouted, gripping Minos tightly by the collar.

Fortunately he was incredibly weak, so the grip was easily shaken off by Minos before he proceeded to swipe down the wrinkles that had formed.

"First of all, calm down. I can only try, success is far from guaranteed."

"Apologies, I got too excited. Please, continue." Suki said, clearing his throat to help alleviate his embarrassment.

"I'll get straight to the point, I'll need as many Yin and Yang techniques as you can get me, the more, the better." Minos explained.

"Are you trying to create your own Yin-Yang Technique? Impossible!" Suki responded immediately, aware of the difficulty of such a thing.

Even extremely strong cultivators would struggle with creating their own techniques, meanwhile while Suki wasn't aware of Minos's true strength, he certainly wasn't comparable to those powerful figures.

"It's just a suggestion, whether you want to take it or not is up to you." Minos said, not at all minding Suki's reaction.

"... How certain are you?"

"Master, you can't!" Setsu shouted from the side, shocked that his Master would even entertain the idea.

"Do I have any other choice!?" Suki scolded, but Setsu was clearly not ready to give up without a fight.

"Even if he was capable of such a thing, you've already taken a heavenly oath to not reveal any of the techniques you've learnt from the royal library!"

"... You're right, I'd nearly forgotten about that." Suki sighed, calming back down.

"Heavenly oath?" Minos asked.

"It's a safety measure. As long as one isn't the king themselves, they'll be forced to take a heavenly oath so as to not reveal anything they've learned."

"And the cost?"

"Life…" Suki answered.

"Is there no way around it?"

"If there was, our kingdom would have likely fallen a long time ago."

"That's a shame…" Minos replied.

Of course with his Omniscient Eyes, all he needed was for Suki to memorize the techniques before he could directly copy them from his memories, but he had no plans of exposing his Aptus.

As for other means of reading one's memories, they were all incredibly risky and problematic, and even if Minos wanted to lie and pretend he had one, it was unlikely Suki would take the chance.

But just as Minos thought the conversation had come to an end, Suki's eyes suddenly lit back up.

"Wait a minute, as long as you win the inheritance battle, you'll be able to enter the royal library with no problems!"

"Huh? So does that mean you're willing to support me?" Minos asked, not expecting the conversation to suddenly come back to this.

"Not only will I support you, I'll give you everything you need!" Suki said excitedly, though he was clearly thinking of his future rather then Minos's

"Master, are you sure you want to do this?" Setsu couldn't help but advise from the side.

"Why not? I stand nothing to lose and everything to gain! So what do you say, Minos, partners?" Suki said, reaching his hand out weakly to shake.

"Of course, that's the whole reason I'm here." Minos laughed, grabbing Suki's outreached handle gently as the two shook.

"So tell me, what do you need from me?" Suki asked, getting straight to the point.

"Two things. First of all, information about everyone competing in the upcoming inheritance battle, and secondly, resources to increase my strength before the showdown begins."

"No problem! Anything else?"

"I'll also need a place for me and men to stay in."

"Of course, that goes without question."

"That should be everything for now."

"Good, then just let me know if you need anything else. In the meantime, Uncle Setsu, show Minos towards my spare mansion, and make sure to let the maids know to treat him no differently than they treat me."

"Yes Master…" Setsu said, even though he still didn't completely agree with Suki's plan, finding it too reckless.

"Also, give him all the resources he asks for, and don't spare any expenses"

"But Maste-"

"No buts, this may be my last chance to turn over, so I can't miss it, understood?"

"Understood…"

"Good, then this'll be goodbye for now Minos, and make sure to tell me if Uncle Setsu disobeys you."

"Naturally." Minos said with a smile, his face causing Setsu to look at him with a scowl, which he completely ignored, just following the man out as they headed towards Suki's spare mansion.