[ ryouma isn't bothered or put off by the fact that xingqiu seems to be splitting his attention. he's done worse like put off a meeting that might determine the fate of the country so he could catch a bell cricket. it's a reasonable argument — and one he's heard before — so his answer comes easily. ]

That's true. So, I have a question for you — what makes you think you have to violate your contract for the sake of unity? Wars are expensive and I can't imagine anyone taking starting one lightly. Just because we're here doesn't mean we're destined to end up as enemies.

[ just given the personalities he's encountered so far — which is to say, more thinkers and people who like investigating as opposed to fighters — he's fairly certain they're here to do more than fight in the streets. ]

People usually take a narrow view. That's just natural. Overtaking your enemy means you have more of everything, which of course is a measure of success. It's harder to see the broader view where you can be even more successful if you pool your resources. To my understanding, we're under contract to serve our particular factions which as far as I can tell begins and ends at "make the boss happy". If everyone ends up richer and no one has to die, at the end of the day, what's so disagreeable about that?