Assault!

Malachar's first attack came exactly one week after our confrontation, and it was delivered with the kind of bureaucratic precision that would have been impressive if it wasn't being used to destroy our business.

"Mr. Yamamoto, Mr. Tanaka," announced the [Human Clerk, Level 7] who appeared at our office door at precisely 9:00 AM with a stack of official-looking documents, "I'm here to deliver formal notice of irregularities in your business registration and operating procedures."

Mr. Tanaka looked up from his morning client reviews with the expression of someone who had been expecting exactly this kind of attack. "What kind of irregularities?"

"Failure to obtain proper licensing for cross-racial financial consultation," the clerk read from his documents. "Unauthorized provision of tax optimization services without certified guild oversight. Improper documentation of advisory relationships with non-human clients. And violation of established fee structures for professional consulting services."

I exchanged a glance with Mr. Tanaka. These were charges that either didn't exist or were so obscure that no reasonable person would have known about them.

"Could you provide the specific regulatory statutes that we've allegedly violated?" Mr. Tanaka asked, pulling out his own notebook to document the accusations.

"Municipal Code Section 847-B, Guild Regulation 23-C, Administrative Procedure 156-A, and Commercial Oversight Standard 91-D," the clerk recited mechanically.

"And where exactly would we find copies of these regulations for review?"

"Available for inspection at the Municipal Records Office during standard business hours, subject to appropriate documentation fees and administrative processing requirements."

The clerk handed over what appeared to be a formal complaint form that was easily twelve pages long. "You have fourteen days to respond to these irregularities with complete documentation of your business practices, client relationships, and financial arrangements. Failure to provide adequate response may result in suspension of business operations pending further investigation."

After the clerk left, Mr. Tanaka spread the complaint documents across our conference table with the systematic precision of someone preparing for corporate warfare.

"This is impressively comprehensive sabotage," he said with grudging professional respect. "Malachar has identified regulations that are technically applicable but practically impossible to comply with in the timeframe specified."

I reviewed the accusations, noting the way they were written to sound serious while being fundamentally unreasonable. "Cross-racial financial consultation licensing? Is that even a real requirement?"

"Probably, but I'd bet it's something that's been dormant for decades and never been enforced until now." Mr. Tanaka was making rapid notes. "The beauty of this attack is that even if we can prove the charges are trivial, the process of defending against them will consume enormous time and resources."

"So we're looking at bureaucratic warfare rather than direct business competition?"

"Exactly. And unfortunately, bureaucratic warfare is something I'm extremely qualified to handle."

Over the next three days, Mr. Tanaka threw himself into legal research and regulatory analysis with the kind of obsessive intensity that made his usual attention to detail look casual. He disappeared into the Municipal Records Office for hours at a time, emerging with increasingly thick files of regulatory documentation and case precedents.

"The good news," he announced after his third day of research, "is that Malachar's charges are largely baseless. The regulations he's citing are either obsolete, misapplied, or interpreted beyond their original intent."

"And the bad news?"

"The bad news is that proving they're baseless requires demonstrating comprehensive knowledge of extremely obscure administrative procedures, municipal codes that haven't been updated in forty years, and commercial standards that exist primarily to give officials discretionary enforcement power."

He showed me what appeared to be a legal brief that was approaching fifty pages in length.

"But the really interesting thing I discovered is that if these regulations are applied consistently, Malachar's own operations are in violation of at least a dozen similar administrative requirements."

I looked at his analysis, which included detailed documentation of guild practices that appeared to violate the same obscure regulations being used to attack us.

"So this could backfire on him?"

"Spectacularly. But only if we can demonstrate superior knowledge of the regulatory framework and force consistent application of the standards he's using against us."

That evening, Selena joined us for what had become a strategy session to address the escalating conflict with Malachar.

"The equipment standardization program is also under attack," she reported. "I received an official inquiry about 'unauthorized modification of traditional crafting practices' and 'potential safety hazards from non-standard production methodologies.'"

"Same pattern," Mr. Tanaka observed. "Technically valid concerns that are practically impossible to address within the specified timeframes."

"But there's something else," Selena continued. "Several of our mutual clients have reported increased scrutiny from guild officials. Detailed audits of their expense reports, challenges to deduction claims that were previously accepted without question, demands for additional documentation that seems designed to discourage them from continuing to work with us."

I felt a surge of anger. "He's retaliating against our clients for working with us?"

"Classic intimidation strategy," Mr. Tanaka said grimly. "Make the cost of working with us higher than the benefit, and our client base will disappear regardless of how valuable our services are."

Finn appeared from whatever surveillance position he'd been maintaining. "It gets worse. I've identified at least three guild officials who are conducting what appears to be organized intelligence gathering about our operations. Not casual observation—systematic documentation of our business practices, client meetings, and financial arrangements."

"They're building a case," I realized.

"They're building multiple cases," Mr. Tanaka corrected. "Administrative violations, business practice irregularities, tax compliance issues, and probably several other categories of potential legal problems. The goal isn't to prove any single serious violation—it's to create so many minor problems that defending against them becomes impossible."

Selena was reviewing Mr. Tanaka's legal analysis with the same systematic attention she applied to technical specifications. "What are our options?"

"Fight back with superior bureaucratic warfare," Mr. Tanaka said with the grim satisfaction of someone who had found a challenge worthy of his full capabilities. "Malachar is using his knowledge of obscure regulations to attack us. But I've spent the last three days becoming an expert in those same regulations, plus a dozen others that he's apparently not familiar with."

He pulled out what appeared to be a comprehensive legal strategy document.

"We respond to his charges with complete compliance—not just adequate responses, but responses that exceed all requirements and demonstrate superior understanding of the regulatory framework. Then we file our own complaints documenting his violations of the same standards he's using against us."

"Fight corruption with transparency?" I asked.

"Fight selective enforcement with systematic enforcement," he corrected. "Force the system to apply its own rules consistently, and corruption becomes impossible to maintain."

Over the following week, Mr. Tanaka's response to Malachar's charges transformed from a defensive legal brief into what could only be described as a masterpiece of bureaucratic precision. Every accusation was addressed with comprehensive documentation, detailed regulatory analysis, and extensive precedent research that demonstrated not only our compliance but our superior understanding of the administrative requirements.

But more importantly, his response included formal complaints against guild practices that violated the same regulations being used to attack us, supported by evidence that was comprehensive enough to trigger mandatory official investigations.

"This is either going to resolve the conflict decisively," Mr. Tanaka said as he prepared to file our response documents, "or escalate it to a level that requires direct intervention from regulatory oversight authorities."

"And if it escalates?"

"Then we find out whether systematic optimization can defeat institutional corruption when both sides are playing for keeps."

I looked at the stack of legal documents that represented weeks of intensive research and strategic planning, and realized that our interdimensional business adventure was about to become significantly more dramatic.

Apparently, revolutionizing medieval economics required more than just superior accounting practices.