Chapter 154 Happiness
After reaching the King's chambers, Kellor and Faxul joined them to take a seat in front of the dragon's heart.
Indeed, Daneel had already added his father to this close circle whom he consulted with to take major decisions.
Although Cassandra and Aran were also in this group, they were currently at the border taking care of a few tasks that Daneel had given them.
Taking his seat, the King of Lanthanor directly launched into the agenda for the meeting he had called.
"Everyone, it is time to shift our focus to the satisfaction of the people. Since I have taken the throne, multiple issues have popped up which did not let me focus on this matter which I hold very close to my heart. Now that we have a little breathing space, I think it is time we begin to direct our attention towards making the people of Lanthanor happier."
For Daneel, the most important thing right now was to gain more power and make Lanthanor and Central Angaria stronger in order to defend against the incoming threat of the Church.
To get to this goal, the most important thing he could do right now as to increase the satisfaction level of the Kingdom so that he could both gain EXP to potentially upgrade the system and unlock the Empire Spirit so that he could obtain answers to at least some of the questions that were in his head.
This list of questions had only been growing more and more with time.
Only yesterday, he had been scratching his head wondering just why there was such a complex method to brand people. Weren't there easier alternatives? Besides, why use such a method which was apparently very costly to reverse?
Again, Daneel could only scratch his head. It seemed as if the more he governed the Kingdom of Lanthanor, the thicker the mist became which enshrouded its past.
His instincts told him that the Empire Spirit was the key to unlocking everything and blowing away this mist. Thus, he itched to do so as soon as possible while also being handsomely rewarded by the system for increasing the satisfaction level of the Kingdom.
After a brief silence, the 3 elderly men in the room exchanged a glance between them.
Although Daneel couldn't understand just what this glance meant, his father's words made their message loud and clear.
"Son, you remind us three old men of a tale told in Lanthanor by our mothers. Do you want to hear it? It might be a bit offensive, I'm warning you."
Puzzled, Daneel nodded while Faxul also looked on wondering just what this story was.
With a smile on his face, Robert began reciting the story which had actually been forcefully banned by the government decades ago because it was an embarrassment to the Lanthanore Family.
"It is not known exactly when this story occurred, but it is a fact that it was definitely before the wall that separated the inner and outer cities had been built. A certain King of Lanthanor had three sons who were equally smart and worthy of the throne. Not wishing to simply have the eldest take the throne, the King gave them a task: each of them would be given 50 citizens to manage. The three groups of citizens would come from the same backgrounds, and they would be isolated from each other. The princes would each be given a certain amount of money which they had to use to make the people happier. After a period of three months, the King himself would examine each and decide the winner who would be crowned as the new King of Lanthanor."
Pausing here, Robert saw that Daneel was listening with rapt attention.
Indeed, Daneel found himself being pulled into the shoes of the princes who had been given this task.
If he were in such a situation, what would he do?
While he pondered on the possibilities, he noticed that his friend was also doing the same.
After a few moments, both of them looked up to see that Robert was waiting for them to finish making their choices.
"Care to let us know what you two younglings would do? I'm curious."
Luther, who usually sat with an indisposed expression, straightened his back and leaned forward as if he were also very interested in what the choice of the King would be.
As for Kellor, his eyes seemed to be shining, and Daneel could swear he saw mirth concealed in their depths which confused him slightly.
In fact, he was quite confident that he could obtain the answer by simply asking the system. Still, he wanted to test himself.
Even back on Earth, Daneel had always been interested in theorycraft. Now finding an opportunity to apply it fully, he had used all the wits he had to come up with his own solution.
Gesturing at Faxul to go first, he folded his arms while again assessing all the options that were present.
"I would use that money to give the people better houses and also better jobs."
Hearing the answer, the other 4 individuals in the room smiled slightly.
This was, after all, the most foolproof way to definitely increase the happiness of the people.
Better living conditions either through better income, more opportunities or better residential facilities would indeed make a family's life better.
In a way, this answer also showcased Faxul's mindset perfectly. He was someone who had a good head on his shoulders who could both follow orders effectively and also think for himself when the need arose.
But was this the best method to win?
"If I only wanted to win the competition, I would hire prostitutes to woo the single men in the group. The remaining money would be directly given to the people in the form of some sort of lucky draw a day before the time given ends."
Daneel had given the answer while looking down because he had still been in the process of eliminating a few other possibilities which he also liked.
Hearing no one speak, he looked up to see Faxul, Robert, Kellor and Luther looking at him with the expression of those who were laying their eyes on a complete stranger.
Was this still the same King who had taken the throne of Lanthanor after being proclaimed as the King due to his rightful nature?
Yet, a few moments later, the shock turned into a wide smile before breaking into open laughter.
While Luther chuckled to himself, Robert and Kellor laughed out loud raucously.
After a few seconds, Kellor spoke first.
"My King, I never expected you to have such a methodical mind which was not ... ahem ... naive."
"Son, well done. If I didn't raise you myself, I would think that you had grown up while taking training to become someone who would rule a Kingdom. I will not ask how you trained your mind to think like so, but like the Grand Court Mage said, I am happy that you are not disillusioned enough to do what is 'right' instead of doing what is needed. In fact, if I didn't know your character, I would be scared that Lanthanor is in the hands of such a crafty King!"
Grinning widely, Robert continued the story.
"One of the princes did something similar, but his idea wasn't nearly as good as yours. He hired prostitutes to woo all the men in the group, not caring about the effect that would have in the long term. The men would also be given money directly so that they could take it home to make their families happy. Of course, those who weren't interested were given better jobs. When the King came to check, he saw not one even slightly dissatisfied citizen. But the tale ends here. It is not known whether he chose this crafty prince, or one of the other princes who had done simpler, safer things like what Faxul had suggested."
Indeed, Daneel wasn't the kind who ignored options such as these. Even though he had a bottom line, he was definitely not the type to be completely just to the point of not even considering every option available because they weren't 'rightful', at least compared to the moral standards on Earth.
Feeling glad that he hadn't chosen to give the option where addictive drugs which wouldn't cause bodily harm could be mixed in the water or food to increase the happiness directly, he continued the discussion.
After all, when the fates of millions of people hung in the balance, the means could be ignored to some extent if the destination could be reached effectively.