Chapter 216 Aftermath
On seeing the King retire to his chambers after beheading the Vice Sect Master, it had become clear to Luther and Kellor who had been following behind him that he was in no state to handle anything right now.
Thus, along with the help of Faxul, the three set out to address the most pressing issues at the moment.
First of all, the job to tally all those who had passed away in the assault on the Palace had to be taken care of.
Faxul volunteered for this. Under his supervision, soldiers with trinkets which held the information about all the servants and soldiers in the Palace of Lanthanor were dispatched in order to collect all the bodies.
As the final count came in, Faxul sighed as he too felt that this disaster could have been avoided if the King had directed the situation in a different way.
Still, the trust he had in Daneel was unshakeable. Knowing that his friend would definitely rebound from this as a much more mature and competent King, he resolved to work harder to reach his goals.
The final count came out to be 189 total lives lost in this attack on the Palace, of which 50 were the soldiers who had been pinned on the walls.
While the ministers began the process of handling the remuneration and pension for all the families of those who had passed away, Kellor and Luther handled the disposal of the bodies of the Sect Members.
Their objective was to find any clues regarding the location of the remainder of the Withering Leaf Sect. After all, the Sect Master hadn't participated in this fight, along with all the weaker members of the Sect who had been seen fleeing the Valley of Mist.
As the majority of the strength of the Sect had already been decimated in this event, there was no doubt that the members remaining were just a husk of the force which had once stood on par with the Kingdoms in Central Angaria.
Thus, on this day, the Kingdom of Lanthanor had done something which hadn't been accomplished by any other force in Central Angaria in the past few centuries: they had managed to effectively destroy a force of equal power as them without taking many casualties.
This was what was observed by all those keeping a close watch on everything that was happening.
They had seen the forces of the Sect massacre their way into the Palace, but not a single soul had exited for many hours.
After almost an entire day, bloody sacks that looked like they contained butchered meat were burned in a clearing outside the Palace.
This was enough to let the others know about the shocking truth that Lanthanor had killed hundreds of Human Mages and even a Warrior Mage by sustaining the losses of just some common folk.
Indeed, when seen through their eyes, this was such a good bargain that they wished they had the ability to strike one like it.
Alas, such was the cruelty of the continent which emphasized power over everything else. The value of common people was nothing compared to Mages and Fighters.
Of course, although there were a few who did not think the same, the majority of those on the peak lived with this attitude.
This entire chain of events served to bring about a reestimation in terms of the power and risk the Kingdom of Lanthanor represented in the dossiers of all the forces around it.
Each and every force was shaken into action, sending more spies and also assigning more strategists to consider every possibility in case they did have to fight against Lanthanor.
Thus, it seemed as if a storm was forming all over Central Angaria with Lanthanor at the center of it.
Yet, the man who had caused all this had just gotten up from the chair in which he had gotten drunk and fallen asleep last night after his father had magically pulled out 4 wine bottles which the both of them had downed without pause.
Seeing his father still snoring on the chair in front of him, Daneel first stretched his body to allow the blood to flow back to all the parts which had gone numb.
After a few moments of painful relaxation, he walked to the full-length mirror in his bedroom before pausing and looking at himself while ignoring the pain in his head from the hangover.
His hair was a mess, while his shoes and robes were caked with dried blood.
"Dumb, dumb, dumb.", he muttered, still amazed and disgusted at his own folly of making grand plans for the entire continent when he was still an ant who could mostly be crushed by any random member of the Big 4.
Shaking his head, he did what his father had advised him to do: although the pain from the cost of his mistake still mauled his heart with each second that passed, he began the process of moving on while branding the lessons learned onto his mind.
Although his goal was still to unite Central Angaria, he would no longer shirk away from being ruthless when needed.
And if even the thought to focus on the bigger picture while ignoring the one in front of him came to his mind, he would squash it with everything he had.
Thus, after freshening up, the King of Lanthanor walked out of the bathroom as a new man.
Calling for a meeting through the oathstone with all his advisors, Daneel walked back to the same chair and sat down, startling his father awake who first clutched his head feeling the strong hangover that resulted from drinking without abandon.
After a few moments, he looked up to gaze into a set of clear eyes.
The indecisiveness and turmoil he had seen yesterday was gone, replaced by a clarity which meant that his son had managed to escape from the well of pain which had almost sucked him into its endless depths.
Smiling wide, he tried to get up but gave up knowing that they would have a meeting here anyway.
A few moments later, Luther, Faxul, and Kellor arrived and shot glances at Robert who had unkempt hair and a haggard face.
As Robert shrugged in response, Daneel began the meeting.
"I know what you all must be thinking. Believe me, I think the same. I made a mistake, and all I can say is that it will never repeat for as long as there is life in me. Now, is there anything that should immediately be brought to my attention?"
The gravity with which Daneel said these words reflected just how much he meant them.
For these three who had gone through life and death with him, it was enough to set their minds at ease.
After all, the King had already shown multiple times that he was a very, very fast learner.
"My King, there is something… wrong with the bodies of the Vice Sect Master and the Eldest Prince. I think the best way to explain is for you to see it yourself."
It was Kellor who spoke out, making Daneel's eyebrow rise as he wondered whether it was tied to the sudden boost in power of the two who were definitely much weaker the last time he had met them.
"All right. Let's go right now."
Proceeding to walk towards the door, Daneel startled the others who had been thinking that the King would take it slow as he had just recovered from what looked like a very deep internal conflict.
After all, in his eyes, action was the best thing to distract him from his own mind which was still dwelling on the contorted expressions of all the servants and soldiers who wouldn't be going back to their families anymore from this day.
...
In an underground room with tables on which lay numerous items which had been extracted from the bodies of the Withering Leaf Sect Members.
One table in the center held a headless body which looked like it had been chewed on and thrown away by a beast which didn't like the taste.
On approaching the body, Daneel's face took on a shocked expression due to the sight of the left chest of the Withering Leaf Vice Sect Master.
It was as if a head had been grafted onto the skin of the man, with half of it under the skin while the other half looked like it was trying to get out of whatever shackles it was bound by.
This could be discerned only due to the fact that unlike the rest of the body of the Vice Sect Master which was riddled with holes and injuries, this face was spotless.
It was bald, with its features resembling that of a middle-aged man completely with wrinkles and laugh lines along his mouth.
Unable to make any sense of the situation, Daneel laid his hand on the body and ordered the system to analyze this strange appendage.
[Analysis begun. Estimated time till completion: 1 hour. Please maintain contact.]
Hearing the notification, Daneel turned to Kellor beside him and said, "Announce that the biggest culprit who caused thousands of deaths in the Kingdom, the Eldest Prince, will be brought to justice by public execution at the same spot. This time, there will be no mishaps."