Chapter 240 Spiderweb
In the situation room in the Kingdom of Lanthanor, Daneel, Luther, Robert, Cassandra, and Faxul were all seated in front of the display trinket which was linked to the one which had been given to Elanev by Daneel in the Black Raven Kingdom.
When the summons for him had come, he had immediately intimated the same to Kellor who was his point of contact.
During the fight, Daneel had felt something from one of the ends of the stadium when Elanev had collapsed to the ground after looking like he had been electrocuted.
This had nothing to do the system, which had only been assessing the moves of the two Fighters on the field with the fight had been going on. Instead, he had been the one to get the feeling that whoever had activated the trinket must have been located there.
Assessing the recent changes that happened to him, he realized that this was probably because of the breakthrough in comprehension level which had happened recently.
Still wishing that he had enough data to find out just what this level was, Daneel had understood that it was most probably the Mage who had accompanied the Black Raven King when he had met with him.
Yet, the expression on the face of the Black Raven King at the moment when he had won the fight had clearly been one of pride which came from winning something through using one's own ability.
This meant that there were two possibilities: either the King was a good enough actor to fake such an expression, or the Mage had acted without there being any reason to do so.
Daneel suspected that the latter was probably the truth, as he trusted his instinct which told him that that level of acting was definitely not something capable of the Black Raven King.
Hence, this meant that the King would definitely want an audience with Elanev for an explanation regarding why he had accepted the hand of friendship even though ulterior means had been used to obtain victory.
Of course, Daneel was assessing everything based on the limited information he had.
Hence, he had been looking forward to this interaction with the King which would definitely yield valuable data with which he could make plans regarding the Black Raven Kingdom.
After the image showed the hallways of the Palace, the enormous Raven in the Throne Room of the Kingdom appeared in front of them.
Although most of them including Daneel had expressions of surprise on their faces seeing the lifelike statue which looked like it would unfurl its wings and fly away at any moment, one among the group had tears in his eyes due to the memories that were flowing through his mind which had been invoked by this image.
"Why did you not say anything or reject when the rules of the match were so clearly broken by the attack at the end?"
If Daneel or the others had been in the room when the Black Raven King had been told about the fact that the old man had used the trinket to obtain victory, they would definitely have marveled at the self-control which the King now had as he had had some time to cool down.
Yet, it seemed that he had bottled up and swallowed down all the emotions of loss and pain from the dishonour that he had felt, resulting in his face being twisted in an expression of extreme seriousness.
"I was breaking the rules as well. Our match was supposed to be between two Eminent Human Fighters, but I was going to use a technique which would have temporarily resulted in me becoming an Exalted Human Fighter. So, I only thought that I was defeated by a similar technique from you. Was that not the case?"
Elanev had been instructed by Daneel to bring out as much emotion as possible in the King by acting as he saw fit.
To the people of the situation room, it became apparent that Elanev had noticed the expression of tight control on the Black Raven King's face, leading him to ask that last question in a slightly provocative tone.
After the question echoed in the room, a silence followed during which the King's face twisted into many expressions which were all carefully caught and analyzed by Daneel who was watching with wide open eyes.
Frustration.
Regret.
Pain.
Loss.
And, helplessness?
The first few emotions were indeed ones that would be felt by a warrior who got to know that he had been cheated out of a fair victory.
Yet, the last one was something which did not make any sense.
Why was the Black Raven King feeling… helpless?
Wasn't he the one who had led the coup to achieve much glory and adoration?
Wasn't he the one on top of everyone in the Black Raven Kingdom?
If so, what could possibly be the reason for him to feel helpless?
Unless… he wasn't actually the one on top?
This line of thought made Daneel reassess each and every memory he had which involved the Black Raven King.
In all of them, there was only one figure in common who stood out as someone who might be the reason for the Black Raven King being helpless: the old man who was always beside him.
Was he actually… under this old man's control?
This represented the terrifying possibility that the actual enemy had been hidden to them all along, stringing them along while making them think that the King was the one they had to target.
In this matter, Daneel definitely wasn't jumping to conclusions.
The sheer amount of helplessness meant that it was definitely not due to regretful thoughts of placing a countermeasure like that in the first place.
This helplessness was one that came from being unable to control one's own fate, which was something Daneel had seen before in Eldra's eyes.
Hence, there was no mistaking that the King was definitely a puppet.
Right now, it was as if they had been in an unseen web so far that had just become visible due to this realization.
Back in the throne room, the Black Raven King had finally begun to speak.
"Leave. I do not want to see your face again."
Anger was now apparent on his face, as every time he saw the one whom he had 'defeated', he was reminded of the incident which made him loathe himself to the core.
Meanwhile, Elanev had begun to slightly panic because he knew how important it was for him to stay in the Palace.
Thinking quickly, he said, "Oh? I thought your word meant something?"
Indeed, the Black Raven King had given his word that he would be allowed into the Palace for as long as he wanted.
Remembering this fact himself, the anger on the Black Raven King's face only increased before reaching a point and subsiding, like a balloon which had filled up and suddenly burst.
A defeated and completely hopeless expression replaced the anger, while the King leaned back and said, "It does. You can be in the Palace, but I just ... don't want to see you. Leave."
Knowing that it really was time for him to make an exit, Elanev only nodded and started walking in the opposite direction.
Yet, at the last moment before he left the throne room, he paused and turned around.
Not hearing the door close, the Black Raven King had also looked up to see what was the hold-up.
Looking straight into those eyes which looked oh so weary and tired right now, Elanev said, "King, forgive me if I speak out of turn, but I just thought I would say something that I have learned by traveling across the continent. A warrior is one who tries to do his best with what he can control, instead of worrying about the things which he can't. It is how much he can accomplish while doing so which decides exactly how great of a warrior he is. It's too bad. I was looking forward to sparring with someone whose skill I truly admired. Farewell."
Leaving these words, Elanev left and closed the doors of the Throne Room behind him.
As he did so, if he had seen the expression of the King which looked like that of someone who had found a rope to grab onto in an overwhelming storm which was threatening to drown him in its fury, he would definitely have known that he had accomplished what he had set out to do: to continue the friendship with the King in order to get enough information to serve the Kingdom of Lanthanor.