Chapter 291 Arafell
After reaching the Palace, Daneel first checked with the system whether Eloise was all right. On ensuring that nothing untoward had happened, he reached his chambers before waiting for Luther who had been teleported over by Kellor.
After the man entered, Daneel said "Sit," and poured them both a glass of wine.
Sipping the wine, he was reminded of his plan with the wine suppliers about the government being the one which would do the imports.
Although it hadn't been implemented yet, he had high hopes of adding it to one of the benefits one would get when one availed the services of the Bank of Angaria.
In this matter, Daneel was eager to use the model from Earth where organizations would give multiple perks to customers in order to entice them to use their service. Because he was offering a unique proposition, such things would also push people towards taking the chance and trusting the Bank.
Putting aside the matter for now, Daneel noticed that the usual calm that he had always noticed in Luther had been disturbed for some reason.
The man was also known to have one of the best strategic minds in the Kingdom, so it was only natural that he must have guessed that Daneel had seen the emotions in his eyes when the Hidden Kill Sect had been mentioned.
After taking a sip, Luther spoke without allowing the King to voice his question.
"Your Majesty, I have a - history with the Hidden Kill Sect. I cannot tell you about it, and I hope you understand why. If you still decide to order me to answer using the oath I have sworn to you, then I will have no choice but to die."
Hearing these words spoken in a tone as cold as ice, Daneel was bewildered.
Luther was actually the commander whom he trusted most to carry out whatever he ordered. He did not know whether it was due to the steadiness of his character or the resourcefulness that he had displayed, but Daneel knew that here was a fiercely loyal man who would do anything to fulfill his orders.
Yet, he had chosen to speak like so?
Thinking for a bit, Daneel realized something and asked, "Is it because you have sworn an oath not to divulge any details about your association with them?"
Without answering, Luther just took another sip from the wine.
The response was quite clear in his eyes, and Daneel understood that he had guessed right.
This was truly a sticky situation.
"Would the information you have allow me to take control of the Hidden Kill Sect?", he asked.
As he did so, he realized again the shortcomings of the oath. Although Luther was clearly forbidden from speaking about whatever he was asking, he could still give the answer through his expression.
This was because the oath only controlled the conscious actions of a person. Here, Luther was letting the emotions show in his eyes unconsciously. Even though he controlled them after due to the compulsion from the oath, it did not stop Daneel from noticing them and gleaning what he wanted.
Right now, in Luther's eyes, he could see slight shock and also a slight regret.
Pondering on them, Daneel realized that he could extract the answer by deriving the reasons behind them.
The shock must be because of him voicing his intention to take over the Hidden Kill Sect. He had never spoken about such things before, so his ambition was definitely something that would startle a commander.
As for the regret, it was very possible that it was due to the fact that he did have such information, but he regretted not being able to speak about it and help the King.
Although there were other explanations, Daneel discarded them as this one seemed to fit the most.
Going with his instincts, he took it as a "yes" and said, "I understand. Leave."
Hearing this, Luther looked at him a bit longer before standing up, bowing and leaving the room.
As he was doing so, Daneel realized that the usual strength that he had always seen in the man's broad shoulders had been crippled in some way. They seemed weighed down now, as if the memory of whatever he was hiding was crushing him.
At this moment, all Daneel felt was pity for the man. Throughout their interaction, the one underlying emotion that he had felt was pain.
Whatever past Luther had with the Hidden Kill Sect, it definitely wasn't pretty.
"Kellor, send over the information about the Kingdom of Arafell, too."
Sending this message, Daneel relaxed for a moment on his bed while waiting for the information to be sent.
As he did so, he recalled the conversation he had had with Faxul before when he had told him about the plan to unite the two Kingdoms.
After putting this matter aside, he had actually taken a drop of blood of Faxul's in order to analyze exactly how he had been able to skip levels like he had.
Of course, the answer from the system was the same: an upgrade was needed to understand the reason.
The upgrade would lift the veil over so many things around Daneel that it would definitely affect all of his plans to a large degree.
Hearing the knock on the door, Daneel walked to it and took the information cubes that were presented to him by the messenger.
Sitting down, he first started with the Kingdom of Arafell.
2 minutes later, Daneel smiled helplessly as he realized that this was a Kingdom that would be very hard to take under his wing.
In the case of the Kingdom of the Elves, although the ruler had been respected in general, he had managed to find out something which he used to cripple her public image that had allowed him to change the result of the elections to place Eldra on the Throne.
As for the Black Raven Kingdom, he had trapped the King into taking a decision that would turn the people against him. Again, by changing public opinion and helping someone who had a strong claim to the Throne, he had managed to "dominate" it too.
In both cases, the level of devotion that the people had for their ruler wasn't very high.
Yet, in the Kingdom of Arafell, the Queen was someone who was most loved by the gentle giants and citizens.
The Queen did everything in her power to make sure that her citizens lived happily. As he went through the records, Daneel couldn't even see one blemish. In fact, he actually felt envious of someone who was ruling a Kingdom so effectively.
The Arafellians almost never went out of their way to create trouble, but they were some of the most horrifying foes if provoked. Their main source of income came from the sales of Weapon Trinkets, with their Kingdom being the sole source of high-level equipment that was sought after by all the forces in the continent.
All forging of trinkets took place inside their Royal Palace, which was protected by a formation as strong as the Dragon Heart Formation of Lanthanor.
Hence, any attempts to uncover secrets were futile.
To Daneel, it looked… too perfect. Yet, he wondered whether he was just being overly critical because of his motive.
Regardless, it definitely would be one of the hardest hurdles he would have to overcome if he wanted to unite the Central Continent to face the Church of Rectitude.
Coming to the Hidden Kill Sect, one shocking thing he found was that this force was apparently rumored to be inhabited by an ailing Champion level powerhouse. Yet, his last appearance had been over 3 decades ago, so no one knew whether he was alive or dead.
One thing that was clear was that this was someone who was severely injured, and hence spent most of his time healing in hibernation. The fact that this information was present felt strange in itself, and it almost felt as if it had been disseminated by the Sect for some purpose.
Putting aside the information cubes, Daneel took a deep breath as he fixed these two new targets in his mind.
Getting up, he checked with the system to see what his two guests were doing.
Seeing that they were idly talking to each other in a courtyard, he decided to make his way over.
It was finally time to find out more information about the Big 4.