Chapter 363 Trend
PSSSSSHHHHH
By the time Daneel managed to deactivate the spell technique, stop the fire spell then cast water, and then ice spells to stop the fire raging on his head, his hair had already disappeared for the most part.
Even though this was very disconcerting, right now, he only had a wide smile on his face, as if he didn't care about it at all.
If anybody could see him, they would definitely have thought that the King of Lanthanor had gone crazy.
His eyes, which were staring at his palms that were held in the air, had a manic look in them, while there was almost no hair left on his head.
Soot was on his face and hands, as the fire hadn't been strong enough to break the tough skin of an Exalted Human.
Suddenly, a wild, crazy laugh could be heard in the secret room.
Of course, it came from Daneel, who couldn't believe his own eyes.
5 TIMES! A 5 TIME INCREASE!
It was unbelievable.
Even his master's spell model hadn't amplified spells to such a degree.
With this spell technique alone, he could rival a Warrior Mage even though he was only an Exalted Human.
He wanted to try again, but just as he was going to, the voices once again began to drive him insane.
Hence, with a feeling of slight sadness, he ordered the system to deactivate the inheritance before walking towards the washbasin in deep thought to wipe off the soot.
Although the power increase was shocking, there were two problems: control, and the damn voices.
Well, nothing could be perfect. And there was no way that they could make him admit defeat.
Resolving to find ways to circumvent them, he looked up into the mirror.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Seeing an almost bald man looking back at him, Daneel had actually gotten terrified.
What with switching bodies during the vision and hearing so many foreign thoughts, his psyche had already become fragile without his knowledge.
Hence, seeing someone else in the mirror had almost been the last straw.
It took a moment for Daneel to realize that it was him, after which he touched his head, making more hair fall off and expose the scalp.
Hoping against hope, he asked, "System, is there any spell to hasten hair growth?"
[Negative. Healing spell can heal damaged hair follicles, but hair growth cannot be hastened by any spell in system's database.]
This answer made him feel like screaming again.
...
A day had passed since all the appalling events during the Olympics, and although had fled back to their homes in fear of something similar happening again, most stayed back.
As reporters from the Network asked around, they got the information that many were staying due to the words of the King when he had said staying and celebrating the end of the tournament would be like spitting in the enemy's face.
The funny thing was that Daneel hadn't even said this during his address. Instead, Eloise had floated this later on through the Network, and it had spread throughout the people enough that they assumed that the King had spoken them before.
Seeing this end result and smiling sweetly, Eloise played with her hair in the booth that belonged to the Kingdom of Lanthanor.
Everyone was anxiously waiting for the King, but she knew him enough and trusted him to know that he wasn't someone unaccountable.
Since her awakening, it was as if her mind had also been changed, allowing her to think faster and get more ideas.
She had gotten many for the betterment of Lanthanor, and she was excited to share them with the King, and also in the process, find some time alone with him.
Just as she was going through her plans of trying to make him change his feelings for her, a man appeared in the center of the booth.
Inside, there were Luther, Cassandra, Eloise, Sister Xuan, Molan, and Faxul.
"Enemy infiltration!"
Cassandra's veins had been strung tight ever since that incident when the King had been taken away, so now, seeing someone unfamiliar appear before them, she screamed this and was about to cast a fire eagle at them.
"STOP!"
Hearing this shout from Luther, she paused her actions and stared.
Indeed, now that she got a chance to look at him, he looked similar.
Eloise had also thought that somehow, someone had snuck into their booth, but she had been quicker.
That same sharp chin, strong nose, and green eyes.
It was the King.
Only, his head was like an egg, bare and shiny.
"M-my Lord?"
Luther was the first to ask, but the King of Lanthanor just coughed and said, "Nothing to comment here. Is everything ready for the award ceremony?"
"Yes, My Lord, but-"
"I said there's nothing! Let's go!"
"Sir, it's not your hair!"
Hearing this, the King actually blushed slightly, and those watching couldn't help but break out into smiles.
Of course, the smiles were only because they were controlling laughter.
This was not the case with Sister Xuan, who didn't hesitate to chuckle, making the others struggle even harder to control themselves.
The main reason was that the King was clearly embarrassed about his own look. If he had appeared confident and carried it off, maybe it would have looked more natural.
As if realizing this himself, Daneel tried to straighten his back and look more measured.
However, that image of the shiny head kept coming back to him.
Ok. Enough was enough.
Firmly pushing that image out, he asked in a dignified voice, "What is it, Luther?"
"Someone who says they represent those that took part in the tournament in Axelor's team has requested an audience with you. They are currently in the waiting room in the stadium."
"Hmm. All right. I'll meet him after the ceremony. Shall we go?"
"Yes, sir."
Nodding and getting more control over himself, Daneel teleported away.
However, the last thing that he heard before disappearing from the room made him blush fully again.
It was his close friend, who said, "You know, this is the second time. Back in the academy-"
...
The stadium which had recently been in shambles had been completely restored thanks to the relentless efforts of all the reinforcements that had come from all 4 remaining Kingdoms.
The only change was that there was now a large podium in the center, on which many people were seated.
These were the leaders of the teams of the three Kingdoms which had come first, second and third, and they were set to be felicitated in a few moments.
In the stands, in the front row, Norcet, his son and the mage were all sitting and looking at the stage with smiles on their faces.
They had gotten the message this morning that the King really appreciated their efforts in uncovering those bastards from Axelor, and that he had invited them to be on the stage and be honored in front of the entire continent.
However, surprising Luther, who had delivered the message, Norcet had denied the offer and asked for something else in return-a job.
He had information that Lanthanor would be entering the delivery business soon, so he was very interested in helming those operations.
Although Daneel had been slightly startled, he had agreed after realizing that this was very smart.
"I still think you should have taken the offer. Hey, you only live once. You've missed the chance to boast to your grandsons that you were felicitated in front of the entire continent!"
As the mage said this, Norcet chuckled and answered, "No thanks, I'll settle for keeping the possibility of having grandsons alive in the first place. You don't know those people. Who knows that they won't come to massacre my entire family out of spite? The King can say that he will protect me, but both of us know that he can't guarantee anything. This is also why he agr-"
Along with Norcet, the entire stadium went silent as they saw a man appear on the stage.
The sun shone brilliantly on his shiny head, but due to the serious expression on his face and his straight back, it didn't look odd at all.
Of course, some laughed, but they were in the minority.
"ALL HAIL KING DANEEL!"
As one, cheering began, as everyone recalled the incredible way in which the King of Lanthanor had tackled the situation yesterday and saved everyone.
With a smile, Daneel was about to begin the ceremony, but something he saw in the crowd made him halt mid-step and gawk for a moment before regaining his senses.
One by one, more and more shiny heads started to appear everywhere, as people had started to mimic the King, thinking that this was the new fashion.
Daneel wanted to stop it, but he could think of no way to do so.
In this way, the 'egghead' trend in Angaria began.
….
3 hours later, still feeling slightly embarrassed, Daneel walked into the waiting room but paused when he saw two people glaring at each other.
One was Marcus, and the other was a man who looked vaguely similar to the one whose most important organ he had severed using the mosquitoes.