Chapter 90 A Humble King?!
Finally, after a minute or so, Daneel realized that he knew nothing about armies and war. Even when he asked the system, all it knew was the data collected from the library. It reminded him of a famous search engine back on earth; he could access any information he wanted but using that information effectively was something he had to do himself.
There was also no time to check the System Store for tools to help him. The live feed was still on, and the people were watching him. He could not open the store and browse right now especially when Cassandra had advised him to make a decision fast.
Reflecting on these thoughts, Daneel decided what to do and proceeded to speak into the private channel.
"Cassandra and the other commanders. I will be honest with you: I have just ascended the throne and I do not have any knowledge about war and armies. I hope to learn everything I can as soon as possible, but at this moment, the only thing I can do is to rely on your experience. The enemy army was waiting for the forces attacking the palace to break through and assassinate the King. I have mastered the formation before they could do so, thereby trapping all of them and putting a stop to their plans. My guess is that the enemy only assembled that many soldiers to directly enter the Kingdom and take control both inside and out by coordinating with whichever force took control of the oathstone. I only say this because if I did not manage to do what I did, then there would be someone else talking to you right now, possibly commanding you to surrender and let the enemy in."
This was what Daneel had analyzed from the present situation. He had tried to place himself in the shoes of the enemy, thus realizing that the oathstone was probably the key. With the oathstone, the army could be ordered to stand down, letting the enemy army take control of the area around the border according to whatever agreement was reached.
He knew that he was not wise or powerful enough to do everything by himself. Every step of the way, he had never hesitated to take help when he needed it. Be it taking Faxul's help to manage the faction or Elanev's and the Minister's in order to sell the honey traps, Daneel always knew who and when to ask.
Now, hearing him say this, another stunned silence appeared in the channel.
Meanwhile, on the border wall in front of which the enormous army of Axelor who were trying to decide their next move.
Three people stood in a circle looking into each other's eyes as they wondered whether they had really heard right.
Of the three, one was a woman with long, red hair who was wearing what looked like leather pants. Her white shirt also had a leather waistcoat on while a grey cloak fluttered in the wind. Even with the tight shirt and waistcoat, her perfectly toned body and ample assets made many soldiers standing nearby steal glances at this commander who was known by a peculiar name: Fire Demon.
With piercing red eyes, high cheekbones and a straight, pointed nose, the freckles adorning her cheeks were famous for becoming more visible on her face when she became angry, which was apparently quite often according to the recruits of the Mage Corps.
The second man had a litany of scars on his face, as if most of his life had been spent on the battlefield. Wearing black clothes with what looked like padded armor on top, his bulging muscles seemed to be trying to break free of the confines they had been placed in. His beard and hair were black with many white streaks running through them, while his nose looked like it had been broken many times.
The last man wore casual clothes as if he were a citizen out to buy vegetables in the market on a normal day. He seemed young, with glossy brown hair, twinkling eyes, and a sharp jawline. His lips which usually had a mischievous smile on them were now slightly open, as if the words he had heard were too shocking to take in with his regular expression.
All three had to take a little bit of time to recover from the surprise they felt from hearing Daneel speak.
Being promoted to commanders under the previous King's reign, they were used to curses and shouts from the King whenever they failed to meet his impossible wishes to win unwinnable fights and obtain rare resources. They were used to numbing themselves and trying their best to save as many soldiers as possible while not losing their lives themselves in the many perilous situations they had to go through. Their only consolation was that the King at least knew that placing inexperienced nobles in their position would only spell disaster the likes of which the Kingdom could not bear.
Thus, their job mostly consisted of one constant which they tried to adhere to: listen to orders, don't talk back. The only thing stopping the army from completely being wiped out was the King's ample military knowledge which he apparently obtained from a secret room in the library which was said to contain books exclusive to the Lanthanor Family. It was just that despite that knowledge, he often could not resist giving out impossible orders for a chance to feed his greed for power.
Hence, hearing Daneel speak so civilly completely threw them off. Although they did not know the circumstances under which he became King, this was after all a man who perfectly knew that their lives were in his hands. In cases like these, it was rare to see someone still maintain a modicum of civility without speaking as if they owned them.
"A humble King?!"
This was why this realization caused the second silence in the channel.
"I like him."
Cassandra spoke out loud, breaking the other two out of their thoughts.
"It is a welcome voice indeed.", said the man in the casual clothes, as a wide smile appeared on his face.
The third man didn't speak, but the other two could tell that he was also pleased judging by his clear eyes which were usually clouded with unintelligible emotions.
"What do you think? Is his analysis correct?", asked Cassandra, still talking amongst themselves while Daneel waited for this second silence to end.
In a gruff voice which reminded one of the sounds made when sheets of sandpaper were rubbed against each other, the scarred man spoke.
"No. Axelor definitely wouldn't do that."
"I think the same and I know you do too, Cassandra. Although he's half-correct, the other half is almost definitely wrong based on everything we have seen. Who volunteers to tell our new King that he's wrong and find out how he will take our 'suggestion'? We all know what happened the previous time I gave one. My ears still ring from the curses I heard that day, so it has to be one of you two.", said the man in casual clothes, while all three shivered slightly as if remembering bad memories buried away in the confines of their brains.