Chapter 96 Satisfaction Level
"System, is there no mention in the memoirs about the satisfaction specified by the Empire Spirit being the satisfaction level of the people?'
[Affirmative. Many Kings have speculated that when the general populace reach a certain level of satisfaction in the ruling authority, the Empire Spirit's conditions might be met giving access to 'invaluable knowledge'. System has detected a trend in Kings' decisions when there was an attempt to raise the level. Raising satisfaction level is a resource-consuming process, and Lanthanor has always been under attack by enemies at the border, making it so that decreasing the budget of the army was not possible. There was also no way to drastically increase the amount of resources available. Thus, it was only possible to shift around resources, which meant that one section or the other always had a low satisfaction level.]
Daneel nodded, hearing the conclusion given by the system. He had also noticed something after upgrading the system: it seemed to be able to better analyze things now, instead of just storing and recalling information. Yet, there had been no such analysis during the war situation. Thus, the thought came in Daneel's mind that the system was incapable of leaps of logic and creativity that a human was capable of. It could only use the data it had to notice patterns and relay them to him, allowing him to make the final conclusions needed.
Only, in this case, a conclusion had been made. Thus, to test out his observation, he asked the system whether this was the case.
[Affirmative. System exists to reward and better enable host on the path to World Domination. A conclusion was given this time due to the clear nature of the data. Many Kings specifically wrote about their attempts and their frustrations.]
Nodding, Daneel felt happy that this matter was resolved. In the end, the system was just a helping hand in his journey. With this realization, he resolved to depend on himself for the most part without getting used to relying on the system too much.
The decision he had to make right now was regarding whether to buy this tool or not. 7500 EXP was a lot, but the part about the "Kingdom Management Rewards" section which would allow him to gain more EXP and Kingdom Points for 'satisfaction milestones' made it quite tempting.
Yet, before he could make the decision, Kellor knocked on the door.
Deciding to make a decision after he could completely relax and be by himself, Daneel walked to the door and opened it.
"My Lord, all the people you asked for have been assembled. They are presently waiting for you in the throne room."
"All right. Let's go."
........
Before going to the throne room, Daneel decided to first make a visit to the Palace Tailor.
In charge of all official clothing needs for the nobility, the tailor's room was located three hallways from the King's.
As he entered, he saw rows of shelves in which hung numerous dresses in all kinds of dazzling colors.
The tailor had already been summoned with the help of Kellor.
"My King, congratulations on ascending the throne! How can this humble servant assist you?"
The man kneeling on the ground had a slight tremor in his voice, as if he was afraid that Daneel would punish him for something.
Using the oathstone, Daneel asked Kellor what the matter was.
"He is one of those who used the relation he has with one of the princes to get away from a horrible crime. His daughter ran away with a poor boy who ran away from the slums, and he used the police force to find them, kill the boy and drag his daughter home. There are many like this in the palace who used the princes' influence to evade the courts and use resources they are not supposed to have access to. My Lord, you must make the decision regarding how you will administer justice to all those affected by the actions of these animals. But I must remind you, My Lord, that there are also some good people just like me who did whatever they could to stand on the side of morality."
As the man looked up into Daneel's glaring eyes, he suddenly felt as if a mountain was bearing down on his back, threatening to crush him under the pressure.
"Did you use the police force to catch and kill the man your daughter ran away with?", Daneel asked, wanting to hear the truth from the man's own mouth.
"Ye-yes, My Lord. Please forgive me! The prince promised that there wouldn't be any problems! It's all his fault!"
Hearing this, Daneel's palms tightened into fists as he couldn't help but shake with anger. Of course, he hadn't forgotten all the transgressions made by these despicable people which resulted in people gathering in the streets in floods hoping for a purge. He had already decided on what to do, and his decision only became firmer after hearing this account.
Deactivating the Weighty Gaze, he watched as the man slumped to the ground with sweat beading on his forehead. This sight disgusted Daneel, who couldn't believe that the man had tried to push the blame away on the one who had enabled him although he had been the one to carry out the wrongdoing.
Speaking through the oathstone, Daneeel gave all the details to Kellor and told him to get started on the implementation right away. His original plan had been to wait for the coronation, but decided to change this due to this encounter.
Not deigning the kneeling man with a reply, Daneel simply strode to a nearby shelf and chose a red-gold robe that wasn't emblazoned with any crest. After selecting matching pants of the same color, he walked to the changing room nearby.
As he came out, he looked like a different person. All royal robes had the self-fitting enchantment added to them, thus the robe fit him perfectly, outlining his well-built athletic body.
To Kellor, it looked like a stone in the sand which turned out to be a diamond after polishing. Daneel's confidence which had slowly grown with time could now be seen in the way he carried himself.
This was something which often needed special etiquette classes to accomplish. Yet, Daneel had already started on the path to natural elegance mainly due to his personality which had been shaped by everything he had gone through.
As he walked into the throne room, the people congregated on both sides of the hallway were first struck speechless while they saw him enter and walk towards the throne.
Daneel wasn't presumptuous enough to sit on the throne and act like a ruler in front of all these people who had made everything possible. He simply wanted to say a few words, thus he was making his way to the raised part of the room where the throne was also located.
Yet, looking at him, the people who had gathered felt like they were seeing a different person. Although he still had a long way to go from being someone who could silence the masses with a single gaze, Daneel already looked like someone who was worthy of being acknowledged by the people of Lanthanor as King.
But, as soon as he reached the end and turned around to stand in front of the room, a broad smile spread on his face seeing all the people that meant so much to him.
This smile broke the spell of silence that seemed to have been cast in the room, startling Daneel as he saw almost everyone in front of him break out into screams of joy or tears of happiness.
Watching this sight, he could not resist all the emotions bundled up inside him from all the things he had gone through. Having no choice but to let everything out, Daneel couldn't help but wipe his eyes trying to stop the tears that had started to flow, while he saw his mother and father walking towards him from the corner of his vision with expressions of pure elation and pride on their faces.
Collapsing onto his parent's shoulders, the King of Lanthanor cried his heart out, making this an image that would be remembered by everyone in the room for as long as they lived.