At one of the gates which was a point of entry into the Black Raven Kingdom.
2 people - an old man and a teen were waiting in the line for their turn to be checked, with the latter interestedly looking around as if everything looked new and exciting.
After reaching the guard post, one of the soldiers responsible for checking who had noticed this behavior asked, "Who"s your friend? He seems overly curious."
This made the old man panic a bit before hurriedly saying, "It"s just my son! It"s his first time out of the village, so please forgive his enthusiasm. We come from Burberry in Lanthanor, and we were really interested to see this glorious Kingdom after the broadcast on the Network."
The answer made the soldier"s chest swell with pride, knowing that this was another resident of the continent who was visiting because they had gotten enthralled by the fight over the Network.
After asking a few more questions about the village which the man claimed to be from, the soldier gave them a small token and instructed them to keep it on their body at all times.
If someone inside the Kingdom was found without this token which was given on entry, they would be jailed on the charge of illegal entry.
This was the Black Raven Kingdom"s way of trying to combat people from entering the Kingdom as they liked.
After taking the tokens, the two individuals walked to the closest village before taking a room in an inn.
On entering the room, the teen went to the window and resumed his activity of looking around while the man sighed and sat down on the chair.
"Faxul, you might make more guards suspicious if you keep gawking at everything like that! Even though it would support your character of a country b.u.mpkin, I would rather that we not attract so much attention."
The words made the teen step back from the window before nodding and smiling slightly at the old man.
Indeed, these two were Daneel and Faxul who had made their way into the Black Raven Kingdom using a false ident.i.ty.
Although the method of using such tokens which were tied to blood was a good method to keep a check of people who entered the Kingdom, it still had some major flaws.
For instance, as an enormous number of such trinkets were needed, it was impossible for each to be sophisticated enough so as not to be easily replicated by any enchanter who wished to do so.
Also, if someone lost their trinket out of carelessness, then there was no efficient method to address this issue.
In fact, this system reminded Daneel of the VISA and Pa.s.sport system back on Earth, which also had the problem where skilled people could forge fake copies to get past officials.
All in all, Daneel still liked his own system of IDs which he was planning to implement soon in Lanthanor.
The walk to the inn had been quite long, so Daneel relaxed for a bit while eyeing Faxul who had gone to the bag which they had carried into the Kingdom.
Inside, carefully hidden under heaps of clothes and other necessities was the raven that he had bonded with.
To conceal it during the checking, it had been drugged asleep before being placed in a false pocket in the bag.
Taking out the raven and feeding it a few drops of the liquid which was the antidote to the drug, Faxul gently nudged it awake before patting its head and checking it for any injuries.
Seeing the care he was showing to the beast and the gentle expression he had while doing so, Daneel sighed again, almost feeling like he didn"t know his friend anymore.
If he was being honest with himself, the objective of this mission hadn"t just been to go on an expedition to try and uncover the secret place in the Palace by using Faxul.
The other objective had been to spend some time with his friend and get to know him again after the change that had come in him recently.
Hence, he had elected to not bring any of the commanders or Kellor along, quoting that it would be easier with just the two of them, and that he was strong enough presently to make a quick escape in case things did turn dire.
Of course, Daneel had the confidence to do the latter, and the former was also true because it would be much easier to travel without rousing suspicion if there were fewer people.
Besides these two, there was also one last objective: find a way for Faxul to connect with the raven so that he could finish the a.n.a.lysis in the system.
Daneel still had high hopes for the Human-Beast Link technique whose development progress had been stuck for a long time.
Thinking about all he wished to accomplish in this Kingdom and getting up with determination, he said, "Let"s go grab some food first before continuing on our journey to the capital. I know a place which serves some excellent rat broth."
...
Meanwhile, in the Throne Room of the Black Raven Kingdom.
While the Black Raven King sat on the throne and looked on, the old man was holding a large square-shaped trinket which had the latest financial details of the Kingdom stored inside.
After a few moments of a.s.sessing everything, he said, "Not bad. The Network has increased the number of tourists who visit the Kingdom, letting the government earn more because the people have more money to be taxed on."
Even as the King was about to smile on hearing this, what the old man said next made him grimace.
"So you chose to decrease funding to the urban development section to finance the search for the Ker Gem Mine. Does that mean you care the least about the living conditions of your people?"
Seeing the ashen face of the King, the old man chuckled before continuing his perusal of the records.
As the King watched on, he wondered what the reason was behind the recent change in character of the old man.
Usually, he had a level of patience which had allowed Tenebrol to act as he pleased, at least for the most part.
Now, the old man seemed to take pleasure in mentally torturing him.
s.h.i.+fting budget from other departments on the old man"s orders wasn"t actually something that was new, but he had never been lambasted for it like this before.
Nevertheless, feeling the chains that bound him still strong, he sighed for the millionth time with regret before looking forward to the spar they would have soon.
Finally, after a few minutes, the old man set the cube aside before saying, "Everything looks fine. Approve the proposal about the sport, it can bring in a lot of money. And I don"t think I need to remind you to keep a close eye on Lanthanor."
As the King nodded, the old man left the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts again.
Taking out a piece of parchment, he once again started to read the rules of the sport which had impressed and captivated him for the past few days.
....
Unknowingly, Elanev was also absorbed in doing the same thing.
Yet, feeling a trinket he had hid under his clothes heat up, he walked to the balcony of his room before taking it out and touching it after making sure that there was no one watching.
"We have entered the Kingdom. I will contact you again after we reach the Captial."
Smiling at the message, Elanev put the trinket back and looked out at the ground where he and the King usually had their spar.
As he was doing so, he noticed a figure walking across the ground clumsily, as if they had been affected by some sort of injury which did not allow them to have full control of their legs.
In fact, as he watched closely, he realized that it was more like there were two people in command of the same body.
This was because if the left leg took a step in one direction, the right took one in the direction diagonally opposite, almost making the man topple due to the instability.
Yet, the man seemed to be heading in the general direction of one of the forests which surrounded the Palace, as he was using his hands to redirect one of the legs whenever he could.
It was noon, and the grounds were empty as almost everyone had gone to lunch.
Intrigued by this strange man whom he couldn"t identify, Elanev decided to follow him and noted his direction before quickly walking exiting his room and walking towards the staircase which led outside.