A simulated war??
Daneel had given a little bit of thought to what the mission might be, and his a.s.sumptions had mostly been based on the fact that something as dangerous as going after a Giant Shark had been cla.s.sified as a five-star mission, whereas the one he had been given was a four-star one.
He had been expecting another kind of battle situation, or something that might need 15 people to accomplish, such as hunting a large group of fishes.
After all, he couldn"t be blamed for thinking in that direction, as missions were apparently supposed to be things that benefited either the Order or the continent. High-quality resources would definitely be on the top of the list for any organization, so he had started to a.s.sume that most missions might be of that type. The weird thing about the obelisk was that information about missions could only be obtained after one indicated that they were going to finish it or at least try to do so in order to obtain some or the other reward that they were looking for, which was why he had been in his situation before. He saw the positive aspect of this, though, as it meant that there would be no chance of information about missions leaking which might result in interferences or some other things which were not preferred.
A war… Was the farthest thing from what he had expected to take part in in the Order, and he had to say that he was pleasantly surprised and pleased.
It is obvious that in the upcoming war, there would be many skills required if Angaria really wanted to take on the Church, so it was a great thing to see that the Order was actively trying to train the members in these skills by giving out valuable rewards. As it was a four-star mission, the rewards would definitely be plenty, especially if the people opting for them were not like Daneel, who was looking for just information.
Daneel actually felt his blood boiling after a moment, as he couldn"t help but admit that he was excited. He had been in a few war situations so far, but none of them had been perfect, and in the first one, he had actually made a mistake which had resulted in the deaths of quite a few people.
He wasn"t exactly looking for redemption, because this would definitely be an entirely different kind of war, but he was certainly looking forward to seeing just how wars that involved high-level individuals would be.
Well, he would find out in six hours.
Going back to the bar, he first told his sovereigns what they were going to do, and after seeing that they were all equally excited like him, especially because the fact that two of them were actually commanders who had been trained in those skills and had ample experience, he led them all outside and to the place where they had been before. As they had a little bit of time, he knew that it was best for them to rest, as they, too, might have had to exert themselves quite a bit to make such a strong impression on the man who was now Daneel"s subordinate.
They went inside the door that appeared and soon found themselves in the room with Eloise and Skrr, who was still sleeping. Eloise was happily humming to herself as they arrived, and when she saw them, she sprang up and ran to them before telling them to tell her about everything they had been through, all while waiting to tell them about her experience, too, knowing that it would definitely result in them dropping their jaws.
The place where they had taken their rooms was quite interesting - it was apparently built in such a way that a formation existed which could move around rooms and attach them if needed, in case there were multiple people taking up residence. First, when Daneel had arrived, there had been three bedrooms, and now, with the addition of the four new sovereigns, four bedrooms had also been added.
Such a kind of modular implementation was definitely impressive, and just as Eloise and the rest were about to begin chatting, Daneel said to Ca.s.sandra, "Come with me. I need to talk to you for a bit."
A hush came over the room as he said this, as the others knew why he was doing this. Aran, Elanev, and Faxul simultaneously sent messages that she was the same as before, but he just told them that he needed to make sure and walked to one of the rooms that had newly been added.
After looking at his back for a few moments, Ca.s.sandra followed, and soon, Daneel closed the door and turned around to see that his commander really did look exactly like the woman she had been before.
However, he knew that something inside her had changed.
Just as he was about to ask, Ca.s.sandra spoke up, herself.
"You don"t need to be worried about me, My King. Yes, I uncovered the memories about my childhood, and although I do not know exactly what I was expecting… What I found actually made me feel happy that I was placed in Lanthanor."
Daneel did not need the system to tell him that there were quite a few micro-expressions which were making it clear that Ca.s.sandra was hiding something. Her expression was somber, and her tone was definitely that of someone who was trying very hard not to expose her emotions.
What Daneel did next slightly startled Ca.s.sandra.
He first cast a spell that completely isolated them from the outside, making it so that it was impossible for anyone to listen in. After that, he conjured a normal but well-cus.h.i.+oned chair and sat down, before creating one for Ca.s.sandra, too. Next, he made soothing music appear in the room, and it was a famous tune that was used all over Lanthanor as a lullaby by parents.
As Ca.s.sandra watched on with bewilderment, he stretched his hands casually behind him and said, "I"m quite tired! Aren"t you? Take a seat, and we can rest for a bit."
She had never been one to not listen to this man to whom she had given her loyalty on the very first day he had been crowned, so she sat down.
The king smiled as he saw this, but he said nothing. The two of them just continue to sit, looking at each other, as an uncomfortable silence appeared between them. Ca.s.sandra didn"t know what to say, and it didn"t look like the king was in any hurry either. Time pa.s.sed like this, and soon, five minutes had elapsed.
This was when Daneel finally opened his mouth and said, "Look, Ca.s.sandra. I know that there was probably something that has affected you greatly in what you found. I will not force you to share it with me. But I have found that it is always better to share your difficulties, your happiness, and your grief with those who care for you. I understand that it might be difficult to do so, but I want you to know that I"m just here to listen. I think that the others must already have asked about it, right? My guess is that you have been avoiding it, because you don"t know what to tell them, and you don"t want to lie. I"m doing this so that we can pretend as if we had a long talk, and after that, I"ll tell them all that they shouldn"t ask you about it, and that it"s all fine. When you"re ready, you can speak to someone, or if you never want to, that"s also fine. Just know one thing. We will always be there for you, and we will always be ready to listen and do all that we can, in our power, to make you better. Five more minutes should be enough. Are you hungry, by the way?"
Each word of Daneel"s was spoken with extreme calmness, and they even seemed to have some sort of soothing effect on Ca.s.sandra, as they lingered in her mind even as she felt herself relaxing.
What she didn"t know was that Daneel was actually employing a spell that was used by the Emperor often whenever he spoke to someone who was very agitated, or in the grips of some or the other emotion.
All it did was add a certain aspect to one"s voice that would calm down the other person, and it was perfect for this setting that Daneel had recreated from his memories of rooms in which people spoke to trained individuals to make themselves better back on Earth.
He didn"t know whether it would work or not, but he had been worried about his commander, and he hoped it would at least have some effect and make her know that she could talk whenever she wished. He was happy to wait.
Yet, it looked like a small push had been all that was necessary, because the temperature in the room suddenly started to rise.
Daneel remained calm as he saw this, and even when a fire started to appear on Ca.s.sandra"s body, he said nothing. It looked almost like it was happening unconsciously, as she returned to the same state she had been in when she had Awakened her Bloodline.
Her long, amber hair floated upwards, burning brightly with a brilliant fire that looked magnificent due to the shade it mixed with.
Even her skin was on fire, and the only reason that her clothes hadn"t burned up was that they were made specially so that they would be able to resist high temperatures.
If she truly used the Phoenix Fire, they would have stood no chance, but because this was all being done without her control, they managed to stay intact.
If there were anyone else in the room, they would have asked her to control herself by now, as otherwise, they would have been afraid that they would be burnt to ash if she continued. Yet, of course, Daneel had the World, itself, to protect him, and the elementary particles around his skin stayed cool without him even having to expend too much effort for them to be so.
A few seconds later, she seemed to finally return to her sense, because she hastily stopped herself and looked sheepishly at the bed and the table which had been burnt down completely, and the stone walls which were also scorched.
Her anger was still present, though, so after that, she looked at Daneel with flushed cheeks and spoke in a tone which made it apparent that she was finally expressing something that she had hidden within herself for the longest time.
"We were grown like cattle."
This extremely horrific sentence made Daneel widen his eyes and finally lose his calmness, and with each word she said, her emotions seemed to be mirrored in him.
"We were apparently born from unconscious people who were chosen and made to procreate so that the Hidden Bloodline would be pa.s.sed down, and we were placed in batches in rooms where all we did was eat and sleep. It was all while we waited to be placed in situations where our Bloodline would Awaken in the Central Continent or in the Big Four, and before we were sent out, we were made to swear an oath, when we didn"t even understand what one was, that we would forever be loyal to the Order, and Angaria. Our memories were wiped, but a trigger was placed so that we would get a hint about our real place of origin after our Bloodlines Awakened, so that we could find our way back and have these memories returned to us. That village I saw was the place where we were all penned up in prison-like buildings. We were told again and again that it was all for the good of Angaria, and that we should be happy that we have this chance to do so much for our motherland. The Overseer was the only one we spoke to, and he kept saying this again and again, as if ramming it into us. I…am not happy, My King. In fact, I want to burn that place down, and stop this…thing from happening to anyone else. But I am scared to even say this out loud, as it seems impossible to go against this place which has stood for far longer than any of us can imagine."
Tears started to flow down Ca.s.sandra"s eyes as she said that last part, but she continued to look at Daneel.
In those eyes…Daneel saw hope- the kind of hope which one would be afraid even to think about, as everything in the world told them that it was foolish.
Yet…Daneel knew what she was asking of him.
She was asking him to defy the World again, just like all those times he had done so so far, whenever it had threatened to make him stop.
Daneel stood up and walked forward to stand in front of his commander.
She stood up, too, out of respect, but as Daneel tenderly placed his finger near her left eye and let a teardrop fall on it, she looked into his eyes, and what she saw there…made her smile.
Those eyes…were burning with anger, too, and she knew right away that she had done the right thing.
He continued to look at that teardrop for a few seconds, and after that, when he finally spoke, it was in a tone filled with finality.
"As your King, have I ever let you down? Wait for that day, Ca.s.sandra, and let this be the last tear you shed over this matter. It shall surely come, and when it does…be ready to smile, as it will definitely be a sight to behold."