The same panel through which Daneel had made the Axelorian army turn back after ascending to the throne came into being on the palace wall, showing the King of Lanthanor still standing inside the tent.
"Please pardon me, I was just throwing out more Axelorian dogs. They were standing near my army."
Seeing the 2 bodies of the men he had just been referring to, the Black Raven King"s face morphed into an expression of rage and fury.
Thankfully, the barrier blocked all outside eyes.
"Humph. So he does have some capability after all. This will be interesting."
Hearing the amused voice of the old man beside him, the Black Raven King controlled his emotions and nodded, signaling the retinue to continue by using the communication trinket in his hand.
....
Inside the tent, Daneel was smirking with satisfaction, knowing that his own show of force had definitely been at least as good as the Black Raven King"s. The spies had been found by deploying the Surveillance Tool, similar to when he had met the previous King and the Grand Court Mage before as the mysterious Master Novrain. They were quite easy to find, as they had simply burrowed into a hole in the ground while watching his army wait. Of course, no one would have been able to discern that there were humans buried at that locations, as they had left no traces on the ground and had been using some sort of trinket to breathe.
After going to so much effort to hide, the spies would definitely have coughed blood and died if they hadn"t already pa.s.sed away in Luther"s hands.
The commander had been quick and efficient in his actions, rus.h.i.+ng to the spot immediately without asking anything and decisively executing them before sending the bodies over to the Border Gate.
In fact, Daneel even suspected whether all the three spies killed by the Black Raven King and him were even "Axelorian Dogs". Yet, he had used the same lines in order to mimic the man. If he knew that the last one had actually belonged to the Black Raven Kingdom, he would definitely have smiled ever wider at the grand success of his small plan.
Carefully putting the seeds in his pocket, he ordered everyone to return back to the reserve camp.
Regarding the matter of Echer, the others were as puzzled as him. Just the idea that the Big 4 even gave contracts like these to the smaller Kingdoms was news to them. This was definitely something top secret that Lanthanor"s spies hadn"t been able to find.
After teleporting to the reserve camp, he first entered inside again and switched bodies after resolving to find a different way to go about this whole thing, as he had had no other option to give the strange order again to be left alone.
On reaching the palace, Daneel dismissed everyone, opting to use the rest of the day to train and observe the seeds.
Only, Faxul stayed behind silently after the commanders and Kellor left.
It was only after reaching inside the King"s chamber did he open his mouth to speak.
"Be careful. He can"t be trusted."
Hearing these words coming from his friend"s mouth, Daneel only smiled to show that he was already aware of that point.
"Good job controlling your emotions. Now tell me, was I mistaken, or did that raven look at you before disappearing?"
Daneel had meant to ask his friend this since seeing the emotions in that enormous raven"s eyes.
"Yes. It was my father"s friend and protector, and I used to play with it when I was a child. I do not know how the Black Raven King is controlling it now."
Saying these words, Faxul walked out of the door immediately.
Although Daneel was a bit startled seeing his friend make such an abrupt exit, he sighed knowing that he must have probably awakened some sleeping memories.
Indeed, Faxul practically ran to his room before closing the door and collapsing on the ground.
The only reason he had been able to stand unflinchingly while seeing his family"s murderer was that he had been bottling everything up and constantly telling himself that no matter what, he would definitely kill this man.
Along with that, the sight of his childhood confidante, Jondar, had dug up so many memories that he had worked hard to bury for so many years.
Now, he could only kneel on the ground and shake due to the sobs wracking his body, while trying to control the bloodl.u.s.t which was threatening to consume him with each pa.s.sing day.
...
Ordering for pots with fertile soil to be brought over, Daneel spoke in his mind.
"System, how do I a.n.a.lyze these seeds? I want to find out everything about them."
[Please stay in the vicinity of the seeds after planting them. Phenomena a.n.a.lysis Module will be engaged to observe and a.n.a.lyze.]
Indeed, the Phenomena a.n.a.lysis Module worked by collecting data about things around him. Thus, it did not mean that he had to consciously sit and stare at the flower pot while waiting for the seeds to germinate.
The only drawback of this tool was that prolonged exposure to the phenomenon was needed. Thankfully, this wasn"t a problem with the seed.
After the pots arrived, Daneel chose one with red soil. Apparently, it had been dug out from the most fertile location in the whole palace: the Palace Garden.
Placing the seed inside the soil and pouring a little water on top as per the instructions stated in the parchment, Daneel proceeded towards the private Energized Training Chamber using the hidden door in his room.
Setting it beside him, he entered into a lying position again after ordering the system to deploy the development techniques.
Because his eyes were closed and his full focus was on studying the movement of Energy inside his body, he did not notice that a very minuscule amount of the white mist in the room had been pulled into and absorbed by the seed inside the soil.
In fact, the amount was so small that no human would have been able to discern anything.
Alas, the seed was up against the system, which simply recorded this event while continuing to a.n.a.lyze and find out just what these Echer seeds were.
.....
Meanwhile, in a hidden room inside the Kingdom of the Elves.
One side of this room was covered with panels from floor to ceiling, showing different scenes around the continent of Angaria.
Yet, the eyes of the two women who were standing inside the room were fixed on a particular panel which showed the place from where Daneel had just departed.
It was the North Gate of the Lanthanor Kingdom, and from the angle and position of the image, it could be deduced that the observer was looking down from above while constantly circling over the location.
One of the women gasped as they saw the two bodies fly from the gate towards the retinue of the Black Raven Kingdom. As she saw the image of the King of Lanthanor appear on the wall, a slight panic appeared on her face, as if she was remembering some traumatic experience which had scarred her.
"Eldra, control yourself. Since coming back from Lanthanor, you seem to be affected by something. Do you wish to go to the Well of Focus?"
Hearing these words, the woman shook slightly before answering.
"N-no, My Queen. Apologies for my conduct. I will definitely overcome it by myself."
"Very well, but I expect you to do so soon. I can"t have my daughter traumatized by such a small incident. Contact the spies we have inside Lanthanor. No matter what, we must find out the agenda of their meeting. Before the next election, I wish to have Lanthanor under my feet, and I do not want this wish of mine to fail because of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d Raven Kingdom. Get it done."
Saying these words, the woman who had been referred to as "My Queen" by Eldra disappeared from the room.
Seeing her mother leave, Eldra s.h.i.+vered as sweat appeared on her forehead.
Hastening to take out the communication trinket from her pocket, she started sending out orders to follow the Queen"s wishes.
No matter how many spies died, she would definitely make sure that the Queen got what she wanted, as just the thought of the other option made her shake with fear remembering the torture she had had to endure the last time she did something unsatisfactory.
The Queen of the Elves was a very hard woman to please.