Standing idly in a grove near the Central Tower while leaning on a tree, Daneel was watching the actions of the Mad Doctor who was in his office, and Ashah.e.l.l who was in his quarters.
The report about the Mad Doctor giving Echer Plants to the Black Raven Kingdom was false: he had only made a fake one up after finding out Ashah.e.l.l"s contacts so that he could infuriate the man using the one thing which affected him the most: the condition of the continent.
His hope was that due to this and their earlier altercation, Ashah.e.l.l would be inclined to kill the Mad Doctor.
But…this was only a hope, and he needed to make sure it would happen.
He knew that the Mad Doctor would soon target him to kill him as soon as Marcus"s favor of "protecting" him ended, and Daneel just didn"t want to handle someone at his level while being just a Warrior.
He had asked Drakos about the Champion level, but he had been told that this was essential information which could not be revealed unless he took the satisfaction level of the Kingdom to another peak.
Resolving to get on that as soon as this little a.s.signment of his was done, Daneel refocused on the Mad Doctor, who had begun to break the things around his room in anger.
The man never had been that good at controlling his rage, and that seemed all the more apparent now. However, what Daneel wanted him to do was report this to the Heroes of the Sect before going on the warpath.
Handling Ashah.e.l.l would be harder-the man was the one of the smartest that Daneel had ever seen, so it would be unwise to try and manipulate him in simple ways. No, Daneel needed to be careful and thorough.
At this moment, he was like the master of a maze which had two entrances. Into each, he had put in an ant, and now his job was to poke and prod them to reach the center where they would kill each other.
Meanwhile, the Mad Doctor was trying hard to act rationally.
If he gave in to his rage, he knew that he would foolishly go face the most talented and powerful Champion of the Sect without preparation, which would definitely result in his death.
He had never particularly believed that the latter was true, and although he was willing to try and kill the man himself, he didn"t want to risk the possibility that he would be killed in return.
Inside his room, to the side lay a healer whose mind had just been flicked through by the Mad Doctor.
For his consent, he had promised him various things, but it wasn"t necessary that he had to deliver them.
This was the healer who had written the report, and in his memory, the Mad Doctor had found that the one who had been injured bore a lot of similarities to the Sect Leader.
If he had had a smidgen of doubt before, it was completely gone now.
Clearly, Ashah.e.l.l must have used the name of that master of the King of Lanthanor to commit this crime and take his revenge.
After finally smas.h.i.+ng things for 5 more minutes before calming down, the Mad Doctor made his decision.
Taking out a data cube, he started recording something.
…
Viewing this, Daneel was happy.
Of course, he had used Mind Control on that healer to place that fake memory in his head.
"Young King, how could you guess that he would make a backup like this before attacking the other man?"
"It was an educated guess, Drakos. He makes backups of everything else, and he"s also paranoid. So, I was just hoping that that habit of his would act up again. Thankfully, it did. This part is going well. Now, on to Ashah.e.l.l."
Saying so, Daneel"s gaze s.h.i.+fted to Ashah.e.l.l"s quarters.
Through Drakos"s spell, it was like he was right there in the room.
Currently, Ashah.e.l.l was pacing around with a deep frown.
Clearly, although he had felt very angry before and had been tempted to go and directly kill the Mad Doctor, he had now controlled himself.
He was a formidable foe, indeed.
It seemed that he needed another…push, so Daneel pondered on what he was going to do.
Almost mimicking his pacing unconsciously, Daneel thought hard for a minute before finally getting an idea.
For a solution, he had placed himself in Ashah.e.l.l"s shoes, to think about what would work on this man the most.
This had led him to one answer: other than the condition of the continent, the only other thing of large import to him was probably his secret- that he was an agent of the Church.
Yes!
His lips curling, Daneel started to instruct Drakos about what they were going to do, before marching toward the Central Tower.
One hour later.
Ashah.e.l.l was still in his quarters, which was quite uncharacteristic of him. This would definitely be the longest time he had spent here in recent times.
He had nothing but time right now, so he had decided to spend as much time as needed in order to reach a decision instead of rus.h.i.+ng into one.
He had been told to sit tight, but that didn"t necessarily mean that he couldn"t rid the continent of a pest that only wanted to exploit it.
However, although it was possible that he would get himself pardoned, it might be safer to wait and collect more proof.
These were the two paths he was thinking about, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Frowning and wondering about who could know that he was here, he opened the door to find a shaking servant holding a tray with a few wine gla.s.ses on it.
"S-Sect Leader! Y-you"re here! I…I just wanted to try b-before I went to the ad-administrative department. Can I please speak to you?"
Seeing the man"s heightened state of panic, Ashah.e.l.l nodded, gesturing at him to come in.
This wasn"t the first time he had taken sudden audiences in his quarters. The last time, some sect members had confessed some crimes directly to him in hopes that he would be lenient, instead of doing so at the administrative department, where they would try to give the worst punishment possible.
Thinking that this servant might be the same, Ashah.e.l.l closed the door but he froze in his tracks and widened his eyes when he heard the man speak.
"S-sir, I just heard the M-Mad Doctor screaming something about finding proof that y-you"re an agent of the C-Church, Sir. It"s so preposterous! B-but he has connections in the administrative department, so I didn"t want to report this there, as he will definitely try to kill me. St-still I thought you should know, Sir. It s-sounded like he would do something r-really bad, so I wanted to help stop it like a dutiful s-sect member."
The Mad Doctor had found proof that he was a part of the Church of Rect.i.tude?!
On the outside, Ashah.e.l.l looked fine, but tumultuous waves of thoughts were churning inside his head.
What could it be? He had been so thorough!
No, it wasn"t the time to think of that now.
"Well done. You will be rewarded handsomely. I"ll take care of this- you know how he is when he gets mad. He"s been unhinged ever since his son died."
"Th-thank you, Sir."
"Tell no one of this. I will reward you later, myself. Got it?"
"Yes, Sir. I"ll take my leave then."
Nodding in reply, Ashah.e.l.l opened the door, but just when the servant was about to leave the room, he asked, "Does anyone else know about this?"
With a start, the servant stopped and answered in a quivering voice.
"N-no, sir. I was alone when I walked up to his room to offer refreshments."
"Good. Go."
As soon as the servant left, Ashah.e.l.l frowned deeper than ever.
Something about this didn"t seem right.
However, he had to consider whether he could take the risk.
If there was proof, everything, all of his efforts, would go to waste.
Why not just kill the man and give the report of him breaking the rule as a crime?
Regardless of whether he had proof or not, it would solve all problems.
At the same time, Ashah.e.l.l received a message through his communication trinket.
"Sect Leader, the Mad Doctor has requested for your presence at a location outside the sect. He quotes that it is because he has some important information he needs to convey."
Really? His madness was acting up again? He actually wanted to confront him?!
Perfect. This would be the perfect opportunity.
Thinking so, Ashah.e.l.l carefully stored the report to show as proof for his actions later, before embarking to that spot.
A Hero was still watching him, but that could be remedied temporarily when the time came.
…
Heaving a huge sigh of relief on seeing Ashah.e.l.l set off to the location where the Mad Doctor was waiting for him, Daneel wiped the sweat off his brow.
Finally!
"Young King, I must say that I"ve learned a lot. With such fine ski-"
While Drakos droned on in his head, Daneel felt that although this had been very hard, it had all been worth it.
From taking the time to find each person"s weaknesses and contacts, to using Mind Control discreetly without anyone noticing.
He was in the final lap, so without delay, Daneel immediately rushed to the missions section before finding another team, Mind Controlling them and teleporting away to arrive at the spot where the Mad Doctor would be confronting Ashah.e.l.l, after taking care of a little errand.
As soon as he arrived, he saw nothing, but Drakos asked him to move forward.
As he did under the Hero level camouflage spell that Drakos was casting, he saw the Mad Doctor waiting in the air.
Apparently, Ashah.e.l.l was taking a longer route: he must be tying up loose ends in the Central Tower before coming.
Regardless, Daneel waited with bated breath.
A deathmatch between Champions was going to break out soon, and he was the one who had merrily arranged for it to happen.
Just as he was settling in, Drakos spoke, making him enter a state of high alertness.
"Young King, pay very close attention. In the time of the Empire, spars between Champions used to be held in public tournaments for the benefit of the people. It is said that even if one hasn"t embarked on the path to power, the power of Champions is something they must learn of, and for that, witnessing them in action went a long way into understanding how they did what they were capable of. This was all the more important for Peak Warriors like you. Witness the power and glory of Champions, and try to find clues about what being a Champion means. Maybe, that way, you can find clues about how to cross the chasm yourself."