"All of you are invited to join the new Research Division of Lanthanor. A special individual has been appointed as your head. Your salary will be decided based on your skill, and if you wish to join, you must immediately move into the Palace tomorrow with your family and swear an oath of secrecy."
In the Kingdom of Lanthanor, a job in the Palace which didn't require interaction with the King was the most sought after dream. With free lodging, food and a handsome salary on top of that, any family could live a comfortable life and even build up a healthy amount of savings if they somehow managed to enter the palace.
Of course, the first condition existed when the previous King was in place. Now, with Daneel on the throne, there was nothing sweeter that he could have said in order to entice those in front of him.
The only ones who hesitated were the merchants and bureaucrats who were already well off. Yet, Daneel's next sentence made them open their eyes wide and nod with glee, signaling their willingness to join the division.
"I promise that each and every one who joins will have an increase in their ability. The minimum work tenure is 5 years, after which you can choose to leave if you swear the oath to never divulge the secrets you will be privy to in this time period. You have until tomorrow to make your choice."
In this world, power and skill were everything. With Daneel hanging the bait of improving their skills while being paid for it, there was almost no one in the crowd who even thought of rejecting the offer. As for the tenure, it was quite common especially when it came to jobs like these.
Dispersing the crowd, Daneel walked back to the palace with his retinue with an expression which looked like he was lost in thought.
Among those in the clearing, there was one man with his hair tied into a bun who was looking at the rear of the retinue with a pensive expression.
He was wearing faded clothes, and he had taken care to not draw attention to himself no matter what. Making sure to stand near those who had similar garments, he blended in while keeping his eyes fixed on the King of Lanthanor.
Even when everyone got expressions of excitement and joy hearing the King's words, he emulated the same.
Now, with the meeting done, he made his way out of the Palace before idly walking towards a nondescript house in the west of the Outer City.
The highest building in Lanthanor was the Palace, with towering spires that could be visible from far away. As for the outer city, 3 floors was the limit that any residential building could have.
This rule had been passed by a long-dead King, and even the reason had faded from people's minds.
After carefully looking around in order to ensure that no one had followed him, the man entered the building and got to his room on the ground floor.
Closing the door behind him, the man made a meticulous search of the room, ensuring that no one had entered when he was gone. The hair he had placed were all in place, and none of the secret alarm trinkets had been activated.
Finally sighing with relief, the man opened his mouth wide and put his hand inside, grasping something and pulling with force.
With a grunt, his hand came out of his mouth holding a small white cuboidal object.
It had been placed with his molars, making it indistinguishable from teeth during normal speech.
Cutting his finger and making a drop of blood fall on the object, the man patiently waited until a soft glow could be seen emanating from his hand.
A small panel measuring 5 inches diagonally appeared on his palm from the object.
If Daneel were standing in the room, he would surely be shocked to see the Elf whom he had sent scurrying from the Throne Room in the panel.
"Bonloheim eshitare"
"Code confirmed. Make your report."
Hearing Eldra's cold voice in his ears, the man shuddered as if he were remembering some memory of pain.
"The King has called all the blacksmiths and enchanters in the Kingdom to make a new Research Division. A special individual will lead the division, and he has ordered everyone interested to shift to the palace by tomorrow. What are my orders?"
"Standby"
The panel went out of focus, while a curtain of sweat appeared on the man's face. It seemed that talking to the Elf took a lot out of him, which was evident from the way his lips quivered as the memories of torment and agony played in his mind.
After a few moments, Eldra reappeared on the panel.
"A specialist will be sent to infiltrate and take over your post. Sadly, your identity has been compromised. Your family will be taken care of."
"NO NO NO! I WAS CAREFUlL! I GOT RID OF THE-"
A bright, silver fire suddenly appeared on his forehead, at the exact position that a person's Mageroot was located.
Seeming to have originated from inside the skin, it spread all over his face which had morphed into an expression of frustration and pain, before proceeding to engulf his whole body.
Beyond the first scream, nothing else could be heard, as the vocal chords of the man had already been completely devoured by the demonic flame.
In a matter of seconds, only ash remained which was blown away by the wind leaving no trace of the man who had been standing inside the room just a few moments ago.
As for the small tooth-sized panel trinket, it also exploded into a cloud of silver fire which dissipated just like the one which had eaten up the man.
BOOM
Aran burst into the door, eyes flitting around the room only to find nothing.
Although some of the best soldiers had been assigned to track each person who left the Palace, this particular one had just been a little too crafty. Thankfully, the tail had been able to follow the man to the general area.
Due to him immediately reporting the situation, Aran and the other soldiers were able to quickly track down his house by asking the citizens on the way that he had passed. Alas, they had been too late.
On searching the room, all they found were standard alarm trinkets. No trace of the man's identity or nationality could be found, no matter how much they went over each inch of the small flat with a fine-toothed comb.
Gritting his teeth with frustration, Aran could only use the communication trinket to report the result to the waiting King.
Hearing the news, Daneel shook his head. He had hoped to capture out some of the spies using this technique, but it seemed that he had been too naive.
Of the 1000 individuals who had come to the Palace, 6 had moved surreptitiously, trying to make sure that no one followed.
The other individuals' address had already been stored, as there was nothing to say that they wouldn't simply report later. Later, Daneel had planned to conduct another round of searching on those who rejected the offer.
He actually hadn't been expecting anyone to immediately report, thus he had been quite surprised to hear that there were actually 6 leads.
A Kingdom's strength could easily be assessed by the length and breadth of its spy network. If a force ordered a spy to right away deliver a report knowing that there were risks involved, then it definitely meant that the force valued the advantage of getting to know about something immediately over the life of a spy. This could either mean that the spy was disposable, or that the news was simply too valuable, making the force disregard the loss of the spy.
Of course, the former presented a terrifying possibility: the force might have so many spies in place that losing one might mean nothing to it.
Kellor had already told Daneel about the spy problem that every Kingdom faced. Thus, this had been his first attempt at capturing one in order to extract some information, or prevent the news of the meeting from leaking out so soon.
Alas, 4 of the 6 had self-destructed by the time the soldiers got to their locations. The other two were in custody, but it seemed that they might be under oath to not divulge any secrets.
But of the 4, only one had been able to completely leave no trace behind, unlike the others whose bodies were at least still available.
Daneel could only stare into space and wonder at the power of a force which had such horrifying means.
Meanwhile, Kellor, who had been directing this operation from the King's chambers while Daneel addressed the clearing, spoke.
"My Lord, the Black Raven Kingdom has confirmed the date and time. The meeting will take place tomorrow at noon, at the North Border Gate."