After carefully closing the door behind him, Daneel conjured a globe of light in the air before raising his head to take in the scene.
In a narrow area, small bodies could be seen clutching each other while looking towards him with fear in their eyes.
This was the area between the army and private godowns, and it wasn't under surveillance in any way.
In other words, the slave traders had chosen to hide their cargo right under the army's nose. As the area was already under army control, it was the perfect place for their purpose.
Even though checking did take place, it was impossible for anyone to spot the groove.
With years of effort, Eldra had found this place from multiple clues she had collected by keeping track of the three individuals whom she spoke to. Of course, this was definitely only one of the many places they had.
She had had a breakthrough when she had observed one of them visit the warehouse under a different guise, whom she had only been able to follow because this visit had taken place right after a meeting with her.
Knowing that this location was the key, she had used whatever time she could find to search every nook and cranny until she found the hidden keyhole.
It had taken years, and she had had this breakthrough only recently. After finding it, it was easy to make a key replica.
Yet, Eldra's joy of finding the hiding place of the slavers had been cut short when she entered inside.
Although she had told Daneel everything, he had insisted that he needed to see it for himself. Thus, the 3 of them had come on this visit after contacting a broker who had the authority to show the godown to interested parties.
Blood rushed to Daneel's head and he felt an anger the likes of which hadn't consumed him from the time when he had seen the crimes of the nobles in Lanthanor whom he had sentenced to death.
The little elves all had some kind of shackles around their necks, which seemed quite tight.
5 open bathrooms could be seen at the end of the corridor like prison in which these little ones had been imprisoned.
Although there was nothing stopping them from talking, not a sound appeared from their lips even though they seemed to be terrified out of their minds.
Shaking his head and knowing that it wouldn't make a difference no matter what he said, Daneel made his way over to the end of the corridor where a round box was affixed into the wall.
Jutting out towards his location, the box's other end was apparently on the outside in a way that it blended into the outer walls.
This was the slaver's failsafe: the box was filled with explosives which could remove all traces of the prison if there was even the slightest hint that the location was compromised.
Multiple soldiers who were under the employ of the slavers checked the prison regularly to make sure that none of the elf kids were missing. If they were, the explosive would be activated.
When she had first come, Eldra had tried to drag an elf out forcefully. She had found out this information from that elf who had opened her mouth to tell her that the soldiers who came checked the box regularly and prayed that they wouldn't have to activate it.
Along with the prayers came crazy curses at the elf kids who were in no way responsible for the soldier's plight of undertaking this duty. As Eldra had later found out, all the soldiers doing this duty had their families under the slaver's control.
Besides, the slavers were always smart enough to choose soldiers who didn't have strong moral values.
Also, the manacles around their necks were the other fail-safe: they were apparently made in such a way that removing them without the proper mechanism would cause them to explode and alert the soldier on duty.
Of course, at this point, the formation would be able to alert the army that trinkets had been activated inside the godowns. Yet, as the massive explosion which would wipe out all traces would take place anyway, the slavers couldn't care less.
In this way, a foolproof prison had been built by the individuals who only wanted a safe place to stow away their valuable assets which would be wiped off the face of the continent if it were exposed.
Knowing the schedule of the soldiers who came to check, Daneel knew he had a very short window. Thus, he immediately went about implementing his plan before carefully exiting the prison and dissolving the clone.
A few minutes later, the group of 5 exited the godown with the aging elf smiling widely as a deal had been struck. 2 weeks later, the payment would be made and the goods of the hirer would be sent to be stored.
Exiting the area, the group made their way back to the inn.
Inside, Eldra finally let the frustration that she had been feeling ever since she had heard Daneel propose this plan erupt.
"What did you accomplish by seeing them? Why are we spending so much money to hire the warehouse?"
Tired, Daneel first took a seat in the center of the room before looking towards Eldra while trying to not let exasperation appear on his face.
Indeed, Eldra was a very emotional person and Daneel now doubted whether the Queen's standards had ever been too high in the first place.
Her calling was that her emotions led her to great lengths, allowing her to overcome anything. This had also been displayed in her tenacity to search for long periods of time in order to find the slaves' hiding place.
Yet, her emotions also stopped her from thinking rationally at times.
Through his experiences, Daneel knew that this was not very good in a ruler. Although strong emotions had their value in being able to resonate with people to lead with strength, they also left one vulnerable.
Still, Daneel was also glad that this was the case as all he wanted was a puppet ruler in Eldinor whom he could control. If it were an individual like the previous Queen whose intellect and cunning was top-notch, he would always have to be careful, fearing a backstab even if he had an oath.
Even now, he wondered why Eldra hadn't chosen to bargain further, especially given her training of becoming Queen and the individualism of Elves which did not allow them to be under the control of anyone.
Thus, even though the risk he felt from someone like Eldra was much lower than from someone like Eldara, Daneel had chosen to be cautious towards her. He did not wish to expose any of his secrets if he could afford to.
This was the reason why she hadn't been privy to the details of Daneel's actions inside the godowns.
Thinking for a while, Daneel proceeded to lay out his plan while taking care not to expose any of the details of the execution that weren't necessary.
…..
The next morning, a messenger brought the information about the group's visit to the warehouse.
As it was an area where their most valuable assets were stored, any and all information regarding that location was given top priority by Eldara.
After receiving the message, Eldara dismissed the messenger and made her way to her bedroom.
Inside, she sat on the bed and used her hand to make a similar locket appear.
Yet, there was no picture inside. Instead, a button-like trinket could be seen which Eldara touched to make sure that it was still functioning.
This was the final failsafe: as the other end of the explosive was outside the warehouse, a trinket had been installed on it as the formation which detected trinkets did not affect the outside.
Although the soldiers who checked had been carefully vetted, she did not wish to place complete trust in them.
A single press of this button would activate the explosive, killing all the slaves and destroying the most glaring evidence.
After ensuring that it was active, Eldara let it dissolve into her skin again before getting up to prepare the speech for the campaign she was about to give.