"Young King? Young King, what happened to you? Are you all right?"
As Daneel was immediately thrown out of the vision right after the last word exited the Emperor's mouth, he heard Drakos's concerned voice in his head.
Heaving a sigh of relief on seeing that his voice no longer contained that change form before, he said, "Oh, I must have just overexerted myself and fainted. What was the last thing you remembered me doing?"
After a pause, Drakos said, "Me? I remember that you were counting something, and then…you must have fainted, because I don't remember anything else. After all, when your consciousness is not awake, I cannot do anything either. Was I saying something befo-"
"NOPE! Err…nope. You weren't saying anything. Now, let's go out for a stroll."
Just as Daneel was about to head to the door after interrupting Drakos in this way for safety, he came upon the large pile that he had been counting before.
As he did, he cursed inwardly while hearing Drakos say, "I remember! You were counting Ker Gems! The loot from that Mad Doctor! And, oh, I wanted to tell you that your method was very effective. In fact, I-"
"DRAKOS!"
As sweat appeared on Daneel's back after remembering the dire way in which the Emperor had described Drakos's species, he shouted in his head to interrupt the Ancient Dragon again.
"Umm…yes, Young King? Is there something urgent for you to scream to like that?"
Without answering, Daneel first exited the dorm room before heading to a walkway.
When he had safely put some distance between him and that shining pile, Daneel said, "Yes. I wanted to tell you something."
Sensing the seriousness in Daneel, Drakos replied, "Go on, Young King. Is there any threat to your life?"
Yes, and to Angaria if you're corrupted!
Daneel said so to himself, before thinking for a bit and saying, "Nothing like that, Drakos. But you need to understand something. Those methods are…wrong. One must never use them unless there is no other choice. The righteous path is the best path, and one must always choose it. I just had to use those methods because I was weak. I didn't even gain much in the process! All in all, devious methods and schemes are…not things that you should think about. Definitely."
As Drakos paused on hearing this, Daneel wiped the sweat on his forehead while continuing to walk.
All this time, it seemed that he had been carrying a nuclear warhead in his mind without his knowledge.
"You sound like the Emperor, Young King, which is quite strange. But you were so ecstatic when you saw your plan work! Why-"
"I was desperate, and I shouldn't have felt happy. I was wrong. Drakos, a King must set the example for his people. What example would I set if my people found out about the things I did? They would all become thieves and scammers. I'm a changed man. Henceforth, I shall only be righteous. No underhanded schemes at all."
Never had Daneel thought that there would come a day when he would be scolding himself while having no other choice.
His cheeks burning while he felt chagrin, Daneel waited for Drakos to reply, and when he did, he finally calmed down, convinced that the crisis had been averted.
"You're right, Young King. The Emperor was also very adamant about this. Both of you must be right. I was wrong to feel attracted to those kinds of methods. Maybe I should enter meditation to ponder on my mistakes."
"Hmm? Meditation? What's that?"
"It was a technique given to those of us who chose to become Empire Spirits in order to help us to remain sane. It cuts us off from all external inputs, but when called, we can respond. During the meditation, our consciousness slows to a crawl, and we can ponder on anything we want with leisure."
"Perfect!"
After Daneel exclaimed like so by mistake, he sheepishly added, "I mean…you do that. I'll definitely call upon you when I need you. Happy meditating, Drakos."
"Sure, Young King. Be aware that short spans of time, such as those below 10 years, will feel like nothing to us when meditating. So even if I might appear to be, well, not here, please do not hesitate to call for me when you need me. I-…Never Mind. Fare thee well for now, Young King."
Giving the same address as the Emperor before leaving, Drakos stopped speaking, and after a few moments, the system chimed in Daneel's head.
[Target Consciousness 'Drakos' has gone into a dormant state. Analyzing technique being used. Technique's complexity exceeds system's complexity.]
So even the Meditation Technique was at Hero level? What was so special about it?
Striding off the walkway, Daneel took support on a tree as he leaned down and let out a few breaths.
That had been a close call.
Even now, he could remember that roar clearly. It had the power to rend the Heavens and the earth in two, and he had almost set it free.
No matter what, he was not going to have Drakos witness anything 'bad' from now on.
Of course, doing small bad things wouldn't count, as the main problem came when he saw the outcome.
So, like the Emperor had said, Daneel just needed to be careful.
Thankfully, his main objective in the sect for which he had needed Drakos had been completed.
Although the most ideal situation would have been for one of those two to die, Daneel wasn't too disappointed.
The vitality of a Champion was said to be terrifying: thus, it was a pipe dream to wish for one to die, especially when Ashahell had had such a short span of time to work with.
Given more time, Daneel was sure that Ashahell would have completed the task, but things were still great as they stood now. Ashahell was imprisoned and could no longer freely plot the downfall of the continent, and the Mad Doctor was in a long, long coma.
Going back to his dorm, Daneel once again viewed the pile of Ker Gems and realized that he was in a dilemma.
How was he going to transport them out now?!
Thankfully, the next day, there was good news.
The super-strict lockdown on the Sect had been lifted.
The reason hadn't been released, but Daneel knew why: apparently, his action of framing Ashahell had also resulted in this, which made him feel quite happy before he felt his face burn again on remembering what he had had to say about himself in front of Drakos yesterday.
Apparently, the truth was that there had been a lot of displeasure due to the lockdown, mainly from all the Warriors who had been assigned to keep an eye on those who went out.
Now, there was no such thing bothering anyone.
Using the secret exit that he had used before, Daneel began to smuggle out the Ker Gems carefully to Lanthanor's vault.
It took many, many trips, but by the time he was done, Daneel felt greatly satisfied.
Right now, Lanthanor was the richest Kingdom of the Continent.
Gone were the days of poverty when he had had to scrounge up the money by taking loans.
Now, he had all the money he needed, and because there was nothing like the "Tax Commission" in Angaria which would have asked questions if he suddenly showed so much wealth, Daneel was going to be able to implement more and more of his plans for the welfare of the people.
Of course, if he showed too much wealth at once, it would be an obvious incongruency that would call the Big 4 down on him, so he would still have to be a bit cautious.
With his work in the Sect of Hedon done for now, Daneel headed out, looking forward to finally returning to his Kingdom.
The only thing that was left in the Sect was to re-obtain the parts of the Inheritance left behind by the Empire that had been taken away by Ashahell when he had visited Lanthanor.
He would definitely have to come back for those.
After exiting the Sect, Daneel first headed to the Watcher's place, as the original Travis was still being held there.
However, when he reached, he saw something very…strange.
Travis was just standing there, without any bindings, and the Watcher had a sheepish expression on his face.
"Umm…I took him in as my disciple. He knows everything. Don't worry, he's sworn an oath. So, he's ready to take your place in the Sect again, and you can even switch out with him whenever you want if you need to go back inside. Win-win, right?"
Daneel had seen hints of this the last time he had met the Watcher, too, but he couldn't have expected that the bodyless man would take the plunge.
Still, he had to admit that it was convenient.
So, walking up to Travis, he patted his shoulder and said, "Have fun," before leaving.
Travis asked the Watcher what Daneel might have meant, but he wasn't aware of the answer either.
Little did he know that there was a huge roster of Warriors just waiting to kick his ass to a pulp for his post as soon as he went back.
…
After getting back to the Palace without telling anyone, Daneel lied down on his bed, thoroughly exhausted.
He was just about to take a nice nap, when the system suddenly sounded in his head, making him snap his head up with shock.
[Warrior-level display of power has been detected in the Palace. Location: South-east of Host.]
When the hell had a Warrior invaded Lanthanor?!
With alarm, Daneel teleported to that underground room, intending to find out who had the audacity to enter his Kingdom.
Without hesitation, he used his full strength to kick open the door, only to find his elder brother figure, Elanev, training in the room in front of a punching bag.
There was no one else here.
Daneel was about to ask the system whether it was Elanev who had been the one to display that power, but the man spoke out by himself with an expression of extreme frustration on his face, which made Daneel take a step back with surprise.
"I didn't want to believe it. I was so ready to gloat that I became a Warrior so fast…and you became a damn Exalted Warrior already?! I mean, COME ON, MAN!"