Whoa…that came out of nowhere.
Quite taken aback, Daneel had to take a moment to gather his thoughts while the Queen looked down for the first time since he had come here.
That confident woman who was ready to rule the world was gone, replaced by one who had her heart broken millions of years back but was still pining after the man whom she had loved.
Wait…why did she seem a bit like Eloise?
Shaking his head to get rid of that thought, Daneel focused on the matter at hand.
Her reason was definitely something that would lead one to want to save Angaria. Daneel was mostly basing his supposition on the movies he had seen back on Earth, where endless love, even after death was a thing.
He assumed that that was what was going on here.
Yet, even though he could give her the benefit of the doubt in the motivation department, the rest had a bit too many incongruities.
For example, the Grand Inheritance itself.
From all the clues that Daneel was able to piece together regarding it, he understood a few things.
For instance, the Emperor's action of letting the Grand Inheritance be possessed by only those who had a satisfaction level definitely wasn't some arbitrary test.
He had seen what had happened to the man during the apocalypse-type event that had resulted in the fall of the Empire. From that, Daneel could guess that there was some danger in that Inheritance, just like with the Ruler's Inheritance where one could go crazy and lose their identity if they allowed too many thoughts to enter their head.
As for the link between the core formations and the Empire Spirits needing satisfaction level to have their seals broken, Daneel had already gotten an answer regarding that from Drakos.
Apparently, he was a special case.
Typically, one would have to break at least the second seal in order to obtain a spell that would allow them to unlock the core formations of their Kingdoms.
After all, not everyone could have a Peak Champion level system that could just easily unlock the cores and let them obtain the parts of the Grand Inheritance.
So…everything was linked to satisfaction level. The Grand Inheritance, the techniques the Empire Spirits could give, the cause behind the fall of the Empire…Daneel suspected that all of these were linked.
Hence, it just wouldn't make sense for the Queen to find a 'loophole' like this.
Besides, from what she was saying, she had worked with the Emperor closely. So, she should know about all these things. Yet, she was pushing this agenda of 'saving Angaria' toward him in order to guilt him into kneeling.
Yes!
That was definitely how it felt like.
Also, she reminded him of Ashahell quite a bit.
That man, too, was so righteous in his cause, but the reasoning behind it was something twisted and horrific.
What was to say that that wasn't the case here?
The Queen had regained her composure, and she was sipping wine while waiting for a response from Daneel.
Daneel took his time. Yes, through various clues, he had found a clue that she might be duplicitous, but he had to be sure.
After all, the stakes were abnormally high.
If he refused now and later on caused the deaths of many more people than was necessary, he would never be able to forgive himself.
There was one more thing.
Why…didn't the Emperor just give the Empire Spirits the power to rise up and save Angaria by themselves when it was needed?
Why were there so many steps and failsafes to make sure that that wouldn't happen?
And finally, why had he insisted on this Race which was obviously designed to be won by a human from the present Age?
Daneel pondered deeply about this matter. Something told him that there was another clue here.
The Emperor must definitely have had some objective to want to make sure that Empire Spirits would only be an aid. He had wanted the living humans to be center stage…but why?
Oh, how he wished he could have a chat with Drakos right now.
He had thought that the system might be enough to help him no matter what dilemma he fell in, but he couldn't have expected that this would be the sort of situation he would be in.
The only thing the system could do to help now was maybe cast Mind Control on the Queen, which obviously wouldn't work because of her power.
[System has detected traces of a Hero-level spell similar to the one used on host during host's first interaction with target 'Queen Arafell'. These traces were found on the giants that host encountered so far. System was only able to detect this due to prolonged exposure to Hero-level spells.]
What?!
It was almost as if the system had spoken out at this moment after detecting the fact that he had just called it useless.
Well, regardless, this changed everything.
The Queen was using some sort of spell to exert dominance over an entire race!
However Daneel imagined it, he couldn't think that this was something good.
She seemed to have practically…taken away their free will!
Free will was something that was supposed to have been given by God to all living beings.
Wait…God!
A God complex!
As the gears in Daneel's head turned, he got the clue about why the Emperor might not have wanted Empire Spirits to be center stage in the activity of saving Angaria.
It was their God Complexes!
Except Drakos…No, in fact, even Drakos had one to some degree. It was only his innocence that covered it up.
All the Empire Spirits he had met so far considered normal humans to be insects.
In fact, in that first speech of hers, the Queen had also spoken about it as if she was doing some big favor to the continent.
She said nothing to that effect, but now, Daneel realized that something about her tone or posture definitely gave him this impression.
All in all…what if there was some flaw in all those chosen as Empire Spirits which resulted in the Emperor not wanting them to be the ones who lead the charge against the enemies of Angaria?
This supposition definitely seemed to have quite some merit to it.
Besides, as Daneel thought about it, he realized that there was one last catch here.
True, if he ended up not kneeling now, there was a risk that a lot more people than what he could have saved might end up dying.
Yet…if he did kneel, and if the Queen turned out to have ulterior motives, then all of Angaria would definitely be doomed.
That…seemed like a much greater risk.
Especially when there were these many worrying factors about the Queen's claims.
Clearly, in her way of phrasing, she had been hoping that he would only look at things in the way she was showing them.
Yet, this facet changed everything.
Daneel hadn't even gotten to the part where he should think about whether he would be willing to kneel in case everything she said was true.
According to the system, his destiny was to become a World Dominator. Was a World Dominator someone who would bend the knee and allow others to take the helm?
Definitely not.
For a moment, Daneel looked back at everything he had accomplished.
Hey, his track record wasn't perfect, but anyone would have to admit that he was getting better and better.
At this moment, Daneel realized that he should have more confidence in himself.
Just because someone claimed that she wanted to save Angaria and that she was best equipped to do so because of her experience, it didn't mean that he had to get doubt in himself.
After all, on the surface, he hadn't done much. Yet, in reality, all of his schemes and plans combined would definitely give him a sizeable wealth of experience to call on.
Where there had been turbid confusion before, clarity returned to his eyes, which made the watching Queen understand that he had reached a decision.
Yes, in the last moment before his deep foray into logical reasoning had ended, Daneel had come up with one, final question.
And that question had led him to form a small plan.
"What have you decided, King Daneel? I hope you considered everything while keeping the good of the continent in your mind."
"System, stay prepared to capture her micro-expressions. I want to know every reaction she has to what I am about to say."
[Affirmative.]
Picking up the crystal glass and swirling the wine inside, Daneel took a leisurely sip and spoke after furrowing his eyebrows, as if there was something bothering him.
"Queen, I had a small query."
"Of course. Anything. Ask away."
Taking a deep breath, Daneel spoke.
"On the way over, near the border, I ran into two of your human citizens. They had some very…glowing praises about you. My question is regarding what you would say about those praises."
"I don't see the relevance of this when there are millions of lives at stake, but, please, carry on, ask. I would be happy to answer."
"They said that the Queen is an uptight bitch who only knows how to sit in the Palace, and that she's done nothing whatsoever for the welfare of the people."
"…"
Silence.
The Queen's expression hardened, but Daneel wasn't able to detect any micro-expressions by himself. He was looking for these micro-expressions because he knew that the first true, honest reaction from someone regarding something would be reflected in them, and not in whatever reaction they had after that, as the latter could just be acting.
He could have used the Basilisk's Breath to analyze the same thing, but Daneel had decided not to do so as he couldn't risk it being detected by the Queen.
[Microexpressions detected and segregated. Would host like them to be displayed in the Heads Up Display?]
Oh, yes, he had a heads up display which he hadn't used in a long time. Thinking about it, Daneel surmised that this might be best, as it was most preferable if he analyzed the expression himself.
As soon as he said 'Yes' to the system, three faces appeared in three directions in front of him.
He started from the left. The first face showed shock in the Queen's face, as Daneel had purposefully called them 'praises' to lull her into a false sense of pride.
The middle one had anger, and maybe even fury.
Well, that was a bit unusual, but many rulers would feel angry if someone talked about them in that way.
Yet, the last…was what Daneel had been looking for. Gazing at it, he made his final decision.
This last face depicted…disgust. The disgust that could be seen in the face of an Earthling kid before he stepped down on and destroyed an ant colony, just because one dared to climb up his hand and disturb him.
Could someone who didn't love and value the people of this continent, no matter how they were, ever hope to keep its best interests at heart and save it?
If it was just this matter, then it would be different.
But with everything combined together…there wasn't a chance in hell that Daneel would choose to kneel.
He didn't even listen to her answer, and as he asked the system, he found that she had said something along the lines of there always being detractors who could never be satisfied.
Seeing her expectant eyes, Daneel put down the glass and stood up.
"The answer is no, Queen Arafell. I cannot give you my reasons, but my answer will not change. Good luck with the Race."
Hearing this, the Queen's eyes popped, while her jaw almost hung open.
Standing up, Daneel took decisive strides toward the door. All the while, he waited for an attack or some attempt to stop him, but nothing came.
His straight back showed the confidence he had in himself, and that, more than anything, made the Queen understand that he wouldn't change his decision.
Still, right before he reached the door, she said, "You're making a big mistake, King Daneel."
This made Daneel turn around, with the door right behind him.
Folding his hands behind his back, he asked, "Maybe. By the way, if I give you the same reasons and ask you to kneel, would you? I already have two Kingdoms, and I am much more capable than what you think. I'm confident that I can save Angaria. If you kneel, you will be fulfilling your wish, too. So, what do you say? Would you, an Empire Spirit, kneel to a mortal?"
This time, Daneel didn't even need the system.
That last sentence made an expression of consternation appear on the Queen's face, while she chose to say nothing.
Her answer was clear.
Not a chance.
"I thought so. If you change your mind, please do not hesitate to contact me. See you later, then. I've got two Kingdoms to run."
Saying the last sentence just because he felt like rubbing it in her face for some reason, Daneel opened the door behind him and exited before hastily closing it.
He must have appeared quite grand when he boldly walked away, but now, a small sheen of sweat appeared on his face while he began to run in the direction of his soldiers with all of his regal nature gone.
Yet, it would definitely be dumb to stay here even a second longer when there was a super-infuriated Hero-level Queen right behind those doors.