"I, Vincent, hereby swear to follow J. I urge all those under me to do so, too, as I really do believe that she represents a flourishing future."
In his last visit to the Bandit Cave where Daneel had killed Skylar to take this role of a Bandit Alliance leader, he made this announcement before sitting on the large chair on the raised platform that was meant for the leader with a disgruntled expression on his face.
Only, as he did so, none of the bandits in front of him were very surprised, nor were the leaders who had sworn to follow him before, during the Gathering.
Almost all of them agreed, except for very few who wanted to go out and find their own path. Of course, they said this, but the rest of the bandits knew that these guys would probably try to sneak back into a Kingdom to begin fresh lives.
The reason behind this was a rumor that Daneel had spread after obtaining Joselyn's reply.
Even now, as he sat there looking like someone had stolen something from him, he could hear the conversations between the bandits in front of him, most of whom had begun to drink again as they couldn't carry all the beer and wine stashed here when they began their journey to a different area, as was mandated by the now singular leader of the Bandit Alliance who had changed her stance this morning.
She had said that after further receiving further information, she had had no choice but to declare that the path they were on would only lead to failure. So, the best method was to leave, as, according to her, there was unrest in a certain area of Angaria which would be a perfect opportunity for them to enter and obtain their own place.
"How many strikes do you think were needed for our boss to be defeated by that J's hand?"
"I dunno, but he doesn't have a scratch on him. So, maybe J overpowered boss so much that our boss was defeated in one or two strikes."
"Or maybe boss just admitted defeat. We know how he was before he became the boss."
"Hey, it's a good thing, right? It means that J is more powerful than any of us thought! Maybe we really will have a great future!"
"Shut up, Bob."
Hearing these statements from the bandits, Daneel smiled inwardly.
He could have killed off Vincent at this point, but Daneel had gotten an idea. What if he had to step in in the future to help Joselyn in some matter or the other? In those cases, having an identity would be best.
So, Vincent would go to work under Joselyn, who would be using the man for 'scouting', so that no one would be surprised even if he didn't turn up for long periods of time.
All in all, this matter was settled in quite a satisfactory manner.
Indeed, Daneel was happy with Joselyn's decision. This was because if he was given an option between a subordinate who had to be given tools and opportunities to provide results, and one who brought and made these things themselves, he would definitely choose the latter, as a subordinate of that type would also definitely be more capable in all areas.
That night, Daneel convened a remote meeting over communication trinket between himself, Eloise, who was the one leading the operations behind the train, Eldra and Katerina.
As soon as it started, Katerina said, "Miss. Eloise. It is a pleasure to finally speak to you. We have heard a lot about you."
Eldra spoke up next.
"Yes, Miss. Eloise. It is our understanding that you're quite special. In fact, we are even envious of you in some ways."
Hearing these statements, Eloise was quite puzzled. What were these two elves talking about?
Daneel was similarly stymied.
"Uh…what are you…?"
"Oh, we are speaking about your amazing capabilities of single-handedly handling so many things for the King. King Daneel is truly lucky to have you."
This was from Katerina, with Eldra chiming in next.
"Yes, we are envious because you command the thoughts of so many with the Network. Now, shall we begin the discussion?"
It was odd. Daneel could tell that there was some other meaning behind these two elves, who had gotten surprisingly close, speaking like that, but he couldn't figure it out.
Eloise was the same.
"Right. It is a pleasure to speak to the most glorious elves of Eldinor, too. Miss. Eldra, all the schemes you implemented for the welfare of the elves were all well thought-out, and even executed perfectly. Queen Katerina, your firm grip over the army is something many rulers can only envy."
"Oh, please, call me Katerina. I feel we will get along well! In fact, we would like to invite you to the Palace, as we really want to get to know you better."
What was going on?
Daneel was tempted to interrupt and say that they should get started on the agenda, but he held his tongue, as he could tell that that would be a bad idea.
Thankfully, it was as if Eloise could sense his thoughts.
"Of course. Now then, let's get started. To counter the bandits, we had to spread our resources and manufacture a lot of track trinkets to construct multiple tracks. I believe that we should actually continue this. Initially, we were building only one, but the number of people and the goods that are typically transported between the two Kingdoms would hardly fit in one. Out of the 10 tracks, three are genuine, and my suggestion is that all three should be built after abandoning the rest."
Daneel was quite happy with this. A well-planned train system would consist of multiple paths to reach the same destination, for cases of extreme load. Besides, this was a main line which would receive a lot of traffic.
After receiving voices of agreement from the others, Eloise continued.
"All right, as for the specific details of the train…"
…
In a specific underground room that was surrounded by so many barriers and formations that even a mote of dust wouldn't be able to get through, a man was pacing around with a very serious expression on his face.
Once again, just like the many times he had done since coming to consciousness days ago, he tried to conjure something, anything.
Yet, the moment he tried, a splitting headache assaulted his Mageroot, making him stagger backward and take support from the stone wall.
Clutching his head, he sunk down to the ground, while waiting for the pain to subside.
To think that a Champion had been reduced to this.
He chuckled to himself morosely as this thought came to him, before he stood up and went to the bed, intending to sit and, maybe, sleep, as he had nothing else to do.
Meanwhile, Daneel was viewing the actions of the man while standing outside the prison cell he had made specially for this Amateur Champion.
Indeed, this was Raul, the one presumed dead by the entire continent, except one person- his father.
"The formation is quite effective. So, you placed an active, invisible barrier around his entire head which causes his Mageroot to be assaulted as soon as he tries to cast a spell?"
"Yes, Young King. This formation is intricate, and it needs time to deploy. Even a tiny disturbance during its deployment would bring ruin. That is why it is ineffective in battle. However, it is excellent against prisoners. It's a pity that it can only be used on those at the Champion level."
Nodding, Daneel continued to survey the man.
The development of the train project was progressing swimmingly, and, soon, it would be launched with much fanfare. He was very excited about that, as there were quite a few modifications that Daneel had done which he was excited to see. In fact, he had been hard at work on that project for the last three days. It was only tonight that he found himself free, which led him to come here and see how the Champion in his custody was doing.
All the preparations on his side were done, and all he could do right now was wait for Eloise and the rest to coordinate and set everything else up.
Hence, deciding that it was finally time to talk to this man and get the question that had been plaguing him for quite some time answered, Daneel walked forward.
He had been watching everything through a display trinket whose communication eye was cleverly embedded in the wall so as to make sure that the man wouldn't know about it, so Raul had no idea that he was being surveilled at all times.
Opening the door, Daneel walked inside and folded his hands behind his back, while gazing at the Amateur Champion with a serene expression on his face.
Raul was quite startled on finally receiving an 'audience' with his captor after this long, but he didn't stand up to show respect.
Instead, he remained seated on the bed with his back to the wall and idly said, "Come to gloat?"
"No, I've come to relieve my boredom, and yours. I saw that you were quite uninterested in the books I placed here."
Indeed, Daneel hadn't been too cruel. This room was small, with only enough space to walk 10 steps from one end to the other, but there was a bookcase on one side and a closed toilet on the other.
"I've already read all of them. So, I gather that you're using me as a bargaining chip?"
Raising an eyebrow, Daneel said, "What makes you think that?"
"Well, if that weren't the case, I wouldn't be left alone like this, for so many days."
Chuckling, Daneel conjured a throne and sat down. These days, even if all he wanted was a chair, he had gotten used to subconsciously making a throne appear, instead.
Putting one leg on the other, Daneel leaned back and said, "Yes, you're a bargaining chip to make your father follow me. Inside your mind is a…let's say, a bomb which will kill you when triggered. Even he can't stop it. And don't even think about killing yourself- there's another formation here which will stop that. You would be glad to hear that he agreed."
Initially, an expression of shock came on Raul's face, before he folded his hands and smiled at the corner of his mouth.
"That old man always was sentimental. I guess our family is now completely under your control. I would ask how you are capable of something that even a Hero can't stop, but I don't think I'll get an answer."
It was always nice to speak with someone with a brain, Daneel mused, as he smiled and said, "Right you are. Now, then. Your father said that you had an option to either save a bunch of sons and daughters of the Big 4, among whom were even those who were the offspring of Heroes, or save 10,000 regular humans. You chose the latter. Tell me, how can such a situation even arise?"
At first, Raul stayed silent and gazed into the King's eyes.
He considered whether he should act like a disgruntled prisoner and not say anything, but as he thought about it, he realized that he actually carried no grudge against this man. Because of him, he had broken through to become a Champion! That had always been his goal, all along, anyway.
So, he decided to answer. But, before that, he had to clarify something.
"Before I answer, let me tell you something. Check the formation trinkets which I gave to the other rogue Warriors who came along with me. I told them that the formation made by those trinkets would allow us to blow up the entire town if you refused, or to stop you when we were fleeing. That wasn't the truth. That formation would merely have caused a bright light and smoke, while not harming anyone. I never intended to slaughter innocent people. If I had that intention, I would never have become a rogue Mage, in the first place. My decision to battle you was also only because of some affiliations of mine with a few towns which are not ruled by any Kingdom. If all the rogue Fighters and Mages in Angaria saw that I betrayed them, they would have taken revenge on those towns. Anyway, coming back to your question. It was a Forbidden Blood Sacrifice spell, which enables one to choose a very special and powerful Champion Path. They did everything secretly, but they had erred by offering me the chance to join, too. Then, they tried to pass it off as something they had discarded. Yet, the teachings of my father made it so that I couldn't ignore the risk. I kept tabs on them, which made it so that I was able to reach them at the crucial moment when the sacrifice was going to happen. There was no time to contact the Heroes, but I still did. By that time, the humans had already been bound by the spell. To stop it, the only way was to kill either side of the scale. I was given the order to let the humans die. I couldn't do that. And now I've landed myself here. Fate works in strange ways, I guess."