2 days later.
Jalan was sitting along with his friends on a tree, while munching on some sweet snacks that his mother had made.
The one beside him tried to snatch one of them from his pocket, but Jalan expertly caught his hand and bent it backward, saying, "I told you you would regret not sharing before."
This made the kid grumble and fold his hands, while the others laughed a bit before once again focusing their attention on the gathering that was going on a few hundred meters away from them.
Their parents were all standing around a very large tree, in the forest near their village, that had been designated as the place where important meetings would take place.
Right now, the Mayor, who was an old man with greying hair and a bent back, was speaking with the help of a loudspeaker trinket that was exclusively available to those in power.
"We all know of the sudden circumstances in which our King had to take thing decision. I spoke to the leader of the troops that we passed on that day, too. He told me that he was caught by surprise as much as everyone, but the commander was someone to be trusted. Seeing him so sure, the Captain decided to obey orders, just like the rest of the army. You all must still remember that scene of victory where the combined army of Lanthanor and Eldinor was routed effortlessly."
In response, one of the women among those gathered spoke up.
"So what? It's still a fact that Lanthanor was always good to us. Their King even built that monument by giving up his land, that I, and many others, still visit regularly to this day. Obviously, we can't do that anymore, and we aren't griping about that. But what if he is right? What if our King has been hoodwinked?"
"Mafana, you've always been a conspiracy nut! Stop trying to make others panic! We all remember when you saw the Protector Raven in the air and assumed that it was the Divine Ancestor, come to bless our village!"
This made the woman who had spoken blush for a moment, but she replied without missing a beat.
"And I remember when you cheated in the fight against your neighbor by having someone else fight for you. That was a mistake of mine, before. But this is something we should seriously consider. We have never been an Alliance. I heard that there was a proposal to ally with Lanthanor before, where we would have gotten a lot of benefits in the form of trade. It was stopped because we, the people, would never agree to be ruled by someone not acknowledged by the Divine Ancestor. But isn't that the case now? The King of Axelor was named as the chief of the Alliance in the public statement!"
That last statement made silence appear in the gathering, as they all recalled the announcement, and the way it had made them feel.
Some had gotten angry, but the announcement had also contained grave warnings about the threat that the King of Lanthanor presented, and that this was the only way for them to survive and preserve their way of life.
Overall, almost all the citizens had been…confused.
Too much had happened which muddled their minds. Typically, they would have directly rioted in opposition of an Alliance where someone acknowledged by the Divine Ancestor was not in command. But with the other option being that the same thing would have happened anyway without their own King not even being in the list of those who were in authority, they couldn't help but think that maybe…this was Ok, because it was better than the other option.
Yet another conflicting thing was that their impression of the King of Lanthanor had been steadily improving for a time, due to everything he had done, and due to the capability of his soldiers that had been on display during the Olympics. Of course, the events they saw in the Network Trinket during 'Mercy for the Wicked' played a large part in that, too.
That had taken a blow with their King's announcement about that secret plan, and the conflicting announcement that their own King was being controlled somehow had made the people even more confused, not knowing which cause to rally behind.
Should they doubt their King?
Should they believe him, and remove their impression of King Daneel?
Should they show their ire due to being under the command of someone foreign?
Or should they let it all be and continue with their lives, as there did not seem to be too many changes anyway?
The objective of this gathering had been to answer these questions, but with the discussions going on, it soon became clear that that might be easier said than done.
After these statements, what followed was bickering where almost everyone was still divided. Some wanted peace and some wanted to rebel. A few also only wanted to find out when the snacks would come, as they were tired of so many questions and just wanted to wait until the confusion was cleared up.
Unbeknownst to them, a communication eye was floating in the air, watching this entire scene, and it was only one of many which had been secretly deployed by the Army on the orders of their King.
All of these communication eyes sent data to the Kingdom of Axelor, where three men were standing in the Throne Room while listening to the discussions going on.
Each time someone spoke of rebelling, a frown would pass across the King's face.
This was King Safiros, who was finally in command of his own body as the Empire Spirit was resting in his pedestal.
Beside him was the one he thought to be the 'Empire Spirit', who was masquerading as the Black Raven King for the sake of the other man in the room- his trusty Minister.
Safiros had been delighted on finding out this plan that the two Empire Spirits had hatched. He knew that he would only benefit, over all, if the third seal was broken, as the agreement he had with Arnold was that he would be the winner of the Race, in any case, and when that happened, all he would have to do was one small little task, after which he would have his power and life span magnified by an unimaginable amount.
Also, he would be given command of the entire Continent, including the Big 4.
What else could he want?
His enthusiasm, in the beginning, had been palpable. This dream had been the reason he carried out so many purges with such gleeful joy, and he had also been told to study the feelings of those he was purging, as he had also been promised a very powerful Champion Path that was apparently behind the last seal, which he could use to ascend even if he was only an Exalted Human right now. Apparently, according to Arnold, the third seal would also give them a way for him to drastically grow in power, instantly, just like how the King of Lanthanor had done.
Yet, with failure after failure, and with no one taking his bait, he had started to get worried.
Thankfully, all that had changed with the emergence of Arnold's 'old friend'.
The entire plan had been carried out so beautifully. He could still remember the shock on the faces of that damn brat and that elven b*tch, and it was something that gave him so much happiness that he often burst out laughing with joy at odd times on recalling that memory. Of course, the same thing happened when he thought about their army being routed by his in that way, too.
Seeing the King's beloved friend in that state, near to death, and knowing that he would be undergoing extreme torture, day and night, had also been some very happy news that he had wished he could share with the King of Lanthanor just so that he could gloat.
Only, he had been forbidden from doing this as the King might some way to use that to support his claim that the Black Raven King was being controlled.
Lastly, the fact that he was now in command of two Kingdoms, not one, was another reason why this was the best time in the King's life, so far.
Yet, all the discussions in front of him about rebellions were once again stroking his rage and madness, which had been put to rest temporarily.
Those frowns were noted by the Minister, who had also been pretty shocked by everything that had happened. He didn't know about Empire Spirits, so he had only been told that this was all a plan hatched in secret by King Safiros. Although he doubted that this mad guy was capable of planning anything on that scale, he had accepted the answer on the surface, while knowing that there was something secret that he didn't know about. He wasn't dumb, after all.
Still, he had been pretty happy as all this meant that those purges might stop.
Only…seeing these frowns, he once again started to fear the worst.
Hastily, before they turned into something much worse, he decided to speak up.
"My King, this is normal in a Kingdom which has never been ruled by anyone other than whom they acknowledge. It will all die down with time. It is actually a blessing that they are so divided, as we can slowly turn them in our way by using the correct means. Isn't that so, King Faxul?"
Of course, the 'Faxul' here was the real Faxul.
With a nod, he said, "Of course."
Suddenly, before he could continue, a change came over King Safiros.
His face became relaxed, and he looked like a completely different person.
The Minister had seen this many times, and he had always thought it to be a split personality developed due to that technique that had decreased the King's power level before.
"Leave us, Minister. I wish to converse with the Black Raven King alone."
The Minister nodded and left, and as soon as the door closed, 'Faxul' changed appearance to his 'true' form, in the eyes of Arnold, which was that of that old Black Raven King.
"What is it? You called me?", he asked, following which Arnold waved his hand to gesture at the screens before saying, "We have a problem. I've checked the satisfaction level."
Furrowing his eyebrows, the 'old bird' waited for Arnold to continue.
After looking at the screens for a few more moments, he said, "The satisfaction level in the Black Raven Kingdom is pretty damn low because of all this doubt. Although there was an increase overall, as we predicted, it's not enough. We're 9% away, which is not a small amount."
Hearing this made Faxul smile inwardly, although he looked like he was seriously considering something on the outside.
'Damn, Daneel. How did you calculate it all so perfectly?'
Indeed, Daneel had already given an estimate regarding this, and now, it was Faxul's duty to guide Arnold into doing what they wanted.
Yet, it had to be done slowly, without taking any risks.
Looking up, the 'old bird' said, "Let's wait and see. That guy was right- this is a transition phase. With time, it should settle down. I'll get back to my task."
Saying so, the 'old bird' disappeared, leaving behind the Empire Spirit who did not look as amused as he had been in that underground room before.
But, he did agree that they would have to wait.
…
After seeing the message, Daneel had tried to contact them, anyway, to no avail.
It was like they had vanished off the map.
So, the only thing he could do was hope that they would get back in touch soon.
He had already guessed that the reason behind her tears might be that she somehow found out about what happened in the Goddess's Sanctum.
He had to admit that he was worried, but he still cared most about whether she was ok.
Sadly, all he could do was twiddle his thumbs and await their return.
While he was doing that, he got the message from Faxul that the second phase was progressing smoothly. Arnold had measured the satisfaction level and found it to be within the range Daneel, using the system, had predicted, and Faxul, as the 'old bird' had told him to wait for it to get better.
Of course, there was no way that Daneel would let that happen.
So, putting aside the worry regarding Eloise and looking forward to this next part that would be pretty fun, he set off once again to the Black Raven Kingdom.