Daneel had to admit that he was even more impressed now, when he saw the way that Jordan had assessed the situation and reached the conclusion which was most logical.
He would make a pretty damn good subordinate, and it wasn't like Daneel had no intention of using him at all. Why not do that actively, instead of repeatedly using Mind Control to place thoughts in his mind?
Besides, this present plan of his relied heavily on finding out how people were adopting the product, and although he had already assigned Luther to the case of collecting feedback, it wasn't like another source would be bad.
Also… If what he was saying was true, then it might be even more necessary to have someone like Jordan who had such an extensive network working for him actively to identify just what his hidden opponents might be up to.
However, Daneel still had a few misgivings, and so, he decided to ask a question.
The reason behind these misgivings was that in his retinue, he only liked to have people that he knew he understood. He did not really believe in oaths, because even if the one whom they were placed on could not break through them, others could intervene and give rise to a situation where placing his trust might turn out to be quite disastrous.
This was why even the now court mage of Lanthanor was still slowly working his way to earn Daneel's trust. He valued quality over quantity, and he would rather that his inner circle be filled with those who did not need oaths to keep them in line.
"What led you to reach this point in life? Why is life span so important to you now? What made you work so hard, and what made you take the risk to come here? I could very well have killed you to keep my secret safe, you know."
Daneel said that last part even though it was false. After all, if Jordan had been about to go to the Big Four to tell them something about him, the system would directly have identified it and he would have been stopped in his tracks.
However, he didn't know that he was being so well observed in that manner, but he had still chosen this for some reason.
Jordan took a few moments to think, and when he finally spoke, it was in a voice that was filled with the emotion one who had seen the vicissitudes of life.
"The answer is actually simple, My Lord. If you knew where I was born and where I grew up, you would not even really ask it."
As Daneel bent forward, Jordan's eyes seemed to glaze over, as if he was reliving what he was talking about.
"I will keep it short. I was apparently thrown away by my parents, for reasons I haven't been able to uncover no matter how much I tried. I was adopted by a small family who served a certain individual, but that family died because they made a mistake while serving their master. I was three years old when this happened, and the only reason I know this is that I was mocked that I was bad luck personified when I grew up. I was then adopted by the sister of those who had originally taken me in, but she used me for begging. I would be carried around looking pitiful, and those in the streets would donate token amounts. I was extremely hungry all the time, and at one point, I fainted out of hunger and thought that that was it. I was five years old at that time, and I only remember glimpses. When I was six, I ran away from her and entered into the employee of a bar, where I cleaned the tables and the floor for some food. I had to fight for each and everything, and I knew that if I relaxed even for a little bit in my battle against life, I would be run over like the many I had seen during my journey. When I was ten, that barman threw me out in favor of a woman who attracted customers, and I entered into a trading family as a cleaner, again. And there… Was where I finally found an opportunity. A spy working for an opposing family approached me and asked me to eavesdrop for some information, and I did so happily for the money. I had no idea that it was even possible to earn money in this way, and it gave me an idea that kept burning inside me. I had always had the determination to do something with my life- to win against it, because it seemed to want to beat me down as much as possible. I started slowly, using just the servants of that house, and because I understood them well, I was able to communicate properly and get them to work for me. Each and every thing that I wanted, I took. Life took everything away from me, so I saw no wrong in doing this. I blackmailed, I stole, I sold state secrets, and finally, I built an empire that spans across the entire Central Continent, and I'm now probably one of the richest men alive. Basically, I… won. And I did it out of my determination to decide on something, and then do everything that was necessary to obtain it. Now, with age catching up to me, this is the final foe that I wish to face and defeat, just like everything else. This is the truth, my lord, and you can even check my mind to see whether I lied or not. I believe that the best relationships are those that are born out of mutual benefit, and I believe that I will make my worth known to you if you trust me. That is all I have to say."
It read like a story, and even for a few moments after Jordan stop speaking, Daneel kept envisioning the life that the man must've gone through.
Most of it wasn't even that special. Many were dealt with such cards in life, and he had been dealt those that were worse than most. Yet… All that mattered was what one decided to do with them. They could either hold them and cry with despair, or they could try and transform them into something else. Jordan had done the letter, and it was obvious that he had the one thing that was missing from most who wanted success: the willingness to do whatever was necessary to obtain it.
With this, Daneel was satisfied. It wasn't always required that one's motives should match. His sovereigns and the others under him wanted to serve him and do what was needed to be done for his vision to come true, and as for Jordan, he wanted something else, but to get that, he had identified the best route.
What he asked wasn't impossible, as Daneel was already researching it as he wanted to use it for his mother, who had no talent at all in the Path to power, just like Jordan. Both of them were also too old to have their potentials upgraded slowly, and there was no way that he would allow her to simply pass away after her mortal life span came to an end. All he would have to do in exchange for Jordan's services was to use the same method that he found for her on him, too.
Daneel had never been one to dally too much on decisions, so he directly spoke out loud after fixing his gaze on Jordan.
"Very well. I accept you, but I will still have to see whether you truly deserve to become someone I can depend on. Your task right now is to keep an eye on everything that is happening in relation to my plans, while also making discreet inquiries as to just who might be targeting them. Use this communication trinket to contact me if you find anything important. And use these trinkets to protect yourself and escape if you come under attack. All those who work for me often find that danger stalks them as if they are but prey in the wild."
Saying so, Daneel threw four trinkets in Jordan's direction and then teleported away.
He reappeared in the air above Lanthanor, and this was when he sank into deep thought.
Who the hell in the Big Four could be so idle to target him, and that too when his plans were in such an early stage? Any way he thought of it, there seemed to be no reason for them to go after the wealth they could accumulate if they interfered. They could obtain precious Ker Gems simply by being a part of the Big Four, so it just didn't make sense.
Unless, what if… They had a personal vendetta?
As soon as this thought occurred to Daneel, it felt right. He knew the attitudes of those in the Big Four, and there were only two things which motivated them the most: power, and ego.
The first people he thought about who might be targeting him were the Heroes, who actually had quite a bit of idle time on their hands. However, they were hard to target and identify, so Daneel decided to first go to the location of the meeting to see if he could find any clues.
In order to not leave any traces, the wooden building had been completely demolished, and even the wood used had been burnt to ash. There were no trails left, at all, that any meeting had gone on here, but thankfully, Daneel had the system which could actually read the elementary particles in the air to check whether there were any traces of spells left behind.
He had already surveyed the area carefully before appearing here, and because it hadn't been very long since the meeting ended, there was a chance that he would succeed.
Sure enough, after a few moments, the system sent him a message.
[Traces of spell "Rapture of the Goddess" found. Spell was used to knock out multiple Warrior level individuals at once. It is an exclusive spell of the Goddess's Sanctum sect.]
The Goddess's Sanctum?!
But he didn't even have any enemies there! Who the f*ck could it be?!
A pretty face had come into his mind as soon as Daneel had even heard the sect's name, and he realized that it had been a long time since he had spoken to Xuan. In fact, he hadn't spoken to her since their 'counseling session' before, and when he had asked Eloise the other day, he had found out that she had entered some kind of special training which placed her in complete isolation.
Pausing for a moment, Daneel considered everything that he knew about the sect. Various possibilities ran through his mind, and one of them was even whether this could be someone who had been pursuing Xuan, and was now targeting him because of the kiss they had shared.
But news of that was supposed to be secret, right? Surely, there was no way that that something that scandalous could be leaked?
At one point, Daneel even thought of Molan, and wondered whether she might be jealous enough to do something like this.
Yet, he could find no conclusion, so, as a last-ditch attempt, he sent a message to Xuan.
However, just like he had expected, there was no reply, which made Daneel get a slightly frustrated expression on his face.
Soon, it became clear that there was nothing exactly he could do. He couldn't randomly enter the sect again as he had already used his opportunity to go through their libraries, and he had no one on the inside whom he could trust.
So… The only thing he could do was continue what he was doing, while acting as if he had no idea that someone was targeting him.
However, just before teleporting away, he gritted his teeth.
Till now, he had been an innocent rabbit who was frolicking in the grass, unaware that there was a wolf in the shadows staring at him secretly. Now, though… He could take the role of an eagle from above who could watch everything on the ground and pounce down when needed, while still acting as the rabbit who was being targeted without its knowledge.
This was a very, very important plan, and no matter who it was, they were going to face Daneel's wrath if they imagined that they would have an easy time disrupting it in any manner.
Deciding that the time for mercy for those in the Big Four was past, Daneel teleported away, and in her cell, Jessica actually felt a slight shiver in her spine, almost as if she had been locked onto by an apex predator.
No matter how much she tried, though, she couldn't find the reason behind such a feeling, so she just let it go, and continued on her task of bringing ruin to the King of Lanthanor, for which she was ready to do anything and everything that was required.