A few minutes later, for once, Daneel found himself being quite astonished by the means of the Big Four.
He had known of these entities for a long, long time, and over time, he had started to be able to predict what they would do. After that, with the revelation of the Order being the actual hidden force in the continent, he had even started to think of the Big Four as not being too special.
Yet… When he arrived at where Ashahell was currently being held, he couldn't help but credit that there were still those in the Big Four who had quite a lot of creativity in their bones.
The typical place that Daneel had expected he would be taken to after agreeing that he would see the man was somewhere underground which would be difficult to find unless one was prepared to go throughout the underside of Angaria a with a fine-tooth comb. Even Heroes would have to spend years doing that, and even then, they would risk not paying attention for just a moment which would allow them to miss a spot where they might have found their target.
This was the main reason why underground was one of the most chosen locations were secret gatherings, but it looked like in this case, the Big Four had been convinced that if they used typical means, then they would definitely be found out.
So… They had actually chosen the most obvious location, instead.
They were actually… In the Kingdom of Arafell, and just a few kilometers from where they stood was where Daneel would have found the woman whom he hadn't talked to in a while, but who had left him with a question that had tortured him for a long, long time. It was only recently that he had managed to get rid of his curiosity regarding just why his action of hurting her extremely had made her smile instead of scorn him for the rest of her life, but it looked like he was not destined to get rid of it completely, as he now found himself being inadvertently reminded of all that again because of where he stood.
The Kingdom of Arafell, like the other kingdoms in the Central Continent, adopted a system where small-time crime would be addressed by local law enforcement officials who jailed these people in buildings retrofitted to contain people. These buildings would only be chosen on demand - for instance, there was always more crime around time periods where there were festivals, and in those times, there would be more jails.
Currently, they were in one which had been opened recently because of a spate of robberies which had apparently culminated in a breakthrough clue that had resulted in the capture of a large gang of 200 criminals who had been operating for three years in various kingdoms.
Daneel had gathered all this while waiting to be shown inside, after getting past his bewilderment that Ashahell was being held here, in plain sight.
Was it really in plain sight, though?
Even he, himself, could not imagine considering that such a common location in the Central Continent could be a place where one of the most notorious individuals who had carried out multiple crimes against Angaria(at least, in the eyes of those in the Big Four) was kept. After the Head had brought him here, Daneel had even had to ask whether they were in the right location, which was when the Head had chortled softly and said that he was glad that they had this occasion where he had fulfilled his curiosity of how Daneel looked when he was completely clueless about something, which was something the man had apparently always wanted to see ever since finding out just how much of a perfect planner he was.
Daneel had been tempted then to pull rank, but remembering his speech which had been taken so well, he resisted and waited while the Head went inside saying that a few preparations needed to be made before the meeting could take place.
He had told the system to listen to everything, and that was how he had found out this information. It made him wonder whether this, too, had been orchestrated by the Big Four to set up a normal reason for a jail to be there, or whether they had simply used the opportunity that had presented itself.
Whatever the case, it was ingenious, and Daneel almost wished that he could get the person who had gotten this idea under him.
Interrupting this thought, the Head dipped his head out of the door nearby and nodded, indicating Daneel to come.
They were in a corridor lined with multiple cells, and Daneel had been told to wait at the beginning of it, where there had been no guards. At least, that was how it looked on the surface, whereas in reality, he knew that there were multiple Champions and even a couple of Heroes actively keeping an eye on this place hidden away from plain sight, using quite advanced formations which made it so that even Daneel could not tell the exact number of just how many people were guarding this location.
Daneel's steps echoed in the corridor as he walked, and a faint smell of fungus reached his nose. Ignoring them, he entered the room where he had seen the Head to find that there was another inside it, which was so heavily fortified that he doubted that anyone he had met so far would be able to escape.
If anyone knew that these many resources were being burned to secure a simple Champion, they would definitely have been shocked, but for this Champion, it was definitely necessary.
The Ashahell Daneel saw when he entered was not the man that had almost killed him before, but this was only in appearance. His long brown hair that had once reached his shoulders had grown even beyond that level, now almost reaching the small of his back, and his clean-shaven face was no longer so. His thin lips seemed even thinner, and his pallor was that of someone who had been starved for days.
The Head spoke up, giving him the answer regarding what that was so.
"Ever since he killed the Mad Doctor, he has abstained from food. Of course, he is not in a resort, so we only gave it to him without forcing him to eat, and besides, Champions can survive without food for a long time, anyway. Only… He stopped using the Energy resources to maintain his power, too, and now, it looks like he is close to slipping a level back from the Peak Champion that he was. No one knows why his behavior suddenly changed, and all of us were even more shocked when he put forward this strange request a week ago."
Daneel nodded with furrowed eyebrows as he heard this. He wondered what the reason could be - could it be that the fact that he had been successfully framed for the murder of the Mad Doctor which he had not done had affected him in some manner? Or could there have been something else, and that this was simply the tipping point?
Whatever the case, Daneel expected that he would soon find out. The way Ashahell was living was that he was in a glass room from which they could see him, but he could not, so the man was still lying on his bed, abjectly staring at the ceiling with an expression which could not be read.
"No reason to wait any longer. Go on. You need not worry about your safety in any manner - there are multiple Heroes on standby, so he can do nothing. Of course, I don't need to remind you that all of these Heroes will also be listening in, and he knows that too, because he didn't even bother to ask that you two should speak alone. He simply wanted you to come."
Daneel nodded and walked forward, as he was really curious to find out what this old foe had in store for him. He still thought of this man as one of the smartest opponents he had gone up against yet, and if it weren't for the fact that he had done a lot of planning and a lot of schemes layered on top of each other, there was no way that he might have succeeded. In the end, though, the main thing that had brought the man down was his own decision of joining the Church to achieve his aims, because that had exposed him to a situation that Daneel had been able to exploit for his own good.
The moment Daneel reached the glass prison, a door opened, and Ashahell instantly sat up.
A small smile came upon his face, showing that he still retained the almost aristocratic manner that had always belonged to him. Only the arrogance was presently absent, and that smile slipped as soon as a chair appeared out of nowhere right in front of the bed, which was followed by a voice echoing in the room.
"You have five minutes. After that, as per our bargain, you will tell us everything you can about the Church without breaking the Oath and killing yourself. It is only if this information is relevant and something that we can use that we will consider what you have asked for."
This was said in a strict tone, and it was not one that Daneel had heard before, leading him to believe that it must be one of the Heroes of the Big Four who were supposedly hidden, but still more powerful than the Head, himself.
Ashahell looked like he wanted to say something, but he nodded and fixed his gaze on Daneel before saying, "We don't have too much time. Sit, and answer a question of mine."
Daneel did so, and after that, Ashahell asked a question that seemed to come out of nowhere.
"Do you believe in fate?"
Daneel had had no idea how he was supposed to address this whole thing since the start. It had been sprung on him so suddenly, and he had wondered whether it was a threat, too. Yet, even if that was the case, he didn't really fear Ashahell's power now, as his breakthrough had allowed him to be at such a power level that he would definitely be able to save himself even though this man's Champion Path was just downright scary.
When asked this question, though, which related to something that was really prominent back on his home planet but not at all discussed or talked about on Angaria, Daneel found himself more curious than ever.
"No. I believe in hard work, and justice."
He gave this answer, which made Ashahell smile.
"That was what I expected. And that was what I have always believed, too. If you're thinking that I've had a change in mind regarding my purpose, you are wrong- I still believe that all of you are a scourge on this continent, and I would rather that you will be wiped out by the Church than continue to keep digging and digging and deplete our mother until she can sustain us no more. Believe me, that is coming, and when it does, I remember my name. But that is not the reason that I called you here. Yes, I do not believe in fate, too, but then you came along. I don't need to elaborate on our past, and on all the things that relate to both of us. But in all these things, I saw one common similarity- you won, even though you had everything against you. I don't know if it was fate, or something else which none of us can ever imagine. But whatever it is… I have no option but to trust it now, and hope that it does its job once again. From the Big Four, take my diary, and go through it to see if anything catches your eye. That's it. Because of the oath, I cannot say anymore, but I think I can give you a small anecdote that I heard when I was growing up - a lion will lie in wait to catch its prey, even if it is powerful enough to achieve victory outright. Heroes- make him leave, and I'll talk. Or is it okay if I start speaking about your-"
In the next moment, Daneel blinked, and he found himself in a location far, far away.
He had instantly been teleported out, and a second later, he received the message from the Head which said, "I'll talk to you later."
Huh? What the hell had just happened? Why had the Heroes been so adamant that he should leave?
Daneel had gotten a very strong chill in his back when Ashahell said the words 'something that none of us can ever imagine'. Of course, that was the system, and the man had referred to it even though he had no idea what it was.
A second after that, to Daneel's surprise, a book fell out of nowhere in front of him, and touching it, he received a message from the system.
[Personal diary being analyzed. Looking for matching incidents that might lead to host. Looking for patterns. Analyzing. Three entries found. Entries being listed from most recent.
Entry number one: It is in regards to the target Ashahell's actions in the Kingdom of Lanthanor.
Entry number two-: Details Ashahell's analysis regarding the continent, and its forces.
Entry number three: Details the investigation into an incident which host witnessed firsthand- the destruction of the Dwarve's Rum. Target suspects that there might have been ulterior, hidden motive, but the investigation was stopped after no clues came forth.]
The Dwarve's Rum?
Reminded of something that happened so long ago, Daneel was dazed for a moment, before he began to think about just what it might mean.
However, when he recalled the statement that Ashahell had given him- a small clue came to his mind.
Ashahell had given up something definitely precious to give him this information, and there was only one thing that that man cared about- the welfare of the continent. Still, he had been ready to ally with the Church, so that meant that… Whatever this was alluding to, it might be something that he really detested, but must have thought about tackling after his plan to rise in the Church had succeeded.
However, his plans had failed. If Daneel were in his shoes, what would he have done?
As Daneel's mind raced at the speed of lightning, he got the answer, and it made him instantly teleport away.