"So you finally found time to return, sonny! What a mess you've made of the Kingdom!"
Hearing the mocking words of the Empire Spirit as soon as he put his hand on the podium in the Secret Library, Daneel found himself to be at a loss for words.
"What … mess are you talking about?", he hesitantly asked, like a fearful child who trod mud all over the house but didn't know what he was getting admonished for.
"The mess of the general satisfaction of course! I swear I've never seen so many ups and downs in all my existence! It is on a rise now, but seeing your performance so far, I doubt it'll hold up….. what did you even do to create so many upheavals?"
Hearing the Empire Spirit's response, Daneel let out a long breath before feeling relieved.
It was good news after all.
Clearly, the only sources of information the spirit had were the general satisfaction level and the interactions with anyone who talked to it.
Hence, it didn't know that the ups and downs actually reflected Daneel's learning period, whereas the steady rise now meant that he was well past the stage of committing mistakes and learning from them while feeling said about the mistake being committed in the first place.
After all, he had just been a typical teen from Earth who found himself in such a daunting situation. Looking at it in one way, it could even be said that he had accomplished more than what one would typically expect, mainly because of his dedication and attitude of being ready to learn.
Smiling slightly, he was just about to answer the Spirit's questions when a thought occurred to him.
"Well, tell me something about the information you are guarding, and maybe I'll answer your question. Only if you want to know the answer, of course."
Silence followed for a few seconds, before a booming laugh resounded in Daneel's ears, startling him.
"Ha ha! I haven't seen such sass in decades! Now, I hope I'll be proven wrong in the matter of the general satisfaction, boy, because I wouldn't mind being commanded by someone like you. Sadly, I can't tell you anything you asked for, but I will say one thing: if the rise is something planned, then keep implementing those plans, because you are coming close to what is required. Goodbye for now!"
Feeling the connection being shut off, Daneel stepped back from the podium with an even broader smile on his face.
Even though the Spirit had said that it couldn't answer his question, it had still given him valuable information either by choice or chance.
The Spirit could be commanded by whoever unlocked it.
And, his efforts to increase the satisfaction level were actually paying off.
Of course, this was corroborated by the Kingdom Management Statistics, whose latest tally had been:
[Kingdom Management Statistics updated.
Satisfaction Level: 19%
Dissatisfaction Level: 36%
Next milestone for reward: 20% Satisfaction Level. Reward: 10,000 EXP]
So far, the effect of the Healer's Academy and the School had reflected more on the dissatisfaction level than the satisfaction level.
After all, after the massacre in the Palace, the satisfaction level must have definitely gone down due to the people not feeling safe in the Kingdom.
Even though this news hadn't been publicly announced, it had still created waves in those who got to know about it.
Hence, the satisfaction level had actually dropped by 1% at that time(coming to 17% from 18% previously), which would have been higher if the news had spread out more.
As for the dissatisfaction level, it had actually grown by 4% to 44% from 40% previously.
Thankfully, both with the Network and effective implementation of the Bank of Angaria, school and Academy, the numbers had risen again.
Thus, Daneel knew that there was a long way to go. Still, the thing to rejoice was that he would soon be obtaining the EXP and unlocking the Empire Spirit to find out its secrets.
Resolving to periodically check on the Spirit whenever he could, Daneel returned to his training.
...
Meanwhile, in the sky of the Kingdom of Lanthanor above the spot where the Echer seeds were planted.
Two women wearing flowing clothes that seemed to have different varieties of life-like leaves embroidered on them were standing on a cloud, looking down at the crops which occupied a wide area.
One of the women, who had a dimple on one side of her face, currently had a frustrated expression on her face, as if she were trying to remember something.
The other seemed unconcerned, as she was idly looking around before conjuring a glass of wine out of thin air and sipping on it.
After a few seconds, the first woman flicked her finger, making a plant complete with the root appear in her hand which she studied by placing it close to her eye.
Down in the fields, no one noticed anything as it was just one plant among the thousands that were there. Besides, even the roots had been pulled out cleanly without even disturbing the ground where the plant had been planted.
After observing the plant for a few seconds, she sniffed on the root before saying, "Sister, I've seen this somewhere. It reminds me of the forbidden plant which was banned in Angaria by the High Council because it caused permanent damage to the continent. I know they look nothing alive, but the suspicion is so strong that I can't ignore it."
Hearing the word "suspicion", it seemed as if the other woman had gotten a jolt.
Hurriedly making the wine and the glass disappear again, she turned around in a swift motion and asked, "Is this one of 'those' suspicions?"
This particular woman was quite famous across their sect, as there had been rumors that she had been brought back by a traveling professor who had seen an entire village of over 150 people chasing after her and attacking her.
Apparently, a few weeks before, she had had a 'suspicion' that her neighbor's cow would die by wolves.
It had happened.
Next, it was a 'suspicion' that bears would attack that night.
It had happened.
Lastly, the girl had 'suspected' that the entire village would burn down.
As it was a village in the wilderness between the forces which wasn't under any force's control, the Village had only survived due to its tough Fighters and the smart traps laid out all around the village.
Yet, all of them turned out to be irrelevant, as a forest fire had burned the entire location down.
Driven to rage, the village had taken to attacking the little girl.
Thankfully, the professor had been there to save her.
And now, she was on the track to becoming one of the youngest Champions in the history of the continent.
"I can't say for sure, but…I think it is."
The answer made the woman's eyebrows rise, causing her to immediately take out a trinket shaped like a leaf and say, "Requesting immediate information lookup on topic: Possible Demonic Plants growing in Lanthanor Kingdom."
After a few seconds, the woman let out a sigh of relief before turning to the first and saying, "Thank the heavens, there is already a team on this. They know that the seeds were given by the Black Raven Kingdom, and they are waiting for the harvest date to see who would come to pick them up. We have also been ordered to stand down till that date, as when the Matron gave the order to question the King of Lanthanor regarding the modified mosquitoes, she was not aware of this matter and she went into closed-door training afterward. What do you want to do? Go back to the Sect? I say we explore the places here, however primitive they may be. We have a reason to be outside anyway."
Saying everything due to the rush of relief she had felt after finding out that the Sect was already aware of this grave matter, the woman took a few deep breaths while waiting for the other to answer.
"Yes, I want to do the same. Let us check out this Kingdom first."
Saying so, the first woman simply flicked her fingers again, changing her clothes and appearance into a typical rich lady due to the expensive-looking fabrics she wore.
Seeing this, the other woman mimicked her before they both slowly flew down into the capital city.
No formation detected them, and no one could even see them.
After choosing an inn, the two started discussing about which part of the capital city to explore first.