5 kilometers away, under an unassuming rock, a figure coated with earth was lying prone, unmoving.
A small scorpion slowly climbed onto this figures legs, then made its way to her back, as it had smelled something strange from this spot. Yet, no matter how much it searched, it couldn't find anything amiss.
From the figure's back, it traveled to its head, before finally admitting defeat and leaving the scene.
All through this, the figure hadn't moved even an inch, which showed just how adept it was in hiding.
Of course, this was Joselyn.
As she heard the King say that statement with so much confidence, doubt appeared inside her, as she wondered whether this man, who was the cause of miracle after miracle on Angaria, was capable of even this feat.
Yet, that thought was interrupted by the flashes of images which haunted her day and night.
Sacks oozing with blood. One had only hands. Another, only legs. And the last…contained the heads, all of which were contorted into expressions of extreme pain.
In all of the sacks, it was the smallest items which hurt the most when she saw them. She had clutched them in her hands and cried out, yet there had been no one to help her. No one to tell her that it would be all right.
Since that day, she hadn't slept even a single night pletely. Nightmares plagued her, and it was a miracle that she was even alive after surviving on just 2-3 hours of disturbed sleep per day.
She…had lost the ability to trust anyone ages ago. Hell, she didn't even trust herself, pletely. Maybe that was why she would sometimes tie up her hands before sleeping. Because she was afraid that she might kill herself, before she obtained revenge on all those elves who were still continuing to mit acts like those and destroying human families, one by one.
Only, right now…when she had heard the King say it, she had imagined for a moment.
It…was truly a sight to behold.
But was it possible?
Should she give him a chance?
Should she trust him and promise to stand down?
No way. How could she trust someone who had saved all those elves, too?
"No. I'm sorry, but I cannot take the luxury of trusting you. I guess that you want me to announce to the Gathering that we will stand down or something. After that, I can guess that your plan must be to root all these bandits out and kill them, all at once. If you do that, I will have no more instrument to take my revenge."
Hearing this, Daneel sighed.
It had been a long shot. After all, he couldn't expect everyone to just follow him willy-nilly just because he said a few words.
Besides, this was also someone highly intelligent and driven, and such people were rare and hard to e by. Only, they were also harder to convince.
Once again, Daneel felt that same feeling that had washed over him when he had repeatedly failed to find clues regarding who was behind all this.
Failure.
After a long time, he had once again…failed.
Yet, Daneel had learned from that moment. Instead of getting anger and frustration, he felt determined to give his best.
He could tell that Joselyn was going to cut the call, probably because she was still afraid that he would somehow track her down.
So, he quickly said, "Wait! I have one last thing to say."
Not hearing the 'click' which would mean that she had severed the connection, Daneel felt relieved and continued.
"I understand that you can't trust me. After all, I've done nothing to earn your trust. But I wanted to tell you this. I will go ahead and do what I just said, anyway. I do not want such scum to live any more than you do, and I'm also interested to see how the other elves will react when they see those confessions. Give me the list of those elves. It will save me a lot of time. I assume that this was what you were doing in the years between you leaving Eldinor and being the bandit leader?"
The answer came after a moment.
"Yes."
"Good. Give me the list. You lose nothing by doing so. If, and I'm saying if, I make it happen, I really hope that you reconsider your decision. Of course, for now, you don't need to join me, and you don't need to promise anything either. All right?"
The only answer Daneel got was that 'click', which meant that she had gone ahead and severed the connection.
Yet, he smiled, as he knew that she had heard what he said.
But…what about the list?
As soon as he got this question, data from a data trinket started to be transferred, line by line, to the munication trinket in his hands.
"System, record all these names!
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