Rise Of The Godking - Chapter 117 The Beggar King End

A faint hint of command, and even pride entered the man’s voice by the time he finished. Daneel let go of him, and after landing on the floor, he smoothed out his robes as if they were those of a monarch.

The image crumbled slightly, though, when he looked beyond the door of the vault, and then at the body still lying on the floor. Another sigh escaped his lips as he stared at the headless woman, and finally, it was the elf who broke the deafening silence that had encapsulated the room, and Daneel’s mind.

“If what you speak is the whole truth…then we might be the ones mistaken. But it also presents many questions. What is your overall role? I know, for a fact, that the people who actually collect the output from the islands are different. I’ve heard of how domineering they can be, but all they do is swooped down, take what needs to be taken, and leave. No one even suspects that you’re connected to the family, except for the fact that you bought this land from them, and run a business that appears to be profitable.”

The man nodded, and looked like he was about to give the answer. Before the words came out of his mouth, though, another glance in the mage’s direction made him pause and ask, “I’ve answered some of your questions, at least, so can you help me, first? There should be some time left, but I do not wish to take risks, especially when the stakes are so high. Alfur, this way, if you please?”

He waited expectantly, but without answering, the elf looked to Danee, those globes below his ears blinking while he waited. Still digesting the revelations that he had just gleaned, Daneel took a moment to answer, but when he gave a nod, the elf’s smile broadened and he walked to the dead mage.

They began to talk between themselves, about knives and scythes and wounds deep and narrow, fresh and old. Daneel tuned them out, knowing that he did need to listen to them, and before he could even form any thoughts about what he had just heard, his eyes fell on Alex.

The thief still looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else but here. Daneel wasn’t sure about it, but he was reasonably certain that the man had shuddered almost imperceptibly when asked to take off his mask, as if it was something he was ready to fight against until his last breath. Even now, he kept looking around, as if the library was filled with invisible enemies ready to jump at him, and when he felt Daneel looking at him, he jerked his head in the opposite direction, frowning and trying to keep still.

Without hesitating, Daneel gave in to what he had felt before. Walking forward, he embraced the man who froze, stunned, before returning the hug awkwardly a few moments later.

When he stepped back, he saw a slight blush in Alex’s cheeks before the man looked away, almost shy. He controlled the emotions quickly, though, and looked back at Daneel before sniffing and saying, “I…guess the fault lies with me, too. Maybe someday, maybe even someday soon, I will tell you why this is the last place I want to be. Even now, I just want to leave as quickly as possible. You are welcome.”

Daneel grinned, forgetting everything else for a moment. The joy of finding a true companion was truly something else; he cherished each and every moment like this that he had experienced on Angaria, and now that he had just lived through a new one, he felt blessed and even lucky to have found someone so randomly that he could trust.

Whatever the man’s past, or his motives, he had been ready to give his life to save Daneel from the clutches he might have gotten himself trapped in. And that, more than anything else, convinced him that no matter what happened from here on, the thief would always be someone he treasured in his heart.

With that, finally, he went back to the words that the beggar king had said. Almost everything was clear now, but there were still some gaping holes that needed to be filled.

Ever since he had come to this place, he had started to see that people weren’t a single shade. The beggar king was the same; he had a lot of good in him, but he was also ready to do anything that might even be called evil if it meant that he could save more than he killed.

This was the dilemma that Daneel, himself, had struggled with back on Angaria, and the answer he had found was something that could work only for him. He still remembered it, now, clearly, but at the moment, he wondered whether he could stick to it as he had been able to before.

‘My choice was that with the system, and with everything I’m capable of, I would make a path for myself that is better than everything else available. Well… I just need to make sure that I grow powerful enough to be able to do this, again.’

Just as he decided that he needed to clear up a few more things, he looked up to see that the elf and the beggar king were returning. The man looked much calmer, now, but there was still a frantic look to his eyes that made him seem like an animal trapped in a cage.

Taking a deep breath and letting it go, he spoke when he reached Daneel.

“I am called Noraldin. Not many know this. I know you still wish to know much more…and so, I will give you something that holds all the information that you could ever wish to know about all of these islands. It is my life’s work; I’ve been collecting it to pass on to anyone I might find who will care for the people like I do, but because I do not know yet whether that will even be possible, I choose to give it to you. I have heard what you did in Graiton. Maybe I should not have been so quick to make the decision to kill you���but after studying the history of the islands, you will understand why I was so scared. Right now, you must leave. I will also give you something with which you can contact me; when it is time, we shall meet again. I know that you came here to kill me, to get revenge for the one I killed. Well, if you can, transfer all that anger you felt to those that are actually responsible for the state of the millions who live in all these islands. And if you cannot do so… I’m ready to meet my death. We will definitely meet again, and you can tell me your decision then. But for now… You must go!”

As if speaking about it had called upon whatever he was worried about, a loud voice rang out from inside the vault, as if someone had suddenly appeared there without any of their knowledge.

“My disciple… is dead? What happened? Answer me, right this second! Others shall soon arrive, but before that, harken to me, beggar!”

With a gulp, Noraldin wiped away the sweat that had suddenly appeared on his brow. Turning to the three of them, he said hurriedly, “And that is exactly what I was dreading. Come, you can teleport away from inside the vault. It is a one-way portal, and it leads to a secret exit.”

He pushed them all towards the door, but more than his urging, it was the voice and what it promised that made them all move as quickly as they could.

Inside the vault, Noraldin moved aside a painting on one of the walls. Inside was the tip of a teleportation matrix, and as he touched it with a processed crystal that lay in front of it, it glowed a dim white.

Everything was happening too fast, but Daneel knew that leaving right now was the best thing they could do. He just had one thing he needed to ask the man, though, so he prepared to have his question answered even as Alex reached for the teleportation crystal, and flashed away after Daneel nodded to him.

It was only after the elf also left that he finally spoke.

“I still want to buy charms and machines from you. Can you give them to me directly?”

Noraldin looked like someone who had been asked whether he was hungry while he lay tied on the tracks of a train, hoping that he wouldn’t be hit before he had a chance to leave.

“Is that really important? Alright, fine! I can’t just give them to you because I need to show the family the records, so you need to buy them under a different identity! We can talk about it later using the messaging channel! Here! Now, go!”

While the two of them had teleported away, the man had opened a false bottom in the desk and taken out two objects made of what looked like glass. One was once again the familiar charm that the outsider had used to send a message to his superior, and the other was a square block that was transparent, but glowed faintly.

With a nod, Daneel finally stepped to the painting that had been moved aside and reached inside to leave. As he was whisked away, the last thing he saw was the shaking shoulders of the beggar who looked like he was crying…and a picture he had also taken out of that false bottom, which he was holding tenderly in his hands while teardrops fell on it from his face.