As for the data trinkets, he simply copied them.

Thankfully, he was done in a few hours, which made it so that he could get on to doing his part even though his friend was way ahead of schedule.

Well, it was true that they should finish all of this as soon as possible, so that variables wouldn't come into effect.

With that thought, Faxul took a deep breath and proceeded to the throne room, where the King could be seen gazing at all the display trinkets in the room, that were showing the scenes of the various regions and towns in the Black Raven Kingdom.

Right now, the King was in command, but that changed as soon as Faxul entered.

The doors closed, and because the Minister was out on an errand, they were alone.

All of that calmness of Arnold's was gone, replaced by frustration that this plan in which he had placed so many hopes wasn't going as well as he had thought just a few days ago.

Waving his hand in the direction of the display trinkets, he said, "Time doesn't seem to be having any change, old bird. How can these people be so obstinate? Why do they insist on not being satisfied that they are at least alive? Why can't they be like the people of this Kingdom, who are so easy to handle?"

Hearing this, Faxul almost widened his eyes with pleasant surprise.

He had been thinking that he might have to find a way to make Arnold think in this way, but he had forgotten that this man was also supposed to be as adept in scheming as the best of them from that time.

And someone like that… would definitely wish for something like this, as soon as they saw that things weren't going their way.

In response, Faxul first stared at a few of the display trinkets, taking note of how there were even more families now that wanted to support those who wished to show their displeasure in some way, so that they could get answers or some sort of reply from the King. Clearly, Daneel had done his job, and it was even more impressive now that he witnessed it with his own eyes.

After that, shaking his head, he said, "You're right, Arnold. Even I underestimated how block-headed all of these people are. You already know that I was going through the records of all the purges you carried out here, right?"

In response to this, Arnold nodded, waiting for him to continue and state why he was bringing this up.

"I was doing so because even I was thinking about the worst-case, and it's obvious that that has clearly come to be. Your purges were always very effective in putting a lot of fear in the minds of these people, so that they would just be glad that they were not the ones targeted. This, in turn, had quite a considerable effect on the satisfaction level, which allowed you to break the two seals. Now, you said that all we need is 9%, right?"

"11%", Arnold spat out, which made Faxul narrow his eyes and continue as if he was p.i.s.sed, too, but hopeful.

"Still an acceptable level. Before this becomes a problem that we cannot handle, I think that maybe we should try your method in this Kingdom, too."

"You didn't think I thought of that? That was the first thing that popped into my mind as soon as I saw all that stuff five days ago! But it's too risky. Here, there was at least the advantage that they are completely closed off, so all the citizens thought that they had no way out. They believe that our kingdom is completely surrounded by ravenous wolves who will devour them if they go out, so it worked. But those ants know more about the world. Just one purge might result in a major event where the chances of the satisfaction level going even lower are too high. If that wasn't the case, I would have gone and done it myself!"

Right.

Hearing this, Faxul was actually glad, at least for now, that they were dealing with someone with a brain.

This was someone who considered all cases, and the only reason they had succeeded so far was that he had a flaw which they were using.

In their discussion, Daneel has said that it was possible that Arnold might come up with this plan on his own, but that he would hesitate for various reasons.

And Faxul's job.… was to remove that hesitation, if that happened.

They were in that situation now, so, Faxul prepared to end the second phase, and enter the last one.

"That might not be the case if you make certain small edits to the whole thing. I have some thoughts on the matter…"

…

2 days later, in a particular town near the border of the Black Raven Kingdom.

The day had dawned just like any other, but the 20,000 citizens of this town soon realized that something…was different.

There were, in fact, multiple signs of this. For one thing, legions and legions of soldiers had marched into the town on the pretense that there was some threat inside, and that they were charged to protect the citizens. For another, all sorts of barriers were being set up all around the town, and all those inside were being barred from leaving, with the reason once again being that it was for their 'safety'.

The clearest sign, though, was when a jamming formation became active that blocked all simple communication trinkets, which were what typical citizens used.

Even the Network was blocked due to this, as it, too, used a simple formation because of the fact that the trinkets were made on a large scale.

So, all the citizens inside began to panic, but they were stopped in their tracks by the gleaming weapons of the soldiers of Axelor and the Black Raven Kingdom, who stood in almost every street, wearily eyeing the citizens and making sure that none of them made any strange actions.

People still started to ask what the matter was, but they were only commanded to stay in their houses. Shops were shut down, and everyone was hounded back to their houses. Children sensed the tension-filled atmosphere and started crying everywhere, while parents tried to console them and tell them that everything would be fine, even though they, themselves, didn't believe that.

Finally, at noon, a voice reverberated through out the town.

"Good afternoon, loyal citizens of the Black Raven Kingdom. This is Commander Hablow, and I am speaking on the direct orders of the King. Today morning, by luck, we intercepted a message that a rebellion would be carried out in this town on the orders of the King of Lanthanor. The objective was to forcefully convert those who were happy with the decision of our King into rebels who support the vile King of Lanthanor. We are going to use this chance to show him, and the rest of the people of this Kingdom the fate that awaits those who think in this way. But first, just so that that King cannot refute what will happen here once again using false claims, we will be entering the houses of these rebels and showing you all the proofs that they have, indeed, been contracted by that man to betray our n.o.ble Divine Ancestor."

As this voice stopped, a ma.s.sive display trinket became active that was visible to almost all the citizens, no matter where they were.

On it, they watched as a team of soldiers headed to a specific, nondescript house in one of the streets of the town.

Meanwhile, Arnold and the 'old bird' were watching this scene through a special, large display trinket that had been set up in the middle of the Throne Room.

As Arnold saw the soldiers proceed, he said, "Not bad, old bird. Of course, I would have come up with it, too, if I hadn't been h.e.l.l-bent on finding something even faster."

Ignoring the latter part, the 'old bird' said, "It was simple. You already used the ploy of planting false evidence. All we had to do was magnify that, and make it a live show, just so that it becomes clear who the enemy is. This will point their hatred toward him, while increasing the satisfaction level. Unless he comes out himself to refute it, there is nothing that can stop this from happening. And that…is definitely something that no one in their right mind would do."