All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 259: Divine Intervention

Bee listened carefully as all three of the children banded together to explain the rules of gully ball. Based on the way their words tumbled over each other and the near-constant contradictions, she was able to parse through and figure out that it essentially had no rules. They were essentially made up as the game was being played.

Despite the game not making any sense, the children had made friends with several of the local kids down the street. The ones who didn't come from the manors but rather the servants' quarters. The kids were more than happy to talk about what the adults said to them. They didn't know much about politics in particular, but they were able to recall how happy or upset the parents were. And, of course, as servant children, they were privy to a lot more about what was really going on in the owner's houses than anyone should rightfully have known. Bee wasn't surprised. Her father had always told her, "If you need to know something, talk to the servants first."

So Bee asked several questions, most of which they didn't know the answers to outright, but they promised they'd ask their new friends. But the main discovery she took from the children's scouting was that everyone was nervous.

People were walking on eggshells in word and deed. Even the kids, while willing to play, were extra careful not to make too much noise. This is what the kids mostly focused on: how much nervousness affected their ability to have fun with everyone.

They were more likely to get their games shut down than they were before. Previously, the guards would have just kind of smiled or told them to move on if they were blocking an important thoroughfare. Now though? They were a lot rougher and sometimes would even confiscate their ball. It was an absolute worst-case scenario in their minds.

But Bee was reminded that Bradley was indeed Void's champion in the end. After Bee gave them additional instructions and questions to follow up on, he asked if he was allowed to train any of the other kids in swordsmanship.

Bee blinked, unsure of how to answer. Would they be willing to learn? Of course, they would. What kid wouldn't want to learn how to use a sword? That was something that all children dreamed of. She had even thought of becoming a valiant knight or adventurer for a while before she found her broom.

Bradley saw the hesitation on her face and misinterpreted it as something else, though. "Don't worry, we'll make sure that they understand that they have to serve Void if we are allowed to teach them."

She was even less sure how to respond to that. "You've been talking to them about Lord Void?"

"Of course, of course." All three of the children assured her.

Bradley spoke for the rest of them then, "Um, they are a little bit hesitant to believe in the whole cleaning part, but once I told them some of the stories of what Lord Void did with his powers, they were more than willing to tidy up their rooms to get a taste of it."

"All right. If you want to teach them, I'm sure their parents will be happy if they're more orderly. But I don't want to bring them down on us if they think we're brainwashing their kids..."

Bee quirked a smile at that. Children actually cleaning their rooms? How could any sane parent think it was anything but mind control?

The not-Nighty knights frowned at each other. "Brainwashing? We would never do that!"

Bee just shrugged. She figured that she wasn't going to be able to stop him from talking about Void in the first place. Though it wouldn't matter once they took over the city anyway.

After the childrens' reports, she talked to the rest of the adults and found that the manor was serving its purpose. A collection of cards and letters had arrived throughout the day, each waiting for her response. Their fancy filigree and wax seals identified them as important correspondence.

As she opened them up, she saw they were all invitations to important events: auctions or requests for meetings with the new owner of the property. Some of the more well-informed ones even requested a meeting with the D'Lestrange family directly.

It seemed that she could segregate the messages into two piles. One group was just wondering how someone got this manor purchased and fixed up so quickly. People trying to identify a new power in the area. The other consisted of those who knew of her family and somehow had enough connections to unearth her identity. Those requests were the more personal ones. The nearly two dozen invitations were quite overwhelming, and she'd have to parse through them soon.

Half of her plan was to get some sort of business business contract to solidify her presence here. If she could arrange for something to block roads on the day of the invasion, such as a trade caravan, she could greatly hinder the defensive response. If they could rent, buy, or commission enough wagons, they could position them along the roads to give the army a direct path to the inner city and even the castle, thus preventing any sort of real response from the garrison.

She picked out a few invitations to respond to after eating dinner. Once their bellies were full of soup and everyone headed off to bed, Bee found a little writing table that someone had gotten for cheap and started to scratch out some replies.

---

I found the first preacher as he left the streets for the evening. He was one of the last people out as the sun dipped below the horizon, leaving his corner just like most of the white-robed men did. I wasn't sure why, but everyone seemed rather in a hurry to get home once darkness fell. I supposed it made sense for them to go home when there were no other people to talk to. Perhaps people in the city were far more strict about their sleep schedules than usual.

Either way, I followed him to a small home where he lived alone. It was an attic above a shop, which he climbed up to using a short ladder. My sensors revealed that the interior consisted of a small bed off to the side, neatly made, and a coin chest underneath containing a handful of silver. There was also a small place where he could prepare meals and a wood stove.

I took a better look at the street preacher. He was a young man who couldn't have been more than a year or two past Beatrice's age. But the white robes and the small amount of soot he had smudged on his chin made him look a little bit older.

As he stoked the fire, I made my way in through a cracked window. I reviewed my script briefly just to make sure I covered it all. It was time to explain things to another person.

When he turned around, the guy jumped, spilling the handful of oats he was about to drop into the pot of simmering water. I used Air Manipulation to prevent any of them from hitting the ground and returned the pile to his slightly quivering hands.

"Who… who? Who are you?" He stuttered out.

I simply flashed a message above my chassis. "I am Void."

It wasn't my true name, but it was a moniker that these people seemed to understand. At least, they were far more likely to listen if I used it. Though considering everyone else in the castle already called me that, I didn't feel like I was lying exactly.

Instantly, he dropped the oats again. I caught them with another gust of air, opting instead to put them on the table next to his food preparation as he dropped to his knees and bowed down low.

"What would my lord have me do?"

"My High Priestess is in the capital," I said while I projected and put a picture of Beatrice's face next to those words. "Do as she asks. I have plans for this place." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸𝘦𝒷𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘦𝘭.𝑐𝘰𝘮

The man looked up just long enough to take the message in. I waited for his nod of agreement. "I will, my lord, I will."

"Good. Spread the word." With that final message, I left. I had many, many more people to visit. Maybe they'd be a little less afraid of me. That'd be nice. It'd be nice to have some actual conversations at some point.

As I flew through the night, I realized I should have mentioned that I did approve of the man's tidy little room. Though I thought he could do better. I did notice some dust up on the rafters.

It was a little harder to find other targets as they had mostly gone to bed by now. But I had categorized and cataloged a lot of their people, and so I simply went about my cleaning while scanning all the sleeping people in the town. Whenever I would find one of the preachers, I slipped into their house and gave them a similar message. Sometimes, they'd ask questions of me, but not really casual ones. Most of the time, it was whether or not I'd actually done something or another.

Had I really talked to a dragon? Had I really saved the city of Caleb from the undead? Did I really ascend on high and claim that the world needed to be cleansed of humans? Most of the time, I could say yes, but I obviously denied the untrue ones like the last. That seemed to confuse the one person who asked. Most people didn't bring it up, though, which was nice. I assumed that it just wasn't a very important issue to them. So, hopefully, their silence meant that they didn't think it was important to me either.

With the city in such disorder, I actually was able to stay up all night long working. Not only was I kept busy with all my tasks, but I was also able to finish a good amount of them. Back in the castle, working at night was a bit fruitless as everything was kept in such good condition.

Plus, all the people were so well-behaved that there was nothing for me to do there, either. Beatrice was able to take care of whatever small issues did arise. And so I simply had time to sit. To think, meditate, and talk to people. But in the city, though… I could work all day and all night for weeks and not have everything cleaned. There was so much debris that the dirt alone gave me enough energy just to power myself. And I never needed to power down and rest.

When the sun rose, I finished my last stop, frightening a preacher and his wife as they were getting up for breakfast. I quickly delivered my message and decided that back at the manor house, people were likely waking up. So I went over to say good morning and see if there was anything that needed to be done.

I found Beatrice slipping out of the manor early in the morning and walking down a side alley towards the commercial district. I fell into step with her, gliding over the ground and cleaning it before she had to step on anything nasty. She gave me a bow in stride. "Master, have you had a productive evening?"

"Yes, yes, I did," I asked her what she was up to.

"Well, I have a lot of important meetings to go to tomorrow when I visit, and hopefully, I will get to speak with the leader of the religious thing. So I figured it would be a good idea for me to get some appropriate clothing to wear. Most of my stuff is rather too plain for the role of my father's daughter or your High Priestess."

"Ooh, I'll come along." I beeped excitedly. "I have a great sense of style."