All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 262: Omens and Portents R Us

Chapter 262: Omens and Portents R Us

As I followed Beatrice away from the meeting place in the early evening, I couldn't help but think about how well that went. The way Beatrice was acting would have made me expect some level of animosity from the man, but he had been nothing but polite and seemed to be perfectly willing to help us accomplish our goals. I honestly couldn't have seen a better outcome.

Beatrice still carried some tension in her shoulders as she stalked through the alleyways that led towards the more fancy areas of town. But truly, I couldn't figure out the faintest reason why. I'd have to ask her about it later when I got a chance. Maybe she was just a little wound up still. Perhaps I had put too much pressure on her recently.

Though Beatrice's accomplishments were obviously the high point of the meeting, I also found myself pleasantly surprised by its fourth occupant.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the fourth occupant of the meeting. It had taken me several computation cycles to figure out who exactly I was looking at, but eventually, I recognized her. She was that lady that I scared away from the castle so long ago. What a throwback. I was glad she had found better choices of friends, at least. Ones that didn't try to attack Beatrice on sight.

That whole disaster had been rather messy. It was the first time we saw that unusually large rodent and gotten attacked by random humans. But that was all in the past now. At least she was doing better for herself. Well, somewhat. She could really use a bath. Maybe she had just gotten here, and they would take care of her after the meeting. But either way, this was a much, much better choice of friends. If they could teach her how to clean herself and just generally take care of the area a bit better, everything would be okay.

She did say some rather incoherent things, but it was hard to tell if she intended her words for others or just herself. Also, Beatrice and Zeal had mostly ignored her, so I figured it wasn't that important. She probably was just surprised to see Beatrice after all this time. I mean, that large zombie rat was kind of scary, so I wouldn't be surprised if she was a little bit nervous about being reminded of the whole event. Maybe she was even afraid Beatrice would hold a grudge. I supposed she could have apologized, so maybe she needed to work on her manners, too. But baby steps.

I followed Beatrice until she was in sight of the manor. But as I was about to follow her up and through the front gate, something caught my attention in the distance. I felt something wrong with my "soul sight" that came from my Spiritual Cleanse skill.

It wasn't just someone with a dirty soul. There were tons of those all around, and for the most part, I had avoided cleansing them. There were so many physical things to cleanse that I imagined the souls would just get dirty immediately again if I tried to do that before I finished fixing up the city. Not to mention that the skill still took a decent amount of energy, so I was wary of being too inefficient with it. But this? This was something else.

Instead of the dark soot on an otherwise shining orb, I felt a cracked orb with red fissures running through the center of it. But the red wasn't wholly unfamiliar. It reminded me of something. Something that I couldn't quite put my claw on.

So I distractedly turned and left Beatrice to make the last little bit of her trip by herself. Once, I was certain she was safe, of course. The sense pulled at me and drew me towards the inner part of the city. I wasn't sure why I hadn't noticed this earlier. I had been traveling through the city for the past several days, so it should have shown up at some point. But after thinking about it for a second, I immediately realized a pattern.

I had just leveled up, and since then, I had been spending all my time in the dirtiest parts of the city. But this sense was pulling me towards the cleaner parts. Had that level granted my sensors more sensitivity? Maybe. Or maybe I had just never run into this phenomenon before. It could truly have just appeared.

Whatever it was, I really needed to figure out what this was all about. As I honed in on the source of my discomfort, I saw an ordinary man with a top hat and cane walking his way through an alley. He stepped confidently in the dark all by himself. Strangely, he didn't have a lamp or anything to light his way. Switching to overlay my soul sense with my usual vision, I noticed that everything was not as it seemed.

---

After a few minutes of walking away from the meeting with the crazy, murderous, psychotic cult leader, Bee nearly stopped and cursed herself. She'd forgotten to use Scan again. She rubbed her hand down her face. Void. How could she be so stupid? It had been so long since she had made that mistake. She even had her faith sense up and everything.

She used to make it all the time, but she'd gotten in the habit of scanning nearly everyone that she encountered. But now she had no idea what class that Zeal was, if that was actually his name, what level he was. Heck, she could have even found out if he had any titles that made him particularly dangerous or trustworthy.

Bee had been so wrapped up in trying to pretend to be some sophisticated high priestess and merchant's daughter who knew about negotiations and poise and etiquette that she'd completely forgotten to use what she actually had. It was one of the first things that made her special. Now that she was here in the capitol, she might actually run into 1 or 2 other people who had Scan, but that wouldn't be till they got into the palace, in all likelihood.

She considered stopping and running back to get a glimpse of Zeal but decided against it. That would be very suspicious, and they had parted on somewhat acceptable terms. Void at least approved, and she didn't want to ruin the tentative peace that their groups had established to work together.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, the assistance that Zeal and his cult could provide would be extremely useful in the coming battles. She could probably try to steal the cult out from underneath him, and she would work to give Void's proper teachings to everyone who listened. But that would have to be a battle that played out in the hearts and minds of the people.

She supposed she could also just attack Zeal in Void's name. But if Void was that upset with the man, it would have smitten the guy itself. She mentally shrugged. It was best to resolve things peacefully if possible. However, the very next chance she got, she promised herself to definitely Scan Zeal.

I will remember," she whispered to herself over and over as she walked through the quiet city. It was comforting to know that Void was nearby, even if her master decided to remain unseen for now. She was actually surprised at the lack of activity in the city. She expected it to be bustling even at night, but for some reason, it seemed remarkably deserted. Occasionally, a guard patrol would pass by, but most people stayed inside.

It was weird to think about how chaotic things were going to get. It felt as if she was the only one walking around who knew what was coming. She supposed that was true, actually, but it didn't make it any less eerie. Looking around, she wondered how many of these people's lives would be completely upended by what they were going to do. Hopefully none. But she didn't hold out much hope for that.

Arthur had long since impressed upon her the uncertainties of war. Especially how much it affected and the far-reaching consequences of every single engagement or action. It had taken her a while to really understand it, and she wasn't sure she fully did. But as someone with power, her actions had consequences. Real consequences. Especially when her actions were deposing a king.

It was going to change a lot of people's lives for the better, she thought, but she wasn't nearly as sure as she would have liked to be. Void would make sure everything turned out fine. She took solace in that, at least.

Eventually, the manor came into view. She made the last few turns at a bit of a faster walk, ready to get home, talk to some of her friends, and then sleep. It felt like she had just run a marathon, even if all she had done was talk.

She made it through the gate and relocked it. The thing was now repaired and oiled to form a beautiful art piece of wrought iron. She didn't know how Void had somehow replaced the dilapidated thing from before, but it did. Approaching the manor, she reached for the door handle. But before she touched it, the door cracked open to reveal Mrs. Chadwick standing, silhouetted in the light.

As she looked, Bee realized that Mrs. Chadwick had a strange expression on her face, almost as if she was scared. Definitely worried, at least.

"What is it?" Bee whispered. Mrs. Chadwick looked over her shoulder toward the inside of the manor nervously. Then, she leaned forward and spoke softly so that Bee could barely hear her.

"High Priestess. There's someone here to see you, and we weren't sure how to turn her away. I'm sorry, I… I don't know what else we could have done."