All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 108: Bone Tired

I zipped across the hard-packed dirt towards another small human wobbling dangerously. I was only half listening to Beatrice's little speech as there were too many other things to do. Not that I was complaining. I liked feeling useful again. Recently I had become so efficient at cleaning that it hardly required any effort. Now I was doing something I very much wasn't designed for, but I still found it rewarding.

Would I want to care for tiny humans all the time? No, definitely not, but for a little while, I was more than happy to pitch in.

However, as I whisked away a particularly sharp and pointy rock from a child's mouth, I caught the last bit of the speech where Beatrice was telling us to move out. This would be a problem. The tiny humans moved very slowly and seemed like they needed to charge very frequently. It made sense that their battery reserves were lower as they were, in fact, much smaller.

If Beatrice's plan was to have all these little humans walk, I didn't think we would ever make it. Once she started trying to organize all the people to move out, I think she realized it as well. A few words with Tony sent him jogging back into the city. Beatrice moved around to all the women making sure there was nothing that they needed. A few times, she fetched water but mostly just hugged them a lot. The children too.

I had found the best way to keep the children under my care out of trouble was to keep them occupied. It had taken a couple attempts to refine my technique, though. First, I had tried letting them chase my light around. It worked for the cat, so why not? They only seemed interested in watching it. They would ooo and ahhh when it flashed through the sky but eventually lost interest.

So I started to look around for what else we could do. Seeing nothing but grass and rocks, I started to develop a game. I would throw a rock into the field of grass, then the little humans would all run after it. The first to bring it back would pick the next rock to throw.

It was effective at keeping them focused on a single thing, but it was also draining their battery. That would help them stay in one place longer, which was what I needed presently. A couple of the slightly larger kids kept winning, and for now, it wasn't a problem, but I could tell some of the smaller ones were losing interest.

To solve this issue, I started having the winner throw the next rock instead of me doing it. This took them out of the competition and let more new kids win, as no one could win more than one time in a row. Now that I was freed up, I took the smallest five and started them on a second game. Sadly none of them were able to throw the rock very far, but that was okay. I didn't mind helping them out.

Eventually, Tony came out of the city, pulling a mostly intact cart. It was quite large, but I didn't think all of the tiny humans would be able to fit on it. Still, after a few more throws, I left the kids lying in the grass, completely worn out, to go help load the cart.

***

Bee sighed in relief. Tony managed to find a cart. It should fit enough of the kids that travel would be possible as long as the babies were carried by their mothers. Inspecting the cart, it wasn't in great shape and had likely not been sturdy even before the attack. The axle was slightly warped, and the bed boards didn't fit very well. However, even as she watched, the cart started to slowly fix itself.

She looked over to her master, who was playing with the children. Its very presence was reassuring to be back in. It was amazing how much she had missed Void. Also, she had no idea it liked children so much. It was always caring for them. Even back at the castle, it hadn't left Tony's younger siblings alone. It could always be found helping one of them out with something.

Now it played fetch with the kids as if they were dogs. It was a bit silly, but neither the children nor Void seemed to notice or care. Checking on the women, it seemed that none of them minded either, as they were all looking after their own children. Bee supposed that made the children think that Void was playing with orphans.

As a crowd of children chased after another launched stone, Bee had a thought. Perhaps the treatment of kids could be related to one of Void's ideals? She honestly couldn't say that she was too surprised about her master's soft spot for children. It was quite benevolent, after all.

The women started to load up the kids that they couldn't carry, hefting them into the cart with calming words. Bee noticed Void had stopped playing with the kids, who were now all passed out on the grass like a litter of puppies before nap time. It glided over to check on the cart. By the time it got close, the axel was mostly straightened, and the boards were beginning to right themselves. It saw what was going on and started gently moving the children through the air, one at a time, carefully placing them in the cart bed.

It only took a couple minutes to get everyone loaded up. Kids were thankfully okay with squeezing in tightly, and they were able to fit almost everyone in. After everyone was loaded, Void suddenly lifted off the ground on twin streams of fire. It maneuvered itself over the edge of the cart and set down gently with the children.

Tony lifted the yoke and started to pull, straining. He managed to move the burden at a slow, plodding pace, but even that was an immense effort. That clearly wasn't going to work. Looking around for a solution, Tony was about to really lean into it when Bee went over to take his burden. It wasn't particularly easy for her either, but she was able to get the wheels moving at a walking pace. Right now, they just had to get over the hill. It would be hard, but maybe Tony could give her a break when they were on flatter ground.

***

She pulled the cart for over an hour before they made it to the road into the valley. By the time they did, Bee was drenched in sweat and panting. She needed a drink of water and five minutes of rest, at minimum. Normally an ox or a few horses would pull a load like this, and she was still just a 13 (almost 14) year-old girl, after all.

Dropping the yoke with a clatter, she blew out a huge sigh and slumped to the ground. Rolling her shoulders, a number popped up in the corner of her vision. A strangely large one, at that.

LEVEL UP, LEVEL 35 REACHED. PICK A SKILL: IMPROVED REPAIR, BEAST OF BURDEN, BLESSED CLAW

She sat on the dirt and panted. Really? This had given her experience? Maybe she had been right about the caring for children part. When she had been trying to figure out her master's ideals, she hadn't thought to ask about family. That was clearly an oversight. Though, to be fair, that knowledge probably wouldn't have been useful much before.

She read through her skills, but none of them were truly exciting. She had expected level 35 to be better for some reason. Looking back at it, she didn't know why her class never gave very good-sounding skills. The best-sounding one she had ever gotten was Scan. And that was from before she picked her class. To be fair to her master, all of her skills had proven to be unbelievably versatile and effective, so it felt petty to complain that they didn't sound awesome enough. It wasn't like she was going around bragging about them.

As she was debating her skill choice, Tony came over and took over, pulling the cart along the flat ground a little, but their pace slowed to a crawl. Eventually, he gave up, and they just stopped for Bee and the others to rest.

Beast of Burden would help her out of the current situation, but it didn't really strike her as something she wanted to be stuck with. Besides, the skills she had picked were usually more in line with her master, and that one didn't really fit. She was leaning toward Improved Repair after witnessing the cart thing. Knowing her master, it might even be able to repair human bodies. That was the kind of ridiculousness she had come to expect.

—

I watched Beatrice struggle mightily as she pulled us all to the road. I cheered her on at first silently, but eventually, I couldn't contain my excitement and started chirping at her. She was too focused to even notice. The women all around seemed extremely disturbed and sent me frightened glances, but the children understood.

Soon, all the ones in the cart were going wild, cheering for her to pull and telling her she could do it. Step by step, she dragged us along at a respectable pace. At this rate, it would only take 2.6 days to reach the castle, assuming she didn't stop. Well, that seemed unlikely, but still, I was impressed.

When we finally made it to the road, she sat to catch her breath, and Tony pulled us for a few dozen feet. I was really happy he was trying to help so much, but he clearly wasn't strong enough. These small humans really added up in mass.

With a quick, careful flick of my thrusters, I hopped down and trundled over to Beatrice. I gave her a hearty shoulder pat in celebration. She reached out and touched my top in return. It was not quite a head pat, but it still felt nice. She really needed to watch Tony and the kids more. She could learn something.

"Master, I leveled up!" She reported with a smile in her voice. "I'm trying to pick between two skills. Improved Repair and Blessed Claw. Which do you think I should go with?"

That was an easy choice. With how often she got damaged, Improved Repair was clearly the best. Besides, she had two hands. What would she need a claw for? I said as much, and she nodded seriously.

"That is true, though I haven't gotten injured in a little while, and I have my alchemy which heals pretty well. Hmm. Still, none of these skills seem right to me." She said pensively.

I thought back a little. That was correct. It had been a little bit since she had been damaged. But the claw wouldn't be helpful at all. She really had some bad luck with this set of skills.

"I'll think on it a bit before I decide. But for now, we still have a long way to go." Bee walked back to shoulder her burden, and we started off again.

Instead of hopping on the wagon, I rolled over to Tony and formally requested uppies. Resting in his arms, I struck up a conversation. Bee was going to need help, but no one else could really pull the load. Tony had tried pushing the cart from behind for a little while, back at the start, but it wasn't really able to make enough of a difference.

"I hear you. I'm not sure what we can do about it though. I need to level up and get stronger, I guess. Any ideas of how to do that?" Tony asked.

I thought about it for a few minutes. Hmmm, maybe I did…