All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 148: Big Game Hunting

Bee waited at the table as the other members of the council trickled in for their meeting. Susan was the first to come in, and she shot Bee a worried look. The spy was the only one who knew what they would be discussing today. Bee thought she would have been a lot more on board with her idea. But even after an hour of going back and forth about the benefits and risks, she was still only lukewarm.

This didn't give her a lot of hope for the others. Still, she had Void on her side, and that counted for a lot. If she hadn't talked to her master first, she doubted she would have even gotten the tentative agreement from Susan that she did.

The next was Tony. He came in and plopped down in a chair. "We should start having refreshments and snacks during these."

"We literally just ate dinner." Bee chastised him with a shake of her head. "I don't know how you can still be hungry."

"I'm not hungry," Tony corrected, leaning back in his chair. "I just like having something to do with my hands."

"In political circles, a lot of meetings like this would have wine." Susan put in. "Though it was less about the refreshments and adding another method to read people. But since this is with the same people all the time, and we’re allied, it's less… useful."

Bee shuddered at the thought of this meeting becoming like that. She imagined the meetings Susan was talking about were a more intense version of her father's business meetings. If these meetings ever became like this, then she hoped Void would step in. The thought of each of them only thinking about personal profit, leaving any benefit to the organization as a happy coincidence, made her uncomfortable to say the least.

That sort of scheming was just part of governing, according to her father. Well, the existing churches might act like that, but their gods were far removed, and Bee doubted they knew or cared what was going on with their followers. Her god, though, was right here. If she couldn't prevent the corruption from infesting The Church of the Cleansing Void, then she could only hope that Void would.

Trent and Mary came in together. They filled the last couple of chairs. A small round of small talk finished up before they got down to the issue. Bee had learned a few things while talking to Susan, and she hoped this time her pitch would go a little better. "So. I wanted to talk about a couple problems that I think we need to solve in the mid to long term. Unless we have anything else that requires immediate attention?"

She looked around as Susan, Tony, and Mary shook their heads. Trent cleared his throat. "Actually I wanted to ask. Susan, you think I can borrow your trainees tomorrow? I promise it’ll be good work for building strength."

Susan looked thoughtful for a second before nodding. "As long as you work them hard."

"Won't be a problem." They shared a smile before falling quiet. Bee looked around, and it seemed no one else had anything.

"Okay, so there are two things. The more pressing one is that most of our people are underleveled. Susan and I are really the only ones with a high level. I am currently level 40. This is about equal to an old veteran in the military or a seasoned adventurer, but I don't have nearly as much combat experience as them. Other than Void, I am the highest level person in the castle. Next is Susan, and if I'm not mistaken she isn't really a fighter."

"Recently I hit level 30. But Bee is right. My skills are more for infiltration and stealth. I know enough to handle myself, but I wouldn't go against a level 30 pure fighter in a fair fight. Maybe level 24." Susan said. "I can train people decently well, but I'm really just mimicking instructors I had."

"Do we really need to worry about that now?" Tony asked. "It's a long process, but I'm also not low leveled. Besides, we have Void."

"Not that we can't count on Void, but if we can't protect ourselves then that’s an issue. That would mean it’s pretty much trapped here. I don't think that's fair to Void." Bee said. "Also, when it comes to spreading the word things will get much harder. A perfect example was when Void went to Greg. It took over a week to bring everyone back, and during that time I wasn't around the castle the whole time. If we need to go on another rescue, we’ll be really limited"

Mary looked thoughtful. "I agree this is a problem, but there isn't really a quick solution for it, no? It takes a long time to level if an old veteran of the military only gets to around 40 or so."

"Let's talk about solutions in a second," Bee cut off the brewing discussion. "I think the next problem might help us out a bit with it."

This got everyone's attention, so she continued. "The second problem is the alchemy ingredients. I don't foresee this becoming a pressing issue for a few months, but if that happens, it might be too late to fix it.

"The mages had a lot of stores. Anything that can be preserved, we have a decent amount of. Anything that needs to be fresh is an issue right now, but not a huge one, as many of the animals survived. Hopefully, we can trade for many of the things we need in the spring. But some things need time to prepare, so if we run out, then we won't have more for a very long time.

"If we run out of even one of a few ingredients, then we won't have healing potions, undead cures, or combat potions. Or a lot of other things we’ve gotten used to. The mages collected a lot of the ingredients themselves, and Mary's team has done a good job caring for a lot of the animals that we need.

"Unfortunately, that’s not enough.” Bee sighed. “There are reasons why the potions I make here aren’t super common elsewhere. It’s not just because they are hard to make, but because the ingredients are usually rare. We got lucky that this was the demonology college. Many of the improvements they made to magic had to do with demon parts…including the healing potions.

"So, if we want to replace the ingredients we’ve used, we need to summon lesser demons then harvest them-" Bee wanted to continue, but the mutters that filled the room cut her off.

"That sounds… a bit dangerous." Trent said in a mild voice.

"It could be, but honestly the danger is more from long term storage of the demons." Bee said quickly, wanting to finish the pitch she had been practicing. "Most of the stuff we need can be gotten from just killing the demon right away. All of the basic stuff."

"So… you think we can level people and get ingredients at the same time?" Tony said with a smile. "I like it!"

Bee returned the smile with one of her own, but before she had a chance to respond, Trent cut in. "I still think it sounds a bit dangerous. I suppose as long as you’re there to make sure nothing goes wrong..."

Wincing, Bee had they could avoid this topic for now. "Well, I'll be the one summoning them so I might be a bit distracted. But, but, Void wants to be there whenever a summoning happens, so we should be okay."

"Hold on, Void is already on board with this?" Mary asked.

"I talked to Void first. I wouldn't want to take this any further without the master's permission." Bee said.

"Okay, then we should be talking about logistics then," Tony said as Trent nodded. Bee and Susan shared a confused look. She was glad they were so trusting of Void, but she figured that this would be a bit more contentious.

"Sure, I mean, if everyone is agreed?" Bee looked around the table and received four nods of approval. "Ok then, I'm going to have to spend a bit of time planning out the circles, but it should be pretty simple. I'm going to summon a lesser demon. They don't have a very high level. It was from killing them that I got my first several levels."

Bee was pretty sure that the first level had been from an ash imp and other things Void had technically defeated, and she just got some credit for. But she did remember her cleaver. Where did that go anyways?

"So who do you recommend we do?" Susan asked.

"I think we can start with Tony." Bee said. "I think he’s the highest level who would still benefit from fighting one. That would be a good test. Then maybe we can have your group give it a try?"

"Why start with just Tony? We don't need just one person, right?" Mary said, concern for her eldest son breaking through.

"No, but I think Tony won't have any problems." Bee said, "He’s getting pretty close to his class specialization, and his combat abilities should be enough."

"Yeah, trust me mom. I got this." Tony reassured her with a cocky smile.

"I agree with Mary," Susan said. "Why risk it the first time?"

"Well… it's not exactly the first time now is it?" Bee shrugged. Tony had faced the Lieutenant with her. Surely a minor demon wouldn’t be a problem.

---

After dinner, I found Cliff waiting by the gate again. This time though, she had Tanu with her. If she was going to hunt, I didn't think she really should be bringing the little boy with her. I asked her and Tanu what they were doing out here.

"Uh, I dunno really. She wanted me t’ be here with her. I'm not good 'nuff at talkin’ to her to figger it out tho." Tanu explained, his own confusion evident.

Hmmm, should I let him come with us anyway? I didn't think that would be very safe. I told Tanu that I thought Cliff wanted to go hunting and he should probably stay here.

"Okay." Tanu replied, looking absolutely dejected. He started scratching Cliff's ruff while I winched the gate open. Once I got it all the way open, I expected Cliff to slip out like she had before. Instead, she just sat there, waiting.

I floated out and turned around, waiting for her to come. She stood up and took a few steps toward me, then she craned her head over her shoulder to look at Tanu. When he didn't follow her, she let out a short whine followed by a soft but audible exhale.

Cliff took a couple more steps toward me. She turned and sat, watching Tanu as he went to lower the gate behind us, but as it started going down she darted back inside. This time, she nudged Tanu's back hard enough to make him stumble toward the opening.

He turned to give me a pleading look. "Void, ya sure I can't come too?" he pleaded.

I told him Cliff was very fast, and I didn't think he would be able to keep up. To which he responded. "I dun think she’ll leave me behind. Please, please can I come?"

The kid held his hands pressed together in front of him. How could I say no? If Cliff and I went a bit slower, I was sure we would be able to keep an eye on him.