All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 283: The Student Becomes the Master

Bee just stared at her former headmaster and the Dean of Demonology, a man about whom she had very mixed feelings. Her Scan gave her a new result, which was cool but not very useful in this case.

Name: Sir Loyd Farlow, Level: 42, Race: Human, Class: Administrator, Titles: The Warden, Age: 73, Highest Stat: Wisdom, Lowest Stat: Constitution, Status: Nervous, Weakness: Freshly-baked Donuts.

"Yeah. We've met." Her words were short and not delivered in the most friendly tone.

Harold drummed his fingers on his lower lip, trying to place her face. His companion, the old man, looked back and forth between them.

"Well... I am surprised to see that you two have some history." The Warden said slowly as Bee didn't elaborate. "Let me introduce myself, as it seems you two already know each other. I'm known as The Warden."

"You could say that." Bee gave a wry smile. "Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

The older man inclined his head, happy to move on. "Yes. I am here to offer our personal help with the management of the city. You have just taken over a city and, by extension, an empire.

"Oh. What makes you think we need help?" Bee asked

"Judging from how easy it was to gain access to you personally, you might not have the proper support system around you to handle many of the simple everyday tasks that would otherwise drown you. And also" The man coughed slightly. "I mean no offense, but I can't imagine you have the most experience with ruling. Anyone at your age would likely have very limited practice in commanding others."

Bee shrugged. "You're not wrong. I do have a decent amount of experience with command, but I understand how my age would come into play when running a kingdom. But what makes you think you could help?"

"Well, I have a lot of experience," he said, gesturing to his cane with a rueful smile. "Not just because I'm old, of course, but because I've accumulated a lot of knowledge over the years. I've spent the last 20 years as one of the close advisers to the King. When he started to go mad and behave erratically, I was locked up for attempting to investigate the causes. Considering what has just occurred, I am quite confident that I was right to do so.

"Really?" Bee's gaze flicked between the pair skeptically. "What about him?"

"This is my associate, Harold." The Warden clapped a hand on the man's shoulder, jolting him from his efforts to place Bee's face. "He is the one who... retrieved me... from my holding. And one of the premier resources on demonology in the entire nation. Surely, he will also be of use, given this incursion."

Bee thought about this for a second. The Dean of Demonology helped this man get out. That didn't quite seem right. How would these two be otherwise related? Either there was more to Harold than she knew or more to this other man. Or both. "Are you a King's mage or something similar?"

The Warden shrugged. "That wasn't an official title, but I do have a decent knowledge of magic in many forms. Specifically, I have some expertise in demonology but have dabbled in many other forms of alchemy and rituals. But that wasn't where I really came into play.

"I was more of a general adviser and had in-depth knowledge of the way the Kingdom was run, what its goals were, and where its assets lay. I also had a working relationship with the Kingdom's treasurer, whom I have not seen recently" The Warden rubbed his chin. "So that might be a tricky business."

Bee nodded, her mind now fully focused on this. If he really had all the information he claimed, he could be a great asset in maintaining the Kingdom, but she wasn't sure how far she should trust the man. Probably not very far yet. One thing she should make clear, though, just so there were no misconceptions,

"I do not claim rulership over the kingdom," Bee stated, and the Warden's eyes widened as he looked at Harold, who was still trying to place her face. "Sovereignty lies with my master. I am simply his High Priestess. The Lord Void now controls the city, and may he reign forever," she said with a smile. She'd been trying catchphrases like that as simple slogans for the church, but that one didn't quite feel right.

"Lord Void Hm. How involved will he be with the leadership?" the Warden asked. "Do I need to talk to him about my proposal, or do you have the authority to make decisions on the more day-to-day level?"

Bee shrugged. "I have the authority to make high-level leadership decisions as a king would. Lord Void has full oversight, though anything my master will ask for, he shall receive. Any decision that I say is final can be overruled by my master, and my master is not bound by its own word. Though I've never known Lord Void to break its word."

The Warden looked at her strangely. "It sounds like you serve a god-king. That is well, that hasn't been the case in this land for I don't know how long."

"God-king," Bee said. "Hmm, that might be understating it a little. Lord Void is a god."

The Warden's eyebrows shot up even higher. "A true god? Very few of them deigned to call themselves gods. In fact, none of them have even been able to prove it. What makes you think that he is a god?"

"Well," Bee said, mentally running through the list of signs. "there is a lot of evidence. I can tell you countless tales to help convince you. But I'll summarize the highlights. My class is literally High Priestess of Spot. Spot, not Void." At the Warden's confused look, she explained. "I believe it's a joke that it is playing with the system to change its name."

Bee continued as the Warden's eyebrows threatened to fly off of his forehead entirely. "The system grants other classes in Void's name, such as Paladin of Spot. Another divine class. It has the ability to influence the system, give people classes, reset people's classes, and change people's classes. Void as a Champion, and being close to the lord gives titles. If you follow Void's teachings, you gain experience through performing the actions that are most holy in its sight. Void is likely over level 80 as well."

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The Warden's face became progressively more shocked as Bee listed out things that clearly showed Void was a god. But before he could respond, Harold finally caught up to the conversation.

"That's who you are! You were one of the apprentices in the castle!" He snapped his fingers triumphantly.

Bee looked at him, a little bit surprised that the man had remembered her at all.

"Yes, the one apprentice you left behind." Her voice dripped with disdain.

"That's the one! She's possessed by the demon she calls her god. We need to run. We should have run." Harold said, taking a step back. The Warden rubbed his forehead.

"I'm sorry, miss," he apologized to Bee. "Give me one moment to settle this fool down."

With that, the Warden rounded on Harold, grabbing his arm as he retreated further. "Harold, do you remember how many demons the invading army killed last night? And you still think its leader is possessed by a demon?!"

"U" Harold tried to speak.

"No, shut up for a moment. In fact, I'm starting to doubt that the "demon" you summoned back in the castle was even a demon at all!"

The Warden let out a long breath, turning back to Bee. "Apologies. So, let me make a few guesses here, and please let me know if I'm correct. Miss Bee, the thing that Harold and the mages summoned before they fled the castle this was the Lord Void?"

Bee nodded. So far, he was right.

"And was the Lord Void hostile in any way?"

She shook her head. "No, but Void was terrifying, to put it lightly. It has always been extremely powerful, and I can imagine that it's only grown in strength after it's been summoned," she explained.

The Warden nodded. "Then it seems that they had summoned a god or at least a godling. Somehow. And then fled, leaving it to its own devices. WITH A CHILD." The Warden shot a withering glare at Harold. "Because it was 'scary.'

"That's what he wants you to think," Harold narrowed his eyes. "I'm sure he's nefarious."

Bee rolled her eyes. "Do you know how many Lieutenants Void has fought? How many it's killed?"

Harold's eyes bulged. "That was him?!"

The Warden held his hand out to stop the conversation." Wait. Killed Lieutenants? Even the dragons couldn't do that."

Bee nodded. "I know, we've talked with a few. Or, Void has. But as I've said, nothing is impossible for Void. Be it system manipulation or killing the unkillable."

Silence reigned over the throne room. The two men stood in utter shock, contemplating the possibility of a god-killing demon Lieutenants.

"So how many has he killed?" The Warden eventually broke the silence.

"At least two that I know of. Void has fought others, though some have managed to get away. The King was actually a demon Lieutenant specializing in illusions, Maraj'ain. Void managed to drive it off while destroying a soul specialist in the palace last night. Several months ago, we managed to destroy Nazareth'gak."

"How certain are you that she was actually destroyed?" the Warden asked.

Bee smiled. "I got the experience for her."

The Warden raised his eyebrows. "If I may ask... what level are you?"

It was an incredibly sensitive question to ask. However, Bee couldn't help but brag a little bit. "55."

The Warden had seemingly short-circuited his ability to be surprised and just started to go with it. "Really? That high? And how old are you, my dear?"

"I'm 14," Bee said proudly.

"14 and over level 55" Harold paled as he muttered to himself.

The Warden patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, Harold, I'm sure everything's going to be fine. In fact, this is the best news of our generation, if perhaps the last several millennia. We have a way to finally end the threat of the Lieutenants for good. And the timing couldn't be better, especially if they're breaking free now."

Harold licked his lips nervously. "Alright. But then, if this Void is so benevolent, then how do you explain Patricia's state?"

"Who?" Bee asked.

"Patricia, one of the adventurers sent to the castle. I think she ran into you. Well, it was hard to tell as she returned stark, raving mad."

"Ah," Bee nodded at the memory. "I remember. I tried to talk to the adventurers, but they assumed I was possessed. Just like you." She shot Harold a glare. "They got pretty aggressive. Void scared them off when they broke my arm; Void wasn't exactly happy, so I put on a bit of a display. Void didn't hurt them, though." Bee quickly clarified. "We found Patricia later inside the castle, hiding in a closet. I guess she sneaked in when we weren't looking and couldn't get back out because of all the demons running around."

"See? Demons running around!" Harold practically shouted.

"The ones that the college kept contained." Bee rolled her eyes. "Their circles failed, so the castle was infested until Void cleaned them up."

As Bee spoke, the heat of the Warden's gaze made Harold wilt. "Care to explain?"

Harold raised his hands defensively. "I didn't hear anything about this. I sent them to investigate and see what was happening so that we could plan for whatever threat might be coming. I really thought..."

"Well, one of them managed to bring back good intel," the Warden rolled his eyes.

"...Good intel that had us on a wild goose chase." Harold reluctantly admitted. "I think we actually saw the battle between the two demons," Harold said reluctantly. "I mean, Lord Void and the Lieutenant, when we brought the army there., However, when we got there, we were attacked by the undead."

"Considering that there was an undead plague at the same time. It wiped out most of the province. That's how we met Arthur," Bee said. "I'm not sure why the undead attacked you."

"It looked like the black demon summoned them to us."

"Hmm," Bee shrugged. "I think I was unconscious by that point, so I'm not really sure how that went down. But we did run into a lot of undead."

"At Caleb? You were at Caleb?" Harold said.

"Yes, Void and I came to help liberate the city from the siege."

The Warden looked at Harold again. "This is when you saw Lord Void for the second time, right?"

"Lord Void, I suppose. And they were fighting the undead." Harold rubbed his chin.

"Hmm. Well, anyways," the Warden said, bringing the attention back to himself. "I think there's a lot we have to discuss, but one of the first things we should do is get the city stable again. I'd suggest we look for the treasurer.

"If you're willing, I can help screen who you actually need to talk to so we can get things up and running as fast as possible. So far, Arthur has been doing a good job keeping the city in check. From what I can tell, he's the one really leading the armies, right?"

Bee nodded.

"But Arthur never did have the mind for politics. Harold, could you go search for Gerald, the Minister of Finance?"

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