Chapter 89: The Pursuit of Cleanliness

Chapter 89: The Pursuit of Cleanliness

Beatrice was trying not to cry for the second time that day. At the same time, she was trying not to put her fist through the wall. Self-control was harder than she thought. The only thing that kept the table in front of her in one piece was the thought of Void's disappointment with the mess it would make. Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

When she saw her master start comforting Felix, her heart clenched. When Felix said, Void was cute, a cold rush washed through her. Void had put up with Tony's antics, but she never really knew how benevolent it was. She had just been able to relax on that front, as Tony had started treating her master with more respect after the fight with the Lieutenant. Now a new person was coming along to upset that stability.

Still, Felix was a child and a very fragile one at that. She could only hope that Void would take pity on him and continue being its benevolent self. Putting the matter aside, she started thinking about what she wanted to do next. Tony was right. They needed to get to his family as soon as possible. She just hoped it wasn't already too late.

Once that thought crossed her mind, she knew she needed to act right now. There was only one thing that had kept her alive in the past three months. Well, two things, really. Void's mercy and her willingness to act. When she needed to, she moved, and there was no time to change that.

Standing up, Bee moved over to her pack and started putting away her alchemy equipment.

"What are you doing, Bee?" Tony asked.

"Getting ready to leave. If I head out now and run, I can reach your family's farm by morning. Stay inside the library until I get back. The front door is still broken." Bee answered over her shoulder.

"You can't go by yourself!" Tony explained. "What if there are a lot more zombies out there?"

"I can deal with them. Void gave me an upgrade." Bee said as she picked up her broom, showing Tony the new tip. "I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you."

Bee moved to leave the library, but Void appeared, blocking her path. "Master, please. I need to go. Tony is too injured to come, and Felix needs to recover."

Still, Void didn't move. "Look, I know I struggled with three zombies, but with these broom improvements, I won't have the same issues."

Void let out an insistent beep.

---

That reminded her. She still needed to look into the book in the odd script that she had found own there, along with the pendant. After they had gotten back to the surface, the earth demons and preparing for the Lieutenant's awakening had taken all her focus. She would take the time to research those properly as soon as they were all safe. There were still so many things she needed to learn properly.

Seeing Void roll between her legs and somehow hop over the eight-inch gap left for the portcullis brought her back to the present. As far as she knew, this was the furthest that her master had gone from the castle as well. She was by no means certain that the world was ready for it.

Looking back along the path from the main entrance, she could see exactly where Void had gone as those stones had leveled out a bit to make a more level path. Yeah, the world was not ready.

---

After I hopped over the little moat, I landed on the dirt. Not dirty stones, just bare dirt. I shuddered. This trip might be harder than I thought. I crept along as slowly as I could, letting the dirt firm up underneath me. Watching the others pull away, I realized I wasn't moving nearly quickly enough to satisfy Beatrice's quick pace.

If the others weren't completely unburdened, I didn't think they would be able to keep up either. I forced myself to move faster into the loose dirt. This only went on for a few hundred yards before Beatrice stopped. Finally, solid ground. Then she turned off and walked into the trees.

At first, I couldn't tell what she was doing, but soon I made out a narrow trail. This wasn't going to work at all. There were roots blocking my path. The tiny strip of packed earth was barely six inches wide. At least one of my wheels was going to be in straight dirt. I was only grateful that it hadn't rained recently. Otherwise, things might have gotten really nasty really quickly.

Just as I was considering how to burn a path wide enough for me to follow, I felt small hands pick me up. Felix cradled me to his chest. "Don't worry, Mr. Void, I can carry you."

It wasn't the most dignified way to be carried, but I wouldn't complain. I profusely thanked the little boy, who just smiled at me. "We can't have you getting dirty!"

Then he was trotting off after Beatrice and Tony. As we caught up, Beatrice noticed my new accommodations in Felix's arms. "Do you want me to carry you, master?"

No, I'm happy here, I told her with a beep. She looked overburdened as it was. A look of relief flashed across her face, "If you get tired, Felix, let me know, and I can take over for a bit."

"I can do it!" Felix said. I liked the spunk on this kid, but still, I would prefer not to be dropped. We set off in earnest. We made a pretty good time, but honestly, I didn't notice. I was too wrapped up in observing the scenery. I had never seen so many plants! It was as if someone had stacked a house plant on top of more house plants. It was amazing that any of them could get enough sun to survive.

My sensors were giving me a wash of different information about everything we passed. There was so much of it that even my massively improved processor was not able to keep up, and I was dropping records constantly before I managed to store it all in my memory banks. The sheer amount of variables was just overwhelming, the incredible amount of life. And all the dirt!

The dirt was endless. Even the occasional rock that broke up the endless amount of dirt was disorganized. I could even see the material of a few plants being broken down to form more dirt! How did humans ever create something as amazing as clean, polished marble floors when this is what they had to start with?

Maybe I was starting to give the humans here too little credit if they managed to accomplish such impressive tasks. I mean, they still didn't have anything on my humans from back home, but they were a little impressive nonetheless.