All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 252: A Night on the Town

Bee tried her best not to shift uncomfortably in the chair as she waited for the banker to verify her information. Not that the chair itself was the problem, of course. The current situation she found herself in was far worse.

Eventually, the woman looked up from behind her desk. A far more polite smile adorned her features now, the skepticism having all but vanished. "Madame D'Lestrange. Thank you for your patience while I verified your identity. Now, let me formally welcome you to the Capital Bank. Your family accounts have been well-kept. Would you like to review them?"

Bee shook her head, surprised that she even had full access to the accounts. She wasn't actually sure that she would’ve had access to them at all, as her father had never mentioned such privileges to her. She had just hoped to use her family's weight to maybe get some good deals on some foreclosed property. She expected to use the money that Void and the others had brought with them for their mission. But if she could actually use her father's money…. Well that would be better for the cause.

"No, I don't think I need to look at them right now. I simply need to make a few small purchases that you might be able to help me with. I will either return later to examine them more closely, or my aunt will when she arrives," Bee said, continuing to stick with the story she had made up at the gate. She had no idea if her aunt was actually going to arrive anytime soon, but if she did, it was best if Bee had some cover to avoid her wrath.

Aunt Bella was truly an intimidating woman. For as long as she could remember, her aunt had always been a bit distant both emotionally and physically. The latter was understandable at least, considering her roles in father's overseas business adventures. But they had met a few times. And each time, the absolute stony gaze of the woman had convinced Bee that her aunt was not to be trifled with.

"Very well, Madame D'Lestrange. What can I help you with?"

"We are looking to set up shop here in the city as a possibility. Nothing is confirmed yet, but in order to begin considering it, we need a location. Not just a store but as a back-end location where we can hold dealings and meetings in a more appropriate setting.” Bee explained what she was looking for to the woman. “We're looking to either buy suitable accommodations for the family, staff, and day to day operations, or rent out a place. Of course, we're also looking for a good deal.”

The banker's head bobbed up and down frantically. "Yes, yes, of course, madam, we have actually quite a lot of options. The recent changes to the nobility have left a lot of rather appropriate manors up for sale, and we haven't been able to sell them to anyone. So buying one of those properties that the bank now has unfortunately found itself in possession of should be rather easy. The only issue is paying back taxes..."

"Very well. I'd like to see the listings."

The banker scurried into the back to speak to the manager while Bee drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. She looked around the space as she waited. This truly was an impressive building. Her family was wealthy, but not quite wealthy enough to have things like gilded chandeliers and fine silk chair cushions for their day-to-day operations. At least, not as far as she was aware.

Her father had always kept a reasonably sized two-story home in the middle of the merchant district. Nothing too ostentatious. So, seeing the gilded opulence of the banking hall had thrown her for a bit of a loop. But what was also surprising was the amount of deference the banker showed her.

She was treating Bee as though she were a much more valuable customer than expected, something more akin to a major family. Not only that, but the first suggestion the woman had gone to was noble manors. Was she trying to upsell her, or was the bank really that desperate to get rid of them? Perhaps she just had more available funds than she was aware of.

The banker quickly came back with a concerningly tall stack of documents. "Here are all the suitable manors for sale that we have. Unfortunately, we don't really have many options for renting, given the market right now."

Bee nodded, scanning through the papers. She wasn't sure if that was actually true, but if they were insisting that she buy, it would look bad if she didn't take their suggestion with some seriousness. Flipping through, she saw location, locations, and sketches along with prices and estimated taxes.

The prices were lower than she'd expected, even for foreclosures. It seemed that the woman had been serious when she said the bank was trying to get rid of these places.

After a lot of searching, she found a particularly interesting one near the bottom of the pile. That was the one. It was more than very reasonably priced for its location and also about the size they needed. 7 bedrooms might have seemed excessive, but it was honestly smaller than most of the other options she'd seen. Also, the reasonably large garden would help with privacy and work as a convenient meeting location.

Although price of the property was relatively low, she figured out why when she looked at the taxes. Adding those to the equation brough the cost up significantly. Still, the total would be less than the other options were.

"I think this one," she said.

The banker paled. "Are you sure? Um. Perhaps you- you want to visit some of them?"

Bee shrugged. "As long as it's still standing, I think we'll be able to make do with it."

The banker bobbed her head again in her most earnest pigeon impression yet. "Of course, of course. Your family's always been known for its good business sense. I'm sure that the value added to this property will be immense. I just didn't think you would want to have to deal with that right away."

Bee started to second-guess her decision. Value add. That usually didn't mean that the property was in good condition, if she remembered her father's monologues at the dining table. Right? Well, regardless, she was sure that she would figure it out. Perhaps they would need to hire some people to make repairs. Well, actually, as disciples of Void, they might be able to do a good amount of work themselves. Her resolve strengthened, she confirmed her choice.

"Yeah, well, okay. Why don't you take this with you?" The banker said as she wrote up a document and stamped it. "Here is the sale agreement. Why don't you go look at the property? If you're still interested, you can meet a representative here tomorrow morning and we can finalize the purchase. We can transfer the money right out of your accounts. If you decide not to, then we can always look at some other options."

The banker finished her little speech while smiling graciously. Bee picked up the document and looked around. She had felt Void's presence as her master followed her rather than goinstaying at the inn, but she had long since lost track of its shiny blackness even with her faith sense connecting them. Apparently, her god was much better at hiding than she’d realized.

She didn't feel it right near her, but she trusted that Void was nearby. With her business finished, she started walking, hoping that her master would follow her.

---

I followed Beatrice out of the bank after I had thoroughly recorded everything. Opening the very thick door was difficult, as it seemed that you needed to use a certain pattern of twists on a little knob before it would unlock. But after careful examination, it was fairly easy to figure out. I wasn’t sure how I would get Daedalus snuck in to look at the piles and piles of shiny treasures they had stashed away, considering his bulk, but that was a problem for another day.

Beatrice seemed to sense that I was nearby even though she couldn't see me. As I rolled next to her, she whispered. "I don't know how much of that you heard, but I secured us a base of operations for the near future. Hopefully, it should last us the week or two we need."

I gave her a comforting tap on the shoulder, which made her jump and spin around with a yelp. She eventually sighed and continued on. "We're going to go look at the foreclosed manor before we head back home. I want to make sure it's in an acceptable location and big enough for everyone. There might be some fixing up we need to do to it as I got it really cheap, but I think overall it should be worth it. I didn't even have to use our operational funds. I was able to skim some off of my family's accounts."

She seemed inordinately satisfied by this. I suppose it made sense, seeing how she viewed her father. But I wasn't sure how to feel about her skimming money from his accounts. Wasn't that kind of like theft? Or was it different because he was family?

When we arrived at the manor, I couldn't believe my sensors. Even Beatrice just stopped and stared. There was a manor there, all right, but it had not been abandoned recently like Beatrice had been led to believe. This must have been sitting empty for years.

The stone manor was at least four stories tall and very imposing. The architecture was potentially beautiful, or it had been in the future, and the privacy wall was a nice benefit. But now there were plants growing all over it, and the gardens hosted a mix of untamed overgrowth and dead sticks. The front door was closed, but I could see a large gap from a hole that looked like it had been chewed in its corner.

I couldn't even begin to process what the inside was like.

Eventually, Beatrice spoke as I spotted a rat peeking out from a broken window. “This is worse than I thought. I was hoping that with us being disciples of you, master, we would be able to fix up small amounts of damage, but this… This would require a full construction crew. It would definitely take longer than the day or so I had allocated for it.”

Beatrice let out a long sigh. “Well, that’s disappointing. We might have to tell them no and have them show us some of the other options. But maybe it'll look better in the morning," she said, looking up at the dimming light. "It could be that this late in the evening, and the shadows are making it look worse than it actually is."

She sounded hopeful, but I could tell that she didn't actually believe it herself. How did anyone ever let their home get to such a state? I suppose if they abandoned it, that might make sense. But they should at least make sure that their home is well cared for when they're gone.

I followed a dejected Beatrice home. Well, “home” was a bit of a strong word. Back to the hotel where the others had said they were going to try and meet. She eventually found Mat and his couple of his friends in the common room, and she passed along word of what the plan was for tomorrow before heading up to her room. I checked in on each of the other party members.

All of the not-Nighty Knights were now asleep, and the adults were either in bed or relaxing in the common room. Seeing that everything was all right, I felt that it was finally time for me to go get some work done.

There was already a lot of cleaning to be done around the city, and now I also had a manor that needed fixing up. No way I was letting anyone I cared about moving into that thing. It was just unacceptable. So, as soon as everyone was asleep and night had really fallen over the city, I snuck out the back door.

In the evening, the city looked even worse. Grime was everywhere, and the people I could see skulking around were clearly up to no good. I started off towards the manor, intending to take care of it first, but I kept getting sidetracked. There were at least 2048 little things that needed my attention, like piles of refuse that needed to be sucked up and transmuted into energy or an entryway that needed to be swept. And the number kept rising the further out my sensors extended. Even with my full processing power, this felt like too much.

Sometimes, there were rodents that needed to be chased off. Or holes in the pavement. Or bloodstains on walls. When I finally brought my attention away from the uneven road I was currently working on, I realized I had gone far off my path and was actually near the front gates of the city.

I refocused and checked the time. I had spent hours just fixing one thing after another, and I wasn't even close to getting back to the home we back to the home Beatrice had set her sights on. I couldn't let her be disappointed.

Come morning, that place had to be worthy of my humans. I'd accept nothing less. I still had time, but I couldn't keep getting sidetracked like this. I started heading back in the direction that I originally intended.

But then there was a pile of horse leavings right in the center of the road. Surely, I could pick up stuff like this without getting too sidetracked. As I pulled it in and converted it into energy, I received a notification flashing in front of me.

LEVEL 75 REACHED! CHOOSE A SKILL: APPLY PROTECTIVE COATING, CREATE FRUIT, INSPIRE FOLLOWERS.

Well, well, well. It was about time.