All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 91: Reaper's Scythe

Bee followed Tony's family out to the barn. They swung the doors wide and quickly got to work handing out scythes. Even the youngest had one sized for him. Tony pulled her aside and found one that had the correct length for her. Since she didn't know much in the way of farming, he briefly went over how to use it with Bee. He also showed her how to sharpen it. His hands moved so fast with the file she had to ask him to do it again.

It took her a couple tries to get the hang of it, but before long, she was able to skate the file over the edge and bring the edge back to razor-sharpness in a few strokes.

"You will want to sharpen real quick after at least every row. It only takes a couple seconds, but it will save you so much more time. Also, if you notice the grain stalks tearing instead of making a clean cut, just stop and run the file over a couple times." Tony explained. "If it ever gets to the point where the stalks are bending, it's too late, and we'll need to get out the wheel and fix the edge. Best to avoid that. While we're harvesting, time is precious."

Bee nodded. She thought that she understood. For now, she would just do the row next to Tony and hope that he could help her out. Still, there was one more thing Bee needed to say. "I'm sorry you don't still have your Farmer class."

Tony smiled sadly. "It is something I've come to terms with. I still have the basic skill I got at level 1, which helps. Plus, I have enough practice that my increased speed and stamina from the levels will be worth it all themselves. That's even better than if I stayed as I was, as a level 6 farmer."

Bee started to say something, but Tony cut her off. "Besides, it's not till level 20 or so that the farming skills really make a difference. That kinda progress usually takes ages, you know. But there's a reason it's impressive." He grinned proudly. "Watch, father. He has scythe proficiency. He'll show you what I mean."

Bee fell silent. It was touching that he was willing to admit his problems honestly, but it was still good to hear that he was handling it. In the aftermath of the fight, Bee couldn't really bring herself to regret having him change his class, as he would have surely died without those levels. However, she could still remember how much Tony loved farming. When they first met, that was one of the first things she learned about him. Now he was in service of their master instead.

She remained lost in her thoughts until she took her first swing at a row of wheat. Something went wrong, and the staff turned in her grip, just bending the stalks out the way slightly. Frustrated, she adjusted her grip to be more like what Tony had shown her and swung again. This time it passed through the stalks in an easy motion. Recovering her blade, she reset her feet and looked over at Tony to make sure he had seen that second swing.

However, Tony wasn't next to her anymore. She had to lean over to his line, but he was already a dozen yards down her row. As he swung each time, his motion ended with the scythe already in a position to take the next swipe. Even though he had needed a crutch to walk here, he seemed completely fine now. Bee, however, was constantly off balance. She looked back at the stalks in front of her. This time when she swung, she tried to put the minimal amount of force needed behind her blow, focusing more on speed than power.

Still, it took a little bit to set up her next swing, but at least she wasn't stumbling afterward this time. This pattern continued for a very long time. Swing, reposition swing. She couldn't let Tony keep ahead of her too far.

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I watched as the humans all waded through the neat rows of wheat. They were quite methodical, and I appreciated the pattern they all worked under to get perfectly clean straight lines. I also appreciated how the wheat fell in perfect bunches right next to the line of plants. I imagined that it would be easy to bundle up when they were all done.

As much fun as cleaning the plants out in the field looked, I didn't think there was much I could do to help. The ground just wasn't suitable for my wheels, and my thrusters didn't have enough staying power yet to hover for long. Besides, they would send dirt everywhere if I ran them over the loose soil. Well, there already was dirt everywhere, but I didn't have to make it worse.

Since I wasn't about to join them, I looked around for other things I could be useful with. The first thing I could do was obvious. There were several buildings around that needed cleaning. I would start with the house.

It was smaller, but there were a lot of small rooms that evidently belonged to very messy children. This left a lot of work for me to do. I carefully organized all the clothes and toys left out before completely sanitizing each room and making their beds. The living rooms were mostly tidy, but I still gave them a nice once-over. The entire house measured 1352.4 square feet, but with seven people living in it, every inch was used.

After taking care of this, I used my thrusters to boost myself over to the next building to avoid rolling in the dirt. This one was mostly empty. The only things of note were the layer of straw covering the floor and one sad, slightly melted ice block. Using Air Affinity, I gathered all the straws and then sucked the water out of them with my mop. Then I carefully packed them around the last ice block to provide a better insulation layer. If they were trying to keep this ice around, then my actions should extend its lifespan by 2.3x.

I then moved to the next building and the next. Things were going swimmingly until I arrived at one with a cow in it. Now, this would require some work.

***

I refused to leave until my job was done. Even when Beatrice came to check on me, I only briefly reassured her that everything was all right before going back to my work. By the time I was done, the moon was high in the night sky, and everyone had long ago gone to bed.

I wheeled out of the barn and looked around. I didn't need to charge like all the humans did, but I also had finished doing all the cleaning I could without going out into the dark. Regretting not asking Beatrice to bring some books, I hovered over to the porch. Without anything more to do, I just sat by the steps and watched the stars.

I had never looked at stars before, but now I was getting dizzy staring. As far as I could tell, there was no system or organization for them. It wasn't too distressing, but if I ever got to chat with whatever had put them there, I would have opinions. Still, they were quite nice individually.

---

Bee was exhausted. Yesterday had been rough, but as dawn crept in through the window, she figured that Tony would probably win the bet with his father. They were almost completely done with the scythe work. In fact, only Trent and Tony had even grabbed them this morning. The rest of the family started off bundling the wheat with twine and placing it off to the side.

She was wondering how they would get the harvest out of there. Normally someone from the castle brought a train of pack animals to take it through the path. But the family didn't have many of those themselves. A couple of mules for the plow and a cow could maybe carry a quarter of all this. That wasn't even including all the other things they might want to bring to the castle.

Starting to do some math in her head, Bee figured that they would need at least five trips. Maybe six if everyone didn't want to carry a huge pack.

Eventually, Tony received five copper coins from Trent, and they finished tying up the last bundle right as the sun neared its zenith. "I didn't think you would be nearly as much help, Bee. If I hadn't seen you starting out, I would have said this was your tenth harvest!"

Bee could only smile at the compliment from the happy Trent. Not for a second did he seem to mind losing out on the bet. Genuinely he was just ecstatic to have finished the harvest so fast. "Normally, we would feast after harvest and rest for a couple days. But I think you have other plans for us?"

Nodding, Bee couldn't help but feel disappointed in missing out on the harvest feast. Trent was right, though. They needed to get moving. Who knew how long this place would be safe? She didn't want to leave the castle empty for much longer. "I think we should prioritize half food and half everything else you want to bring. That includes the animals. We might need to make many trips, but we don't all have to come. It's a bit much for everyone."

Surprisingly, no one argued. They just started packing up. Mary busied herself boxing things from the kitchen as each child picked out several sets of clothes. They were each allotted two toys. This caused some tearful outbursts, but each time one of the parents or Tony stepped in and handled it gracefully.

Bee was left to prepare the wheat for travel. There were a few harnesses with bags that fit over the mules. She filled them but left the cow for the other things. It was slightly more than half of the load, but she figured there was no way to avoid coming back at least once, so it wasn't a big deal.

It took several hours before they were all ready to move out. Looking up at the sun, Bee wasn't sure they would make it back in time, but they couldn't wait much longer. They all got in a caravan line and started down the trail leading to the main road. Bee led the convoy from up front, and Felix took up the rear carrying Void.

The trip was largely uneventful. However, at the time, it didn't feel that way. Every small noise they heard in the forest caused them to stiffen in fear. The farm animals noticed the tense mood and required constant assurances to keep them calm. All of this, added to the natural placid pace of the animals, resulted in them making even worse time than Bee had feared.

The group was walking by moonlight by the time they finally made it out of the forest. Even the youngest was a ball of nerves by the time they laid eyes on the castle. Bee was the only one not too tense, as she had faith that Void would watch over them. That and the improved broom in her hand had given her a lot of comfort.

Once they all packed inside the safety of the castle, they still found little respite. The animals needed to be unloaded and put away. The grain and food needed to be stored. The beds needed to be claimed. Rather than drag mattresses all over like barbarians, as Mary put it, the family claimed a row of apprentices' quarters. Each room was significantly larger than they were used to, and for the first time, no one had to share.

Felix, Tony, and Bee still didn't leave the library. Bee wasn't about to, as it was just too normal now, but she was glad that Tony and Felix stayed to keep her company. Void, of course, was nowhere to be found. She figured it was likely exploring the castle and making sure nothing was out of place.

Far too late into the night, the castle's tenants finally made their way to bed. Bee practically collapsed with relief into her mattress. They had made it. Tony's family was safe, they had supplies for the coming months, and no one had seen a single undead. Now they just had to go back and get everything else.

Already thinking about tomorrow, Bee fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.