All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 321: Mission Failed Successfully

The next couple of days after Beatrice's birthday party, the city seemed to be subdued slightly, as if it was tired and everyone was recuperating from the day of exuberance. I didn't mind. It gave me a lot more time to take care of work.

For the moment, I took advantage of the lack of visitors to tend to my arboretum. I vacuumed up the wilted petals of the various flowers, carefully pruning them one at a time to optimize their appearance. I liked giving each individual care. Even if it only took extra time, seeing the faces of people who loved coming here for relaxation and peace really made it worthwhile. Mostly, it was the elderly who came to visit, but sometimes, little kids would run around the area as well. I had a special section for them where the plants grew extra fast, and I could quickly repair any damage if they got a little unruly in the flower beds.

It was very cute watching little children give each other flowers. Sometimes, they'd even give me some. It wasn't the most well-thought-out plan, since it was hard for them to find someplace to tuck them. I didn't have any ears or hair that lent itself to keeping the stems in place. But they usually ended up placing them on top of my chassis, and I did my best to keep them balanced for as long as I could. With the help of a little Air Manipulation.

My peaceful morning, though, was soon interrupted. On the horizon, I saw a massive red lizard flying toward us at quite a respectable speed. Daedalus had returned. At least, I was 99.89% sure it was Daedalus. There weren't that many ancient dragons flying around, much less ones with a paint job like his.

I wanted to go out and greet him, but I had a few more things to wrap up here first. He wouldn't arrive for 18 minutes, anyway, so why rush?

As I waited for the 14th kid today to find the perfect place to set her flower down, I began using my laser to prune the tree limbs.

There were still several more in the queue, their parents watching on with anxious smiles. I didn't want to rob them of their fun, so Daedalus would have to wait a few more minutes. Besides, he really was going pretty fast. He probably had something urgent or exciting to say, if I had to guess. And that meant he would go to meet Beatrice at the palace before anything else. It was one of the few places in the city large enough for a friend to land, and it was pretty reliable to find him there whenever he visited. There was no point in making him repeat himself. He could tell us all the news at once.

When the last child had anointed me with his carefully-picked flowers, I very gently rose up into the sky. I created a bubble of still air around me to prevent the wind from knocking them off as I glided towards the palace courtyard. I didn't want to push the flowers down and risk crushing them flat, so I did have to move a little carefully. And by the time the red dragon's massive form shook the ground, I was there to meet him.

As I predicted, Beatrice was already waiting, and so was Arthur. Both of them seemed a little more concerned than I thought was warranted. I understood that they were supposed to have been away for much longer, but still. Harold was on Daedalus's back, so things couldn't have gone that poorly.

Before anyone spoke, the four passengers slid to the ground. Harold looked a little bit shaky. His face was somewhere between white as a freshly-laundered sheet and green as a new leaf. I thought it was a lovely shade of pale chartreuse. But everyone seemed to be unharmed, at least.

For a second, everyone was quiet as they recovered from the flight. I gave a wave of greeting, but everyone was shaken enough that it didn't seem to register. But it wasn't too long before Beatrice broke the silence. "Well. What happened?"

The five returnees exchanged glances, not one of them really wanting to speak. Eventually, Daedalus rumbled out a response. "I enacted diplomacy."

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Archibald let out a barking laugh, and Susan and Tony looked a little bit abashed. Harold's face just paled further.

Beatrice's frown deepened as she took in the reactions. Her gaze understandably focused on Archibald. "What's so funny?"

Archibald looked around and realized that he'd been hung out to dry as the one responsible. He glared at Tony for a second before stepping forward with a sigh. "It appears that 'diplomacy' was never really an option. We found Archfiends in charge of the government when we got there. Things went downhill fast."

"Archfiends?" Beatrice's eyes narrowed. "How sure are you?"

"Very sure," Archibald confirmed. "They didn't exactly hide it for long…"

"Ok…" Beatrice shifted, evidently thinking along the same lines. "So, am I to understand that things didn't go well?"

Archibald shrugged at Beatrice's comment. "Well, we're all alive, and some of the archfiends aren't, but we may have caused a diplomatic incident."

She closed her eyes in thought for a moment, letting out a long breath. Oh. So, the negotiations had turned messy. Normally, I would have been quite perturbed, but I suppose it was only to be expected. Apparently, mess-makers were well-versed in turning everything into a mess – even "diplomacy." Did their hedonism know no bounds at all?

Still, despite my indignation, I waited for Beatrice to speak. All of this was really her area of expertise, after all, and I didn't want to take that away from her. Eventually, she opened her eyes again and waved her hand." Well, if there are demons controlling the city, I don't think I'm too concerned about a diplomatic incident… It can't be helped."

The five of them seemed to relax a little bit at the words. A nervous smile stretched across Archibald's face. "Oh, good. Then you don't mind that their palace doesn't have a roof anymore?"

Beatrice froze, then rubbed her temples like she had a headache. She took one more deep breath and remained silent for 5.012 seconds before responding. "No. No, I guess I do not. Just… just tell me what happened."

The five of them quickly filled everyone in on the events of their visitation. It really was a mess. I couldn't blame the humans so much, as the demons had definitely been planning mischief for a while. But I couldn't help but be a bit disappointed in Daedalus. Surely he didn't have to destroy quite that much of the castle? But at least everyone was safe.

After that, we all looked over to Harold. Beatrice addressed him directly. "So. Do you have anything else to add to your report?"

Harold nodded. "Yes. The location of whatever they're hiding is the important thing, but I have a lot more details. Mostly about shipments in and out, merchants sent over there gone missing, and go-betweens…"

Harold started a long explanation about everything that had drawn his attention to the suspicious location. As he spoke, both Susan and Beatrice began to frown darkly. I could understand why. It became quite clear that something was afoot, especially given the way Harold laid out the events.

After the man finished his explanation, Beatrice turned to Arthur. "How are we on that strike force we talked about earlier?"

Arthur shook his head in apparent wonder. "This is moving a little bit earlier than I had planned, but we're mostly there. If we leave tomorrow, I can get us a strike force at 90% strength. Just a strike force, mind you. We wouldn't be able to march in and hold the city or anything like that. This is a select group of high-level people, not an occupying force."

Beatrice nodded. "Well, the first priority is making sure that Barleona's strength does not get out of hand. We can have the regular army march behind us to occupy the country after we have toppled it."

Arthur nodded his agreement. "Yes, exactly."

I couldn't help but agree that we needed to move quickly. Things sounded pretty bad over there. And based on Archibald's story, I was 99.999% certain that no one else was going to clean up the mess left behind in their wake.

I always hoped that I was wrong.

"All right," Beatrice said, "tomorrow morning, an hour after dawn, we head out and spread the word."

Archibald and Daedalus seemed quite excited about the prospect of finally being able to fight demons again after such a long time. As the group began to disperse, Harold raised his hand. "Er… am I going as well?"

Beatrice frowned. "Hmm. Probably not. As strong as you are, I think we have a few other assignments we'd rather send you on. Peripheral missions."

Harold sagged in relief. It never failed to surprise me how odd that man was.