Chapter 203: Seek and Ye Shall Find
Bee mixed with the rest of the crowd as they milled around, waiting for the next event to start. As she glanced around, she started taking note of what people were doing. Presumably, the last couple of hide-and-seek finalists were hiding among the people, using them as cover.
Trent was back at the pie table, getting his umpteenth plate. Gertrude knitted with a few of the other ladies as the children ran around. Many of the small children napped in the arms of their mothers in the shade of a massive pavilion tent, set up to provide some release from the sun. Tony wrestled with Felix and a few of the other Nighty Knights. It wasn't an official event, but they had a bit of a crowd as he threw his superior weight around.
Mary simply stood off the side, watching everyone as she rested her head against Trent's massive shoulder. The sight made Bee smile. She was glad the pair were so happy together. She hadn’t had many opportunities to see a relationship like this. Had her father been like this at one point, when mom was still around?
"Wait." Bee whipped her head back to the pie table. Had she been seeing things? No, Trent stood there, back turned as he ate a slice of the pie. She looked over to where Trent also stood, his arm around his wife.
Bee looked more closely with her senses. One of these wasn't Trent. The feeling was just different between the two of them, as though they had different relationships with Void's faith.
Looking back at the “Trent” eating pie, she was willing to bet a lot that he was the impostor. The only question was, who was he? She needed to call the person’s name, or else it was hard to say the person was truly found. Though Bee supposed she could cheat a little bit.
Wandering over, she did her best to not be noticed. It was easier said than done as people constantly greeted her. Still, it didn't give “Trent” an option to run without looking too suspicious.
Bee was careful not to alarm him either, occasionally pausing to talk to people. It only took her a few moments to get close to her prey. That he had also used the time to move away from her further convinced Bee that this was truly the impostor.
Still, she feigned ignorance, and their cat-and-mouse game continued. Bee had no intention of letting it go on until the time limit, though. The second that someone attempted to speak to “Trent”, she flashed forward using all the power and speed her considerable level afforded her. Just as the man had turned to walk away, she caught his sleeve. "I got you."
As much as she tried, Susan wasn't able to help the very feminine yelp of surprise at Bee's sudden appearance. "Susan, you are out!"
A burst of light later and the illusion of Trent disappeared from around the woman. Void beeped, and Bee took it to mean the competition was over. He zipped off, leaving her standing with Susan.
"Dang, what gave me away?"
Bee nodded to where the real Trent planted a kiss on the top of his wife's head. "There are two of you, and Trent's not the most subtle of people. It would have been better if you picked someone I didn't know as well."
Susan shrugged. "You would be surprised. Not being subtle makes him easier to imitate." After a small hesitation, she continued. "Also, I need a… certain level of familiarity with the subject for my skill to work well. I still only have so many options around here."
"That's an impressive skill. I bet it made you really good at your old job."
"It did. The class I got too. It's a lot less relevant now, though." Susan said with a slight smile. "I can't say I miss it much. I think all the excitement was starting to give me wrinkles."
Bee laughed. Susan still looked five years younger than the 29 her status indicated. Still, it was nice to hear that her friend was happier now. They chatted for a few minutes, and Susan filled her in on the rest of the events planned.
Bee was surprised to hear there was a drinking competition scheduled after all the children had gone to bed. That was a while off, but whoever had convinced Void to get a prize for that had her respect. She wasn't sure if she would have been brave enough to ask the god about such a thing.
As if hearing her thoughts, Void returned carrying a slightly green Mat.
—-
I was impressed that the human had managed to squeeze himself into such a difficult place. Truly his dedication to the competition was commendable.
Of course, it wasn't too hard for me to locate him after Beatrice had found everyone else. Retrieving him had been a bit of a chore, and the tricky maneuver I had to do to extract him safely made even me a little bit nauseous. As much as I wasn’t sure how that worked, mechanically.
I had been getting worried that Beatrice wouldn't be able to find everyone in the time period. Thankfully, my human had come through. I was looking forward to someone getting the cloak of invisibility. And honestly, I wasn't sure what I would do with it if no one claimed it.
Gently, I set Mat down next to Susan and Beatrice. Seeing the winner arrive, Susan got things going again.
Most people had been using this as a break to grab snacks and drinks. As the festivities resumed, they gathered together once more. Though on the topic of drinks, I still wasn’t sure how or why the humans made a contest centered on drinking. I couldn't help but spin up a subprocess to try and figure out what they were doing on that front.
A good amount of the adults seemed to be really excited about the drinking competition, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what it entailed. Daedalus laughed when I asked him about it and refused to explain further, though he did have a lot of fun finding a prize for the competition. He once again didn't tell me what it did.
Once everyone had gathered and congratulated Mat, I pulled out his prize. Zipping into the air, I settled the cloak of invisibility around his shoulders.
The crowd let out a collective gasp, as it now looked like Mat was simply a disembodied head floating over the ground. Even to my sensors he had more or less disappeared. I could only detect the absence of airflow to indicate his presence. To my lesser senses, he was completely gone.
Mat reached up and pulled the cloak over his head the rest of the way. I felt the void in the air move a few feet over to the side before he reappeared, now holding someone's drink. A round of cheers later, and Mat was caught up in thoroughly showing off his prize.
Susan let this go on for some time. It may have been my imagination, but I briefly caught a hint of jealousy in a look she gave the celebrating victor. I couldn't really blame her; it was an awesome prize. I had been excited for a reason. Eventually, people settled down.
"Next up is dinner!" Everyone cheered, but she held her hands up for their attention. "As many of you know, this isn't just any dinner. There are two more competitions going on. Everyone needs to try one of each of the potato salads. Also if you want to participate in the sausage eating contests, please sit at table two!"
The next couple of events weren't really relevant to me right now, so I went to clean up a bit after the previous events. Despite everyone being rather conscious about cleanliness, there was still a lot to do after everyone was gathered in the same area for so long.
As the humans loudly celebrated with food and song over dinner, I charted an efficient path between each of the various points of disorder that were left behind throughout the day. Wandering around the corner of the castle, I came across something worrying. Sitting alone, with his back to the castle wall, was Bradley Chadwick. He was muttering something to himself with a rather displeased expression on his young face.
He was so upset that he didn't even notice when I rolled up next to him. I tried to make out what he was saying, but it wasn't anything I could decode. Worried about my pupil, I tapped his shoulder to get his attention.
Bradley jumped and half rose from his sitting position as he turned. Once he recognized me, he scrambled up to one knee and leaned forward, a fist pressed to the ground. I must have startled him more than I realized.
"Lord Void! I'm sorry I didn't see you there. I apologize for my rudeness." Bradley said in an overly formal tone.
Beeping, I did my best to make him understand that he was fine and express my own worry. I followed up with another tone, inquiring what was on his mind. I watched as his face darkened again. Before he could slide back into grumpiness, I gently rapped my claw on his nose.
The rebuke jolted him back to his senses, and he looked up at me with clear eyes. I repeated myself. This time I saw him struggle with his emotions, but he was able to overcome them and answer.
"It's… my sword. What right does mom have to keep me from it!? I need to learn to use it. I have a duty to the Nighty Knights and the faith to be the best warrior I can be. How can I do that without learning to wield my most powerful weapons? Haven’t I proven myself?" Pure indignation was written all across his face.
After a few seconds, I realized that I would have to really answer his questions. I pulled out the sword and lit it again. The boy’s eyes lit up s well with a fire of determination. Before he could reach for it, I played a vision for him. He was holding the blade without it being lit, and I was close by watching. Bradley's image moved fluidly through forms before he looked at me. I flashed something up, and we had a quick exchange before he went again.
"You will train me personally?" Bradley asked with barely concealed excitement.
Of course I would. I had been training him for months now, even if it was alongside the other Knights. I didn't know why it was a surprise to him.
With my confirmation, he fell back to both knees and bowed low. "I will patiently wait then, my lord."
Immediately after, he contradicted his statement by jumping to his feet. "There is still a sparring circle free from the matches. Let's train there!"
I had to hold him back by the hem of his shirt. There were still celebrations and a party for him to enjoy. Sheepishly, he halted and turned to follow me back to the festivities.
We were just in time to watch Beatrice slap Captain Major on the back as he coughed up a bit of sausage meat.
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