Chapter 151 – 152

Chapter 151 – The bees were dancing!

The day after Elto and Roydon left for the Elto continent, there was an incident on the island.

A swarm of bees had suddenly appeared.

But they weren't just any bees. These were the size of large dogs.

However, in spite of their appearance, the bees were very calm. While they were buzzing around the island without permission, they had yet to sting anyone.

They were a little smaller than the giant bee, Heath, who had come before them.

What if they were…

Rienna looked at the bees and said,

"Perhaps they are Heath's children."

"Now that I think of it, a hive was made in the World Tree."

Heath had come to this island around the time that the walls were built.

The trunk of the World Tree was sweet, and her desire for it had brought her here.

And so a hive had been made for her inside of it.

The last time I had checked, there were about ten eggs inside.

Currently, I could see close to twenty bees. But Heath's stomach had been quite large, so it wasn't really surprising.

Those eggs must have hatched.

"I was surprised since they seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere, but at least it looks like Heath is teaching them properly."

Heath herself never caused any trouble, but just stayed quietly by the World Tree.

She must have taught her children so that they didn't hurt anyone.

"Yes. Besides, now that they've come down, the island is filled with a very sweet scent…"

As Rienna said, a sweet smell had been wafting throughout the island since this morning.

"Yes, it's very nice. But I wonder why only the children have come down?"

"Perhaps they came down to introduce themselves. Besides, things are more lively down here."

"That's true… Hey, Rienna. I just thought of something."

I said, and Rienna nodded.

"I was thinking about the same thing. With this smell…"

"I thought you would. Yes, their honey…it will definitely be delicious."

"Yes! Not only in cooking, but I think it will go well with tea."

"As they eat the sap from the World Tree…there is no way that it won't go well with tea made from the World Tree's leaves. I think I might go and ask."

That being said, we would need a lot if we wanted to sell it.

We would want enough to open a store on the island.

And so we headed to the top of the World Tree.

"Woah…the smell is even stronger up here…"

"Yes. I didn't expect it to be so… Ah, Lord Heal. Here."

Rienna handed me a mask.

"That's right… Thank you, Rienna."

"Not at all. It would be quite frightening to be under its effect again…"

The last time that we inhaled the powder that came from the World Tree, we were both no longer ourselves.

We would dance and confess our love…

However, either we had become accustomed to it or the World Tree's powder had somehow changed, because it hadn't happened to us since then.

But the smell was so strong now, that it almost felt dangerous.

And so we decided to be cautious.

"The hive is just a little farther up ahead… Hmm? Oh, hey! Heath!"

I saw that Heath was nearby, dancing while shaking her hips.

There was a feeling of madness in the dance…clearly, something was wrong.

And so Rienna and I rushed towards her and used healing magic.

"Heath! Hey, Heath! Hang in there!"

Upon hearing my words, Heath turned her head towards me as she continued the dance of madness.

I saw that her face was red and her eyes were moving in odd directions.

"Thi-this…"

"They are the same symptoms that Mister Mappa once had."

Rienna was right. She had that same slack-jawed face that Mappa had when he got caught by the World Tree.

"Could it be that she drank too much of the World Tree's sap…and is now drunk?"

But it wasn't just that. She was moving her wings quickly as if to the beat of some music that I couldn't hear.

"…In-in any case, water. Heath. Can you drink?"

And so I used water magic to pour water into Heath's mouth.

After a while, Heath's face returned to its usual, serious expression.

"Are you alright, Heath? Maybe you shouldn't be licking the World Tree so much."

Heath bowed her head apologetically.

I had come up here in order to ask for some honey, but it seemed like a bad idea for everyone to eat it now…

Well, maybe it could be diluted.

Rienna said,

"That's a good idea. I have also asked Miss Kamyu to get some flower seeds when she visits the east continent. I will make them grow quickly, and then we can balance it out by having them acquire nectar from the flowers as well."

Heath looked very ashamed as she lowered her head.

However, just then, we heard a loud buzzing echo over our heads.

It was much louder than the buzz made by Heath and the other bees that were here. It sounded like it was filling up the sky.

And so I looked out to the sea.

Near the horizon…I could see a bee.

Uh, it's right in front of me? …No, that's not it!

The bee in my vision was approaching us at a tremendous speed, and it became larger by the second.

A black bee that was huge like a mountain was coming towards this island.

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Chapter 152 – Things became very bad!

"What the hell is that bee!?"

I noticed that it grew bigger every time I blinked my eyes.

I could only compare it to the Mappa Golem now, but it was about the same size.

"He-Heath. Do you know it?"

But Heath's cheeks flushed red and she shook her head in denial.

"I-I see. You don't know…"

…Was she telling the truth?

I wasn't sure. Somehow, it seemed like this might be related to Heath's dancing.

Rienna turned to me with a look of concern.

"Lord Heal. What should we do? Should we just welcome it to the island?"

"…I'll ask Heath. Heath. Would it be safe to let it come into the island?"

Heath shook her head.

However, it seemed like it was about her not wanting to meet it, then about safety.

"…In any case, I'm going to go to the tower."

"I will go with you. Ah, it seems like Heath will take us there!"

"Huh? …Oh, uh, thanks."

This was no time to complain about heights.

And so we allowed Heath to pick us up and fly towards the tower.

…I guess I'll just close my eyes until we get there.

No, closing my eyes just made it worse. That being said, keeping them open was still bad.

And so I ended up blinking rapidly. Rienna started to look worried.

"Lord Heal. Are you alright?"

"Ah, yes. I'm fine…"

Rienna squeezed my hand.

I felt ashamed…however, we were already there.

Heath eeached the tower and let us down.

Erevan was already standing there with an axe in his hand.

"Bah! Even more giant bees! Heath…is it a friend of yours?"

Once again, Heath shook her head as if she was embarrassed.

Rienna watched her and muttered,

"Heath. Are you…embarrassed about something?"

Heath shook her head frantically.

No, she definitely was…

Was it a former lover… In any case, I was now certain that this bee was related to Heath.

"Heath… For now, just tell us what we need to do. Should we allow it to come to this island?"

I asked. Heath suddenly seemed to snap out of it, and she nodded.

"Fine. Erevan, tell the others that they must not attack it."

"Understood. Well, I doubt that our ballista could even get through something that large… After all, that thing is bigger than the Mappa Golem."

The bee was huge.

And as Erevan said, it was about as long as the Mappa Golem, but probably wider.

It seemed like the Mappa Golem understood our intentions, and it spread out its arms in a welcoming gesture towards the bee.

Erevan looked a little put off.

"It-it's not going to try and hug the bee, is it?"

"Well, the bee will probably ignore it. See…huh?"

The bee did pass the Mappa Golem. And I had assumed that it would continue to fly towards us.

However, it quickly turned around and moved towards the Mappa Golem's buttocks…

"OOOOOOOOOooo…"

The Mappa Golem was stung, and a deafening cry echoed throughout the island.

What was this… I felt like I had seen this before.

When I looked down from the tower, I could see that Mappa was covering his face with embarrassment.

Yes, Mappa had also been stung when Heath came…

The Mappa Golem created a huge splash as it fell into the sea and sank beneath the surface.

"Uh, is that its way of greeting people?"

Rienna muttered. It was rare to see disgust on her face.

"Well, perhaps it's attracted to anything rounded… No, something seems to be wrong?"

Heath also seemed to squint as she looked. And then she looked very surprised.

She also sensed that the giant bee had undergone a change.

Something that looked like black tentacles were writhing in the stomach of the giant bee. And I could detect powerful magic coming from the tentacles.

The bee turned towards us once again, and flew at a maddening speed as it charged.