The Bee Dungeon

Chapter 344 - Embracing Fami-Bee

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter flew back to her hive, leaving a communer to keep the hive of hives in touch with King. She knew she shouldn’t do this, her place as the center of the hive of hives’ communications was at King’s side and time was of the essence, but there was something she had to do at home first...something that desperately needed her attention...

Stopping the Fourth of the Seventh from leaving with the hive-burners!

So the First Daughter zipped to her home Orchard at maximum speed, just in time to see the Fourth of the Seventh climbing into her bee-shaped wax golem.

“WAIT!”

The Fourth of the Seventh popped back out and spun happily about.

“First of the Fifth’s First Daughter, hi! But what doing? First Daughter need talk with King?”

The First Daughter nearly crashed into the ground, stumbling over herself in her haste to dance.

“W-Wait...Fourth of Seventh...d-don’t go...”

The Fourth of the Seventh’s antennae twitched about.

“But not going anywhere?”

The First Daughter froze.

“Fourth of the Seventh...not going?”

The Fourth of the Seventh crawled over to her and brushed her antennae, spreading soothing pheromones.

“Did want to see new things...but scouts going too far. Need stay with hive, need stay with First Daughter. So, sending mobile hive! Filling with lots of eggs and broodmother in case scouts need more!”

The First Daughter could respond at first. The Fourth of the Seventh...wasn’t attempting to leave on the furthest scouting mission the hive of hives would ever conduct...because she wanted to stay with the First Daughter?

The First Daughter had only one response, once her mind resumed working.

“Fourth of the Seventh best queen!”

General Rippotis walked alongside Tower Keeper Belissar, heading to the exterior of the Tower to see what the nomadic bees he spoke of could do. Along the way, General Rippotis took a few last glances at Belissar’s Tower.

He saw beastkin, once the primary soldiers of the Sorcerer Kings, conferring with fair folk, once the Sorcerer Kings’ primary opponent as he well knew. He saw monster bees and spiderkin, both known for viciously attacking everything other than themselves, helping a karnuq carry food and supplies to a table where both karnuq and fair folk waited. He saw that Tower Guard candidate from Ruckanos’ doomed expedition help a karnuq mount a wyvern while a swarm of bees hovered around her. He even saw monster bees helping an elf brew tea!

The first oracle Heigiosa had received in over a thousand years came to his mind...

“The God of Light wishes for every living being in this world to stand together against the Hunger...was it?”

Tower Keeper Belissar turned towards him.

“Hm?”

General Rippotis gave him a nod.

“I must thank you again for your help, Tower Keeper Belissar. You have been remarkably gracious, given the circumstances. I am sorry I cannot stay to help defend you.”

Tower Keeper Belissar furrowed his brow.

“To be honest, I still don’t know how to feel about you. But you did come to make peace. And the gods have made it clear you need to get back now. I owe them everything, so I’ll trust in them. But...if you really feel bad about it...”

Tower Keeper Belissar stopped and General Rippotis stopped with him. Tower Keeper Belissar gave him a serious look.

“Protect my bees, as much as you can. I hate it when they get hurt. I know it might be unavoidable for the ones I send with you but please do what you can.”

General Rippotis’ own expression softened. He knew that look. Belissar wasn’t asking as Tower Keeper or a wronged party...he was asking as a beekeeper. He had the same look Rippotis had when handing over a young wyvern he had raised with his own hands. General Rippotis gave Tower Keeper Belissar a salute.

“With every effort I can spare. You have my word.”

Tower Keeper Belissar took a deep breath.

“Thank you.”

And then they continued on. Once again, General Rippotis glanced around Belissar’s Tower. So...Tower Keeper Belissar did not treat these dungeon monsters as, well, monsters. He treated them like he’d treat any regular bee, cared for them the same as he would any hive he had raised himself. That was how he had raised this army of monster bees, as disciplined and well-trained as any human army, that worked alongside humans and beastkin and fair folk without complaint.

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And now he was sending those bees to help the general, all while the general fled and guaranteed that the bees left behind would have to fight on their own.

General Rippotis swore again in his heart that he’d indeed do his utmost to protect the bees the Tower Keeper entrusted him with. And that he’d do his utmost to win this battle as quickly as he could and bring peace to this Tower as soon as he was able.

Now if only his other companions on this journey could be so trustworthy...

Queen Vanieskon stood in the nexus door room. Many pixies flew in the air before her in organized rows...with only minimal swaying and giggling.

“Henilett, you’re in charge of the Pixie Court and the Compact while I’m away.”

Henilett gave her usual sly smile and bowed.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll make sure any negotiations develop to our advantage.”

Queen Vanieskon turned to the Royal Pixie Guard.

“Captain Karpakynne.”

Captain Karpakynne made a huge grin.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Queen Vanieskon raised an eyebrow at the interruption.

“You’re in charge of the garrison here. Ensure that Belissar’s Tower does not fall.”

Captain Karpakynne immediately fell to the ground.

“It’s not fair, it’s not fair!”

Queen Vanieskon ignored her captain’s suffering.

“You will select the most capable and trustworthy of the Royal Pixie Guard to accompany me.”

Captain Karpakynne groaned and gnashed her teeth but she did manage to stand back up and salute.

“Yes...Your Majesty...”

Queen Vanieskon then pulled out a strand of her hair and held it in her palm. Her mana wrapped around the hair and it lifted into the air. A curtain of glittering dust surrounded it and hid it from view. When the curtain fell, a second Queen Vanieskon stood next to the first.

“I will have my duplication remain on my throne. I expect you all to make regular reports, understood?”

All the pixies bowed.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Queen Vanieskon waved her hand.

“Good, then get to it.”

Queen Vanieskon shook her head as the pixies scattered to their duties. She fully expected to return to find the Pixie Court in chaos...but such was the nature of pixies. Henilett, at least, would ensure that nothing especially counter to her desires would occur. Assuming Henilett didn’t get up to any mischief of her own...

At that moment, a little worker bee landed on Queen Vanieskon’s shoulder.

“Yes? Does your king need to speak with me?”

The worker bee began to dance.

“Buzz buzz. Don’t mind, am just bee.”

Queen Vanieskon froze and her eyes widened for a brief moment. She quickly hid her expression, though, and then rolled her eyes.

“Oh, it’s you. I thought you gods were too frightened of the Hunger to walk the surface anymore?”

The bee...suddenly began to speak in a young man’s voice.

“We were! Still are, technically, but I got Light’s permission to make incarnations as long as it’s in another god’s dungeon! That’s thanks to the Compact, good job figuring out the dungeons can shield nexus doors! And I got Bee’s permission to use hers when I let her bless our little Finny!”

Queen Vanieskon sighed and shook her head.

“I still can’t believe you, Mischief. Our daughter, a trickster incarnate, is now but a simple farmer, using her powers to forage the fields. And you allowed it? No, you arranged it, apparently?”

Mischief snickered.

“It’s hilarious, isn’t it, Vanie? We supercharged a pixie’s mana absorption with a demigod’s semi-spiritual nature...and ended up with empathic abilities so powerful she can’t scheme without hurting herself. We really tricked ourselves with that one!”

Mischief’s laughter faded.

“Speaking of which, you do know that trickery hurts her too, right? Mischief is supposed to be a bit more light-hearted, you know? Most of the time, anyway.”

Queen Vanieskon narrowed her eyes.

“You of all gods should know that she cannot survive in this world by being nice.”

Mischief shook his head...still as a bee.

“Vanie, Vanie, Vanie...you know there’s such thing as too much of a bad thing, right? Even I have people who trust me! Granted, that person is Bee, who hasn’t actually dealt with me before now, but still!”

Queen Vanieskon sighed again.

“I suppose I shouldn’t expect you to understand. It’s all a game to you gods, up high in your realms where nothing can affect you. Those of us down here have to deal with real consequences. But enough. Finnakynne has made her choice, apparently. I can no longer shield her from the consequences.”

Mischief chuckled.

“Consequences like daily honey meals and bumblebee fuzz?”

Queen Vanieskon scoffed.

“Enough of that. I have too much to do and too little time to debate parenting with a father who never even met his daughter in-person. Did you have something else to talk about or are you just here to fool around?”

Mischief spun around.

“Does a guy need a reason to visit his sweetheart?”

Queen Vanieskon just gave him a look. Eventually, Mischief gave in and confessed.

“Welllll...now that you asked, how about I give you a hand? A little blessing from your divine lover before you head off to war? These humans you’re about to face are dungeon masters, you know, they’ve had a bit more time and mana to work with than the ones from before...”

Queen Vanieskon replied immediately.

“No.”

A puff of smoke covered Mischief. He reappeared in his human form behind Vanieskon, falling to his knees and clasping his hands.

“Vanieeeee, come onnnnn! Now that I gave Finny to Bee, my authority income is in freefall! Help a guy out, for old times’ sake? Look, I even went and got Light’s permission for you to go and steal dungeons from the Conclave! That’s worth a little reward, isn’t it?”

Queen Vanieskon shook her head.

“I’ve told you many times before, Mischief. My loyalty is to myself alone, I will not bind myself to the whims of a god. Any god.”

Mischief grabbed at the hem of Queen Vanieskon’s dress.

“Vanieeee! You know I’m different! And you can just tell everyone you seduced me and tricked me into it! Pleaseeeee!”

Queen Vanieskon smirked.

“If I wanted to do that, I’d have already done it. I seduced you before.”

Mischief chuckled and rose to his feet.

“Sure you did, Vanie, sure you did. You think just because you developed the greatest skill in glamours I’ve ever seen and spread mischief like no one ever had before and are unbelievably beautiful that you can seduce a god like me? We’re the ones who seduce the mortals, you know! Not...that the fair folk actually are mortal, we really need to come up with better name for you all down here.”

Queen Vanieskon rolled her eyes, but had a faint smile on her face. Mischief grinned behind her back before putting on an expression of disappointment and heaving a loud sigh.

“Ugh, fineeee. Be that way, Vanie! I’ll just go say hi to Finny and tell her to defy you again! So there!”

With that, Mischief made a puff of smoke and turned back into a bee, then flew away. Queen Vanieskon shook her head with a light smile...but then suddenly frowned.

“Wait, what do you mean, again?”