Having finished collecting the restorative organs, Ekaterina’s group returned to the road.
Before that, the old man and the village chief insisted on giving Ekaterina a piece of meat, and the old man’s grandchildren thanked them for their hospitality. And it also didn’t take long for Regina and her hounds to become so popular with the village children that they surrounded them and asked to be carried on their backs.
“Princess, please visit us again!”
The group was sent off by such a cute chorus together with the old man and the village chief, who bowed their heads earnestly, and the group set out on their journey.
When I looked at the sugar beet field, the leaves were swaying impatiently as if they were waving. Perhaps they were showing their gratitude for saving them from the monocular bear.
…In the end, I plan to harvest you guys and boil you down to sugar. Sorry, I was really sorry.
Aaah, I think sugar beets are root vegetables if classified, but why do I get a glimpse of how livestock farmers feel, raising cows and pigs and shipping them out!
“Young Lady, aren’t you tired?”
Ekaterina came to herself when Forli called out to her.
“No, I’m not that tired. But it has taken up more time than I thought it would. I guess we’ll have to find a place to stay for the night.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
Nodding, Forli said something unexpected.
“Young lady, would you like to be our guest for the night in a camp site of forest people?”
“My…”
That sounds lovely. But I wondered if it would be all right for me to suddenly come over.
To begin with, the forest people were supposed to be a small group of people who moved from one place to another in the forest, without settling down. I wonder where they are now.
Ekaterina turned her head to Forli to find out, and froze.
This was not the story of a legendary, highly rated TV show!
Forli-san, behind you, behind you!
Behind Forli-San, outside the carriage window, a huge bee loomed.
The size of the bee was beyond comparison to that of a giant hornet. In my previous life, a wasp would have been about the size of an adult’s thumb, but this bee is not just the size of a thumb, but the size of the palm of an adult’s hand. It was the size of a sparrow.
Huh, Forli laughed.
“Young Lady, do not worry. The one outside was a messenger, a Great King Bee. They are friends of the forest people.”
The Great King Bee was a magical beast, or should I say magical insect? They are forest people’s allies, and the two groups have a symbiotic relationship. In my previous life, symbiosis would have been like the relationship between a clownfish and a sea anemone or an ant and an aphid.
Even in the Yurinova forest, which was home to many powerful magical beasts, the great king bee was one of the strongest. This would be because the hive was led by a highly intelligent queen bee with a powerful venomous stinger that could kill a bear with a single sting, and if the hive or its members were threatened, the entire colony would fight the external enemy without a second thought.
Since some time ago, the forest people were sheltered by the giant bees by tending to injured adults and providing them with food. In exchange for helping them take care of their hives and eggs, the great king bees would share their honey with them.
