We reached the thirty-fourth level.
What awaited us was a scene we had never seen before.
“This is terrible, it’s paradise below but hell above.”
“What should we do Father? We can’t move forward with this.”
The 34th floor is a single room. The above-ground area is covered in a profusion of colorful flowers, making it the very image of paradise that I had imagined. However, once I look up, I can see numerous beehives filling the entire ceiling. A swarm of bees are even fluttering in the air like yellow smoke.
Even I, was at a loss on what to do. Once we step inside, we will surely be attacked. However, there are too many bees that it will be hard to kill all of them at once. Even by taking a cursory look, the number of bees here is in the millions.
“Fufufu, you seem to be worried. You’re surely not going to turn back just because of something like this, right?”
“Let me ask you something, were there any other adventurers who passed through here?”
“Of course. Needless to say, you shouldn’t do something stupid like going through it head-on.”
Hmmm… If that’s the case, does that mean that there is some way of getting through?
The first thing that comes to mind is the magical beast repelling incense. Once it is lit up, most of the magical beasts around will hate its smell and leave. However, I thought it was unnecessary, so I only brought a few of them. In addition, I’m not sure on how long it would take us to find the stairs, it also seemed dangerous to proceed relying only on the magical beast repelling incense on hand.
I can manage if it’s just me. The problem is my comrades. I don’t want to risk them in vain.
“In this case, should I carry everyone and through it at once?”
“That’s reckless. We don’t even know where the staircase is in the first place.”
I dismissed Pero’s proposal.
I wish I could stop the bees with something big…… Eh? Wait…. something big…..
What crossed my mind was Liz’s ability. If we used the dark cloud as cover, no matter how many bees there are, it should be able to keep them at bay.
“Liz, I have something I need you to do.”
“Mmm, I think I get it. Leave it to me.”
Liz makes the dark cloud appear, obscuring us in the form of a black mist. However, along with that, our surrounding also turned pitch black so we couldn’t see anything. Even clairvoyance skill doesn’t seem to be able to see through the cloud.
As it can’t be helped, Liz, the only one who can see the area outside, took the lead and we lined up while grabbing the shoulders of the person in front. I call it, pretend train strategy. This will allow us to get through the bees on the ceiling.
“Ready? Okay, left, right, one, two! One, two!”
Erna, who is second from the front, gives the order. By the way, I am at the end of the line. I am grabbing Moore’s shoulders. In lockstep, the homeless train begins to move forward.
It was pitch dark, but I could feel the flowers under my feet. Occasionally, the buzzing of wings passes by, but the bees do not seem to notice us. The operation is going well, and if we keep going, we will be able to pass this floor safely.
But is it really okay to pass by like this? Didn’t I say, I want honey?
Oh~, Honey dripping thickly on pancakes. Ugh, I want to eat. It would be a shame to miss it like this.
“You seem to be deeply troubled. If you don’t mind, you can talk to me.”
“I’m grateful for that. I can’t help but want to eat honey. However, if I go outside, I’ll put my comrades in danger. So, what should I do?”
“…………I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
What the heck…… He was showing some concern a while ago too.
As expected, if you live for a thousand years, your passion for food will cool down. Poor thing. He must be living a boring life.
“Shinichi, you are not in sync!”
“Uh- S-sorry. One, two, one, two.”
Erna got mad at me.
“I was wondering, do you not have a family, Moore?”
“Yes, that’s the current situation. Ah!, I have a couple of pets though.”
“That sounds like a very lonely life.”
“For those who live for a long time, that is the greatest salvation. The more deeply involved you are, the greater the grief you will feel when you lose that person. You should know that too.”
His words carried a strange weight. Living for a thousand years means that there have been many farewells. The number of tears shed must have been countless. But on the other hand, I wonder why he had to live so long.
In the first place, did he succeed in the resurrection thing he desired to be successful? Also, why didn’t he return to the surface himself? There are still many questions about Moore.
“Hey, I suddenly thought, wouldn’t it be better if Tanaka-dono made the queen bee his subordinate?”
「「「「「Ah?」」」」」
At Freya’s point, the four of them, including me, spoke in unison. I didn’t think about that. I missed that. Come to think of it, it was just a matter of drawing the queen bee who was commanding the bee colony to my side. Even if other group of bees come to us, there will be no problem as long as I let the bees that I have turned into my subordinates protect us. And the best part about this is that honey is readily available.
Mufufu, isn’t this the best idea then?
“I’m going to fly straight to the beehive, you guys can wait here.”
I get out of the dark cloud then I let my wings stretch from my back. The sea of flowers stretched far into the distance, and it is indeed a scenic view.
Hmmm, now then, which beehive should I aim for?
Looking up, I can see the whole area covered in beehives. The bees flying around noticed me, and hundreds began to descend with a buzzing sound.
In this case, I should go for that biggest one then. I set my sight on a particularly large beehive in the center of the floor. Compared to the surrounding beehive, it is about ten times bigger and is built differently. It was like a huge castle of a great country.
Sensing danger, a group of bees flies out of the beehive like smoke one after another. I took flight and dove headfirst into the swarm of bees that are charging in front of me. The bees clung to my body, desperately trying to stab me with their stingers. However, they were unable to stab me and could only hang on. Then, as I increased my flying speed, the bees could not withstand the wind pressure and fell off my body one by one.
After breaking through the swarm, I head straight for the huge beehive in front of me. The oval-shaped beehive hanging from the ceiling was divided into several layers, with gaps wide enough for a person to pass through. Stepping between the layers, I saw an incredible number of holes. Every one of them contained larvae, peeking out and wriggling. The larvae were about seven or eight centimeters in size. Some were even the same size as adult bees.
“Now, where is the queen bee……?”
It must be wandering around somewhere to give birth. Eventually, I spotted a particularly large bee clinging to a certain wall on beehive. I activated the Analysis skill. The description displayed in my field of vision had the word, Queen Bee, in it.
Activate! Familiar Creation Skill!
My gaze is caught by the compound eyes of the queen bee. As I succeeded, it turned black, and black bees were born. The queen bee twitched its antennae and seemed to be communicating with something far away. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be able to understand words as highly as a skeleton and only a vague and one-off intention is conveyed to me.
『I obey』『You』 『Freedom here』
Does it mean I’m free to do what I want?
In that case, I’ll have some honey without hesitation. I took out an empty bottle and scooped up the honey that filled the burrow. By the way, when I licked the nectar on my fingers, the sticky and unique sweetness overflows in my mouth, alongside with its sweet aroma.
This is it. I was looking for this.
“I’m done with my errand here. I’ll come again.”
『Welcome』『Waiting』
Looking at it this way, bees are also quite cute. After patting the queen’s head lightly, I walked out of the nest. A swarm of bees are flying around the hive, but they blatantly ignored me.
In fact, even the swarm from another group ignored me. I didn’t think so before, but it seemed that each beehive on this floor has a hierarchical relationship. I’m guessing that I had subjugated the queen of the highest rank. As if to prove it, not a single bee attacked me.
“Welcome back! Great! You did it.”
When I returned to the ground, I saw Erna peeking out from the dark cloud. But—what a creepy sight! Only Erna’s face is showing up and it is floating against a mass of darkness.
When I told them that it was okay, my comrades came out of the dark cloud one after another.
“Hey, they really don’t attack us.”
“Now we can take it easy.”
“I think I can paint here before we leave.”
“Hmm, then let’s spend the night around here. It’s already evening anyway.”
The time is already six o’clock in the evening. It’s almost time for dinner.
“What? You’re going to rest already? Didn’t we just take a break?”
“That was a few hours ago. Besides, it’s already evening. We have to get ready for bed.”
“You’re not going to stay up all night, are you?”
“I’m sorry, but this is the way homeless people do it: eat when you need to eat and sleep when you need to sleep. We’re not going to break our pace no matter what the situation is.”
Moore grinned and stroked his beard, “I see, that’s the Homeless way huh.” He sits down on the ground, takes a book from his bosom and begins to read.
Does this mean that we can do as we please?
Well, even if it’s different, we’ll do as we please anyway.
The main ingredients of pancake are plain flour, leavened flour, sugar, eggs, and milk. I took out a frying pan and added oil. When it is moderately heated, I pour in the dough and bake it. When the surface begins to be lightly browned and holes begin to appear, I turned it over to bake the back side as well. All I have to do is put it on a plate and sprinkle it with as much butter and honey as I want.
I handed it to Erna and the others, and the four of them took a bite of the freshly baked pancake with a twinkle in their eyes. I also quickly take a bite. It is crispy on the outside and moist and sweet on the inside. In addition, the saltiness of the butter and the sweetness of the honey overlapped to create a synergistic effect.
This is it. This is what I was looking for. Mufufu.
“Whoa, what’s this? It’s so delicious.”
“Fluffy and sweet”
It was very popular with Erna and Liz. On the other hand, it was unpopular with Pero and Freya.
“Well, maybe it’s too sweet for me. I would have preferred it more if it had meat.”
“Mmm, it’s certainly delicious. But it’s a dessert. To satisfy a knight’s stomach, I’m going to ask for something heavier and more filling.”
Hmmm, that’s right. I also feel that it’s not enough just to make this for our dinner. I baked just one more piece and gave it to Moore.
“Why are you giving it to me?”
“Of course, you’re still our comrade right now, albeit tentatively.”
“Comrade huh…… It sounds nostalgic. Let me taste it then.”
Moore stuffed his cheek and his eyes widen.
“T-this! How sweet and delicious it is! Did such a thing ever exist in this world? Muhahaha, it is good to live a long life!”
He gobbled the pancakes in a frenzied manner. Apparently, sweets is Moore’s preference. I’ll give him some honey-pickled lemons later.
After that, we ate meat seasoned with honey before going to bed.
◇◇◇
The next morning, we found the stairs safely and then we start heading down to the 35th level. As we walked down the long staircase, I was thinking about what the next floor is.
“At what level do most adventurers die?”
“I haven’t looked into it myself, so I don’t know the details. However, I think they probably run out of strength between the 35th to 40th level. That being said, it will be tough from here on out.”
If that’s the case, the real challenge is just beginning huh. Now I can see why Mohed Great Dungeon is called the worst dungeon.
“Pero-sama’s hair falls out a lot.”
“Eh? Ah-, you’re right. I don’t usually shed like this much though.”
Freya mutters as she walks and brushes Pero’s fur. The brush she was holding had an unusual number of furs attached to it. Looking closely, I can see that Pero’s body looks a little bigger.
—No, that’s not it. It is just that the amount of his fur increased.
“It’s kind of cold, my breath is turning white.”
Haaa-, Erna exhaled, and her breath turns white. When I took off my cloak to check it out, it certainly felt quite chilly. I then distributed warm clothing to my companions just in case.
“I can see the light. We’ve reached the next floor.”
Liz, who is clad in fluffy winter suit, points in the direction of the light. At this point, the coldness is below freezing. Freya is trembling and hugging Pero’s waist. Come to think of it, she was vulnerable to the cold.
“Hachooo!”
Erna started sneezing. At that moment, Liz suddenly collapsed to her knees.
“Hey, what’s wrong!?”
“So sleepy…… kuu.”
“Don’t sleep in a place like this!”
I had no choice but to carry Liz on my back. My members are too vulnerable to the cold.
“What are you doing, why don’t you come over quickly?”
Moore was already standing at the entrance to the next floor. When I followed suit, I understand the reason for the coldness.
—The other side is a snowscape.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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