Kenis, who had been looking at Leonardo with a proud gaze, soon began reporting the contents of his patrol with a beaming smile.
"First of all, there were no people within a 3km radius! But about five or six were heading this way, then turned northeast and moved off. They didn’t seem aware of us, but at least a platoon-sized group is gradually forming, so I think we should be careful."
Leonardo’s eyebrows rose slightly.
"At least a platoon-sized group? And your direct seniors weren’t among them?"
"Yes, I caught a bit of my 8th Platoon seniors’ scent near the forest by the cave we were at earlier... but since it’s gone now, they probably went somewhere else or returned. And at the third spot you told me to go to..."
Quietly listening to Kenis’s words, Leonardo slowly nodded. He was inwardly impressed. Although the report was disorganized, Kenis had checked everything he’d been told to, and his ability to estimate the approximate number and distance of people nearby was truly remarkable.
Looking at Kenis’s face as he chattered on, Leonardo thought,
‘If this fellow had rejoined the procession, I might have been caught quickly.’
His hearing and sense of smell definitely far exceeded the range of normal human senses. Thanks to that, he could pick out the direction of targets or monsters to be wary of from afar, providing excellent help in choosing routes to the target point and saving time.
However, because those two senses were quite sensitive, when the target to be detected was very close, within 10m, it seemed a bit difficult for him to accurately judge which direction it was in.
In other words, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) he smelled too well, so a scent from an excessively close location felt like it was coming from all directions instead.
That was why Kenis couldn’t find him right away when Leonardo first discovered him and hid on the ceiling of the structure to ambush Alec.
"But you know that leg you brought, Mr. Blaine—the scent from it spread all over this area. To the point where I couldn’t specify the direction. I think those creatures are gathered in a group around here."
As Leonardo followed Kenis’s finger with his gaze, he saw the ilaptor’s hind leg tossed beside a low rock. Seeing that, Leonardo’s eyes narrowed.
Originally, those creatures should have shown themselves several times by now, yet they didn’t appear even once until they passed the middle of the peninsula this time, so he’d thought it was a bit strange.
So when one suddenly popped out earlier, he figured there would be a few more around this area, but he hadn’t expected numbers gathered so densely that the direction couldn’t be specified.
While the two were quietly staring at the severed leg of the creature, Alec suddenly came over from behind with heavy steps, bent his waist, and asked above their heads as they sat.
"Do you know why ilaptors are gathered in this area?"
Kenis, who had turned his head first at the footsteps, was startled to see Alec’s face right in front of him. However, he tried not to show it and opened his mouth.
"Uh... because there’s a nest nearby?"
"Then what would be in that nest?"
Alec smiled brightly and immediately tossed another question. Kenis seemed to be searching for an answer, eyes rolling, but as nothing readily came to mind, he trailed off.
"Hmm... that’s..."
Leonardo, who had also turned his head, found Alec’s face behind him and frowned, edging slightly away. Alec’s intrigued gaze now turned toward him. It meant for him to answer instead.
Just as Leonardo, with a displeased face, was about to open his mouth—
Kiaaa—!
The sharp cry of a monster rang out from not far away. Instantly, the gazes of the three, who had stiffened, turned in that direction. The cry wasn’t close enough to pose an immediate threat, but judging by its volume, it didn’t seem too far either.
Leonardo’s eyes, scanning the surroundings, turned sharp and his momentum peaked. Alec, who had glanced down at him, relaxed his expression and said with a smile again,
"Let’s move for now. I’ll tell you as we go."
****
Last night, on the way to the mining team with Leonardo alone, Alec Siles had briefly mentioned a large, white egg with a bluish glow.
He said that when he was with the mining team, his position was slightly different from the ordinary miners. Being well-versed in the geography of the peninsula, he was tasked with exploring places likely to have minerals while roaming with mercenaries capable of dealing with monsters.
Thanks to that, he could wander around skillfully under the guise of searching for minerals, and unlike ordinary miners who had to submit their entire daily yield, the minerals obtained during exploration weren’t separately inspected, so he could secretly collect them little by little.
And what he discovered by chance while ranging across various parts of the peninsula like that was the white egg inside the bag that Leonardo and Kenis had seen.
"Do you know about the ecology of ‘bees’?"
Leonardo and Kenis, who had been leading the way while cutting through dense undergrowth, suddenly turned back at Alec’s abrupt question. Then the two silently looked at each other. The exchanged glances held the unspoken words, ‘He’s saying strange things again.’
As Alec started saying useless things after seeming like he would explain something related to the second clause, Leonardo ignored him and swung the ilaptor’s leg to clear the branches blocking the path.
As he moved on, Kenis, who had been pretending to listen out of courtesy, also quietly turned back and advanced, cutting the grass with his sword. However, Alec didn’t seem to care much whether they listened or not in the first place, as he followed behind and continued his rambling.
"You see, bees belong to a very organized colony. So if you look closely inside, you can see a much more systematic social system than we humans think. Taking the honeybee colony as a typical example, the queen bee, drones, and worker bees exist as members, and in this group, the queen is in charge of laying eggs, the drones are responsible for reproductive organs, and the worker bees are literally in charge of work."
"..."
"Among them, the overwhelming majority are worker bees. Worker bees are divided into nurse bees, who attend the queen, raise eggs and larvae, and do household chores, and forager bees, who handle tasks outside the hive, such as gathering food and fighting intruders."
Chwak—!
Every time Leonardo swung his arm, the long, hanging vines were cleanly cut and fell. He moved almost mechanically and silently pressed through the rough path.
"The reason they divide roles and form a society like this is to increase survivability, reproduce safely, and smoothly operate the colony. And if you follow it to the end, you could say the overall purpose is the prosperity of the colony. For that, bees maintain and protect their hive, and their instincts are tuned to the pheromones of the queen who can lay eggs."
Kenis, who had been listening sporadically as Alec’s words were somewhat interesting, looked at Leonardo’s back and thought he didn’t seem to be paying attention at all.
"Now, then, what if we think of the nurse bees as ilaptors and the forager bees as dermocas and other monsters?"
Leonardo’s hand, which had been unconsciously raising his arm to strike down the undergrowth, stopped midair. He turned and looked at Alec with slightly widened eyes. Seeing his expression, Alec said with a grin,
"Finally showing some interest, huh."
"...What do you mean by that just now?"
Kenis also drew back the sword he had been swinging and turned around. As two pairs of questioning eyes fixed on him, Alec plucked a nearby branch and roughly swept aside the cut grass lying on the ground.
Then he began to explain while drawing a large circle and small circles on the exposed dirt.
"It literally means that in this huge beehive called the Elder Millie Peninsula, ilaptors are taking on the role of nurse bees, and dermocas and the remaining monsters are taking on the role of forager bees. Of course, I can’t say it’s a perfectly identical system, but the ecology of this peninsula is very similar to that of bees."
Leonardo was momentarily at a loss for words. It took a moment for his mind to accept it because it was a notion he had never even considered.
Eventually, the golden eyes that seemed to have organized it to some extent turned toward Alec. Leonardo asked quite gravely,
"Then, does a queen also exist?"
As soon as his words ended, Alec smiled softly.
