I imagined that the giant humans had no problems in these storms. Even dragons, as visibly unhappy as they were with the water, could fly without problems.
At least, the rain was going to wash the trail of the dead hunters and make it harder for other giants to find where their friends went. Even if someone would search for them, it might take a long time to discover the Bee Empire.
Our scouts still didn’t locate the human settlement, so I assumed it was far enough that even the giant would need a long time to travel from it to us. More than a day, possibly—the dead humans had packs, and when I crawled inside, I saw things that looked like supplies for camping.
But bees can’t fly as usual during storms. If droplets of water won’t make them fall, they will get cold way faster than they will get anywhere.
Not that they will get anywhere on foot. They will just drown in the dirt.
Things would’ve been different if we had some water-proof covered transport. But transport can’t travel over uneven forest ground, either.
Now, if we only had roads…
Flying transport was fast, but it would take much less effort to transport things on wheels. Our logistics would fly higher than the sky, and more working hands would be free to gather and refine resources instead of carrying them!
As the storm ended and the work on dealing with the bodies continued—now with extra water—I imagined the roads creatures like this world’s humans could use.
These roads had to be as gigantic as humans themselves. Hundreds of meters across, made from solid stone blocks. A road like that won’t care about a bit of water.
’But can bees build something like that? From bricks, perhaps? No, the road will need a foundation, first of all. Like cement or gravel. Hm…’
I frowned, picking at my perfect memory.
The first thing that flashed before me was the agonized death howl of Jit the young human as he was dying of bee venom. He was just a teenager, 16 years old…
I slapped myself over the forehead.
"Ouch!"
’Nectus, you can’t afford being nice to everyone you meet! These motherfuckers have killed thousands of your daughters—you might as well feel a bit happy about their deaths!’
And I did, although I realized that there was a lot of hypocrisy lying around here. Somewhere.
"Father? Why are you hitting yourself? Please, don’t!" Destroyer said in alarm.
I cleared my throat, being reminded that I wasn’t alone here. Although my bodyguards didn’t accompany me around hives, I was standing near the entrance, where they usually waited for me to go anywhere.
"It’s nothing, nothing at all! Don’t worry, keep relaxing. Play a game, or something!" I waved my hands at them, smiling.
Destroyer frowned.
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"Playing is a waste of time that can be spent training, Father. Such frivolities should be left to people who aren’t entrusted with your precious life!"
I huffed, shaking my head, but my smile only grew wider.
Nothing like the antics of my daughters to recover lost morale! I reached out and patted Destroyer’s head, which she accepted stoically.
With my morale restored, I went back to thinking and recalling actually useful things.
The most famous ancient roads belonged to ancient Romans. Their roads survived not just for centuries—some roads still persevered thousands of years after Rome fell!
The integrity of these roads was thanks to Roman engineering feats. Each road had a deep foundation of gravel and stone, all tamped down for solidity. And only over *that* Romans put the pavement itself, holding them together with cement.
Cement was easiest to make from lime. I wasn’t sure if the surroundings had any lime around—so far, bees used propolis as a binding element in buildings.
Propolis was made by chewing together wax and tree sap. It was gluey and waterproof, but not as tough as actual cement.
’Let’s say we find lime, or just use propolis for roads. Then we can build roads and use wheeled transport. But with the effort this takes, we might as well build stone-walled channels and use boats instead! It’s not like we have any mountable animals.’
I paused.
A thought was worming into my head. A thought that made me chuckle.
"Right… If making roads takes so much effort and materials anyway, then why not go further? Why not make the best road possible from the start?"
"Father?" Destroyer lifted her head, and I realized I was muttering under my breath like a madman.
I clapped my hands.
"Destroyer, where are Workharder and Regalia? I want to say goodbye to them before I leave. As far as I can tell, Workharder has things well at hand here so far. It’s time to return to Hive Supremo—I need to see my Advisers at once! My *other* Advisers, I mean."
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***
Next morning I landed at the entrance to Hive Supremo—tired, but pleased with myself. Ideas were buzzing in my head, waiting for release.
All around me, bees paused in their work. Their eyes lit up with awe at the sight of me and my shiny armor.
"Father!"
"Our Father finally returned!"
"He killed the giants that burned our sisters!"
"Praise Father!"
"Father is the best!"
I smiled and waved with all four hands at my girls. Their Foremen—if they weren’t as distracted as everybody—would give them grief afterward, but I let my girls have their moment of fun.
Like that, I made about ten steps inside the hive before being assaulted in broad daylight.
"Nectus!"
Ambrosia landed right in front of me and immediately put her hands all over my person. Two hands grasped my cheeks, and two others poked hinges of my armor, as if searching for weak spots.
Uncharacteristically, it was *my* turn to be confused by her actions.
"Amby, hi. What are you doing? Are you going to kiss me in greeting, like the hero I am?" I grinned cheekily.
Amby paused her poking and looked to the side.
"I was searching for injuries. But I’m sure if there were any, Regalia would’ve written me a report… I suppose this leaves me only to kiss you."
Which she did, to my eager response. *Very* eager, in fact.
"Ah, I was about to eat something and gather the Council, but now my pants feel too tight… Are you very busy, or will you help me get them off, Amby?"