Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Chapter 172: The Hive at the Four Heavenly Houses

The Golden Hair Bee King’s house was a bit bustling, but I managed to bring Hwa-yang to a corner and set her down.

Being a sensitive little creature, the Golden Hair Bee King dictated that I couldn’t visit their house with Hwa-yang in tow. I also needed to keep an eye on her.

Given Hwa-yang’s insatiable appetite, I was worried that if left unchecked, she’d be trying to snack every meal at all hours.

“Hwa-yang, you can’t sneak into the kitchen for a bite! If you do, others won’t get to eat. And eating that much every day isn’t good for you, you know!”

– Biii!

As I chastised her, Hwa-yang widened her blank eyes, sending me a message that this was the most ludicrous thing she had ever heard.

She only seemed alert when food was mentioned, and I couldn’t help but respond in disbelief.

“I’m not saying this because I don’t want to; I’m saying it out of concern! Eating that much could make you sick. If this keeps up, I’ll feed you every two days!”

– Biiiii!? Biiiii…

Hwa-yang’s surprise quickly turned into dejection at the thought of being fed every two days.

I felt a bit sorry for her; however, I had my reasons for such sternness.

Although she was a spirit creature, it’s known that toads, like Hwa-yang, don’t eat daily.

Amphibians typically consume food every two days or so.

This is due to their unique digestive processes, as they lack teeth and rely solely on their stomach and intestines for digestion.

Even if they eat regular food, digestion can take an entire day, and larger meals naturally take even longer to process.

So, it made me worried that if she persisted in eating every meal daily, something could go wrong.

Of course, as a spirit, she might be fine, but from another perspective, it was clear that Hwa-yang was not an entity that needed to eat often.

After all, fire is one of the hardest food sources to come by in nature, right?

Generally speaking, a spirit like Hwa-yang would need to inhabit an area with naturally occurring wildfires or volcanic regions to consume the fire, but thinking about where she had been found, a volcanic area didn’t seem to suit her very well. Thus, she probably ate very rarely.

“Just hold out a little longer, okay?”

“…”

After she shut her eyes and exercised her right to remain silent, I couldn’t help but chuckle and gently pet the dazed children.

I wanted to wake them up a bit before heading to the Golden Hair Bee King’s house.

“Alright, Bin, it’s time to wake up! Hyang, you too!”

– Tsur…

At my call, Bin crawled over with drooping antennae and nudged her head against me.

Bin still seemed trapped in slumber.

“This little one, Bin. Enough with the baby talk! You need to wake up!”

To shake her awake, I grabbed her sensitive antennae and raised them above her head, but when I released them, they drooped down again, resembling a dog’s floppy ears.

It was time to wake her, so I scolded in a mock-serious tone, but I found myself completely melted by her cuteness.

I simply couldn’t contain myself when her droopy, puppy-like ears appeared in front of me.

‘Kyaaaaah! So cute!’

Unable to resist, I rubbed my cheek against what I assumed was her forehead.

My words remained strict, yet…

“This little one, you still won’t wake up? Even after this?”

– Tsutsu…

Dodging Bin’s grumpy resistance as if asking me to stop, I continued to rub her face and wake her up without care.

“Dong-i, there you are! Have you given Hwa-yang a good scolding yet?”

From the open doorway, Hua Eun’s voice called out.

Mentioning Hwa-yang’s name indicated that Hua Eun must have heard about the morning delay from someone.

“Ah, I was just trying to reason with her.”

“And since we have guests, Mother is quite troubled.”

Though the guests were just the Sang-ryong brothers, it was understandable that Mother in charge of the kitchen would be flustered.

As Hua Eun’s eyes scanned the room, they met Hwa-yang, who was hiding in the corner, and immediately, Hwa-yang buried her head in her corner.

I thought she might be too oblivious to notice, but apparently, that wasn’t the case.

Gearing up for a scolding, Hua Eun walked towards Hwa-yang, hands on her hips with a disapproving expression.

“Hwa-yang!”

Hwa-yang jolted, showing only her plump rear.

Seeing this, I decided to step in and rescue her.

Her chubby backside was just too pitiful, not to mention I’d heard enough of Hua Eun’s stern lectures that made my ears bleed.

It’s only fair that if there’s a strict one at home, there must also be a lovable goof like me for the children to breathe easy!

“I’ve reasoned with her sufficiently; she must have gotten the idea.”

“No, let’s have a solid talk this time. Hwa-yang, look in this direction…”

Even with my interruption, Hua Eun was not about to let up.

To divert her attention, I feigned hunger.

“Hua Eun, I’m feeling hungry; when do you think breakfast will be ready?”

“Oh. So-ryong, are you hungry? I suppose it is about that time. Mother said it might take half an hour though. What should we do?”

“Half an hour, huh? Then, I guess we’ll have to wait.”

It was just as I expected; the mere mention of my hunger brought a worried expression on Hua Eun’s face.

Satisfied that her attention was sufficiently diverted, I quickly asked her to look after the kids.

“Ah, then, could you please watch the children? I’m planning to swing by the Golden Hair Bee King’s house for a moment. It seems oddly bustling over there.”

“Really? The Golden Hair Bee King?”

Hua Eun cocked her head in curiosity at my mention of the bustling state of the Golden Hair Bee King’s house and nodded.

“Understood. I’ll take care of the kids. You go ahead, So-ryong. Alright, everyone, wake up! Kids, Daddy is going out!”

Switching from scolding mode to newlywed mode in a flash, Hua Eun quickly began collecting the kids.

With Mo-ji and So-ji, who didn’t spew any mischief, perched on her shoulder, and Yeon-du and Hyang held onto her other shoulder while Bin, Seol, and Dong-i clung to her skirt, she sent me off with a wave.

Even with the still-drowsy Bin in tow, of course.

“Take care!”

– Tsurur.

– Gukku. Kuu. Kpah.

“Alright, I’m off. Bye, kids!”

Feeling like the breadwinner headed to work, I arrived at the training grounds housing the Golden Hair Bee King.

Before the entrance, large golden hair bees buzzed in and out of the house.

‘What’s going on?’

– Tak.

Stepping through the entrance, I noticed the golden hair bees, who usually are sensitive to vibrations, showing no signs of reaction.

Curious, I approached their hive, and as they spotted me, one by one, they came to inspect me.

“Hey there! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Sorry for not dropping by often. But what’s the big deal?”

Hoping they weren’t too excited, I gently asked as they fluttered around me.

As I squeezed through the coming and going bees into the hive, I spotted a much larger hexagonal hive than before.

‘They’ve really expanded their territory.’

The larger hive indicated they had collected more honey and that the queen bee had birthed many more bees to bolster their ranks.

Seeing the bees buzzing outside and those clustered inside confirmed that their numbers had grown by about fifty percent since I last visited.

– Buuung. Buwung.

Then, just as I was pondering, a larger bee flew down towards me from the swarm above.

With a more graceful appearance than the others, it landed right in front of my face and began hovering midair.

“Oh, you’re looking good!”

I casually greeted the queen bee, but my focus drew to how slender she had become.

To think that she had transformed from a slightly chubby bee to a more elegant one was surprising.

“Wha!?”

No, it wasn’t as if the bumblebee’s appearance had completely transformed.

When I said “slender,” I didn’t mean she now resembled a wasp—more like a bumblebee that had slimmed down a bit.

Perhaps the queen had gone on a diet, as her abdomen looked noticeably thinner.

“Why are you looking so slim?”

At my question, she rose slowly, soaring towards the area where the other bees congregated, rapidly fluttering her wings.

– Buuung.

The queen bee’s movement parted the swarm like the sea parting, revealing a larger hive nestled between the bees.

“Whoa! Is that the royal chamber!?”

The moment I laid eyes on the huge hive, the voice escaped me.

If a hive of such size was established, it was certainly a royal chamber.

This royal chamber is where bees raise a new queen, and the prominence of that hive was unmistakable.

‘Wait a second? Does this mean they’re preparing to swarm!?’

Realizing that the royal chamber’s presence and the bustling nature of the hive, combined with the queen bee’s slender appearance, indicated that I had finally pieced together what was happening inside the hive.

This was definitely a swarm taking place.

Swarming occurs when their living space becomes cramped due to a lack of room to lay eggs, or when the queen is aging, or when too many bees cannot remain within the pheromone range of the queen due to crowding.

This meant that the existing queen bee had laid her last eggs before preparing to leave with half of her worker bees.

The queen’s newfound slim appearance indicated that she had completed laying mature eggs and was ready to take flight.

Having outgrown this ancient tree, the queen was indeed attempting to establish a new home elsewhere, now that she couldn’t spread her influence from here.

‘Wait, there were no signs of this whatsoever?’

I was slightly thrown off; even though I had stepped away for a brief moment earlier, I hadn’t detected any signs of this before.

In order for bees to swarm, there are usually several precursor signs, yet none had been reported by our members in the Venomous Insect Team while I was gone.

Typically, precursor signs of a hive swarming involve an increase in worker bee numbers, multiple royal chambers appearing, or a plethora of foraging bees gathering at the hive entrance; but none escaped the notice of my team while I was missing.

Perhaps they couldn’t pick up on anything since they hadn’t ventured inside, but even so, there should have been a few observable cues from outside—it was strange indeed.

‘No, this is not the time to panic; I need to find a new home for them.’

While feeling a bit flustered, I couldn’t just let my mind wander.

If the Golden Hair Bee King was going to swarm, I needed to secure a new home for the aging queen.

If I didn’t prepare one, she’d surely just fly off to another location.

However, if I could help her settle nearby, it would be an excellent opportunity to expand the hive.

‘Is there another ancient tree in the vicinity?’

I immediately set about asking my team about nearby ancient trees.

I wasn’t sure whether that large tree would have another teammate, but if it did, I could easily spirit her away to a new home just like last time.

“Hold on a second!”

Just as I was heading out of the hive to scout for a new home.

– Buuung!

The queen bee quickly swooped in and blocked my path.

Not sure why she was doing that, I explained my situation to her.

“Just wait a second! I’ll find a new home for you. It would be such a shame to fly off elsewhere.”

At that moment.

– Buuung!

A sound matching the rustling of wings rang out, and another bee that looked identical to the queen appeared right beside her.

“Wha? Have you already hatched!?”

The new queen was already born!

Upon realizing this, I glanced up at the ceiling, spotting a hole in the royal chamber that I had somehow missed earlier.

That’s why the bees were preparing for something.

The new queen had already emerged, which explained the frantic buzz.

“Nice to meet you! I’m So-ryong.”

I greeted the new queen cheerfully, but…

Both queens were seemingly shivering with delight.

– Bzzz Bzzz.

– Bzzz Bzzz.

I found it peculiar, and as I thought about why that felt strange, I soon realized the source of my confusion.

They were the same queen bee—essentially clones, looking identical to one another.

While most people might think insects all look alike, these little ones also had their unique features.

Differences in hair thickness, density, leg length, and head shape varied from one individual to another.

Though the average layperson might struggle to discern them, I had no trouble at all; yet these bees held no distinguishing features.

In that moment, a realization struck me.

‘Oh!?’

The fact that since bringing the Golden Hair Bee King here, I hadn’t even caught a glimpse of a worker bee hit me like a ton of bricks.

Typically, one would expect a few male bees in a hive, at least, yet not even a single one had made an appearance.

“Wait, are they really…?”

It struck me that the bees I had brought along were not just ordinary female bees…

These twin queens likely employed a method called parthenogenesis!

“Whoa…”