“So, you’re Beau, huh? Nice to officially meet’cha.”

“…”

No response from the skittish looking bee. She kept looking frantically between Belle and me, as if trying to get permission to speak. Which, it turns out, was exactly what she was doing.

I hadn’t exactly interacted that much with bees from Beau’s generation. I knew their names thanks to the Link, and I knew what they were thinking. But I hadn’t met them. Which is like, its own thing, you know? And they were so young. I guess they weren’t exactly comfortable interacting with me. Though, there were Becky and Beckham… though they might be exceptions considering their proclivities.

“Go ahead Beau. Mother tends to be very interested in what we have to say, so don’t feel the need to hold back.”

“ThankyoumissBelleIwon’tletyoudown!” Beau said nervously, flubbing almost every word. Unfortunately, her nerves didn’t let up, because the more she tried talking about her work, the more she flubbed. It was so incoherent that I was confident I wouldn’tve understood a word if not for the Link.

Beau, in essence, was a tinkerer. She had been immediately drawn, not to the nursery or food storage like some of her siblings in her same generation, but rather to the miscellaneous storage room. Belle, being the only other bee who expressed interest in those odd remnants, had taken her under her wing.

“I must say, it was quite a relief to see a bee become interested in those things. With all my important responsibilities, I haven’t had the time to play around with those things. Ugh…”

While Belle continued being sick, Beau kept rambling on. While the metal spikes and some doodads we stole from our new human allies had interested Beau, what really caught her attention were the electric crystals. In fact, she had personally gone out to collect more crystal shards, something that hadn’t been on my radar.

“So am I correct to assume you like electricity?”

“Ah! Yes! You know about them? It? The electhingy?”

Beau had noticeably perked up after my question. Hm. I suppose nobody besides Belle would be able to talk with her about this stuff.

“You are also her mother. Don’t forget that. Validating her is invaluable. I think.”

Fair enough.

“Ah, the electhingy is just so fascinating! I’ve observed such interesting properties about conducthingery between the crystals or metal spikes or wax! You know I was beginning to wonder about conducthingery in other materials I hadn’t previously considered like wood from trees or even bones from vultures but I haven’t been able to test it especially before I became sick so I was going to ask Beatrice-“

Wow. Commas much? This girl was really on a roll. I was glad to see her being so enthusiastic and be interested in those human artifacts, but unfortunately it just wasn’t an invaluable job position at the moment. Not like I would fire her or something. I had no doubt that, with enough creativity and manpower (or beepower), those artifacts could be used for some interesting stuff. But it just wasn’t as important at the moment as building the hive’s structure or something.

“Tell you what, Beau,” I interrupted, “I haven’t tested this extensively, but I’ll send you over my knowledge. I have some experience working with electricity and know a fair bit about its mechanics, so hopefully you can use that knowledge to your advantage.”

I liked Beau’s reaction. Jaw on the ground, bug-eyed. Well, maybe that second part was a bit redundant. But she was clearly pleased.

“It may be overwhelming for her simply to receive a large amount of information. Tell you what. Our team is already arriving at Yiwi, and I know you are excited to experience the city’s offerings. While you are entertaining yourself there, I will attempt to use the B-boxes to package the information together in a way that Beau can independently study, rather than simply being overtaken by a flow of knowledge.”

Ooooh! What a great idea! Sending knowledge packets like some kind of digital textbook to bees with special interests like Beau would have a ton of benefits. It would make things easier for them. It could be extensive. And best of all, it would mean that instead of being spoon-fed the info, they would have to really learn it! For these bees, who were obsessed with productivity, that shouldn’t be a problem. If anything, it should be a boon. Leave it to Queen to think of something like that.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Oh stop. You’re just happy you can play with your new toys instead of working.”

That does nothing to diminish my gratitude! And I meant it. Because Queen was totally right. Yiwi’s wall was no longer an imposing figure in the distance. It was right in front of us.

_________

“Are you guys doing alright?” A quiet voice whispered.

As it turns out, the menacing aura of Mind that had been palpable for Beckham from a distance wasn’t as intangible as expected.

Beckham, Bennet, and Benita were gasping for air. Bennet and Benita weren’t quite as Mind sensitive as Beckham; not by a long shot, actually. However, they were certainly weaker than other bees. Ben had insisted on trying to fly himself, so he had steeled himself while struggling against the ‘current’. Bend was in a similar state, but his face was more set in stone. Ben, on the other hand, was sporting a massive strained grin. The two of them were pushing with all their might, trying to fly against the oppressive waves of Mind power that rolled over and through Yiwi’s walls.

Beckham, Bennet, and Benita’s gasps were out of discomfort. So why were they not struggling against the current like Ben or Bend? Why, because of Belphegora, of course. What a trooper. Not only was she carrying herself, she was hauling along the struggling young trio with her Mind as well. Even worse, she was giving a boost to the four warriors who were really struggling to keep up.

“We are just getting accustomed to the city, Grehn. There is no need for concern.”

“If you say so…”

How were the humans handling the city? The answer: handling? Handle what?

Not a single one of the humans even seemed to feel a tingle from the intense aura of Mind coming from the city. None of them were even really aware it was a thing. There was a shadow of knowledge from Toh and some of his older team members about how the city had more than just the wall to defend against monsters, but they didn’t know much about it. Did the city have a Mind shield? Did it specifically repel monsters? Or was it just a side effect of so many Minds oozing energy at the same time? It was hard to tell.

Unless the bees figured things out, then the mission was already spiraling out of control. At least Belphegora seemed to be doing alright. Her powerful Mind was definitely helping.

“Alright,” Yelah sent through the Link, “We’re going in now. You bees will stay out here, as per the plan. Thank’s to the Link, we don’t need any sort of complicated signal system or anything, so just stay in one general place to avoid confusion.”

Thankfully, the Mind pressure affecting the bees didn’t seem to cause any interference with the Link to the humans. Beckham had decided that since the Link was unaffected, no adjustments would have to be made on that end. But really, how did that make sense? The Mind pressure was affecting physical bodies but not other Mind stuff? It had to be a monster specific shield of some kind.

Yelah and Grehn took one last look back towards the cluster of trees that hid their new buggy overlords before dashing towards the city. Well, dashing as quickly as possible while holding two sandbags. The other mercenaries, on the other hand, joked and leisurely strolled to the gate.

“Yelah!”

Atop the wall, a cheerful figure waved, but Yelah barely reciprocated.

“Yoho! Tell them to open the gates!” She shouted in response. The figure, who turned out to be the infamous Yoho, paused before he quickly scrambled away. After just a moment, the gate creaked open, and a guy who seemed like a guard peeked out. It didn’t take long for Yelah to confirm her identity and be let through, which presumably wouldn’t have taken much longer at a different gate. Mercenaries’ status meant they could dash through the gate without issue. Not that there were other people passing through, which did make sense. This gate directly faced a big dangerous forest; nobody besides mercs or something would even pass through this particular gate.

Oh, and what a gate it was. Two giant doors adorned the walls, but they weren’t made of wood like most doors. No, these were giant metal behemoths. Maybe made of steel or something?

“We’re almost there. Hang in there guys.”

Not that Yelah was interested in the gates. Even as Yoho jogged in pace with her, she didn’t take her eyes off the road.

“Hey, sorry about Toh going after you. I wasn’t expecting the City Lord to be so paranoid. Oh…” Yoho finally managed to take his eyes off Yelah and glance towards the two heavily breathing bundles she and Grehn were hauling.

“Don’t worry about it. Can you clear some space ahead?”

No hesitation. Without another word, Yoho sprinted forward and began shouting at passerby. Thanks to his efforts, and the smooth roads of the city, Yelah’s team was able to swiftly traverse the increasingly crowded streets. They were heading straight towards the Hayrey and Sons’ company headquarters in the mercenary district. Because apparently mercenaries had their own district in the city. The big companies had prime real estate close to the city center, where a big dome-ish building sat underneath the mind-bogglingly enormous shaft (heh) belonging to the Rotor.

What could be said? The city was bustling with activity; people shopping, people commuting, kids running around. People, people, people. The buildings were all smooth and gray, but make no mistake. Gray as they were, colors were everywhere. Colorfully painted accents were all over the walls of the houses, but they still couldn’t compare to the rainbow of flowers covering the streets and walls. Red flowers, blue flowers, yellow flowers galore.

And the buildings were freaking tall. Not tall enough to be considered skyscrapers, not even close. But some were certainly getting there. And as a result, flowers attached close to the tops of the buildings shed onto the street and caused a near-constant drizzle of colorful flower petals.

The mercenaries made a sharp turn to the left, officially entering the mercenary district. While they were running through the major streets, they attracted almost zero attention. It was almost comical how uncaring the passerby were. When they turned into the mercenary district?

“Oh, Yelah’s back!”

“Oi, where’s Toh? He steal your thunder?”

“Oh shit, is that Rette?”

“I think so. And Vlugh too?”

“Who?”

These were mercenaries. No doubt. Many wore clothes very similar to Yelah’s team, with her weird leather-like outfit. Others wore full suits of metal armor and still others wore cloaks. Weapons of all sorts could be seen on weapon racks outside of rowdy bars, but most of the shouting ruffians sported slung rifles and holstered pistols.

“Outta the way! Let Yelah’s team through!”

Yoho was still hard at work struggling to leave the friend zone, but he didn’t have to do much here. The path was completely clear, with mercs quickly sidestepping to let Yelah through, some without sparing a second glance. Among both the mercenaries and townspeople alike, this was apparently not a rare occurrence. Mercenary life was ultimately one full of risk.

To that end, Yoho finally skid to a stop in front of a particularly immense building sporting a golden ‘H’. Instead of going through the heavy metal doors of the entrance, Yelah swerved into a small side entrance labeled by another golden symbol, a circle with a wavy line going from top to bottom.

Finally, Yelah could get her friends treated. And finally, the operation would begin.