Chapter 162

Chapter 162

I stared at the King of the Astrad Kingdom. He was smiling at me like an idiot. He still had one hand on my shoulder, but I didn’t even focus on that. Instead, I repeated what Jalen had said to me just a second ago.

“I’m going to be the one saving your country?” I asked.

“Yes you are.” He nodded.

“From a food shortage, right?” I said hopefully.

Jalen simply stared back at me.

“...right?” I repeated myself, and he took a step back.

“From the Kingdom of Kal,” he corrected me.

And I cursed under my breath. “Fuck.”

I looked towards Rowland Donovan. The [Knight]-Captain finally turned to face me, and he gave me an apologetical look. I shook my head, closing my eyes.

“...he said he liked my cooking, and I believed him. I can’t believe I fell for that,” I sighed.

Now, I was going to have to figure out a way to politely decline Jalen’s request without telling him to fuck off. And that wasn’t going to be easy.

—--

But before Amelia was met with her terrible predicament, only about an hour after she had just left Wolfwater...

Noele was faced with a bit of a dilemma of her own. She stood before the hive of the bastion bees, right at the side of Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant. A cacophonous buzzing came from within as a chicken clucked at her side.

The blonde girl looked down at Bucky, before looking back into the darkness. She saw the red eyes glowing within, and she hesitated.

“You go in first,” she said as she pursed her lips. “You’re their friend, aren’t you? So you first.”

She spoke insistently, and Bucky turned to face her. She shook her head as she waved her wings wildly.

“Bawk bawk bawk!” the chicken protested.

Noele couldn’t speak chicken, but she was almost entirely certain that meant something along the lines of, “Fuck no, you go in first!”

She took in a deep breath, trying to steel herself. “It’ll be fine. I’m an A-ranked adventurer— I can bring down S-ranked threats. They can’t hurt me... I hope.”

While she really didn’t want to delve into the hive, she had no other choice. Noele needed to see what was wrong. After all, something had to be wrong.

The bastion bees were angry. It happened only a few minutes after Amelia left, but they started buzzing loudly inside of their hive. Harlan was the first one to notice it. He tried to enter the hive to placate them, since he had harvested honey from within many times, but he was chased out by them.

While they didn’t sting him, he had been more than certain that they would have if he hadn’t fled when he did. After that, they called for Dorien’s help. Unfortunately, the bastion bees chased out the [Druid] too.

He strode forward with a soft chuckle. “Indeed I am. And you...”

Nicholas came to a halt right before Noele as she blinked a few times. He unsheathed his rapier, and she paused.

“What...?” she asked as he raised the blade.

“You need to watch your back,” he continued. “[Impose Terror: Forced Retreat].”

Noele spun around, looking on just in time as a bastion bee rushed towards her. But there was a flash of light. A golden glow overcame the sacred monster, and it slowed. Then it turned around, fleeing back into the hive.

“For an A-ranked adventurer, I’d have thought you’d be a little more aware of your surroundings.” Nicholas shook his head as he walked up to the blonde girl’s side. “But I guess I distracted you from what you were doing, so I shall take partial blame for that.”

He grinned at her as she just stared at him, still at a shock. “W-what are you doing here, Nicholas? I mean... Sir Nicholas?”

“I am not actually a [Knight], don’t worry about formalities. You can just call me Nicholas.” He looked past her, staring at the hive of the bastion bees. “However, introductions aside, I believe we should deal with that.”

Noele glanced back apprehensively. “Right. I was going to investigate inside— see what was riling them up.”

“There’s no need to investigate,” a voice said from the side. Bucky clucked loudly as another figure stepped forward. This time, it was a lady with a bow slung around her shoulder, dressed in tight clothing. “They are worried about their newborn queen. That is all.”

“Good work, Sienna.” Nicholas nodded at her. “And you appraised that with a single look? You’re amazing as always.”

Sienna’s expression remained neutral as she continued. “I suggest creating a containment field around the hive. It will prevent them from harming any outsiders, and it will placate their nervousness. Can you do that, Kale?”

She glanced towards a third figure. A rather rotund man. He was right behind her, munching on a fruit— a malim fruit.

“These are really good!” he said, holding it into the air. “I hear they make drinks out of it too. I want to try one!”

“Did you hear her, Kale?” Nicholas asked as he gestured towards the hive. “We need your expertise here.”

“Right, right,” Kale sighed, downing the malim fruit. Noele watched as he licked his fingers, before pulling a book out from his side. He flipped through the pages, mumbling to himself, until he seemed to find the right page. “Alright, here goes— [Activate Scroll: Spatial Shield]!”

And a flash came from the open page of the tome. Noele covered her eyes, watching as a transparent domed barrier fell upon the hive. It muffled the buzzing of the bastion bees, before drawing them out of the hive for a moment.

The sacred monsters looked around nervously, staring at the sheen of the barrier. But they paused when they realized it was protecting them as much as it was keeping them in. Slowly, they returned to the hive, buzzing softer now. Still evidently restless, but less so than before.

Noele stared on with wide eyes. She took a step back, before looking towards Nicholas, Sienna, and Kale. The three other adventurers nodded back at her, and she finally found the right words to say.

“Thank you,” she said, glancing at each of them. “For your help.”

Nicholas just laughed and gave her a light bow. “It was my pleasure, Noele.”

He raised his head, meeting her gaze as his eyes glinted.

“It was no trouble at all. After all, we came here all the way to Wolfwater because of you.”