Chapter 185: Mother and Daughter (5)"Don't follow me!"
The small raccoon girl Nari shouted.Naru copied her.
"─Don't follow me!"
Saying that, Naru laughed.Nari thought this little girl was mocking her and felt very upset. What kind of kid was this?But it didn't matter.
'I lived in this forest until I was 4 years old! If I deliberately take a difficult path, this human child will soon give up!'
Rustle— Rustle—Nari squeezed into a narrow log tunnel.It was a tunnel formed by a fallen large tree, with the inside being completely hollow except for the outer surface. It was just wide enough for a small child to pass through.
Nari knew that human children couldn't pass through such dirty and narrow log tunnels as human children liked to play elegantly.Nari, who had studied in the human world, knew this better than anyone.
Rustle— Rustle—
'Now you can't follow me! Only raccoons can go through such paths!'
Nari, crawling through the log tunnel, laughed to herself.However, Nari soon noticed something crawling behind her. The strange girl Naru was following her through the log!
"Hey! I said don't follow me! What kind of kid are you?""Naru is Naru!"
Naru crawled through the log even faster than Nari, who was half-raccoon. Nari was astonished by this but soon regained her composure.
'I've lost my wild instincts from being in the human world for so long! If I can just awaken my wild instincts again, there's no way this human kid can catch up!'
Whoosh—Finally, Nari burst out of the log and climbed a tall tree, grabbing a long vine like a rope and began leaping between the branches.If someone cultured had seen this scene, they would have been amazed, saying, 'It's like a circus act!'Of course, Naru followed suit.
"Wow, holy shh...! This is fun!""Grrr...!"
Nari was very angry.Because Naru felt like someone trying to take the forest from her mother, Naguri.
In the human world where Nari studied, it was common for children to fight over inheritance and property, so she expected Naru to be the same.But before Nari could express her grievances, a large hornet started buzzing around in front of her eyes.It was a really big hornet.Its body was black with yellow stripes, making it look terrifying at a glance.
Click— Click—Buzzzzz—The hornet, having spotted Nari, made loud noises by clashing its jaws and flapping its wings.Then, other hornets appeared, buzzing from all directions.A total of five.It was a bit too much for Nari to handle alone.
'Mom used to handle hornets easily on her own...!'
Nari's mother, Naguri, was a brave raccoon who would fight even when the odds were against her, like a honey badger taking on a group of lions.Naguri could even use 'mystical techniques,' which Nari, who had studied in the human world, thought were more impressive than the tricks of that big snake that bewitched humans.
'But Mom didn't teach me any techniques!'
Nari had inherited the mystical blood of the raccoons but didn't know much about these techniques. Her mom hadn't taught her anything.Even so, Nari had learned a few things by watching her mom, so she rummaged through her leather bag and took something out.
"A spray bottle?"
Just as Naru said, it was a spray bottle.A spray bottle filled with yellow liquid.Nari sprayed it at the hornets.
"Take this!"
As the citrusy scent spread through the air, the hornets made strange noises and flew away.
"Chasing hornets away with lemonade! Amazing!"
Naru shouted.Nari snorted at that.
"Hornets hate the smell of lemon!""Why? Lemonade is delicious!""Well...."
Makana also drew a sword from her waist.Shing-!It was a saber that looked like a long, thin needle, named 'Hornet'.
Clang-!Butterfly and Hornet.The two blades clashed fiercely, creating sparks.
Whoosh—The two distanced themselves.Soon, Naru shouted.
"Naru Secret Style! Hydro Pump!"
Whoosh—A powerful stream of water shot out from Naru's mouth.It was so strong that it could carve through rocks, and Princess Makana was so surprised that she couldn't help being flustered.
"This, this is a fairy's technique─ugh!"
Whoosh—Princess Makana was hit directly by the water stream.
"Kyaa! Help me! Quickly!"
The princess called for help from the surrounding hornets, but even the hornets were helpless against the powerful water stream.In the end, Makana was defeated, and Naru won.
Naru had fought even more formidable opponents and had sparred with Hina and Cecily, so facing the hornet princess was not difficult.It was so easy that Naru felt a bit disappointed.
"Even the hornet princess couldn't stand against the mighty Naru!"
Naru then took out a long rope from the shadows and skillfully tied up Makana. But Makana's body was quite heavy, so Naru couldn't move her alone.
"Nari! Let's take her together!""......"
Nari watched this scene in silence. Princess Makana was known to be a fierce foe in this forest.Even though she had transformed into a human and fought with a sword, she was defeated so easily.
'Even if I fought my hardest, my chances of winning against Makana were only fifty-fifty!'
It was impressive in many ways, but Nari couldn't just stand there admiring her.If Naru took Makana to her mom, she would lose her claim to the forest's succession.But Nari had no choice at this point in time.
# # #
The two soon arrived back where Naguri was.Naguri was curled up in the cave, but she seemed slightly impressed by the scent of the tightly bound hornet princess Makana.
"Since I defeated the hornet princess, Naru is now the owner of this forest! Naru will name this forest the Narunaru Forest and produce honey and peaches to eat forever!"
Hehe-! Naru laughed.But the giant raccoon shook her head.
━I didn't tell you to defeat Princess Makana.... I told you to persuade her.... Now, untie Makana....
"Wow, holy shh...!"
Naru cut the rope binding Makana with her butterfly knife.Freed, the hornet princess glared at Naru and then politely bowed to the giant raccoon.
"Lady Naguri, it's been a while. I am Makana, the daughter of Emperor Yanlunga. I bring greetings from my father, how is your health?""You! What are you talking about! Mom is sick because of you hornets!"
Nari was very angry at this shameless greeting.It was Yanlunga's poison that had injured Naguri! And yet, she was asking about her health so shamelessly!At that moment.
A man with black hair and a wizard wearing a pointed hat appeared from deep within the cave.They were holding a beaker with a strange liquid, and the bubbling liquid gave off a bitter smell, making Nari frown.The female wizard with the pointed hat spoke.
"The poison of the emperor hornet is both a poison and a medicine. The poison of the emperor hornet is actually beneficial to this giant raccoon's body. The real problem is another type of poison."