Chapter 225: A Request Bee-queathed

    Juosiutik had the biggest smile Belissar had ever seen on her face as she held out a bunch of flowers to him. He returned the smile as he took the flowers.

    A moment later, the flowers vanished.

    Sufficient samples gathered. Quickblossom is now available!

    Current Applications: Apothecary’s Hut*, Fairy Grove** (* = node only, ** = node only and variable growth rate)

    Juosiutik bounced in place.

    “Was that enough?”

    Belissar’s own smile grew.

    “Yes, we can now make quickblossom.”

    Juosiutik’s eyes moistened a bit even as she clenched her fists.

    “Yes! I can start mass producing my mom’s potions from now on. I can even start experimenting with the recipe...”

    Her eyes suddenly widened.

    “Wait, what if I use add sedative or shocking honey, or maybe even both! Or maybe I could mix the two honeys directly and...”

    Belissar chuckled as Juosiutik began muttering to herself. He left her to it and turned his attention to Frelis and her rose monster.

    “So, all the flowers are ready?”

    Frelis danced the salute.

    “All flowers planted, bloomed! Ready!”

    Belissar grinned and reached down to brush her back...as well as the rose vines hovering nearby, careful to avoid the thorns.

    “Excellent, I’ll let Tarwantrad know we’re ready. Great work you two, and all the gardeners!”

    At this point, though, the day was coming to a close and Tarwantrad had already left, so Belissar just left a message with her monster. He tackled the daily purification and set up for the celebration as usual. He looked up to see Niobee flying in with the butcher queen and smiled.

    “Everyone, this is our first butcher queen, who’s living in the rabbit room.”

    The queens rushed over to see the new queen. The butcher queen, contrary to Belissar’s expectations, didn’t wilt or flinch as the larger queens approached, not even when the evolved Fourth of the Seventh or the big bumblebee queens hovered over her.

    “Hello, am First Butcher Queen of the First Dynasty of the First Butcher Spawner. Nice to meet King’s hive of hives!”

    Belissar glanced over at Niobee and smiled. It seemed she had filled in the First of the First Butchers on a lot. The other queens, on the other hand, welcomed her with open legs. The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter danced with her after the initial greetings finished.

    “New queen drink honey?”

    The First Butcher confirmed.

    “Got it, will bring honey to help new hive tomorrow.”

    The First Butcher froze before making loud and long buzzes. The First Daughter danced her off, however.

    “Is fine, hive of hives help each other. We help First of the First Butchers set up hive now, First of the First Butchers helps once hive established. Queen mother and Fourth of the Seventh did for me, too.”

    Belissar’s chest grew warm as he watched the new queen join the hive of hives, with all the others enthusiastically helping the newcomer.

    This was it. An evolution that would allow to produce types of honey never before seen, to push the quality of her honey to ever greater levels. Not only that, she would be able to support the hive of hives and fulfill the King’s task better than ever. She could experiment on new honey types right within her own body, and produce honey perfectly suited for driving evolutions.

    Her astonishment only grew as she extended her senses to check on the status of her hive. From her workers’ reports, only a single day had passed since she had started evolving, far shorter than it had taken the Fourth of the Seventh. If the cause had been the more powerful honey she used to evolve, then her new abilities would dramatically accelerate the hive of hives’ growth.

    Still, it was not all good news. The speed with which her instincts drove her to evolve meant she had scarcely a chance to warn her children before leaving them to manage the hive, as well as her responsibilities to the hive of hives, some of which would be far more difficult now. While her ability to produce honey had improved dramatically, her body had grown large and ponderous. She could still fly and move, but it would not be a quick affair. Traveling about to check on the hive of hives personally might not be practical anymore and certainly would not be efficient even if it was. She would have to consider that, especially now that her presence in her hive was even more valuable than previously.

    She paused again, though, as her mana reached her daughters...and found one she had not expected. Her daughters flew through the hive to greet her, led by the First Daughter she had sent away long ago.

    “Queen mother! You evolved!”

    Her First Daughter crawled up to her and she brushed the now much smaller queen with her antennae.

    “Did, First Daughter came too?”

    Her First Daughter danced the confirmation.

    “Heard queen mother ask daughters to watch hive, came to help.”

    The First of the Fifth could not respond at first. After she had nearly starved the First Daughter with her own neglect, her child had dropped her own hive to come and help. As such, she had not even included the First Daughter intentionally when she had made her request, but the First Daughter had heard and come all the same. She responded the only way she could.

    “Amazing. First Daughter is amazing, incredible. Thanks for helping.”

    The First Daughter paused at first...then broke out into a happy dance. The First of the Fifth thanked her other daughters as well for taking care of things as she checked on her hive and the hive of hives beyond. She was once again astonished.

    Her hive was running as efficiently as she had left it. Beyond that, there had been no disruption in their support for the hive of hives. In fact...if the First of the Fifth wasn’t mistaken, things were running even more efficiently than before. The First Daughter had leveraged her hive’s location by the shortcut wall and the information exchange she had built between the hive of hives to easily determine the hive of hives’ needs and adjust honey deliveries accordingly.

    The First of the Fifth found there was nothing she needed to handle, no issues to resolve. A simple reclamation of authority and then she was free to experiment with her new abilities and begin evolving her workers. She turned her attention back to her First Daughter as an idea sprung into her mind.

    “First Daughter, have question. Want to take over King’s request and watch hive of hives?”

    The First Daughter froze once more before buzzing her wings.

    “Queen mother?!”

    The First of the Fifth brushed her antennae to calm her down.

    “New body big, hard to move around. New powers focus on honey, best if can work on that. First Daughter handled hive of hives perfectly while I evolving, is in perfect position to do job. Think First Daughter would help hive of hives even more.”

    To pass on the King’s personal request to her, to let someone else manage the hive of hives, it was unthinkable. But the First of the Fifth had realized her role. To elevate herself above the other queens was no longer her goal. The best thing she could do, the best way she could help the King and the hive of hives, was to pursue the path of honey with all of her energy. She had planned to continue managing the hive of hives only because no other queen was positioned to do as well or better as she...until now.

    Now she saw. Her First Daughter had carved out a place for herself within the hive of hives despite all of the First of the Fifth’s mistakes with her. And now...the First of the Fifth had to admit that the First Daughter would do a better job than she. If anything, it was the First Daughter’s information that allowed her to do a good job in the first place...and the First Daughter’s passion to take care of other queens was far greater than her own.

    The one thing she would hate more than passing on a request from the King was leaving it in the mandibles of a bee less suited for the task. The King only ever deserved the best in all he asked for.

    The First Daughter stumbled about.

    “Queen mother...”

    Then she shook herself and buzzed her wings before beginning a salute dance.

    “If King ok with...will do best. Will take care of hive of hives like hive of hives took care of me.”

    The First of the Fifth brushed her antennae once more.

    “Know you will.”