Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire - Chapter 86

Chapter 86: The origin of the Paleness
“What?!” Both Tabletina and Ambrosia gasped.

I shook my head.

“Maybe. But if I’m right, it will change *everything*! And to find out whether I’m right, I need a sick Forager Bee… Better several ones, actually. That, and the location of the nearest pond.”

“A… pond?” Tabletina opened and closed her mouth, staring at me with huge eyes. “Father, I don’t understand anything!”

“That’s alright to not understand,” Ambrosia said. “Trust him. Not because he’s your father, but because he’s Nectus.”

I sent her a grateful smile, then remembered that I was wearing a mask.

“Thanks, Amby. Yeah. Look, if I’m wrong, some bees will get wet. If I’m right, we might be saved! And I don’t want to waste time explaining *now* when we can use this time being saved instead.”

Tabletina nodded thoughtfully.

“Yes, that makes sense. We have 596 sick Forager Bees in the village at the moment—how many do you need? Or do you want volunteers only? I’m sure they will all be glad to come, though.”

“Just 10 is enough.”

“Got it, Father.” Tabletina stood up. “I will come with you personally to listen to your theory… Wait, Writingdown, you are still here, and the reports are still not in the archives? Then put them down and take a clean tablet—you are coming with me.”

I nodded.

“I and Amby will wait for you near the exit.”

“If we are leaving the village, we should take a couple squads of guards with us, too,” Ambrosia said.

“Ah, yes. Let’s go get them!”

***

Half an hour later at most, I led 10 Forager Bees to a rainwater pond. They were as confused as everybody else, but trusted me unconditionally.

“My girls, this test shouldn’t be hard on you. Just go into the water and sit there so water covers you up to the neck.”

The 35 bees that surrounded me (22 guards, 10 sick Foragers, Tabletina, Writingdown and Ambrosia) all looked at me with puzzlement. Nevertheless, the Foragers nodded.

“Alright, Father.”

Ten bees walked into the shallow pond together and sat a meter away from the shore. Water sloshed over their necks.

They shivered in the water at first, but it was thoroughly warmed by the sun—if I feared they could catch anything from it, I wouldn’t have let them walk in.

“What now, Father?” one asked.

I sighed.

“Now, we wait.”

“And while we wait, Father, will be a good time for you to finally explain what you want to achieve,” Tabletina said.

I shook my head.

“Not yet! Now that we are here, this is a rare opportunity for some dramatic flair. I’m going to milk it for what it’s worth!”

And if I was wrong, maybe this will spare me a bit of embarrassment later. *Maybe*. It also might make my daughters worry less, at least for now.

Right now, I was just praying to all the gods (except the Goddess of Bees, fuck her) that my theory was right.

Tabletina opened her mouth again, but Ambrosia spoke first.

“Let him, Lieutenant Researcher. Your father needs a morale boost once in a while.”

“Aww, thanks, Amby!” I smiled at her like an idiot in love. Just a reminder that she *cared* immediately boosted my mood. “Let’s wait together, maybe even have a picnic, all 35 of us? This might take a while.”

***

Some time passed…

“So, girls, you won’t believe it—but in my world, bees are *incredibly* tiny! Thiiiis tiny! Amby, would you love me if I was *this* tiny?”

“Love? What *is* love? You can never explain in a way that makes sense.”

***

Some more time passed…

“I spy with my little eye… something red!”

“That’s grass, Father!”

“Ah-ha, Gotcha! No, it isn’t. Try again!”

***

Even more time passed…

“Hey, girls, are you *sure* aren’t getting cold in there?”

“Not at all, Father, not at all!”

“You look a bit suspicious… Hm… But your lips aren’t blue… Fine, keep sitting.”

This was taking too long…

***

Two eternities later, I saw *it* after all.

“Here!” I jumped to my feet and pointed in the water next to a sick Forager. “Catch that motherfucker!”

The bee gasped; all bored heads turned to where something small floated to the surface of the water.

The sick Forager stood to her feet, splashing water all over and almost drowning the evidence, but then picked it up. Her neighbors tried to follow, but I waved my hands at them.

“No, no, the rest should keep sitting for now! These things must detach from you, too!”

The first Forager ran out of the water, splashing more water all over herself and her sisters, and presented her trophy to me.

One of its limbs was twitching. The thing was still alive.

“Father, look! I’ve never seen a creature like that before!”

Tabletina, Writingdown, and Ambrosia were next to me in an instant, curiously examining the tiny thing.

“What *is* this?” Tabletina asked. “Writingdown, start recording. Visual description: an insect the size of my palm. Four arms, four legs, a wide body with black skin. The creature is more wide than tall, and is covered in yellow hair, which is much thicker on the back. It either has no eyes, or they are too small to see. Its nose is flat, and its mouth is replaced by a pair of… Well, they look like fangs. Out of record—it’s ugly.”

〔Mite〕

〔Health〕: 2 / 8

〔Stamina〕: 0 / 5

〔Species〕: Varroa Destructor

〔Age〕: 15 d

〔Remaining lifespan〕: 20 d

〔Attributes〕

> Strength: 9

> Agility: 4

> Endurance: 8

> Defense: 3

> Intelligence: 1

> Perception: 6

〔Special abilities〕

Painless Bite, Specialized Camouflage V, Oxygen Economy V

〔〕〔〕〔〕

It really was. Tabletina’s description didn’t give the mite justice. It looked like a gnome, if gnomes were created by Lovecraft.

“This is a varroa destructor mite,” I read off the system screen. “It’s a parasite.”

“A… parasite?” Tabletina asked.

“Yes. A creature that feeds on others without killing them immediately. This was the source of the Paleness all along!” I pointed at the mite. “The Paleness wasn’t a sickness, it was a parasite infestation!”

Gasps flew from the surrounding bees.

“Indeed! The signs were here all along… But I was so focused on treating this as sickness that I didn’t consider other options! And you didn’t know better, girls. Now—let me explain, and you will understand. Maybe. Let me explain, anyway!”