SML Ch 34

Chapter 34

‘Honestly, what a bizarre place—every kind of strange monster seems to have gathered in this region…’

While Heide and Alex unpacked their gear, Reynald closely observed the bees’ appearance. At first glance, blacksmith bees didn’t look all that different from ordinary bees. Their bodies were round and plump—cute, even, depending on how one looked at them. But upon closer inspection, the ends of their abdomens were unusually red, and some of them trailed long, shiny threads behind them like tails.

That shimmering thread was most likely the same wire he had seen earlier. It might look as fine as a spider’s silk now, but once it hardened, it would become a sharp and sturdy metallic filament. Reynald suspected that the bees, while wandering the forest, unintentionally dropped some of these threads, and the Swines had picked them up to use in their traps.

“Be careful. If you get too close, you’ll get stung real bad.”

“I know. If I get stung, it won’t just be venom—I’ll be nursing burn wounds for a while.”

Reynald nodded in reply to Alex. There was a reason these creatures were classified as monsters rather than animals.

Encountering a few in the wild wasn’t dangerous, but approaching their hive was a different matter. Ordinary beehives could be risky too, sure, but blacksmith bees displayed an obsession with their hives that was far beyond anything he’d seen before.

If one carelessly approached, drawn by the lure of honey, the bees would immediately swarm the intruder, launching fine, razor-sharp metallic stingers—glowing red-hot, like they’d just come out of a furnace. It was baffling how such small creatures could generate that much heat. To make matters worse, the stingers had incredible piercing power, easily penetrating not just leather armor, but even thin metal armor.

That, Reynald figured, was probably why even the Swines didn’t dare go near the hives. It was a small mercy that the stingers weren’t venomous—but they could still embed deep into the flesh and cause internal burns, making them arguably worse than venom.

‘Still… the presence of blacksmith bees must mean there’s a mine nearby.’

No matter how fascinating their ecology was, these bees couldn’t produce something from nothing. The stingers and wire they created came from collecting metal fragments near ore veins.

And blacksmith bees didn’t settle near small mines. They needed a significantly large mine to establish a stable colony.

Most likely, there was a Swine-operated iron mine somewhere within the bees’ range. It would be useful to at least figure out its location. As Reynald glanced around, Alex and Heide were busy assembling a wooden frame.

It resembled armor in shape—although it was more of a skeletal frame made from thin branches and was small enough that only a five-year-old child might fit inside. Though it looked flimsy, Reynald immediately understood its purpose.

“You’re planning to collect honey by placing a dish beneath this armor-shaped frame?”

“Yes. If we leave it there for about a week, it should fill half a small jar. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.”

Despite the bees’ danger, there was a way to harvest honey without direct contact. Being a subspecies of artificially-created bees developed by alchemists in ancient times, blacksmith bees possessed unusual behavior. When presented with wooden frames shaped like armor or weapons, they had a habit of wrapping them in metallic thread, forming hive structures shaped like armor.

The frame Alex and Heide brought was subtly designed with small, angled holes inside. As the bees stored honey in the armor-shaped hive, the honey would slowly drip through those holes. The two installed the frame and placed a wooden bucket underneath. To stabilize it, they mounted the bucket on a stand, which was attached to a string that could be tugged from afar to retrieve it.

Clearly, this wasn’t their first time doing this. Their practiced efficiency reassured Reynald. Still, there was one small regret—a lingering frustration, like the one he had felt when they failed to distill a potion from mandrake and could only dilute it with monster blood.

“If we could get the metal to absorb the honey, we might be able to create ‘honey-iron.’”

“Honey-iron? What’s that?”

“It’s a rather expensive and luxurious confection. Mages who live near mines sometimes make it. We don’t have any mages here, so it’s not really possible.”

Despite the name, “honey-iron” wasn’t actual metal. It was more like a third material, distinct from both honey and iron. The outside had a slightly crisp texture, and biting into it released a rich, honey-flavored syrup. If Reynald recalled correctly, Arun had quite liked the stuff.

He had tasted it once himself—and as befitted a costly delicacy, it was very sweet. One might expect it to taste metallic, but in truth, it had a surprisingly deep and full-bodied flavor.

“Even if it were possible, wouldn’t it be hard to retrieve the hive? Those bees don’t seem to care about losing their honey, but they guard their hives like sacred relics.”

“That’s why it’s considered a luxury. You need a mine to raise the bees, a mage to make the honey-iron, and a way to extract the hive once it’s transformed. Just gathering honey is more than enough for us right now.”

In such a rough, resource-poor territory, honey alone was a fine offering. The princes would surely understand. No need to get greedy… With that thought, Reynald and the others left the forest.

Now that the frame was set up, they wouldn’t have to linger near the hive for a while. In about a week, they just needed to return and collect the bucket below.

‘This village really is full of surprises…’

As he walked through the forest, Reynald pondered. It had fertile plains, thick forests, and even an iron mine home to rare blacksmith bees. In terms of land quality alone, this territory was quite good. The only problem was that it came bundled with monsters.

It even crossed his mind—absurd as it was—that maybe instead of driving the monsters out, it would be more practical to collect taxes from them. And honestly, considering that most of the territory’s inhabitants were monsters, the logic wasn’t completely flawed.

Chuckling at his own ridiculous thought, Reynald let out a self-deprecating smile. Alex, noticing his expression, gave him a curious look. Embarrassed over nothing in particular, Reynald quickly changed the subject.

“Ahem. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just wondering if you were worried about how the guests will judge the place.”

Reynald was momentarily puzzled but quickly understood. It was true—there might be some cause for concern. These guests were people used to eating sweets made by mages from things like honey-iron. Wouldn’t they be disappointed to find themselves in such a remote, mountainous village? That would naturally reflect poorly on Reynald as the lord, possibly even bruising his pride. It seemed Alex thought Reynald was worried about that.

“No, it’s not that. Don’t worry too much about the guests.”

“But they are important people, aren’t they? You probably want to treat them well. But this village… doesn’t really have much to offer.”

“It’s fine. They won’t be upset just because I don’t pamper them. They’re not the kind of people to complain over some rough conditions.”

Yes, they were princes and surely used to royal treatment. But the king had never raised them to be soft. They’d traveled the country hunting monsters from a young age—they could handle hardship. They’d likely tolerate this run-down territory just fine.

Besides, it was their father who gave Reynald this kind of land in the first place. Complaining about it now wouldn’t change anything—they must know that.

Alex simply nodded silently, but he didn’t look particularly satisfied. Maybe it wasn’t the idea of hosting noble guests that bothered him. Maybe it was the trouble their visit might bring. Or perhaps…

‘Is he worried the guests will take me away with them?’

“To think they can’t even serve proper food—how can we leave Sir Reynald in a place like this!”—if they made such a dramatic claim and tried to bring him back with them… maybe that’s what was troubling Alex. Reynald had no way of confirming the theory, though, since Alex never brought up the topic of the guests again.

From the following day, Reynald and the other two made a habit of strolling through the forest for a few hours each day. They gathered fruits and spices, checked the slow progress of the hive, and occasionally even brought back the corpses of animals that had died in stray traps. There was always something to do.

And as time went on, the number of people joining their walks steadily increased. Sometimes, young men weary from farm work would tag along under the pretense of “assisting the lord,” and at other times, villagers searching for ingredients would join to gather food for themselves.

What had started as an effort to prepare for Reynald’s guests had, somewhere along the way, turned into Reynald playing escort for the villagers’ forest outings.

“Can I have a bit of that honey when it’s harvested later?”

“Not this time, Bolant. It’s for our guests—even I won’t be getting any.”

Still, the ingredients for their hospitality were being gathered steadily. There were a few near-encounters with Swines wandering through the forest, but fortunately, they were never chased. At most, the villagers and Reynald would duck into a bush and watch the Swines pass by with hoes or sacks slung over their backs.

Up to that point, everything had gone well. It would’ve been a disaster if anyone had gotten hurt while preparing for their guests.

The only problem was… Reynald hadn’t considered the possibility that it might be the guests, not the villagers, who ended up being chased by the Swines.

Footnotes:

 

• Honey-iron (벌꿀철): A magical confection made by infusing honey into metal-like material, creating a crispy shell with liquid honey inside. It’s a luxury delicacy typically made near mines with the help of mages.
• Alchemically-made artificial bees: A worldbuilding element hinting at a past where alchemists created artificial organisms that integrated into the natural ecosystem, influencing the environment even generations later.