An hour later, and there was not a sign of any hornets.
Two hours later… still nothing.
Three hours later—an eternity of walking in spirals—all we found was an enormous pile of shit.
A huge, stinky pile of shit crawling with ants and buzzing with flies—those ugly, black-and-gray, stingless versions of bees.
The turd was the size of a skink. Someone had shat that out.
"Well, fuck," I quietly grumbled, staring at the giant turd. "This has to be a sign that we won't find anything else today. Girls, let's get out of the Danger Zone and fly home. And wash that mud off on the way there. We will continue to search tomorrow. And after tomorrow, if necessary."
The fourth day trip was the lucky one.
After trudging the ground for *an eternity*, my scout group reached a hill that crossed the forest like a wall. The top of it barely reached the upper fern-tree leaves.
It was covered in tall grass, but from its shape, I realized it must've been a fallen pillar mountain.
'Yeah, the pillar mountains are not stable structures at all. I hope *ours* doesn't fall anytime soon.'
"This is it. We should look around, search for caverns. And be especially careful, girls," I whispered to my squad.
Our team walked along the pillar mountain, and soon enough I heard a distinct low hum in a distance. A buzzing that could mean only one thing.
"They are here!" I mouthed, huddling behind the nearest tree even though there weren't any hornets in sight. "Now. One last repeat—if a hornet spots us, we all fly away as fast as we can until it gets tired. Then we can get to the hive."
My Commando Bees nodded. Their dirt-disguised faces were full of determination.
I shook my head and patted the head of each of them.
If the push came to shove, I feared they would try to protect me, no matter what I said.
'Nectus, don't turn into a sad potato now. No one is going to spot you—all you will do is to peek at a hornet and get the fuck away!'
After psyching myself up, I gestured for my team to follow, and we crept toward the buzzing.
From the cover of leafy bushes, I soon saw a dark pit on the edge of the fallen mountain and the ground. Hornets were flying in and out of it. Several just sat near the entrance, resting or guarding.
They looked even more monstrous than I thought they would be.
Each of them was a 5 meters tall humanoid, with plates of black-and-yellow chitin covering them like full plate armor. Even their faces were mostly covered, leaving open only wide mouths full of shark-like teeth.
Their four hands had claws the length of my finger, and their wide tails carried sword-like stingers.
The hornets zoomed around faster than any bee could. Yes, I could totally imagine a creature like that killing a dozen Warrior Bees and not even getting tired.
Their stats just confirmed their deadliness.
〔Species〕: Murderous Giant Hornet 1
〔Remaining lifespan〕: 52 d
Flight II, Stinger V, Sharp Teeth IV, Claws II, Attack Pheromones, Defense Pheromones
"Oh my god…" I whispered, staring at the abilities list. "Their abilities are just so much better than ours… And their species literally says 'murderous'…"
Then I slapped my mouth. To my relief, the hornets were too far to hear my whispering.
Good! In my world, 30 giant hornets could empty an entire hive of bees to get to the larva and honey. It would be a massacre, even with our weapons.
I gestured my squad to get the fuck away.
Every time I heard a buzzing of wings get closer, I froze in panic—but every time the hornets flew past us. Going to kill more innocent bees for no good reason, definitely.
I relaxed only when I couldn't hear any more buzzing.
"Alright, now we just have to get away from here and back home." I pumped my fist in the air. "You and your sisters will kill them all in that hole of theirs, and then the entire colony will live happily ever after!"
My Commando Bees smiled, showing their teeth, and swung their hammers. Bloodthirsty!
Then I heard approaching buzzing again.
I jolted and stepped into the nearest shadow, with my Commando Bees right next to me.
Together we watched another hornet fly above us—only to slow down and start circling above us.
With a madly beating heart, I waited for her to move past us… but she descended even closer.
There was no doubt—we were found.
With startled gasps, my squad flew away from the hornet as fast as we could—but it was faster, and even more agile!
The hornet immediately gave chase, and the distance between us was decreasing rapidly. Next to me, Commando Bees prepared their hammers for a fight.
Their thoughts of a noble sacrifice were written on their faces.
"Let's try losing her in the thicker forest!" I shouted, maneuvering between the trees.
Here, our smaller size was an advantage. Where our squad could fly between tree trunks, the hornet had to circle around.
For a moment, I hoped we could get away.
Then she just flew above the treeline, following us only a dozen meters above. The wide leaves of fern-trees partially hid the hornet from our sight, but the buzzing of her wings only got closer.
'Shit. Shit! SHIT!! What to do, what to doooo?!'
Based on Asian Giant Hornet. But there's no Asia in another world.