Chapter 131

Kenis, who had been looking at Leonardo with a proud gaze, soon began to report the contents of his patrol with a beaming smile.

"First of all, there were no people within a 3km radius! But about five or six people were approaching this way, then turned northeast and moved away. They didn't seem to be aware of us, but at least a platoon-sized group is gradually gathering, so I think we should be careful."

Leonardo's eyebrows slightly rose.

"At least a platoon-sized group? And your direct seniors weren't among them?"

"Yes, I smelled a bit of my 8th Platoon seniors' scent near the forest by the cave we were at earlier... but seeing that they've all disappeared now, they probably went somewhere else or returned. And at the third spot you told me to go to..."

Quietly listening to Kenis's words, Leonardo slowly nodded his head. He was inwardly amazed. Although the report was disorganized, Kenis had checked everything he had been told to, and his ability to estimate the approximate number and distance of people nearby was truly remarkable.

Looking at Kenis's face as he chattered away, Leonardo thought,

'If this fellow had rejoined the procession, I might have been caught quickly.'

His hearing and sense of smell definitely far exceeded the range of senses a human could possess. Thanks to that, he could tell the direction of targets or monsters to be wary of from afar, providing excellent help in selecting routes to the target point and saving time.

However, because those two senses were quite sensitive, when the target to be detected was very close, within 10m, it seemed a bit difficult for him to accurately judge which direction they were in.

In other words, he smelled too well, so the scent from an excessively close location felt like it was coming from all directions instead.

That was why Kenis couldn't find him right away when Leonardo first discovered him and hid on the ceiling of the structure to ambush Alec.

"But you know that leg you brought, Mr. Blaine, the scent from it was spread all over this area. To the point where I couldn't specify the direction. I think those creatures are gathered in a group around here."

As Leonardo followed Kenis's finger with his gaze, he saw the ilaptor's hind leg thrown next to a low rock. Seeing that, Leonardo's eyes narrowed.

Originally, those creatures that should have shown themselves several times by now didn't appear even once until they passed the middle of the peninsula this time, so he had been thinking it was a bit strange.

So when he saw one suddenly pop out earlier, he thought there would be a few more around this area, but he hadn't expected a large number gathered in a group to the point where the direction couldn't be specified.

While the two were quietly staring at the severed leg of the creature, Alec suddenly walked over from behind with heavy steps, bent his waist, and asked above their heads as they sat.

"Do you know why ilaptors are gathered in this area?"

Kenis, who had turned his head first upon hearing the footsteps, was startled to see Alec's face right in front of him. However, he tried not to show it and opened his mouth.

"Uh..., because there's a nest nearby?"

"Then what would be in that nest?"

Alec smiled brightly and immediately threw another question. Kenis seemed to be thinking of an answer, rolling his eyes, but as nothing readily came to mind, he trailed off.

"Hmm... that's..."

Leonardo, who had also turned his head, discovered Alec's face behind him and frowned, slightly moving away. Alec's gaze, who had been wearing an intrigued smile, now turned towards him. It meant for him to answer instead.

Just as Leonardo, with a displeased face, was about to open his mouth.

Kiaaa—!

The sharp cry of a monster was heard from not far away. Instantly, the gazes of the three people who had stiffened simultaneously turned in that direction. The cry that was heard wasn't close enough to pose an immediate threat, but judging from the somewhat loud sound, it didn't seem too far either.

Leonardo's eyes, scanning the surroundings, turned sharp and his momentum peaked. Alec, who had glanced down at his appearance, relaxed his expression and said with a smile again,

"Let's move for now. I'll tell you as we go."

* * *

Last night, on the way to the mining team with Leonardo alone, Alec Siles had briefly mentioned a large, white egg with a bluish glow.

He said that when he was with the mining team, his position was slightly different from the ordinary miners. Being well-versed in the geography of the peninsula, he was tasked with exploring places likely to have minerals while roaming around with mercenaries capable of dealing with monsters.

Thanks to that, he could wander around skillfully under the guise of searching for minerals, and unlike the ordinary miners who had to submit the entire daily mining yield, the minerals obtained during exploration were not separately inspected, so he could secretly collect minerals little by little.

And what he discovered by chance while wandering around various parts of the peninsula like that was the white egg inside the bag that Leonardo and Kenis had seen.

"Do you know about the ecology of 'bees'?"

Leonardo and Kenis, who had been leading the way while cutting through the dense undergrowth, suddenly turned back at Alec's abrupt question. Then, the two silently looked at each other. The exchanged glances contained the unspoken words, 'He's saying strange things again.'

As Alec started saying useless things after seeming like he would explain the contents related to the second clause, Leonardo ignored his words and swung the ilaptor's leg to remove the branches blocking the path.

As he went forward again, Kenis, who had been pretending to listen out of courtesy, also quietly turned back and advanced, cutting the grass with his sword. However, Alec didn't seem to care much whether they listened or not in the first place, as he followed behind and continued his nonsense.

"You see, bees belong to a very organized colony. So if you take a closer look inside, you can see a much more systematic social system than we humans think. Taking the honeybee colony as a typical example, the queen bee, drones, and worker bees exist as members, and in this group, the queen bee is in charge of laying eggs, the drones are in charge of reproductive organs, and the worker bees are literally in charge of work."

"..."

"Among them, the overwhelming majority are worker bees. Worker bees are divided into nurse bees, who are responsible for attending to the queen bee, raising eggs and larvae, and doing household chores, and forager bees, who are responsible for tasks outside the hive, such as gathering food and fighting against intruders."

Chwak—!

Every time Leonardo swung his arm, the long, hanging vines were cleanly cut and fell. He moved almost mechanically and silently pushed through the rough path.

"The reason they divide roles and form a society like this is to increase their survivability, reproduce safely, and smoothly operate the colony. And if you follow it to the end, you could say that the overall purpose is the prosperity of the colony. For that, bees maintain and protect their hive, and their instincts are designed to be drawn to the pheromones of the queen bee who can lay eggs."

Kenis, who had been listening sporadically as Alec's words were somewhat interesting, thought Leonardo didn't seem to be paying attention at all, looking at his back.

"Now, then, what if we think of the nurse bees as ilaptors and the forager bees as dermocas and other monsters?"

Leonardo's hand, which had been unconsciously raising his arm to strike down the undergrowth, stopped in midair. He turned back and looked at Alec with slightly widened eyes. Seeing his expression, Alec said with a grin,

"Finally showing some interest, huh."

"...What do you mean by that just now?"

Kenis also withdrew the sword he had been striking down and turned back. As two pairs of eyes filled with questions turned towards him, Alec plucked a nearby branch and roughly swept aside the cut grass lying on the ground.

Then, he began to explain while drawing a large circle and small circles on the exposed dirt floor.

"It literally means that in this huge beehive called the Elder Millie Peninsula, ilaptors are taking on the role of nurse bees, and dermocas and the remaining monsters are taking on the role of forager bees. Of course, I can't say it's a perfectly identical system, but the ecology of this peninsula is very similar to the ecology of bees."

Leonardo was momentarily at a loss for words. It took some time for his mind to accept those words because it was a story he had never even thought of.

Eventually, the golden eyes that seemed to have organized it to some extent turned towards Alec. Leonardo asked quite gravely,

"Then, does a queen also exist?"

As soon as the end of his words finished, Alec smiled softly.