"Father, what have you called us for? I thought the next eting was only in two days," Tabletina asked. "If this is about the mites, then be calm—I'm absolutely sure that only a few bees were infected, and they didn't carry the mites to our brood cells."
I looked my Advisers over. They all stared at expectantly.
I chuckled and scratched my cheek.
'There really wasn't that much reason to call *the entire Council* instead of just Bloodhero. Perhaps I was overly excited about this. But…'
"Expansion! We can finally improve not just in quantity, but in quality of *everything*! There will be more hands to gather food, and more food, and we will be able to sustain an even larger population… Because we will have tal! At least, if this report is accurate."
I waved the tablet with the report in the air, then turned outside.
"Attendants, have you found the scout already? Let her in when you do!"
"She's already there, Father," I heard from outside.
A mont later, a young-ish Sergeant Commando Bee nad Watcher entered the Council Chamber and saluted.
Although she had a reserved expression common for Commando Bees, Watcher was eying and the Council with sothing between curiosity and awe.
To think about it, she probably only saw us in passing before. Hive Supremo was really growing large, not to ntion the entire Bee Empire. But Watcher was definitely my daughter, not one of my granddaughters from the sub-hives.
"Father, Advisers. You wanted ?"
"Did your squad really find it, Watcher?" I imdiately asked, looking Watcher over. "tals?"
Watcher shrugged, looking at her feet.
"Maybe."
Bloodhero frowned at her.
"Maybe? Is that how you make reports, soldier? Speak in detail!"
Watcher stood straighter.
"Sorry. Those were so shiny rocks, just like our Chief explained. My squad took so."
She reached into a leather pouch on her belt. All Advisers got closer as she opened it and produced a few small nuggets.
I gasped.
They were a little dirty, and the color was much duller than I could rember—but this was definitely it.
"Watcher… Watcher, you've struck gold!"
"Gold! That's a tal!" Things-Things looked at the thing with palpable greed. "We can make so many amazing things out of tals… Tools that can dig through mountains, right, Father?"
"Right," Researchina said before I could. She hid her emotions better, but she was staring at the gold just as intently. "The Researchers that have been working with the builders and diggers in Hive Hornet's Nest made a lot of progress in strengthening underground tunnels, but only those that were dug through soft ground."
"Actually, I'm not even sure that gold is soft enough to make a decent pickaxe, but I already know so good things it can be used for!" I said, taking the gold nuggets from Watcher with one hand and patting her head with another. "Like nails! We will finally have furniture—isn't this amazing? Now tell , where did you find it? Your report was terribly short on details!"
It was literally just a couple of lines telling that Watcher and her squad found "maybe tal". This wasn't uncommon when bees wrote in a hurry or didn't have a lot of wax on hand.
"We found it in a hornets' nest."
My hand froze on top of Watcher's head. She looked up at , and I couldn't tell if she was acting shy or cold.
"Huh?"
"My squad was scouting the area and stumbled upon it. We noted the position and prepared to leave, when Knife-103 noticed sothing shining near the nest. I ordered to steal the shiny things, but we were spotted later. Four of my team mbers have been killed. I've already requested a demotion for this mistake. Although the Commando who alerted the hornets wasn't , I'm responsible for her, especially since she's dead."
My good mood plumted.
It was a testant to the advancents among our people that out of a squad of 11, only 4 were killed in this encounter. But it was never *not* sad when my daughters died. And now their living sister was blaming herself for it.
I let out a heavy sigh, gave Watcher—who showed little reaction either way—one last headpat and stepped away.
I didn't even know what to say. And Watcher looked so indifferent…
"Thank you for your headpats, Father. I don't deserve them," she suddenly added.
It was like a spark to the tinder of my spirit!
"Nonsense! All my daughters deserve headpats!" I shook my head vigorously. "And in the end, you have returned to alive to bring your report. You can take a demotion if you like—being a Sergeant is just extra responsibility—but don't call yourself undeserving!"
Ambrosia nodded.
"Nectus is right, Commando Watcher. That, and your report might improve and save more lives in the future than were lost while you delivered it. Now, tell us where you found that tal."
Soon, a new resource deposit was added to the map. It was almost an entire day of flight away—but the hornets' nest was a bigger problem.
"We can just burn it! Like all of them!" Workharder exclaid.
Normally, I'd gladly agree. The forests here were so wet, that I wasn't even afraid of forest fires. However…
"Watcher, describe again how that place looked like."
"It was in a rockier area than we live in. There were fewer pillar mountains around, and more rocks on the ground. The trees were drier and more sparse, too…"
"Earth in this place curved unusually—like soone cut a piece of a hill. I could see layers of different colors within. There was a lot of ground and rock of different colors, not like ones in pillar mountains. And there was a cave in there, where hornets made their nest."
"The tal things were shining in so of these layers, and on the ground a little. There were also layers that looked like clay and sand, and just black ones like dark soil."
I nodded again, more thoughtfully.
"Thank you, Watcher. You see, I *hope* we can just burn this nest. But I'm afraid that there are so things that will make it a very dangerous idea…"
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