The Beemarines saluted.
"Yes, Father!"
All 10 of them walked up to the writhing wasps, while I breathed deeply to not succumb to worry.
This trial was the least of what my daughters will have to go through. An ordinary Warrior Bee could take a wasp one on one with so luck and experience.
Beemarines were tougher than other bees and those wasps were probably still weak from the sleep draught. I expected Beemarines to annihilate them.
'Yep. This won't be much of a fight, so you have nothing to worry about. Those Physicians you told to stay around are an unnecessary precaution.'
I nodded to myself.
'That's right. I *physically* can't worry about every bee in my Empire. I just have to stop worrying when they are right in front of … And I've been doing better with it since the last ti!'
Suddenly, the Beemarines stopped a dozen ters away from the wasps. They exchanged glances and a few whispers.
Then, half of the Beemarines took a step back.
"We won't be fighting, Father."
"What's that, Beemarines?!" Bloodhero shouted. "Why are you going back now?! Don't tell you got scared!"
They didn't look scared at all.
"Girls, what's wrong? I thought you were all eager to fight!"
The 5 Beemarines who stayed closer to the wasps turned to .
"Father, those opponents are too weak to fight us one on one. Even regular Warriors could've done this, and we are better than them. There's no challenge in this battle—only a half of us are necessary to defeat them! So this is what we will do, to show you the extent of our power. If you allow, Father."
The other Beemarines all nodded in agreent.
I gaped at their arrogance.
They were worse than Foren! Even if so of that arrogance was probably founded, they weren't even in a real fight before today!
Next to , Bloodhero was scowling.
"You had your orders, Beemarines! You can't just go against *orders*, dummies!"
Then she leaned closer to and whispered, "Actually, I thought about this myself. But orders are orders!"
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I've visited Beemarines a few tis to watch their training, and I vaguely rembered dropping a few phrases about how they were different from other bees, more special, and how I had high hopes about their help in the future fight against the murder hornets.
They must've heard it and took it too close to heart. Or…
I glanced at Bloodhero.
'She probably was repeating this to them, too. For "battle spirit". I'm *definitely* having a talk with her later.'
For now, I turned to the Beemarines, who have been patiently waiting for my judgnt.
"Bloodhero is right. Orders are orders—on a battlefield, you must follow them like the ultimate law, or the entire army will fall apart and die. Next ti, ask permission from your commander before doing sothing."
Beemarines tensed, but kept silent.
"But if you feel this way, you can fight them like that. Your sisters will be ready to co to your aid either way."
There weren't smiles on Beemarines' faces, but sothing proud and joyful shone in their eyes.
"There will be no need, Father."
The Beemarines approached the wasps.
Seeing their prey and enemies, the wasps beca even more agitated. The plant ropes on them were straining to hold them, and I saw a few threatening to break despite the sheer amount of them.
"Hold still!" a Beemarine nad Breaker shouted, pressing her feet on the chest of a wasp.
Although the wasp was twice as tall as Breaker, the strength in Breaker's foot was enough to push the wasp's face into the ground and keep her there for a mont.
Then Breaker took a stone knife from her belt and swiftly sawed through the wasp's ropes, only nicking the wasp a few tis.
The predator stretched her limbs imdiately and beat her wings, getting up, but Breaker jumped away from her before the wasp could nick her with her claws.
In the anti, other Beemarines freed the rest of the wasps in the sa manner. Those who didn't plan to fight fled to the edges of the cave imdiately after, leaving only 5 of their sisters behind.
5 Beemarines against 10 wasps, each twice their size. Although their movents were still drowsy and not as agile as usual, the sheer size of Beemarines' opponents made recite my self-calming mantras again.
Beemarines didn't wait for the wasps to attack them first.
They raised their hamrs in the right pair of hands and took bolas with their left ones. Bolas were incredibly effective weapons, especially if they could catch the target's wings.
"Classic Warriors' tactics! But it's hard to hit a moving wasp with bolas from over 4 ters away. Spears fly much better," Bloodhero said.
"Surround them! Throw at their backs!" Beemarine Destroyer shouted.
The Beemarines split apart imdiately, flying in the air and making a loose circle around the wasps.
A couple of Beemarines saw their opportunity and imdiately threw their bolas—from 7 ters away.
"They are just going to waste the bolas!" soone in the peanut gallery shouted, only to shut up imdiately.
Each bolas hit the target!
Two wasps went down just like that, screeching sothing incoherent and trying to beat their tied-up, bruised wings. Although each lost a few health points most, for a ti, they were disabled.
But the others, ignoring them entirely, charged at the Beemarines.
"Shit, I forgot how fast those wasps are!" I exclaid.
"Not as fast as Warriors react! Almost always," Bloodhero said.
Despite the lingering drowsiness, they moved with deadly speed. In a blink of an eye, each Beemarine was attacked by at least one wasp.
To my relief, all Beemarines reacted with equal speed, moving away from attacks and countering them with precise blows of their hamrs.
In an instant, three wasps fell from blows to their heads. Blood and brain matter splattered on the ground, to the cheers of the audience.
But most wasps dodged the counterattacks and began flying around, searching for an opening to attack. A deadly dance between them and Beemarines…
"Father, watch out!"
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