I jumped to my feet, alerting Ambrosia and all the bodyguards nearby.
The assassin was standing—by my approximate asurent—a couple of kiloters away from my position. About the sa distance was separating him from the rulers in front—the assassin was standing close to the front of the crowd, but used one of the statues to win himself so free space.
Since the assassin was a massive being, like all humans, even from this far, I could see him in good detail.
I also saw the flintlock pistol the man was pulling out from under his clothing. People near the assassin were too focused on Nectus II and the people nearby to notice the danger.
On the "stage", High King Farini bowed to Nectus II and began his own speech in the Naregan language—if it was the sa one Whisper told he was preparing, then Farini was gratefully accepting the rule of bees.
He was so unaware of the danger...
From just two kiloters, the assassin could easily hit any of the rulers on the stage or Nectus II, even with his primitive pistol! Even if he missed, a gunshot could make people panic and start a stampede.
This would be a PR disaster!
When the news of The Unification Ceremony spread, they had to be as positive as possible to make sure that the actual unification goes smoothly. Ending the event with a stampede or a regicide would be the opposite of that!
"Father?" Destroyer asked from nearby, following my gaze below. "Is that—what are your orders?"
I tried to spot any Agents nearby, but couldn’t. Unlike humans, they were too tiny to be seen from kiloters away!
anwhile, the assassin finished untangling his weapon from his clothing and began aiming. I couldn’t tell whom exactly he was aiming at, but I knew I had to act fast.
There were only seconds left.
"Screw it. I will deal with the consequences later! Amby, Destroyer—prepare, you might be necessary for the damage control," I said, crouching slightly so I could aim my tail and the stinger at the man.
He was standing pretty far away, but he wasn’t moving. With my previous experience at shooting humans in actual battles, I was pretty sure about this shot.
Unlike ordinary guns, my "stinger-gun" was almost silent. With a sharp but quiet whistling sound, the stinger flew toward the target.
〔You deal 85 damage. The target is poisoned.〕
My shot hit true (even if I couldn’t see where exactly)! The assassin dropped his gun and reflexively reached for his face. His jaws opened wide in a scream, but the sound of it was swallowed by the noise of the crows exhilarated by the end of Farini’s speech.
The crowd pushed forward, and the guards had to push them back before they could get too close to the rulers. Sobody pressed into the dying assassin, and within monts, the crowd swallowed him and his last gasps.
My lost stinger had already regrown by this point.
"Phew," I said, taking a step back. Although I wasn’t exerting myself, my heart beat faster than a bee’s wings! This surely gave a fright. "Destroyer, pass the order to the Agents—have them search for any accomplices this man might’ve had. After this is over, we must do a proper investigation. All I had ti to see from this man’s status is that his na is Vitshia Sant."
Right now, I didn’t even know whom this assassin was attacking.
"I will take care of this, Nectus," Ambrosia said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "That man—he was pulling out one of the human guns, wasn’t he? I saw it too. I will make sure that everybody responsible for his presence there is found and disciplined."
I smiled at her, not doubting her for a mont. Amby might not have been an investigator, but she knew how to delegate. She will surely pick the smartest Agents for the task.
"Thanks. Yeah. And I will need to talk with the kings even more after this..."
***
The rest of The Unification Ceremony went without any more serious problems. There were a few incidents that the guards or the Agents had to take care of: pickpockets trying to get coins from the crowd, a small group of people who wanted to loudly protest being in one country with people from Kachi-Chi and so on.
Those who could be cald down with words were cald by Agents, others were pulled away by the guards.
After the speeches were over, servants threw flowers and coins at the crowd. There was a small parade, and another series of speeches in the city’s largest temple, where Nectus II symbolically blessed the new united country and its inhabitants.
Everything to create a festive and ceremonial atmosphere that people will rember and spread the word about.
Then Nectus II had to speak with the protectorate rulers and the important representatives from their delegations. Which ant that I spoke with these people and Nectus II stood nearby and pretended that my thought-voice was coming from inside.
It wasn’t. Nectus II had abysmal visibility from inside, it was much more convenient to hide elsewhere and command it to do gestures when appropriate.
The cha looked not like a person, but like a living statue from the outside. It didn’t do any of the small movents that humans or bees did whenever they talked or moved.
This only added to its "divinity" in the eyes of the onlookers, so all was well.
These ceremonies and conversations ate the rest of the day, and tired out not only but also countless Agents and other personnel.
Only by evening I could finally return to my temporary office, take a large sip of freshly made herbal tea, cuddle with my wife on a seat made from a dozen pillows and ask her about the results of the investigation.
"I’ve asked Adviser Whisper to point at so Agent Bees fitting for this task," Ambrosia began. "They have been talking to humans for half of the day, but they have identified the assassin..."
Reviews
All reviews (0)