The wildly clothed Ramwill stood out like a sore thumb at the command eting of Malevolence’s army. Bee Empire’s humans gave him dirty looks, and he himself couldn’t stop staring at all the bees flying or sitting around the massive tent where the eting was held.
Seeing this, Malevolence sent a dark glance at Agent Eloquence, who was sitting near her.
It was his idea to invite him here instead of speaking with him separately or through an Agent-proxy. For soone so disloyal, it was too high of an honour in the eyes of both humans and bees.
"Grand Commander, I’m sure this will work out for the better," Eloquence whispered, doubtlessly hearing Malevolence’s thoughts. "Moving Ramwill away from Wildn’s part of the army and placing him near your closest advisers already stopped him from preaching to his people. Soon, he will start forming relationships with other humans, like they are prone to do, and he will be ours."
Malevolence’s eyes only narrowed at that.
So far, Ramwill’s presence has only distracted everyone from the map spread on the ground in the middle of the tent.
The map was drawn by humans on cow-beast skin and was rely a copy of one regularly updated by Chief Commando of Malevolence’s bees. But humans could actually look at it.
Yesterday, the army crossed the crocodile-free river. The water there was shallow enough even for the at-filled carts to travel over, and no water-vulnerable items were soaked in the process.
The path to the mountains was open, and they simply needed to confirm the route toward it and prepare to et people living nearby.
The mountains were the location of Vardish’s current capital city—Ferwall. This area was one of the most populated on the continent at the ti, and Malevolence expected to et more humans than before.
As the commanding officers—both bees and humans—discussed this, Ramwill confird that near the capital, groups of soldiers were still patrolling the roads alongside various rcenaries. Both killed bandits and wild beasts alike, and even tried to burn dangerous plants if they began spreading too quickly.
"’Fool’s errand, I say! Mother-Nature has had enough of their burning. Half the plants there beca impervious to fire, I heard!’ Ramwill says, Grand Commander Malevolence," Agent Eloquence translated. "Oh, Elder Briggs isn’t happy to hear this. But I told him to be silent—his remarks are of no importance."
Malevolence nodded, agreeing.
Elder Briggs was the leader of Eloquence’s humans. Although he was invited to the command eting and could even speak out on it, Malevolence had difficulties rembering his na, just like she forgot the na of her human Lieutenant.
Beemarines were blessed and cursed with a lack of the gene that gave most bees perfect mories. This forced Malevolence to ask other bees for references, but freed her and other Beemarines from much of the insignificant information that would’ve only slowed them down in a battle.
"Ask Ramwill what else he knows about the local plants and soldiers. Will they attack us? Are they impervious to cold as well?"
"He doesn’t know much more about the plants, but the soldiers will attack any ard group that doesn’t carry an official paper that confirms their right to be rcenaries and bounty-hunters. But it will not be a problem for us, Grand Commander! I have a decision already."
Malevolence tilted her head.
"What is it?"
Eloquence smiled.
"My sisters working in Ferwall and its surroundings have marked so vulnerable rcenary companies. One of them should be located just on our way... They surely have the right paper, and we will take it from them."
Malevolence liked how it sounded.
"Good. Then let’s plan a path that leads us right to these humans."
***
When Malevolence’s army returned to the main road they had travelled earlier, they found that it was much more well-maintained than the part they had travelled over earlier.
This allowed them to pick up the pace, although it was still slowed by the need to plant usnea trees in their wake. But to Malevolence’s relief, the local plants really weren’t impervious to cold.
The rumours about fire proved true, though—at so point, bees that gathered wood for campfires returned with so branches that refused to burn no matter how much fire a bee spat on them.
"Find so seeds of these trees and keep the branches," Malevolence instructed the bees that ca to her for a report. "The Industry Adviser back ho will be very interested in them."
Thankfully, there were still other trees that could be used as fuel. Pillar mountains were hard to get living stone out of, but it was reliably unchanging, and humans used it as fuel already.
The army travelled onward for another day without delays or problems. Eloquence’s Agents confird that their target—a small rcenary company patrolling this area—was ahead of them and that the army would reach it before they stumbled into any guards.
But a day before the army was about to et the rcenaries, Eloquence ca to Malevolence with an urging to hurry.
"Grand Commander, your scouts told that there is a large gang of bandits—at least two hundred people!—in the area. The rcenaries we are following will almost inevitably et with them tomorrow, and it will be an unfavourable fight for them. This is our best opportunity to get the patent, but we must hurry before bandits take it or it gets lost in the scuffle!"
After hearing this, Malevolence didn’t hesitate a minute before ordering the army to pick up the pace.
They marched onward faster than before to et the rcenaries before they t the bandits, but the weather played a cruel joke on them again—a night’s storm turned the dirt side-road they had to take into mush.
While bees could easily fly over it, their forts on carts could not. The army could only wait patiently for the carts to get pulled out of the mud.
Were they going to be late for everything?
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