Chapter 560: Not with a bang, but with a whimper
His Majesty Lausel Vidiminni was trying to escape through a secret passage, but the lever that opened it was stuck, and the pudgy man was just grunting as he tried to pull it down.
At the sight of invaders, he jolted and shouted, "Guards! Where are you! Help!". His wife, who was huddling behind his back, ran behind a large sofa and began whispering pleas to spare her at least.
Then Ramwill dashed at Lausel and hit him in the jaw hard enough to break a mandible and knock the man out.
His men whooped in approval, and the reign of the Vidiminni dynasty was over.
***
After this, things began happening really quickly. The bees spread their invisible fingers all over the city in what felt like the blink of an eye.
From seemingly nowhere, some government officials and nobles began bowing their heads and swearing loyalty to Ramwill, although he was an usurper in the eyes of most of them. He still had to execute the most dangerous people—including the former emperor—but much fewer of them than he thought it would take.
Common folk already supported him, but they supported Ramwill even more when he explained how the usnea plant could be cultivated and its berries harvested without freezing the farmer.
Several city temples were converted to the belief of Mother-Nature, and when her bee-pixies began showing themselves openly to people inside, bestowing wisdom and small miracles, people accepted them.
After all, not accepting them was now an offence punishable by law. Ramwill didn’t forbid the old faith, but it was only because of Explanatory’s advice.
He knew that the guard of bees was the only thing that kept his hide whole now that countless nobles wanted to make holes in it. Malevolence even wouldn’t need to sting him personally! So Ramwill did what he could to advance the bees’ goals and stay on their good side.
It also helped that, despite coming through all the turmoil, the city of Ferwall was coming out better from this coup. The more bees appeared in the city, the cleaner it began to feel. They were purging it from all kinds of parasites and pests, street by street.
And then...
’You have a good position here, in Ferwall. But remote regions of the empire wouldn’t like hearing about a rise as sudden and violent as yours. There are other nobles there who might start thinking that, since you are an usurper, they don’t have to follow you. Of course, the food monopoly will help you keep them under control... But you must appease them with something less... harsh. Ramwill-human, you will marry Geoffia Vidiminni.’
’What?! This is the former emperor’s wife!’
She wasn’t the prettiest, the youngest, or someone with a good personality either. Since her husband’s death, she was put on house arrest, which Geoffia never protested.
The death of her kids from a wave of plagues a couple of years earlier surely didn’t help her overall melancholy.
This was the last kind of person Ramwill would’ve married. He wanted someone plump and lively, like the whores he uplifted to his concubines...
’Oh, nobody tells you to abandon your concubines. Everybody knows that males can only think of mating when they don’t have a mate. And when they have a mate, they think of mating half the time...’ Eloquence giggled in Ramwill’s head. ’And human males are only marginally better. But you WILL marry this woman.’
So Ramwill did.
But he couldn’t bring himself to have a wedding night with her... Not that anyone cared.
***
MALEVOLENCE WAS GLAD TO HEAR THE NEXT REPORT FROM HER SUBORDINATES.
"So the mere thought of me makes this human scared, Agent Eloquence? Great. This is how it should be with all humans." Malevolence smiled. "And the Ferwall is ours, which means that the entire Vardish Empire will soon be. When the reinforcements that Father sent to us arrive, they should formally join their countries with the Bee Empire."
Eloquence nodded.
"Since the reinforcements won’t even reach this continent’s shores for another two weeks at least... Sure!"
"What is our progress in other places?" Malevolence asked her Chief Commando.
Since the conquering of the Ferwall, bees and humans could not only pass the usnea fruits downriver without a problem, but they could also put usnea fruits in the river right there. There were entire fields of usnea fruits right now, maintained by humans and bees together.
"All according to schedule... We should be able to speed up soon with the extra usnea fruit production. No strong enemies."
"Grand Commander, something else to report," Eloquence spoke up. When Malevolence turned to her, the Agents smiled and continued. "Some of our gardeners who worked alongside humans came up with a new method of growing usnea trees that allows humans to do it without the help of bees at all. I was wondering if we should allow them to keep it or do something to get rid of it."
Malevolence frowned.
Until now, humans have always needed at least some cold-immune bees to work with usnea trees. They could harvest berries, but very carefully to not freeze themselves, since even warm clothing didn’t help from the aura of usnea trees.
If a grove of the usnea trees grew too large, humans couldn’t approach the trees in the centre of it to gather the fruits, rendering them useless. So bees made sure that the usnea trees grew in narrow rows, which humans could harvest.
"How do they do it?"
"It’s the scythes, Grand Commander. Instead of taking only the fruit, humans came up with the idea to use scythes to cut down the entire tree, then pick it up safely. They harvested other crops in the same way in the past. Of course, the usnea trees will have to be replanted, but since they grow so fat, this method still gathers a lot of fruit! And they get usnea wood as a byproduct, which they can use as a fuel or a material."
Malevolence had to admit that this was very effective. She hated it when humans were more effective than bees.
"Can we ask Father what he thinks?"