Chapter 552: Drone Bees and human males were the same!
A WEEK LATER, MALEVOLENCE SAW THE TALL WALLS OF FERWALL IN THE DISTANCE.
Her army was finally almost near their destination.
For the last week, they have been travelling in disguise—so to speak. This road was patrolled by guards and travelled by traders and farmers from nearby villages that survived despite the harsh circumstances.
Most of the bees hid in the mobile forts when there were humans nearby, with only a few watching from hiding as Ramwill and the recruited mercenaries proved to the guards that they weren’t some bandits.
Showing the heads of bandits was good proof. Malevolence ordered to freeze most of them to prevent rotting illnesses from spreading over the army, but a few were kept unfrozen as a demonstration for humans.
(They were absolutely disgusting by now. Malevolence didn’t want to even think about them.)
Thanks to the mercenary patent and the heads, the road guards didn’t give Malevolence trouble. Although they could’ve been easily defeated by bees—they had no special protection against them—Malevolence knew this would’ve slowed the army down. Some humans could’ve even died, and they were carrying her carts.
When the army stopped for the night’s rest, away from the sight of any humans, the bees planted the usnea trees to the side of the road.
Now they could finally start doing it on a continental scale. While the army still travelled toward the city, Malevolence called a war council.
"Our main task will be to conquer the land itself by spreading the usnea plants as wide as possible. But humans, if left unchecked, will be a problem in that—they will try to attack usnea trees that are deadly to them—so we must conquer them too. Chief Agent, what are your people’s successes with subjugating the Vardish Empire so far?"
Eloquence scowled.
"They are low, Grand Commander. The current Emperor is the son of the Emperor who died two years ago from an illness. He blames the Naregan Kingdom for it—he doesn’t know yet that the Naregan Kingdom became a part of the Bee Empire, but he hates everything he knows about the Naregan Kingdom. He hates bees, and he hates the faith we are usually spreading."
"Can’t we just kill him and replace him with someone who will be obedient?"
"None of them is very obedient. They believe in one god, and it doesn’t fit well with the teachings of Dalmanrach and Father that we spread. My best solution would be to place someone from the cult of Mother-Nature in charge."
Malevolence frowned.
"The one that the Wildmen all talk about? Are there more people who worship it?"
"Yes! But they do it in secret from other humans, because the Vardish Emperor outlawed this faith. Not a problem for us, of course, if we replace the Emperor anyway... But to do it, we need more people to convert to the right faith first. Gather support for the new Emperor. And to pick a good candidate, but this will be simpler."
The fact that the Agents didn’t do it yet meant that this task required more force. Malevolence nodded in understanding.
"What would it need?"
Eloquence smirked.
"Grand Commander, these people’s lives are too good. They have found ways to battle the most common causes of death. They even invented medicines that battle most of their sicknesses! At least until the plants these medicines are made of don’t evolve into something deadly. We must make their lives harder, then offer them salvation! Spread the usnea trees right over their fields, so that they will fear starvation and die trying to gather food for their next meal. Then we will teach the loyal humans how to gather usnea tree fruit. Even help them with that ourselves."
Malevolence smiled a little.
Her opinion of Eloquence just improved immensely!
"I thought you liked humans too much, Chief Agent... But this is clearly not true, and you see them just as I do," Malevolence said. "I will gladly follow this plan, and I’m sure nobody here has objections. Our humans might have them, but I believe you will find a way to pacify them."
Eloquence nodded.
"Definitely."
"Then to other business... It’s time for us to start the first sub-hive. Our Jellybee Queens are unhappy that they have lived so long in forts that don’t have proper places for egg-laying and egg-rearing. Chief Commando, I need your people to scout the area for the best places for a sub-hive. It’s best if they are near rivers, so we can start planting the usnea trees right there."
The Chief Commando nodded, and the rest of the command meeting was spent planning logistics and movement of the army’s forces.
Malevolence decided that part of the recruited mercenaries and her own people of the "right" chitin colour could go to the Ferwall, exchange the bandit heads for coins, and help Eloquence’s Agents spread the belief in Mother-Nature.
Ramwill was going to be one of these people. He was charismatic and truly believed in it. Even if his loyalty was in question, Malevolence could just threaten him some more.
But since humans were akin to beasts, threats weren’t enough alone. In fact, rewards were much more important.
’Keep following our orders faithfully, and you will be given an important position in the human hierarchy,’ Malevolence promised to Ramwill. ’You will be rewarded in proportion to how loyal and useful you are.’
For the sake of this conversation, Malevolence sat on Ramwill’s head and listened to his thoughts, so she heard his response clearly.
’I’ve been nothing but loyal and useful, but the bees didn’t even pay me and the boys any money... Do they even use money—Dammit. I can’t forget that they read my thoughts! But I just want to sleep in a proper bed for once in a generation and get myself a girl!’
A bed and a girl were what the human wanted?
Malevolence should’ve known.
Drone Bees and human males were the same! Absolutely pathetic!
’If this is what you want, you will get it... When you do a good job!’