Chapter 56: Fury
The sound of tapping on the window frame clearly echoed inside the room. “Who’s there!” a guard called out, but there was no reply.
The guard knight drew his longsword, leaned against the wall as he approached, then quickly reached for the window and threw it open.
He looked around the window and its surroundings, but upon seeing a corpse lying just below, he cried out.
“Earl-sama! Below… there’s something… like a corpse.”
These words marked the beginning of the great uproar at Earl Lingan’s residence.
“Guards! An intruder has entered!”
“It’s an emergency summons! Wake up anyone who’s resting!”
“Secure the Earl-sama’s surroundings! You, go down and check that thing out!”
In the previously silent Earl’s residence, lights were lit in every room, and every nook and cranny of each room was searched for suspicious individuals.
A thorough search was conducted, including outside the mansion, the garden, and the small forest.
Meanwhile, the corpse found beneath the window was recovered and carried to a corner of the training grounds. It was reported that its arms were broken, the fingers of both hands and feet crushed, and its Achilles’ tendons and elbow tendons severed, indicating it had been tortured before being killed.
The paper scrap found clasped in its fingers was presented, but the written message made them tilt their heads in confusion.
“But who is this guy?”
“Why was he placed beneath the Earl-sama’s office?”
“And after torturing him, they even went to the trouble of slitting his throat.”
“They probably carried him in a Magic Pouch, but how did they sneak into the residence?”
“Found anything?”
“Captain, well, he’s stark naked, and it looks like he was tortured. What do you suppose that scrap of paper means?”
“If he was dumped here, he’s likely someone connected to the Earl’s household. Have the City Guard and knights identify him. If they can’t, show him to the servants too.”
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“Earl-sama, this is the paper that was clasped in the corpse’s fingers.”
One of the knights presented the paper scrap, but the Earl, with a disgusted look, ordered his butler, “Read it.”
The butler took the paper with his fingertips as if it were something unclean and looked at it. It contained only the sentence: [Beware of what’s above your head]. Above your head… that man, he thought, his complexion changing.
The man who had once flooded this very room with Killer Bees, and who, just the other day, had caused the deaths of knights at the Adventurers Guild.
“What is it, Deios?”
“M-My Lord, th-this…”
The Earl twisted his body away from the paper scrap the butler offered and ordered, “Read it!”
“‘Beware of what’s above your head,’ it says. I will go confirm the corpse from earlier.”
The Earl’s two sons and the guard knights watched with surprised expressions as the butler rushed out of the office without even waiting for his master’s permission.
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“Show me the corpse!”
“Butler-dono, what is the matter?”
“Just do it! Show me the corpse’s face!”
Ordered by the butler, they guided him to where the corpse lay in a corner of the training grounds.
When he lifted the tattered cloth covering the corpse, a familiar face, though contorted in agony, was revealed.
“He must have incurred considerable resentment. His arms were broken, the fingers of his hands and feet crushed, and on top of that…”
“That’s enough! Dispose of it without letting anyone else see.”
The people there watched curiously as the butler, his face pale, cut off the knight’s explanation and turned back.
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The butler burst into the office without knocking, hurried to his master’s side, and whispered in his ear, “That corpse was Lukzen.”
Upon hearing this, the Earl’s complexion changed.
“Father, did you find out something? Father!”
“Silence! Be quiet! Did that man fail?”
“My Lord, your voice is too loud.”
“All of you, get out! Everyone, get out of this room!”
“Father, what’s wrong?”
“Noisy! I said be quiet and get out!”
Leaving the pale-faced Earl and butler behind, the sons and knights exited the room.
“Why did he fail? Didn’t I order a long-range attack with bows?”
“Yes, I instructed Lukzen to use skilled archers without telling him about the bees. Lukzen shouldn’t have died unless that man was killed first.”
“But he died, and his corpse was brought here.”
“Does ‘Beware of what’s above your head’ refer to the Killer Bees, then?”
“Arrest him for Lukzen’s murder.”
“That is far too unreasonable. I ordered the attack to take place outside of town, so there are no witnesses. We cannot charge that man with a crime.”
“Then shall we shoot him dead in the middle of the town?”
“Other than Lukzen, there are no tight-lipped, trustworthy men.”
“Then what do we do? If we’re attacked by Killer Bees, we won’t survive!”
“For the time being, our only option is to burn insect repellent incense in this room, fill it with smoke, and barricade ourselves in.”
“Are you saying we should barricade ourselves in until that man dies?”
“No, perhaps you could temporarily reconcile, and My Lord could relocate to the Royal Capital?”
“Are you telling me to flee?!”
“If that man is merely controlling them, there might be a way. However, if he is protected by the Tamer God’s Divine Protection…”
“What do you mean, ‘if he is protected’?”
“If it is truly the Tamer God’s Divine Protection, then even if that man dies, there is no guarantee the Killer Bees will not attack.”
“You didn’t say such a thing back then!”
“It was due to my ignorance.”
With the one-armed butler bowing his head deeply, the Earl was speechless.
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After a day, I jumped over the wall late at night, infiltrated the town, and hurried towards the Earl’s residence.
I climbed a tall tree behind the mansion, hung up an improvised stretcher as a makeshift hammock, and slept.
At dawn, I scouted for movement within the residence. Security was tight, but they weren’t paying any attention to the tall tree where I was hiding.
Their security posture seemed focused on the building’s perimeter and interior.
The guards around the building patrolled in groups of three, sometimes accompanied by a few knights, so I decided to tease them.
《Bee-chans, are you there?》
《Master, what is it, what is it?》
《We’re here, Master!》
《Did you call for us~?》
《Could only the ones who answered come here?》
《Okay~!》
《Coming~!》
《What are we doing~♪》
《Just a little sting.》
《We’ll do it, we’ll do it! We’ll sting them lots and lots~♪》
《No, no, it’ll be a problem if you sting them that much. How about you go first?》
《Which one, which one? Who do I sting!》
《Sting one of the humans over there. Once you sting them, leave immediately.》
《Okay~, I’m off~!》
“I don’t know what happened, but everyone’s on edge, huh?”
“I heard there was an intruder.”
“Shouldn’t we be guarding the forest behind and outside the fence, not just around the building?”
“Probably, but it’s the Knight Captain’s orders.”
“Ouch!”
《Kyahahahaha!》
“It’s a Killer Bee! It’s coming again!”
《I’m gonna sting ’em again~!》
《Bee-chan! Stop stinging and go up!》
《Ehh~, Master, just one more time, no?》
《No!》
Good grief, it’s troublesome when some of them are so aggressive.
The next group of guards that appeared had three knights with them, so I called for reinforcements and asked them to sting the knights four or five times each.
《Here we go~!》
《Leave it to us~!》
“Owowowow!”
“What the? It huuurts!”
“Bees! Run!”
“Wait for me—!”
The knights who abandoned their fallen comrades and fled, and the guards who ran away to avoid being stung.
Two knights remained fallen, but no one came to help them.
After a while, guards who were comically bundled up in thick clothing appeared and dragged away the two fallen knights.
“Reporting, sir. It seems those guarding around the mansion were attacked by bees.”
“Attacked by bees, you say?”
“Yes, sir! At first, only one person was stung, but then the knights and the guards on duty were attacked by Killer Bees. It appears two of them are still down.”
“Deios, is this his doing? Or is it the Tamer God’s wrath?”
“I cannot say for sure yet, but there is no doubt we have incurred his anger. Whether this incident is a coincidence, his anger, or perhaps the Tamer God’s wrath, is still unknown.”
《Master, what are you doing?》
《We called everyone!》
《They’re saying Master is angry!》
《We’ll help out~!》
Ach, why are so many gathering when I didn’t even call them?
《Don’t come near me! Fly around that house over there!》
《Is this a house?》
《There’s something inside!》
《Oooh, it’s humans!》
“M-My Lord! Outside the window…”
Urged by the butler, the Earl looked at the window and saw several Killer Bees flying about.
Some were hovering as if peering inside through the windowpane, and their numbers were rapidly increasing, the buzzing of their wings becoming audible.
“The windows! Don’t open the windows! Tell them not to open any windows in the mansion! Tell them never to open any windows or doors!”
Oh boy, if they all gather where I’m hiding, I’ll be found out.
Mii-chan was trembling and had burrowed into my breast pocket, refusing to come out.
Number 2 and Number 3 were hiding in the bushes, saying things like, 《Master, there are so many Bees, we can’t get out~》.
After confirming there was no one around the mansion, I jumped down, then immediately did a full-power Jump towards the mansion’s rooftop.
On the roof, I prepared some sliced meat and spread it out.
《Everyone, thank you. I’ve laid out some meat, so eat up and then return to your nests.》
《Meat~♪》
《Master’s meat is delicious meat~》
《Master, thank you.》
《My meat~》
While Bee-chan and the others were distracted by the meat, I quickly climbed back up the original tree and decided to wait for nightfall.
“The number of Killer Bees is decreasing!”
“If we were attacked by those things, there’d be nothing we could do.”
“Did you see those guys who were attacked at the Adventurers Guild?”
“I heard they had terrible expressions, probably from the pain of the poison.”
“Is it them? Something about them being the escorts of the Adventurer who came to this mansion before?”
“Can a Tamer even control Bees?”
“Apparently, if you displease that Adventurer or try to harm them, the Bees will attack.”
“What a troublesome Adventurer.”
“So, did you anger that Adventurer?”
“I wouldn’t know. It seems they angered them the other day, but a lot of time has passed since then.”
“What the heck, so you don’t know anything then?”
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“Danna-sama, the Bees, the Killer Bees are leaving!”
“Even if the Bees are out of sight, don’t open the windows!”