The Butterfly's Gift and the Swarming Hive
The bug thought, 'Our Ricoris seems like a genius.' Savoring the honey that carried a heavenly flavor, it reflected on the matter. Even ordinary monsters, and even drakes that were a subspecies of dragons, couldn't do what our Ricoris had accomplished. Forming a heart with its roots to express emotions, and even making gestures that seemed to offer the flower nectar. At first, it had been dismissed as mere coincidence, but this was clearly intelligence.
'For a plant to possess this level of cognitive ability...' In all the thousands of years it had lived and all the monsters it had witnessed, there had never been one so special. Perhaps it was a hidden child of the World Tree. Once again, it felt certain that its choice had not been wrong.
Watching Frostia Lunaaris approach from afar with elegant wingbeats, a smile curved at the corners of its mouth. The wings, as if carved from blue crystal, sparkled like an aurora whenever they caught the light, and the silver antennae trembled faintly as they detected the scent of flower nectar in the air.
To fly here so fearlessly even though I'm present. Does it want this honey that badly?
'Well, if it's a butterfly, once it tastes Ricoris's honey, it won't be able to pull away.'
Ricoris could be seen raising its black roots. When it had tried to eat more honey earlier, the roots had pushed its hand away. At first it had offered it willingly, yet now it was trying to block the butterfly again. The thought of a small commotion breaking out on this peaceful snowy mountain brought a smile to its lips.
Soon it felt Ricoris studying its expression. Then the roots slowly lowered. The gesture was clear—reluctant, almost resigned, as if it couldn't refuse. 'As expected, it really is a genius.'
The earlier momentum to block the butterfly had vanished completely. Now it spread its petals wide in a posture that seemed to say, 'Welcome, please enjoy it deliciously.' Its loyalty and obedience toward it were so perfect.
When the butterfly began eating the honey with evident delight, Ricoris brought the tip of its root to the honey. It looked as if it wanted to taste its own honey. 'How cute...'
Watching Ricoris like this warmed a corner of its chest. It wanted to hurry and show this lovable being off to Nis. But for now, to both it and Nis, Ricoris was merely an adorable lifeform. To proudly boast of it as a subordinate, it would need powerful combat strength as well.
'I need to gather more blood.'
By now, nearly all the high-ranking monsters in the Sia Kalt Labyrinth had been wiped out, so there was no quality blood left. It considered sweeping a nearby human city, but then remembered Ricoris's connection to Michael and set the idea aside.
'Hmm...'
While it was still pondering, the butterfly that had finished the honey flew toward the sun hanging in the sky above. The sun, huh.
'That's right... If it's the blood of Blaze Gargan, it should grow quite a bit, right?'
It decided to go hunt the lion monster known as the Sun of Calamity—one of the highest-tier S-rank monsters in terms of danger. There weren't many strong monsters on the snowy mountain anyway, and Ricoris seemed much stronger now than when it had first brought it here, so it should be fine to step away for a while.
'Ah... Thank goodness.'
The stimulation from the butterfly's long, slender proboscis sucking the honey was incomparably weaker than Master's touch. At this level, it could endure it easily. In fact, it even felt a little ticklish.
The butterfly fluttered its transparent sky-blue wings as if in a good mood while drinking the honey. Each time, sparkling blue powder scattered from the wingtips and danced away on the cold winds of the snowy mountain. It was a scene like a fairy sprinkling magical dust.
'It's enjoying it so much... Is it really that delicious?'
Suddenly, curiosity stirred. It was strange that it had made the honey yet didn't know its own taste. It stealthily lifted one of its pitch-black roots and absorbed some of the honey.
'...Huh? It doesn't taste like anything?'
It was disappointing. No, it seemed it couldn't taste it at all. Was this because it was a plant...? It felt a bit upset that Master and the butterfly liked it so much while it couldn't taste anything.
That was when it happened. The butterfly, having drunk its fill, suddenly lifted its rear on top of its petal.
'Ugh!? Wait, no way...!?'
That suspicious posture was incredibly alarming! 'Is it going to poop on my head!?'
In its panic, it was about to swing a root to chase it away when a single sparkling blue egg fell from the butterfly's rear.
☆? Egg LV1
'Oing?'
Though very small, the egg was perfectly round and transparent like a sapphire. Within the softly glowing blue light, it seemed a tiny spark of life resided.
The butterfly that had laid the egg fluttered away leisurely into the sky over the snowy mountain, as if leaving behind a precious gift.
'This is... an isekai cliché!'
Its heart began to pound. In isekai stories, the standard was for the protagonist to obtain a dragon or divine beast egg, raise it, and have an absurdly powerful creature hatch to become a companion. The butterfly from earlier had been a high-ranking monster with five stars and a level of 102. The question mark on the star might mean it could become a seven-star or six-star like Master. Since its mother had five stars, it would be at least five-star! The butterfly that hatched from this egg would surely become an incredible being, right?
While it was swelling with anticipation, Master spoke with a mysterious smile.
Then it began walking gracefully toward the summit of the snowy mountain.
'Uh... What?'
'It can't be releasing it just like this... right?'
It was watching Master's retreating figure with an uneasy heart when the powerful dragon's oppressive presence vanished. As if on cue, various bug-type monsters began gathering one by one.
'Ugh... So gross... What should I do...? Should I kill them?'
Most of them were around level 30. It could clean them up easily, but the experience points wouldn't even register. The crystal beetles had transparent, crystal-like shells that sparkled in the moonlight, and the frost moths' wings were beautifully embroidered with frost crystals. The blizzard hornets carried sharp blue ice stingers befitting their wasp nature, and the hyperborean ants moved in orderly swarms with bodies that glittered like white snow. The isis flies were beautiful butterflies, though they looked a bit plain—like the pre-evolution form of the frost lunaris it had seen earlier.
There were so many that they looked gross, but individually they were rather pretty. 'These guys don't seem to have any intention of harming me...'
They were monsters that had come voluntarily after smelling the honey scent. This might actually be an opportunity.
'That's it! Should I turn them into my underlings?'
Having made up its mind, it spread its petals and offered honey. The bugs swarmed in as if they'd been waiting. It should have stopped the frost lunaris from taking any! Late regret washed over it, but looking at the egg on its petal, it resolved to raise this one properly.
…Time passed, and now dozens of bug monsters had completely surrounded it on all sides. The crystal beetles rested comfortably on its petals, the frost moths and isis flies perched on its stem and fluttered their wings, the blizzard hornets flew around the perimeter as if on guard and marking territory, and the hyperborean ants stood in neat ranks around its roots.
'Ooh... This actually feels pretty good?'
'Hungry.'
One blizzard hornet gazed at the red flower beyond the countless monsters that had gathered after catching the sweet honey scent.
'Honey. Want to eat.'
But the area around the flower was already packed with monsters that had claimed their spots. The crystal beetles' hard shells, the swarming hyperborean ants, the cold wingbeats of the frost moths and isis flies. They were all stronger than it. Even the sharp stinger of the blizzard hornet that had arrived first showed no mercy to its own kind.
'Hurts. Don't like.'
It tried to squeeze in a little, but was quickly pushed back out. A simple thought occurred to it: this wouldn't work.
'Hunt. Get stronger. Then come back.'
Gazing at the cold snowy mountain, the blizzard hornet spread its wings. It vowed that next time it would return stronger and taste that sweet honey.
'Ugh... I didn't expect so many to gather...'
The bugs that had come looking for honey had completely surrounded it, filling the area all the way into the distance. The honey that it had offered little by little at first now flowed out naturally. Had it gotten used to making honey? The Flower Nectar skill had somehow risen to level 8.
The number exceeding several hundred was a bit overwhelming, but this was the first time it had ever received such popularity, so it didn't feel bad. In its previous life, it had never been the center of attention from so many people. Even if the attention came from bugs rather than humans, the more it looked at them, the more attached it felt.
Just then, it saw a wasp trying to approach but giving up and turning away.
'Even though it's a four-star monster...'
It had four-star potential, but because its level was still low, it couldn't squeeze through the other monsters and had to turn its body the other way. It looked pitiful. But right now, it didn't have time to worry about that.
'What should I do with these guys?'
Bug monsters filled every space around its petals, stem, and roots. Leaving them like this felt excessive, but driving them away felt like a waste. And when Master returned, it needed something impressive to show...
'Should I test my skills?'
It should use the Pollen Temptation that had gathered monsters in the middle layer again. It could leave the gathered monsters to these bug buddies to raise, and when stronger ones came, it could experiment with new skills and take care of them itself.
'Kids, make some room.'
It shook its long purple stamen vigorously and scattered pollen with force.
'Temptation! Temptation! Temptation!'
MP : 817/1,344
Perfect! An enormous amount of mana had been consumed, but with these gross numbers of bug buddies and its own level of 140, there was nothing to fear.