Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire

A week after Whisper got wounded, Physicians decided that she was looking good enough to do the rest of the recovery in her personal quarters and free the hospital bed for someone else.

"But no work," the Chief Physician warned. "Stay in bed. I will arrange for a hospital Nurse to bring you food."

Whisper nodded obediently, but after being stuck inside the hospital for a week, she wanted to breathe fresh air too much.

Her wounds ached terribly whenever she moved. Even when Whisper flew, her wings pulled muscles in her shoulders that were wounded, bringing her pain.

Despite this, another day later, Whisper flew out of the bees' box and to the roof of the building Farini used as his temporary headquarters. There she sat on rough clay bricks, popular for buildings in this city. A patrol of Beemarines was flying over the other side of the roof, watching out for predators.

By now, it became a final decision that Farini's army won't go anywhere until the temple was built, and the civil war reached a temporary stalemate, or perhaps even a truce. Nobody had the strength to fight each other when they were busy fighting the Flaying Flu.

But the quarantine measures given by Physician Bees at least let Farini protect this city. Every sick person was isolated in the city's outskirts and not let inside, and Beehounds helped to sniff illness on people who hid it to enter the city.

Whisper couldn't see the tents of these sick people, but she could see the roof of the unfinished temple.

By then, it was almost finished, and other humans were already painting and decorating the lower parts of the temple.

Whisper relaxed and enjoyed the fresh breeze hitting her face. It brought scents of the city to her antennae: humans, their animals, their food, their dung, freshly cut grass, and a myriad others.

The breeze blew from another direction, bringing new scents.

The scent of danger!

Whisper jolted, looking in the breeze's direction. The roof looked empty, but there were many cracks and crevices where parts of the bricks broke.

From one of them, a hornet crawled out. The hole she hid in was large enough to hide her fully, and if not for this breeze, Whisper wouldn't have noticed the silent monster until it got even closer.

Her face looked gaunt from hunger, but her antennae were unerringly pointed at Whisper.

She made a step toward Whisper and became close enough that Whisper heard her thoughts.

'The scent… This scent. Revenge. Hungry… Will eat and have revenge.'

Revenge? No way!

'Sisters, help! At your back—a hornet!' Whisper messaged to the Beemarine patrol she saw earlier.

By now they flew farther and were a good hundred meters away from Whisper's position. At Whisper's call, they turned around and immediately flew to her aid.

They were fast, but the next events happened even faster. A hornet needed two steps to cross the rest of the distance to Whisper.

She pounced, and Whisper, recalling the last fight and the rage she felt, shouted at the monster telepathically as loudly as she could.

'AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!'

The hornet stumbled mid-step and landed on her face right at Whisper's feet. Whisper immediately reached for her dagger—but staggered from pain when the sharp movement pulled on her wounds.

The hornet jumped to her feet and lunged.

Whisper staggered back, narrowly avoiding her head being bitten off, and sprawling on the ground.

The help was still far away…

'Revenge! Prey!'

A thought flashed in Whisper's hands and her hand reached for a vial she almost forgot she carried on her. As the hornet's enormous mouth opened above her, Whisper threw the vial right into it.

The hornet snapped her teeth by reflex and flinched when the sharp glass shattered in her mouth. A strong, honey-like scent poured out of the hornet's mouth together with her blood.

She stepped away from Whisper, looking around in a daze. Her thoughts, what Whisper could hear of them, all became jumbled.

Her own, too.

Whisper's wounds hurt so much again! Her stitches probably reopened because of this scuffle!

Why… Why was she fighting her sister, anyway?

Whisper looked at the giant bee standing next to her, but she looked just as confused as Whisper.

"Oh, sister. Your mouth is bleeding! You should probably go to a Physician," Whisper said. "Shit, I… I should go there too…"

She wasn't sure she had the strength to do it.

"Sister… wound… hungry… I will help. I will carry the sister to rest," the giant bee said and stepped toward Whisper.

The approaching loud buzzing caught Whisper's attention, and she saw more bees flying closer—right, the patrol she asked to help! With… a fight. Right, the fight! Against the hornet, who wasn't there anymore. She must've gone away. Stealthy evolved bitches…

"Agent Whisper!" the Sergeant Beemarine shouted. "Get away, we will deal with the rest!"

Whisper smiled at them and tried to wave her hand, only to wince.

"Forget it! The hornet had already escaped. I must've scared her to death!"

The Beemarines landed in a circle around the giant bee, who looked at them with confusion.

"What are you talking about? She's… damn, where is she? Agent Whisper, and you—," the Sergeant pointed at the giant bee. "Someone should help you get to the field hospital. The rest will search the area for the hornet!"

And that's how three Beemarines and a giant bee that carried Whisper in her arms flew to the bees' camp, surrounded by the honeyed scent that was gradually weakening, but still stayed thick.

If bees had weaker nerves, at least a dozen would've fainted from shock.

In an instant, an entire swarm surrounded Whisper's group, all of them pointing weapons at the giant bee—only for the front rows to quickly lower them.

"A hornet! A hornet grabbed the Hero Whisper!"

"What hornet? That's a bee! How can you mistake them?"

"What bee? What hornet? What—"

Suddenly, a pair of Oracles moved through the swarm. Their antennae were covered in thick cloth.

"Please, calm down. There's an explanation for all of this!"