Tamae and Brukk returned to the city of Chillg. When they arrived, they saw large groups of demi-humans gathering. Not just ten or twenty, but nearly a thousand demi-humans—each one a soldier of the kingdom.
Seeing this, Tamae and Brukk exchanged glances.
"Why are they here?" Brukk asked.
He looked into Tamae's eyes, hoping she would provide an answer. But Tamae only shook her head. She didn't know either. As a Reserve General, she should've received a notice.
But there was nothing. Let alone their purpose, she didn't even know who was leading this force.
"How could you not know? Aren't you—"
Brukk quickly turned his head away after receiving Tamae's sharp glare. She hated being pressured, especially when it made her feel inferior. It was an insult. If the situation weren't so confusing, Tamae would've punished Brukk right then and there.
"Let's go. We need to return home immediately," she said.
Brukk nodded. They sprinted toward the city ruler's residence. That was where they could get a definite answer about what was going on.
The royal army wouldn't be deployed in such massive numbers without a critical reason. Something was definitely happening—something far bigger than it appeared on the surface.
A sense of unease crept into their chests, but their feet didn't stop. Whatever awaited them ahead, they had to find out… before it was too late.
"Could this be related to the Ant Bees?" Tamae shook her head. "No. That must not happen. It would be a disaster for Chillg."
Just imagining it made her hands tremble.
***
Elsewhere, Alvaric was sitting. He remained relaxed, not feeling there was anything to be concerned about. Just a few minutes ago, he was still asleep. When he woke, food was already prepared. He didn't have to do a thing. Everything was taken care of by the Ant Bees.
Even if he felt too lazy to feed himself, the Ant Bees gladly took on the role of his hands, helping him eat. To them, it was an honor.
Alvaric almost let them do it, but Niva shot him a sharp glare. That made him feed himself.
"Any news from them?" Alvaric asked.
"Sir, they only left an hour ago. There's no way they could be back already," Niva replied.
Alvaric nodded repeatedly. "Ah, you're right."
He stood up. Life like this was comfortable, but Alvaric was starting to feel bored. He wasn't doing anything—just sitting, daydreaming, lying down, and sleeping. Nothing that broke a sweat. Eventually, he stood and walked toward a quiet corner.
Niva noticed and felt relieved that her master wasn't just lazing around like before. In her eyes, her master had become like a lazy pig, and it was honestly annoying. Especially that smug expression he often wore.
"Good. At least he's training again."
One thing still bothered Niva. It had to do with what Alvaric had told the envoy from Chillg before. The idea still frightened her—if an attack did come.
She had inherited memories from her ancestors about demi-humans, and some of them were incredibly powerful. Her ancestors had even been defeated by them a few times. And yet, the Prince of the Ant Bees was a special monster with tremendous power.
They weren't supposed to be defeated by ordinary demi-humans. Not even three as strong as Tamae could guarantee victory.
Still, Niva couldn't say for certain whether the demi-humans who had defeated her ancestors were still alive. Demi-humans weren't immortal. They could die of old age, but their reproduction cycle was quite fast. It was entirely possible that the next generation had become even stronger—and that one of them lived in this era.
Niva shook her head slowly. "I hope everything will be alright."
She looked back at Alvaric. But what she saw made her frown. Alvaric had fallen asleep right there. She shook her head in disbelief. Just earlier, she thought her master was going to train. Turns out she was terribly mistaken.
"Sir, please wake up! If you want to sleep, at least do it inside!" she begged.
No response. She called out again, but got the same result. Niva's eyes widened, and she shot to her feet, her heart pounding. Without another thought, she ran over to Alvaric—and what she saw shocked her.
His face had turned green.
He'd been poisoned.
"But Lord Alvaric is supposed to be resistant to poison! How could he... be poisoned like this?"
Niva quickly lifted his body and placed him on the stone table. Her eyes darted around, unsure what to do. She cursed under her breath. She had no experience with poison treatment. She glanced left, then right. No one was there to help her.
"Damn it. Stupid. What should I do?!" she shouted.
She had remembered incorrectly—Alvaric had never claimed to be immune to poison. He merely had an item, the Ant Monarch Armor, which reduced poison effects by 70%, but it didn't grant full immunity. That armor had already melted during his battle with the Giant Sandworm.
Niva had wrongly assumed Alvaric was immune to poison just because he could eat Ant Bees and Crawlers, both of which had low toxin levels. Those were manageable by Alvaric's body.
But this time, it was different. The poison now was dozens of times stronger.
***
Tamae and Brukk had arrived at the city ruler's residence. They were welcomed warmly. Several servants and guards bowed in respect, but Tamae paid them no attention. She walked quickly toward her brother's office.
Braak!
The door burst open. She saw her brother sitting behind a desk, holding a pen, with a stack of documents in front of him.
"Brother…" Tamae stepped forward and stood before the desk, her gaze sharp. "What's going on?" she asked.
Raiga furrowed his brows. "What do you mean? Explain yourself."
Tamae took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. After calming down, she looked at her brother again, who still appeared confused.
"I saw a large number of royal soldiers arriving in our city. What are they doing here? I want an explanation," she demanded.
Raiga went silent for a few seconds. He was choosing the right words to explain everything in just one sentence.
"They asked us to assist them in attacking the Ant Bee colony," Raiga finally replied, his tone flat. He glanced slightly to the left, recalling something. "If I remember correctly, they said there's a monster that needs to be exterminated. Something like that."
"And you agreed to this?"
"Of course," Raiga answered.
Tamae was stunned. Her hands trembled, her face turned pale. "No." She shook her head slowly. "You must cancel it… or this city will be destroyed."