Lately, Queen Bee Arsha had been under a lot of mental pressure. And the reason why was obvious. Her main body was already held hostage in the Shadow Dungeon, her life practically in Suho's hands. On top of that, he was the priest of Querehsha Queen of Insects and the Monarch of Plagues, so she had to stay on his good side. The problem was, no matter how hard she tried to please him, there wasn't much Arsha could actually be useful in. All she could do was gather information using her worker bees... And even that was becoming less impressive now that Lim Dogyoon, whom she had considered a useless human, was suddenly displaying incredible work efficiency.
'To think I have to compete with that human!'
Was there ever a more humiliating situation? For Arsha, who had treated Lim Dogyoon as someone of a lower status than a worker bee, this was quite unpleasant. But what could she do? She had to come up with something to stay in Suho's favor… Well at the very least, she had to be more helpful than that human, who was at the bottom of the Woojin Guild.
'This won't do. I need to increase the number of worker bees as much as possible.' She had never thought she lacked subordinates, but she decided to increase their numbers tenfold.
'If they're just worker bees without combat abilities, I can increase them as much as I want!'
Arsha had never increased her worker bees in this way before. To protect herself as the Queen Bee, quality was more important than quantity. But now that her main body was residing in the 'safe' haven of the Shadow Dungeon, she decided to go for quantity over quality. And so, the number of worker bees under Arsha's control began to increase. The way she gained new subordinates was simple. She fed her royal jelly to ordinary worker bees living on Earth. What would be just a sip for a human could bring an entire hive under her control. And so Arsha's worker bees scattered all over the country.
'Until now, I only dealt with information about villains, but from now on, I'll select information about demon factories, Stardust, and the Foreign Religion!'
Buzz, Buzz, Buzz. The worker bees busily flapped their wings and began gathering the information Arsha requested. But because she hadn't given them any special abilities in order to increase their numbers they weren't intelligent. So, the Queen Bee herself, had to receive and analyze the information they gathered.
[Ugh. My... my head...] Arsha felt dizzy from the flood of information overwhelming her senses. But she didn't give up. Her pride as the Queen Bee wouldn't allow her to back down so easily. She desperately tried to cram and control the information sent by tens of thousands of worker bees into her mind. And then an unexpected phenomenon occurred…
[...] Suddenly, Arsha's consciousness, which had been controlling so many bees, burst and expanded.
[Ahhhhh...!] She collapsed on the spot, her whole body trembling.
Crack! A transparent shell peeled off her body.
[Queen of Insects and the Monarch of Plagues, observes the Queen Bee.]
"Hmm?" Suho, who was in the middle of his daily quests, looked puzzled at the sudden message from Queresha. His limbs were crushed, and he couldn't even lift his head, but the messages continued.
[Queen of Insects and the Monarch of Plagues, remembers the name of Queen Bee Arsha.]
'...Remembers Arsha's name?' This was the first time Queresha had directly mentioned Arsha's name.
Queresha was the Queen of all insects while Arsha was just one of them, a subordinate she didn't even consider particularly valuable. But now, Queresha suddenly remembered Arsha's name?
'I don't know what's going on, but does this mean Arsha is more likely to become Queresha's successor?'
[Forty-one.]
Suho stopped his thoughts at the sudden stern voice of Ammt and retorted. "Forty-two!"
[Your form is incorrect. Forty-one.]
"Ugh." Suho gritted his teeth and resumed his push-ups at Ammt's unwavering firmness. And by the time he barely finished his daily quest, Arsha appeared before him.
[Suho, it seems my worker bees have found something.] Arsha relayed the information she discovered with a slightly serious expression.
[There seems to be a strange 'superstition' spreading among low-rank Hunters these days.]
"Superstition? What do you mean?"
[After the Association classified Stardust as an illegal drug, more and more Hunters have been turning it into accessories and wearing it.]
"Accessories? What does that mean?" Suho looked puzzled, and Arsha continued her explanation seriously.
[They solidify Stardust like a stone and make it into a necklace. And whenever they enter a dungeon, they pray to the necklace.]
"...Pray?" Suho felt strange.
Stardust wasn't illegal as long as it wasn't consumed. But why would they go through the trouble of making it into a necklace and even pray to it? It wouldn't amplify their mana or anything.
"If it's what I think it is, I might have seen it on Hunternet recently."
Just then, Lim Dogyoon, who had fainted while training with Suho, woke up and crawled over to join the conversation. But he was able to sit up and continue his explanation, only after receiving a healing potion.
"Stardust was recently classified as illegal, so people who had bought a large amount for a lot of money were in trouble. They were suddenly stuck with a lot of bad inventory. And the Association had no obligation to compensate them for it. Moreover, now that people knew it was made by burning humans alive, no one wanted to consume it anymore. So, at some point, a trend started where people prayed to the necklace, saying they were comforting the souls of those who died in the horrific process of making stardust."
"Hmm."
"And now, there are even people who buy up Stardust, some stocked before it became illegal, make it into necklaces, and sell them. Doping with Stardust is illegal, but this is a kind of 'clearance sale' that started with a vaguely good intention. So… " Suho's expression remained serious throughout Lim Dogyoon's explanation.
'Commemorating the souls of the dead'. The intention itself was good. But the problem was the object of their prayers. The most basic ingredient of Stardust, the 'Blue Mist,' was the itarim's mana that dissolved the boundaries between dimensions. In other words, it was the main method of their invasion. And now people were praying to that Blue Mist?
"This... feels ominous."
[I also mentioned it because I thought it might be related to the Outer Gods in some way.] Suho nodded at Arsha's words. Looking back, there were no coincidences in matters like this. Especially when it came to the Itarim.
"Arsha, the Hunters praying to the necklaces..."
[My worker bees have already identified them.]
"No, I want you to find out who's selling the Stardust necklaces to those Hunters, not who the Hunters themselves are."
[Ah...!] Arsha's eyes widened at Suho's words.
[Understood! I'll find out right away.] Arsha quickly replied and sent a telepathic message to her worker bees spread across the country.
* * *
A while later.
[I found them.]
Since she has already identified the Hunters wearing the necklaces, it wasn't difficult to trace the route through which they acquired them. It wasn't even illegal, so nobody bothered to keep it a secret. But Arsha went a step further and investigated where the sellers were getting their necklaces from.
[There are many distributors, but they all get their Stardust necklaces from one region.]
"One region? Where is it?"
[Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province.]
"Yangpyeong?!"
[...]
[Kiek?] Arsha and even Beru, who was standing nearby, looked puzzled at Suho's intense reaction upon hearing the location.
[Little Monarch, is there a problem?]
At Beru's question, Suho sighed with a grave expression, pressing his forehead. "That's... where my grandparents live."
[Kieeeeeek?!]
* * *
Sung Il-Hwan. In Suho's childhood memories, his grandfather always smelled of smoke, a firefighter through and through. And he never quit his job, even when his son, Sung Jinwoo, nagged him to retire and rest. He worked alongside his younger colleagues as long as he was able to. Suho still vividly remembered his grandfather's retirement ceremony.
– Senior! You've worked hard!
–Thank you for your service!
–Thank you for your service!
His grandfather, stepping down from the podium after a long and dedicated career, received applause from all his colleagues and junior firefighters. Even on that day, the faint smell of smoke lingered on his uniform. After retiring from the job he had dedicated his life to, Suho's grandfather moved to the countryside with his grandmother, saying they would live a simple life focused on farming. Of course, it wasn't exactly the deep countryside; they hadn't left the Gyeonggi Province area. Yangpyeong was a place moderately distant yet close enough to Seoul, with beautiful natural scenery like vast plains and valleys. It was none other than Yoo Jinho who had provided Suho's grandparents with a comfortable house there.
'Of all places, it has to be where my grandparents live!' The thought that there might be a group related to the Outer Gods in that area made Suho's heart race.
But there was someone even more agitated than him - Beru.
[We have to go there immediately! This is a serious matter!] Beru finally remembered something he had overlooked.
'How could I! Why did I only think of it now!'
[This is entirely my fault! I deserve severe punishment, but there's no time for that now!]
"What's wrong? Is there something I don't know?"
Suho rushed towards Yangpyeong where his grandfather lived. Beside him, Beru answered with a grave expression.
[We've always assumed that the Apostles of Itarim would target high-ranking Hunters with the potential to become vessels for their power... But it might not be just them!]
"What do you mean?"
[Your grandfather was also a Hunter who received power from the Rulers in his past life!]
"..." At that moment, Suho ran towards Yangpyeong with all his might.