Day 99 of Banishment: Fall, and Preparing for Winter (6)
And so, the next day, on the 99th day of banishment.
"Alright! Lead me to the honey's location!"
Marylia confiscated the honey brought back by the slime and decided to take advantage of the fact that the slime, deprived of its honey, was intent on gathering more. She used this to have it guide her to the honey's source.
While it was an unintended hassle for the slime, Marylia hoped it would find consolation in the fact that it would undoubtedly benefit from the more efficiently acquired honey.
Thus, they set out.
After about 40 minutes of walking in the direction the slime extended, Marylia noted a slight improvement in their travel efficiency. It seemed the slime had finally understood, "This human moves where I extend!" Marylia, pleased with its understanding, occasionally patted the slime as they progressed.
However, she couldn't help but voice a lingering concern.
"There's just one thing I'm worried about."
Thinking aloud helped her organize her thoughts as she continued walking.
"Why did the slime only bring back honey?"
Indeed, this was the question bothering her. Honey, of course, is found within beehives. Beeswax cells brimming with golden nectar—that's honey. Naturally, finding honey also means finding the hive itself.
And within the hive, there’s more than just honey.
There are pollen balls, bee larvae, and perhaps even eggs. Most notably, there are always adult bees.
Unless something drastic happened to make the bees abandon their hive, leaving behind honey and the hive itself, one should expect to find all these components together.
Although slimes are soft, squishy creatures, they are surprisingly bold. Small creatures, like insects, are a delectable meal for them.
The fact that this particular slime brought back only honey, without larvae or bees, etched a small but definite unease into Marylia’s mind.
And, as fate would have it, Marylia's ominous hunches tended to be correct.
"Oh dear~"
After about an hour of walking deeper into the island's center, Marylia finally found the hive.
"This is... quite something."
Indeed, walking an hour towards the island's heart had led her to a truly massive hive.
Additionally...
"Those are huge."
The bees were enormous—each one the size of a dog or a cat!
Marylia immediately understood the situation. “So that's it. The slime only brought back honey because it secretly gathered what had leaked from the hive! It didn’t avoid the larvae or bees; it simply couldn’t get them!”
Yet there was no time to leisurely marvel at her deduction. The massive bees, their stingers gleaming menacingly, were flying straight at her!
"Ah, they're surprisingly fast~”
Indeed, the giant bees were quite speedy—about as fast as Marylia running at full tilt—and they were swarming in droves!
"... Retreat!"
Thus, Marylia promptly decided to withdraw. Getting swarmed and stung by bees of that size would undoubtedly be fatal!
Deploying her golems as a shield, she managed to escape. Meanwhile, the slime in her arms seemed reluctant to abandon the honey, stretching slightly toward the hive. Marylia gave it a light tap and said, "No."
"Now then... what should I do?"
Marylia pondered her next move—how to deal with that beehive.
Letting all that honey go to waste was out of the question. It was one of the island’s few pure sweeteners, with the added benefits of long shelf life and use as a preservative. Discarding such an excellent resource, along with the equally valuable beeswax, would be an unforgivable loss.
However, those bees were not something she could tackle immediately. Preparation was essential. After all, they were enormous—each the size of a dog or cat—and they could move as fast as Marylia running at full speed. Not to mention, there were hundreds of them!
Indeed, it wasn’t just their size that was a problem—it was their overwhelming numbers.
If it were only one or two, they might even be easier to handle than regular bees. Their large size made them an easy target for weapons, unlike the tiny, darting movements of normal bees. Size, while a strength, also made them easier to hit.
But hundreds of them? That was a different story altogether. While she dealt with one, five more would close in, and before long, she’d be surrounded by dozens.
Yes, the strength of sheer numbers was undeniable. Marylia herself relied on this principle, using her golems to overpower prey. Numbers were power—when she had them, it was an advantage; when the enemy had them, it was a nightmare.
And so, Marylia thought deeply. Very deeply.
When dealing with bees, the first idea that came to mind was to use fire or smoke to drive them out of their hive.
But simply chasing them out would only worsen the situation. It would mean facing all the bees at once, making the fight even harder.
What about burning or repelling them as they approached?
That, too, was risky. She couldn’t guarantee fire would be enough to completely subdue them, and there was always the chance of a burning bee spreading fire throughout the forest.
If the forest and her food supply burned, Marylia would be the next to perish. Fire required extreme caution; ideally, she wanted a solution that didn’t involve it at all.
After much deliberation, Marylia finally reached a conclusion.
"Now’s the time for the Mud Golems to shine."
Bees, as fragile creatures, have a critical weakness: their stingers. Once a bee stings a human, it dies shortly after. This is because their barbed stingers get stuck in elastic human skin, rendering them unable to withdraw. Against something soft, like slime, they could sting repeatedly, but against humans, it was a one-shot attack.
In short, a bee can only attack a human once with its sting. That was their Achilles’ heel.
So, if she could force the bees to waste their stings, she could reduce their numbers significantly.
Enter the Mud Golems—perfect for the job.
Golems, being non-living constructs, are impervious to toxins that harm biological creatures. They can keep moving unless their bodies are physically destroyed, making them resilient fighters.
That said, a Terracotta Golem could still be shattered by the giant bees’ stingers. With bees of that size, a single sting could crack and shatter the clay body.
But a Mud Golem? That was a different story entirely.
Their soft, pliable bodies wouldn’t crumble under the bees’ stingers. Moreover, by mixing glue into the mud, she could give the golems enough elasticity to grab onto the bees’ stingers and hold them. Once the stinger was stuck, the bee would have no choice but to sever it, leading to its demise.
And so, Marylia got to work boiling glue.
"I’ve got plenty of glue materials... Hehehe..."
Thanks to her recent hunt of two perytons, and earlier kills that had left plenty of leftover tendons, sinew, and scraps of hide, she had ample material dried and ready for glue production. Finally, these resources would be put to use.
"I really want a big iron pot... something that won’t crack over direct fire. A pot big enough for several of those bees..."
With such thoughts in mind, Marylia meticulously boiled glue.
The glue, once reduced and mixed into the mud, gave it a firm, rubbery consistency once cooled.
"Alright, shaping time—get to it!"
While the glue was still soft, Marylia quickly shaped one Mud Golem herself as an example. Her Terracotta Golems then took over the task, efficiently shaping more Mud Golems before the glue set. The more hands—or golems—on the job, the better.
And so, Marylia churned out a veritable army of glue-infused Mud Golems.
While they weren’t as versatile as Terracotta Golems due to their simpler construction, the addition of glue—and possibly some residual mana from the monsters it came from—made them more responsive.
Specifically, they could "change direction," making them far more practical. While they couldn’t follow complex commands like "come with me," they could understand simpler instructions like "step right!" and "move forward again!"
"Yes, the elasticity feels just right."
The cooled glue gave the golems a springy, slightly firm texture, tougher than human skin. This should allow them to hold onto the bees’ stingers effectively. Marylia had high hopes.
"Alright then, tomorrow... Hehe, tomorrow will be the grand honey feast... Ahahaha..."
Satisfied with her creation, Marylia smiled in anticipation of the battle—and the reward to come.
What do you think about this chapter?
