Chapter 9

It was early summer when Ashera was three years old.

A few days after going to the rice field with Mr. Link, Ashera visited the Rusk workshop near the park with Uncle Rodin.

"Whoa!"

Just as they were about to go around to the back to enter through the workshop side instead of the shop side, they heard Deek's scream from the workshop's backyard.

Startled by the scream, everyone in the workshop rushed outside. Deek came running from the corner of the yard where the shed was, carrying a wooden box.

"Lady Ashera! Don't come here! There are bees!!"

"Bees?"

Looking around, there were not just a few but a large number of bees flying around the fence that separated the yard from the street.

The yard had a few trees, and the shed was hidden among the branches.

On the stump of a tree that was cut when the shed was built, there was a box from which bees were pouring out, swarming like crazy.

"Kyaa! What the heck?!"

"What?! Why?! What's with this huge swarm?!"

"Why are there bees here?! I didn't hear about any bees here!!"

Huh? You didn't hear about them?

Saki, who works at the rusk workshop and comes from the neighborhood, said something surprising.

"I don't know! I went to get the drying racks for the rusks, and they suddenly came out!!"

The wooden box Deek was carrying contained the wire racks used to dry the bread when making rusks.

While carrying a box of inventory, he noticed a box that had been left and forgotten on the stump next to the shed and tried to move it back to the shed when a large number of bees came out.

Saki, who had been calmly observing the bees entering and exiting the box, narrowed her bright brown eyes and said,

"This number means they've made a nest in that box, right?"

"Huh? Don't they usually make nests on tree branches?!"

"Saki, your father used to collect honey, right? Can't you do something about it!?"

Right! Saki's father used to collect honey on the side of his farming work!

He was Harold, who brought honey to the guild every year.

Harold was a calm and composed man with bright brown hair and eyes, just like Saki.

"I can call him, but I think this is his first time. Plus, he has a weak leg, so I don't want to push him too hard..."

"I was so surprised I could only bring this one box."

Panting, Deek placed the box on the ground and opened the lid.

Inside the wooden box were ten wire racks, each about 40 cm by 50 cm, stacked vertically.

Hmm? This shape looks familiar.

Is this it!?

"That box. Was it there?"

"Yes, about a month ago. There were a few wooden frames with splinters in a large delivery, so I put them aside to sand them later. Plus, one of the boxes was defective, with a small gap on the side, so I put them all in that box."

"And then you forgot about it and left it on the stump next to the shed."

"Since Deek is the only one with the key to the shed, we didn't go near it. And it's not visible from the workshop."

Deek's voice grew weaker as everyone talked.

"Right. I forgot I even put it there. I was thinking of replacing the old ones because they were worn out, so it's been a month since I last checked..."

Listening to everyone, my eyes sparkled!

I was right!!

The park I just passed through was full of white acacia flowers.

There were a few acacia trees in the workshop's yard.

The shed's eaves provided shelter from rain and dew, and the area was well-ventilated and shaded.

The flowers were full of nectar.

The box met all the conditions for a beehive.

And after a month, there should be honey inside!!

"Honey!!"

That box must be a treasure chest full of honey!!

"Huh?"

Deek opened his mouth wide in surprise at my pointing and shouting.

"Ashera"

"Honey, acacia honey!"

Uncle Rodin! There's a lot of honey in there!!

I want to explain, but I can't form long sentences. It's frustrating.

"Ashera, calm down. I understand you want to eat honey, but you'll get stung."

"That's right, Lady Ashera. My father was stung many times when collecting honey."

"Yeah, it's hard to collect, which is why honey is expensive."

Everyone knows it's dangerous, even if they think there's honey inside.

Huh? Then.

"What do we do with it?"

Uncle Rodin looked away from me.

"Ah~. Burn it with magic. That way, there will be less damage."

Burn it? I opened my eyes wide.

"No!! Honey!!"

If you do that, not only the honey but also the bees will be sad!

I'm so excited I can only say "honey"!

"Ashera, it's dangerous if you get stung."

I was told to understand for everyone's safety, but...

Even if we can't collect the honey, don't burn it!

While we were talking,

"Ah!! Oh no! I forgot!"

"Ah!!"

Suddenly, Saki and the others rushed into the workshop.

Immediately after,

"Kyaaa!!"

Everyone screamed as smoke started coming out of the workshop.

"Oops! I was so focused on the bees that the rusks burned!"

"They're like charcoal!!"

"No! The whole workshop is smoky!!"

"We have to get out of the workshop!!"

"But there are bees outside!"

This is bad! If we don't do something, Uncle Rodin will burn the nest!!

"Cough! Cough! Smoke!"

Smoke?! Smoke! That's it!!

"Uncle!!"

I pulled Uncle Rodin's arm with all my might.

"Ashera?"

"Uncle! Please!! Use this smoke on that box!!"

The smoke from the wood oven, we can use it!

"Smoke?"

"Please, Uncle! Cover that box with smoke!!"

After pulling his arm and begging multiple times,

"I don't understand, but... okay. ––Wind, go!"

Uncle Rodin, with a puzzled look, cast a wind spell.

The magical wind instantly extinguished the oven's fire, and the smoke in the room swirled into a spherical shape.

–Then the smoke-filled sphere went outside and completely covered the beehive.

–The buzzing of the bees stopped immediately.

"–Huh? The bees are calm?"

"They're not making any noise!"

"Huh? Huh? They're not moving?"

"People and animals get sleepy in smoke. Bees are the same."

I don't know the real reason, but I can't explain it well.

So I hope this will do.

It seems the bees faint from the carbon dioxide in the smoke, but I'm not sure.

"! Right!"

"The bees can't move because they're suffocating!"

Everyone understood, right?

"Deek, bring some straw."

"I have some straw for kindling here!!"

"Uncle! Here!"

"Ah."

Without needing to be told, Uncle Rodin understood.

A bundle of straw flew and curled up near the beehive, then burned.

He then used an air capsule to cover the beehive with the smoke.

The bees around the beehive disappeared, and the buzzing stopped.

"Well, they seem pretty calm. What do we do now?"

Deek asked, so of course,

"Get the honey!"

I declared.

Since no one else seems to be going, I'll go!

"Hey! Ashera! You can't go!"

I was picked up by Uncle Rodin before I could run over.

"I'll do it! I'll do it!"

I can dismantle the beehive! Saki from the rusk workshop raised her hand and quickly went to the beehive.

Hmm? This is before the dismantling stage, but if she can do it, I'm all for it.

"Um, um..."

As expected, Saki stopped after rushing over.

But we can't waste time.

"Open the lid."

"Y-Yes!"

Saki gently removed the lid and placed it to the side.

"Take one out."

"Here! Wow, the bees are... creepy!"

Wow, the bees are covering the board completely.

It's not a pleasant feeling... it's making me shiver...

"Shake the bees off the bottom."

That should make a lot of them fall.

"Ha, here! Wow, the bees fell."

"Someone put a board under it and close the lid!"

"Okay!"

Mari from the workshop quickly brought a board from the box Deek had and set it up.

Next, Deek.

"I'll close the lid! ––Okay!"

"Tissues!"

"Okay!!"

We quickly went back into the workshop and closed the door.

Now we're safe.

"Yay!"

Deek was jumping with the board full of honey.

I've seen this before when making rusks.

"Wait. This is a beehive, right?"

Mari, who had never seen a beehive before, poked it with her finger.

The other staff members were also gathered around, looking interested.

"Honey! Acacia honey!"

"Right, let's extract the honey."

Saki said, bringing a palette knife.

"When you take out the round comb, there are usually larvae, which is gross, but this seems to be just honey!"

That's good!

I thought there would be larvae, so it's better they're not there.

"Scrape off the wax cap and put it in the bowl. Wow! Hexagons!! The shape of the beehive is perfect!"

"I've never seen a beehive before! Wow! Beautiful hexagons! How do they make them so perfect!?"

"Each hexagon is filled with honey! Amazing!!"

Everyone was watching Saki's work around the workshop's worktable.

"Hmm, it's like this."

"I've only seen the finished product. It's impressive."

Uncle Rodin and Deek were also impressed.

"Strain the honey."

"Right! Put it in a clean cloth."

We broke the comb into pieces and put it in the cloth.

"Strain it!"

The golden honey dripped into the bowl and was then transferred to a large bottle.

Everyone sighed in amazement at the golden honey in the bottle.

"That was something..."

"We panicked when we found the bees."

"The workshop was full of smoke."

"Uncle Rodin used magic."

"The workshop staff collected the beehive."

"We extracted the honey."

All of this happened in just about an hour.

"It feels like we did something amazing."

It was the first time seeing magic.

It was the first time learning that smoke can calm bees.

It was a shock to find out we could get honey from the rusk racks and box!

Since everyone was in a daze, I asked the relatively calm Saki to put some honey in a small dish.

"Uncle!! Acacia honey!!"

I put some honey on my finger and tasted it.

"Delicious!!"

"Right. I'm glad."

Uncle Rodin took a spoon from Saki and tasted it.

"Good that we didn't burn it. It's delicious."

He looked out the window.

From here, you can't see the beehive, but you can see the acacia trees in bloom.

If you look closely, you can see bees flying around.

"That's interesting. The box became a beehive."

"Who would have thought we could get honey from that?"

"Lady Ashera, do you have a food sensor or something? And! You definitely have cooking talent! Your rusk seasoning is always perfect."

"Still, I never thought about using smoke."

"Come to think of it, it does make sense."

"But I've never heard of using smoke to collect beehives. At least, Saki, who comes from a family that has been collecting beehives for generations, hasn't heard of it, so it might not be a common method."

That's true, Deek agreed.

"Hehe. Ashera's determination to get the honey was amazing."

"Haha. Women and children love sweets! My wife hugs me when I bring home new sweets!"

"Right. That's nice."

"Uncle! I want that box!"

Excited about getting the honey, I pleaded.

"I'll arrange to get more honey, but don't bring that box home."

That box? I wouldn't bring that box home, Uncle.

But you said you'll get more honey?

"Really? A lot?"

"Yes. With that method, we can even keep bees."

It seems Uncle Rodin decided to pursue beekeeping.

"Deek, order that box and the rusk racks... no, the beehive boxes. Make sure to replicate the gap in the box. We'll experiment from there."

While Uncle Rodin was giving instructions to Deek,

"–Excuse me, I have a request."

Saki bowed seriously to Uncle Rodin.

Thank you for reading.