[You asked why I was in the Queen's chambers, right?] I began to answer, ignoring the sinking feeling that I was gambling with my life.

[I was there to poison her food but I was interrupted when the guards arrived.]

There was no response which meant I was on the right track so I continued. [The chaos in the hive is indeed my doing and... I have more things planned.]

The wasp was still silent, its eyes firmly fixed on me. Emboldened by its lack of response, I pressed on.

[I am only after the life of the tyrant. If you can help me, we can easily kill -]

My words were cut short as the wasp's silhouette flickered. The next instant, I felt a sharp blade lodged against the side of my throat, digging into my scales, and I felt the numbness of paralysis seep in.

〚Skill Aptitude Increase: 『Paralysis Resistance LV 1』has become『Paralysis Resistance LV 2』〛

Stunned by the sudden attack, I held my tongue.

[Kill the Queen?] I could feel the mockery and ridicule in its tone as it looked at me coldly. [Bold words for such a weak creature like you.]

[Tell me, why shouldn't I kill you right here, right now?] He spoke as if it was a simple task and wouldn't take much effort at all.

Though it might be true, I was extremely upset at being looked down upon like that. I stared hard at him without fear as I was too pissed off to be afraid.

Surprisingly, the scary wasp turned away leaving a warning behind.

[Stay out of my way or I will kill you the next time.]

I wanted to rebuke him, but by the time I formed the words he had gone.

I was left behind in the deep darkness of the tunnel, feeling deeply unsatisfied by the way things ended.

I fumed with anger.

How rude to tell me to get out of his way when he had no loyalty to his own queen!

Our communication link was broken and with the wasp gone, I felt as if a heavy weight was lifted off me. I was left with an empty feeling after such a rush of excitement.

All the exhaustion from the constant battles came rushing back and I just wanted to curl up and take a long nap.

However, as more of my panic wore off, I realised just how lucky I was to have survived the encounter with the scary wasp. Anything could have happened in that time and I felt almost faint just thinking about it.

But first, I had a few words for Sensei.

"You! What was that you said before? Let the scary wasp into my head? Do you realise just how dangerous that was?"

I knew I was just annoyed and lashing out at him, but I was too angry and didn't care.

"What if he wanted to hijack my thoughts? Or what if he launched some sort of mental attack through the link?"

Sensei sighed with a hint of amusement. «That didn't happen...and you're still alive, aren't you?»

"That's not the point! It was irresponsible and reckless advice on your part."

«More reckless than killing a wasp in front of it?» Sensei retorted sharply.

"Oh, please... he doesn't care if any of those wasps get killed. And besides, he killed more wasps than I did in the chaotic battle."

Sensei softened his tone as he spoke. «I know you are agitated and scared, but you have to understand, that could have gone far worse than it did. And I knew you could handle the situation well, and you did.»

"That's not the point! Also, I wasn't scared!" I grumbled irritably. "And don't divert the topic without giving an answer!"

«You already have your answer. A show of amiability was better than attacking it outright. Lets not forget that it is absolutely impossible for you to beat it anyway. You're only upset because of how helpless you were in its presence.»

"I'm not upset!" I denied outright, although it may have been the truth.

«Then, we have nothing to argue about.» Sensei replied and I could feel him smirking at me. «Aren't you going to take a short nap? You need to get some sleep.»

I was angry, but I wouldn't come up with the words to refute him.

And as a further reminder, the system dinged.

〚Skill Aptitude Increase: 『Faint Resistance LV 3』has become『Faint Resistance LV 4』〛

I realised just how exhausted I was.

«Here is as good a place as any to take a nap.» Sensei suggested. «There aren't any wasps nearby besides the one we just met, so you could let down your guard for a little while.»

Sensei's words seemed to imply the scary wasp was still around, but I was too tired to do anything about it. The wasp said he wouldn't kill me if I didn't get in his way and for some reason I believed him.

And it's not like I would survive long if he was truly serious about killing me, so I found a relatively hidden place and soon fell asleep.

--------------

Although the cavern was a mess from the fight before, it was quiet when I woke up, which lulled me into a false sense of calm, until I moved outside the cavern to where I was able to observe the hive unseen.

There were many wasps flying about with activities but the tense atmosphere was still very palpable. And as I watched, a group of hunter wasps gave chase to a carrier wasp and killed it with a frenzy of attacks turning it into a shredded broken mess, without giving it any opportunity to resist.

Through the tunnel exit I observed similar scenes and realised the wasps were fighting amongst themselves.

The seeds of suspicion I'd planted earlier were starting to bear fruit and I knew it wouldn't be long before the hive was faced with its second wave of chaos.

Oddly enough, none of the wasps came anywhere close to this tunnel, leaving its tranquillity undisturbed, and it made me wonder why. It couldn't just be because this place was old, right? Or was there something else going on there.

But then I recalled Sensei's earlier words.

"You said the scary wasp was close?" I asked Sensei. "Where exactly is he?"

If this place was really the scary wasp's 'lair', then that would explain why none of the wasps dared to get close. Even if the whole hive was going to hell, no wasp would get close to here because the scary wasp seemed to be keeping them at bay.

And so, to me, this was the safest place to be right now.

Sensei hesitated and asked another question instead. «Why? What are you thinking of doing?»

"I just want to understand some things. The only way to do that is to speak to him again. Don't you want some answers too?"

«No, I don't.» Sensei replied immediately. «It's a bad idea and I doubt he would speak to you again.»

"It's worth a try." I insisted, slightly irritated.

«Weren't you just yelling at me about how dangerous it was letting him into your head? You want to take that risk again?»

That was true but there was a fire burning inside me that was thirsting to challenge the wasp again. All the encounters with it had me seriously doubting myself and I felt like I had to beat this wasp to regain my confidence.

And also, he was very rude and arrogant so there was that too.

His scathing words were already embedded into my brain and I couldn't stop hearing them. To absolve myself from disgrace, I had to hurt him at least once, even if I were unable to defeat him!

"It's fine. I just want to talk so…"

«Are you sure that's all there is?» Sensei probed suspiciously.

"Of course, what else can it be." I replied offhandedly as I looked around.

Unfortunately, as I went deeper, the feelings I'd forcefully suppressed began to make a reappearance.

But I quickly shook them off and focused on the raging flame burning inside me. I absolutely was not afraid of meeting him again.

«He's on the upper level, just past this chamber.»

I retreated further into the cavern and entered a tunnel sloping upwards. With [Stealth] and [Silence] activated, I came across an old cavern lined with damaged walls, making it harder to see anything ahead due to the many obstructions.

The closer I came, the more I noticed these walls were marked with ugly cuts that seemed to have been caused by a blade, and I felt uneasy.

Suddenly I sensed some movement followed by the dull echoes of many sharp objects embedding into the walls repeatedly. Their continuous motion sent vibrations through the cavern's air in a disordered pattern. However, the moment I came close, it became eerily quiet.

Suddenly surrounded by dead silence, I froze, hackles raised.

Did he sense me already?

I was on full alert, ready to dodge the wind blades but nothing happened. So I activated [Mana Sense] and continued to explore the area as my vision switched to a pitch black layout. Then, I saw that enormous pale blue source of mana that was the scary wasp.

He was just up ahead but he made no moves to attack and seemed to be waiting for me.

His calm, laidback attitude made me feel that much more weak and I suddenly wanted to turn around and flee. Without the element of surprise, would I even be able to land a hit?