“Elder brother I am telling you. If it’s a girl I am going to play with her first. No matter what happens!”

“And if it’s a male?”

“That…”

“No need to be shy. I have already seen you ogling at my lower part many times. So if it’s a male, you can keep it.”

“T-that… does little brother knows?”

“Do you want to be ridiculed that badly?”

“No, no, I was… phew. But I will still play with her if it’s a girl and I’ll keep her too!”

“Shesh, you and your habits. Who knew the biggest star of our family would turn out to be a sweet tooth!”

Then they reached near the pit they had dug before and stared inside.

“I am saying, if it’s a…”

But when the elder brother looked inside the pit only the ground welcomed him and at the side was a newly dug hole.

“Damn, it ran away.”

I dug until I couldn’t feel their intent or their presence with Perception and then came out of the ground.

Then felling too dirty from all that work I used clean and all the dirt which had stuck itself to my body cleared away.

I looked behind and didn’t see anyone following me, and neither did my skill react. So, I took a breath of relief and started walking.

“Finally, I can go home.”

I meet no one on the rest of the way. It was just me, my mind and my skills.

A though came in my mind, and pursuing it I activated all my skills at the same time to see what would happen, and my vision blurred. The world started spinning, and extreme weakness took over my body all of a sudden.

*Ting*

[Skill: Soul damage resistance gained.}

I hurriedly stopped them and sat down. It took ten minutes for me to completely become able to walk again.

I pondered the meaning behind the word soul damage, and understanding that I did something which I shouldn’t have done, I decided to not do it again. At least until the day I became able to handle the side effect.

I looked at the map once again to see where I was, and it turned out that I was already there.

I pushed away the last blade of grass in my way, and there it was the mound, my home right in front of my eyes.

For some reason I felt a warmth unlike anything.

I walked past the grassland, and ant soldiers looked at me with their mouths open, as if they had seen a ghost.

Some even whispered to each other with their fingers pointing at me.

The ants guarding the entrance also gave a similar reaction, and one hurriedly ran inside, just as he saw me.

I stopped in front of the entrance, but the guards on duty didn’t let me wait, and let me pass without any delay.

By the time I entered the ant guard who had ran inside the mound came running back out with a big smile on his face.

“Sir hero, the captain is calling you. Please follow me.”

I looked at him though only for a brief moment, but in the end decided to follow him.

We passed by another thousand bewildered and frowning ants, before we reached the scavengers department.

The guard explained something to the ant on duty who also looked at me as if he had seen a ghost.

Then the guard from the entrance gave me a salute before walking away.

“I’m very happy to have finally meet you sir hero. Please come this way the captain is waiting for you.”

By then even I had started understanding the reason for their behavior, and the last threads of affairs by the captain wove the last bit of holes left.

“It’s you! It really you! You came back. Moreover alone! This is unprecedented!”

I asked him why everyone was behaving like such and he told me all that had happened.

And it turned out that because team leader had told the captain that I was taken by the bees, I had been declared dead.

The news was then released at noon and by the evening all the ants were in mourning.

And because the previous event of me being crowned a hero was still fresh, my death had struck the ants, mostly common ants very hard.

“It doesn’t matter. You are back and it’s all that’s matters. Anyways you must be tired, why don’t you retire for the night, and also take tomorrow off.”

And before I could refuse he officially gave me a day off.

“Now go, and meet that little brother of yours.”

I asked him what he meant and he told me that many people had come to the headquarters to ask if I really was dead. Many had cried, shed tears, and even yelled at us for sending you out at such a young age.

“But in all of those who cried and yelled, there was one ant who did believe the news of your death and with a resolution like I have never seen before yelled that you were alive. He said and I am quoting his direct words here, ‘There is no way, absolutely no way that my big brother has died. Though he is alone in the outside world, but so what? He’ll come back and come back even stronger. So what if no ant has ever come back alive after being taken by the bees? He is not an ordinary ant!’”

I listened to everything which captain had to say, and felt happy that at least tiny believed in me.

“We tried to explain to him what it really meant to be taken by the bees, but he didn’t listen to anyone… Ah well, it’s good that you have a companion who believes so much in yourself. Okay, I have taken too much of your time, now off you go.”

I gave him a salute and was going to go when he stopped me.

“Ah! I forgot. Here, this is your cut from your scavenging mission.”

He gave me ten food stamps, valuing 10 days worth of ration, which I received and came out of the room.

I didn’t go meet the team, and straightly went to the nursery. I wanted to see Tiny for obvious reasons.

I entered the room and saw Tiny talking with Bill. I wanted to surprise him, but the reaction of everyone else made them look toward me and Tiny stood up.

He walked toward me with a smile on his face, but by the time he reached me he had already cried enough to create a small pond.

He came and hugged me, and cried some more. Then Bill came and said that he was happy that I had come back.

“Thank god you came back . It was getting too difficult for me to take care of this crying idiot.”

Then the followers of bill came and he asked me how the world outside was and I told him everything including fight involving the snake, frog and the mantis.

Their face went paled when I told them about the blood worm and they laughed when I told them how I ate the face of the bee princess.

“That fatso deserved it.”

And collectively yelled out loud when I told them about the snake fight. One even outright asked me if I was joking or not.

“You are lying right? There is no way that such massive things exist in our world!”

But their expressions changed from confused to complicated, when I told them how the choppers had almost got me.

And their laughter spilled out of their mouths when I told them about my misunderstanding.

“Haha, so you thought that… Pfft… haaha.. That’s too damn funny.”

“That’s right.”

“Big brother what does a virgin mean?”

And Tiny’s comment brought about another bout of laughter.

I felt happy seeing them smile and the heaviness on my heart settled a little.

“So what you going to do tomorrow.”

Tiny asked me and I told him that I had a day off tomorrow, and wanted to enjoy the commercial centre.

We made the plan and bill decided that he would come too.

We talked for a little more and then decided to call it a day.

I was going to go too, but then noticed something like powder on the floor.

I called the one who was sitting there and joked.

“Hey, you are shedding!”

And he scoffed at my comment before walking back to his bed.

I also decided to call it a day, as I gained a new resistance. It wasn’t anything great, so I simply swiped it away and slept.

*Ting*

[Skill: Pathogen resistance gained.]