Without further protests, my girls got me the suits, and I changed my flashy armor for something stealthier. Just in case, I took my armor and spear with me—I could still put it on later. Sёar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
And my stinger grew out by now, so I was ready to kill if necessary.
The rest of my little squad (which had myself, B568-114, Destroyer with bodyguards, and Beehound Quietstep) changed into camouflage suits, too.
They weren''t proper camouflage, of course. Just clothing from brown or green leather with some dry leaves sewn onto them. They covered the natural bright black and yellow of bees'' hair and chitin, giving a temporary ''Camouflage I'' trait. Just like dirt, but cleaner.
Invincible-13 kept the Scourge waiting where we left them, and the dragon carried us all to the village.
From the height of a dragon''s flight, I could almost imagine that it was a normal-sized human settlement, and the houses weren''t mountain-like compared to my size.
"This house, in the middle," Quietstep said, pointing toward one of the bigger buildings. "The human that gives other advice lives there."
As soon as she finished talking, Quietstep turned to me, watching me with wide eyes as if taking her fill of the sight. If she kept staring like that, I was sure she would drill a hole in my side…
I looked away from her, to the village below. It seemed strangely quiet, although I saw some people outside of it—tilling earth, apparently. Were they growing something there?
Truly, the work of common folk continued even during a war.
"Let''s see if the village head is inside or is somewhere else. B568-114, tell Scourge to fly closer."
"Yes, Father!"
The dragon let out a growl in response to whatever B568-114 said, but obediently flew to the building. As we made a circle around, I saw a man sitting on a cloth mat on the porch. He was weaving a basket out of young tree trunks, bending them like they were simple sticks.
〔Human〕
〔Name〕: Anad Shach
〔Health〕: 85 / 85
〔Stamina〕: 65 / 72
〔Species〕: Intelligent Human
〔Age〕: 46 y
〔Remaining lifespan〕: 44 y
"This is him, Father. This sitting man."
I squinted at the guy.
"He is less old than I imagined. This is bad—he might still have some eyesight left. If Scourge flies too close, we might attract suspicion. Girls, I need Scourge to drop us a house away—we will make the rest of the way on foot."
"Easily done, Father," Invincible-13 said, patting Scourge''s scales. "Well, useful beast, you heard Father. Graaaw!"
Without waiting for B568-114 to do anything, she picked a treat and threw it forward. Scourge lunged afterward enthusiastically, and I saw a smile flash on Invincible-13''s face.
B568-114 pressed her lips together.
I clicked my tongue and reached out to put a hand on each bee''s shoulder.
"Girls, don''t fight each other over who''s better at beast taming! Sure, B568-114 has a special talent, but Invincible-13 clearly has a special bond with Scourge, and it''s also valuable. And B568-114 also has other things to put her talent to—things besides riding dragons. So, Invincible-13, nobody will take away your job."
"Of course, Father! And if you decided that my place is elsewhere, that''s where I would go," Invincible-13 said with so much zeal, I knew instantly that she was trying to convince herself.
"It''s alright to realize that you''d better be elsewhere. That''s what we have job orientation for."
"I wouldn''t want to fly on dragons all day long, anyway," B568-114 said, lowering her face. "The wind up there is cold and hurts my skin."
I patted her head sympathetically.
"Yeah, you don''t have skin as thick as Beemarines…" and Invincible-13 was a Beemarine, whose toughness was supposed to help them in case dragons get snappy.
Dragons were pretty docile so far, but the toughness of Beemarines helped them with long flights, too.
Scourge flapped its wings loudly, and the noise forcefully ended our conversation—just like my words ended this seed of rivalry, I hoped.
We walked on foot toward Anad Shach, trudging through dirt and grass, and almost crawling through open ground for a couple of kilometers straight when we had to cross a street.
But the village head kept weaving, not noticing us at all. We stopped in shadows near the man''s back, and I asked B568-114 quietly,
"Can you hear his thoughts from here?"
"No," she shook her head. "Nothing at all. Thoughts are all in the head."
"Then to the head we will go. The wall is too far to use as a place to wait at, so we will climb the man himself. Although, if we all climb at once, he will definitely notice—so I''m only taking B568-114 with me. The rest will stay on the ground and wait."
Destroyer opened her mouth in protest, but I gave her a very stern frown.
"This is necessary, Destroyer. But in case we get spotted—be ready to act as a distraction so we could escape."
"Yes, Father." She saluted.
"Father… But what if we *do* get spotted?" B568-114 asked, staring at the wall of cloth that was the man''s back with worry.
"Then we will escape and hide. And if things get the worst way, then we will burn this village to the ground. But first—we crawl. Quickly and silently." I smiled at B568-114 and offered her one of my hands. "If you are afraid, I will hold your hand—I can climb with three hands. It''s still easier than climbing with two!"
B568-114 blushed, smiling back, and shook her head.
"I will be brave just knowing that you are near. I don''t even need to think—just follow your orders. Lead the way, Father."
"Alright. Let''s climb here…"
The fabric of the village head''s clothing was easy to climb even without long claws, but thick enough to not let the old man feel our steps.
We climbed all the way to the back of the man''s neck, when B568-114 stopped in place and breathed out,
"I… I can hear him!"