The light coming from the high ceiling is fading without a sound.
　At the same time, my surroundings were filled with shadows, and the outlines of everything became blurred.

　I turned my head and looked at the faces of the people and monsters waiting for their turn.
　Even in the dark, I could see the faces of each and every one of them clearly.
　They are truly reliable companions.

　As I turned my gaze farther away, I saw a number of black shadows flying from the east and west walls.
　Counting the shadows of insects fluttering in the dimness, I slowly exhale the air in my lungs.
　Okay, that's enough.

Let's go.
"Yes, my dear.

　My body softly floats in the air.
　It was the work of a sword-tailed dragonfly, its wings quivering above my head.
　Next to me, Paula is being lifted by another dragonfly.

　The two huge dragonflies hold us tightly, and we approach the gentle slope in one breath.
　Our target is a bean apple tree with red berries crinkling its branches.

　I ask the first tree to approach as close as possible and extend my arm to touch the branch.
　Then, in your other free hand, take out a white stone from the item list.

　I took another deep breath and prepared myself, and while putting magic power into the white light stone in my hand, I threw it so that it would be caught in the treetop.
　A dazzling light immediately overflows, brightly illuminating the bean apple tree.

　In the deepening evening darkness, the tree shines as if it were illuminated.
　Of course, the big-eyed moth would not miss the provocation.

　As if attracted by the light, several of its wings fluttered in a poisonous pattern.
　After drawing the moths to the brink of gathering, I opened the item list and quickly collected them.

　Not the shiny white stones, of course, but a bunch of bean apples.
　Just as all the red fruit disappears and I'm stripped naked, the dragonfly holding Paula starts moving toward the next tree.
　Ken-chan, carrying me, followed without hesitation.

　The military bees on guard woke up a breath later.
　Then, without pause, the big-eyed moths fly in.

　And so the bee-moth war began.

　Stretching out our necks to see if the skirmish has started, we repeat the exact same action on the second tree.
　The third tree is a little further away, and the fourth is in the center of the tree.
　When the fifth tree, a bean apple tree, began to glow, the battle line was expanding greatly.

　One by one, the big-eyed moths flew out of the forest near the wall and headed for this hillside filled with light.
　The army of bees, on the other hand, flew out of their hives without pause to meet them.

　The situation seemed to be unfavorable for the big-eyed moths, who lacked offensive power, but the rearguard was not so easy.
　The bees, disoriented by the scales and confused by the eyeball pattern, started to fight each other.
　In addition, many bees are attracted by the large number of moths, and many of them fall to the ground with their wings broken.
　The wings of bees are made to be light in order to fly quickly, but they are also quite fragile.

　However, the military bees have more power than the bees, and the moths fall to the ground in a flash.
　However, it seems that there are more of them coming one after another.

　The sword-tailed dragonfly grabbed me and Paula and ran up the hill, which had become the scene of a fierce battle between the two kinds of insects.


　地面スレスレの低空飛行のため、異物である俺たちを咎めて襲ってくる蜂たちは居ない.
　皆、空から舞い降りて縄張りを犯す蛾たちを追い払うのに懸命なようだ.

「降りますね、あなた様」
「……ああ」

　狙いの巣穴までたどり着いた俺とパウラは、ようやく固い感触を伝えてくる地面へ足をつけた.
　振り向いて見下ろすと、白照石に照らし出された丘の中腹は、無数の毒針や鱗粉が飛び交う戦場となっていた.
　その地面には、累々と虫どもの死骸が転がっている.
　自分で仕組んだとはいえ、なかなかに凄惨な光景であった.

　これを思いついたきっかけは、軍隊蜂に追われ剣尾トンボの縄張りに誘導したあの時である.
　向こうが数で押してくるのなら、こちらも違うところから引っ張ってくればいいと.
　数の暴力には、数で立ち向かおうという発想だ.

　ただしトンボたちは、そうそう湖から離れることはない.
　巣がある丘までは少々距離がありすぎるため、蜂どもを誘導するのも難しい.

　その点、大目玉蛾は光さえあればすぐに襲ってくるので、巻き込むのは非常に簡単である.
　ちなみに検証時にも同じように白照石を使用したのだが、大量に集まってきた蛾の気持ち悪さに耐えきれず、ミアが<火弾>を撃ち込む事件があった.

　結果、一気に燃やせて経験値が大量に稼げることが判明した.
　おかげで今のミアはレベル２５である.
　このやり方は今後、<火弾>持ちの経験値稼ぎのスタンダードになりそうだ.

「大丈夫そうですね. 行きましょう」
「ふう、上手くいったようだな」

　巣穴を覗き込んでいたパウラの言葉に、俺は安堵で胸を撫で下ろした.
　まず剣尾トンボに掴まった俺たちが、丘の裾から中腹で蛾を呼び寄せ騒ぎを起こす.
　大量の蜂がおびき出せたころを見計らい、魔物忌避薬を体に振りかけたメンバーがこっそり巣穴まで近づき、一気に突入して巣の主を叩くという作戦だ.

　豆リンゴを一瞬で全て回収できるのが他に居ないため、騒ぎを起こす囮を仕掛ける役は必然的に俺となった.
　パウラは強硬に反対しかけたが、一緒に行ってトンボを先導してくれと頼むとしぶしぶ頷いてくれた.
　どんな時もそばで助けて欲しいと、あらかじめ言っておいたのがよかったようだ.

　巣穴内部の構造が不明なため、行き当たりばったり感が強いが、現状は首尾よく進行しているようである.

　剣尾トンボの翅の横幅ではつっかえてしまうため、二匹はここで留守番となる.
　入り口を死守してくれるよう頼んで、俺たちは巣の中へと足を踏み入れた.

　白照石のランタンに照らし出された巣穴の壁は、土がしっかりと固まっており崩れる心配はなさそうだ.
　ただよく見ると、あちこちに蜂の死骸が転がっている.
　突入時に出くわしたのだろうか.

　一応、骨子ちゃんを先頭に立たせて、俺たちは先遣隊に追いつくべく足を早めた.

　五分ほど下っていくと、前方に明るい光が見えてくる.
　どうやら広い空間に繋がっているようだ.
　同時に戦闘中らしき物音も、耳に響いてきた.

　感覚の鋭いヘイモと観察力のあるエタンさんに選んでもらった巣穴は、正解であったようだ.
　目的地がすぐそこに見えた俺たちは、穴の中を駆け足で急ぐ.

「ふう、はぁ、全然、効いてなさそうだべ」
「くそくそくそ、きりがねえぞ！　一体どうなってやがんだ！」
Oh, my God, there it is again.
Calm down!　Don't let them get away!
Go!　Kuu, over there!

　As if guided by the voice, we hurriedly ran, but we suddenly found ourselves in a large space.
　What we saw there was everyone fighting hard.


　And there, flapping its wings in the air, was a huge bee.