Konjiki no Moji Tsukai

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Posted on December 22, 2014 by Yoraikun

Konjiki no Wordmaster Chapter 24: Honey Gathering

“And? Why do I have to dress like this?”

Hiiro wasn’t wearing his usual red robe. He was dressed in thick, white work clothes from head to toe, with a net covering his face. He was even wearing dense leather gloves.

This is that, isn’t it? The clothes beekeepers wear in order to collect honey.

“Hey, old man. Could the honey here be produced by bees?”
“Bees? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but the honey here is made by Honey Bees.”
(TL: Hiiro is saying Bee in j.a.panese. Arnold says it in english)

Those are bees all the same, is what Hiiro wanted to shout out. But there was something he wanted to confirm before that.

“Old man, didn’t you say the honey was something the 『Bearnt』people produced?”
“Ah? Did I say something like that?”
“You definitely did. To forget what you said yourself, are you going senile, pervert?”
“It’s been a while since you said it you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Who’s a pervert!?”
“Ga ha ha! The thing we make isn’t the honey. We make 《Honey Confectionaries》.”

Max, dressed in the same garb as Hiiro says this. He’s probably going as well.

“Hm? I think there was an MP restoring item called 《Honey Candy》.  Is that one of your products?”
“Yeah, that’s an item made by mixing in the flower 《White Iris》. We breed those flowers selectively and control the flow of the product in the world.”
“I see. And? Why do I have to dress like this?”
“Of course, because you’re going to go gather the honey, right?”
“Cut the c.r.a.p, s.e.xual deviant.”
“Ah, he changed my name again! I really don’t like this change!”
“Anyways, I’m not going.”

Saying that, Hiiro throws his gloves at the ground.

“Don’t worry. Right now, the Honey Bees shouldn’t be here. There’s no danger. C’mon.”
“Say that from the start… Is what you thought I would say? This Old Man has the resolve to get stung repeatedly in order to retrieve delicious honey for me, his lord.”
“Gununununu! Why would I get anything for you!? And when did you ever become my lord!?”
“’Twas a joke.”
I know, but still I’m angry!

Watching the two quarrel, Max goes to Muir.

“Are those two always like that?”
“P-pretty much…”
“I see…”

Hiiro ditches the work clothes, and once again dons his red robe. He seems to have absolutely no intention of going. Seeing him, Arnold begins smiling.

“Oy, oy. Are you sure about that, Hiiro?”
“Ah?”
“Of course, I could infiltrate the Honey Bee nest, take the honey and come back to let you eat it. It would probably be plenty tasty.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“But do you know when Honey Bee honey, 《Honey Syrup》 is tastiest?”
“…”
“That’s right after it’s taken out of its holding area.”

Upon hearing those words, Hiiro’s index finger twitches for a moment.

“What’s more, look at this.”

Saying that, he takes out a biscuit from a bag.

“This is a biscuit specially made by the 『Bearnt』 people. You’re supposed to douse it in 《Honey Syrup》 the second you obtain it. Ah~ the taste of it is heavenly.”
“………”
“How unfortunate. It seems you’re not going, so you’ll have to make do with the lesser quality 《Honey Syrup》 afterwards. Meanwhile, we’ll be savoring the best quality of goods… wait, what?”

Hiiro disappeared before his very eyes. Arnold looks everywhere to find him. But what comes into his vision is a full equipped Honey Gathering Expert.

“I’ve said this time and again, but mention that first. Now then, let’s go already Little Girl Kidnapper.”
“W-who’s a kidnapper you d.a.m.n brat!”

Watching the two quarrel, Max goes to Muir.

“Are those two always like that?”
“P-pretty much…”
“I see…”

These two also follow closely behind Hiiro.

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Hiiro, who had lost to his appet.i.te, resolves himself to go through some trouble. His face is warped with the desire to eat the best quality food as he hurries towards the Honey Bee nest.

He was relieved that the place was supposed to be close by, but when he finally arrived, he stared at his destination in dismay.

In front of him was a big… very big bee hive. Its size was around that of a house.

“Oy, isn’t this a little too big?”
“Hahaha, actually, this is my first time gathering honey as well… This is a bit surprising.”

Watching the two,Max lets out a hearty laugh.

“Isn’t this to be expected? Honey Bees are about as big as babies. How would they live without a nest this big?”
“I think the books said they were around 30 Tails long.”

Hiiro searches through his memory and produces this information. By the way, this world’s measurement of Tail is about the equivalent of a centimeter. The only thing different is the name.

“Well then, should we go in?”

Max says this, and He leads Hiiro’s group to the other side of the hive. There, they find an area with something that looked like a handle sticking out.

Max places the large bag he had with him on the ground. He firmly grasps the handle, and pulls it with all of his might. As if it were a desk drawer, the section of the hive is slowly pulled out.

Immediately, the air fills with the sweet smell of honey. Enough to make Hiiro and his companions gulp unintentionally. After he pulled out around half of the drawer, Max stopped.

“Hey, look.”

Where Max was pointing was a series of crevices inside of the hive. The formation looked like a Sudoku board with the walls representing the frame.

And inside of these crevices was a soft spongy substance. Max takes that out and wrings it out over a bottle he produced from his bag.

And viscous liquid slowly flows from it. Steadily, the honey settles into the bottom of the bottle.

“You guys should try it as well.”

He steps aside and points Hiiro’s group to the spongy substance. Hiiro takes it in his hand.

(I see, so this is how they gather it)

Hiiro record the knowledge in his head as he begins to wring it out. But he quickly gets tired of it, and puts his hand on Arnold’s shoulder, saying he would leave it to him.

“Hey! You’ll get honey on my shoulder!”

It’s already on it anyways. Hiiro takes off his gloves, and takes a biscuit out of Arnold’s pocket.

“Oy, wait!”
“It’s fine, just do your job Old Man.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you!”

After Arnold’s shouting stops, Max shrugs his shoulders.

Hiiro soaks the borrowed in plenty of honey. The honey itself is orange in color, and quite thick. It’s smell is enough to clearly convey its sweetness.

First, Hiiro puts the honey itself in his mouth.

“N……..ooh”

It’s an extreme concentrated sweetness. On top of that, it is a bit sour. It may be because it had been fermenting. This honey truly is top cla.s.s.

Without losing any momentum, Hiiro shoves the biscuit in his mouth.

“… Yes. It’s quite tasty.”

Without a doubt, it’s tasty. This is an item that would definitely be popular with women. But Hiiro was a holder of quite a sweet tooth, so he enjoys it equally. Before he noticed it, the biscuits were gone.

“Uooooooi! Did you eat all of them by yourself!?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t yes me! This is the true surprise! I’ve once again confirmed that you’re an irreconcilable b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
“No crying over spilt milk. What a petty man.”
“How should I shut that mouth of yours?”

The force exerted on the sponge in his hand increases.

“Ga ha ha! If it’s biscuits, then I have plenty with me. Don’t worry.”
“I see. Good work.”
“You still plan on eating more!?”
“Don’t underestimate my power.”
“Wha!?”
“My stomach… Is still calling out.”
“I’m going to kill yooou!”

And after various things happened, they filled all of their jars with honey, and pushed the drawer back in. Finally, they shared a meal together.

“Oh! What a delicacy! As expected of 《Honey Syrup》!”

Arnold holds his hands together in praise.

“Quiet. Don’t be so rowdy in the middle of a meal.”
“Nu…kku… d.a.m.n… brat…”

Arnold had felt a little embarra.s.sed for his sudden outburst, but hearing this from Hiiro p.i.s.sed him off.

“Ga ha ha! Arnold is quite a spoiled man!”

Max laughs happily as he snacks on a biscuit.

“NomNomNomNomNomNomNom”

Muir is wholeheartedly eating them… nibbling on them?
Seeing her, Arnold expression turns warm.

“Ha~ Why must she be so cute~?”
“You’re creepy.”
“What the h.e.l.l!”
“Then let me rephrase that. You’re disgusting.”
“Don’t those mean the same?”
“Ga ha ha.”
“NomNomNom”

As the four happily (?) eat, a buzzing sound begins to sound out.

“It seems the lord is coming back.”

A large group of bees clouds the sky. The size of each individual bee is incomparible to that of a normal one.

“Oy, oy. Isn’t this nest too small for that amount?”
“This isn’t the only one. There are six hives in total.”
“I see, then it seems plausible.”

A large Honey Bee starts flying straight at them. Hiiro and Arnold immediately take a stance, but…

“Ah, I left my sword behind”

Arnold is the same. Arnold stands in front of Muir, and Hiiro prepares to write a word. But Max slowly stands up and laughs.

“Once again, thanks for the splendid honey.”

As if in response, the bee bobs up and down in the air.

“We’ll make another hive soon, so have fun until then.”
Up. Down. Up. Down.

After that short interaction the bee returns to the flock.
In exchange for the 『Bearnt』 building them st.u.r.dy hives, the Honey Bees offer a portion of their honey. That’s the agreement between the two parties. It was a contract that existed longer than anyone could remember. The Bee that stopped by earlier was the Queen.

“Hey, wait a second. Then why am I wearing this?”

As Hiiro says this, the two besides Max nod.

“Well it’s not like there’s no meaning to it.”
“What do you mean?”
“This area is swarming with many bugs. Especially after we take out honey…”

Suddenly a swarm of smaller bugs descends on the group.

(T-this feels disgusting)

The various bugs crawl all over their bodies. Muir has an expression hinting at the end of the world before she loses consciousness. Arnold, who is carrying her, and even Hiiro pray to G.o.d for the end of this ordeal.

“Now then. Since we’ve been eating for a while, the amount of bugs will be considerable. What should we do?”
“”Run!””
“I see.”

With all their strength, the four leave the area.