The Legendary Beekeeper-Chapter 47: To Bee or Not to Bee

Beelathorn scoffed at that, not bothering to meet her gaze.

"And what makes you think I’d tell you that?" he asked. "I’m a founding member, remember."

The shadow woman flashed a rose-lipped smile at him. "You were so much cuter as a confused bug in that dirty cell," she mused. "Oh, what happened to my sweet baby boy?"

Beelathorn struggled to see what angle she was trying to play at. Usually, daggers hid in the shadows of pleasantries, yet this woman seemed to be trying her best to anger him.

Perhaps that was what she wanted, for him to act out?

Were they trying to start something? Had he unknowingly gotten himself caught up in some sort of faction war?

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough information on the table to make any assumptions, and so he had to tug at her bait a little.

"And you were so much more bearable as just a shadow in the darkness. Yet here we are: you faced with a not-so-confused bug anymore, and me with a harlot stinking my room with her used wares," he smiled back, stealing a quick glance at where her upper thighs dissapeared into the darkness of her shadow-gown.

Suprisingly, the shadow woman didn’t seem at all offended by this. In fact, her smile brightened even more. "A man with bite," she whispered. "Not many of you left."

"I’ll cut to the chase, Han... if that really is your name," she continued, strolling around the extension station so that she stood between it and him.

"I want you," she said, caressing the soft tissue between the armoured carapaces of his chest.

Beelathorn grabbed her hand. "And I want nothing to do with you."

"Now leave."

The shadow woman made an exaggerated moan as Beelathorn squeezed her hand. "That’s where you’re wrong, dearest. Every man wants something," she said. "And I can be anything."

With that, her shadows shifted, and she morphed into a mirror image of Jack. Except she wasn’t wearing any clothes in this form, and Jack’s naked body was fully exposed...

"Perhaps you prefer men. I can be that if you want," she whispered. "Or was it the sister that you really wanted?" she asked, and with that, Jack’s body morphed slightly, softer curves forming around the chest area, and a flower stalk morphing into a flower in bloom.

"What game are you playing at, witch?" Beelathorn asked. Though he could not completely hide the fact that he was intrigued by her powers. The things this woman would be able to do, the high authority people she could fool, the protected areas she could sneak herself into.

She was no doubt a powerful potential asset. However, Beelathorn rather preferred his swords without thorns on their hilts. This woman was too unpredictable to side with.

"A simple one, really, my dearest," she said, morphing back into her original form... well, if this really was her original form. "You saw what happened back at the interrogation room as good as any of us," she continued.

"The Manor is a dying power, and I want out. Our precious leaders are lost, well, dead as best as I can guess. And even before that, the captain lacked ambition..." she paused for a moment.

"But you don’t lack that, do you, dearest? Even now, holed up in this room, you’re planning something," she said, stealing a glance at the map behind them. It just so happened that Beelathorn had been looking at the East Alliance, but this seemed to intrigue the woman.

"East Alliance, good call. They’ve gone too long without their power being checked."

Beelathorn let go of her hand at this. Now this was something he could understand. Hers was a political game... a selfish game. In many more ways than one, they were alike.

"So you’re jumping off a sinking boat. Betraying your friends for a place at High Central?"

The shadow woman laughed at this. "Friends? There are no friends in Apocalypse, dear. And the spite you used on the word ’betray’ doesn’t suit that venomous tongue of yours," she said between laughter.

"And as for a place in High Central... that would be nice."

The shadow woman looked Beelathorn straight in the eyes now. "But we both know you can’t offer that."

Beelathorn did not dare to break her gaze; something inside him told him he was being tested, if not for his wit, then his sheer audacity.

Besides, he knew what she wanted, and the same could not be said vice versa. In this exchange, he had the high ground. It would be a waste not to try and use this.

"I can offer what I want. Founding members have pull."

The shadow woman scoffed. "You don’t think I really bought that rubbish, did you, darling?" she asked, taking a step away from him. "I don’t know how you got past Vira’s truth-say trait, but I know for a fact you’re not one of the founders," she continued, turning to face the extension station.

"You see, I’ve either slept with, dealt with, or killed with every founding member in High Central," she said, staring at the holographic map beaming from the extension station. "I’m sure I would’ve remembered any with armour as..." —here she paused to look back at Beelathorn over her shoulder, and even this she managed to charge with seduction— "Beeish? As yours."

"No. I’m here because of this," she said, pointing at the extension station.

"The captain was an S-class, one of the more powerful this side of Apocalypse," she explained. "And for you to be able to force an upgrade... that must mean you’re something more... something far fewer and further between than even the kings of this place."

’Jack told her,’ Beelathorn thought. It seemed he had been right about the effeminate boy; he really was a poisoned dagger hiding behind smiles.

Still, there was no way for him to know that the extension station would’ve revealed that much about him.

The real question right now was how he’d use his current situation. A weapon stood in front of him, but was he willing to bleed at its spiked hilt to use it, or was he going to toss it away and risk some sort of fallout?

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, a sudden weight intruded on his mind.

’Communication complete. Beeralia has revealed the missing component,’ a voice spoke in his mind. ’It has been provided to us in quest package,’ it continued.

『Processing...』

『New Evolutionary Quest available!』

’Back so soon?’ Beelathorn replied, half relieved to have another mind with him to think over the decision.

’Indeed. And it seems vital communication is been had here too.’