Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire

"Who was this creature? What was she doing there? I wasn't hallucinating, right? Right?! Oh, c'mon, can't anyone just answer me for once?"

I asked this question again and again for an hour straight now. It became madness, pure madness by now, to keep doing that and hoping that somebody would actually reply.

After the end of my astral projection testing, I declared that everything went well, but I wanted to think about some related things in peace. Now, while Amby was asleep, I was sitting in my office in front of a cup of tea, which went cold a long while ago.

There was nobody else here—I told even the Attendants to go to sleep. Still, it felt incredibly silly to talk to a damn cup of tea.

"Dalmanrach, aren't you watching me? Don't tell me you aren't listening to what I'm saying. You or somebody else… Dammit…" I sighed, reached out toward the cup and drank the tea in it in a few large gulps.

I was thirsty.

"This person was the Goddess of Hornets."

I choked on the last gulp of tea and spilled a mouthful of it all over myself and my table. While I coughed and looked wildly around for the speaker, Dalmanrach—I recognized his voice!—continued with the same nonchalant calm.

"The Goddess of Hornets had earned the right to this nickname about thirty thousand years ago—originally, she was the Goddess of Giant Hornets. You weren't supposed to see her, or any other god, like that. She was acting sloppy. I will make sure it's penalized."

I finally cleared my airways by then and realized that the sound was not coming from any particular place I could look at. This time, Dalmanrach didn't bother showing his face.

"So you replied, after all! Why not immediately? Did you wait on purpose until the *worst* possible moment to spook me like that? What if I choked on this tea and *died*?"

Normally, I tried to speak with Dalmanrach as respectfully as possible. It wouldn't do to antagonize my only ally among all-mighty beings, even if I had some doubts about how much of an ally Dalmanrach actually was.

This time, however, my emotions took the better of me, and as soon as I finished my tirade, I realized the terrible consequences this could lead to.

"I mean—with all due respect, Mister Dalmanrach—"

"It doesn't matter. Your outburst is just a product of your mortal, hormones-driven mind, Nectus," Dalmanrach said in what had to be the most patronizing manner possible. "I won't waste the precious time I have to speak with you on discussing it."

"Thank you…" I muttered without feeling grateful at all. Cursing this situation in my head, I tried to examine the damage to my clothing. Thankfully, not much tea had actually spilled, so I could just ignore things for now…

Then my mind shifted back to Dalmanrach's words, and I finally digested them.

The Goddess of Hornets! Creatures that were bees mortal enemies for thousands of years before some ape sharpened its first stick!

After I thought about the scale of divine lives, I felt that although to me Dalmanrach took his sweet time to reply, for him this could've been an almost instantaneous response.

Either way, now I knew for sure he was watching me. And not only him, perhaps…

"What was the Goddess of Hornets doing in my room, Mister Dalmanrach? Was she planning something nasty?"

"Perhaps. Most likely, she was watching you for any cheating of your divine patrons. She isn't the only one who does that, but she definitely has a lot of disdain toward you and bees."

I shivered.

Someone was watching me walk, talk, eat, taking a dump, doing my marital duties… And this wasn't even some abstract faceless "god", those were actual individuals!

I forced myself not to think about this before I went insane.

"You saw her because she made her astral form too thick, and when you became an astral projection yourself, you could sense her. Congratulations on acquiring this power, by the way. I hoped you will get it eventually, but this is much faster than I expected. It will be very useful in our plans."

I sat straighter and almost forgot about the Goddess of Hornets again.

"Our plans? We can finally do something except 'gather strength'?" I asked hopefully in a lowered voice.

After so long… If not for my perfect memory, my home world would've felt like a faded old picture by now. But all memories were sharp as if done yesterday, and even with all the bonds I made with this world, I was missing parts of my old place and life.

I would give a lot just to let my parents know I was doing well.

And, of course, I wanted to be free from divine games.

"Yes. The God of Humanity inadvertently gave you one of the tools you will need to help me bring the entire Game of Evolution down," Dalmanrach's voice said. "I knew he would. He always does things like these. Now, listen—this is important. You can bring this to a new level."

I bated my breath.

"Kill all murder hornets. On Earth-Omega-0048, they only live on the continent you inhabit right now. Destroy them all and the Goddess of Hornets won't attack you again. And kicking a god of her caliber out of the Game entirely, even if just in one world, is a victory so notable that you will definitely get more 'limit break' points."

"Huh… Just for them? They are very useful, but are they actually special enough to make the gods listen to me or you, Mister Dalmanrach?"

"They are. Unlike ordinary genes, they use some of the power gods themselves use. Gather more of it and you will become an actual demigod! Then… You will see then. Believe me, Nectus."

The last words fell ominously in the silence of the room.

This all sounded too grand for me to fully believe it. Divine power? Ha.

But now the next part of my goals was clear, and I already liked it.