The Retired Top Ranker Was Abducted to Another World - Chapter 17

“Kissit!”

Hyangi was bored.
There were so few things to do inside the house.
Of course, those things were fine, but sometimes she wanted to do something different.
Yes! Something special just like her eldest brother did when he went outside!
But she had no intention of going outside.
As her brother said, there were lots of dangers out there!
And more than anything, Hyangi did not want to get scolded.
Her brother also got a severe scolding from mom and uncles after he went out.

“Kishi..”

What could she do?
At that moment, she saw a dwarf busily moving around.
A recent addition to the household.
Hyangi approached Jake.

“Kishi?”

What are you doing?

“Oh, you’re Hyangi, right?”
“Kishi!”

That’s right!

“I was preparing to make a kitchen knife.”
“Kishi?”

A kitchen knife?
What’s that?

“A knife used for cooking. Baek Yeon-woo asked me to make one.”

They say that when making some dishes with an ice knife, the taste seems different?
I don’t really understand what the difference is.

“Anyway, I’m off then.”
“Kishi!”

I want to come, too!
Hyangi followed him closely.

“Hehe, it seems you’re interested in blacksmithing!”
“Kishi!”

Something new! Something fun!
She’s excited.
What is blacksmithing and how enjoyable could it be?
However, Hyangi couldn’t help but be disappointed.

Clang! Clang!

It was just endlessly heating metal and hammering.

“Kishi..”

This isn’t fun..
But how strange.
What does he find so enjoyable that he’s laughing?
Judging by his sweat, he doesn’t seem to be in a particularly good mood.

“Whew… it’s almost done.”

Is he really smiling over that piece of metal?
Hyangi watched with an intrigued face.

“Huh? You’re still here? I didn’t notice your presence.”
“Kishi!”

I’m pretty good at that!
Hyangi was stealthy.
If she hid with intent, even mom and her brother couldn’t find her.
Strangely, only her uncle would notice, but anyway.

“So, how do you find it after watching? Isn’t it impressive?”
“Kishi..”

What exactly is impressive?
Is there something I’m missing?

“Hehe, isn’t it nice? The clear sound when hammering and the heat. It’s so enjoyable.”
“Kishi?”

Why is that enjoyable?
When you sweat, it just feels uncomfortable.

“It might be hard for you to understand. But someday when you find something you truly love, you’ll feel this way too.”
“Kishi?”

Something I love?
Hyangi had no such thing.
Whatever she did, she quickly got bored and was always looking for new fun.

‘If I find something I like, maybe I won’t be bored?’

If she, like the uncle who loves hammering, finds something she truly enjoys, maybe she won’t be bored anymore.

“Kishi!”

Let’s find something I love!

***

The first thing Hyangi did was go to her mom.

“Kishi!”

Mom, teach me how to knit!

“Kishi?”

Knit?

“Kishishi!”

I want to find something I love too!

“Kishi!”

Sure. Anytime.
Pai taught Hyangi how to knit.
Fortunately, Hyangi showed some talent in it.
But..

“Kishi..”

It’s not very fun.
Knitting was not something Hyangi found enjoyable.
She needed to find something else.

‘If I were bigger, I could try blacksmithing.’

Maybe she could come to like blacksmithing?
But it was impossible with her small body.
Not to mention she couldn’t even hold a hammer without hands.

“Kishi..”

Isn’t there anything else?
Then she noticed bees flying around in the sky.
Bees that just stuck their heads in flowers and left.

‘Is there something in the flowers?’

She was curious.
What’s in the flowers that makes bees do that?
Hyangi hung onto a flower using a spider web.

“Kissis!”

It tickles!
Something tickling her nose drove her crazy.
Hyangi quickly backed away from the flower.

“Kishii!”

I’ll never go near a flower again! Never!
She felt completely tricked by the bees.

“Hyangi, what are you doing?”
“Kishi!”

Uncle!

“Is there something fun?”
“Kishisi! Kissit!”

Despite her animated gestures and explanations, Baek Yeon-woo tilted his head, not understanding.

“Sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Kishi!”

Hyangi pointed at the bees and then at the flowers.
Why are they doing that in the flowers?

“Are you curious why bees go to flowers?”
“Kishi!”

Yes!

“Bees gather nectar from inside the flowers.”
“Kishi?”

Nectar? What’s that?

“Nectar is like a very sweet liquid? Something like that.”
“Kishi”
“It’s tasty. Should I get some for you later?”
“Kissit!”

Yes!
Anything tasty is always welcome.

“Okay. I’ll bring some for you tomorrow.”
“Kishi!”

Got it, Uncle!

***

The next day.

“So you’re going to get nectar?”
“Yes.”
“You know this is the Forest of Calamity, right?”
“Of course.”

Jake smacked his forehead.
Does this kid just think this is an ordinary forest?

“You don’t think the bees in the Forest of Calamity are ordinary bees, do you?”
“Aren’t they?”
“Of course not! Look at those small creatures’ wings.”
“Wings?”

What’s different? I can’t tell.

“What about their wings?”
“They have six pairs of wings!”

Ordinary bees have two pairs of wings.
But these have three times that amount.

“They are relatively docile. But if you steal their nectar, they’ll attack with their wings.”
“..? Attack with those tiny wings?”

No matter how big, bee wings are only about the size of a fingernail—using them to?

“What are you thinking! They’re not going to hit you with them.”
“..Aren’t they?”
“Of course not. They create a loud noise with their wings to attack.”
“Oh… I see.”
“Yes. You can handle one without any trouble, but if many swarm, it’s a disaster.”

They are fearsome enough to burst eardrums if not careful.
However, Baek Yeon-woo smiled crookedly.

“Don’t you remember?”
“What?”
“Acoustics? Whatever it’s called, didn’t I catch something similar before?”
“Oh…true.”

Sure, he easily captured that notorious sound bird.
Using a strange barrier thing.

“I was worrying for nothing. Go quickly. It’s been a while since I’ve tasted some sweetness.”
“Yep. Let’s go, Faye.”
“Understood.”

Faye and Baek Yeon-woo went outside to find bees.
They discreetly followed behind.
They arrived at a massive cliff.

“Wow…this is a bit different from what I knew.”

The quantity was the first surprise.
The entire cliff was like their house.

“They can live here like this because they’re strong.”
“I know. If they attack all at once, I doubt we have a way.”

Certainly, I understand why monsters don’t attack them.
Attacking flying bees isn’t easy, and even if they do, other bees will swarm.

“Aren’t there hornets here?”
“Hornets..?”
“They’re honeybees, right? Hornets kill honeybees and steal their honey.”
“There are no such things.”
“I see why they’ve overpopulated.”

Without the predators like hornets, they could thrive.
Because there are no predators.

“Let’s just collect the nectar and go!”
“Are you still saying that after seeing this?”
“Yes! I’ll put up the barrier.”

Muuung…

An invisible transparent barrier was deployed.

“What are you going to do now?”
“Hmm? Just go near and get it.”
“..?”

This reckless guy…

“We’ll both die like that.”
“Isn’t their attack method sound-based? We blocked the sound, so we’ll be fine.”
“..If they all attack at once, I doubt that’ll help.”

Their stingers on their backs.
One or two stings might be fine, but being stung millions of times is deadly.

“I’ll outfit you in armor.”
“Armor..?”
“Yeah. One sec…”

Crunnnch…

Blue-green ice enveloped the body.

“Refreshing.”
“Really? You like it?”
“Indeed.”

Armor covers the entire body.

“But… Yeon-woo, how do we move in this?”
“Hmm?”
“Isn’t there armor on my legs?”

The jointed armor from head to toe.
Can’t move in this state.

“Oh… I forgot. One second…”
“Sigh…”

This kid always has such flaws.

“Now, all set?”
“All set.”

Now he could move.
Disjointed enough to run freely.

“Then let’s go.”

We slowly approached the cliff.
Thanks to the barrier, no sound was heard.

“Yeon-woo, they’ve noticed us!”
“Got it. Let’s finish quickly!”

I hoped to get there unnoticed!
There’s no choice.
We dashed to the cliff with all our speed.
Bees flapped their wings rapidly to drive us away, but no sound reached us.

“Got the nectar!”
“Got it! Let’s head back.”

This amount would last a month.
We quickly dodged past the bees and ran.
However, the bees didn’t give up.
They persistently chased us.
They no longer flapped their wings meaninglessly.
But tried to sting us by charging.
Even so, they were just bounced off by the armor.

“Whew… that was exhausting.”

Ultimately, we won.
They had no choice but to retreat.

“Still, we succeeded.”
“Wasn’t it fun?”
“…Not really.”

Chasing life-and-death adventures—what’s fun about that?
Well, thanks to the armor, we wouldn’t have died.

“Have you tasted honey before?”
“No.”
“Hehe, you’ll be hooked once you taste it.”

I scooped a bit of honey and gave it to Faye.
The creature accepted it with a flick of its tongue.
Faye’s eyes widened at the taste of honey.

“Delicious!”

The sweet flavor danced on her tongue.

“Right? We should share it with the uncle and the kids. Oh! And Yong too.”
“Good.”

We returned home with the honey.

“Oh! You’re back! I never thought I’d taste honey here.”

Jake excitedly lapped up the honey.
It was indeed delicious.

“Kids~ I’ve got honey. Try some.”

Pai and the kids rushed over.

“Kissit!”
“Try it.”

The four shared the honey.

“Kishi!”

It’s delicious!
A satisfying flavor.

“Hehe, I’ll make fruit juice with this tomorrow.”
“Kishi?”
“Honey-added fruit juice! It’s really tasty.”
“Kissit!”

Looking forward to tomorrow.

‘I love eating!’

The favorite thing the uncle mentioned.
Hyangi finally realized what she truly loved.
It was eating delicious things.
That was what she found most joyful and happy.
It was the day Hyangi discovered her hobby in gourmet.