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Volume 11 – Alcrem Duchy Part 2
The Gehenna Bees, who were born after the Cemetery Bees’ queen bee underwent pseudo-reincarnation and became Quinn, did not differentiate between day and night. They worked every day, and each day was divided into three shifts. This was because their hobby was to work, and their goal in life was to become able to work more.
The Gehenna Bees made clicking noises as they talked to one another.
At first glance, they had the appearance of female knights wearing armor with bee motifs. But the objects extending from their foreheads were not hair, but antennae. What appeared to be their armor was an exoskeleton. Each of them also possessed a total of four arms extending from their shoulders, transparent wings on their backs and a tail-like bee stinger.
Their eyes were not those of mammals, but the compound eyes of insects. Although they were difficult to tell apart from Vida’s races that possessed bug-like features, like Empusa and Arachne, these Gehenna Bees were a race of monster.
Naturally, they were a race of monster that existed nowhere in this world other than in Talosheim, and their main place of residence was the nest that they had built attached to Talosheim’s castle. It was a bizarre structure that was over a hundred meters tall with the appearance of a number of stacked mudballs. The other races knew it as the Gehenna Bee castle.
However, its interior was surprisingly similar to something that humans would dwell in.
When the Gehenna Bees were still Cemetery Bees whose appearances were simply that of enormous bees, the nest had been an ordinary nest. However, even with extra arms, antennae and wings, Gehenna Bees were very close to humanoid, so trying to live in the same structure that they had lived in as enormous bees was inconvenient.
Thus, the Gehenna bees had rebuilt the nest through trial and error, gathered the various goods they needed in their everyday lives and endured the difficulties that were needed for them to become accustomed to their new bodies.
However, the Gehenna Bees were not sorrowful about this. They were truly happy that they had become closer in form to humans. The reason for this was that they loved their work.
Work progresses! one Gehenna Bee said excitedly.
Working with fingers is faster than when we only had jaws! said another.
It feels good to use tools! It is very easy!
The Gehenna Bees’ work productivity had improved drastically since they transformed from their original bee-like forms.
Creating building materials by mixing their saliva with wood chippings, knitting items with bee silk, hunting – All things ordered by Quinn were ‘work’ for the Gehenna Bees born from the eggs she laid.
Thus, resting was also work. Therefore, when they rested, they rested with all of their effort. They would not show any reserve in resting, no matter how profusely their senior brethren sweated as they worked. They were performing the work task known as ‘resting.’
Still, sweating as they worked was the ideal lifestyle for Gehenna Bees.
But still, I want to sweat hard and work! one of them said.
However, the only Gehenna Bees who could work for longer than eight hours a day were those whose Ranks had increased and Quinn’s attendants that nested within Vandalieu’s shadow.
These Gehenna Bees had not increased their Ranks, nor were they attendants of Quinn. In order to attain the long work hours that they dreamed of, they had no choice but to work hard, earn Experience Points, improve their Skills and increase their Ranks.
That was why the Gehenna Bees got fired up with conversations about what race they would become after their Ranks increased and what kind of work they would do.
The stars are the Gehenna Bee Workers, said one of the Gehenna Bees.
It’s hard to pass up being a Gehenna Bee Knight, though, said another.
Mages are good in their own way, piped up a third.
The ‘work’ of resting included communicating with their fellow workers, so they conversed with fervor.
The Gehenna Bees perceived every Gehenna Bee, except for the queen bee Quinn, to be equal workers. They just had different tasks – Soldiers had the task of fighting, Mages performed nonmanual labor, and Workers did things like nest-building and honey-harvesting.
Of course, the loss of Gehenna Bees that commanded and supervised others had a big impact, so it was necessary for non-commanding Gehenna Bees to be sacrificed to reduce the losses of the commanding ones. However, there was a problem with this task.
After all, each individual would always return as long as Quinn and that person were there.
Today’s day of enjoyable physical labor was about to begin.
It’s time, a Gehenna Bee thought as she set out.
Gehenna Bees had different preferences for tasks depending on their individual qualities. In order for them to discover which tasks they preferred, those who had not yet increased in Ranks after hatching from their cocoons performed a different task every day.
The task given to this one particular Gehenna Bee today was construction. However, the construction was not an expansion of the nest in which she and the others lived.
The main material she would be working with was stone, not wood and sand mixed with her saliva. And even after this object was built, nobody would live in it, nor would it provide any protection from enemies like a fortress’s walls would.
That was the strange nature of the object that was being built.
If she were to be honest, neither she nor any of the other Gehenna Bees knew why it was necessary to build this object. However, it was a task that had been ordered of them by the queen bee Quinn, and she knew that it was a task that many residents of Talosheim wanted them to carry out. She knew that there was value in building this object, even if she did not understand it.
With these thoughts running through her mind, the Gehenna Bee headed for the construction site with her fellow workers and began putting the stone parts together.
“Ah, the Gehenna Bees for the afternoon shift!” said an Undead Titan stonemason. “I’ll be asking you to put these stone parts together! As for where to take them –”
The Gehenna Bee obeyed the stonemason’s orders and worked in a group of four to lift a cube-shaped mass of stone, about two meters in length, width and height, and fly it off. They would be joining this block of stone to the enormous, halfway-built statue of Vandalieu.
The adhesive would be a mixture of Gehenna Bee saliva and sand rather than mortar.
In the sky above the Gehenna Bee were other groups of Gehenna Bees, flying around with blocks of stone. Gehenna Bees that could fly with their wings and also possessed the ‘Superhuman Strength’ Skill were valued as workers who could operate at high altitudes.
The Gehenna Bee carried some stone and attached it to the statue as she had been instructed.
She let out a quiet noise of wonderment.
She could clearly see just how huge this object was. And yet, this was only half the final height it would eventually reach – Wouldn’t this become the largest object in the city following Talosheim’s castle and the Gehenna Bee nest?
The materials and labor expended to create it were surely significant, although the Gehenna Bee could only imagine how great they were, as she was but a lowly worker.
But would this enormous statue be of such value that it warranted this cost?
It would serve no function. Perhaps it would if it were to be turned into a Golem, but as things were currently planned, it would simply be an enormous statue even once it was completed.
But it seemed that nobody from any of the other races, which were supposed to have far greater power of imagination than Gehenna Bees, thought of this to be a problem.
Races with physical strength would move the stone, and the stonemasons and sculptors would decorate it.
“Stone coming through!” said a Titan.
“Back, please,” a Leshi groaned.
“Bugobugoh!” an Orcus grunted.
Meanwhile, Black Goblins, Empusa and Arachne climbed the statue’s surface to carve the detailed features.
“It’s starting to look like King! The way its eyes are all hollow is just like him!” one of the Black Goblins said.
“I don’t think the face has been built yet…” said an Empusa.
“What exactly is he seeing?” an Arachne wondered.
There were also those who were maintaining order around the construction site and others monitoring the workers’ health.
“Safety is priority number one in construction! Helmets are strictly required to be worn! If you are injured, call the medic team right away! That goes even if you’re Undead!” an Undead supervisor shouted.
“Don’t go neglecting your water intake just because it’s winter! Make sure you keep yourself hydrated unless you want to turn into an Undead!” a safety officer told the nearby workers.
“Praise be, praise be,” a worker murmured as he carried out his tasks.
For some reason, there were people like him who worked only for a short period of time before going home. It seemed that they worked a few hours in order to show something called ‘religious devotion,’ which the Gehenna Bee didn’t understand.
Watching this scene, there was no doubt that many individuals of the races that made up this nation desired the completion of this statue.
But there were some that did not desire it. The ones standing wordlessly at the end of the road that led to the construction site… the Demon King Familiars, which were a part of Vandalieu, who was essentially the father of the Gehenna Bees.
‘Oppose the construction of the enormous statue! A small one will do, won’t it!’
‘Let’s put more thought into how we use our taxes!’
‘Stop, please.’
The Demon King Familiars were standing there wordlessly and silently, holding signs bearing messages like this. They were so quiet that one would forget they were there at all if they didn’t have appearances that were bizarre even from a Gehenna Bee’s perspective.
They… or rather, their main body Vandalieu, was the only person in Talosheim who opposed the enormous statue’s construction.
However, despite the protests, the Demon King Familiars were not interfering with the construction at all. They were not standing in the way of the people carrying the stone and other materials, nor were they making noise to try and distract the workers.
And –
“Excuse me, could you please help me a little over here?!” one of the workers asked.
“I’ll be right there,” said one of the Demon King Familiars.
The Demon King Familiars didn’t hesitate to help with the construction when asked for help. Naturally, their work was done properly with no sabotage. They worked enthusiastically, sometimes even giving advice, and they would return to their protesting positions once they were finished.
From the perspective of the Gehenna Bees, it was a mysterious thing to do.
But many Gehenna Bees, despite finding it mysterious, didn’t doubt it. They simply thought that it was some complicated decision that they were unable to comprehend.
After all, they were a unit that had a role to carry out. They would carry that role out, but they had no interest in anything else, as everything else was the role of other units.
But for some reason, this particular Gehenna Bee made a clicking noise, curious as to why. She thought that there must be some important clue for understanding the meaning in building this enormous statue.
And so, she decided to talk to the Demon King Familiars, once her work was finished in eight hours’ time.
Eight hours later, with the night shift Gehenna Bees having taken over for her, the Gehenna Bee spoke to the Demon King Familiars at the end of the road and expressed her doubts.
“My behavior is strange, you say? Well, I do think it probably is strange,” one of the Demon King Familiars said as it waved its tentacles around, its own body glowing faintly to illuminate the letters on its sign.
Father, you oppose. But why don’t you command them to stop? the Gehenna Bee asked.
“Well, you see, the reason for my opposition is a tiny, insignificant thing,” the Demon King Familiar replied.
The Gehenna Bee was taken aback by this reply. The majority of the Gehenna Bees believed that the Demon King Familiars’ actions were due to deep thought processes and some kind of very complex decision.
“I see that I’ve surprised you. And it seems that I’ve betrayed your expectations. I’m sorry,” the Demon King Familiar said.
“The reason I’m opposed to building an enormous statue of me is because it’s embarrassing,” explained another. “I’ve gotten used to the life-sized statues and the palm-sized statues, but I do feel some hesitation in having a statue that’s probably going to be so large that you could see it from the mountain range.”
“I don’t have any strong desire for attention. But I suppose that’s all it comes down to,” said a third Demon King Familiar in conclusion.
As the Gehenna Bee continued to stand there in astonishment, the Demon King Familiars continued their explanation.
Almost all projects in Talosheim were public projects. The construction of residences, the publication of newspapers, the operation of public bathhouses and the Explorers’ Guild, the production and sales of weapons – Vandalieu was the one making all of these happen. The exceptions were restaurants, food carts and some clothing stores, but… it was Vandalieu’s projects that provided most of the food ingredients and cloth.
However, taxes were low. To begin with, Talosheim’s tax was not the poll tax, taken from each liable person, that many nations levied on their citizens. Talosheim’s system was an income tax system.
And most structures in the city were built using Vandalieu’s ‘Golem Creation’ Skill. That wasn’t the case for the citizens’ residences, but the defensive installations such as the city’s walls had all been created by Vandalieu.
On top of that, even though armies normally cost nations vast sums of money, Talosheim’s army required a relatively small sum considering its size. This was because the army would hunt monsters for training, and the materials gathered from the monsters would be used for their weapons and food.
Thus, Vandalieu’s claim that taxes should be spent in better ways was nothing more than an excuse.
The true reason for his opposition to the statue was his own embarrassment.
The Demon King Familiars turned their gaze towards the construction site, where work was continuing throughout the night.
“I think I should have cast that embarrassment aside the moment I became the ruler of a nation, though.”
“But one’s human nature isn’t so easily discarded. Even so, I can’t deny the will of so many citizens on the account of my personal feelings of embarrassment.”
“However, I still want to express my own will. That’s why I’m making this half-hearted effort. Well, perhaps the fact that I am refusing to use my ‘Golem Creation’ Skill in the first place can be considered to be hindering the construction.”
Just as many people were working now as there were in the afternoon. Nobody believed that they were being forced to build the statue. The people had gathered here and were building the statue of their own wills.
The Gehenna Bee looked at their faces and didn’t see a single trace of discontent towards the fact that Vandalieu wasn’t using his ‘Golem Creation’ Skill to make the task easier.
I see, so there was a meaning to it after all, the Gehenna Bee murmured, looking up at the starry night sky and the enormous, partially-constructed statue of Vandalieu.
Vandalieu did not desire this statue, and it served no practical function. But this enormous statue had a purpose – the very important purpose of defying Vandalieu’s will.
Vandalieu’s thoughts were not as deep as the Gehenna Bees had thought, nor was his decision so complex. But he was constantly watching over them. He was like the moon during the day, going unnoticed but still always there.
But for many people, this was not enough. They wanted an idol; they wanted something that reminded them of Vandalieu’s existence, something that they could gaze upon and pray to, no matter where they were.
“I am very happy that a Gehenna Bee like you, one that is capable of thinking, has come to me,” one of the Demon King Familiars said. “If possible, I’d like you to help me with my protests… Hmm?” it said, stopping mid-sentence.
That’s right, religious devotion isn’t a duty… it’s a right, just like work! the Gehenna Bee declared.
Feeling a refreshing sense of release, not unlike the sensation Gehenna Bees felt immediately after shedding their exoskeletons, she stretched out her back and her wings, and extended her hands towards the moon.
Her body glowed, and her Rank increased.
She was now a Gehenna Bee Priestess. She was the first of her kind, a Gehenna Bee that had the role of carrying out the work of expressing religious devotion. With her efforts, the construction proceeded even more smoothly.
“Talking to someone who is essentially my daughter has caused her Rank to increase and lead the construction,” one of the Demon King Familiars lamented.
“I don’t understand,” another sighed.
Incidentally, on the Demon Continent, Tiamat, Deeana, Zantark and the others had gathered a number of suitably-sized rocks, and were carving a statue like a DIY project.
Monster explanation (Written by Luciliano):
Gehenna Bees
At first glance, these appear to be women wearing armor with bee motifs. Their size is roughly similar to that of human women, with their height being approximately 170 centimeters. They have four arms, a tail (?) in the shape of a bee’s abdomen on the back of their waists, and bee wings on their backs.
They are highly intelligent and understand human language, but are unable to speak. The main methods of communication amongst themselves are making clicking noises with their jaws, touching their antennae together and performing bee-like dances.
… Incidentally, Master is able to communicate with them using these methods without any problems.
The appearance of Gehenna Bees is similar to that of humans, but their thoughts and sense of values are similar to when they were still Cemetery Bees. They believe that work is supreme above all, and view even rest and consuming food as work. They also do not have a strong sense of individuality, and instead view the entire swarm as a single organism.
They are born from eggs laid by the queen bee Quinn, go through a period of growth as larvae and then become Rank 6 adults.
Higher races are Rank 7. There are Soldiers that are larger than ordinary Gehenna Bees, Mages that are no different in experience but are capable of casting magic and are left to do non-manual labor, and Workers that are in charge of everyday activities such as nest-building.
There are even higher races such as Knights that guard the queen bee Quinn, Riders that mount other monsters or other Gehenna Bees, and Worker Chiefs that work as foremen. It seems that their labor has diversified since they were Cemetery Bees.
The fact that they have become humanoid in form has improved their strength in battle even more significantly than their higher Ranks, as they are now able to acquire combat-related Skills and use martial skills.
Even more importantly, Gehenna Bees are a race with a very short history. They are certain to change and evolve in response to a variety of different factors.
One could say that the birth of a new Gehenna Bee race, the Gehenna Bee Priestess who is in charge of religious activities and festivals, is one example of this evolution.
- Name: Gikiririjigiri (Impossible to pronounce with human vocal cords)
- Rank: 7
- Race: Gehenna Bee Priestess
- Level: 0
- Passive skills:
- Dark Vision
- Superhuman Strength: Level 5
- Rapid Regeneration: Level 2
- Venom Secretion: Stinger: Level 5
- Special Saliva Secretion: Level 5
- Self-Strengthening: Work: Level 5
- Strengthened Body: Exoskeleton: Level 4
- Fatigue Resistance: Level 3
- Strengthened Attribute Values: Creator: Level 3
- Strengthened Attribute Values: Religious Devotion: Level 1
- Active skills:
- High-speed Flight: Level 2
- Surpass Limits: Level 5
- Coordination: Level 5
- Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 3
- Spear Technique: Level 3
- Armor Technique: Level 3
- Stonemasonry: Level 2
- Housework: Level 1
- Unique skills:
- ヴァ■■■■’s Divine Protection [Va]
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NOVEL DISCUSSION
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Hyugo[ZX7]
The image of the gehena bee reaching towards the moon with a innocence and a magical sparkle in her eye to find peace within her and evolve is the height of the fiction work. I love it.
Hobbes
Workaholic Insectoid People lol I love it! Maximum Effort ftw!
Randy Rando
If the statue is being made of grey granite, those 2×2×2 metre blocks would weigh about 18 tons each. I don’t think a helmet would matter much if one of those fell on you.
lazygeko
As I am sure you are aware already, hard hats are not for that. A small rock breaks off during carving. A person drops his chisel. A hammer falls out of the belt loop. Those at the bottom, such things would be horrible without a helmet, but with a helmet it just becomes a jump scare.
JKingSniper
Nice I wanna see these bee waifus
love how one became a priestess by talking to Vand lol
asdsdsffdhffggkl
“Cemetery Bees.”
Hunt3rm4n
Even the gods themselves are building religious statues now!
seventhtale
This chapter reminds me of Antinium from The Wandering Inn
Lord Rin
Oh I didn’t realize a chapter had been released.
Well talk about workaholic. Those Gehenna Bees even think of resting as work. Talk about ‘Work Hard. Play Hard’.
Anyways it was funny seeing how Van is protesting so nonobtrusively and even helping out politely when asked. Well at least Van acknowledges that what he’s doing is kinda futile but he wants to do it anyways because he’s embarrassed of the giant statues. At least the statues aren’t doing any Jojo poses though he might not mind if the statues happened to be all muscular. Also Van says he won’t use Golem Creation on the statues but something tells me he won’t be able to resist the romance of a giant fighting statue of himself to punch any of Alda’s faction in the face if they try to invade Talosheim.
And now Van has guided a Gehenna Bee to evolve into the first ever priestess of her race and now worship will also be work for the bees. Good thing Van now gets XP from being worshipped.
Also it made me giggle when it said that Tiamat, Deeana and Zantark are making their own giant Van statue. Like a bunch of kids playing with Legos and trying to build something.
Doc
Gotta say, did not expect the first chapter of the new volume to start with an in depth look at Gehenna Bee culture and behaviors.
And the Priestess bee said Van doesn’t plan on turning it into a golem but something tells me Van won’t be able to resist the “romance” of a gigantic fighting statue of himself. I bet it eventually is made a golem as a hidden defensive option.
Also, did I read that right that Gehenna Bee Riders could mount other Gehenna Bees?! The author meant the unevolved cemetery bees right?! Or are we to imagine a humanoid bee lady riding on the back of a similarly sized humanoid bee lady?
Drackormort
Or are we to imagine a humanoid bee lady riding on the back of a similarly sized humanoid bee lady?
That is yuri…
Zenden1st
Guess you could call that a Beegie Back
Alex-dono
They’ve been buzzy…I’ll leave now
Who Cares
I wonder if that “I’m not using my Golem skills on this” is a Chehkov’s gun. As in we need something to fight Aldazilla and then Van turns the statue into Mecha Vanzilla.
Chiu ChunLing
Except there’s no way Alda is cool enough to have a -zilla.
ExplodingPenguinDood
I’ll nickname her Gikijiri in my heart 😂
Finally a normal guiding moment for Van. I wonder if the bees are gonna build their own church or Gikijiri will talk to Nuaza first to be able to use the existing church
Rogal Dorn
He is complaining a lot for someone who is been worshipped so sincerely.
Doc
I mean unless you’re an arrogant or narcissistic person by nature I’m sure it’d feel uncomfortable for people to be worshipping you. And Van’s doing some pretty tame complaining so clearly he’s gotten used to a lot of the feelings his people have for him.
Kefrayba
This is the most heart warming chapter yet XD.
ravelphenex
you know how high van’s position on vida’s faction as the other gods personally taking part in the construction of his statue.
Doc
Van is considered the “holy son of Vida”. And considering Vida’s chosen champion or number 2, Zakkart, makes up a portion of Van’s soul, it makes sense the other members of Vida’s faction would view Van as Vida’s number 2 in authority.
Also for practicality sake, he’s the strongest mortal existence in Lambda (that we know of) so there’s nobody else for Vida’s side to depend on to get things done.
ravelphenex
the undead have already a priest nuaza and now a bee race have priestess Gikiririjigiri. maybe more races will have their own priest of the religion of van soon.
Lipesp
Technically nuaza is/was a priest of Vida and Talos first so Gikiririjigiri is the first pure “vandalieu priest ever
BlackBoyMcflyy
PRAISE BE!
Jonathan Hurd
PRAISE BEE!
Eddy
Of all the crazy things that Vandeliu does, I will always like the fact that he learned a number of complex communication systems used by species of insectoid beings. We add that all this conversation of Vandeliu with his daughters (if we let them enter the family tree, then the Quinn branch will go around the world unless we make a system that the first to get a job is put while the rest with the same work they are counted as numbers) from the point of view of a third it is a woman with bee cosplay making strange noises and dancing while 3 strange creatures make strange movements with tentacles, releasing lights and secreting strange clouds of colored gases.
So, a nation with constant and inexhaustible sources of resources + labor that thinks that working is the most important thing in life, no matter what position they are in (the part that gave me the most grace is that for them, anything that is not work is still a duty that must be fulfilled) + eternal ruler who only seeks the good of his people, how far will they go? the only sure thing is that the planet will be small
Purimi
This chapter was really cute. I love it.
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
markus0i
I’ve greatly enjoyed this series, and also this chapter. I hope we see GIOJHGIJAGIA again in the future.
I do worry a bit about the many many fun little characters in the coming apocalypse, but so far Van has been able to protect almost everyone, and I hope that theme continues through the end.
nadirku
There is something to be said for the Work Hard, Rest hard mentality of the Gehenna Bees, I know I can find it hard occasionally to not be obsessed/distracted by things that happened/will happen at my job during my off hours.
no1
Yay, a new chapter starting volume 11 and only 3 days after the end of volume 10. I like these quick releases. I’m trying to imagine 3 tiny protestors among a crowd of willing construction workers, it’s probably hilarious. One of the Gehenna bees was able to rank up just by talking to the demon king familiar. I’m not sure if that fits with Van’s powers or is just lazy writing. Also with Talosheim workers taking this statue project seriously. Giant beings like Tiamat, Deeana, Zantark trying to make their own statues of Van from giant rocks, sounds a lot like children molding clay. Thanks for the chapter Yoshi and hope to see more chapters soon, preferably before the months ends.
AnnaYvette
I think its more to do with the Gehenna Bees finding out what “task” they want to do that causes them to rank up rather than talking to the familiar itself. That’s just my thoughts though.
ExplodingPenguinDood
Iirc this is what a normal guider is supposed to do, not give away parts of his body to someone 🤣🤣
Kazza
It’s here bois and gals! Volume Eleven!
That was an OK chapter. I think it’s always interesting to leave Van’s perspective during the Side Chapters (Banda notwithstanding).
As someone who works in constriction, seeing Van invested in those safety precautions (always wearing PPE and hydration) put a smile on my face. Granted, in real life those precautions aren’t followed by the workers themselves for reasons like the helmets being too cumbersome and insulative. It’s not like construction is a really noteworthy black industry, I promise guys. Still, seeing little details like that really show Van’s truthfulness when he says he’s invested in creating a great society for his people.
Absolute Zer0
If someone like Van existed then world would be in peace
ObserverBias
Well, considering that even in Lambda there are religious fanatics of other religions, (and that more than once the target of such devotion has come down to establish themselves as relevant) eh, not quite.
Superboy8338
I didn’t know Van could make people stronger by talking to them.
Eddy
Well, there is evidence that one of the invisible passives that gave him life was to increase the possibility of obtaining new or at least rare jobs or rank increases, but I think that here is that talking to him made him realize account by itself of the existence of a new field of work that neither the swarm mind, nor its leaders had indicated to it, something, literally, of biblical proporsions for the race, in addition to that as indicated in the chapter, all accumulate experience until you find your passion
flannan
Well, that’s pretty much what “guider” jobs do.
Superboy8338
I feel sorry for Van, 1 or 2 life sized statues would do, but his people are wasting resources on building ONE MOUNTAIN SIZED STATUE.
Jonathan Hurd
It’s not really wasting resources when those resources are literally infinite. They get the rocks and marble from dungeons. As long as you don’t remove all of the resource in one go it will regrow in a day. Same for the sand. The only thing left is bee spit. Other than manual labor this giant statue doesn’t really cost anything and about everyone is donating their time because it’s deeply religious to help make it to them.
Scorpion82
Wow he just got himself a priestess
Absolute Zer0
One of very few ‘normal’ isekai thing happened in this novel.
Eberam
If by normal you mean becoming worshipped by a whole empire then yeah it’s normal.
Or you mean him guiding someone (even tho she’s a monster) to the truth and beauty of religion
Firsan
Thnx for the Translations~
Always love this kind of POV where they can just talking lightly and idly without any malicious intent about anything or a hint of something bad gonna happen.
VEreality
Thank you Yoshi-sama!
This chapter is extra funny to me. For those that didn’t read the last chapter or looked at its comment section, we talked about how Talosheim is better than other contries from an economic point of view. And would you look at that! Vadalieu’s ever growing kingdom is now even more ever growing due to the wonderful #WorkaholicBees and #Zealots.
And let us now revere the now introduced #ZealotWorkaholicBee.
By the way, am I the only one that is sure that Nuaza had a hand in the whole “religious conscription” for the workers? I can imagine him doing a whole sermon about this.
Van is once again crying because of the damage we caused to him….. Repent for this sin by working on the statue XD
Hobbes
Gehenna Bees possess an unalienable right to work… and thus no work-life separation…
Nox
Thanks for the chapter.
It is interesting to see the thought process of the Ghenna Bees and their one task mindset. I wonder what will change for them with the appearence of the priestress.
Superboy8338
Religion will now be a form of work.
VEreality
Wait. Hold up. Was it not until this point? For real now I really don’t know.
Matchu
I think that they see it as a task that the other races do, but they normaly dont (i say normaly because with the New priestess race varient that could change)
YohaoShakur
I think that they didn’t understand the concept of a religion or faith, but now with one of them understanding it more of them might follow
Doc
YohaoShakur nailed it. The Gehenna bees have very rigid thought processes. They only do what they are ordered to do and within the unit and type of work they acknowledge as “work”. Anything outside that rigid definition they ignore. They just view it as work other races that think differently than they do value as worthwhile work.
Now that the Gehenna Bee Priestess class exists, Gehenna Bees will view worship and religious dogma as “work” that bees should be doing.
Entropy
I wonder if the statues will increase the experience he gains from being worshipped as a deity. Kind of interesting to see a view from a non-main character. Still waiting to see if any gods from Alda’s fraction join the Van fanatics. I know one was hinted to becoming one. I am also curious if the demi-god title or skill can evolve with time into lesser god, god, and then greater god and if the two statues will help with that. Poor Van, I wonder if he knows about the second statue and also wonder if any other parts of his empire are planning to build a statue as well.
Superboy8338
In a previous chapter it was said that after Van became a demi-god, he can now earn exp by simply being worshipped by anyone who worships him in some way (prayers, statues, churches, etc.).
WBee
It was said before that demi-god doesn’t mean half god, it means god with a body. Van is already a god.
Entropy
Still kind of curious if there are levels in terms of divinity. I mean Alda is considered a great god because of his power in the world when he was originally just a regular god before he stole the power of Vida and imprisoned her. I also am curious if Van devours deities as he did Fitun will he be able to become the god of certain things. He did gain dominion over war and thunderclouds which later went to his other skills unlike what happened when he ate evil gods
. I suppose time will tell if that happens again when he devours a deity from that world.
Eddy
no, Arda and Vida, the two, along with the first 11, are beings that have enough power to enter the category of great gods, gods with a level of mana and faith large enough to surpass Van’s reserve, if they focused their power they could cause apocalyptic events. But even so there is no definite power scale in addition to the aspects to take into account such as authorities, control, combat experience, unique ability, etc., it is that there are no reasons to measure it according to the gods themselves, the hierarchical systems of Life and As a small spoiler, that of the demon king, they are not measured solely by combat power or your scale as a god (in Life the great gods are taken into account, but all voices have a voice and the right to vote, while the of the demon king, those who had more utility were in higher positions and had subordinates to those of little, and this utility varied), even Arda’s hierarchy is based more on seniority. Van is already a god, or well, a demigod by having a physical body but meeting the requirements to be a god, that is why he is different from Scheneider, who has the level of a demigod or god, he is immortal, but does not meet the requirements (which, as we have seen, involve the ability to create, give gifts, etc.)
ObserverBias
I find it a bit odd that, despite statues of other gods existing and Van himself meeting several face-to-face, it’s never addressed (or I don’t recall it happening) how accurate or off the depictions are.
I say this because I’m increasingly worried that these idols of Van, in his younger forms, are going to lock him into an approximate preteen form when he eventually ascends to “full” godhood. Like, he had about 2 rounds of growing pains, the more recent one being the more intense one, but it feels like the sort of thing that might get explained as they notice he stops growing or something.
Feel like it hasn’t (in-universe) crossed anyone’s mind.
Eddy
The truth is that if, more or less, for example the statues of evil gods in Talosheim are based on the image seen by Van, those of the gods outside should be based on those of the era of the gods and the gods when they were heroes in life. And I would not worry so much, as Van grows more statues will be made and since almost everyone will be alive (or not alive), there will not be a scenario in which people forget Van’s image or pigeonhole it
Jonathan Hurd
Considering there were humans who grew up and ascended to Godhood and they’re not all old men. I think it could work one of a few ways.
One is his younger selves image will be lost in time and people will focus and worship him more in his adult form. That would then lead to his God form solidifying as an adult.
He could become like Rinklet and his image could cycle clearly between distinct images. Admittedly Rinklet might be a special case since he started that way.
Could be like Vida and the impression of him changes as you look at him. From a young lad to an older man.
Lastly, but I think most likely Vans God form will be like his soul form. A giant Hodge podge of different limbs and pieces blended together. Basically he’ll probably look like more of an Evil God than other Evil God’s.
Doc
Yeah I gotta say, based on every time Van is in a divine realm and they describe what he looks like, it’s making me feel like his “God” form is an HP Lovecraft Elder God looking thing. How he presents himself to the mortal plane might still be in line with his humanoid appearance at whatever age people most recognized him as a god.
Brainlet
With what you are saying, because he is a dark elf dhampir originally i think that he will just stop ageing at a point and end up looking like a 25 or so year old like his great great grandfather but his mentality will progress, and any changes throughout his life will then become the main god personality and his younger versions will be subordinate gods or heroic spirits from before he filled the boxes for becoming a god, and of course his harem and family will become gods as well, probably subordinate or equal depending on their power and influence
Ace o laemons
this isn’t the bee movie i remember…
this is prolly my favorite side chapter that isn’t part of a mini series.
also just talking to van is enough to make you worship him now???
VEreality
It seems so? The bees are going to tell this story for generations to come.
Thk
Well he hasn’t been besting them in combat to earn their prayer
unmellow
his dark demon creator…etc etc path enticement
increase their affection for him plus he is already
respected by them because of his position as emperor
it’s silly but not unheard of in this story
Doc
Also they view Van as their creator (father)
HeyaUser
I love the bee perspective!
Really gives us some world building and I think it’s very funny too.
Tejing
Kinda interesting to get a view into the psychology of the gehenna bees. I guess Van is going to be getting some top-tier worship to pad out his exp now.
JeKeBe
Considering their inclinations toward work, he just got the idle game equivalent of an auto-clicker for XP gain.
Poor guy just can’t catch a break in his quest to keep a lower profile. Haha.
Dyneamaeus
I like that he knows he should get over it, and that his objection is ultimately futile, but he decided to play it out anyway. That’s very inline with Van’s usual views.
Also the image of a group of friendly abominations politely protesting is adorable.
JeKeBe
Not just politely protesting, helpfully lending a hand when asked. Van is just… when he’s not being terrifying, he’s definitely adorable.
Jonathan Hurd
It’s interesting because Van is making sure all voices in the matter are heard. Including his own. He has no intention of silencing or overruling the people’s wills, but an important part of that is also making sure he doesn’t silence or overrule himself.
Basically his small token resistance shows that he won’t ignore the minority, but also that he will go forward with something if a majority of people want it.
Doc
Yeah, I thought it was a nice touch for Van to acknowledge it’s silly to be protesting the statue in the half-hearted manner he’s doing it and that he should just accept that he’s a ruler of a nation. But that he is also still human (well, humanoid) and that his personal opinions still matter even if they’re silly.
It’s these moments where characters like Rimuru from Reincarnated as a slime or Van really shine as good characters. Yes, they stupidly OP, and there’s zero tension in any fight they take part in, but them knowing they’re OP yet still acting like regular, non super, humans grounds them and makes them relatable.
TypicalReader
What caught me off guard was how interesting her perspective was. I didn’t even realize that in a way the statue is being built in defiance of his will for the sake of their devotion.
It’s an interesting idea of defying one’s own god to properly worship them.
Imagine Breaker
So basically they’re working and resting like they’ll die?
Soulzer1
Well if rest is like recharging your batteries to full then rest is a type of work that lets you do other work at peak efficiency I guess.
iamleejn
Work hard, play hard? Probably makes Van happy that they take breaks regularly.
YohaoShakur
IS THAT A REFERENCE TO KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN ? If it’s not it’s okay too but made me remember the early days of it lol
Imagine Breaker
Yeah. Amusing how Tsuna does everything like he’ll die, even sleeping.
ObserverBias
Maximum Effort