059 – War of the Nymphs and Princesses #1
A swarm of large ants, the size of my palm, surged in like a black wave.
“The soldier honey ants are charging in…! Honey ants are gentle, but when they gather like this, they become incredibly strong…!”
Even without Inoi panicking, it was clear that these creatures were a formidable colony.
Even Kkungkkungi, who was perched on my shoulder, couldn’t do much in the face of the soldier honey ants’ advance.
Grr…
All he could do was growl menacingly.
That was when it happened.
Hioong…
Someone let out a pitiful sound.
Turning my head, I saw that the soldier honey ants were carrying a cage made of twigs, and inside was a beautiful RGB-colored spider, Kkungkkungi, trapped…!
Hioong…!
Having spotted me, Kkungkkungi flailed its front legs vigorously.
I never imagined that such a quick Kkungkkungi would be caught by honey ants!
“Kkungkkungi!”
Kkungkkungi was a pretty strong friend, capable of matching up with Kkungkkungi in a contest of strength.
What had happened?
Soon, Inoi hid behind me and said, “The honey ant colony can drive away other animals and build nests…! It appears they have come to conquer and claim homes and yards as their nests…!”
According to Inoi, the power of the honey ant colony gathered here was enough to drive away the trolls I had seen earlier in the fissure.
To think they could oust B-Rank demons.
Kkungkkungi’s capture made sense.
“I thought all honey ants were as gentle and mild-mannered as Ahn Ahn!”
Ahn Ahn was a cultured ant.
He even operated my phone to watch MyTube.
As I remember, the last thing he enjoyed was a documentary featuring plenty of animals after subscribing to Niflex.
“One of the other names for the honey ant is ‘Conqueror Ant’…!”
Conqueror Ant.
What a cool name.
They love to expand their territory and enjoy ruling various creatures under their dominion.
“Well, we need to retreat for now!”
I ran home to escape the encroaching conqueror ants.
Once I locked the door and checked that all the gaps were sealed, only then did I feel relieved.
Grr! Grr!
The ants seemed to be trying to tunnel into our house.
How long could I hold out?
“What in the world is going on?”
Coming back home to find it in such chaos because of ants was surprising.
To understand this situation, I would need to ask Ahn Ahn.
Zzi. Jiji. Zzi. Zzi. Jiji. Jiji.
Emperor Ant Ahn Ahn kept on saying something to me.
However, I still couldn’t understand.
But I had a feeling that it was trying to say, “It’s not my fault.”
Zzi.
Then, a silvery ant that was clinging onto me spoke.
It was a soldier ant.
“Ah! It’s taking away Inoi’s crayons…!”
The splendid silvery soldier ant began drawing on the floor using Inoi’s crayons.
Drawing on the floor of my room was a bit concerning, but since Ahn Ahn usually did the cleaning, I didn’t mind too much.
Swoosh, swoosh-swoosh—.
The soldier ant drew a picture on the floor.
There were a lot of ants.
An overwhelming number of ants.
“An ant kingdom? Is this a picture of the ant kingdom? Ant world? Ant realm?”
Zzi-.
The soldier ant soon began to draw more.
It used a gold crayon to sketch one large and majestic ant.
Then it drew seven smaller ants.
The little ants were vividly colored, and among them, one was golden.
“Is that Ahn Ahn? Are those Ahn Ahn’s friends? No, siblings? Are those Ahn Ahn’s parents?”
Zzi…!
Though I didn’t fully grasp what the ant was trying to convey, I got the general idea.
It seemed there was a vast ant kingdom underground ruled by one ant, who passed away, leading to the inheritance of its offspring.
The soldier ant continued to draw.
A large black ant.
An ant that looked like a winged wasp harassing other ants.
It depicted a scene of a massive charge.
Soon Inoi added, “Ah! This must be the princess ant…! The honey ant’s princess…! Given her size, it would be better to call her the Empress Ant…! The Empress Ant is invading her siblings…!”
I see.
The black ants appeared to be soldiers of the Empress Ant from the ant kingdom.
“Honey ants typically love to conquer and turn other creatures into subordinates…! They say that if you form an alliance or become a subordinate, you will receive delicious honey…!”
What an interesting trait.
The golden Emperor Ant Ahn Ahn was particularly calm and cultured among honey ants.
I had thought all honey ants were like that.
“So what should we do now?”
The black Empress Ant.
No, now that they were expanding their territory, I should refer to her as the Empress Ant.
It seemed like the Empress Ant considered this house to be Emperor Ant Ahn Ahn’s territory and was invading it.
Such disasters unfolded while I was away in the military!
This was even more shocking than my sister selling my computer while I briefly entered training camp at twenty!
Hioong…!
I heard Kkungkkungi make a sad noise outside the door.
Knowing they could hold an important hostage was a testament to not underestimating ants.
Honey ants were indeed clever.
In my opinion, they possessed much more intelligence than chimpanzees or orcas, which are known to be the smartest after humans.
The honey ants had their own culture, political systems, songs, even courts.
When Inoi mentioned it, I doubted it at the time, but it seemed to be true.
# # #
Lee Jin-A experienced something astonishing while moving her belongings.
The refrigerator that had been placed outside for a moment had vanished.
“Hey, did you guys steal it?”
Lee Jin-A asked a junior from her gang.
The junior was a woman who was renowned in Makcheon City as an “Information Broker.”
This time, the gang “Fairy Tale Gang” was undergoing major changes, transforming into a bizarre organization called the “Nymph Human Rights Foundation,” which prompted them to establish a new office.
“I didn’t want to get involved in gang affairs. I aimed to finish moving and hurry back home, but of course some annoying issues arose.”
Who took the refrigerator?
Soon, her school junior and fellow information broker, Jeong Bora, said, “Noona, the ants took the refrigerator! I saw it with my own eyes! A swarm of ants came rushing in and took everything! There was a lot of chocolate inside!”
“What? What nonsense is this? Ants taking something? Are you trying to lie?”
Lee Jin-A frowned.
Thinking of the fear from her school days, the junior Jeong Bora trembled.
“Eek! Noona! When did you ever see me lie!? I’m a person living off facts! I hate lies more than anyone else! I’m telling you, ants appeared from somewhere and took it! To the underground!”
Ants stealing moving boxes?
Lee Jin-A couldn’t believe it.
She tried to review the CCTV footage, but the screen was blocked by an ant that had flown in, spreading its wings.
“So now the ants are blocking CCTV too?”
Lee Jin-A was dumbfounded.
Why were the ants so big?
“Did you see where those ants went?”
“To the underground!”
The underground of Makcheon City.
It was said there were plans to hollow out the subway, but after the fissure, the ground had weakened, causing the subway construction to be abandoned.
Instead, a maglev train had been installed above ground, so there were no traffic inconveniences.
The subway stations under construction had become hideouts for gangs or shelters for vagrants and various suspicious individuals.
Soon, information broker Jeong Bora added, “Noona, ants that steal belongings? Doesn’t that smell of money? You said you would quit the moving company and pursue Awakened work seriously. You need money to gear up, right?”
“Forget it. No matter how desperate I am for cash, I’m not working with you guys again.”
“Why—. Ah, I got a text. Hold on.”
Jeong Bora pulled out her phone.
There was a disaster message that read, “A nationwide incursion of unidentified ants! Warning regarding the theft of sugary substances like sugar and honey!”
An ant swarm commotion.
It seemed to be happening nationally, not just in Makcheon City.
“Ants….”
The giant ants.
Lee Jin-A sank into her thoughts.
She remembered something regarding ants as large as the size of her palm.
In fact, she had even met them before.
“Ahn….”
A very hot-named ant.
Could they possibly know something about the current incident?
# # #
“I think the ants want the sugar from our house. Let’s give them sugar and get Kkungkkungi back.”
I thought it necessary to negotiate with the ants.
As I opened the pantry in the kitchen and grabbed a bag of sugar, Ahn Ahn blocked my path.
Zzi…!
A very expensive black sugar cube.
It was a treat that Ahn Ahn liked.
Was Ahn Ahn embarrassed to give this to those conqueror ants?
It felt as if he was saying, “One should not bow to enemies for the sake of peace!”
“But there isn’t really a way around this. Even pesticide won’t chase them off.”
Beeeee—.
Just then, my phone rang.
It was a disaster message.
Upon checking, it was reported that the ants appearing nationwide were thieving sugary substances like sugar and honey!
“How absurd.”
This wasn’t just happening in my house!
Suddenly, I recalled a story that, from an alien perspective, the real rulers of the earth were not humans, but a tremendous number of insects, among which were ants.
At that moment.
Sssssss-.
The ants surrounding our house retreated.
Looking outside, the soldier ants, who had been furious enough to gnaw at our house’s pillars, all entered a sinkhole-like pit in the backyard.
With a hopeful heart, I opened the door and went outside.
Before me lay a sparkling stone placed in front of our house.
“Ah…! The honey ants left a stone, which is proof that they invited us to their kingdom…! Even Inoi’s master had been invited to the honey ant kingdom before…!”
