"Don't worry about it,...more importantly, tell me about the overall situation in Hope City," Zel stated confidently as if he was certain he could handle such a situation if it arose.

" Hope City is in a bad situation right now, these damn insects are becoming more and more daring by the day now, last month! some fire ants were able to make a hole through the eastern side of the main wall, killing over 50 unawakened before we were able to get rid of them. Because such incidents are becoming more common, the main wall needs to be renovated; otherwise, it will only be a matter of time before it crumbles... " Lena spoke in a grave manner.

" It's already a miracle it lasted so long,... but I'll leave this to him, after all, it's his district that's affected!"

zel calmly said not surprised by that piece of information. or, more accurately, as if he didn't care.

" There is also a shortage on food supply, we sent some hunter squads and one of them was able to spot a small bee nest around 50 kilometers afar from the northwest of the city, " she said

" before losing contact with them, they reported that the colony does not exceed 100 members," Lena added without being asked.

"If we let them establish their colony, we'll be able to harvest their honey and trade it with the coalition! However, 50 kilometers is simply too close to the city. If we leave it alone, it will cause a great deal of trouble in the future... anyway, why did we lose contact with them ? " he asked her wanting to know more about this matter.

" ... It's highly probable that it was only because were outside the range of the radio antenna, after all, it freshly formed team, and it's their first mission.." She said this before pausing to look at Zel to see if he had any questions, which he didn't! She went on to say

. .... another raid team is already being constituted with the sole mission of eradicating these bees before they become as you said! an eventual threat, thus having both honey and bee meat, the only issue will be their queen..." Lena explained to him the situation

"a Queen Bee," he said slowly. "Their colony is still in its early stages, so most of the worker bees will be looking for food, implying that the nest will not be heavily guarded...a queen alone is not that big of a threat, so what makes you say that?"

He went on, asking her for more explanations, as if he valued her thoughts on that particular subject.

" No !.. what I meant, is that it's just unfortunate to kill her this soon, she may still have not formed her core," she explained

" you know better than me how rare monster cores are, you are the insect expert after all! so what makes you think that this one will or has already formed it?" he inquired of her

"It's just speculation, but as far as I know, there are no large bee nests around hope territories, so she must be coming from somewhere else, and if she was able to survive her journey from wherever she is, and add to that, being able to settle, then either she got lucky, or.....she just may have evolved, or is on the verge of evolving!" she explained to him her thoughts process.

" Another reason to get rid of her as soon as possible, the last thing I want to deal with is another some sort of anomaly," he said to her meanwhile leaning forward before asking her more information about that raid

Tell me more about that raid? "

" they.. are planning to send some of the Japanese escapees with the bare minimum equipment....." she carefully said so as to not anger him

"if they send some awakened with them, then I have no issues with that plan.

we helped them so it is only natural for them to prove their worth, anything else to report?"

" no " she simply answered

" Then tell me about Alexender ...is he alright? " Zel asked about the well-being and whereabouts of Alex.

" well he is, Alexender is in your main residency right now, he tried to make a scene to go back to that new world but when jess showed up he quickly calmed down, as always he was terrified of her... you should have seen his face fufu ~" she giggled in a cute way before adding

" it was as if death itself was in front of him...to be frank, I was expecting her to punish him or something ... but instead, she just promised that she was gonna bring him with her when she goes back ."

" hmpf ... did you sign him into the academy? " he asked out of nowhere

" What ?! " she exclaimed

"...."

" I mean, we could! but he's already way beyond their levels. so I don't see any value in adding him with the others, he already knows how to use his aura and even awakened an ability " she then explained the reason behind her reaction

" he needs to form his own circle of friends, this experience will mainly help him grow as a person. and for him to socialize with people his age, that it! ...." Zel explained why he wanted Alex to join the Academy.

" well, I do agree with you... hanging out too much with them will only corrupt him "

Lena said thinking about some specific people that were part of the royal gourd.

" .... " Zel was just silently staring at the door

Knok ! Knok !

after hearing two knocks on the doors

" Oh, Right!. You said you were waiting for someone, I should probably take my leave. "

Lena then said meanwhile walking toward the door to open it.

" Lena, wait...." he calmly said to her

" hm?! "

Lena turned around, then looked at him as if waiting for him to give her permission to leave or at least say something to her.

" Is there..." as she was gonna ask him about why he stopped her

then suddenly

shtraaaa!!!

someone violently pushed the two doors from the outside thus causing them to shatter.

" hik!."

Lena, who was at that moment looking toward Zel, got startled, then s instinctively took some steps toward him, before slowly turning back.

" and you are? "

Zel asked in a calm demeanor. leaning back into his chair meanwhile looking at what seemed to be a large rocky humanoid structure, it was about 4 meters tall and 2 meters large, that thing then bent over and invite itself into Zel's office with difficulties because of its body proportions.

" Zorrui muvss I waxevnet abvelll to corrtrol my power "

that thing said with a rocky intangible voice that was slowly turning into that of a human, meanwhile it was shrinking, all the rocks composing it were fusing with the floor then disappearing as if they were never there, to begin with.

revealing little by little the true form of that uninvited intruder.

He was a 7.1 feet tall (2.16m) big bulgy bold Asian man that was wearing a monk outfit.

With all scars all over his face, giving him the look of some thug more than anything else.

" You are being the man called Zel ? ..... " the monk said with broken English in a deep unpleasant voice.

" And yo ?? hm...it not importance ! " he added looking at Lena. then smiling as if he was having obscene thoughts meanwhile looking at her.

" You can leave Lena, thank you for your hard work " Zel commended her.

" As you order your highness, right now I will be heading to the leaving area, do you need or want anything in particular ? "

she respectfully asked him.

" Well ... I was going to ask you to send some food and drinks, but they will no longer be required. I'll just ask Ludolf to make something for us, you can just enjoy the rest of your day...and thank you for your hard work." Zel gently said, with whatever facial expressions he had at that moment unknown his face being covered by his mask.

" Then I will be on my leave! " Lena respectfully bowed before starting to leave.

On her way out, she didn't even look at the monk or give him a second thought.

"hm ?! ... you dare ignorance you little bitch .."

That monk yelled angrily to Lena in his deep voice and broken English. His composer was easily shattered. But she just ignored him and his loud shouts. simply continuing to walk away,

Now arriving in front of the exit and at the moment she was going to step outside of the office, the monk turned around and quickly reached his arm to catch her from her left shoulder.

But then! inches before touching her, he abruptly stopped before turning his head to glance at Zel. who was just sitting comfortably on his chair, meanwhile watching the scene with his legs crossed.

"...."

"...."

whatever the reason was, that monk stopped his action and let Lena leave.

After she left, zel was just staring at that monk in silence. not thinking anything much.

After a moment of tense silence,

"I am here to .." The monk was gonna say something

" take a sit " Before Zel cut him ordering him in a stoic voice to take a sit.

" I was planning to meet you tomorrow, but guess patience Is not your forte, a pity for a monk, don't you think ?! " he added always in a stoic cold voice.

*****

author thoughts: hi! thank you for reading just a reminder for you to add it to your library to not miss upcoming updates it the easiest way of supporting me - AgLd