Just as they left the town, Piyo encountered a new type of non-human being called a Hanenashi.
The Hanenashi, who Piyo introduced as a girl but I knew wasn’t human despite not being able to pinpoint exactly why, was different from any I had met before. To put it simply, she looked like a bee that had been anthropomorphized.
She was about the same size as Piyo, perhaps a little smaller. Her surface was covered in smooth, hardened chitin, and thorns grew on her limbs. While she had hair like a human, antennae sprouted from her head, and her eyes were large and black with very little white. A long tail extended from her posterior.
Upon seeing me, the Hanenashi flinched back slightly in surprise.
“It’s okay, Hiro is a good person.”
“Th-that is, I am Arisugawa Hiroaki. Nice to meet you.”
What am I even saying… I didn’t know how to respond, so I just blurted out my name.
Just then, perhaps worried that I wouldn’t return, the other three approached.
“H-Hiro-san, please stay away from her!”
Philiana suddenly shouted, her hand reaching for her sword.
Startled by her voice, the Hanenashi further retreated from us.
“Is she really that dangerous? She doesn’t look like it.”
In this situation, it looked like we were the ones bullying her.
“She’s a humanoid insectoid. We call them Honeybees. Their strength is about the same as a Goblin or Kobold, but if they call for allies, it becomes troublesome.”
It seemed this Honeybee species claimed this area as their territory, and for a traveler, a single one wasn’t that formidable.
“No! Don’t bully her.”
Piyo spread her wings and stood in front of the Hanenashi. Seeing this, Philiana reluctantly sheathed the sword she had started to draw.
“It’s okay, everyone’s nice,” Piyo continued, speaking gently to the frightened Hanenashi as if to comfort her. In response, the Hanenashi began to speak in a small voice.
“I-I can’t call for allies.”
