Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1191: Misdirecting swim.

"When a tragedy occurs, a lot of people tend to process them in slow motion...which is weird, since most people would prefer it if such dramas occurred in an instant."

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-The thoughts of a beggar who had nothing to lose.

...Meanwhile, at the campsite...

"Why do I hear so much buzz-"

BZZZZZ!

"Holy shit!"

Three seconds.

Three seconds was all it took for a pleasant pre-hunt luncheon at the Strummata hunting camp to turn into an absolute riot.

The reason?

Someone, or something, had thrown into the middle of their camp, an active beehive.

But it wasn’t any normal type of bee hive.

This particular beehive was home to a type of second tier aether beast strain that, while weak individually, was absolutely terrifying in a large enough swarm. And they even had the name to back that reputation up.

"Hellfire Honey Bees! Run for your lives!"

"Huh? They’re just bugs, can’t we just smack them?!"

"Not unless you want holes in your chest!"

"What are you-OH WHAT THE FUCK?!"

When the group initially arrived at the campground, they had brought with them several pack animals to serve as a means to carry the larger pieces of luggage and tools.

But now, at least a third of those animals weren’t going to be useful, due to being stung by the Hellfire Honey Bees and developing a bad case of carbonized flesh holes in their bodies.

Some were grievously injured, while others were straight up dead. Needless to say, some of the people ended up more like the former than the latter when they got stung.

Fortunately(?), not everyone was thrown into a tizzy due to a swarm of murderous honeybees.

"Well...this is unexpected," Gera commented while putting down his knife and fork.

"Indeed," Giobana agreed while wiping her mouth with a silk napkin.

"Do you two youngsters need me to handle things?," Elder Phanra asked.

"No need."

"We can handle it."

With their meal thoroughly interrupted, the nobleman and the princess proceeded to condense their aether as they got up from the table and walked towards the attacking bees.

Part way through, they activated the key feature of any Aether Grandmaster.

"[Regalia, on!]"*2

...Meanwhile...

[Hmmm.]

From a tree overlooking the hunting camp, a leafy looking zako was grunting with disappointment as his master’s plan of using the honeybees to cause havoc was being thwarted by the presence of these two young Grandmasters.

Granted, this was only part of the plan, but still.

The zako assigned to tossing in the beehive couldn’t help but be a little annoyed about the fact that the creatures that had stung the everliving hell out of them wasn’t causing as much carnage as they had hoped.

At least it was a decent enough distraction though.

[Hmm...]

[Mmm! Mmm!]

[Hmm?]

From their hiding spot, the zako saw that another of his comrades was rapidly approaching the camp with a bundle of bananas in his arms.

Partially eaten bananas with the drool still fresh on them.

[HMMM!!]

Evidently, the sight of these bananas were enough for the zako to understand that they needed to get the fuck out of the area as soon as possible.

...Reason why in three...

’Hmmm, that’s odd...I figured I’d have noticed someone attempting to run for the alcove by now...,’ Elder Phanra thought to himself while staring at the entrance to the Dragon Vulture’s nest.

As an old man with a wild youth, and an understanding of tricky tactics, Phanra had assumed that the moment a beehive was used as a distraction, that he would see someone make a run for it.

But the fact that all of this chaos was occurring and yet he still hasn’t seen someone that wasn’t a member of House Strummata was...interesting.

’Perhaps this was merely a moment of mischief?,’ Phanra thought to himself as he watched the young scions fight off the Hellfire Honeybees.

This thought, however, was soon tossed out the window the moment something else landed in the middle of all this mayhem.

Splat!

Something that actually made Phanra raise an eyebrow.

’Oh dear.’

One of the life lessons that Phanra learned growing up was that, for reasons he couldn’t understand, was that bees, hornets and wasps all smell like bananas when enraged.Not only that, but if one were to eat bananas while around any hives, they would get immediately attacked.

And, in an act that appears to have been incredibly deliberate, someone had tossed in a whole bunch of bananas directly next to the beehive from earlier.

This, needless to say caused the Hellfire Honeybees to become even more engaged and more aggressive.

But, surprisingly, this wasn’t the worst part.

"OOOKIE! OOKIE!"

’Uh oh.’

The worst part was that a horde of angry monkey aether beasts were now charging towards the Strummata hunting camp, probably in a bid to retrieve those bananas.

At the sight of these malicious monkeys, Phanra finally decided to get involved.

’Pacifying this horde should be easy enough,’ the elder concluded while gathering aether. ’But how come nobody has attempted to make use of this obvious show of mayhem?’

Little did the old Buddhist knew, someone definitely was making use of this distraction.

...Meanwhile...

When certain trees get large enough, they have a tendency to create little alcoves out of roots and detritus.

These alcoves can end up becoming quite large and depending on what animals decide to take up residence in them, they can end up expanding the space into an elaborate tunnel network.

And sometimes through acts of the gods and nature, entirely new biomes can be created.

For example, due to the machinations of some previous resident, a tunnel had connected the alcove of a particular tree to the lake itself, creating an underwater passageway that got bigger and bigger over the years, until it formed a sizable cavern that allowed freshwater fish and other amphibious beasts to travel between this alcove and the lake.

Or, in the case of a former human resident, allowed him and his companion to get access to a certain burial ground he had made for his masters.

Deep underground, while the Strummata hunting camp was undergoing a crisis, Zhen Liu and Lythero had managed to enter a "backdoor" to the tree’s alcove after swimming through the lake and going through a tunnel that was connected to spring located inside it.

The two young men had breached the surface, fully dressed in their [Regalia], and entered the underground alcoves that existed directly beneath the giant tree that Lythero had marked all those years ago.

"Phew!"

"That was a hell of a swim."

The duo took a deep breath after holding it for far longer than any mortal should on a daily basis, but maintained their [Regalia]. After all, they had no idea what dangers to expect while in this taken over tunnel system.

"Zhen Liu, I have a question."

"What’s up?"

"Why did we swim if you had zakos prepared to cause that massive distraction?," Lythero asked. "Wouldn’t it have been quicker to just make a run for the entrance as soon as the bees and the monkeys attacked?"

"Technically, yes but allow me to answer with an analogy," Zhen Liu replied. "If I threw you into a burning room, would you notice me picking your pocket?"

"I...what?"

"The thing about people, regardless of their cultivation, is that if you give them a big enough and obvious enough distraction, they will fail to notice any other activities as long as it’s so far removed from their focus," Zhen Liu elaborated. "My zakos and essentially forced everyone in that camp to focus on the fact that mother nature herself was harassing them via the power of angry insects and monkeys, meaning that any and all attention would be concentrated on the surface. Meaning, their ability to care whether or not someone was taking a swim towards their location was so far removed, it’s as if I pickpocketed someone worrying about their house burning down. They care about the obvious, not the underhanded."

"That...makes a lot sense, actually," Lythero admitted as he thought about this strange analogy. "Why a burning room though?"

"It was either that or elephants fucking, but you get the idea of what I’m trying to get across."

"Yeah...wait, what?"

"Regardless of rutting pachyderms or burning room, do you know which way we should go to acquire these lost swords of your masters or not?"

"Uhh...yeah. Should be this way."

"Excellent."

Following Lythero’s lead, the two of them made their way out of what he called the "Fishing Cave", and made their way into the main part of the tunnel network.

"I buried them in the largest alcove I could find, which...turned out to be where we would normally practice and eat meals together," Lythero explained as the two of them kept walking. "If my memory is right, then their swords should be sticking out like proper headstones."

"Hmmm."

As much as Zhen Liu hoped there would be no issues with this retrieval, his instincts said otherwise.

...

’We’re going to find a bunch of desecrated bodies, aren’t we?’

[Likely.]