Insect Ruler
13 - Overprotective

Yuji is confused by his role in his life that has just begun. Although it had only hatched in the past few hours, in about less than two hours, he felt that the situation was unusual.

The mother who had given birth to her egg, a queen bee, became the only one in this wilderness, and her feelings told her that this was not normal.

However, he liked the forest, even though he had not seen much of anything. Staring around warily, despite being inexperienced with danger, it caused quite a bit of concern for him.

As the only Warrior, he realizes that his job is to protect his mother who is the Queen of Bees. However, his confidence faltered, doubtful whether he could carry out the arduous task.

"For the sake of my Queen, I must guard and protect her with all my might! Failure is not an option I can consider!" Yuji muttered, trying to give himself some encouragement.

Yuji feels the need to show dedication and courage, though still hesitant.

Being a single Soldier to protect his mother gave him a heavy burden, but his determination to carry out the task could not be ignored.

Then Yuji looked in amazement at how Ryuu, the queen, walked so gracefully and without fatigue. Meanwhile, he had started to have trouble breathing.

His gaze was fixed on Ryuu who was looking back at him with an awkward smile, making him think that the smile was aimed at him.

"Is his immense strength and endurance related to his powerful stats?" inner Yuji, realized that his stats must be much lower than Ryuu's.

“Ratuku...” with hesitation, Yuji started his question.

“Can I know more about that statistic?” ask her to Ryuu.

Ryuu raised his brows with a hint of astonishment. "um.... Yep... Of course," he replied slowly.

Yuji's question raises Ryuu's interest in explaining further. Realizing that Yuji may not be so familiar with the concept of statistics, Ryuu tries to explain with care and patience.

Yuji paused for a moment, trying to understand all the explanations Ryuu gave. Meanwhile, Ryuu explains about the importance of stats like ATK, DEF, and HP in their lives.

“Yang I know ATK means strength and shows your attacking power,” Ryuu explained as he continued his explanation.

“While DEF describes how strong your defense power is. HP is the point of your life, so it's better to keep it from getting too low. If your HP is below 1, you will die... I mean, beware. That's reality, and I don't want to lose you,” he added in a grim tone.

However, warmly, Yuji smiled and further strengthened his grip on Ryuu's hand. “No need to worry, my queen. I was willing to die to protect you. So, I hope not to be sad. Oh, my noble Queen!”

Ryuu, somewhat surprised by Yuji's remark, then continued hesitantly, "Ba-good... To be honest, I don't really understand how this system works. I hope your statistics can improve as soon as possible. Increasing statistical points is the key to becoming stronger. Imagine, if there was someone with extremely high ATK Statistics, they could destroy anything with a single strike. It's pretty scary to think about..."

Ryuu tries to give Yuji some understanding, but while doing so, he contemplates his own strengths and limitations in this new world.

Yuji pondered for a moment, realizing the urgency of protection for his queen. He agrees that the existence of powerful individuals could be a threat to Ryuu's life.

Although it was possible that Ryuu also felt the same worry, his perspective as a warrior brought a different look in protecting the Queen.

However, after dispelling that thought, Yuji focused on the thing he wanted to know more about. Politely, he asked Ryuu about his own stats.

Ryuu turned his gaze away, feeling uneasy with Yuji's sharp gaze that continued to observe. He was silent as he gazed into the distance, examining the System screen closely.

"My status is incomplete" he said without turning away.

Yuji, suddenly provoked by excessive worry, his expression turned pale. He may be too obsessed with protecting Ryuu.

“What do you mean by 'incomplete', my Queen? What is this?!” exclaiming, his eyes emitted a clear worry as he stared intently at Ryuu.

Ryuu's words about the incomplete status triggered a panic within Yuji. He did not want anything to potentially harm his Queen, Ryuu, and his worries were so deep that it depicted a clear expression of panic towards Ryuu.

Meanwhile, Ryuu seems to feel pain as Yuji clasps his hand harder, due to his unstable emotions.

"Ouch.." sizzled Ryuu, enduring the pain.

Seeing the reaction and hearing the Queen's sigh, Yuji realized that the pain was coming from his overly harsh grasp. In a panic, he immediately let go of his grasp and bowed 90 degrees in front of Ryuu.

".... Please forgive the guilt of your Soldier, who has hurt you, Oh, my noble Queen! Please don't throw it away or leave this soldier of yours!" yuji urged, his voice sounded full of regret.

Ryuu sighed and tried to calm Yuji down by rubbing the young man's head.

"It's been.. It's been.. I'm doing fine. I'm not going to throw you away, so please stand up straight and lift your head" she said gently.

"Yes..." Ryuu gave a calming answer.

Suddenly, Ryuu is hugged by Yuji, who tries to escape from the embrace with all her strength. Even so, the power of the Vanguard Warrior, Yuji, was stronger than he thought, making him resigned in that embrace.

In that tight embrace, Yuji declared: "You are so kind and full of forgiveness, Oh my noble Queen! Thank you! All my soul and body will be given to protect you, Oh my noble Queen!"

While trying to hold back the disgust, Ryuu asked, "Can you let go of your embrace?"

"Ah... Sure, Queen!" Yuji replied, but then he clasped Ryuu's hand tightly.

Ryuu who was restrained in that situation felt squeezed. While asking about the improvement of their stats, he tried to calm the mood.

"By the way, my mana count is pretty sure I had ninety before. What about your upgrade?"

When Ryuu turned his gaze, Yuji felt drawn to show his respect for his Queen in this kind of situation.

She chose to express her curiosity, asking, “Is there anything I need to know, queen?”

Ryuu described a thoughtful expression.

"Maybe I can show it to you. Just a minute."

"Sure, Queen!"

For the next few seconds, Ryuu seemed to focus on his System interface while he waited. Then another window opened.

...[.STATUSES]...

...Host Name: [Null] -...

...Species: Queen Bee...

...Level of Evolution: 1...

...Life: 110/130...

...Hive: 1/10...

...[.HOST statistics are currently unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience.]...

Yuji could feel the frustration of Ryuu looking annoyed at not being able to see his stats in full.

There was uncertainty surrounding the incomplete status, creating doubt and confusion among them.

When Ryuu began to explain, there was confusion regarding the changes that had occurred to his status.

“Hmm... I had a Mana Limit of 100 before. But now my limit is 130? Ahah! Maybe your hatching changed my Mana Limit. Maybe my mana really increased based on my Warrior?” Ryuu looks happy to think about it, and Yuji agrees.

"Being stronger will be fun" Ryuu said passionately. “Regeneration is also faster,” he continued while showing an increase of one point. “Either why, it could also be because of your presence. Or maybe a developing egg sucks up mana.”

However, Ryuu seemed silent for a while, seemingly having no definitive answer. “Then Nest or his soldiers,” he said while frowning.

“I think this shows the limit to the number of nest members I can have, not just how many I have right now. 1 Point Nests means just you. Hopefully it improves if I level up, but I don't know how it won't happen. And maybe it will increase when the number of eggs that are pregnant... Wait for.... Getting pregnant? Then I'll get pregnant again someday? Oh naw.... No. gabe... No. gabe.. "

As Yuji tried to ask further, Ryuu looked shaken. "My queen?"

"Ah... Um..... I'm fine, don't worry... " Ryuu tried to calm himself down, although doubts and worries seemed to haunt him.

Then Yuji stroked Ryuu's hand with his insect thumbs, but somehow this time it was more moody.

It seemed that He was anxious to have more brothers or sisters to help him. There is a great amount of strength and security that can help both Mother and Queen.

“Thank you for the explanation, and allow me to see your status. Oh, my noble Queen..”.

Ryuu gestured with his hand as if waving his thanks. “Ah? It'sit's okay. Then, let's continue the journey”