Chapter 130: Heavenly Silkworm (4)
Translator: bjgoofy
"No, wait. Hyang, spit that out first. Ptoo, ptoo. Hurry."
In my surprise, I had asked where she caught the bug she was carrying in her mouth, but that was getting things backwards.
As a father worried that Hyang might get bitten and hurt, I told her to spit the bug out, and she spat it from her mouth with a little ptoo.
-Thunk.
The bug she'd spat out flailed on its back for a moment, then righted itself, revealing its full form.
It was roughly the size of an egg, with a translucent white body, antennae, and short legs.
The proportions were scaled up dozens, even hundreds of times, but this was definitely a bug I recognized.
'That's a termite!?'
It was admittedly plump and considerably large, but that was unmistakably a termite.
What Hyang had brought back in her mouth was a termite, known in the Central Plains as "white ant."
'But there aren't even any trees around here. Where on earth did she find it?'
I was still blinking in surprise at the fact that Hyang had brought back a termite when her thoughts reached my mind, as if she hadn't forgotten my earlier question at all.
『Daddy, there's lots of them over there! Hyang saw them!』
'Gah!'
Even in the middle of my shock over where Hyang had found termites, her overwhelming cuteness stopped me dead in my tracks.
A daughter's heart attack, squeezing the life out of her father's heart.
No father in the world could keep his composure through that.
Sure, the three of them fighting and one running away from home sometimes shattered my sanity, but this kind of heart-melting adorableness was precisely the joy of raising daughters.
'Seriously, what's with the heart-melting cuteness at a time like this....'
Flinching at Hyang's sweet little thoughts, I asked again.
"O-okay, where?"
I'd thought our Hyang was the carefree type, but it seemed she was quite the capable worker.
As if determined not to let it get away, she pounced on the termite she had spat out and knocked it unconscious, then wriggled her way toward the base of a red peak.
She headed for the foot of the rocky peak, near where the stone roots began, and then turned to face me and cried out.
-Tsurur!
『Daddy! Over here, over here!』
I rushed over and crouched down where Hyang was pointing. Beneath a rock that jutted out like a low roof, there was a hidden space.
A cleverly concealed hole in a crack between the rocks came into view, and just as Hyang had said, several termites were poking their heads out of it.
'Holy...!'
A shiver shot from the crown of my head straight down to my toes.
I stared blankly at the countless towering rock peaks rising all around me.
And then those hundred-odd red rock peaks began to look entirely different from before.
Now I could recognize exactly what they were.
These red peaks were not mere rock formations.
The countless red rocky peaks rising throughout this basin were not simple geological formations at all. Every last one of them appeared to be termite mounds.
And I was starting to understand just what kind of termites these were.
Termites are commonly known to live in wood, but not all species are arboreal.
'These are the same kind as cathedral termites!'
Scientific name: Nasutitermes triodiae.
Common name: Cathedral Termite.
The creatures before me were clearly a species similar to cathedral termites, also known as cathedral mound termites.
Cathedral termites are native to the desert regions of Australia. There is a reason they bear that name.
It is because they build towering mound-like nests that resemble the Sagrada Familia, that famous European cathedral said to have been designed by the architect Gaudí.
There is a reason these termites build such tall structures: that kind of architecture is optimal for heat regulation and air circulation.
A cathedral termite's mound may look like a haphazardly piled tower, but it is in fact a highly scientific structure.
Since cathedral termites inhabit hot regions, they draw cool air in through intake vents spread across the ground when temperatures rise, while channeling hot air upward through tall chimneys for expulsion.
And when night falls and the temperature drops, they seal the openings at the top to minimize heat loss.
'A six-millimeter cathedral termite builds a nest over six meters tall, and the one Hyang caught looked to be about six centimeters, so....'
Given that their bodies were proportionally larger, it stood to reason they had built proportionally larger nests.
"Soryong, there's nothing of note on the other side. Did you find something?"
"Ryong, did you find anything? It's all just the same-looking peaks over here."
Just as I realized the true identity of these red stone pillars, massive termite nests, Tang Hwa-eun and Seol noona approached, sensing I had discovered something.
"Did you find something?"
Then came the Divine Thief's question as he leapt down from atop a peak.
"I did find something, but...."
"You found something?"
"Yes, over there...."
Instead of answering, I pointed to Hyang at my feet, who was plucking termites out of the hole and flinging them behind her like a father pulling out gray hairs.
Each one had apparently been injected with a tiny dose of venom, as they lay unconscious and unmoving.
I could feel her thoughts, eager to do a good job so she could earn praise.
"Wh-what is this!?"
"What is that, Ryong? Hyang, what are you doing? Why do they keep coming out?"
"Hyang, what are those?"
The three of them stared at the oversized termites with startled expressions.
The Divine Thief's disciple, Yeong-ryeon, joined the group and widened her eyes at the sight of the termites.
"What on earth?"
"Well, these are...."
'Wait, what am I even supposed to call them?'
Finding them was one thing, but I needed to explain what they were, and cathedrals were not a type of architecture that existed in the Central Plains.
I agonized over what to call them before an excellent idea struck me.
'Ah, of course!'
"They're, uh, Pagoda Termites!"
Now that I thought about it, the only tall structures in the Central Plains that resembled these mounds were the Buddhist pagodas found at temples.
Even by my own standards, it was an inspired translation.
Just like the cathedral termite name, it even carried a religious connotation, which gave it a rather elegant ring.
A perfect, hundred-point translation adapted to local conventions.
"Pagoda Termites?"
"Pagoda Termites?"
In response to everyone's questions, I rapped on the red peak, that is, the Pagoda Termite nest.
-Tap tap.
"I thought these were red rock peaks, but they're not. These are all Pagoda Termite nests. These entire massive peaks are termite colonies."
"What!?"
"These, these massive peaks are termite nests!?"
"These huge peaks? All of them? Really?"
Learning that the peaks were giant termite nests, everyone flinched and backed away from the mounds.
I nodded and continued.
"Yes. These enormous peaks are, in fact, the nests of those Pagoda Termites."
"Then these creatures are...."
I had just finished explaining the true nature of the red pillars surrounding us when it happened.
Hyang's shrill cry suddenly rang out.
-Chirr chirr!
I turned toward her at the sharp sound and saw that among the termites being plucked from the nest like gray hairs from a father's head, a much larger one had thrust its head out.
Several big-headed termites blocked the entrance with their heads and began squaring off against Hyang.
"Hey, Hyang, not those! Back off!"
-Tssrit?
Startled by my shout, Hyang flinched backward and sent me a burst of feeling, surprised by my sudden outburst.
She seemed to think I was scolding her for working so hard to earn praise.
I quickly scooped her onto my shoulder and spoke.
"No, I wasn't scolding you. Those ones are dangerous, so you have to be careful."
What had just emerged at the entrance of the termite nest were soldier termites.
The worker termites kept disappearing, so the soldiers must have swarmed out in response. I could hear them snapping their mandibles.
-Click! Click-click!
Termite soldiers possess mandibles powerful enough to inflict lethal wounds on other insects of similar size, so extreme caution was necessary.
That was why I had shouted at Hyang so urgently.
If she had rushed in to fight the soldiers and gotten bitten, she could have been seriously hurt.
Being a Spiritual Creature, she probably wouldn't be injured easily, but I couldn't afford to be careless. If the Heavenly Silkworm's famously tough silk was what those soldier termites' powerful mandibles had evolved to cut through, then even Hyang was not safe.
I tickled her jaw and the top of her head so she wouldn't feel hurt, and lavished her with praise.
"Our Hyang did so well. You're the one who found the termites, after all."
"Oh, Hyang found them? Our Hyang did such a good job. You really are a clever girl, aren't you?"
Tang Hwa-eun, ever perceptive, chimed in with praise of her own. Once we had showered Hyang with compliments, the Divine Thief pointed at the soldier termites poking their heads from the entrance and the unconscious termites scattered in front of it.
"So then, are these the creatures that threaten the Heavenly Silkworm? And what about its food?"
That must have been the question put on hold by the appearance of the soldiers. Now that we had found the creatures threatening the Heavenly Silkworm, he was asking where its food source was.
After all, I had told him that once we found the creatures threatening the Heavenly Silkworm, its food would likely be nearby.
"Hmm.... That's what we need to verify now."
"Verify, you say? What do you mean?"
The probability that the Heavenly Silkworm was connected to these termites was ninety-nine percent.
Countless organisms live in symbiosis or parasitism with termites and ants.
In response to the Divine Thief's question, I pulled out the Wooden Box I had seized, or rather, been entrusted with by him.
Then, smiling, I said,
"With this."
***
After calling Cho and Yohwa back as well, the first thing I did was lead everyone toward the tallest peak, the one at the very center of the basin.
To determine what the Heavenly Silkworm ate, I figured I needed to hatch one of the eggs, and the oldest mound seemed like the best place to do it.
Together, we approached the largest peak at the center of the basin and first searched for a ventilation hole like the one Hyang had found.
"We need to find a hole like the one from before."
"Got it."
"Understood."
-Tssrit!
At my words, everyone spread out to search for a ventilation hole. It wasn't long before one was found.
"Soryong, over here!"
I rushed toward Tang Hwa-eun's voice and found a hole concealed just like the previous one.
Lying flat to peer inside, I saw termites poking their heads out of the opening, just as before.
"Then let's verify right away. You said all I need to do is channel Internal Energy into it, correct?"
"That's right."
Following what the Divine Thief had told me, I took one of the now only three remaining eggs from the Wooden Box and placed it on my palm.
Then I began channeling Internal Energy into the ping-pong-ball-sized egg.
At once, the Heavenly Silkworm egg began to change color.
The interior shifted to a vivid blue, and moments later, a white larva tore through the shell and emerged.
It was a peculiar creature, with an osmeterium protruding like a horn that remained continuously raised atop its head.
Having only seen the dried-up specimens until now, seeing a living one in person drew an involuntary gasp of admiration.
'Ohhh! It's adorable!'
Its plump white form was cuteness incarnate.
The centipedes were cute too, but the Heavenly Silkworm possessed a different kind of natural charm.
Its chubby little segments and the squishy softness against my palm.
That distinctive squirming adorableness.
"Soryong?"
"Oh, yes!"
I had been so lost in the Heavenly Silkworm's cuteness that I'd spaced out, only to snap back to attention at the Divine Thief's call.
I set the hatched Heavenly Silkworm down a short distance from the termite nest entrance.
It seemed to look around for a moment, then, apparently having spotted the termites, quickly wriggled toward them.
And then, remarkably, as it approached the termites, its osmeterium began to change shape.
What I had thought was a horn flattened and spread out, transforming into something resembling a yellow sprout.
At that, the termites rushed over and began licking the center of its yellow leaves.
Watching them, I finally began to understand the Heavenly Silkworm's ecology.
'Ah! So these Heavenly Silkworm creatures have a life cycle similar to the Twin-tailed Hairstreak Butterfly!?'
It seemed the Heavenly Silkworms shared an ecological niche with the Twin-tailed Hairstreak Butterfly.
The Twin-tailed Hairstreak Butterfly has a highly unusual life cycle.
After mating, the adult butterfly lays its eggs near the nest of a species of ant called the Matsumura ant. Once the eggs hatch, the ants carry the larvae into their nest.
The Twin-tailed Hairstreak larvae produce honeydew from glands on their rear end, much like aphids, and the ants are extremely fond of it.
Because of this, they bring the butterfly larvae into the nest, feed them in a kind of nutritional exchange, and even sacrifice their own young as food for the larvae.
As if to confirm my theory, after the termites licked the honeydew from the center of the leaves on its head, they picked up the Heavenly Silkworm larva and disappeared into the nest.
"Soryong, the termites carried the Heavenly Silkworm away!"
"Hey, Soryong, those things took the Heavenly Silkworm!"
Tang Hwa-eun and the Divine Thief seemed alarmed that the termites had carried off the Heavenly Silkworm, but there was no need to worry.
This was exactly what I had anticipated, and we were going to have to dig anyway.
Operating on the assumption that the Heavenly Silkworm shared the same ecology as the Twin-tailed Hairstreak Butterfly, raising them would absolutely require these Pagoda Termites, which meant we needed to dig into the ground and capture the queen.
'Last time, the army ants were too dangerous and ended up dying before I could catch them, but cathedral termites are useful for agriculture and aren't dangerous, so they're perfect.'
I turned to the Divine Thief with a smile.
"Elder, are you any good at digging?"
"Digging? You can't mean...?"
"Yes. It seems we'll need to dig."
"You should've kept it safe before they hauled it off! What good was any of this! You said you'd figure things out, and you haven't figured out a damn thing!"
The Divine Thief grumbled at the suggestion of digging.
He apparently thought I wanted to dig in order to retrieve the Heavenly Silkworm, so I decided to give him an answer that would have him digging with all his might.
"No. I've already figured out everything I needed to."
"You have!?"
His eyes went wide with surprise when I said I had learned everything there was to learn.
I pointed a finger at the ground below and spoke.
"Yes, of course. But the reason I want to dig is, didn't you say you need Heavenly Silkworm silk?"
"W-well, naturally."
"Didn't you see it? The Pagoda Ants carrying the Heavenly Silkworm into their nest. That means, deep underground, there could be a mountain of cocoons left behind by Heavenly Silkworms that already hatched."
"What!?"
The Divine Thief's eyes went wide as saucers and turned toward the red pillars.
After all, buried beneath the earth might lie the very treasure he so desperately sought.
*****
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