kscans

Chapter 210 - Episode 8: The Third Instar Sluggard

What if the monster's true identity was that type of creature.

I pondered this as I walked briskly down the hallway. If my prediction was correct, we would have to fundamentally reconsider the nature of the calamity monster. It belonged to what I could only call the worst possible biological category. In my past life on Earth, they were the most prosperous animal group. Their population numbers were simply incomparable to mammals like humans.

The phrase "a swarm of monsters," found in the four hundred year old records, could become a literal reality, or perhaps something on an even greater scale.

"Ricardo-dono. Where are we going?"

Lisabet asked from behind me. She was still holding the honeycomb. Right, verification first. Thankfully, I had a method.

"My apologies. We are here."

Knights from both the Kingdom and the Empire stood guard before the door. I asked them to announce us. When the door opened, Dagobard and Craig looked over at me.

"What is it, Ricardo?" "..."

Between them lay a map of the flying dragons' territory, with two kinds of pieces placed upon it. Surely the next heads of state were not playing chess for control of the border.

"I am sorry for the intrusion, Your Highness Dagobard. Something has come up that I must investigate immediately regarding that larva, I mean, that Magic Insect. I would like your permission for a dissection."

Dagobard glanced at Craig.

"It seems urgent."

Craig began clearing the pieces from the table.

"Everyone, come with me."

Dagobard shrugged and gave the order to his men. I worried this was getting a little dramatic for the verification stage, but I suppose we would need the extra hands to take that thing apart.

"...What is it? We were just finally getting some sleep..."

Crenne said, rubbing her eyes as she opened her door.

"Faah... This isn't a nighttime visit, is it? It's daytime. ...Ah, you have thought of something again. Just a moment, I will get changed."

Maytyl said with a yawn. All I really needed was a needle and a magnifying glass from them.

◇◇

"Perhaps you should start by explaining what you have thought of?"

Craig said to me as I led the entourage of national leaders down the corridor. It was so shocking that I had forgotten to explain.

"It is about the monster, or rather, the Magic Insect we fought earlier. I think it had another transformation, not just a metamorphosis, left to go."

"Transformation? I do not understand."

"Essentially, the Magic Insect we struggled so much against may have been nothing more than a larva."

"Maytyl, tell me what he is talking about."

Dagobard said to Maytyl with a look of resignation.

"I don't know either. Um, Lisabet, what happened?"

"Yes, as soon as Ricardo-dono saw this, he suddenly..."

Lisabet showed the honeycomb to Dagobard. Right, this was the perfect thing to use.

"First, please picture a bee. Its body and legs are segmented, it has six legs, and it breathes using a tracheal system. These are the characteristics of a biological category called insects. And they are shared by that Magic Insect. Are you with me so far?"

"You explained that back on the mountain."

"Then, please look at this hive. As you can see, insects change their form drastically as they grow. The most extreme type is a process called Complete Metamorphosis, where the larva and the adult look like completely different creatures. Think of the difference between a caterpillar and a butterfly."

I showed them the honeycomb.

"I know that much... So you are saying that monster is the same?"

"...That it will grow even more... and gain wings?"

The prince and the crown prince showed their understanding.

"Yes."

Even among insects that undergo incomplete metamorphosis, there are species where the adult and larval forms are very different. Dragonflies and cicadas, for example. The adult and larval stages of these two species live in completely different environments, so their shapes change significantly. But even so, the larva still has small wings.

I had checked the back of the defeated Magic Insect for developing wings and was relieved to find none. But for an insect that undergoes Complete Metamorphosis, it is a different story. As you know from caterpillars, the larva has no trace of wings. At least, not anywhere visible.

"I understand your explanation. But you said you had never seen that thing before, Ricardo. What proof is there that the Magic Insect is the same as this bee, that it will become a Pupa or grow wings?"

Maytyl posed the question. It seemed less like she doubted my idea and more like her curiosity had been piqued. Indeed, Dagobard's eyebrows shot up.

Among insects that undergo Complete Metamorphosis, there are some, like silkworms, whose adults have wings but cannot fly. It is impossible to tell which kind it is just by looking at the larva.

Moreover, that Magic Insect was a creature that had evolved over a long period of time after coming to this world. It might have discarded its wings in the process of evolution. But it is possible to determine all of that at once.

"There is a way to prove both that the Magic Insect undergoes Complete Metamorphosis and that the adult has wings."

I pointed to the largest bee larva. The body of the plump, round larva. Within it, the future adult lay dormant.

◇◇

I placed the bee larva on a board and ran the tip of a sharply honed needle down its squishy white body. Wincing at the fluid that spurted out, I slit open its back. The digestive tract that took up most of its body, the thin tracheae entwined around it, and the grape-like clusters of fat.

Pushing them aside, I found the small tissues I was looking for. I carefully extracted the disc-shaped objects with the needle.

"Please check if there are tissues similar to these inside the Magic Insect."

I handed the magnifying glass to Dagobard. On either side of the dissected bee larva, the small tissues were arranged. Six circular tissues, and two pairs of tissues shaped like thick-handled rice paddles, one large and one small.

The only ones I had ever seen were from a drosophila in a biology lab in my past life, but they looked the same. Was this a case of ontogeny recapitulating phylogeny?

"So there are identical things inside."

"I was hoping there would not be..."

Dagobard swung his sword at the back of the Magic Insect's corpse, which had been dragged into the garden. The hard exoskeleton split open. His subordinates helped the crown prince. Craig's party lent a hand as well. A dissection show was being performed in her own garden, but Lisabet remained composed, giving instructions for water and cloths.

"...This is what you were talking about."

Dagobard placed a circular tissue on the ground. Craig and Maytyl watched with great interest. The tissue was large enough to be held in two arms and had a concentric, circular structure.

"Were there three on each side near the thorax?"

"...Yes."

The legs, without a doubt. That confirmed it was a creature that underwent Complete Metamorphosis.

I handed the magnifying glass to Craig and Maytyl. Craig politely offered it to Maytyl, who used it to examine the dissected bee.

"Please search a little more toward its back. I think you will probably find tissues shaped like this."

I pointed to the tissue shaped like a flat fan. Dagobard returned to his work without a word.

Lumps of tissue were placed around the dissected black Magic Insect. Three pairs of disc-like tissues on the thorax. Next to them, two pairs of fan-shaped tissues.

I placed the results of the bee larva dissection beside them. The difference in scale was surreal.

"...They correspond perfectly between the bee and the Magic Insect."

Maytyl said, waving the magnifying glass.

"...Is it not natural for an animal's body to contain various internal organs? They are tissues I have never seen before, but it is to be expected that an insect would differ from a human. What does this mean?"

"Yes. Actually, these tissues are not the larva's internal organs, they are the adult's body. To be precise, they are the original parts that will become the future adult."

I explained. Insects that undergo Complete Metamorphosis change their form drastically across the pupal stage. So, is a new body, like a butterfly's wings, created inside the Pupa? The answer is generally no. The foundation of the adult body is formed not in the Pupa, but during embryonic development inside the egg. That is the tissue that forms the future adult body, the Imaginal Disc. The Imaginal Discs simply continue to grow inside the larva's body without doing anything else. Then, during the pupal stage, they replace the larval tissues.

"As always, it is knowledge I have never heard before. So, you are saying these six things are the legs? They do not quite look like it."

"They are stored in their pre-extended form. Each of these concentric layers corresponds to a single segment of the leg. Um..."

I selected a medium-sized bee Pupa and dissected it. From the melted, soupy interior, I found a stage where the disc was extending, pushing out from the center.

"They extend like this. And the problem is this one. This rice paddle, no, this fan-like tissue. There were two pairs on the dorsal side, more toward the back than the legs, correct?"

Dagobard nodded at my words.

"Those are the future wings. This means it is almost certain that this Magic Insect is the type that undergoes Complete Metamorphosis. And that the adult will have wings."

I stated the results of my verification. Really, only my unpleasant predictions come true.

Dagobard and Craig exchanged a look.

"Predicting the adult form of a monster we have never even seen... What is with this guy, Craig?"

"...It cannot be helped. Ricardo's main business is selling honey. He would naturally be knowledgeable about the ecology of bees."

Craig shrugged. A nice save, but what did he mean by "it cannot be helped"?

"Kuh, kukukukuh. That is a masterpiece. Incredibly persuasive."

Maytyl burst out laughing. Craig laughed along with her. Dagobard's face soured.

Crenne was clearly taken aback. And she had been unfazed even while I was dissecting the larva.

"Joking aside... Ricardo, you mean to say that this is the calamity monster, do you not?"

Craig said after he finished laughing. I was grateful for his quick understanding. But what did he mean by joking?

"I believe it is a possibility. If so, there is a danger that the legends of the great calamity four hundred years ago, the swarms of monsters, were not an exaggeration but meant literally. They may grow far faster than dragons and reproduce much more efficiently."

Even as a larva, it had preyed on flying dragons. If it was a Magic Insect derived from a beetle, the adult's combat ability would be on another level. At the very least, its defensive and locomotive capabilities could be on a completely different scale.

"So what do we do?"

Dagobard asked me irritably.

"This Magic Insect's core is crimson. It is highly likely that it seeks out and acts upon magic veins that generate purple magic. It has already advanced as far as the flying dragon mountain. At a minimum, we should be wary of the possibility that the winged adults will become active over a much wider area. What is worse is if the recent fluctuations in magic veins cause purple magic to appear over an even broader range."

I stated.

"First, we need to analyze the magic vein samples we brought back from the mountain. We must find out when the purple magic started appearing there. If it has been there for a long time, that is one thing, but if it is related to the recent fluctuations..."

Maytyl said.

"We will need to monitor the Empire for any new locations where purple magic appears."

"And the Kingdom as well, of course," Dagobard said. Craig also nodded.

"How many of those measuring devices do we have?" "I am having more made as we speak, Crenne." "Yes, with all haste..."

They began a hurried discussion of countermeasures, with Maytyl at the center.

My own mind had flown to the Royal Capital. The scene from the cathedral that night surfaced in my thoughts. There was one place in the Kingdom that definitely emitted purple magic. Alfina's crystal, of course.

I was truly glad I had stopped her from using it. Even though it was far away, it could have become a target for the Magic Insect.

No, I could not let my guard down. Depending on the magic vein fluctuations, the crystal might start emitting magic on its own. I wanted to return to the Kingdom as soon as possible. I had to hurry with the magic vein measurements.