Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire-Chapter 276: The miracles of the sacred land

Actually, Farini's horse saw the spectacle first, and stopped, spooked. At the same time, Farini's holy escort flew closer to him and hovered there.

When Farini leaned forward to see better, he understood the horse's reaction.

Their path was blocked by a narrow, almost toy-like road, on which a snake-like chain of wagons was swiftly moving by with a sharp clanging of metal parts. The top wagon had a pipe on top, from which a thin column of smoke was pouring, creating the trail behind the entire chain.

Everything in this thing was intricately made, with gleaming embellishments and colorful bits shining in the sun—it was a pity they moved too fast to make out.

And this wagon chain was moving without anything to pull it! Like some marvelous mechanical toy—except, this clearly wasn't a toy, and the wagon parts all looked very real.

To the sides of the wagon was an escort of lizards, on backs of which were sitting numerous holy guardians, recognizable by their bright coloring.

All of them dashed past Farini before he could lift his hanging jaws.

'What… was this?' was the only thing he could think.

'The miracle you had an honor of witnessing is called "railroad". Perhaps, if you are loyal and devout enough, the Father will even share its secret with you. You may look at it closer for now—there are no more trains coming anytime soon. Just don't touch anything.'

Farini took this opportunity and kneeled before the "railroad" with reverence.

The metalworking in it was incredibly intricate. If a toy or a piece of jewelry were made with this precision, with the nails used being so tiny that Farini could barely make them out with the naked eye…

It would've been a very expensive piece, worthy of being a gift to the High King!

Farini folded his hands in a prayer.

'Thank you for letting me witness this miracle, holy guardians.'

He carefully led his horse over the obstacle so it wouldn't step on it, and continued the journey in even higher spirits than before.

***

Another hour brought another miracle. It would've been just a beehive hidden in a hollow of a living mountain, with swatches of bees coming and going out of it in constant buzzing…

But each of them was a holy guardian, and the beehive, exuding wisps of smoke upwards from dozens of holes made in the living mountain's sides. A railroad was coming from the bottom of the tree, going in the same direction where Farini was traveling to.

'Don't approach this place,' Whisper warned. 'Your earthly nature will bring disarray into its holy workings. Your horse doesn't like it, too… It's a smart enough beast.'

Farini obeyed, making a wide circle of this place, even if he couldn't stop staring at the guardians carrying things over the air. Some of them were whooshing back and forth with the speed that made it impossible to catch them with his gaze.

'Do guardians live in miniature cities, like humans?' he couldn't help but wonder.

'Yes, but our cities are built in a supremely better and more sacred way than yours,' Whisper replied. 'Everything there serves a grander purpose and we are all united in kinship. This is something humans must strive towards, too.'

***

Farini had to cross several more railroads on his path, and saw one more train—this one was pulled by lizards instead of draft horses or an invisible force, but it was just as impressive. The holy guardians there mostly ignored his presence—Whisper told Farini that this was because she warned them about his coming.

He also had to walk around holy cities, big and small. Even without them, there were more and more guardians around the farther forward Farini went.

Instead, the number of other insects diminished dramatically. At some point Farini realized with a start that not a single mosquito tried to bite him for the last hour.

Then, the grass under his horse's feet declined as well, in many places turning yellow or being absent entirely. The amount of guardians flying around, doing their mysterious work, didn't let Farini call the place "dead" though. There were also some garden plots growing peas and cucumbers. And the living mountains were still there, heavy and unmoving.

By the time the sun set, Farini was deep within this mysterious and sacred kingdom. He rolled his sleeping bag on the ground and slept without fire (because Whisper forbade it) or fear (because the gods' holy guardians were guarding him that night).

'We are almost there,' Whisper said excitedly the next morning. 'The last and the holiest step of your pilgrimage. You will be the first human who is given an honor to bow before it!'

Farini could barely wait. He'd hurry his horse, if he wasn't afraid for it to step on something or break a leg on the roots of living mountains.

Then, an hour later, Whisper told him to dismount.

'The rest of the way, you will walk on your own. Don't worry, it's very close, especially with your long legs.'

Farini tied his horse to a nearby living mountain, patted its head in consolation—the poor thing kept being spooked by constantly buzzing guardians—and moved on.

Soon, he reached a scene that made his breath catch in his chest.

It was another hive-city… But it must've been the capital of them all.

The hive was made in a hollow of a massive old pillar mountain, but it had spread way past it. The surface of the mountain was etched with smaller hollows that hid things Farini couldn't see from afar. Several railroads were going from the bottom of the tree, where an entire city in miniature was built. Smoke was coming from tiny stovepipes.

The buzzing of wings was audible from dozens of steps away. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

And at the dark entrance of the massive hive-city, amid swarms of dark-clothed guardians, Farini saw a figure shining with green and gold.

'Walk forward and kneel at the Hive Supremo, Farini. Our most holy Father is waiting for your pledge of loyalty so he could give you his ultimate favor!'