Free Web NovelChapter 1102: Honey Warnings
Gathered around one of the makeshift picnic tables, a crowd had formed around what was essentially a single open jar as though it contained some priceless treasure.
"Brother! So this is what honey actually looks like?!"
Ollie’s eyes sparkled as he stared unblinkingly at the golden liquid before him, looking as though he was trying to permanently burn the image into his memory.
"Eh? Well, yes?"
The golden-eyed cadet tilted his head.
"But didn’t you already see it earlier?" asked Luca, who distinctly remembered his sworn brother being right there when they unloaded all the items they planned to sell.
"I did!" Ollie immediately agreed.
"But back then, all I saw were the jars!"
"..."
"..."
The blonde dramatically gestured toward the honey.
"Not like this!"
"This is completely different!"
He leaned closer to the honey as though admiring a priceless masterpiece.
"Now the jar is open, and I can actually appreciate what it really looks like!"
The mop dramatically swept a hand toward the table, and everyone instinctively leaned closer, trying to figure out exactly what he was seeing.
"Ahem!" Ollie cleared his throat.
"Well, if none of our giant faces were blocking this magnificent work of art..."
Ollie narrowed one eye critically at the gathered crowd.
"...then you’d all be able to see how it catches the light and looks like it’s glowing from the inside!"
The blonde said this with one eye still partially closed, looking personally offended that everyone present was somehow interfering with the honey’s ability to showcase its full potential.
The surrounding cadets looked both dumbfounded and amused while the Elders were aghast.
However, in the same venue were two younger girls who were completely captivated.
Princess Nina stared at the jar with wide eyes.
"Wow..." she breathed. "So this was really made by the bees?"
The new beekeeper smiled, extremely delighted by the question.
"Yep! This is normally how they store food for their colony. And when they produce more than they need, that’s when we can harvest some."
Princess Nina immediately looked back at the honey.
Then at her Brother Chipunk.
Then back at the honey.
Then at her bestest brother again.
"Then this..."
Her eyes were large enough that Luca could practically see the excitement and pleading radiating from them.
"We can eat this?"
The new beekeeper chuckled and gently patted her head.
"Of course we can. We purposely kept a few bottles so everyone can try some too."
"Really?!"
"Really."
Then Luca suddenly raised a finger.
"Ah! But before that, I think we should review something important first."
"Huh?"
The others looked at him curiously.
Honestly, Luca wasn’t even sure whether this would apply to anyone present, but he figured it was always better to be safe than sorry.
Picking up one of the unopened jars, he pointed toward the label.
"According to the beekeeping manual we’ve been using, honey shouldn’t be given to babies younger than twelve months old."
"Oh?"
Several people immediately looked interested.
Luca nodded, scratching his cheek before he spoke.
"Apparently it’s because their digestive systems aren’t fully developed yet. Normally, stomach acid takes care of certain spores, but babies that young might not be able to do that just yet."
The group blinked.
Then Princess Kira immediately threw her hands onto her hips.
"HA! Then Orcish babies would probably be fine eating this after a month of being born! And that’s me being overtly conservative!"
The Orc Princess laughed proudly.
"By then they’re already chewing on tree bark and eating raw beast meat! Spores would be the least of our concerns!"
After all, if their young could be defeated by spores, then what chance would they have against the opponents that would naturally come to attack them?!
Upon hearing this, Princess Marin, who had been listening very attentively beside her idol, immediately tugged on her eldest brother’s pants.
The little elf looked deeply concerned.
As though she’d just discovered there was a possibility everyone else might get honey while she wouldn’t. She’s always been called the baby, so what if that restriction also applied to her?!
Prince Elior noticed the tugging and considered the issue seriously.
"Well, historically, elves relied heavily on freshly foraged sustenance," he explained. "Even newborns are introduced to various plant extracts very early on."
"It helps build resistance to toxins and poisons."
"WHAT?!"
The loudest reaction came from one particular blonde.
"POISON?!"
Ollie nearly dropped the innocent jar and only relaxed when bigger hands steadied him to rescue the nearly damaged victim.
Meanwhile, Rahil nodded calmly.
"If we didn’t do that, it’d be difficult to even walk around many of our forests. Building tolerance early is simply practical."
"Wow..." Luca looked genuinely impressed.
"Well, that definitely makes me feel better."
Then he tapped the label again.
"But we still included warnings and instructions just in case."
"Warnings and instructions?" Kyle asked as he picked up a nearby jar.
"So that’s what all this is?"
He turned the bottle over and squinted at the label, trying to make out what was written on it.
However, to his surprise, his terminal suddenly flashed.
"Huh?"
Kyle blinked.
"What’s this?"
Luca immediately brightened.
"Oh! That!"
The golden-eyed vendor looked delighted.
"I was really excited to show everyone that!"
The others immediately focused on what just popped out.
"See, we already had what we thought were universal symbols." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
The others quickly zeroed in on the small label he was pointing at and soon found themselves staring at what appeared to be a baby’s face marked with a giant red X.
Beside it were two more symbols: one depicting a child and another an adult, both stamped with bright green check marks.
Needless to say, their curiosity only grew.
"But what if that’s still not enough to understand?" ƒrēewebnovel.com
"...Fair point," Kyle admitted because it would’ve looked rather questionable to him had he not seen the words underneath.
Then he looked at the projection floating above his terminal.
"So instead you added this?"
"Yes! But it’s actually not me per se!"
Luca nodded enthusiastically.
"Isn’t it amazing? I didn’t think something like this would be possible either, but my husband came up with it."
The ecstatic little wife practically glowed with pride.
"My husband is really the best!"
"..."
Everyone stared at the newly generated prompt hovering above the terminal while collectively wondering how they were supposed to explain that such a thing had been created by the Imperial Crown Prince.
If the topic ever came up, would anyone else even believe them?
"..."
But unbeknownst to everyone gathered around that picnic table, they weren’t the only ones staring at the strange projection.
For in places the Imperials couldn’t even imagine existed, several equally bewildered individuals stood around their own screens.
And at this very moment, they were all trying their absolute best to decipher the mysterious pictures that had suddenly appeared before them.
