I'd achieved my goal, and there was no point staying here. I didn't need to say much; that clever Insect King would naturally understand what I was thinking.
So I turned around,
and flew straight back the way I'd come.
Releasing that plasma hadn't taken much out of me, but all that flying back and forth was exhausting.
Halfway there, I suddenly remembered the enormous apple I'd eaten with Gin-san. After thinking it over, I landed
in the forest and searched for ages before finally
finding the giant apples. I picked one at random, hugged it, and started chomping.
I couldn't help it. Each apple weighed a ton or two, and carrying one while flying would be even more tiring. I might as well fill up here before leaving.
Chapter Fourteen: A Sense of Estrangement
After spending half the day eating apples and feeling my strength quickly return, I continued on my way. By then, the bugs all around me
had begun avoiding my flight path.
On the way here, even beneath the rainforest canopy, I could still see the busy swarms of bugs through the gaps between the giant trees. But now, those swarms were all starting to steer clear
of me. At the same time, I glanced back without thinking.
Right behind me was a vast, dark mass of flying bugs, so numerous I couldn't count them. They were following me, keeping their distance, but never falling behind.
It looked like I really had scared the Insect King. That was why he'd sent flying bugs to watch me. If I turned back now, I guessed tens of thousands of them
would attack me without hesitation, trying to stop me from venturing deeper into the rainforest, right?
Honestly, there was almost nothing left that could threaten me one-on-one. The