Insect Tamer's Ascension Chapter 545. A visit to family

The whole hive bloomed with confusion and excitement. The ones that joined or were born after Theo left were confused, while all the others were just happy with what Theo said.

Theo went inside the Ant Queen’s hive again and decided it was time to tell her the plan.

’You have gone your way inside the viper territory. That means you are already trying to increase your territory, Ant Queen. That is good.’ Theo spoke in her mind.

’I want you to do something else alongside this.’ He said, making the Ant Queen question right away what he needed.

’I want you to start moving toward the academy I am living in right now. It’s quite far, and you might only be able to reach halfway in a long time.’ Theo said with transparency, which was how he always wanted to work with his beasts.

The Ant Queen nodded, one of the emotions that was the easiest to convey.

’Send groups of ants to digging projects every few meters. When they are done making a chamber, I want you to make them connect the tunnel so that you can start using that area too.’

’With a few ants working every few meters, there will come a time when I will be in the radius of the hive and would be able to join it anytime I like.’

Theo spoke all that, and the Ant Queen nodded to everything.

’But there is more to it. I want to have eyes everywhere and not just in the forest you are in. When you are far enough inside the distance I am telling you to travel, you will be able to connect to more forests and mountains, which will have other beasts and materials you can consume. What do you think?’ Theo asked.

The Ant Queen only stayed silent for a mere millisecond, which could also be felt in the hive, before it gave a happy nod.

Theo nodded too. The Ant Queen felt excited enough for the project as well, the same as him.

But soon, some emotions entered the conversation again, and Theo understood them right away.

’...Hmm, you will need more Ant Queens to be able to make it faster, huh... I can do that, but not right now.’ Theo spoke.

Theo talked with her about everything he needed to after this too, and at one point, everything was already conveyed.

’I will be leaving the hive now. I only had two days, and that is what it takes to get here and where you will be trying to get to.’ Theo said one last time.

’We will meet in another few months. I am looking forward to the progress, Ant Queen. Farewell.’

The Ant Queen only nodded with happiness and no sadness at Theo leaving. It showed a different side in front of Theo, as among all the beings it ruled over, there was one being that it could instead depend on, and that was Theo.

Aside from that, it was the most mature beast in Theo’s control.

Theo slipped inside his body again, and the golden glow vanished.

"Back already?" Clara asked with a smile as if in a good mood.

Theo nodded. "How long was I gone for?" He was curious to know after how Clara reacted.

"Barely a few minutes."

"Well, we can go back now. Tell the carriage operator to start moving back instead."

Clara and Elias looked at each other and smiled awkwardly.

"This... a knight already saw you and told another one that you were back. That other knight left already, so if you don’t visit your family now..." Clara was a little embarrassed about how the situation had played out.

Theo closed his eyes for a second and exhaled slowly.

"We will have to go then, but we have to be fast..." He spoke and looked outside. "Still an hour of travel left," he guessed, looking at the castle in the distance, then the town on the other side.

With how much the colony had improved, Theo wanted to get down from the carriage right away and run toward the forest instead of meeting the family, which he could do later on.

After what he had just seen from the Ant Queen, he felt like his whole body was itching to move even though he had said his farewells.

Instead of what he wanted, for the colony to thrive in one place, it was not just thriving but developing in his absence.

And that thought alone was enough to make him unable to sit peacefully.

But if the Merrick knights had already noticed him, then going around the castle without showing himself would only make the family worry.

"To the castle we go," Theo spoke, and Clara quickly nodded before moving the small window aside and informing the carriage operator.

The carriage was stationary this whole while since Clara and Elias weren’t sure if Theo still wanted to go.

Just when they were close enough, Theo saw something and couldn’t help but gawk at it.

"What..." He muttered.

They were in front of the castle, and right now, half of the right wall of the entrance was broken down.

And it did not look like an attack or anything, as there were still workers using their bulky beasts to destroy the wall while they navigated the cracks with hammers.

When they entered, all the workers looked at him with curiosity and fascination. Theo couldn’t help but feel like some of them were from the town.

He smiled and waved at them, making smiles bloom on their serious faces.

Just when he was near the stairs and about to get out, the gate opened, making Theo look at that one old man who was always there whenever they would come back.

"It’s good to see you again, young master Theo." He spoke in a clear tone and then looked at Clara and Elias before continuing, "The Count and the Countess have already been informed of your arrival."

"Master was adamant about coming to the gate to get you, but there is just too much workload on his head currently."

Theo smiled when he saw that same tone and the same old face talking all seriously.

"Where are they?" He asked.

"They are both in the Count’s study. The Countess made time for you the moment she got the news of your arrival."

"Alright, I will go meet them right away, old man Bernard." He spoke and started walking even before the butler fully turned around.

Bernard would have already moved in respect of him, but he halted for a moment, seeing Theo become a lot taller and bulkier than when he left the estate.

It made him realize one thing. The old might stay the same no matter when you see them, but for children, they grew different every few months.

Clara and Elias followed behind while the head butler led the way with quick steps.

Theo moved through the corridors without slowing down. Some servants looked at him in shock, some lowered their heads right away, while some just couldn’t hide their surprise.

When the knights started noticing Theo, one even went almost ballistic with excitement, but seeing the head butler’s presence, no one really tried to talk informally, as Theo preferred.

Bernard stopped outside a door and knocked once before opening it fully.

"Master, my lady," he spoke before continuing, "Young master Theo is here."