Both sides stared at each other in absolute silence.
The beetle froze with his front horns slightly raised. The humans froze with their weapons halfway drawn.
A long, awkward rustle of leaves passed between them.
"…uh.""…uhhh."
Nobody moved.
Finally, one of the humans stepped forward.
She was the one with long pink hair — bright, silky, almost glowing in the patches of sunlight that filtered through the trees. Her eyes were a soft cherry color, wide with curiosity rather than fear.
She crouched a little.
"U-Um… hi?" she whispered.
The beetle tilted his head.
…Is she greeting me?
Before he could react, another voice barked:
"Lyria! Step back!"
A young man in metal armor rushed beside her, hand on his sword. He clearly wasn't happy about the pink-haired girl's brave approach.
"Don't go near unknown monsters!" he hissed.
Lyria just puffed her cheeks.
"But it doesn't look hostile! You saw what it did, Ren. It fought that spider—!"
"It crushed a Juvenile Giant Spider with a single charge," Ren shot back."That means it's dangerous."
Ren (the knight) tightened his grip on his sword as he stared at the beetle with caution bordering on fear.
The beetle's mandibles twitched.
Hey hey hey—don't look at me like I'm a walking nuclear bomb… I'm just a bug.
A third person pushed forward — a tall girl with long black hair tied behind her, wearing a robe decorated with runes. A mage.
Serin.
Her amber eyes narrowed at the beetle.
"No… Ren is right. That creature's mana signature is abnormal."
She raised her staff slightly.
"It's rare. Mutated. Potentially valuable."
Valuable?! I'm not a collectible!
Then another human stepped up — a tanned beastkin girl with fluffy wolf ears and a tail swishing behind her. She sniffed the air curiously.
Rika, the scout.
"It doesn't smell aggressive," she said."More like… confused. Curious."
"…I AM confused," the beetle thought. Finally someone understands.
Behind them stood two more party members:
Duran, a large axe-wielding warrior with messy brown hair and the permanent expression of someone who runs into danger before hearing the plan.
And Elois, a priest with soft golden hair, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else but in the middle of a monster misunderstanding.
Elois whispered:
"Sh-Should we… pray for safety?"
Duran slapped his back hard.
"Pray AFTER we catch it!"
…catch……catch WHAT?
The beetle felt a sudden, unpleasant vibration in the air.
Serin raised her staff higher.
"Everyone. Formation. We capture it alive."
Lyria immediately jumped in front of her.
"Wait—why capture it?! It didn't attack us!"
Ren sighed, rubbing his temples.
"Lyria… If a creature that powerful wanders near human settlements, people will panic. We need to bring it back to the Guild for research."
"Research?! That sounds shady!" Lyria protested.
Serin didn't move.
"Orders are orders. The Lord wants any unusual mana beasts reported. And this one is extremely unusual."
…Why do I feel offended by this?
Rika crouched down, pulling out a reinforced net from her bag.
"Sorry, little guy," she whispered."Just… don't fight too hard, okay?"
The beetle panicked internally.
NO WAY! I AM NOT GETTING BAGGED LIKE A POKÉMON!
Ren pointed his sword.
"On my signal… NOW!"
Rika leaped with the net.
The beetle reacted instantly.
Wings snapped open.Horns lowered.Legs kicked against the dirt.
TACKLE!!!
He blasted sideways, barely dodging the net as it slapped the ground.
Duran blinked.
"Woah, it's FAST!"
Serin gritted her teeth.
"Again. Surround it!"
The beetle whipped around.
I need to run—NOW!
He kicked the dirt, skittering toward the trees.
Chase music might as well have been playing in the background.
Behind him:
"After it!!"
"Don't let it escape!"
"LYRIA stop cheering for it to run!!"
"GO LITTLE BEETLE, YOU CAN DO IT!!"Lyria shouted.
"LYRIA—!!"
The forest exploded into chaos as six adventurers chased a single panicking beetle.
And thus…his first encounter with humans became the start of the Great Beetle escape
the hell is wrong with these humans? thought the still nameless beetle while hes running as fast as his buggy legs could.
no, they weren't all humans...though he got to admit the girls are quite cute.
what the hell this isn't the time to be to dwell on their beauty.
as he thought something wasn't right.
he was running as fast as he could, but he wasn't moving.
it soon dawned on him that why he wasn't moving.
he was carried in the hands of the tall girl with long black hair
serin