Adelheid 13: The Ambrosia Firm

Hoenig liked to think his life was pretty good. He was about average in all aspects, brown hair, brown eyes, just enough height to be taller than most women, and not too chubby nor too fat—although he was starting to gain some weight around his tummy, like most men his age.

At the ripe age of thirty, Hoenig's facial hair had started to grow at a radical rate, but unlike most men of his status, he could afford to give it a well trim. It wasn't that Hoenig was stronger or smarter than other people.

He was just luckier.

Hoenig was an adventurer by trade. That is not to say that Hoenig made a living by hunting monsters or excavating ruins from the era where gods roamed the land. Adventurers were not needed unless you lived in a dungeon city or at the borders as the imperial army periodically slew monsters to keep the roads and settlements safe. No, Hoenig was an extremely specialized adventurer known as a honey hunter.

As a honey hunter, Hoenig made a living finding beehives and extracting honeycombs from them. However, the mortality rate of such a profession was too high. Had he not been the fourth son of his family, unable to inherit any land, Hoenig would not have chosen this path either.

It was the smartest choice he made.

When he was sixteen, Hoenig had been a honey hunter for two years with barely enough success to fill his belly. A honey hunter's income was sporadic, sometimes they would strike it rich, but other times they wouldn't be able to find a hive for months.

Hoenig was very fortunate in that he learned the secret trick to make the bees docile. It was by complete coincidence that he had stumbled upon a hive where the tree had caught fire due to a light draught in the area. Hoenig discovered that the bees were in a drowsy state due to the smoke and didn't react much to his actions, allowing him to extract the honeycombs with minimal danger.

Since then, Hoenig always carried some dried pine needles or other dried branches for starting a fire. Whenever he found a hive, he would light a fire under the hive. After the smoke fully penetrated the hive, he would break the hive apart and carry back the honey. Because of this, he was able to extract more honey than his other compatriots. With the minimized risk of injury and death, he focused all his attention on tracking bees.

Hoenig became the most successful honey hunter in his province. With the built trust and credibility, Hoenig lived a rather luxurious life for one born of his station. Still, that did not mean he was always successful.

On occasions, the smoke did not entirely pacify the bees, and the honey hunter found himself fleeing for his life. It was okay five years ago, but Hoenig noticed that he couldn't run as he used to, nor could he persist as long. In a few years, if the smoke failed to pacify the bees, it was very likely that Hoenig would be stung to death.

"Dear, why aren't you eating? Is something wrong?" across from the dining table, a woman a few years younger than Hoenig asked.

"It's nothing," Hoenig said as he reassured his wife.

His wife was among the few accomplishments Hoenig was proud of, the secret of pacifying bees being the first. When she was just a young lass of fourteen, Hoenig had fallen in love at first sight, but she was the blacksmith's only daughter, the apple of his eye. There was no way they could be together.

That is until Hoenig made his fortune as a honey hunter. Now, not even the town's blacksmith made as much as him! With his new riches, the most famous honey hunter of the province asked for his sweetheart's hand in marriage.

That was over ten years ago, and now Hoenig was the proud father of a nine-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl.

Thinking about his two adorable children, Hoenig couldn't help but sigh. He was a prudent man, always saving at least half of the kronens he earned, but if he was no longer able to hunt for honey, then it was likely that his family would become penniless after ten or so years.

It would be even worse if he died during one of his honey hunts. As a commoner, Hoenig never learned to read and only recognized a few words such as kronen, price, honey, and a few others related to his profession. He only learned to count after he became a honey hunter. His wife never learned, and his children were still too young to be taught. Moreover, Hoenig feared that his family would be preyed on by vultures after his hidden savings.

'Perhaps I should teach an apprentice,' Hoenig thought.

Honey Hunters often didn't have long life expectancies. For a honey hunter to live to over thirty was a rarity. Most often took apprentices as they typically did not have children. No woman wanted to be a widow after all.

"Dear, you aren't eating," Hoenig's wife said, causing him to smile and apologize.

Focusing back on breakfast, Hoenig took a slice of black bread and used a butter knife to spread honey in an even layer. The honey had unknown yellow and black bits and pieces in it. They were the broken shells or parts of the insect that could not be removed. Nobles and wealthy merchants wouldn't buy filthy honey as they called it, so Hoenig brought it home for his own use.

Seeing his wife happily spread a layer thrice as thick on her own toast, Hoenig had the illusion that she married him for the honey more than anything else.

Once breakfast was finished, Hoenig bid farewell to his wife and children as he packed the cases filled with honeycombs onto his old horse. It had cost him quite a lot of savings to buy this horse. In the long run, it saved him more money to own a horse than rent a horse whenever he had to travel to the city to sell unprocessed honey to the Adventurer Guild.

The journey took less than a week, and after paying the entrance fee, Hoenig directly arrived at the Adventurer Guild, having long grown accustomed to the bustling city. Inside, he was greeted to the clean and tidy hall where attendants waited for customers at the front desk and long rows of the table where food was served since the guild also functioned as a tavern. In fact, most Adventurer Guilds in the Vuldar Empire served more as a tavern and information agency than actually assigning tasks to adventurers.

"Mr. Hoenig, are you here to sell your honey again?" the attendant asked. She was a pretty woman in her early twenties.

'But not as pretty as my darling wife,' Hoenig thought. "Yes, I have quite the haul this time."

"Haha, that's great. It just so happens that many buyers are waiting to purchase it. Hopefully, it will be enough." The two shared a laugh at the joke. There was never enough honey. "Alright, please give me your adventurer's badge."

All adventurers were assigned a badge that denoted their rank and number. The badges were used to keep track and account for the adventurer's movement and finances.

Hoenig reached into his coat and pulled out a badge made out of bronze before handing it to the attendant.

Adventurers were split into nine ranks: copper, iron, bronze, silver, gold, platinum, mithril, orichalcum, and adamantium. Copper-ranked adventurers were adventurers in-training, while iron-ranked adventurers were true adventurers.

This didn't mean that Hoenig had any fighting capabilities besides running away, though. He reached the iron rank through the sheer amount of honey delivery requests he completed. Compared to true adventurers, he was still lacking, but his income was several times higher than even some silver-ranked adventurers.

"Alright, let me check the honey you bought," the attendant said as she followed Hoenig to the stable with two helpers. The two helpers carried the cases of honey into the guild, where the attendant measured the weight. "Hmm, discounting the weight of the cases, you brought over forty-four kiloells. Currently, the market price for unfiltered honey is sixteen kronen per hundred ells. Minus the guild fees, the guild will pay you thirteen kronen per hundred ells, so you will receive five thousand seven hundred twenty kronen. Amounting to fifty-seven gold coins, and two silver coins. Is that acceptable?"

Koenig nodded. He could only do the most basic of addition and subtraction, but the guild was known to be trustworthy, so he didn't quibble and directly accepted it.

Happily jiggling the coins in his pouch, Hoenig prepared to retire to the tavern he usually frequented. It came with dinner and breakfast for just nine kronen a night, but more importantly, a bath. Something that Hoenig desperately needed, but just as he was turning around to leave, the attendant stopped him.

"Mr. Hoenig, have you heard about the Ambrosia Firm?"

"Ambrosia Firm, what's that?" Hoenig asked.

"It's a new business venture. Someone from the capital is hiring honey hunters to form a more stable supply of honey. If you are interested, I can send them a notice if you want to be hired," the attendant said.

Hoenig furrowed his brows. Honey, by nature, can't be stably produced as it relies on honey hunters to extract the honeycomb from the hives. The process destroyed the nest, and the bees would leave or die, so it was impossible. Still, Hoenig recalled his aging body and couldn't help but be interested. "How much is the pay?"

"Hold on a moment," the attendant said as she rifled through the paper on her desk for a minute before finding the right one. "Ordinary honey hunters would receive a starting salary of a gold coin a month."

"That's quite a lot," Hoenig said. The average income of the town's residents he lived in was only about ten to twenty kronen. So, a hundred kronen a month was comparatively high. Still, that wasn't enough to inspire confidence in Hoenig. If the firm failed, then no worker would be able to get their pay.

"Don't be so quick to dismiss the offer yet," the attendant said and suddenly lowered her voice. "I heard rumors that one of the firm's owners is a bigshot from the imperial capital."

Hoenig couldn't help but lean and ask. "You mean a noble?"

“Bigger.”

Hoenig wondered who could be bigger and more prominent than a noble. Then his eyebrows nearly reached his hairline. "You mean the emperor?!"

"What? No!" the attendant said, shocked that Hoenig would link Emperor Wilheim to this matter. "I mean the princess. Don't you know? The current third-in-line to the throne, the seventh princess."

"Oh," Hoenig said as he held his hand over his heart. "I was wondering who it would be, but it turns out it's the princess. Can she do it, though? I know the noble folk's women are different from us commoners, but..."

"I guess you aren't up to date with the latest news. I heard rumors that the princess is a genius. Not only is she a talented magician, but she's a super chef! There's an eatery in the imperial capital called Addie's Confections. I heard you have to make an appointment two weeks ahead of time to even eat inside. I guess the princess wants more supply of honey for more cakes," the attendant said. Her eyes sparkled as she fantasized about how delicious those famed chiffon cakes were.

"Really?" Aside from coming to the city to sell his honey, Hoenig hardly entered, and he always left the day after. Spending five kronen a day was just too expensive. He had thought about moving into the city, but honeybees didn't inhabit the surrounding land.

"Un-huh," the attendant said. "I only told you, you know. There are other honey hunters, but they can't compare to Mister Hoenig at all. If you want, I can write a letter of referral for you. This way, your starting salary will be five gold coins a month."

"Five gold coins?" Hoenig said. He quickly covered his mouth as he saw the other people inside the guildhall directing their attention towards him. Coughing into his hand, he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Crystal. But if you don't perform well, your pay might get docked, but you don't have to worry. If you have a referral letter, you'll sign a contract, so your pay is guaranteed for a year," the attendant explained as she sifted through the papers.

"Contract? That's mighty expensive of them. As expected of a princess." Most employee and employer relationships were verbal contracts. Only big businesses and nobles used contracts when hiring. Sometimes contracts were used in transactions as well to prevent someone from arbitrarily lowering the price.

The attendant nodded. "I heard that the conditions are pretty harsh, though. If you leak the secrets of the Ambrosia Firm, you might be seeing jail time if you're unlucky."

"That serious?"

"Yeah, I guess the princess must have developed some special method to get a stable supply of honey and don't want others to know. I personally want it to succeed. If Her Highness succeeds, maybe I can buy a jar of honey every month," the attendant said, then laughed. Commoners, even literate ones like her, didn't have the spare income to buy sugar, much less honey.

Hoenig crossed his arms in thought. He was illiterate, not stupid. If the princess was going through so much trouble and even threatening jail time, there was a high likelihood that she might really succeed in developing a method to gain a stable supply of honey.

The honey hunter uncrossed his arms and looked at his scarred hand, one marred by countless bee stings. He clenched his hand. Right now, he was aging, and in the future, it was unlikely that he would be able to gather honey in the future.

"Miss, can you write me a referral letter?" Hoenig asked after making his decision.

-line break-

A month later, Hoenig arrived at a small village called Whiterun because of the nearby field of white flowers that made it appear as if the land was one large white field. Hoenig rode his old horse into the village. His keen eyes, a necessary skill for spotting bees and hives, caught sight of the wooden walls. It was far too high and too new for a mere village, and there were even watchtowers, something a village so close to the heartlands should have no need of.

"Excuse me. I've come here to work for the Ambrosia Firm. Can you direct me to them?" Hoenig asked one of the passing villagers.

The villager didn't look surprised at the honey hunter's inquiry. He pointed at the largest building in the area, a large construct three stories tall. "It's at the center of the town, the biggest building. You can't miss it."

After thanking the kind villager, Hoenig traveled towards the village center. As the villager said, there was a large structure that couldn't be missed. Looking at the unblemished walls, it was evident that the building had been recently constructed.

'If the princess is spending so much money on this, perhaps it really will succeed,' Hoenig thought. As long as the Ambrosia Firm succeeded, Hoenig could get a regular salary and even move his family to a nearby city.

Once he neared, a worker brought his horse to the stables while another one led him inside. Inside, Hoenig was greeted by the sight of over fifty people in a single hall. Hoenig's discerning eyes could make out the tell-tale signs of honey hunters, sting scars. However, for Hoenig, he would not be joining his fellow compatriots on the first floor. After handing over the referral letter, Hoenig was brought to an office on the second floor.

Inside the office, the honey hunter saw a dashing elderly man with a well-trimmed mustache and beard and graying hair sitting at a desk reading and signing papers. Behind him was a large glass window revealing the south part of the village and the field of flowers outside the walls. One of the walls was lined with bookshelves partially filled, and at the center of the room, perpendicular to the desk, was a table with two couches on either side.

Hoenig found his foot glued to the wall. He had seen a person like the elderly man once; it was the guild master of the Adventurer Guild he frequented. Although the two couldn't look any more different, they both had the same presence, the pressure of a superior. Compared to the guild master, the elderly man was clearly more, judging by his refined air and luxuriant clothing. Perhaps a noble or powerful merchant far greater than the guild master he had seen.

"Please take a seat," the elderly man said without looking up at him from his papers. "I'll be with you in just a moment."

"A-ah, yes!" Hoenig said as he sat stiffly on the couch. He felt exceedingly out of place, as if he had entered an alien world. However, no matter how uncomfortable he felt, Hoenig reigned in any signs of discomfort, afraid of provoking the working man.

After a period of time that seemed way too long to the honey hunter, the elderly man placed down his pen and stood up. A quill shouldn't be loud when it was placed down, but it was like the beat of a drum for Hoenig, causing his back to stiffen.

"There's no need to be so nervous. You can call me Johann," the man said as he walked towards the sofa opposite of Hoenig and sat down. "I would serve you tea, but unfortunately, we just arrived in Whiterun, and not all of our supplies have arrived. However, I can serve you some water. Would you care for a cup?"

"A-ah. No, I'm perfectly fine," Hoenig said, despite the dryness of his mouth screaming at him. Then after a moment, he added, "Sir Johann."

The elderly man chuckled. "Don't call me sir, I'm not a knight. Alright, since you are eager, let's get straight to business. Since you were led to this room, I believe you have a referral letter?"

Hoenig quickly took out the letter inside his coat. Seeing its slightly crumpled form, he quickly straightened it before presenting it to Johann with both hands as if it were an offering. As if used to it, Johann took the letter and broke the wax seal on it. After reading the contents, Johann stared at Hoenig, causing the honey hunter to break out in a cold sweat.

"Mr. Hoenig, no wonder you were given a referral letter. You make almost ten thousand kronen every year. Among the honey hunters here, your earnings are in the top three. You must have discovered a unique method that allowed you to harvest honey. According to the report, it seems to be some method to incapacitate the bees, allowing you to gather a large amount of honey every time." Johann stared at Hoenig for a long second before he continued. "You are precisely the type of honey hunter we were looking for."

Hoenig felt sweat drip down between his brows. Was Johann going to force him to hand over the secret? Hoenig was unwilling. If the method became spread, then his income would drastically reduce, and so would his advantages.

Unaware of Hoenig's thoughts, Johann sifted through his drawers and brought out a piece of paper and placed the paper in front of Hoenig, much to his confusion. "Mr. Hoenig, we would like to purchase your secret knowledge of honey hunting for ten thousand kronen."

Hoenig thought his ears had stopped working. "E-Excuse me?"

Johann didn't mind. "In other words, we, the Ambrosia Firm, would like to purchase your knowledge and all your techniques for one hundred gold coins. Of course, there is a stipulation that you must not leak this knowledge elsewhere."

Hoenig almost blurted out, "You aren't going to force me?" Luckily, he didn't. Otherwise, it would have made for an awkward conversation.

Johann took Hoenig's silence as rejection. "Mr. Hoenig, one hundred gold coins is just the starting price. If your information is valuable enough, we don't mind paying you more. Another honey hunter brought us invaluable information that we bought for two hundred gold coins."

Hoenig's eyes opened like saucers. 'How much is two hundred gold coins?' He couldn't even fathom the sheer number of kronen that it would be.

The honey hunter knew that ten bronze coins were worth one silver coin and ten silver coins were worth a single gold coin. A single bronze coin was one krone, a silver coin was ten kronen, and a gold coin was a hundred kronen. As such, Hoenig didn’t even know how to count to a hundred, much less ten thousand. He didn’t even know platinum coins existed.

When Johann said one hundred gold coins, Hoenig already lost count. Now he was told that he could get two hundred gold coins? How many kronen was that? Two ten-thousand kronen?

"I'll sign," Hoenig practically shouted with none of the timidness shown earlier. He had already estimated that he would not be able to make much more money in a few years. A hundred gold coins were definitely worth it.

"Since you agreed, we have to sign the contract first," Johann said as he gestured towards the contract written on the sheet of paper he brought out earlier.

To the experienced honey hunter, the words were nothing more than a bunch of squiggly lines. The most Hoenig learned was to write his name, and that was because he was required to sign off whenever he made a delivery at the guild. Since he couldn't read, Johann explained the terms and agreements written upon it.

In essence, the contracted stated Hoenig agreed to sell all his knowledge concerning honey harvesting for a price. In addition, the Ambrosia Firm will hire Hoenig and pay him five gold coins a month or more for at least two years or until the business shuts down. During this time or even after Hoenig leaves, he must not disclose any information concerning the knowledge he sold or learned working for the Ambrosia Firm.

Should Hoenig break the terms of the agreement, he will be fined one million kronen and spend at least five years in prison. Should he not be able to pay the fine, he and his family will be sold as slaves.

In the Vuldar Empire, there were three primary types of slaves: debt, criminal, and war slaves. Debt slaves were slaves who became slaves because they couldn't afford to repay the debt they owed. The price of debt slaves is how much kronen they owe and whatever the slave dealer charged, and any wage they earn will go to buying their freedom. Criminal slaves are slaves who committed grave felonies, and their sentence could range from ten years to a lifetime. Most often, they were sent to do hard labor like mining. War slaves were those captured during wartime, most often soldiers. Unlike debt and criminal slaves, their tenure as slaves would last until death.

After considering the terms, Hoenig agreed. First, it was to secure future funds for his family and a stable job. As a honey hunter, Hoenig knew no other way of living. As for selling the information, Heonig didn't even think about it.

Johann smiled after Hoenig signed the contract. After storing the signed contract with the others, the dashing elder took out sheets of paper clipped together. After flipping through a blank page, he asked, "Mr. Hoenig, what are your tricks of the trade concerning honey hunting?"

Knowing that the quality and amount of information he gave directly correlated to the amount of gold coins he received, Hoenig revealed everything.

"So smoke does indeed pacify bees. What type of wood is best?" Johann asked. He had already received a detailed report concerning how to farm bees, including that smoke caused bees to be calm in the face of intruders. It was rumored that it was written by the princess's hand as well.

"Ah?" Hoenig felt his mood plummet. His proudest secret didn't seem to surprise Johann much. However, he still continued to answer the question to the best of his abilities. "I found that the wood didn't matter much so long as there is smoke. I used dried pine needles since they produce the most smoke and are light and easy to carry."

"I see," Johann continued as he wrote down all the knowledge Hoenig had acquired during his tenure as a honey hunter. After recording Hoenig's knowledge concerning the relationship between bees and smoke, he was more interested in the honey hunter's ability.

"Thank you for your time. You must be tired. I'll have a servant show you to your room," Johann said as he organized the notes taken. "The three hundred gold coins will be delivered to you soon. Until then, rest well."

Before leaving, Hoenig couldn't help but ask what the notes were for, his curiosity triumphing over his cautiousness.

"This?" Johann shook the notes in his hand. "I'm collecting all the knowledge you honey hunters have accumulated to compile into a manual. To make honey farms a reality, this is just the beginning."

"Honey farm?" Hoenig repeated. He had only heard of grain and livestock farms but never a honey farm.

"Yeah, if the Ambrosia Firm succeeds, honey hunters will be a thing of the past. Luckily, we now have a method to neutralize the dangers of bee swarms to an extent." At this, Johann flashed a smile at Hoenig.

When Hoenig was led to his room, his luggage had already been transported from his horse, much to his relief. After the nerve-wracking experience of conversing with Johann, Hoenig was spent. Even though Johann had been unfailingly polite and the atmosphere downright pleasant, Hoenig couldn't help but be tense.

The honey hunter fell asleep not long after falling onto the bed and only awoke when it was time for dinner. For commoners like Hoenig, lunch was a luxury few could afford, so most only ate breakfast and dinner.

The three-story building in Whiterun served as the current headquarter of the Ambrosia Firm, and it housed the workers, so it also came with a large kitchen. When Hoenig arrived at the cafeteria, he met many of his compatriots and a few others.

Aside from honey hunters, Hoenig recognized many adventurers with their metallic badges shining proudly on their bodies. Most of them were bronze-ranked adventurers, but Hoenig spotted a few silver-ranked adventurers. Most of them were old, thirty or older, which was close to the age of retirement.

This was the first time Hoenig had seen so many people of the same profession in one place. Although most honey hunters worked alone, that didn't mean they didn't socialize and exchange tips. Hoenig had even given some newbie honey hunters tips to survive.

From his fellow hunters, Hoenig learned that not all the adventurers gathered here were honey hunters. The specialized combat adventurers were to serve as guards against any thieves. It was a proposal that benefitted both sides. After retiring, the adventurers found a stable income while the firm got experienced guards at a lower rate.

Furthermore, the Ambrosia Firm was planning on building more buildings to serve as storage and processing facilities. A single facility was not enough. Some of the older honey hunters had already planned to purchase a piece of land and live in Whiterun for the rest of their lives. Hoenig was still waiting since if the business venture failed, then Hoenig would have practically thrown away his money for nothing.

Throughout the week, Hoenig continued to socialize with the other honey hunters. During this period, he successfully integrated into the circle of successful honey hunters, which consisted of less than seven people. The rest were hunters that couldn't sustain themselves for the long term and decided to take a gamble.

Hoenig discovered that the other successful honey hunters all had tricks and secrets that made them more successful than others. Since they all signed a contract, none of them spoke of their secrets, not that they were inclined to in the first place. Still, Hoenig learned that one had a secret weapon that caused honeybees to distance themselves, and another had a method to find hives, even in winter, reliably.

Days passed until Hoenig and the other honey hunters were told to assemble. In the main hall of the Ambrosia Firm, over a hundred honey hunters were gathered. They were to be grouped into a team of three, consisting of a tracker, smoker, and porter. Each team would be assigned a bee smoker, a new tool made of metal with a bellow used to emit smoke to calm bees, and a portable storage chest.

When Hoenig smoked bees, he used dried pine needles or other fuel gathered into a pile under the beehive. With this tool, he didn't need as much material as he usually carried. Making a portable bee smoker was a simple idea, yet why hadn't he thought of it. His father-in-law was a blacksmith!

'This must be the difference between commoners like me and them,' Hoenig thought as he felt an arm around his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Hart smiling at him.

"Are you thinking about the instructions you received?" Hart was a man a little younger than Hoenig. He had a muscular body and thick skin that allowed him to resist bee stings and carry more hives each time. He was the porter of Hoenig's team.

"Yeah, hard to believe that such a small thing can make bees drowsy," Krug mumbled as he studied the tool in Hoenig's hand. He was a wiry man of below-average height. Just from his appearance alone, Hoenig got the impression of quickness and lightness. He was the team's tracker.

It wasn't just Krug who expressed doubt at the smoking method, but many others. Hoenig opened his mouth, wanting to verify that smoke did cause bees to be drowsy, but he closed them in the end. Reality would prove his information's worth.

The honey hunters left Whiterun and entered the woods a few kilomelers away. The group of a hundred people quickly dwindled as each went their own separate way. Hoenig was no exception as he and Hart followed the deft Krug through the forest.

"Wow, you found one so fast!" Hart said as the tall-tale buzz of honey bees entered the team's ears. "Usually, I would find a wasp nest twice before stumbling upon a beehive."

"Heh, it's nothing," Krug said as he tapped his nose. "Hoenig, should I use the smoker? I'm the fastest and can escape if anything goes wrong."

Hoenig shook his head. "Don't worry. It'll be fine, trust me."

Despite Hoenig's assurances, Krug and Hart both stood a fair distance away from the beehive in obvious fear that the smoker would agitate the bees into attacking the group.

Pretending not to see this, Hoenig lit the pine needles inside the bee smoker with a match. After smoke started to puff out of the nozzle, Hoenig operated the below attached to the tool and caused the smoke to seep into the hive. Once he was confident that the bees were pacified, Hoenig took down the beehive and began to harvest the honeycombs.

At this time, Krug and Hart inched closer upon seeing little agitation from the bees despite Hoenig literally tearing their home part. Krug couldn't help but say, "Wow, Mr. Johann wasn't lying to us. Smoke really works."

Hoenig shrugged, having already gotten used to it. "Open the chest for me?"

Hart obeyed and placed the storage chest in front of Hoenig, who placed the honeycombs inside the chest. Unlike his usual modus operandi, Hoenig placed all the combs, including the ones where they stored their young, into the chest. Typically, he only took away the combs filled with honey, but the instructions specifically said to take everything.

"What do you think they want the whole nest for?" Hart asked.

"Beats me, maybe they want to eat the young?" Krug said, causing his two teammates to jerk their heads to him in disgust. "What? Never tried cooked grub? It's good!"

Ignoring the indignant Krug, Hoenig finished storing the combs. With the first hive found, the group closed the lid securely before searching for the next beehive. When the sun started to dip into the horizon, the group found four more hives for a grand total of five.

Happy with their harvest, the team of three returned to Whiterun along with many others. They were in the minority as over half the teams hadn't even harvested one hive.

Every team who had a hive brought them to the harvesting room of the headquarters. Inside, there were numerous cylinders used to extract honey. Hoenig didn't extract honey since he sold it raw, but he knew the process well enough and knew that metal cylinders were not part of it.

Curious, Hoenig stayed and watched as the workers unloaded the combs filled with honey. First, they shaved off the wax cap holding the honey in with a razor. Only then did they open the honey extractor's lid and place it in a cylindrical basket full of holes. Closing the lid, they started to spin the smaller basket with a lever atop the extractor.

Hoenig watched with amazement as honey started to flow out of the nozzle near the extractor's bottom and into the barrel for storage. He would later learn that the honey was extracted using centrifugal force, whatever that meant. All the former honey hunter knew was that the tool had been designed by the seventh princess, showing how amazing she was.

Over the next few days, Hoenig repeated the process with his team. Some days he would have a large haul. Other days, he might only get one. During this period, he never stopped visiting headquarters-or the honey factory as the princess had termed it.

Inside, Hoenig watched and learned with fascination as to what the workers did with the beehives. After the honey was extracted, the worker placed the comb along with the ones used for purposes other than storing honey into a large steel pot. They heated the pot and melted the wax to separate it from everything else. In the process, the heat killed whatever bees or larvae that remained.

This process Hoenig was more familiar with. Beeswax was a luxury good that could be made into sweet-scented candles, among other goods. Hoenig also attempted to create a candle as a gift for his beautiful wife. He failed, but the end result was good.

But the Ambrosia Firm didn't use beeswax to make candles and instead created more honeycombs, much to Hoenig's confusion. The workers would place a rectangular frame into a mold, inject the beeswax, and when everything was done, it was a honeycomb in a wooden frame. The hexagonal cells weren't as deep as those found in the wild, but he could still recognize them.

Later, Hoenig learned that these honeycombs were just one of many used to create an artificial beehive. Outside of Whiterun in the field of white flowers were numerous boxed towers. The towers were split into two parts, the lower half and the upper half. The lower half and upper half would be filled with artificial honeycombs.

Hoenig was shocked to discover that the workers had placed the queen of each hive in the lower half of the beehive and made it so that the queen couldn't leave the lower section through the small openings due to her larger size. With the queen trapped, the surviving bees had to relocate into the artificial hives.

The honey hunter only realized what the Ambrosia Firm meant by a honey farm at this point. As long as the queen stayed, the Ambrosia Firm workers could easily extract the artificial combs full of honey and then replace it, waiting for the bees to fill it up again.

With the accumulated knowledge of all honey hunters and the artificial comb designed by Adelheid von Vuldar, honey would become an accessible and readily available sugar source, utterly different from their previous scarce supply. Hoenig once again reaffirmed his decision to come to Whiterun.

A month later, the honey hunters no longer went into the forest to find beehives, as almost all the artificial hives had been filled. Now, the honey hunters transitioned from hunters to keepers, beekeepers to be exact. Only the most outstanding like Hoenig, Krug, and Hart became beekeepers. The less stellar ones became regular workers that focused on melting wax and extracting honey.

Along with his new position, Hoenig and many others were given beekeeper suits. A thick, full-bodied garment made of a combination of wool and leather. Paired with the garment was a wooden helmet with a meshed opening for breathing and a visor made of clear glass. With his new uniform, Hoenig was completely impervious to bee stings. The only issue was that the suit got incredibly hot.

With no new hives, the factory’s operation came to a halt. The only thing to do was wait for the domesticated bees to produce honey before the factory could operate again, but the beekeepers weren't idle during this time either.

Each beehive had subtle differences. Hoenig was in charge of ten and was tasked with making observations that he would report to the clerk to be written down so as to perfect the artificial hives. Hoenig wasn't very clear on what that meant, but he was commended for his acute observations, which was a good sign.

During this process, Hoenig also learned a few new tricks. When checking the upper half of the hive, he could replace the lid to the top with one made of cherrywood, which the bees hated and made them migrate to the lower half.

After two months, about thirty percent of the hives failed, requiring the hunters to find more nests to relocate. However, for the remaining seventy percent, the honeycombs on the upper half were filled with honey. Hoenig and the other beekeepers left about twenty percent for the bees to keep and took the rest to be harvested, wax too.

On the day of the first harvesting, nearly all the workers and beekeepers watched as the first bottle of honey was sealed in a glass container. On it, the logo of the Ambrosia Firm was etched onto it along with the words Ambrosia Honey.

Hoenig, Krug, Hart, and the other workers all released a yell of joy. Hoenig even began to make plans to purchase a plot of land in Whiterun. After his new house was built, he planned on bringing the rest of his family over.

However, before all that, Hoenig gave heartfelt thanks to Princess Adelheid. Had it not been for the seventh princess, he would still be fretting over what to do after he stopped being a honey hunter. Now, he was no longer a honey hunter but a honey farmer.