cmiiw, Towa’s line in p21 is not that the bugs’ armor are harder than they look.
The result of Ayumi’s black scales are hundred times denser than the bugs’ shell, and it would be difficult to melt. But it shows many potential if can be processed into weapon.
And yeah, her’s gonna be a queen class isn’t it.
she wouldn't, that's the point... normally
Would be interesting if Ayumi accidentally (or her butterfly) colored Reika to black though, and then Reika turns obsessed to her new queen.
Because here Ayumi already said she doesn’t want that kind of thing.
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Checked the WN (
mentioned here) for this chapter. It’s WN ch 9.
That’s quite a lot of noticeable changes in the manga version. Doesn’t really change the plot, but in the WN, factionalism seems much stronger even among candidates. Well, mainly the white butterflies.