Her Majesty’s Swarm - Volume 1 - Chapter 3

In the Name of Revenge 

“Does this symbol look familiar?” I asked the elder when I returned to Baumfetter, gesturing to something I’d nicked off one of the corpses. 

At some point, I’d become a regular guest in the elven village. The villagers were grateful that I—or rather, the Swarms—had kept the forest safe, so they always greeted me with a bowl of warm stew. 

“That’s the symbol of a human crime syndicate, I believe,” the elf answered, looking a little disturbed. “I do not know where they’re from, though.” 

“I see. So you don’t know after all... I guess this is something only humans would be familiar with.” 

I didn’t expect much to begin with. Those armed ruffians were humans, and so the possibility the elves would know much about them was slim. I only asked because I had nothing to lose, and it came as no surprise that they didn’t have the answer I was looking for. 

“Still, thanks for the meal. It was great today too.” 

“Oh, don’t mention it. We owe you a great deal.” 

He was speaking, of course, of the fact that I’d had their children’s wannabe-kidnappers torn to bits. Their parents had been thrilled to see their children return safely, though I did have to ask myself if the kids weren’t traumatized by the experience. 

“It’s the Arachnea’s queen!” 

Just as I finished my bowl of stew, the two elven children in question, Linnet and Lysa, ran over to me. The two of them showed up together to the elder’s house, seemingly cheerful and happy. 

From what the elder had told me, Linnet was several years older than Lysa, who had looked up to him since she was little. The two were childhood friends and as close as siblings... except their relationship wasn’t that simple. Everyone around them could tell Linnet was in love with Lysa, and they all believed the two of them would end up getting married in the future. 

Linnet was a healthy boy with handsome features and a sturdy frame, while Lysa had fair, slender limbs. The two of them were kind, considering they were willing to go out and gather herbs for a sick elf. It seemed like fate had brought the two of them together. The pair also occasionally went off pranking the villagers together, which earned them plenty of verbal lashings. These were just some of their many rash adventures. The adults didn’t entirely frown upon their actions, but they were worried that the two youths might have been a little too reckless. 

Lysa and Linnet. The two of them seemed perfect together, and they were blessed by those around them as everyone expected to see their wedding in the future. I was quite envious of them, to be honest. I had never had anyone like that in my life. 

“Have these, Your Majesty!” 

“Mushrooms?” 

Linnet was handing me a leather sack full of mushrooms. 

“The other villagers told me you like mushrooms, so you can have these!” 

“Oh, thank you. Was finding this many a hassle?” 

To be fair, it wasn’t me who liked mushrooms, but rather the Worker Swarms. I liked mushrooms just fine, but I couldn’t eat this many. I should have the Worker Swarms thank Linnet and Lysa at some point. 

“Your servants are keeping the forest safe, so picking herbs is a lot easier now,” Lysa explained. “We had to be careful of the poachers and slavers before, so we could only pick mushrooms around the village.” 

The poachers and slavers had apparently loitered around the village often before I came along, which hindered the children from picking herbs unless they were accompanied by adult elves who could fight off attackers. 

But now, the children were free to go about the forest. The Swarms watched over them, thoroughly eliminating anyone who so much as smelled like a threat, and so the forest was becoming quite peaceful. Linnet and Lysa probably take advantage of that to have little nightly rendezvous, don’t they, the lovebirds? 

“Is that right? I’m glad to see my servants are of help to you.” 

“Yes! We’re happy too!” 

The elves were all naturally beautiful, which was why slavers targeted them. I didn’t want to imagine where any gorgeous elves they captured might have ended up. But right now, the forest was protected by myself and the Swarm, and so the innocent elves didn’t need to fear capture. 

It was a bit strange to think that an evil-aligned faction like the Arachnea was doing something good. Not that there was any need to fixate on one’s alignment, but the Swarm still had a craving for victory and a desire for domination. And if I were to fulfill it, I’d have to go to war, stain my hands red with blood, and receive the scorn and contempt of the rest of the world. 

“You can have this too, Your Majesty!” 

“What’s this?” I inspected what Lysa had given me. “Is this... a doll?” 

It was indeed a doll made from straw and grass. It was coated with animal fur, and thus fluffy to the touch. And unlike a voodoo doll, it didn’t feel malevolent or menacing in the slightest. 

“It’s a charm. I made it with Linnet so it keeps you safe, Your Majesty. Linnet and I have charms like this too.” 

“Oh, I see. Thank you. I’m glad you feel that way,” I said, patting Lysa on the head. 

True enough, similar dolls dangled from their belts. 

Lysa and Linnet treated us with the most kindness out of everyone in the village, and despite us being an unfamiliar group of monsters, they graciously repaid their debt. It was a far cry from the slavers and the town of Leen, who treated the elves cruelly for no reason other than their natural-born race. 

“Anyway, I’ve received mushrooms and a hot meal, so I suppose I shouldn’t impose on you any longer. You two be careful, all right? The poachers aren’t completely gone yet.” 

After thanking the elves for their offerings, I made my way back to the Arachnea’s base. I had a lot left to do. 

I loaded the meat from Leen into the Fertilization Furnace. I wasn’t intending to use this meat to produce Ripper Swarms, however. I already had plenty of those, enough to overrun a town if I wanted to. Instead, I had much bigger plans for this one. 

“Knight Swarm,” I ordered the Fertilization Furnace, which squirmed in response. 

A few moments later, a human hand reached out from the Furnace’s mouth. 

“Aaahh.” 

The creature that emerged was another type of Swarm, only this one had the upper half of a human and the lower half of an insectile Swarm. It had ruby-red eyes and white, braided hair that spilled over its back. The Knight Swarm’s upper half was covered in white armor, and it had a longsword sheathed at its waist. 

It gave the immediate impression of a knight. 

“At your service, Your Majesty.” 

Having crawled its way out of the Fertilization Furnace, the spider-like knight knelt before me and reverently lowered its head. 

“Raise your head, Knight Swarm Sérignan.” 

“Yes, Your Majesty.” 

This was the Knight Swarm Sérignan, a different unit from the Ripper Swarms. It was something called a hero unit. By gaining experience points, it was capable of becoming even more powerful, eventually growing into a one-man army that could topple the game’s balance. 

That said, each faction could produce one hero unit, and only once; as such, the chosen unit had to be carefully raised and protected. Upping its experience points without it dying was a more formidable task than it seemed at first glance. 

Like all of the factions’ hero units, the Knight Swarm Sérignan had its own backstory. This unit’s backstory was that it was a knight who had been exiled for defending a pagan child, eventually coming under the protection of the Arachnea’s queen. 

Upon swearing allegiance to her, it became a Knight Swarm. Relinquishing the duty it once had to knighthood and institutions which perpetuated persecution, it resolved to become a proud knight in the service of the queen and her Swarm. 

That was its backstory in the game, at least. Things might have been different in this reality, and there was already one stark difference. 

“You’re a woman?” 

I had always thought Sérignan was a man. At least, it always looked male when I saw its sprite on my computer screen. That said, my computer was pretty old, so I couldn’t play with very high graphics settings... 

The Knight Swarm Sérignan standing before me had a certain androgynous beauty but a distinctly feminine face, and I could see that she had breasts under her armor. I had to wonder if she had always been a woman, and if so, how in the world had I mistaken her for a man? 

“Aye, Your Majesty. I am female... Are you displeased?” 

“Not at all. If anything, it’s better this way.” 

We were going to work together from now on, so being a mature woman, I was more at ease working with another woman than with a man. Had Sérignan been a man, I would’ve had to be conscious and considerate of that fact when making decisions around or about him. 

“All right then, Sérignan. Can you use your Mimesis skill to take human form?” 

“Yes, for a short amount of time.” 

Sérignan had a special ability called Mimesis, which allowed her to assume the shape of an ordinary human. She shared this ability with another type of Swarm, and they could use it to sneak behind enemy lines and cause a great deal of damage, assuming the enemy didn’t have units capable of seeing through the disguise. 

“Can you try it, then?” 

“By your will, Your Majesty.” 

At my request, Sérignan raised an animalistic howl, after which her spider-like lower half contracted and shrunk with dull clicks, morphing into human legs. For the sake of the disguise, her legs were already covered in long skirt armor. 

Seriously, how did I think she was a guy? 

Thinking back on it, I realized it was rather rude of me. I felt repentant. 

“It is done. Is it now time for us to take revenge?” 

“That’s right. First we need to find the enemy, and then we’ll wipe them out. We’re going to slaughter every last one of them.” 

I could feel my will being swept away in the Swarm’s collective consciousness, but this time, I fully surrendered myself to it. Their consciousness was now one with my own. 

We will take revenge for our fallen Ripper Swarm. This was the raw force spurring me forward right now, and the hivemind purred with approval. 

“Then this Knight Swarm Sérignan will accompany you wherever you go, Your Majesty.” 

“Thank you. Let’s pay the town another visit, then.” 

And so, I set my plan for revenge into motion. 

I was once again in the town of Leen. Like before, I let the slavers’ leader handle the reins while Sérignan, a Ripper Swarm, and I sat in the carriage. We had come back to trade, but there was another important task at hand. 

“Ooh! Did you come to sell more clothes? Thank goodness! The ones you sold me last time were so popular among the nobles that they’ve been dying to know when I’ll be getting more.” 

The shopkeeper at the tailory gleefully accepted the Worker Swarms’ dresses. Apparently, he’d already sold all his previous stock to nobles and wealthy merchants, and the nobles who didn’t get them in time were clamoring for a restock. Despite being a bit bothersome, their demand understandably pleased the shopkeeper. 

“So, same as last time, then? Thirty thousand floria?” the shopkeeper asked, intending to pay the full price. 

“No. Twenty-five thousand... will do,” said the slaver. “Have something to ask... instead.” 

He took out a scrap of cloth bearing a symbol—the same one I had taken from one of the ruffians who’d attacked him and killed the Ripper Swarm. 

“Do you know... this symbol?” he asked. 

“This is... Sorry, I don’t know. Take your trouble elsewhere, please.” 

He seemed to recognize it, but he was being evasive, which made it clear he was hiding something. I had no doubt he knew the group the symbol belonged to, but whoever they were, this timid shopkeeper didn’t want to get involved with them. 

“Shall I go choke the information out of him, Your Majesty?” Sérignan asked. 

“No, don’t.” I waved her offer away. “We don’t have to bring ourselves to force it out of him. He’s still an important source of income for us.” 

This man was useful to us, since he converted the clothes the Worker Swarms made into money, and thus we couldn’t treat him carelessly. Prejudiced as he was toward the elves, we needed him right now. Therefore we would make use of him without creating any needless waves. If we were to question someone, it would have to be an individual unrelated to our needs. 

“We’ll use our money to fish out an informant or two. I’m sure we’ll find the source soon enough,” I declared, patiently waiting inside the carriage as it took off. 

“Hey, you. Pull over.” 

Just as I expected, we were cornered by a suspicious bunch after a few purposeful rounds of the seedier back alleys. 

“Who... are you?” 

“Huh? Forgettin’ about us so quick is a li’l insulting, don’tcha think? Don’t tell me ya also forgot about yer debt to the Lisitsa Familia!” said one of the men. The symbol of the armed group that had ambushed us the other day was proudly displayed on his chest. 

There was no mistaking it; these men belonged to the same group that had attacked us. I hadn’t expected to find them this easily. 

“Sérignan, get ready. We’re going to fight.” 

“As you wish, Your Majesty.” She prepared to hop out of the wagon, and the Ripper Swarm braced itself as well. 

“I hear ya put our bossman through hell the other day. Ready to pay the piper now? Don’t think we’ll be givin’ ya an easy death. We’ll squeeze every last coin outta ya and beat ya so hard you’ll be begging for us to put ya outta yer—” 

The ruffian’s—rather, the Lisitsa Familia member’s words were cut off by the sight of Sérignan and the Ripper Swarm leaping out from the carriage and preparing for battle. 

“Haaah!” Sérignan undid her Mimesis, exposing her Swarm half. 

She swung her longsword, which slashed one of the Familia members across the throat. He crumpled to the ground, coughing up blood. Beside Sérignan, the Ripper Swarm fought on with vigor. With Sérignan at its back, this one was protected, freely cutting into six or seven enemies with its scythes and fangs. 

“Huh?! What inna hell’re they? Where did these monsters—” The apparent commander of the Lisitsa Familia’s grunts froze up as Sérignan fixed her blade against his throat. 

“Move and you die,” Sérignan said, eyeing him coldly. “Our queen has something to ask you, cur. You would be wise to answer. If you don’t, your life is forfeit.” 

She turned her eyes to me. 

“Hiya.” I approached him with a fake smile. “So you’re from the Lisitsa Familia, right? You attacked this carriage a while back, remember?” 

“Who the hell are ya? We don’t have any beef with ya, we just want that slaver. Keep yer noses out of our business.” 

It seemed he didn’t quite understand his position. 

“Oh, this is our business, all right. Sérignan?” 

“Yes, Your Majesty.” 

Sérignan stabbed her longsword into his body. There was no need for verbal cues; the collective consciousness transmitted my orders to her directly. 

“Ah, aaah, aaaah!” The Lisitsa Familia man uttered a series of pathetic screeches. 

“I’ll ask again. Did your people attack a carriage that passed through here not long ago?” 

“Yeah, yeah, it was us!!” At last, the thug fessed up. “The boss led some of our men, and they tried ransackin’ the thing! But they got hit back, so they ran off! The boss wanted payback, which is why we came after ya fer round two!” 

He told us a great deal of things. Apparently their boss had upped their mansion’s security and gathered forces to strike back at us. He also put out a bounty on my slaver pet’s head. He kept on blabbering, telling me things I hadn’t even asked about. Apparently, his loyalty to his boss only went so far. 

“Is that all you know?” 

“Th-That’s everything. So c’mon, please. I won’t tell anyone I met ya here, so just let me g—” 

In a split second, Sérignan severed the man’s head. 

“Good work, Sérignan.” 

“I’m honored, Your Majesty.” 

There was no point in keeping him alive once he had served his purpose. Had we let him live, I was sure he would have gone elsewhere and wagged his tongue, just as he had done for us. 

“Let’s charge their mansion, then. I doubt stomping out a crime organization is going to weigh terribly on my conscience. I believe it’s time for a good old-fashioned slaughterfest.” 

With that decided, I went back to the carriage with Sérignan and the Ripper Swarm. I was on the verge of committing a massacre, but I didn’t feel the slightest tinge of guilt. Those bastards had killed one of ours, and I couldn’t forgive them for it, even if the fallen Swarm’s consciousness lingered within the collective. 

“Sérignan, Ripper Swarm. You are to slaughter everyone in that mansion. There’s no one worth leaving alive in there. Tear off their heads. Paint the walls red with their blood. That applies even if some of them happen to have green blood.” 

“Understood. All will be as you order it, Your Majesty.” 

As I order it, huh? 

Before I became part of the collective consciousness, those orders certainly would have been mine. Back then, I also feared committing murder, as the guilt would likely have crushed me. Now, however, I was part of the Swarm, and the fire of their will had been lit within me. I felt no more guilt; I felt no more fear. 

The only thing I had left to fear was the absence of those very human emotions. 

We continued down the road until we eventually reached a large estate. The Lisitsa Familia’s roost was a garish place that reeked of ostentation and vulgar prosperity. 

It was time to begin our raid.