Her Majesty’s Swarm - Volume 2 - Chapter 1

To the Northern Trade Nation 

“I think our next step should be to sneak into the Dukedom of Schtraut,” I declared over breakfast. 

The ones who had prepared my breakfast were our captives from the Kingdom of Maluk. They did this for me, their most hated nemesis, because of the Parasite Swarms controlling their bodies. It was admittedly ill-natured of me to enslave them this way, but considering everything the Kingdom of Maluk had done, it was their just desserts. 

My meal this morning was bacon and eggs with salad and a little bread on the side. Not a luxurious breakfast by any means, but the ingredients had all been grown and raised by the elves. 

“The Dukedom of Schtraut?” asked Sérignan, who was in my company. 

“Yep. The Dukedom is located in a position that’s easy for us to attack. There’s a mountainous region between us, but it’s still easier than attacking the Frantz Popedom or the Empire of Nyrnal.” 

If we were to attack one of those two countries, we’d need to cross through the elven forest, where our base was, to reach them. And since the elves were under our protection, I didn’t want to turn their forest into a battlefield. It just wouldn’t be right. 

There was one other path we could take to attack Nyrnal—crossing over a large river called the Themel. Even if we had the Worker Swarms build a bridge across it, however, this manner of invasion would be a challenge. 

It was for these reasons I had set my sights on the Dukedom of Schtraut. 

The Dukedom was northeast of the Kingdom of Maluk’s territory and would require crossing a mountainous region to get there. But once that was done with, invading it would be easy. With the Dukedom suppressed, it would be much easier for us to attack the Popedom of Frantz. All in all, it was a very attractive target. 

“The people of Schtraut haven’t wronged us yet, but if we don’t put them in their place now, we may soon find ourselves fighting in our own territory. Many elves and Swarms would be lost in the battle. We should control their country as quickly as possible.” 

Up until now, my policy was to strike back only when someone picked a fight with us... but this time, I was planning a preemptive attack. The Dukedom of Schtraut hadn’t crossed us, but its position was problematic; the land was a direct path into the Arachnea’s territory. If the people of Schtraut had anything to curse for their impending misfortune, it would have to be the land they had chosen to settle in. 

“As you wish, Your Majesty. Then I will go and investigate,” Sérignan said and nodded, seemingly convinced. 

“I’ll come with you.” 

“But it’s dangerous! The Dukedom is effectively enemy territory!” 

“Even I want to be surrounded by humans every now and then. And I joined you when we went into Leen, remember?” 

Being surrounded by human remains—well, more like globs of flesh—was causing me to forget what it was like to interact with actual living people. I thought that being around humans might provide some sort of social rehabilitation. 

“Besides, I want to see things with my own eyes. I might be able to see everything through the collective consciousness, but I want to witness it for myself, just to be safe. Additionally, I want to be there for any negotiations.” 

Right, our objective wasn’t to simply scout out the Dukedom. It was to scout, get a grasp on the situation, and try to negotiate with the right people. I might have made the Dukedom of Schtraut my target, but that wasn’t to say there was no room for negotiation. I wanted to determine whether our nation of monsters could interact with other countries as an equal. If nothing else, the potential for diplomacy was there. 

“But still, it’s hardly safe,” Sérignan protested. 

“Which is why I have you to help me. Oh, Sérignan, my dear knight... You’ll protect me no matter what, right?” 

“Of course! By your will, Your Majesty!” 

Sérignan was fiercely loyal and quite devoted to me, as flawed a mistress as I was. 

“Erm, what should I do?” piped Lysa, joining in on the conversation. 

“You should come with us, too. You can use Mimesis, and your skill with a bow has gotten better, right?” 

“Yes, I can pull harder strings than I’ve ever been able to before. I think my accuracy’s gone up, too!” 

Now that Lysa had become a Swarm, her muscles were much stronger, which allowed her to pull the strings of unbelievably large bows. I had seen her practice before—the sight of arrows the size of ballista bolts hitting their marks dead center from 300 meters away was astonishing. 

“And we’ll probably need one more thing to round out our forces here.” 

No sooner had I uttered the words than a man walked into the room. At first glance, he looked like one of the people from the Kingdom of Maluk, but that wasn’t the case. 

The man’s face was completely unfamiliar, and he looked to be about thirty years old. 

“Who is this man?” Sérignan asked, directing a suspicious glare in his direction. 

“Allow me to introduce him to you.” I gestured toward him. “This here is a Masquerade Swarm.” 

In terms of fighting power, a Masquerade Swarm was the same as a Ripper Swarm, but it had double the creation cost. In exchange, however, it had a very important ability. 

“Masquerade Swarm, undo your Mimesis.” 

At my order, the man’s face split in half, revealing two massive fangs. Insectile legs extended out from his back, and his—or rather, its legs turned into a pair of venomous stingers. With its transformation complete, it stood before us in the unmistakable form of a Swarm. 

“Aaah! H-He was a Swarm?!” Lysa exclaimed. 

“That’s right, except he’s a Swarm capable of using Mimesis. It’s a special unit capable of sneaking into enemy territory disguised as another faction’s worker unit and causing disruption and chaos from the inside. Isn’t it just perfect for our next mission?” 

The Masquerade Swarm’s special ability was Mimesis. Sérignan and Lysa could also use it, of course, but the only generic units capable of using Mimesis were Masquerade Swarms. 

As their name implied, they masqueraded as unarmed enemy units and infiltrated opponents’ bases, disrupting their operations with all sorts of attacks, including suicide bombing. This made them ideal for missions like our present one, during which it was necessary to sneak behind enemy lines. 

“So, Sérignan, Lysa, myself, and the Masquerade Swarm will be infiltrating the Dukedom. We’ll investigate how the people of Schtraut lead their lives, what their political structure is, and what they’re currently trying to do. Naturally, we’ll also check their terrain. We’ll need to figure out the most appropriate way to march into their territory.” 

We needed to prepare for a possible war with them, after all. Suppressing the Dukedom might be our stepping stone to reach the Popedom of Franz. 

“How many Masquerade Swarms do we have?” Sérignan asked. 

“This one will escort us. In addition, we’ll have sixteen detached squads of four Masquerade Swarms all sneak in as well. They’ll act as our support in case we need them. Anyway, we’ll play the part of refugees from the ruined Kingdom of Maluk to infiltrate the Dukedom. I’m not sure if they’ll accept us so easily, but it’s our best chance to cross the border.” 

We had slaughtered nearly everyone from the Kingdom, and so we had no one to fabricate documents for us. If I had known this would happen, I would have had someone prepare some documents that allowed us passage to another country. Hindsight at its finest... 

“Anyway, we’re setting out tonight. That way, we’ll reach Schtraut’s border tomorrow morning. Until then, prepare yourselves for our mission; do your best to look as much like refugees as possible.” 

I had the Worker Swarms make me the shabbiest, most modest clothing possible, and they smeared mud all over Sérignan’s armor, much to her chagrin. Lysa wasn’t sure if she’d pass as a refugee from Maluk if it was obvious she was an elf, so she tied her hair in order to hide her ears. 

The Masquerade Swarms donned clothes that had belonged to some of the Maluk citizens we turned into meatballs. Meanwhile, I set to work making whatever else we’d need for our mission. I created new Masquerade Swarms of varying genders and appearances in preparation for the task. 

Luckily, we already had plenty of carriages. During our attacks on the various towns of Maluk, I took care to spare the carriages and horses in case we’d need them. I knew putting them aside would prove useful sooner or later. 

Night fell soon enough, and it was time for us to depart. 

Our small group left separately from the squads of Masquerade Swarms, but we all arrived at Schtraut’s border at the same time. A single paved road made it easy to pass through the mountainous region, and I made a mental note of it in case we needed to traverse it again later in greater numbers. 

“Stop! Stop right there!” 

When we reached the border, soldiers situated along the checkpoint approached our carriage. 

“Yes, can we help you?” I asked, putting on a brilliant smile. 

“Don’t play coy with me!” shouted a man who looked to be the leader of the border guard. “The Dukedom of Schtraut is beyond here! Do you have a passage permit?!” 

“Yes, well... We have all fled the Kingdom of Maluk, sir, so we don’t have anything of the sort. Our country was destroyed so quickly, we... Oh, it took so much effort just to get here...” I choked, crocodile tears sliding down my cheeks. 

“Oh! Well, you don’t say! Yes, we’ve heard about what happened to the Kingdom. They say it was ruined by an army of monsters. The guild’s doing everything it can to look into it. We didn’t think there were any survivors, though. I’ll approve your passage with my authority as the chief of the border guard. I wish you the very best, young lady. I sincerely hope the Dukedom will become your second home.” 

He then issued us a passage permit that would allow us to enter the nearest city. Frankly, I had planned the operation with the full intent of busting in with brute force, but thankfully it hadn’t come to that. After all, what if they had thought we were spies from Nyrnal? 

Back in my world, many people felt refugees and their children grew too numerous too quickly, so they weren’t always permitted to cross borders. I had taken this world for a much colder, cutthroat sort of place than my own, so I was surprised to find the people here surprisingly kindhearted. Part of me hoped I wouldn’t have to order the border chief’s death. 

I’ve had to kill too many people who showed me kindness already. 

“Marine is the first city we’ll reach in the Dukedom; the map says it’s a port town. We’ll spend the day there and immediately start probing for information. Once we find an inn, we can leave our things there and get to investigating. You know what they say: time is money.” 

“Understood, Your Majesty.” 

Our passage permit obviously included all the cities of Schtraut, so we merely paid a small toll during inspection before entering Marine, our first city in the Dukedom. 

When people learned we were refugees from the Kingdom of Maluk, they showed us great sympathy, saying we were lucky to not have been devoured by monsters. That left me feeling a bit guilty. 

“Look, Your Majesty, it’s the sea! The sea!” 

“Yep, that’s the sea right there. Don’t get too excited, though, Lysa.” 

Marine, as its name suggested, was a town built close to the ocean. It was near a gulf, and its houses dotted the sloping coast, giving the citizens a view of the trade ships sailing below. The abundance of ships was well beyond what we had seen in Maluk’s port towns, standing as proof of how much this country had flourished in comparison. 

“Sorry. It’s just that... I’ve never seen the sea before.” 

“Figures. I mean, you have lived your whole life in the forest.” I turned my gaze to the ocean. “The sea is vast and pretty, but it can also be very dangerous. It can swallow up and kill people all too easily.” 

“It’s kind of like the Arachnea.” 

“Yes... It really is.” 

The sea is just as vast and wholly connected as the Arachnea. Once roused, it brings forth ruin, pulling everything down into its deep, dark embrace... What a striking comparison. 

“Where should we rent rooms?” Sérignan asked, interrupting my thoughts. 

“Normally, I wouldn’t care where, but this time I’d like to sleep in a nice place... Somewhere with comfy beds and tasty food. This town doesn’t seem to have a guide for tourists, so I have no idea where we’d find a three-star hotel or something like that.” 

“Naturally, a secure establishment would be preferable. We cannot allow any harm to befall you, Your Majesty. Shall I choose an inn for us?” 

“Go for it, Sérignan. You’re right, we shouldn’t be complacent now that we’re behind enemy lines. I kind of let my own excitement go to my head.” 

Traveling through the streets filled with passersby and looking at the serene cityscape made me relax a little too much, it seemed. This was potential enemy territory. I had to keep my eye on the gates, the walls, and the guards on patrol, considering I might end up laying siege to this city. Unfortunate as it may have been, we really didn’t have the leisure to do anything as saccharine as gazing out at the ocean. 

“Then I think that inn over there is a good choice, Your Majesty. It’s large, and we can easily situate Masquerade Swarms within and around the building. The surrounding area looks to be fairly safe as well.” 

I looked at the inn Sérignan was pointing at. It was just one of many on the adjacent street, but this one in particular looked to be of the highest quality. 

“Additionally, the rooms facing the sea should give us a view of the ocean,” she added. 

“Thank you, Sérignan.” 

Sérignan really was kind. I was lucky to have such a sweet woman as my very own knight.