Her Majesty’s Swarm - Volume 2 - Chapter 8

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“Majesty...! Your Majesty!” 

Someone was calling for me. But how could that be? Why would someone treat me like a queen? I was just a gamer—a lonely girl fixated on the one game she liked. Why would anyone call me “Your Majesty”? 

Oh, right... I still need to put my leftovers in the microwave. I haven’t even had dinner yet. I think I have salad dressing somewhere, too. I just have to heat it up and then I’ll have a nice meal. 

“Please, I beg of you, wake up...” the voice sobbed. 

My eyes fluttered open. As my vision adjusted, I saw that I was no longer in my familiar apartment. I was lying on a bed in a different room, an old-fashioned one with exotic-looking details. There were no lamps or light bulbs, so all that illuminated the room was the natural light shining in through the window. A woman was gripping my arm, her face buried in my chest. 

“Sérignan...?” Her name spilled out of my mouth. 

“Your Majesty! You’re awake!” The woman sat up with a start and gaped at me excitedly. 

“I... What happened to me?” 

I couldn’t make sense of my situation. Just moments ago, I was still in my room, playing the video game. Why was I here now? My mind was a complete mess. 

“Your Majesty, are you in any pain?” 

“I’m... I’m not a queen,” I said, shaking my head. 

“Oh no. Have you lost your memories? Perhaps you contracted some disease that muddled your recollection...?” 

“Um, I don’t know. I have no idea what you’re saying, I swear.” 

I’m just an unremarkable gamer who happens to be really good at using the Arachnea. Wait, the Arachnea? Haven’t I been playing that faction a lot lately? 

“Lysa! Her Majesty’s awake, but something’s wrong! Come here!” 

Lysa? Another familiar name... Isn’t that the new playable unit they introduced in the last update? She was in my faction last match, and she helped Sérignan handle the cavalry’s charge. 

“I’m here!” another girl cried, running into the room. 

Just like in the game, she was an elven girl with the lower half of an insect, and she was carrying a longbow. She slung the longbow behind her back and hurried to my side. 

“Your Majesty, how do you feel? Are you all right?” 

“I’m a little confused...” 

Why am I talking to a video game character? I play a real-time strategy game, not a role-playing game. But... it all looks so real. Sérignan’s cheeks and Lysa’s slender arms look so soft and silky, like they’d feel pleasant to the touch. 

“Erm, pleasant...? Well, um, if that’s what you want, Your Majesty,” Sérignan stammered. 

“Huh?!” 

They heard my thoughts? That’s impossible. But wait, aren’t I...? 

“Sérignan, can you tell me what my position is?” I asked, suddenly thinking more clearly than before. 

“Your position, Your Majesty? You’re our queen—the Arachnea’s queen. You promised to lead us to victory.” 

Yes. Now I remember. 

It was all flooding back to me. This was a world where the Arachnea existed, but was treated as an outsider. A coup d’état had broken out in the Dukedom of Schtraut, so I was marching an army of Swarms into this nation to suppress it. We had to complete our conquest before the Popedom of Frantz invaded. 

My memories had returned, yet there was still one doubt in my mind. 

“But someday, I will save your soul. I promise you, I will save you before the Devil’s cage closes.” 

Is this place a cage? What did that girl mean? 

“Sérignan... and Lysa.” I took a deep breath. “I remember everything now. I am your queen. I can’t believe I forgot something so important. I am supposed to lead your conquest... I’m so, so sorry.” 

“Oh, Your Majesty!” Sérignan clung to my body and began weeping once more. 

“C’mon, no crying,” I said, embracing her. “You’re a knight. You’ve got to be dignified, you know?” 

“I truly thought you had forgotten all about us! I was completely useless while you were sleeping... I didn’t know what I’d do if you didn’t wake up.” 

“That’s enough,” I said, wiping her tears away with a corner of my shirt. “I’m sorry for worrying you, Sérignan. I’m all right now. I won’t go anywhere, not until we have earned the victory I promised you. I would never go back on my word. Anyway, how long was I asleep?” 

“Two or three days,” Lysa said, relief written plainly on her face. “We’ve been applying an antidote little by little.” 

“Two or three days, huh? Has anything changed since?” 

“Nothing yet,” Sérignan reported. “It looks like the enemy is struggling to gather their forces.” 

“Right. Then let’s get back at them. They need to be punished for this nasty trick they pulled. If they want to murder, I will show them firsthand how it’s done.” 

“Never forget your human heart.” 

I wouldn’t forget—but this was something that had to be done. We needed to get revenge. Our enemies had massacred the citizens of Marine, and they were intent on staining every other city with blood. It was only fair that we slaughtered them in kind. 

An eye for an eye... Isn’t that how humans work? 

“This is ridiculous!” 

A shout echoed through the main camp of the nobles’ army. 

“We came to fight and win, so why must we bide our time here?! We should be engaging the enemy—pushing them into a decisive battle! Are you saying we’re fated to lose this battle?! We should be fighting the enemy right this minute! Do you not agree, friends?!” 

The one conducting this passionate speech was Marquis Adrian de Arden, who had an army of 50,000 men. He was loudly criticizing the actions of the fourteenth Duke of Schtraut, Leopold de Lorraine. 

“Now is the time to hold our position, Lord Arden,” said Roland de Lorraine, Leopold’s younger brother and the commander of the nobles’ army. “Fighting back would be playing right into the enemy’s hands. We’ve received word that the Popedom’s army has begun to march, so we should meet with them and join forces before engaging the enemy. Our adversary wants us to move carelessly so they can exploit even the smallest mistake.” 

“He’s right, Lord Arden,” said one noble. “Oh, and do keep in mind that Duke Lorraine is hanging his opposers left and right. You’d do well to obey his orders, assuming you don’t wish to find yourself next in line at the gallows.” 

“Good grief,” harrumphed another. “We should never have let Duke Lorraine take control. This sort of thing would’ve never happened if Duke Sharon were still in power. Impeaching him was a mistake. While it might be too late to say that now, I can’t help but complain. I mean, look at the state of affairs!” 

Many of the nobles were greatly displeased with Leopold’s “administration.” They hated and feared his quick execution of those who opposed him, and they loathed that his incompetence had led to the Arachnea’s invasion. 

“Please don’t say that,” Roland begged, trying to placate them. “Leopold has established an alliance with the Popedom; we have no need to fear the Arachnea or Nyrnal any longer.” 

“So now we’re supposed to bend a knee to Frantz’s sleazy holy men? We’d be better off serving Nyrnal.” 

“That’s right! The Popedom of Frantz is just another arrogant country bent on domination. They act like they’re the only nation who follows the God of Light. ‘Sizable donations to the Church will absolve you of your sins’... Pah! I never would’ve expected that the God of Light would be hurting for money, all of things.” 

Roland’s attempts at persuasion fell on deaf ears as the nobles made their grievances known. 

“The Popedom of Frantz will make a great ally,” he said firmly. “I’m sure of it.” 

It was hard to tell just how much Roland actually trusted the Popedom. Frantz had long weaponized faith in order to squeeze all sorts of things out of the Dukedom and its citizens, including funds for papal inauguration ceremonies and religious festivals. To many, the Popedom was a leech that would use any excuse to suck more money from other nations. 

Was allying with a country like that truly the right idea? Both the Popedom of Frantz and the Empire of Nyrnal were haughty, powerful countries in their own ways. Considering recent events, perhaps the Dukedom really would have been better off under Nyrnal’s control. 

“Lord Roland... Please, be honest. Was allying with the Popedom the right decision? Has your brother led us down the wrong path?” asked one of the nobles, his expression grave. 

“It’s... hard to say at this point. Speaking frankly, gentlemen, I do think the impeachment was a mistake. Changing leaders during a national crisis creates far more problems than it solves. It’s difficult to judge whether my brother can exhibit the leadership skills Duke—erm, Lord Sharon had. Purging so many nobles during these difficult times will cause an even greater rift between our people.” 

Roland disagreed with the impeachment, as he knew the many problems a change in leadership caused when war was on the horizon. Now the Arachnea was crawling around in the western end of their lands, and Roland was beginning to doubt if they had any way of pushing back the invasion. Perhaps if they had allied with the Arachnea, like Caesar de Sharon had proposed, all this trial and tragedy would have been avoided. 

One of the nobles sighed. “Still, we’ve already given Duke Lorraine the power to steer this ship. All we can do now is ensure we do not sink to the bottom.” 

“True. Our hands are now stained with the blood of the nobles and blackened from torching their lands. Pray as we might, this is one thing that won’t change.” 

The nobles present were the ones in charge of destroying Leopold’s opposition. Under the pretense of unifying Schtraut, they had hanged innocent men and reduced their lands to ash. 

“Pardon me, sirs! I have a report!” A soldier on horseback cantered up to them. “The monsters have been sighted! Fifty of them! They appear to be fleeing to the west!” 

“There we go! Finally, a chance to show our worth!” The marquis and the other nobles quickly rose to their feet. 

“Wait, this could be a trap!” warned Roland. 

“I’ve heard enough out of you! Now is the time to fight! The Popedom might be our ally, but we still have to defend our own country! We’ll show Frantz we’ve still got the spirit of an independent nation!” 

The hot-tempered nobles ordered their soldiers to head west, hoping to take revenge for their recent losses. Some 1,600 cavaliers and 150,000 infantrymen stormed out in pursuit of the enemy. 

Not a single one of them returned. 

Two days later, Roland learned that the entire detached force had been decimated. He quickly gathered the remaining nobles, and they all fled as fast as they could to the east. 

“The enemy’s splitting its forces up,” I observed, watching the carnage unfolding before me. 

The squad of Ripper Swarms I’d sent out to scout had successfully lured the enemy away. Once the soldiers had been led to an area where the terrain worked in our favor, the whole army of Ripper Swarms had descended upon them. The enemy troops had stormed into our trap with bloodlust and zeal, only to end up as blood splatters on the ground. 

I found it strange that the enemy had detached another chunk of its army to send our way—first 100,000, now 150,000. Normally, consolidating these forces to create an army of 250,000 would have made much more sense. Sending out multiple battalions spread units too wide and made them easy pickings. 

“Maybe there’s a problem with the enemy’s chain of command?” Sérignan proposed. 

“Could be. The coup is fresh in everyone’s minds, after all.” 

Leopold had only just seized control of the Dukedom of Schtraut from Caesar de Sharon. Stupid and petty as he was, Leopold’s first order of business had been starting a political purge. It would be impossible for him to maintain order now. 

“Are they not awaiting the Popedom of Frantz’s army?” asked one of the Ripper Swarms. 

Each individual Swarm’s thoughts were transmitted through the collective consciousness, and their words were usually quite brief. According to the collective, they had just finished annihilating the 150,000 soldiers. 

“That could be. If the Popedom has been given permission to enter Schtraut, maybe Leopold’s underlings are dividing their forces to buy time until Frantz’s army arrives. I imagine the nobles in charge of these soldiers just so happen to be Leopold’s political rivals...” 

Traditionally, the duke of Schtraut was chosen through an election. Leopold probably saw other nobles with authority as threats to his re-election and so had shuttled them off to die in battle. The more I thought about that man, the more I hated him. 

“He’s a traitor to his own country,” Sérignan said, bristling. “He keeps whittling down the Dukedom’s army, and now he’s forcing it to nurse off another nation for protection. If the Dukedom places its military affairs into the hands of the Popedom, it will be entirely subject to Frantz’s will. What a stupid, cowardly man. I can’t help but hate him, and I’m not even on his side.” 

“Agreed,” I nodded grimly. “I can’t stand Leopold. I wouldn’t hesitate to kill him... and as luck would have it, I can. Anyway, keep heading east, and wipe out the enemy as you go. Ruin their towns, too. Any settlements that remain belong to the nobles who destroyed Marine, so there’s no need to show them mercy. Turn their citizens into meatballs and gather up all their gold. We need to unlock new structures.” 

We were fast approaching the heart of Schtraut. The trade country’s well-paved roads hastened our march. We built FOBs near the front lines along the way. Our objectives were simple: crash down upon enemy cities with a wave of Ripper Swarms, reduce the citizens to meatballs, and gather up all their gold. 

One, two, one, two. 

Even without a drum and fife to give us rhythm, we marched onward. Eventually, the first town’s walls came into view. I ordered the Masquerade Swarm stationed there to blow open the gates. In addition to Mimesis, the Masquerade Swarm also had a special Self-Destruct ability. The resulting explosion created a hole wide enough for us to pass through. 

“God, oh, God of Light! Please, deliver us from this evil!” cried one of the soldiers guarding the gates. The rest of his comrades also babbled out terrified prayers. 

Praying will get you nowhere. Search the world over, but you won’t find God. 

Their faith meant nothing. It would not spare them from being crushed beneath our feet. 

A legion of Ripper Swarms rushed into the town. They climbed up the ramparts, killing the soldiers who were trying to take aim at them with ballistas. The mages were also quickly found and exterminated. I hadn’t forgotten the time Sérignan was blown back by a wave of magic right before my eyes. 

“Your Majesty, what are your orders?” 

“Same as always. Crush them. Destroy them.” 

Overrun them. 

The Swarms spilled out into the city streets, indiscriminately killing everyone they met, be they soldiers or civilians. A part of me wondered if this was the right thing to do. 

“Never forget your human heart.” 

That girl’s voice echoed in my mind. Had I lost my human sensibilities? Was I doing something my human nature would forbid? Had my heart become the heart of a monster? 

“Is something weighing on your mind, Your Majesty?” Sérignan asked, sensing my anxiety through the collective consciousness. 

“Just a bit. Sérignan... Do you think I’m still human?” 

“You are human, Your Majesty. No matter what others may say, that fact will not change. However, you are still the Arachnea’s queen—the one meant to guide us. You are human, but you are no mere human.” 

“I see.” 

You say I’m still human, but I’m pretty much convinced that I’m a monster now, complete with a monstrous heart. 

There was no point dwelling on it, though. Our hands were already stained by the anomalous act of war. War was a peculiar thing; only in wartime would someone who dropped an atomic bomb on hundreds of thousands of innocents be hailed as a hero. I myself was now deeply invested in war, so perhaps it only made sense that I was going a bit mad. 

To end this war and exact my revenge, I would destroy this town and any others we came across. We would murder. We would make our meatballs. We would pillage what remained. 

All of this was to end the fight over the Dukedom of Schtraut and to allow the Arachnea to live in peace. I might have been willing to slaughter, but it wasn’t without meaning. Even if I did lose my human heart, the Arachnea would accept me. And so long as they gave me a place to belong, I was happy. 

Still, I got the feeling I was moving further away from Japan and the world I truly called home. I felt that if I continued along this path, I would never return to my own world. I would never spend another precious moment with my friends or family again. That thought left a tinge of loneliness in my heart. 

“Leopold!” 

Roland was storming through the duke’s residence in Doris, the capital of Schtraut. 

“Where is Leopold?!” he cried, grabbing a nearby servant by the collar. 

“Erm, His Grace is resting on the second floor,” the servant choked out. 

“Laying about at a time like this...” Roland said bitterly. 

He climbed the staircase in search of his brother. The duke’s office and bedroom were on the second floor; Roland checked his bedroom first. 

“Leopold!” he said, swinging the door open without bothering to knock. 

“What is it, Roland?” 

Leopold was resting indeed. He was surrounded by several prostitutes and countless bottles of alcohol, chatting with a few other men. This certainly wasn’t how one would want to find a politician during wartime; if the people of Schtraut were to hear of this, it could easily spark a revolt. 

“What do I want? Leopold, do you have any idea what’s happening to our country? There’s an army of monsters marching upon us from the west, and the nobles’ army is in tatters! Yet you’re just sitting here drinking with whores?!” Enraged, Roland grabbed a bottle and threw it onto the floor. The glass shattered, and its pungent contents pooled on the floor. 

“What’s got you so on edge, my dear Roland?” Leopold said, casually opening a new bottle to pour one of the men a drink. “The nobles’ army has been cut down a bit, that’s all. Even if it does get wiped out, our victory is assured. We have our trusty allies from the Popedom, after all!” 

The men he was entertaining were officers from the Popedom of Frantz. Their army was stationed just outside the national border, ready to cross into the Dukedom’s territory as soon as the order was given. The only reason they hadn’t yet crossed was because Leopold wanted to allow the Arachnea to wound the other nobles by destroying their collective army. 

“Then tell our allies to come and help us already! Our front lines are on the verge of collapsing, and our cities are falling one after the other! Are you planning to rule over a pile of rubble?!” 

“How dare you! I’m doing everything in my power to save this country! I stationed extra soldiers in our cities, and I ordered the towns in the enemy’s path to be burned to the ground! This should have slowed down their progress! Yet you stand here and criticize me?!” 

“And I’m saying everything you did was absolutely useless! Our enemy is already deep in Dukedom territory! Soon they’ll break through our meager defenses and go deeper still! Did you really think scorched-earth tactics would work against man-eating monsters?!” 

These scorched-earth tactics had unexpectedly rendered the enemy’s leader comatose for a few days, but they could not slow down the Arachnea. Not only did the Swarm have no need for food, but they even used the flesh of corpses they found in the burned-down towns to create more resources. All Leopold had really done was provoke the ire of their queen. 

“You’re saying my stratagems had no effect...?” 

“As far as I can see, nothing has changed for the better.” 

“Then we have no choice but to rely on the Popedom’s army,” Leopold said bitterly. He turned to one of the officers. “As of this moment, you have my approval to cross the border. Please begin your march.” 

“It will take our army two weeks at the earliest. Is that acceptable?” 

“What?” Leopold went white. “Why would it take you so long?! You must come to our rescue at once!” 

“Our soldiers have been waiting at the border all this time, you know. It’ll take some time to break down their encampments and have supplies ready for the march. I’m afraid these are steps we have to take.” 

There was some truth to the officer’s words. The Popedom’s army was fatigued from spending so long in the border camps, and it would need time to reorganize. All told, it would take the soldiers about a week to prepare. 

That wasn’t the whole story, of course. The officers were also waiting for the Dukedom of Schtraut to crumble so they could swoop in and incorporate it into the Popedom. 

“I told you placing that much trust in a foreign army was a mistake,” Roland said with a sigh. 

“Ah, I’d nearly forgotten... Sir Roland, you are to be made a paladin,” said one of the other officers. “In light of your courageous spirit and your service to the people, His Holiness has decided to bestow this honor upon you. We hope you will continue to fight in a manner befitting of this title.” 

“You want me to become a paladin so I can buy you more time?” 

Frantz wanted the Dukedom weakened so it could take over, but the Popedom wasn’t looking to acquire a country that had been completely destroyed; it needed to be worth taking, at least. To that end, they elevated Roland to the rank of paladin in order to increase morale. Naturally, the move was made entirely for the sake of the Popedom itself. 

“Fine. I accept.” 

“Splendid. Take this, then. Normally His Holiness would give it to you himself, but current circumstances dictate that this task falls to me.” 

The officer who’d spoken fixed a medal bearing the insignia of the Knights of Saint Agniya onto Roland’s chest. 

“There’s nothing for me?” Leopold asked, disgruntled. 

“Should we win this battle, you will also be awarded honors, Your Grace.” 

“Assuming we live that long,” Roland said dryly. “They’re charging toward Doris at breakneck speed. I suggest your friends from Frantz leave this place, unless they’re also looking to be torn to shreds.” 

The officers from Frantz eyed Roland with scorn, but they certainly weren’t interested in clashing with the enemy’s front lines. 

“I’ll be riding out to meet their army with our finest soldiers. The cavalry, all of them. Any objections?” Roland asked his brother. 

“Do whatever you want,” Leopold said, pouring his umpteenth glass. 

“May victory be upon us,” Roland muttered. With that, he headed out to deliver his orders to the troops.