Her Majesty’s Swarm - Volume 4 - Chapter 4

A Look around Khalkha

Yesterday, I’d been able to get Konrad and Keralt on my side, bringing me one step closer to an alliance. Tomorrow, I would discuss matters with Honnoson Alphtel, an influential senator, which could cement the decision. So for today...

“How about we have a look around the city, Lysa?”

“Yeah! Can we?!”

We were cooped up in the hotel’s guest room, but upon seeing Lysa gazing longingly out the window, I suggested we go outside. Lysa had spent her life in the forest, so a big city like this was probably a new experience for her. When we’d seen the sea in Marine, she had been the most enthusiastic out of all of us.

By comparison, Sérignan was handling it more maturely. She and the Masquerade Swarm were taking shifts standing guard.

“Sérignan, we’re going outside for a bit,” I said, intending to invite her along.

“Is that so? I shall accompany you, then.”

The suite was nice, but spending a whole day there still felt suffocating. With the big meeting I had coming up tomorrow, I also didn’t want to tire myself out.

“We’ll be back.”

We left poor Maska to hold the fort and went out to have a look around Khalkha.

Put simply, Khalkha was a lively city. It was our first experience walking through the peaceful streets of a country’s capital. Maluk was in ruins, we had charged into Schtraut’s capital, and Frantz’s capital had been silent upon our arrival because of the heretic hunts.

Everything in sight was unique and unfamiliar. The street stalls sold all sorts of curiosities. One vendor sold some kind of meat skewer. Another sold a kebab of sorts made by smoking and cutting off lumps of meat. A third offered meat fried in sizzling oil on the spot.

Have I just been looking at meat this whole time?

“Are you hungry, milady?” Lysa asked me, noticing my covetous gaze.

Right now, she wasn’t allowed to call me “Your Majesty.” The various adventurers’ guilds of this country had already learned about me. Back in Schtraut, no one had known of me, so there hadn’t been any point in going out of our way to hide my title. This time around, we needed to be discreet.

Keralt had guaranteed my safety, but if the guilds’ information were leaked, the Nyrnal Empire could dispatch assassins to kill me.

Seriously, being a despot’s pretty hard.

“Yeah, I actually am a little hungry,” I admitted.

“Then let’s get something to eat.” Lysa grinned. “I’m sure we’ll find someplace nice.”

I wasn’t even doing anything in particular, so why did I have to go hungry? At this rate, I’d just get fat. Imagine that: a round, chubby Arachnea queen. More like an Arachnea piggy. Forget “Your Majesty”; they’d be calling me “Your Portliness” then. I was really jealous of the Swarm since their figures never changed no matter what or how much they ate.

“Erm, milady?” Sérignan eyed me with worry. “True, our figures don’t change, but I don’t think you are gaining any weight.”

I sighed. “You don’t know that. I haven’t been exercising one bit recently. I could be well on my way to being fat.”

Sérignan and Lysa had the privilege of not gaining any weight, so they didn’t understand how I felt.

“If you stick to an elven diet, you probably won’t get fat,” Lysa suggested. “It’s mostly based on vegetables.”

“Yeah, but there’s one problem, Lysa,” I said, my voice wistful. “I love meat.”

The food we had eaten back in Baumfetter was very healthy, but it had left something to be desired. Every now and then, I got the craving for some nice, juicy meat. But once that mean protein went down the hatch, it was bound to turn to needless flab. I hadn’t been particularly fat before, but I still had to worry about my eating habits.

“Then let us go to a place that serves meat, if that is what you desire,” Sérignan said. “Consuming what you want when you want it is a good way of preventing fatigue. Besides, you have an important meeting tomorrow, so you should treat yourself to a pick-me-up!”

“You’re tempting me like the devil, Sérignan. But I’ll allow it since I’m really craving here. Are you okay with meat too, Lysa?”

Making peace with the inevitability of my unhealthy diet, I decided to get some meat. What about Lysa, though? She was an elf, and they didn’t usually like meat that much.

“I’m fine with it.” Lysa offered a faint smile. “People think elves never eat meat, but we incorporate meat into our dishes pretty often. The only exception is when it’s a closed season for hunting.”

“Let’s find a place that serves some good meat, then!”

“A steak would be good,” Lysa said cheerfully. “Or maybe one of those Hamburg steaks I’ve heard so much about.”

I was virtually salivating at the thought of munching on some fine meat.

Lysa pointed at one small establishment. “That place looks nice!”

It was small and snug, but it looked clean. A tantalizing smell wafted from the inside. I supposed it was a coffee shop that doubled as a restaurant. It seemed just like what we were looking for.

“All right, let’s give it a try.” I approached the menu plastered on the nearby wall. “Today’s specials are...”

Beside me, Lysa read it aloud. “A mixed grill meal and a Hamburg steak combo.”

Hm. Think I’ll go with the Hamburg steak. But the mixed grill sounds nice too.

“Our senses are connected through the collective consciousness,” Sérignan reminded me. “So don’t worry. I can eat the mixed grill, and you can have the Hamburg steak. That way, we’ll be able to experience both.”

“Yeah, we could do that. But I kind of want to eat it directly, like a human. Shrug it off as a whim of mine, would you?”

Which should I pick, though?

Just then, Lysa came up with the perfect solution. “Let’s share! I’ll get the mixed grill, and you can order the Hamburg steak, and we’ll sample each other’s orders.”

Oh, Lysa to the rescue with the good ideas!

“Sounds good. And if Sérignan orders something different, we can try that too.”

Looking a bit bashful, Sérignan murmured, “D-Dining with you is too great an honor for me, milady, if these are your orders.”

As always, she approached everything with the formal stiffness of an ancient samurai. But that’s part of what makes her cute.

“C-Cute?” Sérignan stammered, sensing my thoughts.

“Ah, yeah. You’re cute, Sérignan.”

The collective consciousness had its perks, but it was a bit of a downside that my thoughts were leaked to the Swarm.

“I think you’re very cool, Sérignan,” Lysa chimed in as Sérignan flushed crimson. “The way you protect our lady, the strength of your will... I’ve always admired the way knights can be so determined!”

“That’s right.” I nodded. “I can sense your will too.”

“I’m quite honored,” Sérignan said sheepishly.

She really was an admirable knight.

“Now, let’s go inside and appreciate the local cuisine.”

Urged along by my grumbling stomach, I led everyone inside.

A cheery waitress in a cute outfit greeted us. “Hello! Table for three, ladies?”

“Yes, do you have any available?” I asked.

“We do. Right this way!”

Thankfully, the place was only half full. There weren’t too many people around, which was good since we were trying to lay low; it wasn’t empty to the point of being uncomfortably deserted either. It had just the right balance of customers.

“I’ll have the Hamburg steak.”

“I’d like a mixed grill meal!”

“Hmm. The steak, please.”

We soon decided on our orders, bunch of carnivorous girls that we were.

“So a Hamburg steak, a mixed grill, and a steak. Coming right up. Would you like anything to drink with that?”

Drinks, huh?

I wasn’t sure if this country had coffee. As I scanned the menu, I ran into all sorts of drinks with unusual names, but I did manage to find coffee listed there.

“I’ll have coffee,” I said, making the safe choice.

“Tomato juice, please.” Lysa went with a veggie option, which was typical for her elven background.

“And I’ll have a, erm, Nabreej Mint.” Sérignan took a risk and chose a more daring option.

“All right, it’ll be out shortly.” The waitress left with our orders.

Once she was gone, Lysa turned to me. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, milady.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“What are you going to do when this war is over?”

“When the war’s over?” I parroted.

Right. I’ve been so caught up with trying to finish this war that I forgot to think about what I’ll be doing next.

“Well, actually, I’ve been thinking the Arachnea could have the Worker Swarms make clothes and furniture. We’d travel around to different countries and sell them. I think we’ve had enough wars for a lifetime. Plus, I...”

I...

“I need to find a way back home. I want to go home.”

This isn’t where I belong. Sérignan and Lysa mean a lot to me, but that apartment back in Japan is my true home. I think my parents are really worried about me, and I’m worried about them too. I have to find my parents, calm them down, and then go back to my college life.

“You want to go home?” Sérignan asked. “The Worker Swarms could build you a worthy castle, milady.”

“That’s not what I mean. I have a home I need to go back to.”

That’s right, I—

“You killed her, you monster.”

Pain shot through my mind.

Samael said that, but how can it be? My parents should be fine, right? I mean, it wasn’t too long ago that I passed the entrance exams and we went out to a barbecue place together to celebrate. They can’t be dead.

“Are you all right?” Lysa asked, noticing my pained expression.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” I shook my head as if to banish my thoughts.

Just a little headache.

“What I’m trying to say is that I’ll eventually have to leave you two and go back to where I belong. That’s why I want to enjoy this now.”

“No! I don’t want you to leave!” Sérignan exclaimed.

It must have been painful to hear that. Sérignan was serving as my loyal knight, but I had been set to leave this world from the get-go. Lysa was looking pretty bummed as well. It hurt me too, of course. But I had to go back.

“Then let’s do as you say and enjoy this moment together, milady,” Lysa said, putting on a brave face. “I’ll do anything to help you go back home. So please, never forget the times we spent together!”

“Of course I won’t. I’ll never forget you, Lysa.”

I couldn’t possibly forget about you. Your tears were what inspired me to grind an entire kingdom into dust.

“What will become of me once you leave?” Sérignan asked me, clearly on the verge of tears.

“Keep our faction safe,” I told her. “Now and forevermore. Support the other Swarms until you’re ready to retire.”

“By your will. I, Sérignan, will devote myself to protecting the Arachnea even after you’ve left us.”

“I’m counting on you, Sérignan.”

If I leave them in her capable hands, everything should be fine.

“Can we come visit you?”

“I dunno, Lysa. That might be a little difficult,” I admitted with a frown. “It’s a whole other world. I don’t think this world and mine can normally connect.”

It would have been really interesting and fun if I could freely go between this world and that one, but I didn’t think it would be that simple. The game’s world and my reality weren’t meant to be connected.

“Here you are!” the waitress announced, breaking up our somewhat gloomy atmosphere. “One mixed grill, one Hamburg steak, and a steak for you! Eat it while it’s hot!”

The appetizing smell completely distracted me from what we were talking about.

“Okay, let’s share! You two, have some of my Hamburg steak.”

“Here, try a bite of the grilled chicken,” Lysa said, handing us some skewers.

“Help yourself to my steak,” Sérignan offered.

And so, the three of us had our girls’ day out.

I couldn’t help but sing the chef’s praises. “Oh, this Hamburg steak’s great. Whoever made this is a pro.”

“The chicken’s so soft and tasty!” Lysa chirped.

“This is a fine steak. It does have the succulent feel of meat.”

We had taken a chance on this place, but it turned out to be a really good restaurant. I made a mental note to thank Lysa later for spotting it. We enjoyed our food and left the place roughly thirty minutes later. For the record, their after-dinner coffee was pretty good too.

♱

With full stomachs, we made our way to the bazaar next.

“They sure sell a whole range of things,” I observed.

“There’s so much variety! I’ve never seen these kinds of products before!” Lysa said cheerfully.

The bazaar had all sorts of merchandise for sale, most of which I didn’t recognize at all. There were things that looked like equipment for a hookah and weaving appliances, but there were also crackling crystal balls and rings that seemed to spin continuously in place. I couldn’t wrap my mind around those.

“You’re an elf, aren’t you, miss?” one stall owner called out to Lysa as she examined his wares.

“Huh?!” Lysa blinked in surprise.

“I see you’re hiding your ears with your hair, but it’s clear you’re from the boonies,” he added with a smile. “My hunch tells me you couldn’t be anything but an elf. Am I right?”

“Hm... That’s a secret,” Lysa muttered. She was still rather anxious about the outside world.

“Could I ask you not to bother my companion, sir?” I said to the merchant. “If you oblige, we’ll consider buying something.”

“Ooh, that’s a tempting offer.” He smiled thinly and gestured toward an accessory. “Well, I can recommend this for your ladies.”

It was a cheap-looking bracelet inlaid with what looked like rubies and glass beads. Not exactly fancy, but it could make for a good memento of this trip.

Maybe having matching souvenirs with Sérignan and Lysa to take home isn’t such a bad idea.

“I’ll take it. How much?”

“Thirty rupinas for three. I’m cutting you a real bargain here.”

I didn’t know what the market prices were, but I did have money. I handed him the thirty rupinas and took the bracelets.

“Could you tell me about Khalkha’s specialties?” I asked.

“Specialties?” The merchant frowned. “Well, that’d be the pleasure district, but I doubt you ladies would have much to look for there. Nothing else really comes to mind. Oh, but the clothing stores in the pleasure district are pretty fancy. I mean, they outfit the people working in that part of town.”

They’ve got clothing stores, huh?

I wasn’t particularly interested in the pleasure district. It gave the impression of a place with a lot of shady establishments, and I wanted nothing to do with that. Clothes were something I was interested in, though. Sérignan and Lysa could put them on, after all, and I felt like dressing them up. Sérignan was always in that suffocating armor, so seeing her in something cute would be a nice change of pace.

“Erm, milady, I don’t mind this armor at all. I also have the dress you had made for me in Marine,” Sérignan said nervously, sensing my intentions.

“Clothing stores it is, then,” I said, ignoring her reservations.

The merchant told us about an area in the pleasure district that housed all the clothing shops, so I made my way there.

“Oho!” I exclaimed upon seeing the place. “This is impressive.”

There were all sorts of clothing stores lined up around the block. Some places handled evening dresses, others sold everyday wear, and others still had clothes for special and unusual occasions.

“Let’s start with dresses, then. Are you ready, Sérignan?”

“Yes, milady...”

I had her take off her armor before we entered, so she was currently wearing an everyday dress I had prepared for myself in case I needed to lie low. It was too big for me at present, but I’d gotten it in case I regained my normal height or ended up going back to Japan.

“Don’t you think that dress would look good on her?” I suggested, pointing at one piece in particular.

Lysa nodded. “Yeah, I think it looks nice. It’d be pretty sexy on Sérignan’s figure.”

The two of us were looking at a dress with a dangerously deep neckline and an open back down to the waist. It had a slit that showed off one’s thighs too. If Sérignan were to wear this, it would be an alluring sight indeed.

“I-I personally prefer this one...” Sérignan gestured toward a very modest piece. It was shaped like a Vietnamese ao dai dress and decorated with a corsage.

“How about this one?” I offered another one resembling a cheongsam.

Sérignan shook her head, looking uncomfortable. “No, milady, that one shows off too much of my legs.”

This dress also had a deep slit that would highlight her healthy thighs. They were a far cry from my scrawny excuse for legs...

“My lady, please don’t bully me too hard...”

“I’m not bullying you, though?” I said matter-of-factly. “I’m just picking out a dress for you.”

We ended up buying all three dresses. I looked forward to seeing Sérignan in them. She was absolutely adorable when she got all teary-eyed.

“Next we’ll need to get you some everyday dresses. You’re always in armor, and that could draw attention. So you should have a set or two of casual wear.”

Sérignan was almost always in her armor. It was technically part of her body, but it looked menacing, and we sometimes needed to keep a low profile. Having a casual outfit would help.

Besides, Sérignan is a girl.

“Whoa, that one’s cute!” Lysa pointed at a blue apron dress designed like something out of Alice in Wonderland.

I agreed. “Oh, yeah. It is.”

A smaller girl could wear it and pass as an Alice lookalike, but Sérignan was a bit too big for it, and she would probably come across as some kind of maid.

“What kind of dress do you want, Sérignan?”

“Oh, no, I could never want for anything,” she said, ever modest.

“Ah, come on. It’s not every day we get to go shopping. Enjoy it with us.”

Sérignan was definitely a bit of a late bloomer when it came to these kinds of things, which could take the fun out of it.

“What about this outfit, then?” Sérignan pointed at a man’s suit.

“It’d look good on you, yeah, but that’s men’s clothing,” I said.

“But compared to a skirt, pants would be easier to move in if need be,” she argued. “After all, I must guard you at all times.”

Sérignan, as it turned out, preferred practicality to fashion. I couldn’t very well force her to change her personal tastes. Also, she’d look good in a suit.

“All right, let’s ask for a suit for women, then. We’ll find something that’ll look good on you.”

We then went on to deliberate for quite a while about what kind of suit would work for her. In the end, we went with one that incorporated a black shirt and jacket. She tried it on, and indeed, it fit her perfectly. Sérignan was pretty impressive, all in all.

“Let’s pick something for Lysa next.”

“I-I don’t need one. I like my current outfit just fine.”

Lysa already had a set of casual clothes and a dress too, but we couldn’t walk out of here without getting her something as well. Besides, Lysa’s figure was similar to mine, so picking a dress for her was fun.

“Okay, we’ll find you something! How about that apron dress you said was cute earlier?”

“It was cute! But I don’t think it’ll look right on me...”

“Oh, hush.” I waved my hand, dismissing her claim.

That settled the first choice.

“Next we should find you something sexy.” I hummed as I picked out a dress for her. “You might be young, but I know you can show you’re just as charming as she is.”

Even if the dress didn’t show off much cleavage, one with a nice slit could be nice. That would be plenty alluring. I always used to buy my clothes at big-box stores, so I wasn’t exactly one for fashion, but still.

“This one with evening gloves might be good, milady,” Sérignan suggested.

I praised her choice. “Good eye, Sérignan. Now for some lingerie.”

Thus, we had Lysa play the part of a dress-up doll for a while. In the end, we got her an apron dress, a ladylike dress, and a gown complete with evening gloves, a garter, stockings, and more.

“Phew. Now we won’t have to worry about your wardrobes.”

Once we’d finished shopping, we walked down the streets with bags full of clothes in our hands and satisfied smiles on our lips.

“Yeah, that’s true. But should we really be wasting our time shopping here?” Lysa asked with a hint of concern.

“Well, I kind of feel bad for Roland since he can’t be here, but things seem to have stabilized over on the Schtraut front. Nyrnal hasn’t been able to break through the mountain road there, so our defenses are solid.”

Roland was busy commanding the Swarms on the Schtraut front. Nyrnal’s army seemed to have given up on breaking through the mountain road and was instead trying to climb the cliffs. That way of invasion was obviously reckless, and Roland was quashing their efforts.

The mountain road in Schtraut was littered with the corpses of Nyrnal soldiers. The Ripper Swarms drove away the crows, hounds, and other scavengers trying to pick at the bodies. Once they were all rounded up, the Worker Swarms could turn them into meatballs. The situation was still challenging overall, but our future prospects weren’t too bad.

Lysa gave a nod. “Roland’s really trying, huh?”

“Well, Schtraut is his homeland,” I said, placing a hand on my chin in thought. “It makes sense he’d be dead set on defending it. What I’m worried about is that it’s possible the Nyrnal army will try to invade Schtraut via the elven forest.”

The elven forest was set right between the borders between the Kingdom of Maluk, the Dukedom of Schtraut, and the Nyrnal Empire. Now that Nyrnal had invaded Maluk, they had the elven forest surrounded on two fronts. We had no way of knowing when Nyrnal might try to use the forest as an alternate route into Schtraut.

“So there’s a chance my homeland’s going to become a battlefield?” Lysa asked, sounding anxious.

“We don’t know that for sure,” I replied. “That’s why I’m producing lots of Genocide Swarms and sending them there. I promised I’d protect Baumfetter, and I intend to keep that promise.”

I couldn’t let a peaceful place like Baumfetter turn into a battlefield. The elves there wanted nothing more than to live peacefully. Letting that place get mixed up in the war because of a large country’s ambitions would be unforgivable. I’d sworn to keep them safe no matter what.

“Still, it might be for the best if the citizens are prepared to evacuate just in case,” I went on. “I keep getting these really bad vibes from the Empire.”

I hadn’t seen the full extent of what Nyrnal was capable of. They knew how to get involved in wars at just the right time, and they had the strength to take over the former Maluk territories in the blink of an eye. They had powerful field fortifications and wyverns at their beck and call. I had to be wary of all those factors, but at the same time, I couldn’t assume they were showing all their cards.

“For now, we have to keep their attention fixed on the Schtraut front. I’ll order Roland to allow the enemy to break in a little. We can’t let the deadlock in Schtraut seem too firm; we don’t know how Nyrnal might react to that.”

If our defensive lines proved to be unyielding, their generals might try to come up with different ideas—storming through the elven forest, for one, or sending reinforcements to the Frantz front.

“For now, everything’s stable there. Nyrnal’s not making any suspicious movements. The fact we don’t know what they’re planning is unnerving, though. We need to send in some Masquerade Swarms or infest people with Parasite Swarms to gather intel.”

Nyrnal wasn’t accepting refugees, so getting Masquerade Swarms to infiltrate was proving difficult. Things would be different if we got people under the thrall of Parasite Swarms to open the gates for us from the inside, but pulling that off would be a trek and a half too.

“If only we could’ve kept the Nyrnal Empire’s invasion stalled inside the old Maluk territories, we’d have been able to complete the Aerial Flesh Nest to make some Flap Swarms and gain air superiority.”

The Aerial Flesh Nest was the structure that produced the Arachnea’s airborne units. Honestly, the Arachnea was pretty weak when it came to aerial combat. The Flap Swarms would likely be no match for the wyverns. Nevertheless, having eyes in the sky would be a major advantage.

“I hope we can win this war,” Lysa said.

I nodded firmly. “Agreed. We need to end this.”

Yes. We need to end this war. 

If I could make an alliance with the Eastern Trade Union and destroy the Nyrnal Empire, it would end the war on this continent. We could live in peace and do whatever we pleased.

Suddenly, Lysa shouted “Your Majesty!” and shoved me away.

I pitched forward and fell to the ground, where I felt warm fluid splash across my cheek.

Blood. Red, crimson blood. But whose blood is this?

Sérignan raised her voice in a battle cry. “Haaah!”

Then, I could hear the sound of a sword being drawn and a man screaming in pain. More screams echoed all around us. The entire commercial area had devolved into a state of chaos.

What’s going on here? I got to my feet, looking around.

The first thing I could see was Sérignan, holding up her blood-stained longsword. She was scanning the area, looking sharp and cautious. At her feet was the dead body of a man. He was lying face down, having been slashed across the shoulder. And...

“Lysa?” I uttered. “Lysa!”

Lysa had been stabbed. There was blood gushing from her stomach, forming a large puddle on the floor. She was still alive, but she was breathing heavily, her shoulders heaving.

“Lysa! Hang on, Lysa! Sérignan, what do I do?!”

I asked the question in a frenzy. I was panicking.

“You must keep her wound closed! Hold it down, hard!”

Right. That’s what they always do in action movies. When someone gets shot, they hold the wound down as hard as they can.

Mimicking what I remembered to the best of my ability, I applied pressure to Lysa’s stab wound.

A few moments later, a Khalkha guard hurried over to us. “What happened here?!”

“This man stabbed my friend!” I said. “Please, get us a doctor!”

“Understood!” The guard hurried off.

Meanwhile, I held down Lysa’s wound as hard as I could.

It’s too soon for her to follow in Linnet’s footsteps. I still have so many things I want to do with you, so don’t die on me!

Soon, the guard returned with a stretcher. “The doctor’s over there! Put her on the stretcher!”

I placed Lysa on it, still keeping her wound closed, and we ran in the direction he’d told us to go. Sérignan followed us, keeping a watchful eye on our surroundings.

Lysa, please... Don’t die...