Unfortunately, Regina only learned of what Tia’s scouting found the next day. She mentally kicked herself for not checking in on any drones near the edge of her range in the south more regularly. Regrettably, it seemed like the drones still couldn’t initiate contact on their own from that far away.
She had reason to be preoccupied, to be fair. After some hemming and hawing, the humans agreed to her demands, and the proposed deal was finalized. She supposed that what several drones said had been right, and it was just diplomatic concessions with little practical effect for the humans. Not that giving away territory would ever be easy, but at least this one was uninhabited, not like towns or cities. She supposed she could understand why the marquis hadn’t wanted the hive to stake a claim on one of those, not that that meant she would forget his behavior. At least he had conceded now.
They might not have if they knew what it might mean, if things turned out in certain ways. But Regina was fine with that.
Now, she was happy to see Tia in her range again. The two of them caught up at length, before Regina assumed direct control of a few drones and took a closer look at the area herself. The few Swarm Drones here were scattered through it sparsely, but since she could now focus her attention here and coordinate them, that was fine. And Tia seems pretty enthusiastic about her plans for building new settlements, Regina reflected, smiling to herself. Can’t blame her, I’m a little excited about it, too.
She set things into motion right away, assembling a large party to go south. From her experiments, she knew that her range extended most of the way through the strip of land they had just been granted, only a small corner of it not covered. And in a few levels, her range would extend far enough to reach everything and the human town, Ford’s Rest, as well. And probably more besides.
Her rate of making new eggs still seemed to be speeding up slightly. She figured that was mostly her getting used to it and making small adjustments to increase productivity. She’d figured out a pattern that should let her get the most use out of her Skill’s boost in numbers. It was a bit of a shame that the level-raising effect probably wouldn’t be much use, though. She’d lost a lot of Swarm Drones and was replenishing the Swarm in large numbers, which meant the average level would be pretty low. But she needed to go for quantity over quality with them, at least for now. The drones could always level up later. And they weren’t really bottlenecked with that, since they could train against each other and even raise each other’s level with shared experience.
At any rate, her Hive’s numbers were steadily climbing upwards, if more slowly than she’d have liked. Regina let a large part of the new clutches go south to prepare the new territory, bolstered with some veterans. She grudgingly expected to lose a few drones, but it should definitely help the rest level. And she was sending a few sapient drones along, too, of course. Many of them seemed to want to go. After a bit of consideration, Regina decided to send Ada with them, as well. Ace could hold the fort here, but Ada would provide both leadership and her expert scouting for the group, as well as hopefully get some opportunities to sharpen her skills and level up. Tia would probably be in charge of the overall development, though.
Regina watched the drones as they made their way south, taking note of monsters and other dangers and environmental features. With the help of scouting from flying drones, they managed quite well, and reached Tia’s position in just a day. Once they did, Tia immediately began organizing them and started setting up the first structures to make a proper camp, and later a real settlement.
I think your idea of having several bases, hopefully interconnected, is a good thought, Regina told her when they finished the preliminary work. Let’s start planning and building with that in mind. We might even be able to use this brook, or even an artificial channel. Using a waterway would make a lot of things easier.
I’m not sure this land has enough water for that, Tia noted. But I’ll definitely keep it in mind.
Regina mostly stayed quiet and watched. She knew she didn’t need to micromanage or backseat-drive them. Besides, she had other things that needed her attention, as well. Neralt was obviously concerned at the apparent rift between her and his former marquis, and there was still Earl Whitor.
“I suppose this means I am officially your vassal now, and no one else’s,” Neralt said a few days after the letter from Tim confirming the agreement arrived. They were sitting on an improvised bank near the new watermill, watching drones working on an extension. “Can I even call myself a Cernlian anymore?”
“Well, I suppose your liege lord - former liege lord - agreed to this, but the king didn’t. So, it depends on how you view things, I guess,” Regina said, leaning back. She’d met him here by chance, more or less, and they got to talking. He had been rather reserved when he first heard about the deal, so she was curious to hear him speaking up now.
“I already said that I do not hold much love for the king,” Neralt replied, tapping a finger on his leg. “I suppose some jitters are normal for a sudden change of my circumstances like this.”
“Not much has really changed, or will change. You don’t need to offer me an oath of fealty or anything like that.” Not that she needed one, she had him in her power either way. And Regina wasn’t exactly a fan of the feudal system in general, anyway.
“I understand,” he replied.
Had he thought his situation was going to be temporary? Regina tilted her head, idly wishing she had something to occupy her hands.
“I assure you, you will start to see the benefits of being in my - care.” She hesitated slightly at the last word, but there really was no good way to express that.
“I already am, Milady.” Neralt smiled, then continued with an air of someone obviously changing the subject, “Do you think Whitor will, as well?”
“I think he is already, at least a little. He still doesn’t want to admit it, but he knows we’re treating him very well, and anyone could tell he likes the hints of future protection I’ve been dangling in front of him.”
“I was not sure informing him of your hive’s … growth rate was a wise decision - let alone demonstrating some of it - but I do have to admit, he seems to have taken it the way you wanted.”
Regina shrugged. It was a risk just letting Whitor walk through the village, even carefully supervised, never mind actually showing him a ‘storeroom’ full of eggs and one of them hatching. If he wasn’t her prisoner and she wasn’t confident of controlling his ability to communicate with anyone on the outside, she would never have considered it. But the demonstration had clearly left an impression.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Still, he wasn’t going to break this quickly. It would take some time and effort to bring him around, she knew that. But I do think we can do it. His sense of honor is a bit inconvenient, though. I’m lucky he feels obligated to protect the people of his province.
“We’ll see,” she finally said. “How are things in the village, anyway?”
He gave her an odd look, but answered the question. “Preparations for the harvest festival are proceeding. Luckily, we do have enough of a harvest to celebrate. I believe most of it will be brought in and secured in time for the festival.”
Regina nodded. She was still a bit miffed that she’d apparently missed the day of the autumn equinox, in late September. The harvest festival fell on what she was pretty sure would be the 31st of October, the last day of the tenth month in the new calendar, as well. It was simple, since the next two months also had thirty and thirty-one days, and the last day of the year was ten days after the winter solstice, so the start of the calendar should still be the same.
The date and calendar allowed her to contextualize what had happened better. Unfortunately, she’d lost track of the days for a bit, but from what she’d guesstimated, she should have woken up around early June.
Which meant she’d been in this world, or rather this new era, for over four months. It felt like a lifetime, which it kind of was, and also far shorter at the same time. She couldn’t even imagine where she would be in a year, let alone what the next five years held. Not that she didn’t have any plans, it was just … a lot to wrap her head around.
Regina was curious to see the village’s harvest festival, although when it did arrive, she found it a little underwhelming. That wasn’t the villagers’ fault, of course, she could hardly expect them to show up with fireworks or really fancy food. But it was basically just a large dance with some local traditions tacked on. If she had had any skill at dancing, it had definitely not transferred to her new body, so Regina was content to sit that one out.
“I guess I’m just not a party person,” she muttered to herself.
“Did anyone suggest you were?” Max asked. “Because I hope none of our drones were that dumb.”
Regina scowled at him. She’d clearly not spoken quietly enough for him not to hear, even though he was leaning against a house wall several meters away.
“If you’re so social, why don’t you go and join the dance?”
He raised his hand defensively. “Oh, please. Drones just aren’t made for dancing.”
“Mia still seems to be having fun with it,” Regina noted, jerking her chin in her direction.
The Drone Engineer was clearly trying her best with more enthusiasm than skill, but no one seemed to mind. It helped that this was just some folkloric dancing and not a ballroom, and the dances didn’t seem that complicated to Regina. People were currently circling around each other in a group, men to one side and women to another, and then went forward and crossed each other. Then they split into pairs they would probably switch out soon. As if on cue, several more drones trickled in, joining Mia and moving to the music.
Regina couldn’t help but smile as she watched them. This might be the first time that she was seeing them laugh so unrestrainedly. At least some of them.
“We need some traditions of our own,” she said after a few minutes. “Some holidays and celebrations.”
“I nominate the start of the hive, the day you hatched,” Max replied right away. “And maybe the founding of our first settlement. Or our first victory in a real battle.” He paused. “Or did you want to revive holidays from your old life?”
“Well, I definitely want to celebrate Christmas,” Regina said. “I don’t think I was religious before — probably not, I don’t seem to know all that much about any religion — but it’s still a major holiday. And maybe a few others. I guess we’ll see.”
“Oh, I need to start thinking of Christmas presents,” Max sighed. “Thanks a lot, Regina.”
She laughed. Then she stopped when she realized she’d just given herself the same issue. I hope they’re not expecting me to give presents to every drone. Although maybe I should do that …
She shook her head and refocused on the party. At least there was plenty of food. She decided she could indulge herself on this occasion, at least, getting a bit more variety than usual. She was getting just as tired of eating the Production Drones’ stuff and things humans couldn’t eat as any of her drones. The villagers didn’t have a lot of salt or spices, unfortunately, but they used what they could well.
An hour or so later, Regina had strolled through the festival grounds, basically just the village square, and was heading away from the center, when she found a group of prisoners clustered close by. She hesitated for a moment. The officers had so far all taken their parole extremely seriously, so it had been decided that they could participate in the festival. She supposed that with the existence of the System, cultural norms for how to deal with prisoners were bound to arise, especially to make sure that warring factions would take prisoners instead of killing them. And for nobles like Whitor, their reputation and honor were vital, or so Neralt had explained.
“Lady Regina.” The earl turned to her before she could decide whether she wanted to talk to them. He nodded at her. “A nice festival, is it not? Thank you for allowing us to join it.”
“Of course,” Regina replied, smiling slightly and stepping closer. She noticed the other men started to drift away, but she wasn’t quite sure whether that was because they were uncomfortable talking to her or because Whitor wanted to speak to her privately.
“So, have you been to many of these?” she asked after a short pause, trying to find an innocuous topic of conversation.
“No, I do think this is my first village harvest festival.” He chuckled self-deprecatingly. “I suppose I was always too busy or preoccupied. It is not quite the same as in the city of Flatbrook, but it appears they will have to do without me this year.”
Regina nodded. She recalled that Flatbrook was the capital of his county, a relatively small city to the northeast. She wondered who was running it in his absence.
“But, to be frank, that is not the reason I wished to talk to you,” he continued. Then Whitor paused for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts or his courage.
“I’m all ears.”
“Lady Regina, I have heard that you and your Hive are starting a new settlement, in the uninhabited land to the south. Is that correct?”
Regina regarded him silently for a moment. “Why do you want to know?”
“It is probably unwise of me to say this, but I wanted to warn you. You are not the first to want this land. People have tried to settle there, but it never ends well.”
Regina frowned. Now that’s almost cliché levels of ominous. “Oh, really?” she asked dubiously, not bothering to hide it.
“Do not misunderstand me,” he quickly said. “There is nothing supernatural about it. I don’t believe so, at any rate. It is simply bad land to try to cultivate. Hard to get a proper harvest out of, and there are occasional incursions of monsters from the forest.”
Regina shrugged. “I appreciate the warning, but I don’t think I have to worry about that very much.”
He regarded her with a calculating look for a moment. “Of course, Hive Queen. If that is the case, may I make a request? I would like to accompany whoever you send to this location.”
Regina blinked. She hadn’t expected that. Then she shook her head. “There will be fewer people there, and too much work to keep a closer eye on you. It would be too easy for you to escape.”
“I understand your concerns,” he said. Although he sounded a bit stiff, as if he didn’t really understand her concern. “But I am a man of my word. If it sets your mind at ease, I will swear a solemn vow that I will not attempt to escape your custody while I am there.” He paused for a beat. “But I am a rather capable fighter, and if monsters attack, I might be of assistance.”
“Really?”
He shrugged slightly, looking almost bashful. “I do not want your workers or other vulnerable people to come to unnecessary harm.”
Regina decided not to point out that they would then be available to help the war effort of a party at war with his. Although it wasn’t like she was really fighting Cernlia. At any rate, she didn’t think he was lying about this. She had a bit of an odd feeling, but she was pretty sure he was sincere.
“You know what, sure,” she said. “You can come along, if you’re going to be useful.”
It was a risk, she figured, but if she made him swear that oath publicly, the damage to his reputation, not to mention the fact that they could expect to recapture him easily given her psychic link, would probably be worth an escape attempt. She wouldn’t put him in a position where he could slaughter the weaker drones, though. Just to be safe.
Now she just had to tell Tia, and make the necessary arrangements. What a fun end to the festival.