It had been several months since the war against the gnomes ended, and the empire was chugging along nicely. It might make Regina think that winning wars was important for a ruler or regime’s power, which would certainly explain a few things in history. Of course, she knew it was more complicated than that.
Aliekin had done his best to get the peace deal they had settled on accepted and implemented by the Gnomish Confederation. He probably knew that if it failed, and, say, Aliekin was deposed in favor of someone else who rejected the deal and the idea of Imperial hegenomy, the war would continue and the Empire would extract an even larger price from the Gnomish Confederation. They’d have to, if it became apparent that the gnomes couldn’t be trusted to keep to agreements like this. Fortunately, that wasn’t necessary, something Regina found a great relief.
She’d rather not be any more of a tyrant. At least the Empire was going in a good direction and she was starting to seriously consider implementing some democratization reforms. Realistically, she probably still had to wait, but they could at least lay the groundwork.
The gnomish army was largely disbanding, with soldiers being sent home. It should make everyone a bit more relaxed, she hoped. In the last few months, there had been several protests that she knew of, but at least most gnomes seemed to accept the end of the war and what it meant. The protests hadn’t been particularly violent — there had been some expressions of anger and frustration, but no guns had been shot, as far as she knew. Under the circumstances, Aliekin could probably count himself lucky. His hold on power seemed pretty secure, and he was already skilfully redirecting people’s anger at the last regime, continuing to reveal details of their transgressions. At the same time, they had started a careful, coordinated strategy to combat the propaganda against the Hivekind.
Regina was kept informed about all of this, naturally. She had already sent observers into the Gnomish Confederation, and kept her troops close by. Arranging matters for the parts of the Gnomish Confederation occupied by the Empire was a bit of a headache, but they had finally sorted it out. Since the gnomes were supposed to be largely ruling themselves, she couldn’t just institute a military government everywhere. But Regina did want to keep some garrisons handy. They were learning to work with the gnomes.
Still, she didn’t have the focus or capacity to really manage all of that herself, so she’d been delegating. One obvious candidate for it was Janis. She had, after all, been involved in fighting the gnomes and in making the peace deal and she had more than enough status to be heard. While Janis went off to the north of Cernlia for a few weeks with Kiara, once she returned Regina gave her her new assignment.
Another person she gave some responsibility to was Marianne Neralt, finally fulfilling a promise she’d made a while ago. Neralt didn’t have much personal experience regarding the war, but she was still a good diplomat and someone Regina generally trusted to fulfill her duties. Besides, the gnomes would have no problem with a woman in a leadership position, but pretty much any other people she could give her an assignment to probably would, as much as she disliked it.
So, while Marianne wasn’t called a ‘governor’, she effectively held a similar position, as the head Imperial representative to deal with the Gnomish Confederation, make sure they kept to the treaty, enforce Regina’s directions, and further their reconciliation.
“Have you had any trouble establishing your authority in the Gnomish Confederation?” Regina asked today.
Marianne shook her head. She seemed unsure where to look, probably because Regina wasn’t talking to her in person. She’d instead sent one of the drones slightly adapted for her to speak through them more easily with the lady into the Confederation. Her range wasn’t good enough for it to be practical in its capital, but Marianne also wasn’t there right now, instead touring a city closer to the Cernlian border. She’d bowed to the drone at the beginning of the conversation, but now stood straight and tall, her hands clasped behind her back. It reminded Regina a bit of a military officer giving a report and she wondered if some things were universal.
“No, Your Imperial Majesty. General Aliekin has been rather cooperative. Most of his men have followed his example. The drones have all been perfectly obedient, of course. I have successfully commanded many of the Swarm Drones you sent with me, even when I was told your psychic link was … growing thin.”
Regina smiled, although she didn’t attempt to mirror the movement with the drone she was currently controlling. Instead, she just hoped it came through in her tone. “Good, thank you, Lady Marianne. That is good news.”
She had been hoping it would work like that, with the upgrades to the psychic link’s functions promised by her passing her Level Thresholds, but this was the first opportunity to really check it thoroughly. She had personally told every Swarm Drone in the group to follow Marianne’s orders, even if it had been rather tedious, but it seemed to have worked. Now they just needed to test extended deployment some distance outside the limit of her range and hammer out which level of abstraction in the orders given was possible. They had more important things to focus on at the moment, however.
“So, you have not encountered much hostility from the gnomes?”
The lady paused for a heartbeat. “Some, My Empress,” she said. “I was expecting it. Many people also seem to be at least slightly afraid of me and my aides, which is also not surprising.”
Regina nodded, making the drone nod as well. “If you’re confident you can handle it, then I won’t worry about it,” she replied. “Before we get into the details, is there anything important you wish to discuss first?”
“Nothing critical, although I would prefer to start with the positioning of the drones and their redeployment.”
She started her report, and Regina listened attentively. There were quite a few issues to get through, of course; this was a complicated situation with lots of moving parts and things to be aware of. Accordingly, Marianne mostly kept to a high-level overview, instead of letting herself get bogged down in the details. Regina appreciated it, given the constraints on both of their time. She did realize it meant she wouldn’t have as detailed a picture of the situation as would be necessary for some decisions. Fortunately, she’d already been planning to let the people she’d given these duties to make the decisions. The Empire was really getting to the point where she had to delegate more extensively.
As such, she mostly just nodded at Marianne’s suggestions for troop deployments and the effects on the gnomes’ own military readiness or what impressions it would give. Regina was going to trust that Janis and the others knew what they were doing and their reasoning seemed sound.
“I know this is a bit off-topic, but have you talked to General Aliekin again about his visit?” she asked at one point. “It would presumably be easier to coordinate some of our efforts if he and some key people of his did actually come to Cera.”
“He has still not committed to an actual date, Your Majesty. He claims that due to unavoidable issues, it will have to be postponed.” Marianne’s tone was neutral, but the unsaid ‘again’ also came through clearly.
Regina sighed. “I understand that he is reluctant to leave the Confederation at such a time, but it has been months. There will not be any revolts breaking out now just because he’s out of the country. Let him know that I expect him at the end of the month at least. If that’s not possible, he can explain to me personally why not.”
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She nodded her head. “I will, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“Good. Then please continue your report on the economic situation you’ve observed.”
“Of course. Prices seem to have fallen from the heights they reached during the war, as I’ve previously mentioned, and have now stabilized. I’ve been told the first traders from Cernlia have made it to the capital again …”
She continued her report, and Regina relaxed a bit as she listened. It was mostly good news. The gnomes were were settling into the new status quo and their economy was in the process of recovering. It still remained to be seen how this would all shake out, but at least there were no crises that actually required her attention.
She asked some questions and got some more clarification from Lady Marianne, then thanked her for the report again and concluded with a few remarks, mostly echoing the directions she’d given her before.
Marianne wasn’t the only person she talked to regarding the Gnomish Confederation, but she was a very important voice. On the other hand, when it came to things like their educational cooperation with the gnomes or the analysis of their technology, she was better advised to talk to Tia than to her.
“We should have a joint briefing next time,” Regina concluded. “Perhaps in a week’s time?”
“As you wish, My Empress.” Marianne bowed her head.
“Then Ira will be in touch to coordinate a date and time. In the meantime, you know how to get my attention through the drone. That’s it for today.”
She inclined the drone’s head in a nod while Marianne bowed, and then freed it from her direct control and turned her focus to other parts of the psychic link, ending the meeting.
The rest of the evening was rather relaxed, and she managed to keep her good mood going. Regina was taking a break after meeting with several officials regarding the Empire’s finances and economic policy — the new currency was finally starting to actually matter in the country at large — when she got a notification she’d been waiting for at last.
Since the end of the war, her leveling had obviously slowed down. She’d reached Level 64 towards its end, but had been waiting for the next Level for a while now. But now it had finally come. She smiled as she surveyed the System screen. Since it was a multiple of five (but not a Threshold level) at 65, she was getting a new Ability.
You have leveled up
You may now select another Ability
Regina sat down on her couch, getting comfortable, then turned her focus to the Ability selection, mentally waving off a few drones nearby who were cautiously querying her in the psychic link after they must have felt a surge of excitement from her.
You may now select your eighth Class Skill. Please choose one of the following: Ruler’s Mind: The power of your mind imposes its will on the world around you. Your psychic link will be slightly strengthened and commanding your Swarm Drones will be facilitated. You will find it easier to instinctively assess the condition and location of all members of your Hive inside your range. Your ability to impose your will on other minds will be strengthened, especially those outside your Hive. Queen’s Body: Your soul needs a strong shell. Your body will be strengthened, in proportion to the number of drones around you and their physical Stats. This includes the functioning of your vital organs. The effect will fade with distance. You will also be more resistant against arcane attacks. Flight will be easier and drain less mana. Hive’s Magic: Your magic is the core of your strength. The growth of your mana pool due to the existence of your drones will receive a boost. Your mana regeneration will also improve, scaling with both your level and theirs. With higher levels of mastery, you will find it easier to cast large spells or to cast two spells at once.
Regina paused. She was getting two choices again that she had seen last time. That seemed a bit surprising, but she hadn’t passed up an option and then taken it next time often enough to say if it really was. Usually the new option she didn’t take would show up once more, after all. And both of them seemed pretty good, so she wasn’t complaining.
Regina sighed to herself, her excitement at the advancement dimming. She knew what she had to pick. It was a bit of a shame, Hive’s Magic had sounded pretty good and it was still a little tempting. She hadn’t had anything directly improving her magic in a while, if ever. Then again, she had to acknowledge that she wasn’t really using her magic much most of the time these days. It was part of why she’d been focusing on the hive and her psychic abilities in her choices.
But what she probably needed even more was something to strengthen her body. There had been eight opportunities to choose now, and she couldn’t drag it out any longer. Her advancements at the Level Thresholds also mostly strengthened her psychic link or maybe her mana pool.
At this point, instead of any more multiplicative bonuses to her hatching or drone Templates, she might just get the biggest boost to her growth of the hive by focusing on her physical body. She was, if she was honest with herself, already feeling the strain of adding so many eggs to the hive. Her magic might be doing most of the work, but it was still putting a toll on her body, too. There were some logistical challenges as well, of course, she couldn’t just head off to the hatchery all the time.
Queen’s Body might not actually be the best Skill for strengthening her body, but it was what she had right now, and it didn’t seem bad, either. She was usually around a lot of drones, at least if its radius wasn’t minimally small. It was good that it included her organs instead of just raising some general toughness of her skin and bones, as well as flight, and the bonus against arcane attacks was always nice, even if she wouldn’t pick it just for that.
Besides, the first option was … problematic. She could see the appeal and the use of it, of course, but Regina would still hesitate to take it. She didn’t really think she needed more incentive to go into mind control. Of course it wouldn’t force her choices, but one tended to reach for easier tools. Besides, on the off-chance she did use mind control in a situation where it was the best choice and others would be worse, she didn’t think she needed an extra boost. She apparently had a natural talent for it, anyway. The other parts of the Ability would be nice to have, but they were hardly critical.
And besides, thinking about it, Regina almost suspected it was some kind of test from Leian, who did apparently decide which options she got. Maybe the goddess was genuinely trying to help and offering her an option she might want to pursue, based on her recent training or as contingency planning. But somehow, she didn’t get the feeling Leian would actually approve of the choice should Regina in fact make it. There was probably no use speculating too much, though.
Resolved, Regina chose the middle option, and sighed as she felt like there was a slight change going through her body. She quickly stood up and paced around the room a few times, though she didn’t sense much of a difference. She’d probably have to test it out more extensively.
In the meantime, she called up her status screen to look at the changes.
Regina Hive Queen Level: 65 Mana: 21728/42300 Hive: 1682/2461, 20 Swarm: 203459/24100000, 15000 Con: 18 Str: 16 Dex: 17 End: 19 Int: 36 Wis: 35
Another point in Int, she noted. Not surprising, her magical stats were always prioritized, despite the occasional stat point in the physical ones. She’d gotten one in Con last level. Her eyes briefly lingered on the Hive numbers. Without drones dying in the war, they had increased quite a lot recently. However, they weren’t growing as quickly as they could, the logistical capacity to support the Swarm just wasn’t up to it. She’d also actually slowed down a bit with the sapient drones a while ago to make sure they had the infrastructure and support system they would need ready. After a thorough evaluation, she was now increasing their numbers more rapidly again. There had also been a few Swarm Drones Evolving to sapience and joining the Inner Hive, so there was that.
She dismissed the status notification, then got up to go to the training grounds. And maybe then she could go for a long flight, now that she finally had a good reason for it.