Now, that we freed the city, we had to make sure it stayed free. The first thing we needed was their leader. We had to put their ruler on a pike and show the rest of the dark elves that they were freed from his or her tyranny.

General Kull's undead bats flew around the city ordering the roaches to look for whoever ruled Hiroga City.

I went up atop one of the buildings and said to the captured dark elves and any civilians that heard me, "Congratulations. You are all free."

None of the dark elves cheered. I wasn't surprised that they weren't thrilled about being a part of the Queen's Empire. Not at first, anyways. In time, I was sure that they'd appreciate it.

The soldiers who surrendered were put under arrest and guarded by some roaches. Other roaches began looking for Hiroga City's ruler. They stormed into houses and searched them to the best of their ability. Anybody who resisted were electrocuted or struck by a blade.

I made my way to Hornet. She was limping at first, but she seemed better. Although, the burns still left quite a disfiguring mark on her body. When our eyes met, she smiled.

I said, "Nice shot, by the way. I would have died if you hadn't been so accurate and quick."

Her smile faded and when I was about to ask what was wrong, she said, "Sorry. I was aiming for her hand. Wanted to let you take the kill. Must have slipped."

"Oh, don't worry about it."

She smiled and replied, "Yeah."

But this smile was unusual. It was also very unusual for her to miss a shot. But I didn't think anything of it.

I met up with Viking who yelled in tandem, "Cutter! Cutter!"

He repeated those words as he looked around.

"Viking, what's wrong?" I asked.

"I can't find my brother. He must be around somewhere. Can you help me look?" Viking said.

"Sorry," I apologized sincerely, "I can't risk disobeying the general's orders. I have to search for this city's ruler."

"I understand, Roach," Viking replied disappointed.

Hornet said, "Don't worry, Viking. I'll help you look for him."

"Thanks. I'm sure he's around somewhere."

I left Hornet and Viking to tend to their own search. Cutter was pretty quiet and sneaky anyways. I was sure that he was alright. He was quite capable of taking care of himself. I went off with another squad of roaches to do our duty.

We were having no such luck. None of the dark elves - both soldiers and civilians - we interrogated would say anything. And those who did talk had no idea where their ruler resided. It was bizarre to think nobody knew where their ruler lived. We had to break into homes and buildings at random.

When I broke into one home to look for their leader, I was attacked. It was so quick that I shot my electric crossbow without thinking. When the assailant fell, I noticed that she was just a civilian with a knife. When she hit the ground, I heard some gasps underneath the wooden floorboard. I knelt down and heard some uneasy breathing. I took my sword and broke apart it apart thinking that I may have found their leader. I aimed my electric crossbow and yelled, "Get out from there, or I'll shoot!"

But it didn't take long for me see clearly. It was a young boy - a dark elf child - holding his hands against his mouth. He had a stream of tears pouring down his cheeks. When I looked to the corners and saw no one else, I began to understand the situation. This child was no threat and I had just killed his mother. But still had a job to do. I continued my search, but there was no sign of anybody else. The boy crawled over to her mother and began crying trying to wake her up. It was unfortunate, but there was nothing that could be done. I walked away and began to search other homes and buildings with no luck.

I don't know how long time had passed. Eventually, the general just ordered us to line up around a hundred dark elf soldiers and generals. I knew what he was planning to do. Since, we couldn't find the

I protested, "Sir, these soldiers are now part of our empire. We can't just kill them."

General Kull said to the soldiers, "Tell me, dark elves. Do you serve our Queen?"

None of the dark elves said anything. They were still and resolute. Not one of them would say that they served under our Queen - even if it meant to live. If they weren't on the wrong side, I would have been proud.

The general replied to me, "Doesn't look that way. The only way this city will truly become a part of our empire is by asserting the Queen's authority. We need to show the people that we are in charge. I know that we have to put up their ruler for them to see, but for now, his most loyal followers will have to be the next best thing."

I couldn't argue with him. We still couldn't find the ruler of the city. We searched every part of the city without any luck. We could only assume that he escaped somehow.

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He called out once more to their leader. He said throughout the city using his bats, "I will kill these men - your men - unless you are willing to give yourself up."

He waited five or ten seconds, and without hearing any response, pikes of bones grew from underneath these five dark elves. They squirmed and writhed for a minute as blood came out of them. They couldn't even scream or beg. Their bloodshot eyes moved erratically. And the other roaches cheered. I was silent, but understood his orders even if I didn't agree with them. As long as he wasn't ordering my own siblings to die, then I wouldn't mind following those orders.

And with that, Hiroga City was now officially a part of the Queen's Empire. Their bodies were lined up along the walls and outside of the city. The Queen wasn't there to see it, but I was sure that she would be proud of the display. Although, I was disappointed that we couldn't find their leader.

When I went back to Viking and Hornet, they were looking and rummaging through our fallen soldiers. Since Cutter was still nowhere to be found, they assumed that he died in battle. But there were so many dead roaches lying around.

"Hey, Roach. Would you be able to help? I'm sure Cutter has to be here somewhere," Viking reqeusted.

I felt a sudden sense of guilt. If Cutter had died, then I would have been responsible. I sent him to attack the city from within. At that moment, I felt an additional burst of guilt. I remembered Doc's death as well. Both of their lives were in my hands and I sent them to their deaths. But then I remembered, that they chose to follow me. I didn't force them to do anything. Still, I didn't help but feel responsible for their deaths.

I nodded my head and helped look. I had hoped that we wouldn't find Cutter lying among the dead, and it seemed that wish was granted. But instead of finding Cutter alive, we just couldn't find him at all.

As time passed, the general gave us new orders using his undead bats. There was a prison camp that mined black iron - a rare and strong metal. The dark elves had been using it for their arrows. And apparently, they had been using not just prisoners, but slaves as well to mine these metal-rich grounds. I learned later that the prisoners and slaves were mostly other races and cultures. And the dark elves never seemed to arrest or enslave their own kind. They had lizardfolk, dwarves, humans, elves, and many others that I didn't recognize. One of them was some sort of humanoid mushroom creature - most likely native to these lands. They called them simply mushroomfolk.

They used the same kind of magical collars for their slaves and prisoners that was on that dragon and their flying sharks. However, the use of yellow mushrooms as explosive weapons weren't quite ready. The pouches were still unstable. KR-01 told the general that there was a chance of them exploding if we weren't careful with them. I guess we were lucky that Doc didn't get killed when he handled them.

The general wanted Viking to basically be a guard. Viking was reluctant and wanted to keep searching for his brother, but agreed to follow orders. For the first couple of days, Viking continued looking for his brother. He was ready to accept the fact that he died in battle, but he wanted his body as proof. But the bodies were dumped outside of the walls by order of the general. And it wasn't long for the bodies to decompose. Crows came down and chewed on the roaches' faces. Mushrooms grew on their bodies eating away at their rotting flesh. Even if Viking went out there to search, he wouldn't be able to recognize him by now. But he didn't give up. He kept looking whenever he could.

Hornet and I were sent to patrol the city at different shifts. We all still met up during short breaks at the local tavern. It was run by a human male who was apparently so well-liked by the dark elves that he had opened up his business there. And his business was still running. It was called 'The Lucky Oister'. There was a clam drinking alongside two dark elves. I could tell the sign was painted over. There used to be two humans. Some of the new paint was scraped off revealing more lighter skin. And the ears were clearly drawn on. Eventually, the sign changed again to include a roach. But all he did was paint over one of the supposed dark elves with a roach head. And his drawings were very amateurish. I liked him very much. He was both the manager and bartender. His name was Jamie Jen.

I was glad that he could adapt well to the prospect of joining the Queen's empire. Although he never really talked about his political beliefs, I could tell that all he cared about was money. And to him, whether he served dark elves or roaches meant very little to him. As long as his business remained open, he was happy. The general began to pay his business as a mess hall for the troops along with many other taverns. But we preferred this one.

But there was one thing that was incosistent with his ideologies concerning money. To his workers, he was a kind man. His waiters and waitresses consisted of bought slaves - dwarves, humans, elves, and dark elves. However, Each one of them appreciated Jamie. He was the one who freed them from their magical collars. He even gave them the choice to either work for him or leave. Some left the city and were grateful for his help. Others stayed with him. It was strange to see, and I didn't really know the reason as to why. He could've kept them with their slave collars, but instead chose for them to have a choice.

Life had begun to slow down. Roaches patrolled the streets. The wall was able to regenerate itself over time. General Kull was able to figure out how to make more magical collars, although he didn't quite understand much of their inner workings. All I knew was that the runes along the collars drew magic from some ancient power. I suspect it was from that giant mushroom, but the black dragon burned it down. But apparently, before that mushroom died, it left a tiny offspring. From the ashes of the dead, it appeared. But instead of destroying it, the general wanted to study it. He took it for himself to analyze. The general was more knowledgeable about magic, but I appreciated that he would occasionally tell me a thing or two. Although, I had only a little ability to comprehend, and no ability to conjure my own magic.

As time passed, some roaches were ordered to train in riding the collared flying sharks. It didn't take long to control them as the magical collars tamed the creatures.

The dark elves began to return to their daily lives. Reinforcements from the outside came to help with the occupation. The other fronts were still being contested, but capturing the capital was a huge blow to their country's resistance and keeping the city was crucial. The bronze giants were sent out to capture more cities, but more than enough of my siblings joined our occupation force. The Queen had sent a messenger roach from the outside for communication between the general and her. He kept the rest of us informed when he desired to, but it was infrequent. He still didn't feel the need to keep everybody in the know.

We occupied the city with very minor issues. The occasional dark elf would throw a rock or two, but for the most part, Hiroga City was seemingly under our complete control.

However, unlike many other kingdoms that we brought into our empire, this one would be a lot harder to hold. The dark elves had no plans to fighting our army head-on. They stuck to the shadows and brewed their plots without us noticing. But that would soon change.