Plan Beta is a go!

The slavers' leader took a carriage and rode toward the town of Leen. I

accompanied him, along with a single Ripper Swarm, which hid in the cargo

hold. The city's gates received constant traffic from peddlers, so it was left

open.

We managed to enter the city without much questioning. Thanks to that,

our cargo—and the Ripper Swarm guarding it—went undetected as we made

our way into Leen. Had we been inspected, I planned to pacify the guard by

swiftly jamming a Parasite Swarm down their throat, but it seemed my

concerns were needless.

At worst, I'd have had the Ripper Swarm slaughter the soldiers and turn

the carriage 180 degrees to flee Leen. Picking this option would have meant

we'd never return to Leen again.

"So, where might I find the local tailor?"

In the large town of Leen, my first order of business was to find a tailor.

"Ahh, that must be the place."

Upon riding down Leen's main street, we found a store that had some

elegant clothes out on display. It seemed to be the exact kind of place I was

looking for. I had the slaver stop the carriage, and then the two of us

disembarked, leaving the Ripper Swarm to watch the proverbial fort.

"Welcome. Oh, it's you. The slaver. What do you want with us?"

While we were at first greeted with a retail smile, the shopkeeper quickly

turned sour upon seeing the slaver. Apparently, people in this world frowned

upon those who dealt in the slave trade. That was a good thing; I was pleased

to learn that this town's citizens were decent folk.

Conversely, if I'd learned that this world welcomed slavery, I'd have been

awfully annoyed.

"I came... to sell clothes."

The slavers' leader was dominated by the Parasite Swarm, and thus

effectively by the greater Swarm and myself, forcing him to speak against his

will. Normally he'd scream for help and beg to be saved from the monster

inside his body.

[Page 1]

But instead, he started bartering with the employee.

"Clothes? You mean things you pillaged off the elves? No one wants

threads you ripped off of some knife-ear. Their clothes are far too seedy for

our establishment. We only sell garments of the highest quality. Now go

away. Shoo, shoo."

There was discrimination against the elves after all, even though they

were trying to live as well as they could off the blessings of the forest. I

suppose the humans of this world assumed the elves to be barbarians of some

sort. How irritating.

"No. Clothes I bought... from a merchant."

I'd thought up a story beforehand: he had sold some slaves and received

these clothes as the payment. It might come across as suspicious, but that was

the only plausible story I could come up with.

I prayed and prayed that the man would believe it. Standing in the shadow

of the carriage, I could only transmit my wishes through the air.

"Fine." The shopkeeper eventually caved. "Show me your merchandise,

then."

The slavers' leader hauled a chest full of clothes from the carriage and

placed it on the counter.

"This is..."

He lifted out a few expensive-looking dresses, woven with silk-like

threads by the Worker Swarms. The box was stuffed with dozens of them,

ranging from everyday clothes to evening dresses that wouldn't look out of

place at a grand ball. The shopkeeper eyed them with awe.

Thank you, my sweet little Worker Swarms. Your hard work is being

appreciated!

"This is amazing," the shopkeeper breathed, examining the dresses

carefully. "I've never seen clothes like these before. The nobles would just

eat them up."

He was outright mesmerized with how pleasant it felt to touch the fibers

were and by the intricacy of the designs.

"How much... will you pay for them?" the slaver asked.

"For clothes like these? Twenty thousand floria sounds about right."

All right, time for some good old haggling.

Having asked the elves about it beforehand, I had concluded that I would

sell the dresses for at least 30,000 floria. Still, this was my first time

haggling-

[Page 2]

So I wasn't sure I'd do it right... but I had to do what I could. We

needed as much money as possible, and we needed to obtain it legally.

"Too little. You can... pay more for it. If you won't give me forty

thousand, I will go to another store."

"Fine. Thirty thousand floria, then. I'll take them all for that much, and

not a single floria more."

I'd expected the negotiations to take longer than this, but they ended in

the blink of an eye.

"No objections. That's a... deal," uttered the slaver, who then pushed the

chest toward the shopkeeper.

We could have probably bargained for more, but failing the negotiations

here could impact our business in the future. Even considering he might have

tricked us because of our inexperience, we should still compromise for

30,000 floria.

"There you are, thirty thousand floria. Take it."

Having accepted the chest, the shopkeeper handed the slavers' leader a

bag stuffed with coins and excitedly carried the chest to the back of the store.

That cleared stage one of my plan.

My original intent was to give the elves these dresses and have them go to

Leen to cash them in, but they seemed to fear the town and refused to go near

it. I could certainly see why. With people like the slavers around, it was only

natural the elves wouldn't get used to this place.

The teachings of some so-called God of Light declared that nature gods,

whom the forest-dwelling elves worshipped, were evil deities. The elves were

treated as heretics and barbarians, marked as targets slavers could "legally"

capture and sell off for coin. I cared little for religion, but even I believed

people should be free to worship anyone or anything they desired.

Not that the Arachnea was weak enough to depend on any gods, of course.

The only one the Swarm worshipped was their queen. For their queen, they

would offer up their lives or kill virtually any target. The Arachnea's Swarm

didn't need the forgiveness of some god. Their queen's forgiveness was all

they required, and their actions were always dictated by her will through the

collective consciousness.

For the time being, it didn't seem like I'd have to worry about the

possibility of the Swarm revolting against me.

"All right, time for the next stop on our shopping trip. And this is important"

I said-

[Page 3]

Which prompted the man under my control to drive the

carriage to our next destination.

And that destination was...

"Meat! Cheap, fresh meat! Get the highest quality meat here!"

Yes, we had come to the butcher.

You see, my plan B was as follows: I'd sell clothes made by my Worker

Swarms and use it to buy meat. It was the most peaceful and most boring

expansion plan in the history of expansion plans. The Swarm seemed to

approve of it, though, as there was no conflict in the collective consciousness.

Knowing that they were fine with my idea was a huge relief. I wasn't sure

what I would have done if they had started indiscriminately attacking random

people. This was one obstacle out of the way for my peaceful expansion

policy.

There were other potential obstacles, however. For example, the slavers'

leader could be arrested by the town's law enforcement for his social status,

or we could be barred from entering Leen. Another was the possibility of not

being able to sell the clothes, or only being able to sell them off for cheap.

Lastly, the Swarm could deny my passive approach and rebel, then

haphazardly attack the surrounding region. Looking back on it, I probably

shouldn't have worried about that, though.

The queen was the core of the colony, and the colony couldn't oppose the

queen's will. The Swarm would remain endlessly loyal to the queen... that is,

to me. I could say that with confidence now, but that didn't mean I was going

to throw caution to the wind. I still feared I might end up somehow earning

their ire.

But it would do for the time being. They're loyal to me for now, at least.

Now then.

"Give... meat," said the slaver, hopping down from the carriage.

"Aye, friend. What are you looking for?"

"As much meat as this can buy. All of it." He plopped the sack of 30,000

floria he'd received earlier on the counter.

The butcher looked puzzled.

"Are you holding a feast or somethin', mister?"

"Does it... matter? Give me... meat."

It certainly was a feast in a manner of speaking, as the meat would be

positively gobbled up. But mentioning our true motives here was probably a

bad idea.

[Page 4]

"Erm, I'm not so sure I can give you your money's worth..."

"Unprocessed meat will do too."

What we were doing was effectively the same as walking up to the

neighborhood butcher and dropping fat stacks of cash on his counter,

demanding everything he had. It was a pretty looney idea, and I wouldn't

have been surprised if the plan blew up in my face right then and there.

"Even with the unprocessed meat thrown in, it's only fifteen thousand

floria," the butcher said, still baffled. "If you need that much meat, you'll

have to hit up other stores too."

I kind of felt bad for the guy.

"I will buy it all for fifteen thousand, then."

"All right. I'll get it ready, so just gimme a few."

It was another compromise, but I didn't really have any other options. I'd

spend 15,000 here, and the other 15,000 elsewhere.

"Here you go, fifteen thousand floria worth of meat." The butcher loaded

a crate full of meat onto the counter. "You didn't specify what kind of meat

you wanted, so I put in all kinds."

It was a lot of meat. And I was a veritable carnivore. Hamburg steaks,

grilled meat, beef stew, you name it—meat was my soul food, but eating this

much would definitely make me get fat.

Also, there was no way of keeping it fresh all the way back to base. Left

with no choice, I bid my dreams of steaks and burgers a tearful farewell. The

burgers Mom made really were the best, though.

"Fifteen thousand floria." The slaver handed the money over to the

butcher.

"Thank you for your patronage. You enjoy your feast, mister."

Oh, we will. It's going to be a lovely banquet.

We went on to a few other butchers, spending our remaining 15,000 floria

on more meat as well as some bedding and furniture to make my living space

a touch more hospitable.

The Worker Swarms could produce sheets that were softer than silk, but

making a comfortable bed was beyond their abilities. All they could manage

was to furnish my simple bed with straw. But starting today, I would finally

be able to sleep in a comfy bed again.

"Phew..."

[Page 5]

After traveling through an unfamiliar town and haggling prices, I was left

feeling a little tired.

"That's enough for today. Buying too much would make us look

suspicious... though it might be too late for that."

With that, we turned our carriage back toward the Arachnea's base. That

was the end of that day. At least, it should have been.

♱

I relaxed in the wagon, letting the slavers' leader handle the reins.

Burying my face in my newly bought bedding, I deeply inhaled its pleasant

scent. Soothed by the fresh smell, and reassured by the presence of the Ripper

Swarm watching over me, I began to doze off.

Still, I was unsure about what to do next. I'd bought a great deal of meat

from the town's butchers, which would allow me to greatly increase the

number of Swarms, but what was I going to use them for?

The Swarm believed I would guide them to victory. But victory over

what? Did they wish to conquer the whole world? Or was there some other

kind of triumph they desired? Just what sort of objective did they want me to

achieve?

All I could hear from the collective consciousness were voices crying out

for victory, but none of them described what that victory stood for. They

merely said they wished for the Arachnea's queen—myself—to lead them to

victory. So, in response, I could only torment myself in an attempt to figure

out what it meant.

Even my attempt was being transmitted to the Swarm via the collective

consciousness, but they kept crying for victory all the same. But if they didn't

know how to define that victory, what was I supposed to do?

"Say, Swarm." I lifted my face from the covers, looking up at the Swarm

watching over me. "What do you want me to do?"

The Ripper Swarm tilted its head slightly in a gesture that implied it didn't

quite understand what I was asking.

"What we crave is victory, Your Majesty," it answered.

"But what kind of victory is that? World conquest? Forming a nation?"

I could have asked the collective consciousness directly, but I preferred

speaking face-to-face. I wanted to hear what the Swarm had to say.

It may have been connected to the collective consciousness, but right now this

individual was separated from the others, fulfilling the task of his defending

the queen. Perhaps its response would be different.

Just what kind of victory is it seeking? Does it wish to conquer this world

after all? Is "victory" forming an Arachnea empire? Are there other victory

conditions that haven't occurred to me?

"I do not know. However, we simply hold an immense longing for

victory. We desire nothing more than victory, and that will never change. We

are sure that you will be able to guide us to the victory we desire, Your

Majesty. We trust you to no end, and we wish to serve as your hands and feet

as we achieve victory. We are certain you will be able to guide us, Your

Majesty."

"You guys..."

The pressure was on. The Swarm trusted me wholeheartedly at the

moment, but if I made a mistake in my "command" of them, there was the

risk they might rise up in revolt and turn me into ingredients for the next

generation of Swarms instead. Being linked to their consciousness only

exacerbated that fear.

They were my charming, beloved bugs, but terrifying monsters all the

same. I had to act in a way that would never disappoint them. That said...

"This is complicated," I whispered to no one in particular.

It really was. In the game, you could win because you were up against

someone else. But my scouting had been fruitless so far and only extended to

a small part of the world. Any enemies I had were at most the poachers and

slavers that disturbed the elves' village, and they were no match for the

Swarm.

Who was I supposed to win against? I needed to lead my adorable little

Swarms, but toward what, exactly? To call this situation "complicated"

would've been an understatement. I had no enemies to speak of at the

moment, no concrete goal. What would I fight, and what would I gain from

fighting? Unlike the game, there was no clear-cut opponent.

Suddenly, the carriage came to a halt.

"What's the matter?" I peeked out from the body of the carriage to see

what had caused us to stop.

In front of us were several people clad in leather armor standing in

formation.

[Page 6]

They had short bows in their hands, and their arrows were knocked and aimed at my slaver-puppet. I could sense danger; it was clear from their

gazes that they were out for blood.

"Moisei!" One man, who looked to be their leader, raised his voice at the

slaver. "Looks like ya made a real profit today, ya jackal! But you 'aven't

fergotten about that debt ya owe us, 'ave ya?!"

Ugh. Not only is he a slaver, but he's in debt too? He's seriously useless.

"I'll be takin' yer cargo as a, uh, li'l deposit toward yer debt."

I couldn't let them do that. This was my precious cargo, not his.

"Check every corner 'a the thing! Go on!"

The men moved in to inspect our carriage.

This is bad.

I only brought one Ripper Swarm with me today. While I contemplated

my chances of success, the armed group circled the body of the carriage.

"Huh?" One of the men pulled a crate full of meat off the top. "What the

hell? It's all meat! What were you thinking?!"

"Oh! And ya got a lovely li'l slave with ya, too. If we sell this one off,

that'll completely clear yer debt, eh?"

They had also found me, and apparently thought I was a slave. They

couldn't have imagined that my relationship with the slaver was quite the

opposite. I stayed still so as not to provoke the men, instead fixing a loathing

gaze at them.

So they're slavers too. In other words, scum worth less than the lowliest

dog. Does society benefit whatsoever from these people drawing breath?

Even if slaves aren't illegal in this world, I can only see these people as vile,

offensive wastes of space.

"Hey, Boss, how about we sell her—"

"Wait a sec... Isn't there somethin' weird back there?"

The ruffian was so focused on me he failed to see it.

Yes, the Ripper Swarm standing behind me.

A split second later, the Ripper Swarm's scythes severed the head of the

ruffian leaning into the carriage, causing blood to gush out from his neck

stump like a fountain. It spurted, then died out, then spurted again, matching

the man's final heartbeats. It was almost comical in a way.

How is death comical, you might ask? Well, they were slavers. The same

kind of trash that would kill and kidnap elven children. And as my

conscience was linked to the Swarm's hivemind, I could kill hundreds of

them and not feel so much as a pang of guilt.

I had already decided that there was nothing wrong with killing people

like them.

"What...? What the hell did you do?!"

"Boss! It's a monster! There's a monster in here!"

The armed men flew into a panic as the Ripper Swarm tore through the

carriage's canopy and sprung out, then charged at them. There was no need

for me to give any orders. All I needed to do was inform the collective

consciousness that these men were dangerous.

"Shit! Shoot it! Kill the damn thing!"

The ruffians' boss fired his short bow toward the Ripper Swarm, but the

arrow simply bounced off its exoskeleton. The metallic snap of the arrow was

soon followed by screaming.

"Freaking monster!"

The other five realized their arrows were useless, and instead took out

halberds and claymores to challenge the Ripper Swarm. It may have deflected

arrows like they were nothing, but it would take a beating from these heavy

lumps of metal.

The Swarm's scythe-like arms were torn off and its fangs bashed in. The

longer the Ripper Swarm fought, the more tattered it became, its form

eventually becoming irreparably mangled. Even as it was dying, it waved its

scythes in a desperate attempt to protect me, fatally bit into the enemy with

its fangs, and stunned them with its venomous stinger.

That's enough. You can stop now.

At least, I wanted to say that, but I was too much of a coward. Instead, I

allowed the Ripper Swarm to die in my place. It was the rational choice in

order to defend the queen—myself—but even so, words of condemnation and

guilt surfaced in my heart.

The Ripper Swarm shredded through the remaining ruffians, stabbing

them with its stinger. It was a truly savage battle. But the enemy fought back

defiantly, gravely injuring the Ripper Swarm. I could feel its impatience

through the collective consciousness.

"Fall back! Move, move!"

Eventually, the Ripper Swarm cornered the three remaining members of

the group, but they immediately fled the scene. They got on their horses and

galloped down the main thoroughfare in order to escape.

[Page 7]

"Ripper Swarm!"

Now that the fighting had ceased, I rushed to its side.

"You're... not fine, are you...?"

The Ripper Swarm's body was mangled. The halberds had torn off its

legs, and the blow of a claymore had cracked its head. Ripper Swarms were

initial combat units meant for early-game rushes, and as such, they weren't

all that powerful. If the enemy were to deploy units that had upgraded

defenses and the like, they could be cleaned up rather quickly.

And yet, I had forced such heavy responsibility onto it.

"Your Majesty... Are you unharmed...?"

"I'm completely fine. But you..."

The Ripper Swarm was worried about me even now.

"Rest assured. We are all in one, and one in all. My consciousness will

remain in the collective, and so we need not fear death. What frightens us

most of all is the possibility of you falling to harm, Your Majesty... And so

seeing you are safe puts us at ease..."

Having uttered these last words, the Ripper Swarm departed this world.

No, it did not depart. Its will remained in the collective consciousness

formed between myself and the countless other Swarms.

That's right; the Swarm did not know death. Until the very last of their

kind was exterminated, this one Swarm's consciousness would be preserved

within the group like a single flicker in an undying flame. That Swarm's lofty

desire would linger in the collective consciousness, shared by its brethren and

passed down to the next generation of Swarm.

In a manner of speaking, the Swarms were immortal. So long as the queen

serving as their core and the collective consciousness remained, their

presence would linger even if their physical form died. The will of this brave

Swarm that had fought to defend its queen would never disappear.

"I'm sorry. I still can't accept this."

I dug a hole in the ground at the side of the road with the help of my

puppet, and we buried the Swarm's body. In my own way, I mourned its

death. The Swarm had no need for prayer, but in that moment, I felt the need

for it.

And it was true. The will of the Ripper Swarm that died lingered on in the

collective consciousness. It would be passed down to another Swarm and one

day reappear before me, swearing its allegiance once more. That was the

strength of the Arachnea's collective.

As for me, however, I was an individual with my own set of emotions,

and I wasn't fickle enough to simply accept that another one would take its

place. It had fought bravely to the bitter end, and I couldn't accept its efforts

being undone.

I had just borne witness to a death; it was, essentially, the first blood that

had been shed under my dominion. It was also the first real, burning hatred I

had ever felt. The first deep regret I had ever known. The most transient

mercy I had ever harbored. I was feeling a storm of other emotions I couldn't

put into words.

My inner conflict coursed through the Arachnea's collective

consciousness, but the Swarm didn't seem to assent. Perhaps it was because

only one Ripper Swarm had been killed. If we were to go to war, hundreds of

them would be sacrificed. Seeing it happen for the first time made me very

emotional. The first death of one of my Swarm rattled me to my very core.

Another feeling began to bloom within me, even as my heart was nearly

overwhelmed by the collective consciousness. It eased my grief for this

single unit and inspired me instead.

"If they hit us, we'll hit back. I'll inherit your will," I said, placing flowers

on the Ripper Swarm's modest grave.

Upon returning to our base, I began preparing for the revenge I would

exact in its name.

Yes, I've finally found an enemy to defeat.

[End]