Her Majesty’s Swarm - Volume 4 - Chapter 13

Victory Celebration

I wasn’t sure if the Eastern Trade Union had really won the war with Nyrnal, but the people wanted to celebrate their victory. This small country hadn’t yielded to the powerful tyrant and had managed to defend its independence. That was probably enough of a victory for them.

When I thought about it that way, I could understand the desire to celebrate. They’d won this victory through much hardship, after all.

And so, they began their victory celebration. It was held in Khalkha, which was still in the midst of being rebuilt. Despite some of the buildings still being burnt, the streets were spectacularly decorated. People had set up shops in tents. The Senate’s assembly hall, which had escaped the fire, was converted into a tavern for the festivities.

At present, Lysa, Sérignan, and I were walking through the bustling streets together.

“The skewers look great!” Lysa said.

“Well, you two can eat all you want, since you won’t gain weight...” I grumbled. “How are your wounds, Sérignan? Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’m fine.”

After the battle, I’d put Sérignan in a Regeneration Pod to heal her injuries, but I was worried that she hadn’t healed properly. This wasn’t the game world anymore, after all.

“For now, let’s celebrate our victory. We’ve beaten the Nyrnal Empire, and we should take pride in what we did. We’ve taken revenge on them.”

“Yeah, we did.”

The Nyrnal Empire had retreated to the other bank of the Phros and solidified their defenses there. It would be extremely difficult for them to cross the river now, so in a way, we’d successfully pushed them away. I wasn’t sure whether that was part of their plan or they had to go back to the drawing board after the failed offensive. Either way, we’d made them pay for their sneaky attack on Khalkha. That was good enough for now.

Nyrnal had annexed the former territories of the Kingdom of Maluk, which made their territory even larger. Even so, I had no intention of surrendering to Nyrnal. I’d oppose them to the very end.

“Let’s eat and drink and have fun!” Lysa said.

“Yeah! I just wish the other Swarms could join us,” I nodded, my voice sounding a bit morose.

Seeing them would be a little too shocking for the citizens, so we had them wait outside Khalkha. But Konrad’s mercenaries recognized the help they’d offered during the battle and had carried food out for them to eat. I thought that was quite nice of them.

Any enjoyment we experienced would be transmitted through the collective consciousness, so it wasn’t like we were hogging all the fun for ourselves.

“Sérignan, you put in the most work in that battle. Do you have any requests?”

“I’d like to eat meat. Any kind of meat will do.” Sérignan was a real carnivorous woman.

“Then let’s try those skewers Lysa mentioned,” I said.

“They do look good.”

As we stuffed our cheeks on meat skewers and fried food, we enjoyed the celebrations in Khalkha. People whose businesses had been burned down were out and about, selling their wares. The place where we’d eaten Hamburg steaks and mixed grill dishes before had converted into an open-air cafe, so we tried out all the dishes we hadn’t tasted yet.

We decided on some sweets for dessert. We had a cold treat that was lightly sweet and similar to ice cream, some donuts, and other confections. I consumed a week’s worth of calories that day. But it also meant I’d probably get fat, so I had some mixed feelings.

It’s fine. It’s not every day we get to celebrate like this. I should cut loose and have fun.

I’d endured one too many nerve-wracking situations, so I decided to forget about the stresses of war and enjoy myself.

“Yo, Yer Majesty!” a jovial voice called out to me.

“Konrad,” I said, turning to look at him. “I thought the senators were all overseeing the rites over at the assembly hall. Shouldn’t you be there?”

The Senate was currently electing its new chairman and holding a ceremony to celebrate our victory. And yet, Konrad was loitering around here instead. I imagined, given his personality, that he was bored with the ceremony, but...

“What are you saying? We owe ya our victory! The Senate hardly even lifted a finger. You’re our guest of honor today. Now, come come, everyone’s waitin’ for you. Don’t be late and spoil the festivities!”

“Fine. I just need to show my face for a bit, right?” I asked, a bit tiredly.

“Well, I dunno about that,” Konrad said with a grin. “I’m sure the senators will all want to get a look at you.”

“Ugh,” I groaned. “Guess I have to do it. But I don’t need a big welcoming party, okay? I mean, I didn’t really defeat the Nyrnal Empire in the end.”

“Well, the senators don’t seem to feel that way. They think that this war was proof that the Union managed to protect its independence. They see it as a victory.”

Yeah, that was what I figured. It was honestly kind of a headache. Honestly, the only thing I did was just nudge Nyrnal’s invasion army into a situation where they had to fall back. Otherwise, I could only sit back and watch as this country’s assets burned in the fires of the war.

“I’ll head over to the assembly hall, then. Sérignan, Lysa, let’s go.”

The two of them nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Allow me to escort you, ladies,” Konrad said with a suave tone that did not suit him whatsoever. He bowed, showing us the way to the assembly hall.

“I guess it wasn’t completely unharmed,” I commented as the building came into view. “I guess that makes sense, given that it was exposed to wyvern fire. It’d be weird if it went unscathed.”

Part of the building had crumbled, and the stonework was charred. Still, it was a well-built structure, and its continued magnificence stood as a symbol for the peace they’d earned.

“Now, go on in. Everyone’s waiting for you,” Konrad said, practically pushing us inside.

So much for his gentlemanly demeanor.

“Attention, everyone!” a voice echoed as I entered the hall. “Her Majesty Grevillea, Queen of the Arachnea, the very woman who conquered the Nyrnals, has arrived!” The speaker was a woman sitting in the Senate secretary’s seat. She went on, “The Arachnea proved to be a reliable ally for protecting the Eastern Trade Union’s independence. They stopped Nyrnal’s invasion and protected our homeland. This faction is our only worthy ally!”

Her words were met with cheering from the senators.

“All hail the Eastern Trade Union!”

“All hail the Arachnea!”

“This should push Nyrnal’s attempts to invade us by another century. So long as the Arachnea are on our side, they can’t lay a hand on us. No matter what monsters they bring, we will defeat them!”

“That’s right! We won’t yield to any tyrant, and with the support of our allies, we can oppose them! Glory to the Eastern Trade Union and the Arachnea! May we remain a proud, independent country forevermore!”

They raised their voices, praising the Arachnea and the Eastern Trade Union.

Stop it. I had my own reasons for fighting this war. I respect your independence, but it wasn’t that big of a consideration.

“All hail the Arachnea, our great allies!”

“A speech! Let’s hear your speech!”

All eyes in the room gathered on me. I wasn’t good at this, and I didn’t think I should say anything. But with all sorts of emotions brewing inside me, I took the stage.

“Hello, members of the Eastern Trade Union. I’m glad to see our alliance has been such a boon to you all. In fact, it’s a bit of a pity; I wish I didn’t have to involve you in this war. But it’s good that we could help you.”

We’d both depleted many resources and lost countless soldiers over this war, and we needed to resupply.

“Let’s celebrate for now. We can consider this a victory. We pushed Nyrnal’s invasion back, and that’s a win, in part. We won it with your strength. Your mercenaries and adventurers helped win this war.”

Indeed, we hadn’t won this war alone. The mercenaries and adventurers helped us, and they should take pride in it. I looked over to Konrad and Keralt, as well as Honnoson, who’d helped lead and fund the war effort. I felt that they should be the ones taking credit for the achievement, not me.

You didn’t give up, and that’s why I could keep going. The Arachnea and I could only fight because you were there. If you hadn’t been, everything might have ended differently.

“We’ll pursue further victories,” I continued. “We will wipe the Nyrnal Empire off the face of the planet and make them submit to the Arachnea. And if we do that, there’ll be no one left to threaten your country’s independence. We’ll defeat Nyrnal completely, utterly, and thoroughly. We have to.”

The members of the Senate listened to me quietly.

“I will win. The Arachnea will triumph. And when we achieve true victory, we can hold a true celebration. I’d like for you to be a part of it too. Same as how you invited me today, I open our doors to all of you for that grand occasion.”

Finishing my speech, I stepped down from the podium. I was never really good with speeches. Talking to a crowd as if I were all-important made me feel antsy.

“All hail the Arachnea’s queen!”

“The Union’s alliance with the Arachnea is a true union of brotherhood!”

They applauded my speech; apparently, they’d liked it. Which was good. I would’ve wanted to bury myself alive if they didn’t. I could hear the Senate members whispering among themselves.

“The queen is quite ambitious.”

“Yes. We won this war, but she even declared that she would destroy the Nyrnal Empire. Defeating that fearsome country when we’re struggling just to defend our independence...”

“And our independence was greatly threatened this time around. If it weren’t for the Arachnea, Nyrnal would have vassalized us by now.”

“Queen Grevillea.” I heard a familiar voice approach me as I walked down from the podium.

“Oh, hello, Keralt. Does the Adventurers’ Guild need me for something?”

Keralt had a sour expression as always. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but by now I’d gotten used to this curt lady. I almost liked her.

“Are you going to leave for the Nyrnal Empire next?” she asked me.

“Yes, we’re still fighting them,” I replied. “This war won’t end until one of us defeats the other. And I’m not going to lose.”

“Then let me warn you. Watch out for the Emperor’s Third Secretariat Division. That’s the Empire’s intelligence agency. I sent a few adventurers to scout them out, but they were captured and went MIA.”

“The Emperor’s Third Secretariat Division... I’ll remember that.”

I wasn’t confident in our ability to fight a war of espionage, but assumed we should err on the side of caution. If they were going to launch such a war on us, we’d need to rise to the challenge. The Swarm was highly united and would never betray me, and we had an ally in the Eastern Trade Union.

Humans could betray one another, but that didn’t apply to the Swarm.

“You said you sent adventurers to infiltrate. Any way we can buy whatever information they got off of you?” I asked.

“Of course. We can sell you any information, barring some highly confidential secrets.”

Good. This way we can learn as much as possible about the Nyrnal Empire.

Despite being such an ambitious hegemon, the Nyrnal Empire seldom suffered leaks. I didn’t know how their government was structured. Even if I was going to sneak Masquerade and Parasite Swarms into their country, I could still use more information on them.

“We’ll talk money later, then. Thank you.”

“No problem. We’ll be waiting for you.” Keralt nodded before walking off. “Also, thank you for winning this war for us.”

Then, someone else approached me. “Miss Grevillea.”

“So this time it’s you, Honnoson?”

“I’m sure protecting this country cost you quite a bit of funds. Would you like any financial aid?” the banker dwarf asked me.

I shrugged. “I don’t think I’ll have money to pay you back with.”

“I didn’t mean a loan, but true financial aid. Buying one’s independence with gold might seem lowly, but in the end, the only thing we can really do is provide money. Please let us help you in what little ways we can.”

Hmm. I’d always thought bankers were greedy, but he proved to be oddly empathetic. Similar to how humans tended to assume the Swarm was a legion of unfeeling monsters, I had my own preconceived notions about certain professions.

“We’ll take you up on that offer, then,” I said. “Just don’t expect much out of us; our finances are in dire straits right now.”

“I’m just glad you agreed. If you didn’t, the guild would have tormented me,” the old banker told me.

I might not pay you back for this in full, Honnoson, but I’ll return however much I can. Even if this isn’t really a loan. Once we’ve ruined Nyrnal and things settle down, I’ll probably have some money at least.

“Hey there, hero!” Konrad was the next to come forth. “That was quite the speech.”

“How about you handle the speeches next time, then?” I said dryly.

He handed me one of the two glasses of frothing champagne in his hands. I wasn’t much of a drinker, but I accepted it anyway.

“Speeches don’t suit me,” Konrad said with a grin. “Only thing these lips are good for is barking orders. Even after becoming chairman, I never won any arguments. Honestly, I’m not cut out for this job.”

“Well, that’s no good. You should learn how to debate like a good chairman,” I said, smiling softly. “I think your policies are decent, anyway.”

“Well, if you need a little extra muscle, just say the word,” he told me. “We’ll always lend you a hand.”

“I’ll be counting on you. But for now, focus on defending your country.”

If Konrad were to mobilize his mercenaries for us, it could incite another invasion from Nyrnal. They couldn’t take any risks.

“We’ll be praying for your success, queenie.” With that, Konrad left.

Having schmoozed appropriately, I returned to Lysa and Sérignan’s side.

“You were very inspiring, Your Majesty!” Lysa told me enthusiastically.

“The crowd was listening to your words with rapt attention, Your Majesty,” Sérignan said.

“Stop teasing me,” I said, feeling awkward. “I was just saying what I really thought. Anyway, I’m tired for today, and I’ve had enough to eat.”

Thus, the war over the Eastern Trade Union came to an end. My initial plan to use the Union as a way to attack the Nyrnal Empire hadn’t worked out, but there should be other ways to do it. If worse came to worst, we could just use the Dreadnought Swarm to forcibly cross the Phros.