Regina found herself unusually agitated in the aftermath of the meeting with the Neralts. She paced along the main roads of the village for a short while, looking at everything. The villagers stepped out of her way, but she caught the gazes they threw each other. She was too lost in thought to care much, however.

With the way her hive had been growing, only a small part of the drones could now fit into the village. The rest were housed in wooden huts and other shelters they’d quickly put up. With winter coming in a few months and the weather likely to get colder soon, they needed better accommodations. Many of the Swarm Drones were working on that project. But Regina was privately a little disappointed that she couldn’t do better than this style of building.

It wasn’t too much of a problem yet, especially since they had the castle as well. Her Swarm Drones were hardy, and if nothing else, they could probably survive the winter in the forest. Tia was also talking about adding underground burrows and passages, which was something Regina agreed with in principle. It’s just hard to decide where.

She shook her head and turned to walk along one of the roads. Quickly checking on several drones, she confirmed that their visitors were coming closer.

“Who are they, anyway?” Tim asked.

Regina glanced at him, smiling slightly despite herself. The Royal Blade had appeared out of a side alley, so quiet she’d barely noticed. Max, who was still accompanying her, actually flinched slightly, then gave his brother a dirty look.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Regina admitted after a moment. “I didn’t get a good look earlier, just enough to tell that people were coming. They seem like … I don’t know, gnomes?”

She watched the people sitting on and walking around a wagon that looked far too cumbersome to have made it safely through the forest. They were all very short, maybe one and a half meters or so. She had Dark observing them, and the bird’s good eyesight gave her some detail even without getting very close. Their skin tone was a tan brown, but with a bit of an odd texture. Their proportions looked a bit off compared to humans, with short legs and big heads, although it was not enough to seem grotesque, just different. They all wore pants and coats or long jackets or vests, mostly in dark colors. The cut seemed a bit more modern to her eyes than what the human villagers wore, although that could just be a matter of their respective social status or means.

What made the name gnomes come to mind were mostly the spectacles a few of them wore plus various other gadgets, like binoculars and some metallic thing that might be an overly complicated compass or just some strange tool. Their faces looked more or less human, though, and all of them were actually quite what she supposed humans would consider attractive.

Regina hesitated for a moment, then decided that she would wait at the town square or the baron’s mansion for the visitors. Instead, she asked Max and Mia to greet them. Once Regina reached the baron’s house again, she noted with a bit of amusement that he seemed to have done the same, sending a high-ranking soldier out but not coming himself. Anuis, on the other hand, didn’t seem interested in any kind of power play and simply went out to greet them herself.

As Regina watched and listened through her drones, she quickly realized why. The visitors were cheerful but didn’t seem inclined to formality. One of them greeted Anuis by name, in a way that made it clear they must have met before, although Regina couldn’t tell how many of them she knew.

After the first greetings were exchanged, they entered the village. Regina paced for a few seconds before stopping herself, switching the viewpoint drone through which she watched. She felt the sentient ones recognize her touch on their minds, though they didn’t let anything show outwardly.

“I’ve never met gnomes before,” she heard the baron say quietly to his mother from where they were standing a short distance away. “This should be interesting.”

Regina smiled. So, at least she’d guessed right.

It was a little hard to tell in which Tiers the visitors were even when she finally saw them with her own eyes. Of course, she could see the levels of anyone below hers, but that was barely a third of the group. Judging by those she could see, though, and given the two repeated classes, she knew at most three of them would be above level 40 and in the third Tier. Their Class names were hard to parse for her, since they all seemed to be pretty metaphorical. What was a True Painting or an Unbroken Rock supposed to be, anyway?

When they reached her, those who hadn’t already hopped down off the wagon and they all bowed to her. They seemed to immediately peg Regina as the leader, but given her Class name, that was probably obvious.

“Hello and welcome,” Regina said, bowing her head. She glanced from one gnome to the other, but it was hard to tell who their leader was. She noticed that some of them wore small ornaments and accessories, which probably had cultural significance, but nothing jumped out at her. She didn’t want to call anyone by name and guess wrong, so she didn’t add anything.

“I greet you,” one of them said, taking a step forward. It was the Unbroken Rock, whose name the System showed as Tikimaken. She couldn’t read his level. “We are thankful to be received with such hospitality.”

“It is very nice to meet you, and we are hoping for fortuitous and fruitful acquaintanceship,” a female gnome added, also stepping forward. She was a higher-level Light Mind, according to the System, called Tikelikel.

Regina nodded, and they exchanged greetings with the baron, as well. Max and Tim stepped up beside Regina again. She noticed the way several of the gnomes’ gazes clung to them. They looked curious. Though to be fair, all of the visitors looked curious. A few even gazed around at the houses of the village like they were waiting for them to reveal dazzling secrets.

“I hope you don’t think me rude, but I haven’t dealt with your people before and so am not familiar with your customs or the dictates of politeness,” she finally said once the two apparent leaders of the gnomes joined them just in front of the manor. “So, I will get to the point. What brings you here?”

They exchanged a look, so quickly that Regina might not have noticed it if she hadn’t been paying close attention. Their faces seemed to be a bit more expressive than humans, at least naturally, and the stillness with which the two held them seemed a bit forced. Although, to be fair, I’ve only seen them for a few minutes, so what do I know?

“Curiosity, mainly,” the woman replied. “We have heard of you and your … hive? Did I get that correctly? This might be a good opportunity for trade, but we are also considering what else we might be able to discover and learn here. And we think we have a few things to offer in exchange.”

Regina glanced back at their wagons. “Technology?” she guessed.

The two gnomes smiled. “You might not know this, Hive Queen Regina - is that the correct address, by the way? I wouldn’t want to offend.”

She shrugged. “You can use my Class name or call me Lady Regina, that is what most people here do.”

“Excellent. As I was saying, you might not be aware, Hive Queen, but gnomish lifespans are quite long. More than half as long as a typical elvish lifespan, in fact. We remember things, and we aren’t always as tight-lipped about them as our pointy-eared friends. No offense.” She glanced at Anuis, who stood a short distance away and wasn’t looking in their direction.

“I didn’t know that,” Regina said evenly.

“Well, Lady Regina,” the man picked up the thread of the conversation. “Does the word ‘hydraulics’ mean anything to you? Or ‘electricity’?”

Regina stiffened. She saw from the way their own expressions changed right away that she hadn’t managed to conceal her immediate reaction to the question.

“Quite a bit, in fact,” she finally drawled. She might as well, if she couldn’t pretend ignorance.

“What do the words mean?” the baron asked, looking confused. When he glanced at Regina, there was something like suspicion in his expression, too. Clearly, he had noticed her projects, and things like the use of advanced (comparatively, anyway) explosives. The two gnomes traded another look.

It sent a flash of anger through Regina, which she quickly suppressed. “Never mind that,” Regina said. She was considering telling Neralt a little more about it, but she definitely wouldn’t be doing that in front of others. “Before we continue this conversation,” she continued, turning to the visitors, “I would like to know with whom, exactly, I am speaking. Do you represent your government, or are you simply private explorers, or something else?”

Tikimaken nodded. “A fair question, Lady Regina. The answer is a bit complicated, however.”

“Our people do things a little differently,” his companion added. “We are merchants, broadly speaking. But we are also working for the government of the confederation. Or at least part of it.”

Regina frowned. She made a mental note to ask Anuis about their culture and political organization. And that of other races and nations, too, while she was at it. Obviously, what the gnomes had was a bit more complicated than the medieval feudalism around here seemed to be.

The gnomes asked a few more probing questions, but Regina did her best to dodge them, or just block their inquiries. They can’t expect to just come here and get our hospitality and have us tell them everything they want. Even if I do want to forge connections outside of the elves and Cernlia.

Regina shook her head as the meeting petered out and Neralt started to take them to make arrangements for where they could stay. She considered for a moment that she might be drawn into some kind of political conflict. They probably belonged to one political faction of several in this gnomish confederation. Although another political conflict would probably be more accurate. After all, there is that Cernlian civil war I may have contributed to instigating. And even the elves probably have factions, and my association with Enais, even if it’s rather indirect, would have already placed me on one side.

“Is everything alright, my Queen?” Max asked softly.

She looked at him and smiled. “Of course. I’m just considering some things. But I’m relatively optimistic that this is a good opportunity.”

She turned and started walking away, only looking through the eyes of a few drones for a few moments to watch what was happening behind her. Max joined her, and Via followed them as well.

Regina paused when they reached another intersection. Janis was just coming out of a house that Regina recognized after a moment as her aunt’s. She looked pensive, maybe cautious, but not as emotional as Regina would have expected.

“Is everything alright, Janis?” she asked.

The young Mage nodded, although her smile looked a bit forced. “Of course. I just decided to chat a bit with Aunt Marian. You know, catch up.”

“I’d have thought you’d be more curious about the new arrivals,” Regina commented. “We don’t get many visitors here, especially from other races, at least from what I’ve seen so far.”

Janis hesitated, then sighed as Regina raised an eyebrow. “They don’t like elementals,” she finally said.

Regina’s other eyebrow joined the first before she smoothed out her expression. “Oh? Why?”

Janis shrugged. “I don’t really know. Probably something to do with where they live. It’s close to what people call ‘mana zones’, from what I’ve heard. You’d expect there to be more of certain monsters.”

“Do you think they could tell that you have elemental blood?” Max asked.

“I don’t know. They might.”

Regina shook her head. She knew that elementals were sapient monsters, but that didn’t necessarily mean that they were nice or friendly. Or living peacefully with anyone else.

“Be that as it may, you’re a part of our hive. If you tried to hide the whole time they’re here, it would get old pretty fast,” she told her. “As far as I’m concerned, if they have any problems with you, they can keep them to themselves. They’re here because they want something from us.”

Janis smiled brightly. “Thanks, Regina! And I do have to admit that I’m curious.” She sighed and shook her head. “However, there’s another reason I was going to look for you. I got some news.”

“I hope it’s good news,” Regina said drily.

Janis shrugged, but she was frowning faintly. “I got a letter my great-uncle had sent to my aunt. Actually, I’m not entirely sure how he did it, since we haven’t seen a messenger recently, but I dimly recall that he had a friend who was some sort of magic-using beast tamer, so he probably got a pigeon or something.”

Regina raised an eyebrow again. Once more, she had to remind herself that this wasn’t really a medieval world, or rather, that people had abilities and means beyond that. This kind of communication sounded useful, and she would be asking the baron, or the marquis’ next messenger, some pointed questions. Although she supposed the danger of a letter getting intercepted would be pretty high this way. “Go on,” she said.

“He wanted to warn us that the war was getting closer,” she said. “Apparently, it’s really started off with a bang in a few places. Count Whitor seems to be sitting on the fence, but Marquis Relains is apparently moving to support the king. Or maybe he’s just feeling him out to see if he should offer his full support, he doesn’t seem to like him, either, and Lady Kiara called him a ‘slimy snake’ once. I don’t know how that would work, but anyhow. That’s what I have.”

“That’s our southern neighbor, isn’t it?” Regina asked.

Janis and Max both nodded.

“Well, good thing we have defense plans. Let’s go to …” Regina paused, frowning in thought. “The orange warning stage should do it. I’ll think about it and adjust the new batches of eggs for the hive. Max, get with Tim and increase our training with a special focus on the terrain to the south. Anything else you can think of for right now?”

She looked at them expectantly, but the drones and Janis shook their heads.

“They won’t know what hit them,” Janis murmured.

Regina nodded, trying to project confidence. If they give us a few more weeks, they really won’t.