You should probably withdraw now, Regina said after taking a moment to consider what she’d just learned. She was still deeply nestled in Ada’s mind, enough to be aware of the quick beating of the young drone’s heart.

You’re right, Ada answered, startling mentally. They might be able to detect me more easily. If nothing else, the gnomes probably have spyglasses.

Regina sent a feeling of wordless agreement, then followed it up with approval and a touch of pride. She’d been getting better at subtle nuances in her psychic communication, and Ada was one of the best at it among the drones, too.

She watched as Ada carefully crept backward, behind her cover and then farther to put a few meters of distance between it and her, before she rose into a crouch and just as carefully backed away.

Regina kept most of her attention on Ada until she was sure that the scout had not been discovered. She kept looking in on her while Ada made her way to where she’d left the Winged Drone, but she also started checking on other drones.

From what Regina could guess, her range had expanded to at least a hundred kilometers, or at least some number in that ballpark. She didn’t exactly have satellite maps. The army she had just been watching through Ada was close to the limit of her range, but she could still communicate with the drones there quite well. She nudged the Winged Drone to return to Ada as stealthily as possible, then told Ada to be careful and keep low to the ground until she was further away.

With that done, once Ada was safely on her way back, Regina turned her attention to the world around her once more. She sat in one of the village’s houses, with Max standing beside her. He’d presumably taken it upon himself to guard her while her attention was elsewhere. Via waited a little further away, but the rest of the drones all had things to do.

Regina stood up and stretched, sighing to herself. Then she told the two of them what she’d just learned.

“That’s interesting,” Max mused. He shook his head. “The ambush went well, and we have the survivors in custody?”

Regina quickly focused on Tim and the other drones there again, checking in on them. She nodded. “Yes. They’re returning as we speak. I’d estimate that they’ll all be here in a few hours at most.”

“Well, at least that is dealt with,” Via muttered.

Regina smirked. She understood the sentiment. They’d been aware of that particular army for a few days, and she’d been a bit concerned when it sent this raiding party or whatever it was supposed to be in their direction. That they had taken it out that easily, while testing and refining a few tactics in the process, made her feel some satisfaction.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to just … confront the gnomes right now?” Max asked. He sounded concerned.

Regina shrugged and stepped towards the door. “No, but I don’t think putting it off is going to help. Don’t worry, I won’t be very confrontational.”

When she stepped out into the street, both of the drones came with her. Regina glanced up once, looking at the clouds and considering if it might be raining soon, before she suppressed another sigh and made her way towards the center of the village.

It was bustling around her. With the prospective new need for the hive to be on war footing, she’d pulled more drones into the village. The human villagers had also been told at least some of it, and they seemed a bit tenser than usual. Regina smiled and nodded at the people she passed, trying to seem calm and reassuring.

She found the two gnomes who were probably their leaders (not that she would rely on that assumption) talking with the baron again. They’d apparently realized that Regina felt suspicion or at least caution towards them, and tried their best to establish a good relationship with the baron. To be fair, that was most likely better for business. She knew they’d also been talking with Mia, who was probably the best choice of everyone in the hive to handle something like organized trade. Regina had valiantly resisted the urge to ask how long they were staying, so far.

“Excuse me,” she said politely as she joined them.

Tikimaken smiled broadly. “Hive Queen Regina! We’re always happy to see you. And we were just finishing up here, if there’s anything you need?”

The baron quickly nodded. “Indeed, I think we’ve come to a satisfactory agreement.”

“Great,” Regina said after a moment. She should probably follow up on that later. Or get someone else to do it; she wasn’t entirely sure where she stood with Neralt right now.

The baron didn’t seem inclined to stick around after that, and Regina and the two gnomes walked a few steps down the road so they could have more privacy.

“I apologize if you feel that I have been acting discourteously or treating you with undeserved suspicion,” she finally started. “The situation is still very delicate for me, and I have not had much contact with members of your people, or indeed many people.”

“That’s perfectly understandable,” Tikimaken replied. He almost sounded cheerful. “I assure you we haven’t and won’t take offense. It’s not the first time we’ve dealt with people with different cultures, or even those who are more insular and unaccustomed to strangers.”

Regina smiled and nodded. “That’s good to hear. In that case, I hope you won’t mind if I ask some more questions about your people, and your group, specifically. For instance, I’m not entirely sure what location you actually come from or how populous it is.”

Tikelikel spoke up, “We are from a city to the southwest, in the foothills of the mountains, which is part of a confederation, a larger nation with several million souls.”

Regina nodded. “And are there many other gnomes around out here?”

She hesitated, and the two of them exchanged a look. Clearly, Regina’s casual question hadn’t gone as smoothly as she’d wanted.

“Some,” the female gnome answered. “Not many.”

"This is a bit of a backwater, if you’ll pardon the bluntness,” the male added. “Is there any particular reason you are asking about that, Lady Regina?”

Regina exchanged a glance with Max, then resisted the urge to sigh. She might have to be blunter than she’d planned. “I have seen indications that other gnomes are in the region as well,” she finally said.

“Ah.” Tikelikel made a gesture she wasn’t familiar with, crossing her arms for a second. “Let me guess. A group of gnomes, perhaps with a wagon and clothing like ours?”

Regain hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. Should I assume they are merchants - or not quite merchants - like you?”

“That’s certainly possible,” the gnome answered. From her tone, Regina had the impression that she was relieved she’d found what seemed to be the issue at hand. “We aren’t the only ones operating out here, although I can assure you we are the only ones who are going to be dealing with your Hive, and we have all the proper authorization.”

“I would guess, Keli,” Tikimaken spoke up, giving his partner a look, “That the Hive Queen has seen these other people in the company of one of the armies currently bumbling around in this country, perhaps even one hostile to her interests.”

Regina raised an eyebrow, watching the exchange between the apparent leaders of the gnomish group with interest. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. When she’d asked Anuis, the elven officer had said, among other things, that “gnomes have strict gender roles, but in a very different manner compared to humans”. She hadn’t figured out which of them was supposed to be in charge, if anyone, though.

“Oh, I see!” ‘Keli’ turned back to Regina and gave her a smile. “I understand why that would be cause for concern, Lady Regina. And, to be frank, it would be a reasonable concern.” Her expression turned completely serious. “You see, we are, in broad terms, representatives of one particular faction among the Gnomish Confederation of the East.”

Ah. Called it. But Regina shook that thought off and simply looked at the gnome attentively.

“Our faction is currently in ascendance,” the Light Mind continued her explanation. “Beyond certain business interests and what you might call electorates or voting blocs, it also has a certain underlying ideology. Or at least an ideological footing. Now, this faction currently holds about sixty percent of the votes in the executive council, which is enough to decide most governmental matters. However, there are still other powerful factions, one in particular. Besides the fact that a larger majority is required for some matters, they have a lot of influence and power of their own.” She paused. “Are you following me?”

Regina nodded. “Seems quite straightforward so far.”

The gnome gave her a bit of an odd look at that, but only for a moment, before she smoothed out her expression and continued. “As I said, other factions enjoy influence of their own, and also both legal and unofficial authority. They are certainly more than capable of sending out teams like ours, or even of forging political alliances of their own. There is actually something of a legal mechanism - or at least a tradition - for that. And, well, our territory borders the Great Forest, and what is happening here in Cernlia as well as the Elvish State can have definite impacts on the Confederation.”

Regina raised an eyebrow but kept her expression mild. “I see. I assume that your faction, which is, apparently, currently in control of the government, wants something from me and my people. And your oppositional faction has apparently decided to support the central Cernlian government or some of its lords, or might do so, at least. That just raises the question, what is your your ideological or economic agenda, and what do you think you stand to gain from us?”

“I wouldn’t put it quite like that,” Tikelikel muttered. Then she sighed softly. “But you are not wrong, Lady Regina. We do indeed believe that a closer association can be of benefit to us, and to your people as well. To be frank, what you have demonstrated so far, along with your people’s explosive potential for growth, is already enough to attract much interest, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Your apparent association with the Goddess of Progress only adds to that.”

Regina tugged on her mandible. She wasn’t really opposed to establishing some kind of relationship with the gnomes, especially if she dealt with their actual government. If nothing else, if they really had lifespans and memories that were as long as they claimed, she’d hopefully be able to find out more about what had happened to the world. Although she should be very careful in pursuing that.

“Hm,” Regina said. “When is the next election?”

They both looked surprised at the question again. “There are several elections in our form of government,” Tikimaken answered. “The one with the most impact on the executive council will be in two years.”

Regina nodded and filed that information away. “Alright. I don’t think I’ve quite gotten a full answer for my previous question, though.”

He sighed. “Our people’s philosophical and political beliefs are complicated and hard to sum up, Lady Regina. In brief, though, we consider ourselves members of the ‘historicals’. A little like human Delvers, but far less militant, we believe that -“ He hesitated for a moment - “that the ancient past should not be forgotten and can still serve as a guiding light for us. We might have lost many things, but society can still grow and progress. And while certain technologies may be better left forgotten or outright banned, others can be of great help to the people.”

Regina stayed silent for a moment while she contemplated that. She noted the small insight into the Delvers, and considered what technologies they might want banned.

“I can agree with most of that in principle,” Regina finally said. She smiled at the two gnomes. “Thank you for answering my questions. I believe it might be good for us to take a look at some of the projects my hive is working on. Although I would prefer to wait until at least the immediate situation is resolved.”

They both bowed their heads. “We are gratified to hear that, Hive Queen,” Tikelikel said.

They exchanged a few more pleasantries after that, but the conversation quickly stalled and petered out.

Regina was already making plans for the future. I think we have enough drones now that it’s about time to send more of them out, she told Max. We can still keep a few hundred here to secure the core of our territory. Sending a few Winged Drones to scout is all well and good, but if the war is so clearly heating up, I don’t want to just hide here.

She’d experimented with her new Skill a bit in the last few days. It had more effects than just giving her extra eggs. While there still seemed to be a limit to how many eggs she could make in one batch, just based on her body’s tolerance, it was less arduous than before and, more importantly, the mana requirements to support their development were reduced. She could now easily have over twenty eggs at once, thirty if she pushed herself a bit. And she was hopeful that that number would increase rapidly when she leveled up. After all, her hive limit was growing exponentially. She could easily afford to lose a few dozen Swarm Drones now.

I understand, Max answered, though he sounded a little amused. And you want to make an impression for our new gnomish contacts.

Maybe, Regina conceded. But within limits, of course. I’m not showing them everything.

Regina hesitated for a moment, then turned back to the two visitors. “By the way,” she said casually. “Have you ever heard the name ‘Hivekind’?”

The two gnomes froze for a moment. Although they immediately acted like nothing was amiss, she’d noticed that reaction. A stronger one than she’d been expecting.

“I’m sure we don’t know what you mean,” Tikimaken responded, voice tight. “Even if we had any knowledge of the old villains, we certainly wouldn’t be talking about it, except to the appropriate persons back home.”

“Of course,” Regina answered quickly. “It’s just a name I came across in my historical studies recently and I was curious. I certainly didn’t want to offend or bring up any cultural taboos.”

“No offense taken,” Tikelikel replied.

They quickly made their goodbyes and turned to leave. Once they could no longer see her, Regina breathed out.

Well, she thought. That could be a bit of a problem.

“I wonder how much of a cultural rebel or progressive the typical member of their faction really is?” Max muttered quietly.

Regina huffed and shook her head. ”Well, as new insectoid demihumans who must have a thriving culture somewhere out there that we’re cut off from, something like that is both not much of an issue for us and something we don’t have much experience with.”

Max gave her a sideways look and she got the impression he was refraining from rolling his eyes.