Lair

Chapter 032 - Next Step

By Skalsar

'I'm back.'

'You were gone?'

'That's quite mean of you, my [Queen].'

'I'm not a [Queen] anymore, but a [Broodmother].

You have to keep up your informations.', I say.

[Hiveworker] had returned. Well, should call him [Drone] now.

Somewhere on his journey, he had evolved into a [Drone – Rare Variant], as he tells me in my mind.

'And we use names now. Call me Nydar.', I tell him.

[Drone] flies around me.

'I see.

My apologies, [Broodmother] Nydar.'

I also tell him about the stuff that happened here, while he was gone.

Thinking about it, I should name him too.

'Would that be alright, Danar?'

'Sure, he is quite the unusual one.'

'Alright, let's see..

I think I should give you a special name.

How about this: From now on you will be Nyr.', I tell him.

'Can we talk about that, great [Broodmother]?', he asks.

I slap him.

Names sure are complicated.

But he will get accustomed to the name, like we all did.

Maybe not liking it first is a sign for a good name.

'I gave you the name because you are something like my heir.

Therefore, I gave you part of my name.'

'I see, thank you very much, Brood.. I mean, Nydar.'

But enough of that now.

There are other things to do.

'So, how was it?', I finally ask.

'Three of them in the land of the [Local Lord].

One on the neighbouring land to the south.

Two west, three north, one east.

Last two in the vicinity of the [Capital].'

Twelve hives in total.

Other than us, that is.

So make that thirteen.

'But I thought about it.

As far as I noticed humans, they are always vigilant.

If they go hunting, they look for the smallest clues.'

'What do you mean?'

'If you want to start communicating with other hives, it might be better to start somewhere else.'

'Huh? Why? What do you mean by that?'

'It's because humans are tricky.

They tend to be startled easily and are very paranoid.

As you already took steps to interact with humans, you might want to lower the attention.

Like, going somewhere far away and start there.

Otherwise, someone might see that everything seems to be starting here.

In the end, we might get annihilated for that.'

Nyr seems quite well informed.

I still wonder why.

He was just a rabbit before.

Sure, he was captured for a while by humans and supposed to end up as dinner.

But between captivity, escaping and meeting me, how did he acquire that much knowledge?

'Did I not tell you?

I'm sorry [Broodmother] Nydar.

That's because of my unique skill.

If a monster lives long enough, even after facing death, it might recieve the blessing of the world.

As far as I'm concerned, that is [Wisdom Without Flaw].

It's a skill that let's me put together information I acquire in whatever means possible.'

'Unique skill? I never heard about that!

Explain more!', I say a bit louder.

I somehow feel cheated.

Not only Sora, but this one as well.

They leave me behind!

'I need pieces of information.

When I get them and focus on them, I can see how it interacts.

Like, learning about a dead animal in the forest and finding some footprints.

I might be able to see what left the footprints and might even be able to tell if it killed the animal.'

'If you have enough information about it, right?'

'Yes.'

'Why didn't you say so sooner?!

Go to Sora right away!

Help her with the [Watchers]!

This is terrible!

With that sort of skill.. you could become a better [Queen] than all of us.'

'Ah, I don't believe that, to tell the truth.

While I can comprehend the information, I'm pretty bad at using it.

I feel as if my body is not reacting to the flow of my thoughts.

That might be a restriction to the unique skill.'

Hm.

A skill that hinders the body to use it in certain ways?

That sounds weird.

I will have to think about it some more.

Still, if he helps Sora with that sort of skill, they might decipher human bodies much faster.

'Is that [Drone] for real?', Sora tells me in my mind, a bit startled.

Seems like she feels cheated too.

Guess you can't judge a creature by it's form.

Are skills this important?

How do you even acquire them?

No, one thing after the other.

I have to see other hives and how they are doing.

But Nyr is right, I should start somewhere else.

After opening a [Black Gate] to outside the forest, I start walking.

I saved some magic power in the [Hiveworkers] I took with me.

Just to be sure.