Regina hadn’t really considered it before, but having some members of her hive staying that far away from her, closer to the edge of her range, was pretty interesting. It allowed her to study a few things about the psychic link and the effects that distance might have on it.

Which seemed to be less than she’d have expected. In most cases, it didn’t really seem to matter much if a hive drone was standing right next to her or a hundred kilometers away. Although there were a few small differences. While communication worked just fine, she found it harder to get an intuitive sense of a hive member’s feelings. And when she thought about it, she realized that she didn’t have the same kind of almost automatic, subconscious impression of what they felt like. She’d probably still sense if one of them was injured, but it would be less acute if they were farther away. And since she’d already had to learn to filter some things out as her hive grew, she’d probably be slower to react to anything happening farther away.

Perhaps more importantly, her sense for other people’s or creatures’ minds degraded the further away from her they went. Having a drone present did help, seeming to stabilize it a bit or perhaps act as a relay, but even that benefit decreased with greater distance. She would need more tests to really figure this out, though.

Janis and her group stayed around Volance’s territory for a while. They’d decided to make use of the opportunity to be in the mountains to hunt and earn Experience, and Regina agreed. As a further benefit, this would allow them to have extended contact with Volance and hopefully get to know her a little better. Janis especially deserved that chance, and it would probably be good for her hive, too.

It would only take them a few days to reach the third Tier. It would be even faster if they concentrated entirely on hunting monsters and earning levels instead of talking to Volance, but Regina was pretty sure it would still be a quick rise by normal standards. She thought it might be a good point to show to the gnomes. They had Janis’ growth as a benchmark, a normal demihuman’s leveling accelerated somewhat by the hive, so they could make sure the speed wasn’t too remarkable.

Interestingly, Bea also leveled up pretty soon after coming to the city. It appeared that performing tasks for the hive granted her Experience even if they weren’t strictly in line with her Class. Or maybe it was just exploration or general achievement Experience. Still, it was a nice benefit, and Regina hoped that Bea would reach the next Tier during this mission.

She also wanted to go through with one of her ideas and send an envoy to the elves, maybe even as a permanent ambassador, but it was hard to decide who to send. Bea would be a good choice if her current mission didn’t take too long. Tim was definitely out, and Regina wasn’t sure who else among her hive would be a good prospect. Maybe one of the Attendants? That didn’t help much, though. Luckily, it was not a pressing question.

In the meantime, Regina spent most of her time attending to the hive’s operations. Luckily, everything was quiet and peaceful. The rapid expansion still needed some adjustments, but they’d been figuring out how to deal with it, and she decided it might be prudent to start slowing down a little. They were building up various outposts already, and Mia and the others were talking about a second proper settlement, what might eventually grow into a city.

Spreading the hive out helped them keep control of their territory and helped with finding food, but Regina was also planning on how to handle eventualities for which she needed most of her hive assembled. A military campaign was probably coming, one way or the other. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much in the way of food stores. That wasn’t a big problem for Hivekind, since they could always live off the land pretty easily, especially after winter, but she would still prefer to have prepared storage. And not just food, they also needed enough weapons and various other supplies.

At this point, there was no way that she could Conjure enough metal for the hive by herself. Not even with the help of the few others who had learned Lesser Basic Conjuration. They needed to either get started mining and smelting their own, or trade for it. That was one reason she was hopeful about the talks with the gnomes. Regina would have liked to get enough for armor and maybe weapons for her Swarm Drones, but she knew that wasn’t realistic. At least enough to get all sapient drones properly outfitted would be good. Right now, they were mostly relying on monster hides and the like for armor and shields, which wasn’t bad, but she didn’t know how sustainable it would be. Besides, if they could get already crafted weapons, that would spare them the effort of actually making them. Something that also required quite a bit of expertise.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like the gnomes actually had a lot they needed to trade for. Bea sounded them out carefully, speaking with many trade factors and businessmen, and she got the impression that the Confederation was pretty self-sufficient. At least, it didn’t want for much if you counted the trade it had with polities further south. One thing they could always use more of, given their location, was food, but that didn’t help Regina much. Luxury goods were always in demand, too, but she didn’t have the capability to produce those consistently. It looked like she would be reduced to relying on Conjured goods or information, which was definitely iffy.

It meant they needed a better idea of what the gnomes already knew and had developed, so she could gauge if there was something she could offer them, especially something she could set up in her own territory. Unfortunately, Regina was pretty sure that every big thing needed much more of an industrial base and infrastructure which she just didn’t have yet.

Well, she could try and just sell what she already had and could make, maybe even blueprints, and buy what she needed. Maybe she could even work out some deals where she provided the equivalent of a patent and got a cut of profits from another organization putting it into production? That was definitely worth considering with regards to the elves and gnomes, but it needed a foundation of trust, recognition and access.

Come to think of it, what was the state of Europe’s, or the world in general’s, reserves of fossil fuel and raw materials? Maybe this is why there isn’t much in the way of industrialization or power generation, she realized. Or part of it. She dimly remembered something about the current - back then - overexploitation of natural resources meaning that the world wouldn’t be able to reach the level of nineteenth century industrialization again if it was suddenly brought back to the middle ages. Probably from something she read or watched long ago. If all of the easily accessible coal reserves were already gone, it might explain why steam engines didn’t take off like they could have. In addition to the gods’ meddling, of course. And who knows what changed with the mana spikes from portals and everything? The geography changed enough that I don’t think I can be sure of anything.

When she had some free time, a few days after Janis and the others first met Volance, Regina decided to try and do some research, in a manner of speaking. She hopped up on the roof, waving Via and the others away, and closed her eyes before she dove into the psychic link.

The hive had several Drone Keepers now, and they’d been working on gathering and storing information for the hive. Now, Regina focused on it, trying to dive into that part of the psychic link. It wasn’t really a separate part or region, since the link didn’t correspond to any physical locations, but it felt a bit like a sub-layer or something. She focused on the humans of the fourth millennium, the current epoch, and called up everything she could find.

It was a lot of information. Most of it came from Janis or pieces of what other drones had learned, and there were obvious gaps. But it still gave her a feeling of the locals’ culture and way of life. Slowly, Regina moved away from that and to the question of geography and what could be found around here. They knew a lot less about that, unfortunately.

Resource production: The local human kingdoms mined various types of metal ore, especially iron, copper and silver, and traded for more, including gold. They logged forests for wood and created charcoal. Agriculture produced various kinds of food crops and fiber, primarily hemp and linen, for fabrics. Farming livestock yielded further foodstuffs as well as wool. Hunting monsters also gave other materials, primarily used for various kinds of crafts, including weapons and armor.

Regina frowned to herself. Except for the last part, that sounded like what she’d expect from the middle ages. It wasn’t like there was no trade for other goods or resources, though she had very little information on that, just that it was limited. In comparison to what she remembered, a lot of things were lacking, from silicone, cobalt and lithium to cotton, coffee or whatever. And that didn’t even start to mention anything synthetic!

Regina shook her head to herself. If she had ever flirted with the idea of just holing up in her new territory and trying to reconstruct what had been lost, to recreate technology, this showed that it simply wouldn’t work. It wasn’t just knowledge that she lacked, or people who could work to increase it. She needed a population and industrial base, infrastructure and resources. The ability to acquire resources she lacked, presumably from trade. The local society might not be a very good jumping-off point, but it was better than nothing.

But where does that leave me?

Regina hesitated, opening her eyes as she slid out of the psychic link. She wasn’t sure it was even possible to get there with the current state of affairs.

Before she could ponder on it further, another shift in the psychic link caught her attention.

My Queen, we found what looks like human soldiers to the north, Ada reported.

Regina acknowledged the message and focused on what the scout had found. It seemed like the Winged Drones at the edges of their perimeter had caught something. They were flying beyond the technical boundaries of their territory and giving them a look considerably further away. That allowed her to watch any large movements into Whitor’s county, among other things.

That seems like a relatively large army, Regina commented to Ada after a few seconds. I didn’t think Whitor had that many men in his demesne. Then again, they don’t really look like they’re his, do they?

In fact, the army was almost moving like they were traveling through hostile territory. Well, maybe not quite, but they marched in good order, and they clearly had a dedicated vanguard and rearguard as well as soldiers ranging to the sides to protect the main columns. More than that, they didn’t quite look like the various armies she’d seen traveling through Cernlia recently. The standards, flags and insignia used were different.

According to the information we have from Janis and other contacts, as well as the situation in general, I’m pretty sure these are Nerlians, my Queen, Ada said.

Regina nodded. That’s my impression, as well. But what is a Nerlian army doing moving through northeastern Cernlia like this?

Probably coming to help the king’s side in the civil war? Ada sounded unsure and a bit annoyed. He did help them fight the elves, it’s possible he’s called in help, right?

That would be my guess. Regina paused for a moment. Travel to the north yourself if you think it will help. We should definitely keep the baron informed. Keep watch on them as best you can with the Swarm Drones, but be careful. I don’t want us to be discovered.

As you say, my Queen, Ada acknowledged the order and Regina sensed her get moving.

The conversation finished, she returned her focus to herself. Regina considered for a bit, then, with a small sigh, started drawing on her mana. This news probably couldn’t wait.

As always, initializing a scrying attempt took a while. It might have been a bit easier because of her practice, but she wouldn’t bet on it. Regina patiently went through the required steps, channeling her mana and focusing intently on the person she needed to reach.

Kiara was alone again, thankfully. She was sitting in her tent working on some documents. It seemed to be the same tent as before, anyway, but the tent flap was closed, so Regina couldn’t see the outside. They should be somewhere else, though, pushed back from their previous advance.

She looked up and paused, her quill pen hovering over a sheet of paper. Then Kiara carefully set it down and straightened up. She closed her eyes for a bit, her face showing intense concentration. Regina waited silently until she felt Kiara’s magic reaching out to her again.

“Hive Queen Regina”, Kiara greeted her. “It is good to hear from you again.”

“Thank you, Lady Kiara, likewise,” Regina responded. “I do have news that I think might prove to be rather important this time.”

Kiara raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Nothing terrible, I hope?”

“You will need to be the judge of that, but I’m afraid it doesn’t look like good news. We found an army that appears to be coming from Nerlia.” Regina quickly explained what they’d seen.

Kiara frowned, tapping her fingers on the edge of the desk. “Father’s informers have not brought any news like that, as far as I know. Thank you for the quick message, Lady Regina. I appreciate it.”

“You would have certainly found out eventually, but I’m happy to give you some more time,” Regina said with a small grin.

The young noblewoman nodded slowly. “And you took this news straight to me, using your scrying magic,” she mused.

“Well, I certainly intend to let the marquis, as my ally, know by sending a letter right away as well,” Regina said, cocking her head slightly.

“Of course. That will take a bit longer, however.” Kiara then shrugged. “In any case, thank you, again.”

Regina opened her mouth, then paused and closed it after a moment. She was tempted to ask if Kiara was planning to withhold the information, at least for a short while. But she decided that might be a kettle of worms she’d rather not step in.

It might just be some family drama within the Lyns family. If it was political drama instead — actually, then she should probably want to get involved even less. Marquis Lyns was still her political ally, even if Regina liked Kiara better than him. She decided she would rather not get pulled into something if she didn’t have to.

Besides, Regina thought she had a decent enough read on the young Arcane Knight, and she couldn’t see her treating soldiers’ lives as sacrifical pawns just to get an edge in some factional conflict. Kiara might tell her own allies first and give them a chance to respond, but she wasn’t going to withhold information on an attacking army.

Still, Regina made a mental note to ask for a bit more detail on their current state and preparations in her next letter to Lyns. Understanding the situation better couldn’t hurt.

“You’re welcome,” she finally said. “I’ll keep you posted if there are any important developments. It was nice talking to you.”

“Likewise, Lady Regina. Please take care.”