Swarming Sovereignty

Chapter 27: Chrys

About half an hour later, the scoutmaster finished converting. While she had features that distinguished her from regular kobolds, such as a more humanlike face and the presence of very small breasts, she looked decidedly more like a monster than the bookkeeper. Where the bookkeeper was very well groomed and wouldn’t be out of place in an important meeting, the scoutmaster was wild and unkempt, like she had just come out of seclusion in the woods.

She was shorter than the bookkeeper, too, though both of them were still miniscule when compared to Rose. She was wearing furs and rags, and there was a certain…roughness to her that the bookkeeper and even the knights were lacking.

But…before she could be sent to do any work, it would be best if Lia enlightened her. So, she walked up, placed a paw on the scoutmaster’s foot, and spoke. She said, and then, privately, continued.

The scoutmaster sort of shook her head, blinking. “I…thank you.” She said. “What would you have me do, Queenie?”

The scoutmaster nodded. “I would appreciate that, thank you.”

“Works for me.” She paused, looking up from Lia and around at her surroundings, before her eyes stopped on Rose. “You’re so…!” She said, eyes sparkling. “What’s your name?!”

“Rose.” Rose said. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“So…cool!” Chrys said. “What do you do around here?”

Lia said.

Chrys’s furled her brow in confusion. “Isn’t that your job?”

Chrys nodded in understanding. “I see. So, what’ll you have me be scouting, then?”

“Of course.” Rose replied, scooping Lia up. “Follow me, Chrys.”

Chrys obediently followed the taller woman towards where Lia and Rose had left the map. It was flat on the ground, so Lia had Rose set her down on top of it, then walked over to where their encampment was. She explained.

She turned, gesturing towards deeper within the market with a paw. Lia walked over to the biology building on the south end of the map.

“Understood.” Chrys replied, studying the map carefully. “This shouldn’t be too hard.”

Chrys reached into what appeared to be a pocket of sorts, sifted through it, then shook her head. “No, everything’s here. Should I try and preserve the smoke ball or be liberal with its usage?”

“Gotcha.” Chrys said. “I’ll be off, then. Big sis, if I do well, will you reward me?”

There was silence for a moment, and Rose looked around for a moment before pointing to herself. “Me?”

“Yes, you!” Chrys said excitedly.

“Shouldn’t you be asking Lia that?”

“I don’t need a reward from her to do anything.” Chrys said. “Just knowing that she’s satisfied is reward enough from her. But…why not be a little greedy?”

Rose looked towards Lia uncertainly. “Uh…”

Lia asked.

“I dunno…headpats or something?” Chrys said, scratching the back of her head.

“I…guess that’s fine.” Rose said. “But only if you perform admirably. Half measures will get nothing, understood?

“Understood, ma’am!” Chrys said, giving a salute. “I won’t let either of you down!”

Lia said, letting some modeling wax out of her storage.

Chrys gave a salute, scooped up the wax with a hand, shoved it into her mouth, and then scampered off towards the south end of the camp, moving faster than Lia had seen anything move since her reincarnation.

“That was…not what I was expecting.” Rose said. “Did you know she was going to be like that?”

. Lia replied. no

“I…guess.” Rose said. “So…what now? Do you have something in mind while we wait?”

“I don’t believe I have anything better to be doing, so…why not?”

Chrys crept along the path, resisting the urge to hum to herself. She felt…good spirited, and she wasn’t sure . She had, in essence, just been born, but everything seemed so…bright, metaphorically speaking. Queenie seemed pretty cool, and Rose was…awesome.

She felt…drawn to Rose for a reason she couldn’t quite fathom, and wanted nothing more than to be spoiled by her. But, in order to get that, it appeared she needed to do a good job on her scouting. She wasn’t going to be lazy about it in the first place, but now she just had motivation to do well.

So far it was going well. By what she remembered of the map, she was about halfway to her destination, and her memory of the map was surprisingly sharp. It was like…like she could still see it, as clear as it was when she was physically there. That to be part of her new species, right? While her memories from before were…muddled, she certainly never remembered remembering anything this clearly.

And her memories were…odd. She had two separate sets, one from her time as a goblin, and one from her time as a rat. Neither were particularly clear, it was like…like she had been half asleep when she was a rat and a goblin, and everything was all…hazy. That haziness lasted right up until Queenie had done…whatever she did, and then everything was crisp and clear.

But that was unimportant. Right now, it was more important for her to focus on her surroundings and prepare a good report. And it felt…to be out and about, running as fast as she could and feeling the wind in her fur.

The remainder of her trip to the “biology building”, whatever biology was, was uneventful. No monsters appeared on the outer paths whatsoever; the most exciting thing she saw was a rabbit that had been startled by her passage and had bolted away. And all too soon, she found herself in front of a large stone building, the path terminating at a glass door labeled “biology”.

Just looking in made it immediately obvious what kind of monsters they would be fighting – bees. The inside of the building was coated in a waxy yellow substance, and she could hear a faint buzzing from inside.

She looked at the door for a while, then shook her head and began to walk around the building. It wasn’t because she was afraid of going inside; that was her and she wouldn’t shirk it. No, it was because it seemed foolish to throw herself straight into the hive without exploring her other options. If the bees hadn’t overtaken the whole building, then it would be more beneficial to find an entrance that wouldn’t lead her straight into the enemy’s home field.

But it seemed that her hopes were in vain. A quick perimeter

She walked back and placed her head right next to Rose’s head. “Pats, please.”

“Um…there you go.” Rose said, awkwardly placing her hand on Chrys’s head. “Uh…good job?”

Chrys smiled hugely, pushing her head up against Rose’s palm. This lasted until, eventually, Lia interrupted them. She said, a feeling she couldn’t quite place welling up inside of her.

“Aww.” Chrys pouted, looking longingly up at Rose’s hand. “I was that!”

“D-do you want pats too?” Rose said bashfully. “You…kind of sound like it.”

Lia protested.

“Well, pat me more when I get back, then!” Chrys said. “But…uh, can I eat before I go back out? I’m a little peckish.”

pleaseLia said, eager to change the subject. need

“Yes, Queenie!” Chrys replied. “I’m not tired, so I’ll just eat and then be on my way!” She gave a little salute, then sped off.

“Does she know where the food dispenser is?” Rose asked.

Lia replied.

“A smoke mage?”

“A fair thought, but…have you thought about after we’re done with the bees?”

Lia said.

“Maybe, maybe not.” Rose said. “Sure, it works that way for , but it feels like monsters are…different. You have wood magic but can’t use life magic…can you?”

Lia paused, looking into herself.

“I don’t know, we haven’t experimented enough with it. I was sort of thinking we should try and see if we could combine it with one of the commanders and some melee weapons, and maybe even an archer and bows, along with the staff and robes, see if we can’t make a sort of…all-rounder.”

Lia said. bunch

“I don’t see why not, more options can’t hurt.” Rose said. “Let’s do it.”