First, we needed to secure a water source. People couldn’t live without water to drink, after all. So we dug wells to secure water while creating a drainage system to prevent pollution. The Worker Swarms observed the union’s carpenters and imitated their methods. Before long, both the wells and the drainage system were complete.
Building houses was also the Worker Swarms’ job. They built temporary residences with sloping entrances for the elderly, who struggled to walk up stairs, as well as larger residences for big families. Honestly, they were doing a good job, even accounting for the fact that the carpenters were guiding them. Maybe I could have them work in construction after the war.
“Those bugs do good work. If they become our competition, we’ll be out of a job!” the carpenters’ boss said, half complaining.
“Don’t worry, we don’t have any plans of stealing your work,” I told him.
I was contemplating supporting their budding careers as builders, but not in the Eastern Trade Union. We could go back to Maluk and Schtraut, the now abandoned countries we’d destroyed, and help restore them for the refugees.
We took many lives under our banner of justice, but slaughter alone wouldn’t help a civilization thrive—we’d need to raise people and cattle and crops to make our society blossom. Once we returned to those countries, we could also build newly unlocked Arachnea structures there. It would be a bit different from normal human life, but it shouldn’t be a completely foreign addition. The Swarm consumed, created, and developed, just like humans did. The process might not be entirely the same, but the results were similar.
“Keep it up, and we should have the camp ready in three or four days. Once we have lodgings set up, the refugees will need to secure clothes and food. They’ll have to work for those. I’m sure that with good houses and a large community, they’ll be able to make a steady living for themselves.”
Our wars had forced these people out of their homes. Once the conflict ended, they would no doubt demand to return to their normal lives. Only this time they wouldn’t have to live under a racist king, a cowardly duke, or a pope commanding an inquisition.
History had a way of repeating itself, however, so there would probably be more wars in the future. But now that we were allied with the Eastern Trade Union, we had to keep at least some semblance of humanity.
Should we fight our wars with the intent of crushing everything in our way? Well, when it came to defeating Nyrnal, yes. The Nyrnal Empire had threatened our allies and burned Khalkha down. They would pay for that. If someone cast a stone at me, I’d punch them right between the eyes in retribution. An eye for an eye, I say. And for what Nyrnal had done, I would destroy all of its major cities in response. Having the Dreadnought Swarms flatten them might be nice.
Whatever the means, I wasn’t going to let the Empire kick back all smug like it was now. As leader of one of the major factions on this continent, I couldn’t give those detestable Nyrnals the satisfaction. No matter how many vassals they oppressed, I would defeat them.
“Your Majesty, construction in the western section is complete,” Sérignan reported.
I nodded in confirmation. “Great. Check the name register and start letting tenants into the camp. Try not to scare them too much, though.”
Sérignan wasn’t very pleased with the idea of us building a camp for human refugees. I could feel her discontent rippling through the collective consciousness. At the very least, she wanted them to swear allegiance to the Arachnea first.
I couldn’t blame her, really. Up until now, the humans and the Arachnea had been bitter enemies. Telling her to make nice with the enemy would be a tall order. Still, Sérignan was originally a human knight—in the game, anyway—so I figured she’d be a little more understanding of how the human refugees felt.
Apparently, she believed in Arachnea supremacy, which made it harder for her to acknowledge the refugees. At the same time, I could sense that her loyalty to her queen was her one and only justice. Did she forget her background from the game, then? She’d become a Swarm because she protected human heretics?
“Hey, Sérignan?” I asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Didn’t you join the Arachnea after being driven out of the knights for protecting heretic children?”
“Yes. I protected children from vile knights and came under the Arachnea’s protection. I certainly remember that.”
So she hasn’t forgotten, then.
“Then you don’t have to treat the humans so cruelly, right? There are children just like the ones you saved among those refugees.”
“And yet, humans are the enemy. Even the children I saved back then were riddled with the arrows of their pursuers and died agonizing deaths. Humans are terrible, unforgivable enemies. Thus, we must exterminate them before they exterminate us.”
Oh, boy. Sérignan’s being stubborn.
“Going forward, the humans are our allies,” I insisted, putting my foot down. “Don’t you remember how Konrad’s mercenaries fought by your side? You have to trust them a little. Just think of it as a compromise that will gradually improve our relations with the humans.”
“Improving relations with the humans...” Sérignan muttered.
Just then, a tenant approached us. “You there, missy. Can we really live in these houses?”
“Wait, we need to check your name first,” Sérignan said, guiding him to his designated residence. “There’s a slope, so be careful not to trip. Her Majesty has done this out of her consideration for you, so do be careful.”
“Thank you, thank you. If we were in the Popedom, I’d have been caught by the inquisition, and who knows what would have happened to me...”