Chapter 36. She Was a Queen.

“O great Queen of the Arachne. Go on, punish me.”

[Kerrrk-kerrrk-! You will regret this! For the sin of insulting me so-!! You won't even be able to die peacefully-!!]

“Oh, really? How scary~”

[Gyaaaak!!]

Ah.

I shouldn't.

I knew it was the wrong thing to do.

To take pleasure in tormenting others.

This would make me the same kind of person as Simon.

But…… her reaction was just too amusing.

“You're angry, aren't you? But you can't do anything, can you?”

Mocking her high-pitched screams, the crystal didn't even tremble.

It had exactly two functions.

Pulsating and making noise, that was all.

[If only my body were intact-!! A wretch who wouldn't have dared to even meet my eyes!!]

“That much is true.”

When I had faced the Arachne Queen.

I had sensed my own death.

Of course-

“So? What can you do, with not a single leg to your name?”

Not anymore.

I devoted myself to the shaking game that the Arachne Queen seemed to love so much.

[S-stop-!!]

“Alright. Are you in the mood for a proper conversation now?”

[Shouldn't you be the one to act properly for a conversation to even happen?! You're not even asking questions, just constantly getting on my nerves-!!]

I couldn't help but nod at the Arachne Queen's words.

It was also my fault for being so engrossed in teasing her.

I should reflect, reflect.

“Alright, Queen of the Arachne. That's too long, so I'll just call you Queen.”

[Add a title of respect! Call me Your Majesty!]

“Do you not grasp the current situation?!”

The Arachne Queen freaked out when I tried to shake the crystal again.

[Stop it!! You wicked human-!!]

“To think such a great monster would be gasping from just this much of an impact.”

Then again, don't even trained martial artists get knocked out cold if they take one bad hit to the jaw?

Considering it was protected inside a hard skull, and additionally by a crystal structure, it wouldn't be strange if its contents were extremely delicate.

“Anyway. Queen. You're the Queen of the Arachne, right?”

[That's right! I am the Queen of the Arachne!]

“Was this the brain?”

I examined the crystal from all angles.

I had read a similar story in a science fiction novel.

It was a disturbing story where the body died, and only the brain remained to preserve consciousness.

It was small for its size, but…… if this was a brain, it wouldn't be strange for consciousness to exist.

However, my speculation was immediately denied.

[Brain? How foolish.]

“It's not a brain?”

[There's no way a lowly being like a human would understand.]

This one hasn't learned her lesson.

Thinking that just shaking it wasn't enough, I repeatedly tossed it high into the air and caught it.

I might accidentally drop it, but there was no way something that couldn't even be split by a sword would break from falling on the ground.

‘Though the shock would be transmitted all the same.’

When I took it out of the Queen's head, the sword had touched it several times, and a considerable shock must have been transmitted.

Perhaps that was why it was now in a state vulnerable to shock.

Well, anyway. The situation was perfect for tormenting the creature inside the hard crystal as much as I wanted.

[Gyaaaa-!]

The Queen, going up and down vertically, screamed.

A little higher, even higher.

Oops.

Thwack.

The crystal fell onto the corpse of an Arachne.

Of all places, it plunged into the exposed entrails where the abdomen was cut open, becoming covered in filth.

“Damn it. What rotten luck.”

It was my mistake, so I couldn't blame anyone.

I quickly retrieved the crystal and plucked some grass nearby to wipe off the filth.

Just like when I had taken it out of the Queen's head, it became clean in an instant, as if it were covered with a stain-proof film.

[Hic. I've been defiled…….]

“You were originally inside a corpse.”

I had taken it out of the head myself.

Was she saying her own corpse was clean and the corpse of another Arachne was dirty?

[You bastard……! Do you have no sense of understanding?!]

“The world has gotten better. A monster is seeking understanding from a human.”

When I took a stance as if to throw the crystal towards the Arachne corpse, the Arachne Queen raised the white flag.

[Stop! Stooop!! I get it, so just stop!! You villain!!]

* * *

I didn't much like how she kept insulting me until the very end, but I let that much slide as a cute antic.

“Now. Are you in the mood to explain a little?”

[Evolution. It is the initial stage of evolution. Starting with the most important organs, they are replaced with new structures.]

Hoh. So that's how monster evolution works.

My knowledge has increased.

[If I had succeeded in my evolution, I would have surpassed a simple queen and……! I would have become the strongest monster in history, feared by dragons and astounded by demons……!]

I think she said something similar earlier. She must really like that expression.

‘It's a relief I dealt with it in advance.’

The Arachne grew exponentially stronger with each stage of growth.

The Queen alone was Drake-class, so if she had ascended to the stage above that, could she really have become a being greater than a dragon?

That truly would have been a catastrophe.

[Attacking me while I was evolving……. You coward…….]

“What do you mean, coward.”

Anyone who heard would think I had attacked a creature that was just minding its own business.

Of course, there was the very small incident of Grainy setting the cave on fire.

In the first place, discussing fair play with a monster was itself nonsensical.

To prevent the worst-case scenario, what's a little cowardice?

‘If I leave it like this, will it just evolve on its own?’

In any case, the important thing was that this crystal was the seed for the Arachne Queen to evolve to the next stage.

The chances of it evolving without problems after being separated from its original body were slim, but since it was still breathing, the evolution could proceed depending on the situation.

That was dangerous.

The problem was, I couldn't see a way to dispose of this crystal.

I had already tried breaking it with my sword skills, and I had failed.

Considering it had prevented decomposition while embedded in the head, chemical means probably wouldn't work either, and since its roots were in a Red Arachne, fire probably wouldn't work well either.

Right now, it couldn't even handle being shaken, but how long would that last?

To dispose of this cursed stone as quickly as possible, I needed someone else's help.

A person who could break this would be-

‘If it's Simon or the Sword Saint.’

I was scheduled to meet them in the Imperial Capital, so there was no need to rush to find them.

If even the Sword Saint couldn't do anything about it…… I guess I would have no choice but to accept the world's destruction.

For now, I put the thought of disposal out of my mind.

Then, the question about the cave suddenly came back to me.

If the consciousness contained in this crystal belonged to the Arachne Queen, she could testify about the inside of the cave.

“Alright, you poor Queen who was in the middle of evolving. You Arachne lived in a cave, you said? Was there anything special about it?”

I asked bluntly.

[……Suddenly?]

The Queen stammered, seeming flustered.

I had the upper hand, so there was no reason to consider a monster's feelings.

“Just answer the question. I asked why the number of Arachne increased so much only in the cave where you lived.”

[How would I know? I just lived there and it happened-]

Hah. She's still being uncooperative.

“Do you want to be thrown back into the filth?”

[Aaargh! Stop! I'll think about it! I'll think!]

The Queen only cooperated after I brought her close to the filth.

Why did she keep repeating the same mistake?

Was it because she was a beast, after all?

[……I- I'm not sure.]

“…….”

This little brat.

After thinking for so long, all she could say was ‘I don't know’?

Are you kidding me?

[I was born and raised in one cave! How could I possibly compare it to other caves!]

The Queen, noticing my irritation, hastily added an explanation.

It was a logical explanation in its own way.

Special was a relative term. Even humans, if they lived within the same fence their whole lives, couldn't imagine a different environment.

‘I have a bad feeling about this. I can't just let it go.’

Perhaps because I had been traveling with Pol, who showed a miraculous ‘intuition,’ it was hard to ignore my own gut feelings.

In the end, I would have to go and see for myself…… but if there were still Arachne, especially superior individuals or another queen, just approaching the place would be dangerous.

It would be proper to grasp the situation, at least roughly, before going.

“Tsk. Then let's ask something else. Did all the Arachne in the cave come out?”

[Almost all of them, I think?]

“You're the Queen. Why can't you be sure?”

Is there anything you know for certain?

Her uselessness was truly befitting of an Arachne.

[How many Arachne do you think there are! Do you think I'd pay attention to every single one of those lowly underlings!]

The Queen uttered a line worthy of a noble about to be executed during a revolution.

She was a queen in her own way, I suppose.

“Does that mean all the ones you would pay attention to came out?”

[That's right! Fourteen superior individuals are looking for me! If you value your life, release me and-]

So that's what she was banking on, shouting so confidently despite having lost her body.

“It's fine. They were all killed by human hands.”

[What-?!]

As it happened, I was passing through the scene of that very massacre.

“Here. Look.”

I held the crystal up high.

I wasn't sure if it could see, not having any eyes.

But wouldn't it at least have a sense to perceive its general surroundings?

Arachne piled up like mountains.

And collapsed superior individuals scattered here and there.

They proved their deaths by not being able to move even as the Queen screamed right in front of them.

[This can't be……. My legion…….]

I felt a vibration from the crystal I was holding in my hand.

So it was capable of moving this much.

“There are no more Arachne to save you. If you don't want to be split in half and die, it would be wise to cooperate obediently.”

[Hic, sob-]

Why are you crying?

When you do that, it makes me feel like the bad guy.

* * *

“Oh- you're back!”

Grainy, who had been anxiously pacing back and forth in front of the ranch, brightened up when she saw me.

“I'm back. The situation is over.”

I explained to Grainy what had happened at the lord's castle.

From the fact that the lord hadn't even contacted the Knight Order, to the swarm of Arachne.

Of course, I omitted the part related to the Arachne Queen.

“Haaaah. That's a relief.”

Grainy let out a sigh of relief at my story.

“Well then, we'll be on our way.”

“You don't have to be in such a hurry……”

Grainy trailed off, sounding disappointed.

“We have our own circumstances.”

We had already discussed this part earlier, so the conversation did not drag on.

I woke up Pol, who had been sleeping soundly without a care in the world, and we quickly finished our preparations to leave.

Just as we were about to depart, Grainy held out a carefully wrapped bundle.

“Here, take this.”

It was heavy and squishy.

The moment I received it, I knew it was meat.

From the smell, it was not the meat of a monster.

My mouth immediately began to water as I remembered last night's meal.

My heart warmed, thinking she was looking out for us at the end.

Just as I was about to express my gratitude in words.

“It's the cut Wade liked. Make sure you deliver it to him. It might spoil, so as quickly as possible.”

Of course.

There was no way it was our share.

I was slightly disappointed, but I quickly changed my mind.

If the road to Dejong was delayed and the meat was about to spoil, wouldn't it be fine for it to end up in someone's stomach before reaching its original destination?

And there was a place I had to stop by before going to Dejong.

“If possible.”

It seemed an accident was scheduled to happen during the delivery.

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