Swarming Sovereignty
Chapter 176: Another Interview?

Lia sat atop a mound of earth, staring down at the approaching army with her best disinterested look. It was a force of no more than five hundred, one of the groups Cedric had sent down from the north, and Lia’s objective here was to make them surrender. She sighed and stood, glaring down at them. “Surrender, now.” She commanded, magically amplifying her voice so she could be heard by them. “Otherwise, I cannot guarantee that we’ll be able to safely capture you.”

She snapped her fingers theatrically, and Septima transformed into her ship form and let out a roar as she coiled herself in the air behind Lia, while Amelia, Rose, and several max level people emerged from behind the hill. “If you surrender now, we can work with you to personally tailor your conversions. If you fight back, we won’t have that luxury. You can see by my companions that victory is not an option for you. You are severely outclassed, and no help will be coming for you. I trust you to make the right decision.”

She waited for a moment, and then the woman leading the army raised a white flag and began shouting at her troops. There was a stirring in the ranks, and for a moment it looked like some fights might break out, but none actually did. Seeing that things seemed stable, Lia jumped down from her perch and began walking up to the army.

She was a little nervous that someone would break ranks and charge her, or try to blindside her with a spell, but she made sure to keep the worry off of her face; Amelia and Rose were being vigilant for that, and the commander here was fully on board with the surrender, so the chance of actually being attacked was minimal.

Of course, even if she was attacked and those safeguards somehow failed, Lia was more than capable of handling it herself. None of these people were over level two hundred and fifty, which meant that Lia had a massive stat advantage on top of the effects Alisha provided her. She was, in essence, untouchable as they all didn’t rush her at once.

After a couple of minutes, she reached the army. “I see you’ve decided to surrender.” She said. “A wise choice. Did anyone give you trouble over the decision?”

“N-no, Ma’am.” The captain replied. “Some people did want to keep fighting, but they realized it was pointless when we laid out the situation again.”

Lia nodded. “Give me a moment, then.” She amplified her voice once more so everyone could hear her. “If any of you still harbor doubt about the decision to surrender, you are welcome to meet me in single combat.” She announced. “However, be aware that I was the one who defeated the Lord of Monsters, and that I, as the holder of the Title Pride, have upgraded copies of every Skill Rose has, including eleven capstone Skills. Still, if you believe I am lying or fancy your chances, I would be happy to duel you.”

“I–” Someone shouted, but their voice was quickly muffled, likely by one of their comrades.

“Come here.” Lia commanded. “And whoever cut them off, don’t try to stop them, I won’t harm them in any sort of permanent way.”

There was rustling within the ranks, and soon a spirited-looking young woman emerged, giving Lia a suspicious glance. “I want to fight.” She said stubbornly. “Pa always told me that I should never give up without doing my best, and I couldn’t stand him be disappointed with me if he finds out I surrendered.”

“Very well.” Lia replied. “What’s your name?”

“Rin.” The woman said, gripping her spear tightly. “How are we doing this?”

Lia snapped her fingers, and a large square of earth rose about six feet out of the ground. A moment later, Lia teleported both Rin and herself on top of it. “You’ll attack me, and I’ll counter. When you inevitably fail, I’ll heal you and send you back. I’ve already analyzed you, and I’m sorry to say you have no hope of even wounding me.”

It was true. Rin was only level eighty-seven, and she just didn’t have the stats to do any sort of meaningful damage to Lia. Rin obviously didn’t like being told that, so she rushed at Lia, stabbing out towards Lia’s head with her spear. Lia cast a defensive spell then reached up, grabbing the tip of the spear with a hand and squeezing. The spear wasn’t of particularly fine make, so the metal folded under the weight of Lia’s stats, and she was free to slam a fist into Rin’s belly with her other hand.

Rin was knocked back a few feet by the blow, the spear wrested out of her hands by the momentum. Lia walked up to her and placed a foot on her stomach, pinning her to the ground. “Do you yield?”

Rin struggled for a moment, then stopped. “I yield. I’m not stupid, I just figured it was worth a shot.”

“And I won’t fault you for that.” Lia replied, taking her foot off and helping Rin to her feet. She healed the woman with a spell before teleporting her down from the impromptu arena, then looked out at the crowd. “Anyone else feel like trying?”

No one did. “In that case, we’ll be welcoming you on board the Scourge of the Skies.” Lia said, Septima landing near Lia at the prompt. “For safety’s sake, on the off-chance any of you are considering trying something on-board, we’ll be keeping you together under our watch, and we’ll take you out a few at a time to discuss your conversions.

“We’ll be dropping you off at the fort you just left, and we’ll return for you once the rest of Larios is fully under our control. You’ll be given the option to keep serving in the military or to return to your homes, no strings attached, so think about what you would like to do.”

A hatch opened on the segment of Septima nearest to Lia, and Lia walked over to it. “Now, if you would all come inside…”

Fae shifted nervously from side to side as she waited in front of the Queen’s door. Normally she was more fearless about this sort of thing, but, well, this was the Queen, actual royalty and Fae was bugging her over something relatively trivial. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained, so she just had to suck up her nervousness and go for it.

A moment later, the Queen emerged. “Fae? To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Ophelia mentioned she has video of your fight with the Lord of Monsters. Something about being converted with a video recording tool or something?” Fae said. “Anyway, I wanted your permission to view it on stream. And I am streaming at that moment, just so you know.”

“Is that all? Go ahead.” The Queen replied. “Is there any reason you shouldn’t be able to see it on stream?”

“Ophelia pointed out that it might give your enemies information on your fighting style that you might not want them to have.” Fae explained.

“Oh, yeah. I’m not concerned about that; for one, the big spell at the end is never being used against people if I can help it, and for two, I’m not exactly keeping my abilities a secret. Due to my Pride Skill, I get upgraded copies of every Skill Rose has, and she’s able to learn Skills just by teaching people, even if she normally couldn’t get them. So, it’s pretty obvious that I’m going to fight by stacking as many Skills as possible.

“That and, by the time it actually matters, I’ll have way more options than what you see here. I’ll probably even have some of your Skills at that point. But, while I have you here…why don’t we have a little chat? I’ve been meaning to catch up with you. If you have time, that is.”

“She can black on my hole until I become an infinitely dense point in space.” Fae’s text to speech said.

Shut up! Fae hissed telepathically. She had obtained the ability to do so shortly after her conversion via a Skill that allowed her to seamlessly broadcast her thoughts to her audience without even expending any extra resources or going through any sort of effort. It was particularly handy during times like this, where she was having conversations with other people and needed to tell her chat something she didn’t want her conversation partner to hear. I’ll shut off TTS if you don’t behave!

“That sounds fine to me.” Fae told the Queen. “Um…would you mind maybe answering some questions for my chat, if you have time after we finish talking?”

“Perfectly fine.” The Queen replied. “I was expecting to be doing that when I made this request. So, why don’t we head down to the lake? That is, unless you want to chat privately, I’m fine with whatever.”

“The lake works.” Fae said. “Any reason why the lake in particular?”

“I find it calming.” The Queen replied. “It’s a way to be out in nature without being…out in nature. It’s a bit too dangerous to just casually walk outside here in the Spine, so this is the next best thing.”

“Makes sense. Um, it’s that portal over there, right?” Fae said, pointing at one of the other portals.

“That’s the one.” The Queen confirmed, walking over to it. Fae followed after, and soon she was standing at the shore of the lake with the Queen, the waves lapping gently at their feet.

“So, how are you settling in?” The Queen asked. “This must be quite the culture shock for you, coming from a plane far more advanced than this one.”

“I’m settling in fine, my Queen.” Fae said. “I’ve been having an absolute blast trying out my new body, and I can’t wait to go and see more of Ratha.”

“You know what, just call me Lia.” Lia replied. “I get the feeling that we’ll be talking a lot, and it’d be a pain to constantly have you standing on ceremony.”

“Thank you, Lia.” Fae said.

“You’re on first name basis, now apply the charm!” Fae’s text to speech said.

Okay, TTS off. Fae replied reproachfully, turning off her text to speech. Not now. That was one of the downsides to her audience expanding so much so quickly; the newer people didn’t have a grasp on the channel’s culture, and were much more unruly than her longtime viewers.

“How’s your mental state been?” Lia asked. “It’s got to be disorienting, swapping back and forth between being part of the swarm and…not being part of the swarm.”

“Honestly, it’s not that bad.” Fae replied. “Going between bodies is a lot worse.”

“Really?” Lia replied. “Though I suppose that makes sense, the thought of going back to being a woman of an entirely different species after being in your own body is probably disconcerting. You made your other body look pretty much exactly like your real one, right?”

“I did, but, uh, that’s not it.” Fae said embarrassedly. “It’s just that my ‘real’ body feels a lot…worse than this one does. I feel so weak and so much less energetic, it’s almost like being in it is a chore. And the Goddess of Hearth did confirm that it’s not a side-effect of the process or anything, the difference really is just that stark.”

“Huh.” Lia replied. “I wouldn’t have guessed that. I figured your real body was pretty strong, and probably stronger than what you have here. My understanding is that this plane’s base level of Mana is lower than most others, and that people from other planes are generally stronger by default.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Fae said. “No one’s been able to study this plane or anything, and I certainly don’t have the expertise necessary to measure ambient Mana. I think Yasato, uh, Izumi’s plane, has lower base Mana than Lim, my plane, though.”

“I guess it’s just a matter of the materials used in your conversion and my doing the converting, then.” Lia replied. “We used some pretty impressive stuff in your conversion, and I more than double the strength of the output, so I try to do the converting whenever reasonable. But, yeah, a really strong monster and the Lord of Monsters’ corpse are probably the main culprits in that. And…speaking of, any noticeable changes to your personality from the griffin? Strong monsters have a tendency to slightly alter the resulting personality but I was trusting Hearth to safeguard you.”

“None that I can tell.” Fae confirmed.

“Good, good. So…what are your thoughts on the swarm when you aren’t a part of it? I don’t get the chance to ask that of someone who’s really seen both sides, so I’m curious.”

“I’m withholding judgement until I can see what life is like outside of the capital.” Fae replied. “Life here is nice, but not everywhere is here.”

“Sensible.” Lia replied. “We’re still…doing our best. We’re not going to start flexing our proverbial muscles until this war is over, but the hope is to have this war over with before the new year. Once you get out and about, I’d recommend visiting one of the countries we’ve yet to fully conquer, Ilex or Mountainhome. Or, I guess, one of the three others that isn’t the Sapphire Empire; all five of those countries have informally surrendered, so it wouldn’t be too dangerous for you to visit.

“Ilex and Mountainhome are both ruled by a woman, and they chose to be converted to help convey their sincerity. They’d be happy to help get you permits to go around as you please, and they have villages that are part of the swarm and villages that aren’t, so you can make easier comparisons. Then, when you’re done, go back to their capitals, let the rulers know you want to return, and we can bring you back here. Or we can send you to Aura, which has been part of the swarm longest and whose people have had the most dramatic change in their treatment.”

“I’d like that.” Fae said. “Do you think we could do it after we finish talking here?”

“I don’t see why not.” Lia replied. “I have a few more questions for you first, though. They might not be the easiest, since I want to hear what you think your real self would say about them and that’s not easy when you’re under the conditioning, but please just bear with me.”

Fae felt a surprising amount of indignation at the notion that this part of her was less…real. She almost opened her mouth to correct Lia, but then remembered that it was the Queen she was talking to, not some random person, and stopped herself.

“Say what you were going to say.” Lia said. “I won’t be mad or offended or anything. I don’t want to be treated like someone who can never be talked back to or anything, I want to be as…normal as possible to people when the conditioning is taken into account.”

“Ah. I was just going to ask that you call it my other self, not my real self.” Fae said. “It’s one thing when it’s the body, as things stand that is incontrovertibly my ‘real’ one, as much as I would like it to be otherwise, but I don’t like the notion that I’m not…a person in that sense. And I think the same while I’m in my other persona, too. I am a person, and these thoughts and feelings transfer back to my original self just as well as any experience I have while not like this.”

“Sorry.” Lia said. “I wasn’t thinking carefully and just talking like I would about your body. As much as I have experience with a lot of people in strange living situations due to the swarm being what it is, I haven’t dealt with anything similar to yours yet, and I didn’t fully think over what my words would imply. I just meant your original persona.”

“It’s alright, I know.” Fae replied. “I was a little surprised I felt so strongly myself. Anyway, you had questions?”

“Ah, yes. Do you think…well, I don’t know how to put this gently, but do you think we’re primitive? This plane is relatively young, and I know other planes have radically different forms of government and superior technology. Of the things we take as normal here, what seems the most barbaric?”

Fae thought on that for a while. “In some aspects, yes, I think culture here is somewhat, as you put it, primitive.” She admitted. “But not in a…bad way? Lim was much like this in the past, it’s just a matter of the time you’ve had to grow. And I do think that there’s significant potential with the swarm to accelerate the process and build a society that takes the best parts of all planes, it’ll just require a lot of thought about what you want life to be like once you see what other options exist.

“The fact that you’re here asking about this indicates to me that you are thinking there are some things that people consider less than ideal or even reprehensible, and want to change. I respect that. And, if you want to know what seems the most ‘barbaric’, I think it’s a class system. Whether someone is a noble or commoner rarely says anything about what they’re like as a person; it usually is just a measure of whether or not they were lucky enough to be born into it.

“But I know you agree with me on this. I know you’ve been trying to stamp out discrimination of any sort, and I think that’s admirable. So, I guess…I think primitive is the wrong word to describe what this plane is, I think immature is more accurate. Given time, I have no doubts that people like you would push society in a more equitable direction.”

“I see.” Lia said, sitting down and staring out into the waves. “The irony of this all is that, as a member of the lower class, I would have been completely incapable of causing change. The only reason I have any say in anything is because Amelia fell for me and put me in this position of power.”

“If not you, then it would be someone.” Fae said, sitting down as well. “I mean, my understanding is that Nailah was trying to push the Glens forward, and eventually there would have been a Hero or someone who stumbled into having a lot of combat power who would have made a difference. But, like I said, whether or not you were born into this role or were handed it by someone else doesn’t say anything about you. What matters is what you do with it now.”

Lia was silent for a few moments. “I see. You’re giving me a lot to think about. But…you wanted an interview with me for your viewers, right? Go ahead.”

“I’m afraid it’s all rather dull compared to what we just talked about.” Fae said. “They just want to know more about you, as a person, not as the bogeyman some of the gods make you out to be, and not as the ideal ruler the swarm makes you out to be. Starting with, well, what was your life like before?”

“Ordinary.” Lia replied. “My mom died when I was young and my father was out working all hours to support the family, so I helped raise my siblings as best I could. Amelia was my best friend, and she stuck to me like glue when we were out. She always tried to do things in a way I was comfortable with and never gave a hint as to her status as a Hero or noble. I didn’t find out that she was either until after I died.”

Fae raised an eyebrow. “Surely there would have been clues, right?”

Lia shrugged. “Amelia doesn’t follow normal rules. She has more talent in magic than even some of the gods, and she…well, her power isn’t the kind that a mortal should have, and it warped her personality. When you first met her, she mentioned being in recovery, and that’s why. Only recently did the gods fix some of the things that that power did to her, and she’s still learning how to process normal emotions.

“All of this is to say that she wasn’t caged up like a normal noble, and didn’t have the sensibilities of one. By the time she was three, she was a match for the best the world had to offer, and she was teleporting out of her house and leaving perfect duplicates in her place. She was plenty happy to follow me in doing the sort of normal stuff poor kids did for fun here, and never turned up her nose at food or anything. Taste, texture, smell, none of it mattered; the finest of foods and literal rotting garbage might as well have been the same to her, if they gave her the same nutrients.”

“Her power did that? Does that happen to anyone who gets strong enough? Are you and Rose at risk of it?”

“No.” Lia said. “Amelia is special. She was unknowingly channeling the power of the gods, and that’s not something mortals are built to handle. To tell you the truth, she passed some of that on to me, but it’s not anywhere near the point of being a problem. And, if it ever gets to that point, the gods have assured me that they’ll apply the same fixes they gave to Amelia. Same with Rose, but her situation is a bit more complicated. Anyway, next question?”

“Um…” Fae hurriedly glanced over at her chat and picked out the first normal message she could read. “What are your hobbies?”

“Reading and spending time with my lovers. Most of my time is spent on either self-improvement or the war, and my lovers generally take up the rest, so I’m afraid I’m rather dull.”

“Self-improvement?” Fae asked.

“Studying and training. I study to be a better ruler and train to be a better fighter. I don’t measure up to Amelia or Rose in terms of combat, no one does, and Rose was one of the best stateswomen this plane has ever seen, so I’m trying to close the gap as best I can. I may have been thrust into this role, but I want to give my people the best life I can give them, and that means handing over a lot of the ruling to people more competent than I. I also don’t want to be a figurehead, so the only solution is to put in a lot of work and improve myself.”

“Another mindset I respect a lot.” Fae said. “Uh, give me a sec while I read my chat…what’s your favorite food?”

“The school cafeteria had these really nice cookies. Or, at least, nice for what I could afford. They were a rare treat, but occasionally Amelia would buy them for me, so I guess I’d say those?”

Fae spent the next ten or fifteen minutes digging through her chat and finding the best questions she could. She had to throw out a lot of suggestions, many were inappropriate, too personal, or referenced things like World Saviors that Fae wasn’t allowed to talk about, but in the end, she felt like she got a decent interview in.

When they had finished, Lia took Fae back up to Lia’s house to get her teleported to another country, but as they were prepping Fae realized she had yet to say goodbye to any of the people she had met. That worked out, since they wanted to send some word about Fae to the ruler of Ilex, Zara, so, Fae set off to say her goodbyes, and another half hour or so later she was back in front of Lia’s house.

She took yet another deep breath and rang the doorbell, or…whatever they called the system that notified the house’s occupants that there was a visitor, and waited. It was time to really kick her exploration of this world into gear, and the excitement was already mounting.

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