Coran found himself looking at this female wasp with confusion.
He wasn't exactly sure what to do here.
He never would have imagined that she would have wanted to become his slave. His masters were one thing, but him? Before he met his masters, he was nothing more than a weakling- a low tier 2 monster who's strength was about the same as a teenage human child.
'I suppose it's because she has seen only my own strength, and she hasn't witness the greatness of my masters firsthand? Ah, that must be it. She probably couldn't possibly imagine a being more powerful than I, and as a result she likely believes that my masters are simply manipulating me into serving them. Or maybe she thinks that my masters are like the human leaders- those kings and emperors and the like who are actually weaker than the men who serve them. That must be it. However, she is a queen herself, no? She is stronger than even her strongest warriors, so the concept of a ruler being stronger than their subordinates should not be unknown to her. Well, either way these things are pointless to think too hard about. The real issue here is- would it really be alright to take this woman as my own slave? I shouldn't have the right to do so, but I suppose if it is only temporary, and I clear up the matter with my masters when I arrive back from the mission, there shouldn't be any issue.'
The woman who lay in a submissive position in front of Coran was slim, yet fit. She had sharp yet attractive eyes, and they were more human than wasp-like. Instead of having thousands of eyes like the others, she only had two, and she actually had human hair, though it was colored black and yellow as the rest of her body was.
To a certain extend, Coran could see her as beautiful.
She wore an outfit made from chitin, or something of the like, that created a skirt and a blouse. She had two legs and two pairs of arms, however she currently held her upper pair of arms behind her back as she lie down, and they were covered by her long pointed wings, which ran down her back. The lower pair of arms however, were insectoid, similar to Coran's spiderlike arms.
Standing up, she seemed a little too giddy. Coran didn't trust her.
'Just why is she so happy? I've just invaded her home, killed her people, and spared nobody but her, with strict conditions. I could understand if she was excited to serve my masters, but even I was suspicious of them at first! Why then, does she seem so ready to serve me? Is this some sort of act so that she can backstab me? But there shouldn't be any chance of that. She will only be shooting herself in the foot by doing so. She cannot beat me when I am awake, and even when I am asleep it would be tough... if I woke up it would be over. Even if she did so, she would be stranded in a location surrounded by enemies that would likely be able to overwhelm her with numbers... then why? Why is she acting like this? I can't get a read on her.'
Coran was filled with confusion at the response of the wasp queen.
Something else then hit his mind that made him grin.
'You know... now that I think about it, this woman in front of me who I currently see as weak... she is actually very strong for this world. I suppose the strength of my masters has distorted my own view, but she is actually far stronger than even my mother was... to think that I have become so much stronger just by serving my masters. How great they are...'
Coran turned away from the wasp queen, waving with his human hand. As he did so, the bandages covering it moved out of the way, and Alicia got a good look at his human hand for the first time.
"Ah!", she shouted. She seemed to have realized something and was smiling extensively.
"Those hands!! I... I can't believe it! I.... I'm not the only one!!", she exclaimed.
Coran turned around to see a fidgeting woman.
'Just what is she talking about? Why is she acting so weird?'
Alicia took her hands out from the cover of her wings, showing him her two arms. They were yellow, and made from a chitin substance, but they were in the shape of human hands, with fingers and thumbs, unlike her lower pair of insectoid arms.
"I.... I've never met another one so similar to me. Even those two warriors were far more like all the other ones. Why am I so different from all the children I bore? I've always wondered that, but I just thought that maybe it was because I was the queen..."
She seemed to be twiddling her thumbs and looking at the ground, unable to make eye contact with Coran.
"A-aren't you the same? Do you know of anyone else like this?", she asked.
Coran put one of his spiderlike arms to his mouth in thought, and his sister came to mind.
"Yes, I know one person."
"Oh... so you haven't been alone then..."
She seemed somewhat disappointed.
What was she getting at?
"Um! Is this person... is this person a male or female??"
Question marks seemed to be continuously popping up over Coran's head.
'Why is she drilling me? Is this one of her tactics? Is she trying to get information out of me? I should be careful with what I reveal here.'
"Yes, it is a female."
"Ah!! O... of course it would be.... that's right!! Of course there would be a female... hahaha!! No wonder... then, it must be your girlfriend, right? Well.... I suppose I wouldn't mind being the mistress... ah, what am I saying!?!"
"Hah?"
"A-am I wrong? I mean.... it would be impossible for you not to have one, right?"
"Uh... that person is my sister."
"Oh!!!! I see!!! A sister!!!! I see!!!! Hahaha!!!! Well.... anyways let's get off this topic for now... what shall we do? Should I call you master?"
Coran seemed to irk at the term.
'That's not... no, I cannot allow her to call me her master. That would be disrespectful to the ones who I call master.'
"Just call me Coran."
"C-Coran!? Is that your name?? Is that alright... for me to just call you Coran?"
"It's fine. What about you? What should I call you?"
"I am Alicia."
"I see. Then, I will call you that from now on. Let's get out of here, Alicia. I will explain the situation on the way. Never forget that if you decide to betray me that I won't hesitate to kill you off."
Coran felt no killing intent at all from Alicia, only complete submission. Even if he couldn't understand why she had submitted herself to him so fully, he accepted it and decided that she might prove useful on this upcoming mission.
The two headed out of the hive, and Coran began explaining his story.
"Where should I even start? I suppose from the beginning, from the moment I met my masters. Listen up, Alicia. This is gonna be a long story, and I expect you to help me out from this point on."
"I will help you, Coran!"
"Alright..."
----
Coran explained everything to Alicia as they exited the hive together, starting from his own story in how he met the antiheroes, to the establishment of the dictatorship, the expansion of the city, the submission of the lizardmen and birdmen, and his time and experience ruling the city on his own.
She listened with diligence, and she seemed very interested in his stories.
This was because as the queen of the hive, she was always locked up in that one room.
Even though she had continuously trained herself, and was the strongest warrior in the hive, she was never allowed to go outside, as she held the responsibility of reproducing and increasing the number of workers and warriors.
However, Coran's stories filled her with excitement.
She was about to go on a new adventure- one where she would meet new people, and explore new places which she had never before seen.
She was like a bird trapped in a cage all of her life, only to be set free and allowed to soar through the skies as she pleased.
Coran explained his mission to her, and she began to really think about certain things when he was speaking to her.
What did it really mean to be a monster?
Was she a monster?
Was Coran a monster?
Were her children monsters?
She knew of humans, and heard about them from some of the warriors underneath her who fought with them. Some of the wasps had attacked the wall before, and from it seen the complexities of human society at a distance, however her knowledge of humans was only the tip of the iceberg.
As a humanoid- she desired to know about their societies and culture. It was as if she had an instinctive longing to meet humans- something instilled in her which only other humanoids felt.
Would they be similar to her hive, or different?
What different types of people could she meet?
She was excited at these prospects, and on hearing Coran's mission about convincing humans that they were not monsters- but rather intelligent beings which could be negotiated with, she wanted in.
She wanted to complete this task, and be able to work together with the humans.
Even more so than this though, she wanted to be by the side of Coran.
She wanted to stick with him, and assist him in anything he did.
Even if she could only be of a slight use to him, she wanted to be with him.
This was out of an instinctive desire to be protected by someone stronger than her.
She never knew before now that she held this desire, but it was clear as day now that someone who held a completely dominating strength over her and her warriors appeared.
Coran seemed to almost fanatically speak about his masters and their achievements, but Alicia was not as concerned with them so much as she was with him.
However, she also began to gain a respect for his masters, as any woman would try to find interest in the hobbies and passions of the man they loved.
"And so, that is why we must go to the human realm. We have to search out, and try to find a small town in which we will try to live as regular humans. As a matter of fact... I suppose I could use the fact that I am now traveling with you to my advantage.... use everything that you can, no matter how insignificant it may seem at first.... yes, I just got an idea. Listen up, Alicia. At first, we might need to break through the wall."
Coran and Alicia were almost at the exit to the hive at this point, and Coran pulled out the map.
"The wall is here. We have to travel west from where we are... which, we are probably somewhere around here... and when we get to the wall, it is almost certain that we will have to fight our way into the human realm. There is an entire legion of people guarding the wall, led by a man named Tirian, as far as I was told. However, worry not. We don't have to fight them all. We simply have to break through. Once we make it through, we can simply hide ourselves until they stop pursuing us, and after that we need to find a small village which we will move into."
"Move into? We are simply going to walk into the village as if we are regular humans, and start living in a human home?"
"Exactly. However, things probably won't be so easy. As far as I was told, the humans won't so easily allow us to just walk into their cities and start living there."
"Why not?"
"Because we are monsters. Me, you... we are nothing more than humanoid abominations, who have no place among anyone. We have no place among the wild monsters, and no place among the humans. Well, perhaps your situation was different because you were the queen of your hive, but surely you must have felt it? We are not like the wild monsters... those drones, who only crave for chaos and destruction. We exist for a greater purpose, and yet we roam this world without reason, unable to make a dent in the order. However, this is exactly why it is such a blessing for me that I was found by my masters. They have given me a reason to fight, a reason to live, and I am willing to die for that sake."
'He's.... so cool... I wish I could be as resolved as he is...'
"So, for that reason, we will do our best to establish ourselves as new tenants in this human village. If we can somehow convince the humans that they should treat us as equals, and be able to coexist with us, then we can work towards expansion of the Dictatorship into the human realm. As things stand, the humans would never accept monsters in their midst, but what if it started with just a few, and they realized that we are like people? What if they realized that we can speak and negotiate with them? That we are not any more dangerous than a group of mercenaries who walk around their cities, armed. If we can show them that we can coexist peacefully, then we will be able to expand our boundaries beyond merely the monster realm, and into the human realm without the use of force and mass terror and panic."
"I see!! So the first thing to do is to get in, and the second is to simply try to live a regular human life... but what does that even mean? How are we supposed to live a regular human life?"
Coran smiled.
"That is where you gain value. In the human realm, they apparently live together as families, with a father and a mother, and usually some children as well. This is only for the sake of the mission, but when we enter the human realm I want you to play the role of my wife."
----
Alicia felt like she was floating on a cloud when Coran proposed to her.
Even if it was merely a temporary proposal for the sake of a mission, she was still asked by the one who she had submitted herself to, to play the part of his wife.
It was like a dream come true.
'Ah... I don't really know what's going on... why am I so happy because of this... is it really that I have just been this lonely this entire time??'
She was ecstatic, but she tried to hide that with a serious face.
'I should... try to calm down. T-that's right. I need to start acting like the queen I once was... even if I am his sl-sl... sl... slave... it's kinda hard to admit that now that I think about it... ah, that was so embarrassing!! Why did I beg to become his slave!?! I need to think calmly... I've been acting strange ever since I first met him. Did he charm me with some sort of magic? No, that isn't the case. Ok. I need to act calm.'
"I accept. I will play the role as your wife."
'Nailed it! Now maybe he will be a little impressed at my calm composure?'
However, when Alicia looked at Coran, he seemed to be already looking forward, as if her acceptance was a foregone conclusion.
'I just accepted! Is he not happy in the least?'
"There's the exit. Let's go.", Coran said, while grabbing the arm of Alicia.
'He doesn't even care! But... he just grabbed my hand like this... that could mean something!!'
"We should travel faster than this. Can you fly on your own, or should I carry you while I swing from tree to tree?"
"Please carry me!!"
"Uh... ok. So you can't fly?"
"Just carry me!! It shouldn't matter if I can fly or not!"
'Am I supposed to be the slavemaster here, or is she?', Coran thought.
Coran grabbed a hold of Alicia, carrying her in his arms like a hero holding a damsel in distress. He shot a web out at the entrance to the hive, reeling the two in. The poison which he had spat out before had long retracted, but he remembered it mid flight, and quickly shot out what was essentially a cocoon, wrapping Alicia inside of it so that she wouldn't come into contact with any of his poison. Her entire body was completely covered in webs, so that not a single piece of skin showed.
"What are you doing!?!", she said with a muffled scream, however Coran ignored it and made his way out of the hive.
"I can't move!! Please let me out of here!! Is this something you are into!?!"
"Please be quiet, I am trying to protect you."
'Ah! He's trying to protect me! Does he think that if my beautiful face is seen by another, that they will get jealous and try to make me their own!?'
"Oh... ok! Please protect me then!"
Coran then lifted the cocoon up, and placed it inside his large backpack, headfirst.
"W-what are you doing!!! I'm getting all dizzy like this!!!"
"Ah, whoops."
Coran then lifted the wrapped body out of his backpack and flipped her around, so that her head was now on top, and she curled up her legs into a ball to sit inside it nicely.
Coran used his insectoid hands to unwrap her face, and she seemed to be smiling strangely.
"You just stay in here for now. It's safer this way."
"Ok..."
Coran then closed the flap to his bag over her, and started spinning from tree to tree.
'I really don't understand this woman, but whatever. I can use her for the mission, so it should be fine. Is this how Theo feels about Sarah? Women sure are unpredictable... perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to take her... but without any risk, how can there be any reward?'