Chapter 23
The crossing to the other side of the otherworldly gate was a strange experience for those who tied their senses to their familiars; Cold waves buffeted against their skin like diving through turbulent arctic water. Those with weaker mental fortitude would also later describe experiencing headaches of various severity when their familiars were in-transit.
Luckily, the familiar users suffer neither fatality nor mental corruption from the transition. The worst that happened was many of them falling into unconsciousness as they couldn't bear the pain during transit, and their familiars unsummoned themselves within the void between the worlds.
Once more, the faith Shinki put into her maid/daughter wasn't misplaced; After what felt like an eternity of wading through turbulent waves of icy water, a small group of dragonflies flew out of the gate alongside their familiar fellows from other summoners and took in the first sight of a new world to connected with theirs. They had prepared to see another army of the same card soldiers fighting at their side of the gate slaughtering the reckless young adventurers who crossed over before them and their desperate last stand.
But their expectation crumbled when their familiars gazed upon the otherworld sharing their sight of a slope barren of life where not even a husk of the tree remain with their masters. The sky was barely lit with light piercing through the thick grey cloud that seemingly spans the entire horizon. And at the foot of the hill, their reckless hired hands were milling around seemingly in search of loot. And in the distance, was a small cloud of dust from the galloping metallic horse with the tin-man who led the invasion earlier running away from the gate, too far for any ground-bounded adventurers to follow.
Most of the summoners quickly deploy their familiars to the surrounding perimeter, which was relatively easy since their back was covered by a cliff which the gate was built into, leaving only the slope and the vast barren landscape in front of the gate to cover. A few quickly had their familiars speed up to catch up with the escaping invader leadership, hoping to follow him to the settlement, or the closest base where they launched the attack from.
Among the second group was Taylor's dragonfly familiars, she reasoned that with the limited number of familiars she could control, it'd be best for her to focus on a smaller target instead of spreading out like others who were more capable than her. While there was a concern about this invader running far enough that she couldn't follow, she was confident that it shouldn't be that far considering the tin man was traveling on a horseback and not other faster movement methods.
The ride went on for a few hours, to the point that Taylor had to let the familiars automate while she gets some rest and dinner. But when Shinki was telling her to rest and dismiss her familiars and put the endeavor of that day as a failure, something beyond the gate caught her eyes at last.
"Ma'am, I found their settlement!" Taylor whispered excitedly as her familiars took in the view of artificial light shining in the distance under the darkened black sky of the otherworld. That excitement didn't last, however, as it fade away and was replaced with a premonition when the familiars got closer to the light sources and Taylor could identify the details.
"It's a giant castle? Wait… where is the population? Where are the residents that should be located around the castle?"
Taylor voiced her thought out loud sometimes later after a few of her familiars broke off from tailing the tin man and looked around the area. Confusion was evident in her voice as she couldn't find any sign of life or civilization in the vicinity at all.
The castle was gigantic, with stone towers rivaling small apartments in size, walls over ten stories tall, a gatehouse with a stone archway large enough for a four-stories-high vehicle to pass through, if such a vehicle exists, the main courtyard as large as multiple football fields, and the main castle that could easily be confused for a small skyscraper, except made of stone and has no window.
It was an impressive feat of engineering and probably has some magic involved, but even so, the whole thing felt lifeless to Taylor for some indescribable reason, and that made her feel anxious.
Shinki's hand gripped Taylor's shoulder, bringing her back out of her thought. She looked at her mistress questioningly, prompting a reply; "Do not presume too much, my child. Maybe they dwelled underground? Or maybe the castle has something that obstructs your surveillance? It's too early to tell and we should investigate further."
"There seem to be no ill-effect on the adventurers on the other side of the gate, Ma'am." An unfamiliar voice rang out from next to Shinki which caused Taylor to jump and cut off her familiar visions to look at the speaker, who turned out to be the previously silent female Merfolk, the Deep Prelate; "But it hasn't been a day yet, so I wouldn't say that the air over there is safe to breathe in the long run."
"It's safe to be there." Shinki stated confidently, before quickly adding; "Even so, anyone that wants to cross over should be able to erect a barrier to filter the air around them, just in case. And prepare magicians that can help those reckless people over there too."
Taylor had a suspicion that Shinki already know air on the other side was safe to breathe in the long term but didn't want others to be careless just because she told them it was safe.
Soon enough, the suggestion was relayed to the assembling expedition party to be sent after the first group of reckless adventurers. With that out of the way, Taylor refocused her mind back to the familiars inside what presumed to be the settlement of the otherworldly invaders…
…And she did it just in time too, as the tin man who led the invasion had just passed through the gigantic gates of the main castle which opened automatically without anyone nearby to man them which led her trailing dragonfly familiar inside as there was no window or other access point in this castle as far as other familiars moving around the place reported to her.
Inside was a large hallway lit by magical lanterns on the support columns lining both sides and suspended on the curved ceiling overhead. Footsteps echoed on the stone floor as the tin man dismounted and walked further down the hall, with his steed obediently following him. Such sight caused Taylor to realize that said horse might be artificial, or under some kind of mental manipulation as it never panics at all during the failed invasion earlier that day.
She pushed that thought aside as the man reached another opulent gate at the end of the hall with a whole platoon of card soldiers standing sentry. The gate opened with a creaking noise, letting the invasion leader inside before closing again so quickly that Taylor's dragonfly could barely slip through.
A massive assembly hall, with rows upon rows of card soldiers of various types standing attention in silence as far as the eyes could see, greeted her familiar. The ceiling painted in red and white murals depicted battles the card army waged some time in the past, or so Taylor thought as she wasn't well-versed in interpreting meaning from artworks, so she decided to focus elsewhere…
…such as at the tin man who has gained distance from her familiar while he approached the gigantic golden dais at the end of the assembly hall surrounded by metallic pillars and with an equally huge figure sitting on top of it, something which Taylor felt embarrassed of not noticing earlier despite it was as tall as the ceiling and encompassed the whole wall behind it, glowing and radiating power all this time.
Realizing that she wouldn't catch up in time, she had her familiar landed on one of the pillars in the room and turned the sensory magic to the maximum to capture the scene and conversation that she was sure will soon occur between the presumed leader of this land and their subordinate that invaded Makai.
The figure that sat on the dais, the presumed leader of this castle, was a two-stories tall woman with a comically pudgy face with chalk-white makeup. An equally gigantic crown adorned with jewels the size of a grown man's head covered the top of her head. Her heavy-set figure was dressed in elaborate black, gold, and red that covered everything from the head down. Her puffy sleeves embroiled with club, spade, and diamond surrounding the larger heart symbol hid her hands from view.
Those symbols, coupled with the soldiers of this supposed land, finally got Taylor to make the connection with a certain book she has long forgotten;
'What? Is she The Queen of Heart in the flesh? Wait, what is that?'
Taylor thought with a frown as her attention, and by extension, her familiar's eyes were drawn to the countless strange arm-sized, metallic tube-like objects painted in strange runic symbols that emerged from the ground and connected to the base of the throne this 'Queen of Heart' was sitting on. And when she looked up, she found that there were more of these tubes coming from above the ceiling down to behind the 'Queen' as well.
Taylor didn't get to ponder the purpose of the strange tubes, however, as a voice boomed from the 'Queen of Heart' with each flap of her blood-red lips, her translation spell worked through the hearing of her familiar and allowed her to comprehend the speech;
"So, Duc De Puce, it's only been a couple of days since you set out for the Otherworldly Gate, what news from the other side did you bring to this Queen?"
The tin man knelt before the gigantic queen with his face looking down to the floor, seemingly pondering on what he could tell his ruler without getting punished. Unfortunately, that decision was taken out of his hands as one of the distinctive armored figures with a helmet shaped like a serpent's head standing close by reported in a smooth, slimy voice;
"Ah, it seems that De Puce's conquest has gone awry, your majesty. The last report from one of my little cards embedded in his army was that it was routed by the natives on the other side."
The air in the assembly hall seems to thicken with invisible pressure extruded from the gigantic form on the throne that even Taylor could feel through her familiar, telling her that this being was no pushover, a danger to her and everything.
But that sense of danger made it even more paramount for Taylor to have her familiar stays and gather as much information as possible for the possible future confrontation, and so she endures.
"You bring shame to this Queen's rules, Duc De Puce…"
The giant queen's voice rumbled in displeasure, yet the tin man, Duc De Puce, didn't dare to look up or even try to run away, not that he could get very far of course.
"…But most important of all, your failure put this Queen's power in jeopardy." The venom in 'The Queen of Heart' voice intensified with each word. Her murderous gaze caused Duc De Puce to tremble, his armor rattled in fright, while his compatriots stay silent and made no effort to help him.
"I have tolerated your incompetence before, De Puce. But this one, shall not stand."
It was obvious that the Queen's wrath will fall on him, yet it was the manner of her judgment that would give answers to the uninvited guest's watching eyes.
"Your pitiful soul and magic essence may be worth scrap compared to the sacrifices you failed to deliver, but magic essence and soul it still be..."
The tin man stood shakily on his feet. His head snapped left and right in panic like his voice; "No… no… p…p… please… M… M… Me… Me… Mercy… cy…cy…cy…"
His plea was unheard, no second chance was given, and his fate was sealed. The Queen of Heart's arm rose, her massive fan spread wide overhead before she swung it down at her feet with a mighty boom, yet the noise was still drowned by the verdicts that left her mouth;
"Your Queen commands you, Duc De Puce… Off with thy head!"
The judgment was absolute, literally.
One moment, the tin man Duc De Puce was still wailing, pleading for his life, and then suddenly, a red aura enveloped him, forcing his trembling form to barely stay still. And then, a voice filled with horror gave way to crazed loyalty and blind obedience as his armored arm morphed into a blade that leveled at his neck;
"Happily, Your Majesty!"
With a single motion, the head and the helmet were sent clattering on the ground, followed by the body soon after. Taylor wasn't sure what was more terrifying; the fact that there was no flesh and blood beneath those armors or the wisp-like substance that rose from the corpse and inhaled into the gigantic Queen of Heart's comically small mouth.
A huff of dissatisfaction bellowed from the Queen before she addressed another underling with a booming voice; "Duc Beauregard! What is the status of our remaining 'livestock'?"
Taylor couldn't shake the feeling that 'livestock' in this case will involve sentient beings out of her mind after seeing the callous regard this Queen displayed earlier. But before she could think further, the tin man who ratted out De Puce's failure bowed to the Queen and give reports, and information to Taylor by extension.
"Our last batch of the population of this land proves to be a tenacious one, my Queen. Their essence will be enough to sate your desire for another sun's cycle. Though I advise against conjuring more troops, as we have no more sacrifices to power the ritual until we can bring more from beyond the Otherworldly Gate. Or we will be on an even shorter timetable."
Chill crept up Taylor's metaphorical spine at the implication of what she had heard, but she had no choice but to calm down and do the only thing she could do right now; gathering information, which was even more important after she witnessed the soul-sucking of the poor general who failed the Queen, as Taylor also felt that even her magic and all the martial art she learned over the years wouldn't amount to anything if she were to directly confront that monstrous Queen of Heart either.
But as the old man Yang once said to her; 'No one is untouchable, even the greatest champion is as vulnerable as a child when they inevitably have to rest.' She hoped that she would be able to identify this Queen's weakness and exploit it, either by herself, or someone more capable should the need to destroy this... abomination arise.
The Queen of Heart's dissatisfaction was clear to see and hear with her decree after the tin-man Duc Beauregard's assessment; "See to it that they are not wasting energy on a useless thing. My hunger is not that easy to sate."
"I hear and obey, your majesty."
After that smooth response, Duc Beauregard gave the giant Queen a bow before making his way out of the hall. But as he reached for the door, the Queen called him again.
"And arrange for a second army to march to the gate, reclaim it, and bring those invaders to me. They will serve as my appetizer before the main course on the other side if nothing else. Order Duc Truffe to assemble his troops and go with you!"
The tin man regarded his Queen one more time, before motioning the card soldiers to clean up Duc De Puce's remains and left the hall, with Taylor's dragonfly following with no one noticing.
The man made his way up the winding stairwell that stretched so far upward that Taylor was quite sure that it wasn't designed with human limits in mind. And when considered that someone like Duc Beauregard's station had to take it, she'd wager that this castle has no modern conveniences like elevator, or any teleportation either.
'Or maybe it was designed so that any intruder would've exhausted themselves on these stairs before going anywhere, my child.'
Taylor didn't flinch when Shinki's voice rang through their telepathic link as she was already accustomed to it, and she could understand the reason for the mind link; Instead of relying on her memories to recall everything she obtained from familiar and hoping that she could remember them all with clarity to tell them, it'd be better for Shinki to sit in and watch along with her to perhaps seeing something that Taylor missed.
Almost half an hour was wasted for Duc Beauregard before he led them to an area over the Queen's throne according to Shinki. Inconspicuous double wooden door with a strange glowing seal over it and two card soldiers barred his way. Oblivious to the tiny familiar, the tin man placed his right hand over the seal, causing it to glow and the door swung open, welcoming the man inside with a tiny dragonfly and the guards silently followed.
Rows of glass tubes connected to large metallic tubes painted with runes of similar design found at the Queen of Heart's throne greeted the familiar's sight as it silently landed on the ceiling and silently crawled behind Duc Beauregard. The frontmost rows were just empty glass tubes, but as they went deeper into the hall, Taylor had to suppress her urge to vomit as the tubes were filled with bone piles, many of them humanoid of various shapes and sizes. Their original appearances were no more and impossible to discern. Some tubes closer to the entrance even had sediment inside, which Taylor was quite certain were once living beings completely drained of sustenance to feed the hungry Queen below and those in this castle had yet to clean them up.
As her familiar moved to follow Duc Beauregard down the room, more intact corpses begin to appear in the form of mummified cadavers. The more she saw, the more Taylor wanted to ask Shinki to just call off the expedition and obliterate this castle along with that monster that called itself Queen to spare Makai and this seemingly already dead world of its threat. But the conversation she heard back at the throne room below calmed her down to at least investigate the so-called 'last batch of sacrifices' first.
Her patience paid off when they reached the end of the room and saw what was there; Living beings suspended inside the dry tube by some form of magic instead of liquid. They were probably not in league with these people, considering that they had probably been unwillingly used as a food source for that Queen.
Two out of three of those in the tubes were not human in any way, shape, or form, which made a terrifying implication as to why this world was a barren wasteland; One was a human child-sized white rabbit, another a Labrador-sized striped house cat, and the last one was a blonde-haired preadolescent human child in a tattered rag, they probably ran out of the livings to feed to the Queen already.
Duc Beauregard walked up to the first tube containing the rabbit, his head practically touching the glass as if to sneer at the poor creature before he huffed and placed his hand on the strange symbol etched on the glass tube.
The effect was immediate; Despite their state of apparent unconsciousness, the 'livestock' in the tubes were jolted awake instantly with pain according to their expressions, especially the human child which forced Taylor to endure her silent scream, helpless to intervene.
Seemingly satisfied with the adjustment, Duc Beauregard sneered at the beings inside the tube; "All of you are just as every bit as stubborn as that Sir Longarm, especially you, princess…"
The tin man walked in a circle in front of the prisoners/Queen's foods as he continued his gloating; "…Well, for all his resistance against her Majesty, his offspring and retainers would end up providing for her Majesty more than any other peasants. Ironic, isn't it?"
The striped cat, despite being in pain, struggled to level its glare back at the tin man with hate while others fall unconscious judging from the lack of reactions.
"Aww, don't give me that look, you damn talking cat!" Duc Beauregard said mockingly; "You reap what you sowed. You don't agree to provide people as sacrifices to Her Majesty. Unlike me, who knows where the wind is blowing, and now with De Puce gone and Duc Truffe soon to die fulfilling his mission, the duty to hunt for new sacrifices falls unto me, I will be her most trusted right-hand man in no time, heh, heh, heh…"
Satisfied with the gloat, the tin man turned around and marched toward the exit. But the man seemingly couldn't help himself and gave them the last gloat on the way out; "Be good boys and girls while I'm out 'inviting' people to relieve you of your duty all right. Heh, heh, heh…"
The giggling didn't stop until Duc Beauregard exited the room and the door slammed shut and the room fell silent once more, with the dragonfly familiar still inside and unnoticed by the caretaker...
…The prisoners, however, proved to be more observant despite the pain they were in, as Taylor sensed something mentally poking at her familiar's mental link as if asking to be let in.
Despite being hesitant at first, reassuring mental prods from both Shinki and Yumeko were enough for her to open the mental barrier and initiate proper first contact with the denizen of another world.
'Greeting, stranger. I'm sorry that we didn't meet in a better circumstance, either you or I.'
A deep, masculine voice rang in Taylor's mind. Shinki who was also tapped in made a mental nudge telling her that she had her back and somewhat boosted her confidence to continue the conversation instead of ending the conversation right then and there.
And so, her maid training kicked in and she politely greeted the other side back; 'The feeling is the same, sir.' While assumptions are usually dangerous, she thought that she could cut some slack about guessing her conversation partner's gender this one time. 'There was a gate opened on the world we're from, unleashing an army of card soldiers upon us. So, we came through to investigate after we beat them back.'
She decided not to divulge information more than necessary. It wouldn't do to tell strangers of another world about their expedition force and defense when the hostile forces could be tapping into and exploiting the knowledge, after all.
'Understandable…' the voice replied, before introducing himself; 'You can call me White. White the were-rabbit, loyal retainer of the late Sir Longarm. Prisoner and nourishment of the corpulent Queen of Heart.'
Recognition flashed in Taylor's mind about a fairy tale she read when she was a child, but she put it to the back of her mind as she continued the conversation with the so-called were-rabbit in a rag; 'We were invaded unprovoked. Our emissary was killed before he could even initiate a proper conversation with them…'
A small giggle from Shinki echoed in her mind at the mention of the 'dead emissary' as she knew that Taylor was exaggerating it. But she paid her second mother no mind and wait for the reaction from White.
A mental sigh was heard before White spoke in a resigned tone; 'I am truly sorry that your world has been chosen as this monster's next target. Had I known how I would have told you a way to deactivate the gate and deprive the Queen of another world to feed…'
'…We have our way to ensure that her next assault got repelled and gain no foothold on our world…' Taylor cut the were-rabbit off, and then changed the topic; '…Putting that aside, what happened here?' A moment later, she quickly elaborated when she noticed the equivalent of a question mark in her mind; 'I mean this land is completely barren with not even a single plant! Are you saying that this Queen consumed them all?'
The last part was just her wild guess, but to Taylor's shock and horror, White confirmed that part with an explosive sigh.
'Yes.' Then he asked in worry; 'Wouldn't you worry about the Queen's army? She wouldn't be deterred by one or two failed invasions.'
'We have our way, sir.' Taylor repeated, before using the opportunity to fish for information; 'But since you seem to be against this Queen and I cannot act through this familiar except for gathering information, can you tell us more about her?'
While part of her mind suspected the were-rabbit was trying to gain sympathy from her and get her to oppose his nemesis, the previous actions she observed down in the throne room and the recent action of Duc Beauregard clearly show that this 'Queen of Heart' has no good intention at all for Makai and probably any other worlds she'd send her agents to cross over.
And so, the White regaled his tales;
'It sounded… like a bad fairy tale…' was what Taylor was thinking as she listened to the were-rabbit in-tube;
White and Cheshire – The cat in another tube - were born in the land governed by a fierce lord who goes by the name Sir Longarm. He was a strict, yet just and protective lord of the fief of thousands of people of all races. They both feared and respected their lord and thus when they came of age, they elected to serve under him just as his wife give birth to a daughter.
Sadly, a few years after that, the Queen was rumored to be conducting a study into immortality as she was past her prime. Over the years, they accompanied Sir Longarm to the gathering of nobility a few times, and the Queen was almost always absent.
'She was grieving' people said, and they and their lord didn't suspect a thing back then. Not even when rumors started to circulate about people in the slum of the capital vanishing and prisons emptying with no discernible cause reached the countryside where Sir Longarm's fief was located.
Meanwhile, Sir Longarm's daughter grew up with a great mystic potential which awakened on her fifth birthday, to which White and Cheshire were tasked by Sir Longarm to be her mentor in that art, while Sir Longarm taught her statecraft, no doubt preparing her to succeed his position when the time comes.
The girl was brilliant, or so White claimed, as she takes the lessons like a duck taking to the water. But it was irrelevant to the story and so Taylor asked him to stay on topic.
Three solar cycles passed from that day, and things suddenly came to a head when the Queen's decree reached their fief, ordered an expedition to conquer a foreign land, and armies from all other lords will be assembled at the capital before marching forth.
Like obedient subjects of the crown, they prepared to depart for the capital. But disaster struck their territory in the form of a flood, delaying the departure. So, they sent a messenger to inform the crown of their predicament months in advance.
It was a blessing in disguise, as the distraught messenger returned a few months later, bringing with him news of the capital barren of livings and the people being dragged in chains to the monolithic castle where the Queen resides by an army of card-like beings.
Sir Longarm wasted no time assembling a token army and marched to the capital along with White. He held no illusion that he would be able to repel these card soldiers with such a meager force, but he also knew that even if he conscripted the entire fief to this endeavor, it still wouldn't be enough, and hence opted for infiltration of the castle to hopefully helping the royalties escape to his fief where he ordered the construction of fortification to prepare for the eventuality.
Again, their expectation was shattered as Sir Longarm and Cheshire infiltrated the castle and found the Queen in the throne room, now unspoiled by age, but enlarged to the size of a small house.
'You mean previously she was the same size as you were?' asked Taylor as the story reached the tipping point.
'Indeed.' White tiredly replied and continued his story 'When we found out that the Queen decided to feed on the souls of the living to extend her life and increase her power, we retreated to our fief and prepare for battle to stop her. Messengers were sent to warn other settlements both allies and foes of their country, of the emerging threat…'
Unfortunately, not many believed them and come to their aid. And thus, divide and conquer led to the fall of all living and civilization in this world. Year by year, the card soldiers of the now-christened Queen of Hearts rampaged through the land. Trees were chopped down, grasses were uprooted, and animals were hunted for their life force to feed the neverending thirst of the abomination. And with each life reaped, the Queen used their life to conjure more of her minions.
Taylor was mildly disturbed at how similar this Queen was with one of the highest-threat supervillains back in her first life and shuddered at the imagination of said supervillain and decided to give world domination a go. Because the Queen overran this world in just a couple of years with the card-soldiers apocalypse!
Granted, it was a technologically backward world where messengers were the fastest form of common international communication, with telepathic-capable people few and far between. But the fact remains about how much of a threat such power could've been.
Taylor put those stray and useless thoughts aside before asking the most obvious question; 'If they spawned so many dron- I mean card soldiers, then where are all of them now? Why only this Duc De Puce guy leading something like a thousand against us in the first wave?'
'Where do you think the Queen got her power to summon the gate and connected your world to ours? Spending those she hoarded for prolonging her life would be the last thing she'd do. And for all her powers, she couldn't command an army to save her life. Sir Longarm and we could resist her for years because her generals were busy fighting stronger resistances elsewhere. And the Queen never micromanage what she considered a trivial affair.'
Taylor felt a little embarrassed for not considering such an option, and berating herself for not considering the implication of the Queen's ability to seize power back from her pawns despite already seeing her do it in front of her (familiar) eyes earlier.
At least, the situation wasn't as hopeless anymore that they wouldn't be facing endless armies of card soldiers as initially predicted, not that Shinki would've let them establish a foothold should the adventurers start to fail as she demonstrated in the earlier invasion. But Taylor also understood that she would want everyone to not rely on her and try their hardest first and be stronger or learn something new afterward.
Still, it was more prudent to be certain, and Taylor mentally asked Shinki if the others were preparing for a second wave yet with the answer being yes, which put her worry to rest for the time being and her focus back on the prisoner/Queen's nourishment.
'Is there a way we can help you?'
'I appreciate your kindness. But I must implore you; find a way to seal the gate and deny this Queen of its prey and leave us here. We won't last long if the Queen cannot find more beings to feed. And when we die, the Queen will soon follow when she finished cannibalizing all her minions.'
White sounds like he resigned himself to his fate. But as Taylor had her familiar glanced one more time at the little girl in the adjacent tube, she asked him; 'Even if Sir Longarm's daughter will perish with you?'
A mental shrug was heard inside her mind as White replied in a resigned voice; 'I'm not expecting you to come and rescue us when Duc Beauregard and Duc Truffe are going to lead a second assault to retake the gate soon. You should focus on that and not us.'
And then the were-rabbit mind retreated from the familiar's mental space, leaving Taylor alone with her mistress once more.
Seeing no point in maintaining the familiars, Taylor dismissed them and felt a sense of vertigo that threatened to make her fall over to the floor as she processed the memories from them, only saved by Shinki's hand which held out as if she foresaw this event before it happens.
"T-Thanks, Ma'am." Muttered Taylor as she slowly readjusted herself and stood up and look around.
Out in the distance from the gate, there was an army approaching their camp bearing the flag of Michael. While on the ground most adventurers had stopped looting card soldier's remains and already crossed to the other side of the gate for a while now, indicated by that group of Casanova wannabes was nowhere to be found, and a small army of automated golems and constructs from various materials from stone, iron, or wood, replaced them as another line of defense to the upcoming invasion.
Now that she didn't have to focus on her familiar, she could now see and form her opinion of the arrangement with a frown; "Shouldn't automated disposable constructs be sent out to the other side as our first line of defense?"
Shinki shook her head and asked back teasingly; "I don't think you're this forgetful, my child. While the reward money from participating in this exploration is not lacking, they're called adventurers and not mercenaries for a reason."
Taylor averted Shinki's eyes to hide her embarrassment while the two Merfolks standing guard over them seemed amused at the exchange judging from the glints in their eyes. She collected herself before addressing the obvious issue; "With that being said; From the discussion of sending more people through the gate, you want to rescue those people from that Queen, isn't it?"
Shinki's silver eyes looked at her maid/daughter with a smile on her lips as she confirmed Taylor's suspicion; "You know me well, my child."
"Is that wise, Milady?" Yumeko argued with a frown as she glanced at the gate to the other world; "Now that we know the cause and reason of the invasion, why are we still risking giving that monster a chance to prolong its life for just three persons who are already doomed? Or if those people are spies to sabotage our defense?"
Silence reigned at the blonde-haired maid's devil advocate before Shinki put a hand on her lips and giggled a moment after to the confusion of everyone else there.
"My, my, where is your disagreement with Haku going? You sound like her just now."
Yumeko's cheeks turned pink at the mention but she backed down, which prompted Shinki to ask her a question; "Whether or not these three people have malicious intentions with our world afterward, the fact that matter is that the Queen is using these people as her energy source. And cutting off the enemy from their resource whenever it is present is always a tried-and-true tactic, no matter what world or universe you are from."
The Merfolk duo looked contemplative, while Taylor looked at Yumeko, who seemed resigned, before turning back to Shinki; "So we wait until they sortie to infiltrate?"
"We wait, yes." Shinki repeated, but then her silver eyes widened and her lips curved into a mischievous smile before she hid it behind her hand as she teased Taylor; "Still... if you're set for the rescue from the beginning, why did you dismiss other familiars watching the castle just earlier? It would be convenient if we know their movement early, no?"
Taylor froze for a moment before she succumbed to the un-maid-like behavior by physically facepalming herself at her mistake, to the giggle from Shinki, and exasperated looks from the others.
Author's Note: This is what happen when Emperor Text to Speech popped up on your mind during one sleepy morning. And of course, I imagined the 'Queen of Heart' to look like her counterpart in a certain spinoff series of games where the power of friendship is literal, and the arcana is the mean by which all is revealed.