From outside of it, the way the monsters all seemed to home in on the castle was a lot more helpful. Not only did it mean that there were fewer monsters in the fields outside the forest, but it allowed Regina to extrapolate their movements. She could see the patterns in the way the monsters who were outside moved, which made it easier to guide her hive to avoid them.

Their trip away from the castle were the most nerve-wracking one of her life. At least in the forest, you couldn’t see all the monsters in the area, even if they might be waiting behind some trees to jump you. They were also in the middle instead of at the edge of the monster horde now, which meant she could probably expect to encounter more high level monsters.

The further they traveled from the castle, though, the lower the monsters’ levels seemed to get. She only managed to get a blue box for some of them, those who were closest. But while they were mostly question marks at first, after leaving the castle behind them, she could read the level about half of the time.

They couldn’t completely avoid meeting some monsters, unfortunately. A few of them simply moved away from her hive, probably sensing that they were outclassed or at least out-leveled. Regina and the warriors managed to scare away a few others. But that didn’t always work.

Max pulled his ax out of the hide of a young Hill Troll, probably about level 10, and wiped it in the grass as they finished their latest fight. Regina shook her head at how much of a difference a proper weapon made. They could have defeated the troll before, but it had gone much faster now.

“I was hoping I would level up again,” he muttered.

“Soon,” Regina consoled him. “It’s obviously getting harder at higher levels, but given how much we’re fighting compared to before, our next levels shouldn’t be far off.” She certainly wouldn’t mind if Max and Tim reached level 7 too.

She glanced at the downed troll, then hurried away quickly. Already, she could see what looked like a vulture monster circling overhead, and a few dark shapes were also approaching. They needed to leave them the free meal and get gone.

She could see more of the village as they came closer. It looked bigger than she’d expected. She’d estimate it as housing at least a thousand people, rather than the little hamlet she’d imagined. Of course, that was only by medieval standards. Smoke was rising from several houses, and the wind carried the faint sounds of combat. It also smelled faintly of ash, which covered whatever other scents there might have been. Regina spared a moment to be thankful that this direction was downwind of the place.

It looked like the monster density was higher here, too. That didn’t bode well for any defenders, even if there weren’t nearly as many as at the castle. Regina looked around, picked her steps carefully and fell into a jog. The sound of the drones’ steps behind her increased like hers did and made it harder to hear any quiet noises, but that was worth it. She dashed across the field onto a dirt path leading into the village.

The village’s houses looked to have sprung up wherever there was room, without much in the way of organization, or straight roads. The outer houses all had gardens extending into the fields around the village. One of them sported a few small fruit trees. Regina barely noticed a shadow moving behind one of them in time to stop.

A small fireball flew across the road right in front of her. A second later, her own Magic Missile responded. She managed to curve it slightly, and was rewarded by a small scream as a figure stumbled out from behind the tree.

Regina was already readying another missile when its appearance registered. She canceled the spell and took a step forward, holding out her hands.

“Stop!” she barked.

The woman across from her started, but Regina hadn’t really been talking to her. Max and Tim stopped right away, and she saw Max slowly lower his blade-arm. But Regina didn’t take her eyes off the woman for long.

The human woman was maybe twenty or thirty, it was hard to tell. She wore some kind of cloth head covering Regina didn’t know the name for and a dress of roughspun material that didn’t look to have been dyed. There was dirt on her face and her dress, and she noticed a few rips near the hem. Not what she would have expected of one of the first human magic users she met. There also didn’t seem to be anyone else with her.

“Calm down,” Regina said, unable to suppress all of the exasperation in her tone. “We’re not your enemies, but you’re lucky the boys there didn’t get to you before I could stop them after you attacked me.”

The villager frowned. She looked Regina up and down. “You’re actual people, then, not monsters,” she mumbled, as if to herself. “Begging your pardon, I’m a little jumpy today.”

“Of course we’re people,” Regina replied. Obviously, there was no need to tell the human that they actually were monsters, even if she suspected that would be accurate.

“Then maybe you can help fight the monsters in the village?” the girl asked, now sounding hopeful. Regina was starting to realize that she was younger than the grime made her seem.

She sighed, considering it for a moment. They did intend to enter the village in the first place.

“They’re not strong, really,” Janis hurried to say. “I don’t think there’s any over level 10. I reckon the strong ones all went and tried to get into the castle. It’s just we don’t have many fighting men here, since they’re all gone to the fort, too.”

That did sound like it would make for good experience, if nothing else. “Alright, then,” Regina said, looking around again. “Guide us to the monsters we can most easily take out. And maybe if you know a good defensive spot, too. We need to take shelter from the horde, but I’m not averse to helping out with killing a few monsters.”

“Thank you, m’lady.” Janis smiled. “Right this way, then.”

Despite how they’d met, it appeared she did know her way around, at least. Janis led them into the village through a back alley. It took less than a minute until they saw their first monsters.

Regina crept forward carefully, watching as Max let Tim go on ahead to peer around the wall of a house before she did the same. This one looked a bit like the Troll, but with a squatter frame and four arms. It also had a wide maw that gaped open to show an uneven row of teeth.

Regina withdrew and nodded at the others. Tim nodded back before he visibly took a deep breath, then got a running start and jumped at the monster, using his Charge ability to cover the ground quickly.

His sword bit into the abomination’s side, but it didn’t seem to do much damage. Regina attacked with a Magic Missile, trying to target the same spot, but she missed and only managed to hit its shoulder. The monster rocked back slightly, but seemed to regain its balance quickly.

Max attacked from the other direction, his ax crashing down on another arm. The monster withdrew a little, and Tim immediately followed it up with another cut.

“Careful!” Mia called. “There are more coming!”

Regina looked around and stepped closer to Max. Two other monsters must have been attracted by the sound of the fight and were running at them now. They both had question marks for levels and names she didn’t recognize. One, a Flaming Fox, looked exactly what it sounded like, while the Rolling Grass seemed like a bigger version of the mimic they’d fought before.

She took a deep breath. She didn’t have much mana left, but this wasn’t the time to be stingy with it. So she sent a Magic Missile at the second monster, which stopped it in its tracks for a moment.

Tia swung her left work-limb at the fox, then snatched it back. Tim pivoted from the Rockborn and slashed at it with its sword. Mia didn’t miss her cue and stepped into his place immediately, taking a swing at the monster’s head.

That left the grass free, which was clearly angling to get at Tim’s side. But a moment later, another Firebolt roared out, throwing it back. The air started to smell of burnt grass.

Regina glanced at Janis, who looked paler than before and had one hand clenched tightly into her skirt, before she turned to the fight against the Rockborn. It was clearly their toughest opponent.

She’d lost her spear and didn’t have any proper weapon, or even natural weapons like the drones. But she did still have magic. Regina focused on her mana and held the spell she wanted in her mind, shaping its details meticulously.

A few long moments later, she had a little bit of lead in her hand. She’d sensed instinctively, with the knowledge the spell gave her, that it was cheaper in terms of mana than steel or even diamond. It was a simple shape, oblong and coming to a point at one end. A simple dart.

Regina centered herself and weighed it in her hand, then let go. With her relatively high speed and Dexterity, the projectile flew true, with more power behind it than any rock she’d thrown before. The short range helped.

The monster let out a shrill cry and clasped one hand over its right eye. Blood was starting to pool under it. Max didn’t give it any time to gather itself, but darted in. His ax bit deeply into its knee, where its defense was clearly weaker. The monster stumbled and fell. Then, while Mia cracked it over the head, Max swung at its neck. It gurgled and stopped moving.

Regina turned around and smiled in relief as she saw that the fight was over. Tia was standing over the burnt corpse of the grass monster and Tim had given the other one several deep slashes. Apparently, the flames were only surface-level and it had a flesh-and-blood body beneath that.

“How did you learn how to cast that, anyway?” she asked the villager.

Janis ducked her head and glanced to the side. “I just figured it out,” she mumbled.

Regina raised an eyebrow. Considering her experience with the presumably much simpler Spark, that meant Janis was probably either talented or a pyromaniac. “Let’s keep going,” she said after a moment.

They moved through the outer parts of the village at a slow pace. She learned from the last time and only engaged monsters when there were no others close by. Once, they missed one and had to fight two at once again, but the monsters were both under level 7, so it wasn’t a problem. Max and Tim both reported leveling up after their third and last fight, against another Rockborn Abomination.

With this part of the village cleared, they started to move into the center. Regina decided to keep to the main road. While it might be more exposed, it also offered better visibility and let them fight side by side more easily. This street was actually paved and reasonably straight.

Strangely enough, they didn’t encounter any more monsters in the next few minutes. Regina frowned, taking a deep breath of the air. It smelled of fire with the scent of various monsters mixed in, but it was hard to differentiate which of those would still be alive or even nearby.

The street opened up into a small open yard, which probably functioned as a town square or marketplace on specific days. She saw several people standing there. Two of them appeared to be in plate armor.

Then the last one turned around, and Regina frowned as she recognized the local baron. Apparently, they weren’t the only ones who’d abandoned the castle. He must have moved quickly.

“Hive Queen Regina and companions,” Neralt drawled, shaking his head. “Thank you for escorting them, Janis.” Then he looked from her back to Regina, his eyebrows drawn slightly together. “I am glad to see you still alive, although I admit I did not expect to meet you here.”

“I wouldn’t have expected to see you here, either,” Regina answered. “I take it the castle has fallen?”

He grimaced. “Unfortunately, it has. My duty compelled me to return here quickly to defend those I am sworn to protect.”

Or he just didn’t like the high-level monsters who had probably overrun the castle. But it wasn’t like Regina minded.

“We already killed quite a few monsters infesting the village,” she said. “I am prepared to help you defend it going forward, but not for free.”

The noble sighed. “With myself and what remains of my men here, I think we stand a decent chance of defending the village without any further casualties. But you are welcome to stay.”

Regina crossed her arms. “We will need supplies and weapons.” She glanced down at herself. “Clothing. As well as food and such. Further compensation for our assistance can be discussed later.”

He stared at her for a moment, but she met his eyes calmly. She knew that she was negotiating what had to be mercenary work. Even if there weren’t exactly many other places they could go, he wasn’t in a position to turn away help.

“Fine,” he finally conceded. “I will arrange for a bath first.”