The spider girl watched the small girl approach the table. There was something odd about her, but she had been on edge ever since she had set foot in this town. She wasn’t quite sure what was wrong with this town, but something was off about some of the townsfolk. The feeling was not unlike walking into an antgirl nest. Problem was that there wasn’t a single antgirl in sight or any other insect girls. All she had seen so far were elves and humans. The two races often intermingled, especially in towns close to the borders of a human and elf kingdom. So it wasn’t odd to see them in the same town. Not that they always got along. Both races had kept members of the others as slaves for a varied set of reasons.

This small girl seemed suspicious to her. Her very presence seemed more than what she let on. Almost like she was the center of this nest, and she was starting to feel like she was in the center of a nest. Her breed of Arachne had a special skill for sensing certain types of communication that were common with hive-minded insects, but also rarely found in certain monster races. One such monster species could be found in the waters near her homeland. It had a penchant for using its powers to lure young girls and women into the water with it. After that, it would rape them, and then cocoon them in the caves that dotted the rocky shore. They always emerged changed. Often looking several years younger than when they went in, and heavily pregnant. Not to mention that their bodies had changed to better survive in the water. What isn’t well known is that this process completely erases their minds leaving them as mindless husks controlled by the creature that raped them. Her kind were one of the few that could resist its mind powers. Which is why they always had patrols near the water to keep others out of the water. She had once had the honor of being on a patrol, and one of the creatures had gotten a little more creative in attacking her patrol. It had dragged her and a sister into the water. Fortunately, she had escaped the fate of being raped and turned into a monster thanks to another patrol that had heard the commotion. Unfortunately not before it had managed to invade her mind. That was not a pleasant experience, and so she had left with the sister that had shared her experience.

What she felt here didn’t feel like that particular creature, but she half expected to find a similar monster here. Oddly this one seemed to be coexisting with the humans and elves in the village. She had noted a number of people who lived here that had clearly not been touched by the oddity in this town. As for the rest of her party, they had already dismissed her concerns out of hand. Nothing seemed out of place here, and they had never been to her homeland. They also seemed to imply she might be imagining things thanks to her previous experience. She was a little indignant about that.

The small girl she had been watching had finally reached the table and was now helping the maid in breaking up the crowd. What didn’t escape her notice was that the girl was watching her back. Out of curiosity, she chose to weaken her natural mental shielding, and almost instantly she felt a connection to her mind. She didn’t feel any hostility in it, and only curiosity. It also didn’t try to go deeper than the surface. Something she was thankful for, and so along the link she said, “Hello?”

It took a couple of moments, and then someone replied, “So you can sense us talking. Explains why you have been paying so much attention to use. I am Ari, High Queen of the Swarm and Servant to the God-Queen Milith, and you are?”

“Most just call me Telmari, but may I ask what you are doing in this town?”

“Following the will of our goddess, we have built nests in towns like this one. We mostly keep to the inns and brothels of a town or city. A few of us are maids in the service of nobles, but you need not concern yourself with why. If you really want to know her reasons for us, I suggest you journey to Bordertown. You can find her there guarded by a nest, and a dungeon. A good place to rest after incurring wounds in a battle between gods.”

That was something she already knew. Her party leader was a bit of a wild card, and the gods had not offered him the quests involving Milith. He didn’t care, as he had no interest in challenging a goddess that had defeated a god in battle to the death. He labeled the entire idea as suicidal even if she was weakened because of it. The prince did have a point. Not that it stopped him from doing research, and even deciding that their next stop would be Bordertown. Not for Milith, but he wanted to try his hand at the puzzles of the dungeon.

“I have heard about her being there. The prince did some research and learned of that. Right now he seems deadset on challenging the puzzles of the dungeon.”

Ari had just about finished clearing the crowd at this point, and surveyed her party before replying, “Your group is a bit over-leveled for the dungeon, and a certain goddess has made a patch to the system recently. He will have to go in alone. Think he will be alright on his own?”

She sighed, “Yeah, I heard about that ‘patch’ as you called it. No, I’m pretty sure he is going to mess up somewhere and come back to us as a princess. Both me, and his sister tried to convince him not to go, but he wants to go anyway. Speaking of his sister, she has already bought a bunch of dresses to put him in.”

Ari giggled drawing a bit of attention to herself, and then replied to her out loud, “That seems to be premature don’t you think?”

Telmari turned bright red, as she flushed. The sudden outburst was something she hadn’t expected, but the little queen was clearly very amused. As she was now on the floor and still laughing. All three of her party members were staring at the small girl clearly confused as to what was so funny, but the princess suddenly looked her way. The understanding glint in her eye didn’t escape her notice either, and she shrank a bit in her seat. It became more noticeable as she shrank further when the princess started speaking to her, “So what kind of secret conversation were you having with the innkeeper’s daughter?”

Telmari knew that the princess’s assumption was completely incorrect. She could see where it came from though. Quietly and a bit awkwardly she replied, “Uh it was a private conversation, and well we ended up talking about dungeons, and I mentioned the dresses you bought for Kuron.”

The princess shifted awkwardly and moved forward to cover her mouth. Then she hissed, “Don’t mention those here! What if he hears?”

Fortunately for the princess, he was a little distracted by the laughing swarm queen. Who seemed to be calming down. The other member of the party, however, noticed the princess’s behavior. Almost conspiratorially she leaned forward, and asked, “So? What are you two planing over here?”

Telmari grinned almost evilly, and answered, “Kazi here has already bought a bunch of dresses for the prince.”

Kazi looked like she had taken a critical hit, and said, “Hey! Don’t just share that with everyone.”

The mage giggled, and then between giggles replied, “Isn’t that a little? ... I don’t know... premature?” 

Kazi frowned, and said, “Hey, I’m just being prepared!”

Telmari had already seen the dresses she had gotten. She had purchased hundreds in every size just to be sure she had a few that fit. So it went a little beyond just being prepared, and all of them were of the cutest styles she could find. She giggled, and then said, “Tali you might want to look in her bag. It goes a little beyond just prepared.”

Umeko woke up to Lily waking her. At least she thought it was Lily, but she still had difficulty telling the two apart. “Breakfast is about ready, but Arlie told me to make sure you used the toilet before breakfast.”

Umeko flushed a bit, as she was reminded of last night’s embarrassing incident. Thankfully she hadn’t wet it again in her sleep, but she nodded, “I think I will.”

Lily smiled at her and left. She lay there for a moment, and then slipped out of bed She didn’t bother with putting the rather minimal armor that Arlie had given her on, just yet. Umeko just didn’t feel the need to wear it, and she knew it was her new race, but she kind of liked being nude. As she left the room, she began to notice the pressure on her bladder. It wasn’t as bad as last night, but she did need to pee. Evidently, her bladder was smaller than it used to be, but she was also smaller than she used to be. 

It didn’t take her long to take care of her business, and she soon joined the others at the table. During breakfast, she quickly became aware of Arlie’s attention. In addition to feeding Ren at the table, she also served Umeko her plate, and even got her something to drink before she even asked. So just as Arlie left the room, she turned to the nearest twin who happened to be Rose, and asked, “Is this normal for her?”

She giggled, and replied, “She isn’t normally that attentive, but I think she has adopted you.”

Confused she exclaimed, “Adopted!? But I’m...”

Interrupting, she continued, “You may be an adult, but to her, you are still a child.”

She sighed and slumped a little before replying, “I kind of suspected that. It does explain, why she started calling me ‘little one.’”

Rose gave her a gentle hug, and then said, “Don’t let that bother you. In the meantime, you should get ready for that hunting trip. Arlie wanted to do that early in the morning.”

Umeko nodded and went to get her armor. She knew Rose was right, and there wasn’t much she could do to convince Arlie she was an adult. Last night was a mark against that as well. She pushed it to the back of her mind, and decided to focus on the hunting trip instead.

Suzu woke and felt herself being pleasantly stretched down below. It took her a couple of moments to realize that she still had Aki’s tail inside her from yesterday’s activities. They had reached the end of the eighth floor after several similar trials on the islands of the floor. Last night they had decided to have some celebratory sex, and it had been a very enjoyable experience for her. Thinking of last night, she suddenly wished she could share it with her sisters and friends back home. With a bit of magic, she pulled a pen and paper from the inn’s provided writing desk, and started to write a letter home. A little invitation to join her in the dungeon, and all while leaving Aki’s tail still embedded in her pussy.

The rest of their meal at the inn went mostly uneventful. Telmari was still cautious of the Swarmlings, but based on the queen’s reaction to the dresses she was at least certain they weren’t monsters. That didn’t mean she could trust them, and she had made a mental note to gain an audience with this god-queen. She had spoken with Ari, a bit more, and she had volunteered advice on how to get an audience. She wasn’t certain she agreed with it, but at least it made sense.

Right now she was sitting on the bed in the room that she shared with the other girls of the party. In the middle of the room, dresses were strewn across the floor. The reason being that Tali had not been able to resist getting into Kazi’s bag. The enchanted bag was literally filled to the brim with cute dresses. Kazi was rather exasperated with the fun. 

She stretched and headed for the door. She had a little business to take care of, and then she wanted to have another talk with Ari. This time in a private room, where they could really talk without eavesdroppers. Stepping out of the room, she noticed the young girl in a maid’s outfit slipping into the prince’s room next door. She sighed to herself, and muttered, “Again? Kazi will be pissed if she finds out.”

Honestly, where she came from harems were normal, and she had no problem with the prince sleeping around a little. The same couldn’t be said about Kazi. She didn’t like him sleeping around all that much. Telmari had the distinct impression that she was in love with him, and not in a sisterly way, but she hadn’t yet realized that herself. As for Tali, that girl had slept with the prince at least a dozen times that Telmari knew of, and while she didn’t know it yet was pregnant with his child. Telmari knew because she could sense it, and besides, she was also pregnant with his kid or to be more accurate kids. She had also snuck into his room on occasions, and sometimes with Tali. They just had to keep it a secret from Kazi. Not that it would last much longer since they had both gotten themselves pregnant.

She ignored the new rendezvous and headed down the hall to the bathroom. It didn’t take her long to take care of her business there, and then she went to go find Ari. She had questions she wanted to ask, and she was hoping the girl would answer them.

Emily groaned a bit as she shifted. Her mind slowly coming back to reality. It took her a few minutes to realize that she wasn’t in her bedroom, but the living room. She was entirely naked, and a bit sticky. Equally naked and curled up against her side were her two daughters, and half on top of her were a certain pair of demonesses.

At first, her sluggish mind didn’t think anything of the situation, but then she realized that she had no idea what happened last night. Not wanting to disturb the others, she stayed still and tried to work out last night. The last thing she could remember clearly was that she was working in her lab. She had just finished making that item that Misaki had asked her to make. Suddenly she flushed red, and began to feel panic as she remembered what she did with it. Emily had been unable to resist the urge to try it out, but after taking it she still couldn’t remember a thing. Now she was feeling really worried about what she did last night.