[717] The Key to Liberation (1)
Maze Andre — World No. 283.
The Garnet Colony that Shirone entered following the Thirteenth Night was a kingdom more prosperous than any human city.
Passages leading downward tangled like a labyrinth, and without sunlight nothing was visible.
"Is it okay if I make some light?"
When Shirone cast Shining, the Thirteenth Night tilted his head but soon lost interest.
It wasn't that there were no light-producing creatures at all.
'Control is solid.'
The chamber was huge, and the worker ants were mostly not shirking their duties, diligently fulfilling their roles.
"This way."
They passed the spore farms where worker ants gathered and went beneath the hatchery. The Thirteenth Night tensed noticeably.
"From here on it's the nobles' district. Mind your manners—or you could die."
In ant society, nobles were the drone ants: those who never worked and lived only to await their nuptial flight.
'There really are a lot of them.'
Countless noble ants whiled away their time in private chambers. Some tormented captured slaves; others gathered aphids in droves and threw raucous parties.
The Thirteenth Night moved through the cave, emitting polite pheromones to everyone as he went.
Most nobles ignored him, but suddenly a noble burst through a hole in the ceiling, his splendid wings thrown like a mantle.
"What's a soldier doing here?"
"Dar'an."
Only nobles received names in the Garnet Colony; drone ants' names ended in -an.
"A new species has been captured. I'm taking it to Queen Garnet."
The Thirteenth Night could not lie.
"A new species, you say?"
Even to Dar'an, Shirone's appearance was of an unrecorded type.
"Hmm. An awkward structure."
Dar'an judged Shirone's form purely by function.
"I'll run some experiments. Leave it here."
The Thirteenth Night protested vehemently.
"This is not that kind of species. I'm sorry, but… it uses the same thing I do."
Hostility rose from Dar'an's body; Shirone felt his blood run cold.
"You lucky survivor. Do you think you're some special specimen?"
Most nobles looked at the Thirteenth Night with contempt.
For one, unlike the other soldiers who were identified only by serial numbers, he had a unique name given by the queen.
He was also the only soldier ant born when the Garnet Colony first opened who had survived until now.
"I apologize. But the queen has many questions about what I use…"
No ant in the Garnet Colony could overthrow the Thirteenth Night, and yet a coup would never occur.
The nobles would marry a princess in his stead and produce countless offspring, for the infertile Thirteenth Night could not breed.
But before the nuptial flight, the queen's orders were absolute. Dar'an swallowed his anger and pointed his antennae at Shirone.
"You'd better please the queen. If not, I'll tear your body apart soon enough."
Shirone's fertile body provoked a revulsion in the drone ants comparable to death.
Dar'an spun and vanished back into a fissure in the ceiling. The Thirteenth Night turned to Shirone and said,
"I told you—you could die. If you want to go back, this is your last chance."
In the worst case, they might have to fight tens of thousands of ants in the deepest reaches of the mound.
"I'm fine. I came in prepared."
Returning alive would be extremely difficult, but Shirone's destination wasn't the surface world anyway.
'To return to my original world I have to meet the queen.'
When he first fell here he'd been utterly lost, but over time his thoughts had clarified.
'I think I know how to break this world's seal.'
It felt as if another version of himself in a different world were sending hints.
"This is the royal area."
At the colony's deepest point sat a vast chamber with thirty-two radiating corridors like an enormous pupil.
The Thirteenth Night, having seen the princess ants—far larger than the others—wandering about, said,
"A soldier cannot enter Queen Garnet's chamber. To have an audience you need permission from Rank 1, Princess Merot."
He glanced around, approached a familiar princess, and bowed.
"Princess Panot, a soldier greets you."
"Thirteenth Night, is it? It's been a while. Has something happened on the surface?"
"I brought a new species the queen will like. Do you know where Princess Merot is now?"
Princess Panot extended an antenna toward Shirone.
"This is the new species?"
Where the nobles saw a rival, the princess's instincts brimmed with curiosity about a new species.
Putting fertility aside, acquiring better genes was the paramount task for insects on the surface.
"How fascinating. What are you good at? How long do you live? What do you eat? How do you reproduce? Are you strong?"
Amid the barrage of questions, the Thirteenth Night gave a clear answer.
"It can use the same thing I use."
"What? Really?"
Panot's antennae probed Shirone faster.
"Then it must be incredibly powerful. The Thirteenth Night is strong, too—stronger than the Paratra military ants."
"You flatter me."
As the Thirteenth Night emitted polite pheromones, Panot turned.
"Good. I'll take you to my older sister's chamber. Romit's probably out drinking aphid sap."
Panot was intrigued, but rank was rank; it was proper to wait for Merot. The princesses weren't violent, so the Thirteenth Night gestured calmly for Shirone to follow.
"Princess Merot will take you to the queen. My part ends here."
In ant society each did their role and wanted nothing more. The Thirteenth Night left as if content.
"She'll be here soon."
Shirone inspected Princess Merot's chamber, whose outer walls were solidified, and sat where earth had been piled.
After about thirty minutes the outside grew noisy, and a gigantic ant appeared in the cave.
'Princess Merot.'
Shirone didn't know much about ants, but she smelled different from the other princesses—surprisingly fragrant.
"They say it's a new species. Looks like it came to see Mother."
Murmurs from many princesses gathered outside carried through the artificial brain.
'What a commotion.'
"Wait outside. I'll explain."
Merot drove her siblings away with strong pheromones and poked her face into Shirone's view.
"So you're the new species. Nice to meet you. I'm Merot."
"Hi. I'm Shirone."
"I heard you're from the outside world. What's it like? Are there more interesting things there than in the colony?"
Where Panot had wanted to know about Shirone's biological abilities, Merot was more interested in his world.
'Curious personality.'
Enjoying the conversation, Shirone told her about the human world.
"Huh. You use tools."
Merot stroked Shirone's fingers with her antennae and nodded.
"I see. The functional segments are very specific."
She examined him with her antennae from fingers to wrist, arm, and torso, then looked up at his Shining.
"So this is what you call magic."
Merot plunged an antenna into the sphere of light and emitted rapturous pheromones.
"…It feels good. I've never touched light before."
Her guards dropped, and the change registered through the Ultima System.
"You're really a strange species. I want to visit your world too."
From a human perspective ants are part of the world, but from their perspective the scale of a human world was enormous.
'Maybe humans feel the same way.'
Seeing Merot warming to the new species made Shirone's heart feel warmer.
'Nothing is insignificant.'
It's just that people choose not to look.
"Oh?"
Shirone quickly caught an aphid droplet falling from beneath Merot's jaw.
"You've got something on you. I'll wipe it off."
"Huh?"
As he brushed aside the tangled hairs under her jaw, Merot shivered as if electrocuted.
"It was aphid sap. There, that's better."
"…"
Merot, who had been motionless for a moment, slowly turned and left the chamber.
"Where are you going? What about the queen?"
She vanished without listening. Shirone tilted his head and murmured,
"What was that about?"
As Merot left, many princesses swarmed around her.
"Sis, what happened?"
They recoiled at the huge surge of pheromones from Merot's antennae.
"Did the new species say something rude to you?"
"A human—no, Shirone—did…"
Merot whispered faint pheromones, embarrassed to say it aloud.
"He touched under my jaw."
"Whaaaaaaat!"
The princesses stamped and squealed.
"Pervert! Worse than a rotten maggot! How could he do such a barbaric thing!"
The artificial brain reacted violently to the outside signals. Shirone left the chamber and asked,
"What's wrong? What happened?"
At once the princesses flinched and scattered outward in a radial rush.
Pheromones flowed from them without pause.
"Did you hear? Merot said… he touched that spot."
"Under her jaw? Good grief! How shameless can a species be? More barbaric than the military ants."
Feeling the hostile vibe, Shirone approached a nearby princess and asked,
"Did I do something wrong? Tell me so I can understand."
No one answered; they only whispered among themselves, criticizing Shirone.
"What a disgusting pervert. Like a moth's husk. How could anyone touch a princess's jaw—under there. I can't stand it."
Overwhelmed by the torrent of accusations, Shirone felt wronged.
"So what exactly is 'under the jaw'?"
"Kyaaaaaaa!"
The princesses emitted horrified pheromones and scattered in a confused flurry.
"Did you all hear that? That human did it openly!"
The area in front of Merot's chamber emptied in an instant. Shirone gaped in stupefaction.
"…What just happened?"
Merot, who remained, sighed and approached, lowering her head.
"The place you touched is very important to us. It's connected to life itself, and it's also a sign of permission during the nuptial flight. A princess won't let anyone touch that—unless she has given permission. Not even other princesses do."
"Oh—so…"
Shirone's eyes widened and his face went pale.
"Sorry! I really didn't know! I just thought aphid sap was stuck in the hairs under your jaw, so I wanted to wipe it off…"
"Enough!"
Merot hurriedly cut him off, patted his shoulder to calm him, and changed direction.
"You didn't know, so it's fine. I was startled too. Come on. I'll take you to Mother."
"Okay. I'm sorry."
Mindful of Merot, Shirone followed her to the colony's core facility.
"Mother, there's a species I want to introduce. It's human. His name is Shirone."
Shirone looked up in awe at the gigantic queen ant that reached to the anthill's ceiling.
'That ant is…'
At the apex of the colony system that controlled hundreds of thousands of ants, it was Queen Garnet.