Conjectures

’That was close.’ Xander grimaced as the queen just barely missed their escape. He’d be lying if he said his heart didn’t skip a beat when the queen perked up, but Mary accelerated at the last moment, allowing them to escape without getting noticed.

’Should I collapse the tunnels were came from, Milord?’ Mary asked as they flew.

Xander seriously considered it for a moment, then he slowly shook his head.

’That will just alert them that there had indeed been intruders. We have no idea how they will react in that case. Best not to disturb them into reacting just yet.’ He explained, and Mary simply nodded, not offering her opinion further.

The flight back was in complete silence.

***

Moments after the group returned, Curtis and Falael quickly came into living area, their eyes filled with worry and relief.

"You guys are okay..." Curtis let out a relieved sigh when he saw them relatively unharmed.

Meanwhile, Falael inspected them and frowned.

"What happened to her." They pointed at Aubrey who was still holding onto Xander with a pale face. Xander didn’t immediately reply as his face was solemn.

The sight made Falael and Curtis realize that things weren’t good at all.

Xander didn’t say anything immediately. First, he ushered Aubrey to her room before returning. When he did, he saw that Mia had already come as well, her purple eyes looking at him curiously.

"Well? How was it?" Unable to hide their anxiety, Falael asked straight-up, and Curtis nodded in affirmation.

Xander just sighed.

"I think it’s better that we show you." He looked to Mary who took out the recording device and placed it on the table. When she did, a mana projection of everything from the moment they entered the catacombs began.

However, Xander noticed that the part where Keir killed that ant and purified it with his black flames had been cut out so cleanly that Xander wouldn’t have known it to be the case had he not experienced it.

’There’s nothing wrong with your friends seeing it since they already know of his existence. But if we intend to show this to the chain of command, keeping the fact you have a dragon in your care would be wise.’ Mary explained via telepathy, and Xander exhaled before nodding subtly.

As they watched, Curtis and Falael’s expressions slowly changed. First from concern, to surprise, then shock, and finally unbridled terror.

"Wh-What... was that...?" Curtis raised a trembling finger towards the projection which ended just as the group began go retreat. Falael looked like they were going to be sick.

Xander explained from there. How the large mass of flesh was from a presumably dead behemoth, how there were dozens of other spaces like this, discounting the ones Aubrey’s senses couldn’t reach, and how the flesh was the only reason the ants were content to stay underground.

By the time he finished, Aubrey had already returned. She still looked pale, but she had regained her composure to a degree.

At that moment, the room had fallen silent, then, Curtis whispered.

"... What do we even do here?" That was the crux of the matter. How exactly did one combat an ant supercolony made of an uncountable number of demonic ants?

"We’d need an Archmage at the very least. One that excels at eliminating large numbers of foes at once." Falael mumbled.

"And that’s under the assumption the ants haven’t already produced an existence at that level." Aubrey sighed. The atmosphere was adequately down.

Meanwhile, Xander was considering something else he’d been sort of ignoring. Until now.

’No matter how ignorant they are in the matters of ants, allowing a colony like this to grow and expand to such a degree isn’t as simple as a major oversight. I’d accepted Sparrow’s explanation before, but now it isn’t cutting it.’ He closed his eyes and rubbed his chin.

’Even if I wanted to say that it was true, there simply is no way so many ants would remain undetected for SO long. It makes no sense. And thinking back now... wasn’t there a specific set of instructions one had to follow when dealing with creatures that could burrow underground?’ He frowned as he tried to recall, but the memory eluded him. So he ended up asking the group directly.

"Oh. I know that one." Curtis said, though he sounded distracted, clearly still thinking about the revelation.

"It’s a rule both for adventurers and soldiers, but it’s common knowledge that when dealing with creatures that are based underground, the ones doing it need to conduct a magic survey to understand the scope of what they are dealing with before acting accordingly..." As he explained, Curtis trailed off as he suddenly seemed to realize something.

Xander raised a brow.

"If that’s the case, does it really make sense that this colony went unchecked for so long?" He followed up.

"... I see what you mean, but according to you, any colonies grow exponentially. Perhaps when they first discovered it, it wasn’t that large, so they ran with that assumption all the way." Aubrey offered, but Falael was the one to shoot down that idea.

"If that were true, the correct option would have been to subjugate all the ants rather than just let them be. In case you forgot, the military doesn’t enjoy inviting opponents and allowing them to grow into threats. They destroy them while they can." The elf frowned.

"Hell, now that I think about it, this whole thing doesn’t make any sense. If everyone believes the ants aren’t that much of an issue, the correct action should be to take them out. They are already dealing with the ravine and that tree. It doesn’t make sense to allow for a third camp that can put pressure on them to persist." That made everyone fall silent. Indeed, if the ants weren’t considered much of a threat, why were they being allowed to stay?

"... For the soldiers, they can be excused since they are simply following orders. But in that case, what sort of orders are the higher-ups giving?" Aubrey momentarily forgot her terror as she took was confused.

"... The way I’m seeing things, there are two possible reasons for why the colony went unchecked for so long." Xander leaned forward, his face dark.

"First, it’s possible the ants have some sort of magic interference that prevented them from being scoped out properly. It doesn’t sound impossible, considering what we encountered was only a small part of the entire thing. However, Falael’s point still stands. If everyone believed the ants weren’t a threat, then they should have been destroyed by now. Or attempted to have been. Which brings the second possible reason." He looked around, then he said.

"It’s possible that someone is intentionally allowing the ants to develop." The temperature in the room suddenly dropped as everyone’s eyes went wide.

Even Mia, who had been dozing off, opened her eyes just slightly and glanced at Xander.

"You... You aren’t suggesting that there’s a traitor, are you?" Curtis asked carefully. However, Aubrey spoke up, her expression suddenly focused.

"No... No it makes sense." She mumbled, more to herself than the people there.

"In the first place, why have things gotten so bad? Why were the beasts in the ravine allowed to migrate there until they couldn’t be taken out in one fell swoop? Why was the Azure Tree allowed to grow and spread to its current level? And the ants too. Landor is fighting on three different fronts, one of which it’s slowly losing and another which is a ticking time bomb. Only one is manageable, and even then it’s a constant drain on manpower." She started pacing.

"We know from what Sparrow told us that the three threats didn’t just appear, they migrated from the Hell Gate. So why were they allowed to settle and consolidate themselves so much? Even if Landor wasn’t a complete military town at the time, it shouldn’t have been impossible to deal with creatures that just appeared and had weak foundations." She continued.

"The Bureaucracy argument makes no sense either. Landor should have been entirely capable of dealing with the newly arrived threats themselves," Falael added with a frown. "Unless..."

"Someone prevented them from being dealt with." Xander finished with an exhale, then he turned to Mary.

"... Dammit." Curtis cursed and ran a hand through his hair, which said a lot, as he didn’t usually curse.

"... If this conjecture is correct," Xander started. "That means that Landor has already been compromised from the inside. Moreover, it’s led to the creation of an ant supercolony that isn’t just a threat to the town, but the entire Eastern Frontier, and perhaps the kingdom itself." Said slowly.

"And if it’s correct, we don’t know who is in on it. So presenting this evidence might not lead to the result we want. Rather, there’s a real risk of us getting targeted because of it. And I doubt the ones responsible will be weak." Falael tugged at their ears in irritation.

"We need a way to expose them if we are correct. Issue with that is that we are on a timer. The moment the ants run out of food, this will be their first target." Xander turned to Mary.

"How much longer do you think that flesh can sustain them?" He asked, and her eyes went blank for a moment before she replied.

"Judging by the remnant energy I sensed, a little under two weeks. Keep in mind that this does not account for the flesh the other caverns possess. Some may eat faster or slower, so it’s not a uniform guess. If I had to present a preliminary guess, I would say a but over a week. Give or take." That made the mood grow even worse.

"So we have around a week to somehow expose a traitor or traitors, convince the people here that the ants are in fact an absurd threat, and then figure out a way to survive." Falael growled. "Fantastic."

"We could have an entire year and we still wouldn’t be able to mount a proper defense. Like Falael said, we need at Archmage at least. But there’s no way to get one here without sufficient reason." Aubrey threw her hands up.

"This IS sufficient reason!" Falael retorted.

"I agree, but even then, it will take too long just to convey the message. Who knows if our evidence won’t be tampered with if we try to send it." Curtis scratched his head. At that moment, almost like a light bulb went off in everyone’s heads, they all remembered something...

And slowly turned to Mia.