Chapter 3
There were six queerats in all. They came forward slowly.
“Satoru, get rid of the spear,” I whispered in as normal a voice as possible. “They’ll kill us if we resist.”
Satoru shook his head, “They’ll kill us anyway. Listen, run into the forest while I fight them.”
“That’s ridiculous. It’s impossible to get away, but if we go quietly, they might not kill us right away. We can wait for help.”
“No. They won’t make it,” Satoru replied stubbornly. “And I don’t want to be locked up in a cage again.”
“Satoru! Please, don’t be rash.”
The six queerats stopped four or five meters away. Were they still on guard against us? That’s kind of strange.
“…wait a second,” I said, holding back Satoru’s spear-arm.
“Don’t get in my way.”
“I’m not…look, they’re not the same ones as before.”
“Huh?” Satoru replied dubiously.
Just when I thought the queerats would drop their spears, they suddenly all fell to their knees before us.
“What?” Satoru shouted.
I just stared with my mouth agape.
“Kikikiki grrr…k-gods,” the queerat in the center raised its head and let out strange sounds that resembled speech. “sssh…Robber☆Flyy colony…∈∂Å. Ground Spider…★brrr…danger!”
I have no clue what it’s saying. But I saw something that looked like tattoos on their foreheads.
“We’re saved! It’s a colony that obeys humans!” I said, my knees going weak with relief.
Satoru still looked doubtful, but approached the queerats resolutely, if somewhat nervously, stopping about three meters away and looking at their tattoos.
“‘Salt 604’, huh. Does that mean ‘Robber Fly’ colony?”6
“Kikikikiki…Robber☆Flyy! Robber☆Flyy!” the queerat who could somewhat speak replied to Satoru’s words, nodding exaggeratedly like a longheaded locust. “Gro☆Spider★…danger…Ground Spider★danger!”
We learned later that at that time, the Department of Health had already acknowledged the existence of the foreign colony and had named it “Ground Spider”. But compared to another foreign colony that had come over from the peninsula, called “Millipede”, the Ground Spiders were considered a mild group and not much trouble. This turned out to be an underestimation.
Incidentally, during the Yamato period in ancient Japan (different from the New Yamato period during the Holy Cherry Blossom Empire), “ground spider” was a derogatory term that referred to the indigenous Jomon people. After all this time, the fact that it’s now used as a name for a queerat colony, and a foreign colony at that, speaks to the ironic nature of history.
Anyway, we were led through the dark forest by the six queerats from the Robber Fly colony.
“We’re in a bad situation again,” Satoru sighed, looking grave.
“How come? We’ve been rescued. And these guys definitely won’t take us captive.”
“True, but I’m talking about now.”
“Now?”
Satoru gave me a pitiful look, “Why do you think queerats worship humans as gods? Isn’t it because we have cantus? They’re only being subservient right now because they believe we have that power, but what do you think they’ll do if they find out we’ve lost it?”
Satoru talked quietly, hanging back. Maybe he was afraid of the queerats ahead overhearing.
“You’re over thinking it.” I was a little uneasy, but still felt like I should refute him somehow. “The Robber Fly colony is under our control, right? If they were to do something to us, and other people found out, the colony would be exterminated. They know that well. So they shouldn’t have any incentive to hurt us.”
“You can never tell what their motives are. Queerats may think like us sometimes, but they’re still rodents after all,” Satoru said, suddenly sounding much older than his years. “Anyway, we can’t be careless. I definitely won’t let them know we can’t use our cantus. You be careful too, Saki.”
How in the world am I supposed to be careful, I wanted to ask, but this wasn’t the time to argue.
But as we walked through the pathless forest, my uneasiness increased.
Would we be able to fool the Robber Fly colony? This new worry replaced my previous fear of the Ground Spiders, growing exponentially as time wore on.
How much more do I have to walk? Suddenly, one queerat turned around and shouted something, but I was so exhausted my mind was too hazy to comprehend anything.
“What did it say?”
“I didn’t really hear, but it was probably something about having arrived.”
Satoru’s words caused a ripple of anxiety to run through me.
Through a gap in the bushes ahead, a new queerat appeared. Its appearance was distinctively different from the six that we had been traveling with. A good size bigger than the others, it was wearing a helmet with a hoe-shaped crest and scaled metal ring mail. It was probably the same rank as Captain Pinecone from the Ground Spiders, or maybe even higher.
For a few moments, Helmet stood listening to the report from one of the queerats, then approached us carefully.
“Gods, welcome,” it said in astonishingly fluent Japanese, sweeping off its helmet. “I am a messenger for the Robber Fly Colony. Èî%∞★∀∂ is my name.”
Its name was a series of complicated, high pitched noises.
“But Squealer is probably easier, so please call me that.”
“Then, Squealer,” Satoru says calmly, “We’ve lost our way back to camp. We would be thankful if you would take us to the shore of Kasumiga Bay. After that we’ll be fine.”
“I understand,” Squealer responded quickly, and we went weak with relief. “However, it will be difficult to do so immediately.”
“Why’s that?” I asked without thinking. “Because it’s dark? Or…”
“My sense of smell is quite developed; I could move through the forest at night without any impediments. If you are not tired and wish to leave now, I will gladly show you the way,” Squealer answered respectfully. “However, this area is currently very dangerous. Because the foreign Ground Spider colony invaded our lands, we’ve been on high alert. A few days ago, they declared war on us, a native colony. Perhaps you’ve encountered them on the way here?”
I was about to reply when I saw Satoru’s expression.
“Nope, haven’t seen them,” he said with a straight face.
I thought I saw Squealer glance at the wound on Satoru’s forehead, but it was probably just my imagination.
“That’s fortunate. The Ground Spiders are a lawless group who would probably attempt to capture the gods out of ignorance of their own positions. Of course, to the gods dealing with them with cantus is nothing more than child’s play, but they’re not past doing cowardly things like ambushing others with poisoned arrows.”
He scrunched up his already wrinkled snout, spitting in anger.
“I apologize for my outburst. We’ve put enormous effort into our defense, but we are not a strong group to begin with, so that is how we ended up in this position.”
“You mean, you’re losing?” I asked.
As if he had been waiting for the question, Squealer went on, “The situation is not so simple. I don’t know about a big colony like the Giant Hornets, but the Robber Flies only have seven hundred members. In comparison, the Ground Spiders have an estimated population of at least four thousand.”
I shuddered. Before he died, Rijin had “exterminated” at most a thousand of them. It had been overly optimistic to think of that as an annihilation of their group. There could possibly still be three thousand queerats remaining.
“Yesterday, we dispatched special envoys to three neighboring colonies requesting assistance, but it will take some time before they arrive.”
“Then, you’ll be defenseless if you’re attacked right now?” I blurted out without thinking.
Squealer looked at me suspiciously and I realized my mistake. A human with cantus wouldn’t be worried no matter how many queerats came after them.
“Yeah, what would you have done if we hadn’t arrived?” Satoru added without a moment’s delay, a skill he had perfected from having to dig himself out of his bluffs all the time.
“I am deeply touched by your concern,” Squealer bowed deeply. “However, our battles among colonies are unique, and even though the difference between our powers is considerable, it’s too early to jump to conclusions.”
“What do you mean?”
“Seeing is believing, as the saying goes. I will show you right now, so please follow me,” Squealer backed away with his head bowed. It seemed to be the sort of behavior queerats do when facing another queerat of higher status.
As we left the thickets, our surroundings opened up. The moon had already set, but I could see all the way across the clearing by starlight. It was dotted with towers that looked like anthills.
“Is this the Robber Fly colony’s nest?” I asked.
Squealer shook his head, “Our nest is where the queen lives, still quite a ways from here. This is one of our lines of defense against the Ground Spider’s assault.”
“Lines of defense?”
“Bunkers, trenches, slurry walls, tunnels, all used for defense. …Gods, could you possibly be interested in strategy board games like Shogi and Go?”
The question caught me off guard, “Well, I suppose. We learned both in school.”
To be honest, I thought they were fun at first, but quickly lost interest, so I’m still a basic level. The biggest reason I gave up was that there was always a couple people I couldn’t win against. One of them was Shun, which was understandable, but every time I saw Satoru’s triumphant face, I couldn’t keep going.
“Then this explanation may be better. We â★ë◎Å, I mean, queerat colonies fight each other in a style closer to that used in Go than in Shogi.”
I wondered vaguely why he used the word “queerat”.
Squealer began explaining the power struggles between queerats in a style reminiscent of the false minoshiro.
Queerats are descendants of the troglodytic naked mole rats from East Africa, living mainly in narrow underground tunnels. Even after humans helped to change their physique and raised their intelligence so that they could build their own culture, their basic societal structures are still the same. The dwellings are more or less vertical pits, with numerous branches to provide escape to the surface in case of floods. There are also horizontal tunnels running between the pits for transportation without having to go to the surface.
“For us, fighting above ground is a relatively new development. It’s obvious that being aboveground provides better maneuverability than being underground does, no matter how much armor you are wearing. That said, I don’t know how the other aboveground fighters feel, but I believe that in terms of discerning the opponent’s position, advancing aboveground is pointless.”
“Why?” asked Satoru.
“The â★ë◎Å…our comrades underground can use sounds and vibrations to detect the position of the armies aboveground. At the same time, those aboveground can not detect enemies beneath them. Therefore, if we collapse the ground from underneath, they will fall onto our spears and be killed without any means to retaliate.”
Perhaps they’ve already used that tactic many times. Humans and queerats alike do not learn their lessons unless a sufficient amount of blood is shed in the process.
“In other words, it’s always more advantageous to be on the defensive,” Satoru said, looking self-satisfied.
“Precisely. The attackers have no choice but to travel underground, but even then the defense can still ascertain their positions beforehand and build up blockades, dig tunnels from above and drop heavy stones down on their heads, and set other traps. In other words, battling underground is more difficult for the offense.”
“Then what do you do?” I asked.
“{The usual pattern is that after an endless stalemate, the offense has to cut its losses and retreat.} But then the ingenious strategist, Æ◎∞Ó∴…Ioki appeared. Ioki received a book from the gods and was inspired; single-handedly creating a system for capturing entire colonies.”
“What book was it?” Satoru asked, his brows furrowed.
Why in the world was such a dangerous book not banned, but in the hands of the queerats of all things?
“Unfortunately, the holy book no longer exists. Only the title “Introduction to Go for Three Year-olds” is passed down to this day.”
We glanced at each other. We’ve both seen that book in the recreation room at Harmony School.
“Ioki’s strategies are based on Go. First, aboveground troops are dispatched to the desired locations to dig a ditch and hold their position. Then communication lines are set up between bases and a vantage point.7 Underground tunnels are created connecting the bases and the front line. In this way, the bases connect to the front lines which connect to the surface, increasing the territory under our control. The final goal is to trap the enemy in a small area, and for the defense to have a secure escape route. Once the enemy is locked in, we can cut off their food and water supply. In order to do that, we have to build bases in between the enemy’s bases, intercept their communication and set up our own. This is all, according to Go, things you must do in order to effectively trap the enemy, and then you can begin close-combat.”
I looked out over the clearing again. This time, the anthill-like towers appeared to be arranged purposefully.
“Ioki brought about a tactical revolution that spread amongst the colonies in the blink of an eye. Colonies that were thought to be impregnable fell one after the other, largely reducing their influence. Colonies that adopted this new way of thinking quickly rose to power while those that held on to the old ways were eliminated.”
“What happened to Ioki after?”
I was surprised at myself for being so interested in the tale of the queerat hero. Could Ioki, praised as the most influential figure, be the cornerstone of the Giant Hornet colony’s prosperity? Or maybe Squealer’s passionate tale was because Ioki is the ancestor who rebuilt the Robber Fly colony.
“Ioki lost his life in battle,” Squealer said sadly. “He was born in the Mayfly colony, a weak colony with around four hundred members. Because of this, he often had to be in the front lines to lead the battle. During a fight with a neighboring colony, the front line reached the enemy’s bridgehead and a fierce battle broke out. Whose communication lines would be preserved and whose would be cut off depended on the outcome of the battle. Ioki was well aware of this, and realized that by sacrificing one of his bases he would be able to destroy the enemy’s lines. But there was one problem. The base that had to be sacrificed was the one he was currently in.”
Satoru sighed.
“Ioki sacrificed his own troop. They were surrounded by the enemy, but Ioki and six of his comrades fought bravely until, as he predicted, they were killed. Drunk on their victory, the enemy tried to turn on the rest of the troops only to realize that their group had been divided in two, cutting off all communications. They were trapped in their own vantage point and all their escape routes were lost. For half the troop, the supply line was cut off so they would die under siege. The Mayfly colony achieved a glorious victory.”
We were mesmerized by Squealer’s story. It felt like we were listening to the False Minoshiro telling us about history, even though the two of them sounded nothing alike.
“However, before they even had time to savor the intoxicating taste of victory, the Mayfly colony was destroyed,” Squealer said sadly, lamenting the colony that had disappeared off the stage of history leaving only a fleeting glow. “Since it was such a small colony, once the Mayfly colony lost Ioki as its trump card, it quickly became fodder for the neighboring groups. Even so, if the old ways of war had not changed, they might have been able to hold out just defending themselves. Ironically, it was through Ioki’s own strategy that the Mayfly colony was starved to the point that they had no alternative but to surrender unconditionally.”
“What happens to the queerats of the losing colony?” I asked.
It couldn’t be that they would all be massacred?
“The queen is executed and the rest of the members become slaves. As long as they live they are treated as less than scum, and when they die they are left out to rot and fertilize the fields.”
We were silent. When I think about it now, this too was probably part of Squealer’s plan. Satoru mouthed something silently. It looked like he was saying, “Ants…”
Of course, ants. On one side, queerats show a disposition similar to humans, but on the other, they also have the cruelty of social insects. The purpose for their wars on other colonies was the same as the amazon ants’ invasion of other anthills–to acquire laborers.
“…to be honest, there is a reason I’ve been telling you about all this,” Squealer sat on the ground looking very dignified. “In the past few days of battling with the Ground Spiders, we have lost all the bases that allow access to the outside world. The special envoys we sent to request help from neighboring colonies have probably been caught and executed. In other words, it is a matter of life and death for our colony right now. The arrival of the young gods must be a sign from heaven that we will be saved from destruction. Just like Buddha returning to life from hell.”
Satoru gave me a fleeting look. The conversation was heading in the direction we least wanted it to go.
“I am fully aware that asking the gods to be involved in our lowly affairs is pure insolence. But I must ask for you to save our colony. Please bring down the hammer of vengeance upon these heretic Ground Spiders who fear not even the gods.”
Satoru cleared his throat, “We’d like very much to help you, but we can’t decide these things on our own.”
“Why not? With just one thought, you could destroy them all.”
Satoru chose his words carefully, “Queerats are a protected species so we can’t kill them arbitrarily. We have to apply for extermination of harmful wildlife at the town hall and with the Department of Health.”
“I understand, ” Squealer made a last-ditch effort, “but as it stands, we will inevitably be eliminated. Please have mercy. You don’t need to kill them all. Just a modest attack to break their siege on us, after that we will find a way. Please…”
As Squealer was about to speak again, a messenger appeared and whispered in its ear. His attitude changed completely and he listened haughtily to the messenger. Eventually, he turned back toward us with a slightly confused look.
“I understand. It is late now, so I will ask again tomorrow morning. The two of you must be tired, but will you please meet our queen before you rest?”
“The queen?”
I considered it. On one hand, I wanted to see a queerat queen, but on the other, it was almost daybreak and so much had happened in the past twenty-four hours that I was completely exhausted.
“The queen is in a nearby bunker. She would be very delighted to meet the gods.”
“Alright, we’ll see her for a bit. But everything else waits until tomorrow,” Satoru said, suppressing a yawn.
We followed Squealer through the field. We stopped in front of a particularly large anthill-shaped tower, but I didn’t see the entrance anywhere.
“If you please. It looks dirty, but this is the entrance,” Squealer parted the dry grass, revealing a hole about a meter across.
“What? You go in through here?” I was filled with trepidation.
“It would be better if the queen could come up and meet us,” Satoru said, also sounding a little unsettled.
“I’m deeply sorry. But the tunnel is only big enough for the soldiers, the queen would not be able to exit through here. She is waiting in the hall below.”
Well, we have no choice. It would be a hassle to refuse an audience with the queen now, and since we didn’t have cantus anymore, I didn’t want to start a fight.
Satoru came in after me. It was considerably colder than it had been outside. The entrance was smooth and daubed with clay, and the tunnel itself was made of compact dirt mixed with dried grass, supposedly to prevent slippage. I was afraid I would fall down the vertical shaft, but thanks to the two queerats below us, the climb was easy. The queerats hung onto the walls of the tunnel and slowed our descent like fluffy cushions. The two of us realized that it would be pointless trying gain purchase on the vertical walls, so we basically had to climb down on the queerats’ shoulders.
About twenty or thirty meters later, the tunnel suddenly opened up. We stood up and looked around, but it was too dark to tell how big the cavern was. The stench of mold and animals reached my nostrils, making my hair stand on end.
“Please wait a moment,” Squealer said from behind us.
Turning around, we saw only his eyes glittering in the darkness. I knew that wild animals had luminous eyes, but I couldn’t shake off the unpleasant feeling I got from seeing them.
Squealer struck a flint and lit a small torch. I was blinded by the light for a second. Once again, I realized how reassuring it was to have light.
“This way.”
I thought we were in a huge hall, but the light revealed it to be no bigger than a six tatami room. There were three horizontal tunnels going in different directions. Squealer led the way with the torch. The queerats walking upright cast strange, wavering shadows on the walls of the room.
“Please watch your head.”
The ceiling gradually lowered as the tunnel widened. The queerats probably usually ran through here on all fours.
As we walked through the dark underground with only the torch for light, a strange, unreal feeling came over me. I couldn’t quite believe I was here.
On the other hand, we became aware of an overwhelmingly realistic presence. It was the smell that had assaulted us earlier. The tunnel was filled with the odor of queerats and as we went deeper, the smell became stronger. It was the smell Squealer and the other soldiers had, but layered with another stench closer to that of decay. Moreover, it was so strong that it was almost choking me.
Next, a complex series of low sounds caught our attention. Listening closely, it sounded like a pair of bellows, with sounds of distant thunder mixed in. Irregular vibrations rumbled through the walls of the tunnel. Like something extremely heavy was crawling around…
I could feel the vibrations under my feet. My body seized up in fear, but I didn’t tell Satoru that I wanted to go back. If I showed weakness in front of Squealer, who knows what might happen later.
“How much farther?” Satoru tried to act calm, but his voice shook a little.
“It’s just over there.”
He wasn’t lying. Less than twenty meters later, the tunnel curved broadly to the right. Squealer fell prostrate and started crying out in a high-pitched voice.
The response was an earth-shattering growl. A low frequency wave rippled through our bodies like a strong wind.
“The queen is honored to meet you,” Squealer said.
Satoru looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t get the words out.
“…the honor is ours. We are delighted to be in your presence. Tell her that,” I replied.
Squealer nodded and resumed his squeaking report to the queen.
Suddenly, the queen started speaking in human language, startling us.
“Grrrr…G-od-s ★È. Plea-se…ʃ△è…he-ere.”
Her voice was a low rumble mixed with the strange creak you hear when you grind your teeth, but somehow I understood that she was inviting us in.
We looked at each other, then started forward slowly around the bend. The disgusting smell intensified until it was almost unbearable.
Squealer stopped at the bend, holding the torch. The light shining from behind made it hard to make out the queen’s appearance. However, from its silhouette and the intense heat it gave off, I could tell that the creature crouched there was of abnormal size.
“★☆…gagaga! □■! …◇◆!”
A gust of hot air washed over us. I instinctively turn my face away, but the sounds that next reached my ears surprised me again.
“Ggg…g-od-s. Welcome. Very-honored.”
The queen was speaking to us in falsetto so that the range of her voice was audible to humans. What was even more surprising was that the voice was unmistakably female.
For about five minutes after that, we talked with the queen. Unfortunately, I can’t remember anything about our conversations. Maybe because we were extremely tired and anxious, or maybe because what happened later was even more dramatic.
The catalyst was something trivial. The queen apologized for making us stand so long and called for two queerats to act as chairs even after we declined the offer politely. Squealer, still holding the torch, came along with the two queerats.
The bright flame of the torch lit up the cavern, and the queen.
Because the queen’s voice had been unexpectedly gentle throughout the conversation, our initial fear had abated somewhat. That’s why we were doubly shocked when we saw her actual appearance.
My first impression of her was of a giant hornworm with four short legs and a tail.
Pale, sickly skin from lack of sunlight and rings of wrinkles encircling her body made the resemblance all the stronger. But the defining difference was her face. Half of the giant head was covered in brown spots, though they would probably be red under the sun. Her eyes were tiny beads buried under layers of skin, and her sharp, chisel-shaped teeth were hidden behind strong, thick jaws. Around her neck was a necklace of crimson almadine, glowing fluorite, beryl, and cordierite sparkling in the light.
Her appearance exposed, the queen roared and charged. We flinched, but she was aiming for something off to the side.
She caught Squealer in her mouth and lifted him easily into the air, shaking him violently from side to side. Squealer shrieked and dropped the torch. The cavern was plunged into darkness. I could hear the queen’s angry growls punctuated by Squealer’s intermittent screams, and the two queerats shivering in a corner, scratching at the dirt with their claws.
“Queen, wait,” I mustered up all my courage and spoke. “Don’t kill Squealer! He didn’t do it on purpose.”
Satoru squeezed my arm. It was a risky venture trying to placate the raging queen. But if a human god didn’t intervene in this kind of situation, it might arouse suspicion.
The queen was unresponsive for a moment, then casually dropped Squealer. Then she deftly changed directions (it was still pitch black, so I felt instead of seeing her movements), slipped by us and disappeared into the depths of the cavern.
Squealer lay trembling for a while, then gathered himself and turned toward us.
“Thank you for intervening to save my life.”
“That surprised us,” Satoru said hoarsely after a pause.
“But the queen never intended to kill you, did she?” I asked.
Squealer didn’t answer.
“…Gods, you must be tired. I will prepare sleeping quarters, so please rest well tonight.” Squealer picked up the torch and lit it again.
I looked at the chain mail he was wearing and shuddered unintentionally. Metal links had been bitten off and the leather armor underneath had large holes from which blood was seeping out. Squealer was obviously wounded, but was doing his best not to show pain in front of us.
“It’s definitely weird. There’s something strange about the queen,” Satoru whispered in my ear on the way to our sleeping quarters. “Be careful. You never know what’ll happen if you piss her off.”
They had just managed to avoid a malicious foreign colony, only to go home to the rule of an insane queen.
Why was the queen so enraged anyway? Even with that kind of appearance, talking to her was like talking to another female, so it wasn’t unpleasant. Unless it was that she didn’t want us to see her at all?
But I was too sleepy to care anymore.
We were shown to a plain dirt room. It was a little chilly inside, but the ground was spread with dry straw that was unexpectedly comfortable. We lay down inside and fell asleep in a second.
My eyes snapped open.
I couldn’t tell what time it was since everything was pitch black, but I couldn’t have been asleep for more than an hour.
My body still felt heavy with fatigue. But I had a feeling that I should get up. Some strange warning in the back of my mind.
“Satoru…Satoru!”
I shook him, but he showed no signs of waking up. I guess that’s understandable. When I touched Satoru’s face, I could still feel the dried blood caked on his skin. There hadn’t been time to clean it properly before we fell asleep.
“Satoru! Wake up!”
Although I felt sorry for him, there wasn’t time for me to wake him up gently. I covered his mouth and nose with my hands.
Satoru started squirming and flailing, grabbing at my hands to stop me from suffocating him.
“What do you want…let me sleep.”
“No. Get up now. Understand? There’s danger.”
Satoru opened his eyes reluctantly, but still seemed half asleep. He made no move to get up.
“What danger…?”
“Just a feeling. Something bad is coming.”
“What’s bad?”
I didn’t answer. Satoru looked confused. After a moment of silence, he turned around with a “goodnight” and went back to sleep.
“Satoru. I know you’re tired, but if you don’t get up now, you might never get up again.”
Satoru rubbed his head, “What are you talking about? Did you have a nightmare?”
“It’s not a nightmare. Or a premonition. Your mind processes the things that happen during the day while you sleep. And now, mine is saying that something dangerous is coming.”
“Fine, then let’s hear what kind of danger it is. It’s all organized and clear, right?”
I crossed my arms and thought. I felt like I was on the brink of understanding. Something was off. We were all overlooking some unexpected hazard.
“…we believed Squealer’s story too easily, I think.”
“You mean he’s lying about something?” Satoru finally looked like he was starting to wake up.
“Not really. Of course, he might not have been completely honest, but I think most of what he said was true. Squealer himself probably doesn’t realize it either. That’s what I think. But that’s probably the most dangerous thing.”
As I spoke, the warning in my head began to take on a solid form.
“An attack. I’m sure of it. Tonight. Probably right before dawn, when our forces are weakest, the Ground Spiders are going to attack.”
“It can’t be. Remember what Squealer said? Queerat wars follow the rules of Go.”
“That’s their assumption. Think about it. The Ground Spiders are wild and foreign. Why would they follow Ioki’s military strategies?”
“But if they raid the tunnels to capture us, they would be following the same tactics as ours.”
“Sure, that sort of maneuver is probably universal among queerats. But the Ground spiders might come up with another strategy.”
“I guess that’s not impossible…” Satoru sighed, as if he wanted to say that I was just being overly anxious and that there was nothing concrete to base my theory on.
“That’s it!” I shouted, “I finally figured out that strange feeling I couldn’t put my finger on.”
“Before you say anything, remember that time when Rijin killed the Ground Spiders. They weren’t fighting underground, right? They met us aboveground,” Satoru said quickly. He was finally fully awake now.
“That’s because he buried them alive earlier. They must have realized that it was useless to hide underground.”
“But that was their first time dealing with cantus, right? How did they come up with a new strategy so quickly?”
“They knew they had a disadvantage, so they tried to drive us off with sheer numbers.”
“That’s what I think too. But once the fighting actually started, shouldn’t they have tried to hide underground? But instead they fired a shot right at us. Because that’s the way they fight.”
“But capturing an underground colony by attacking from above…”
“There has to be another way. One that’s faster than establishing a base and sealing off your opponent.” Satoru fell silent. “…if what you say is right, now that they know about cantus, they must have realized that they have no other option but to launch a surprise attack.”
Even in the darkness, I could sense him shake his head despondently.
“That’s not all. Even if the Robber Fly colony has powerful humans on their side, the Ground Spiders would have learned from the fight with Rijin that it’s still possible to kill humans with a surprise attack. .”
An ominous chill was creeping up my back, becoming stronger by the second.
There might not be much time left.
No comments:
Post a Comment