Chapter 61

"Girls, guess what! We are going to have a celebration party," Nicole announced when she came back from her trip to the castle to report to the Queen. She approached Annie's bed. "I hope you are going to feel well enough to come too!"

Annie offered a meek smile. "Right." She seemed to want to say something more, but Nicole continued.

"Also, I met the Wolf Queen. She is strange but bearable."

"The Killer Queen?!" Soi asked, her attention immediately piqued.

"The who?" Nicole's brows furrowed. She remembered the sudden cold and the belt of daggers, but the nickname seemed like an exaggeration.

Iloe joined the talk. "I heard that she violently killed all the competition at the Tournament."

Soi nodded. "Yeah. It was a while ago now, but her reputation is still strong. Please don't tell me you disrespected her or something. Though, you would probably be dead by now if that was the case."

"Girls, girls. Personally, she didn't seem that bad to me. Actually, before I came, she was drinking tea with the Bee Queen. And anyway, what's the Tournament you mentioned?"

"Right, you don't even know. The Narakai Kings and Queens are picked through the Tournament, where the candidates fight each other for the thrones. And usually, to win, it's enough to just disarm the opponent or make them surrender. And guess what? That woman killed all the other potential Queens on her way up. I heard that even the current King is afraid of her, but don't trust that information too much."

"Damn. I may be fucked. Not only was it because of me that the third division of her army was destroyed, but I also promised her a set of new clothes and to impress her with the food at the party…" Nicole's hands dropped in defeat.

"Well, she didn't kill you yet, so that's at least something." Soi smirked, giving Nicole's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"And basically she is holding Mignon hostage too. She said she may allow me to keep him if I succeed with the tasks."

Soi's hold turned into a tight grip. "SHE WHAT?! Nah, now we can't lose. You better get to work!"

Nicole sat down at the bottom of the bed, closing her eyes to gather her thoughts.

She is right. And now I should concentrate on that clothes-and-armor mix.

She started going through her storage, looking at the leftover pieces of cloth and metal, trying to find suitable materials.

"Hey, Nicole." Annie started. "I don't want to disturb you even more, but this is kind of important."

At those words, Nicole immediately opened her only eye and turned to Annie with a worried expression. "What's wrong?"

"I, uh… don't know how to say this… I-I don't feel my legs. It happened somewhere a few days after the Pigs caught me. I-I don't know what exactly they did to me, the pain was too much so I blacked out. But since I woke up back then, I lost feeling in my legs somewhere from the middle of my thighs down." The girl traced lines on her legs. "I know that's a lot, but I needed to say this."

The room fell silent for a few seconds. Nicole's hands flew to her mouth in shock as she stared at her friend. "What?!" She immediately stood up from the bed, looking at Annie's legs under the blanket.

"Sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for. It's just that… I don't know what to say." Millions of thoughts rushed through Nicole's brain before one strange idea appeared. "Then, what if we… What if I made you a wheelchair? Realistically, you can't stay here forever, right? I didn't do all this to save you just to leave you rotting in a room."

Annie blinked a few times. "Right, though how do you plan on making it? I know a chair with wheels isn't that hard to make, but then we need to find a smith and explain all the details and—" She coughed.

Nicole shushed the girl with an index finger and a smirk. "You shocked me just now, so it's time to return the favor." She reached into her pocket and presented the pen with ToraAI. "Have you already forgotten about this?" She grinned as her friend's eyes went wide.

"Is it what I think it is? You still have my baby Tora with you?!" Annie reached out and grabbed the black item.

"Yep. I remember the day you showed it to me, despite it still being in development and the fact that if someone found out, you would probably lose your job, hah. And then later you smuggled it before those bastards got us behind bars." Annie was marveling at the pen as Nicole continued. "It helped me so much here. But that's not all."

The girl on the bed looked up. "You have something more? Come on, don't make me wait."

"You know how natives have their racial abilities and stuff? At one point it seems I got something like that myself."

For the past minute, Nicole had held her hands behind her back. Just a few more seconds and a wooden figurine of a character from one of Annie's favorite anime was ready. Nicole held it in front of Annie, then placed it on the bed beside the girl. "I turned into a living 3D printer!" She showed Annie how a layer of wood was slowly coming out of her palm. "Haven't you wondered how the girls and I have clothes that are more modern than the normal ones here? And my eyepatch too." Her fingers slid across the smooth skull in place of her right eye. "Actually, a lot of things, like my weapons, were made through this."

Annie was speechless. "That's insane," she said strangely calmly. "That's a lot to take in. But then, it makes things easier." She smiled a little. "The wheelchair, hm? Looks like I will be like one of those evil doctors or scientists in the movies."

The days went by and, as Nicole suspected, she couldn't get much sleep. During the day she was organizing the celebration party and food, while the rest of the time went into making a wheelchair or clothes for the Narakai Queen. All of that was mixed with her telling stories and sharing information about this world with Annie.

Finally, the day came. The party was planned to happen in about an hour when Nicole finished the wheelchair and helped Annie get into it. It was mainly made from wood and metal, with the soft parts made from the same green, spongy material the bed mattress was made of and covered by cloth.

"How do you like it?"

It took some effort for Annie to move around. "It's nice, except that I am still too weak to move completely by myself. One of you girls won't mind pushing me around, right?"

Soi approached from behind her, hands on the handles of the wheelchair. "Don't worry about it!" The catgirl and Annie made a few circles around the room.

"Good. Thanks, Soi. If you ever feel like leaving me, just do it. Nicole won't have a choice but to take your place." Annie giggled and then coughed again.

"Are you sure you feel alright? You are coughing all the time," Nicole asked.

"Yeah, yeah. It just feels like something is scratching at my throat a little from time to time." Annie brushed it off.

"Right, let's hope this goes away soon. Just one more thing left to do before we go." Nicole snapped the scissors a few times. "Your hair is way overgrown."

Twelve minutes later, Annie's hair was shortened to her back and then Nicole helped her tie it into her usual ponytail.

"If we ignore you being thinner, it's almost as if nothing happened and we were still on Earth." Nicole smiled. The girls got into their more stylish clothes and headed out.

The royal castle's banquet room was spacious, the tables barely able to hold all the food and drinks, many of them made under Nicole's direction. Inside, there were many invited guests chatting and mingling around. In one of the corners there was a group of musicians consisting of two harps, drums, and a few different flutes. They were playing some quiet, calm melody as a light background to the guests' conversations.

Most of the people present seemed to be nobles or rich merchants from different tribes that happened to be visiting the Mother Hive. They were wearing fine clothes, but those were nothing compared to Nicole and her group's, especially in terms of uniqueness. Apart from them, there was also a second type of guest, a far rarer one. Here and there Nicole could see the armor of some more important warriors. She also quickly spotted the tall form of the Bee general that had led the soldiers during the raid. Neither of the Queens were present yet, and Nicole decided to just relax and enjoy the while.

As expected, I proposed this whole thing to make the soldiers feel better, and only a few of them got a chance to come.

"Alright girls, I don't think we necessarily have to stay together as a group all the time. If you feel like going off by yourselves, don't hesitate one bit."

Soi smirked. "Yeah, I plan on making some pleasurable connections this evening." The catgirl licked her lips with a mischievous smile.

"Hey, is this a fucking pizza?!" Annie pointed to one of the tables.

"Yep. It's pretty easy to make and with how the natives were overwhelmed by the simple flatbreads, this and other stuff should make them worship me by the end of today."

As the girls got closer to the table and Annie helped herself to a slice of pizza, their unusual appearance and lack of a clear tribe identity made them a target of interest for many surrounding people. It didn't take long before the most curious ones approached, introducing themselves.

With every new person, Nicole was getting more and more tired of repeating her own introduction, but luckily after a bit, the Queen came into the room and all gazes turned to her. Nicole grinned internally as she saw the woman once more wearing one of the dresses Nicole had made. This is the best ad I could ever get. If everything goes right, no more morally grey work for the slave merchant!

Queen Varoria made her way to the front of the room, where a small podium was located. Everyone in her path stepped back in silence.

"I welcome everyone this fine evening." Her voice was loud and clear, slightly echoing off the walls. "As you could have noticed, the cuisine presented is somewhat… extraordinary. It was brought to you by the new ally of the Voru'kai tribe."

Nicole's heart skipped a beat as she stood in shock.

Why the hell didn't she tell me she planned something like this?!

"Nicole, could you say a few words to our dear guests?" The Queen locked her eyes on the girl. The rest of the room did the same.

Well, I had a small plan on how to get the attention at some point. I guess it's time.