What did I...
Once we walked close to the palace, the front doors suddenly opened, and a new wave of spiders came out of it.
These spiders looked different, though their lower part was that of a spider body, and the upper part was that of a human woman.
"Who are they?"
[They are Arachne, one of the last evolutions of the spider-type monsters; their rank is S or above.]
"Ehh, will I even survive if they attack me!?"
[Is that something for you to worry about? I mean, with such a stat.]
"...Ehm, what kind of skills will I gain if I eat them?"
[I don't know! i can't see they stat.]
"Level difference?"
[Yes!]
While I was thinking about how to defeat them, they started moving and splitting on both sides. Strangely enough, instead of being alarmed, I was feeling like I was at home.
Once all the arachne were in position, they bowed their heads, and at the same time they said...
"Welcome back, your highness!"
"Well, I quite expect they wanted to greet the queen!"
[Really?]
"Well, they are wearing maid outfits, although it is not of my liking."
[The monster or the clothes?]
"The clothes! You pervert!"
[Ohh... really? Then can you explain to me why your heartbeat was faster the moment you made eye contact with the rad-haired one?]
"I don't know what ya talking about..."
[Hmmm...]
"Anyway, what are we doing here!?"
{I want you to see an object that I have here.}
"What is this object?"
{It's a shining sphere.}
"Hmm...?! A shining orb?"
{Does that sound familiar to you?}
"Hmm, a shining orb...a shining orb."
I started to reflect on it.
It was not the first time I heard about it, but I was not sure if it was the same one I was told of, so I asked her to describe how the orb looked.
{It's the shape of a pearl with an abnormally large size and is dark purple colored.}
"This one is different from the one that I know!"
{!!!...which one do you know?}
"The one that I know has multiple colors; it shines as well."
{I see...}
"So, what do you want to do? I mean, I'm not sure I can help out."
{Hmm...I still want you to follow me!}
"No problem. Ah, do you know of a weapon in this place?"
{No!, to my knowledge, but if you want, I can ask them to search for it.}
"Please do so."
After finishing talking with the spider queen, we headed together to a room they had prepared for me.
{You can stay here for the time being; once you have rested enough, let me know, and I will explain to you what I want you to do.}
"Wow, for real, is this room for me?"
{Of course.}
I was left speechless because that bedroom was more for royalty; all the furniture looked so expensive, but what I liked the most was the starry sky-like decoration you could find pretty much everywhere in this palace. In that place I felt more like I was the queen and not the guest.
{If you need anything, please ring the bell; I'll appoint a personal maid for you as well.}
"T-Thank you for everything."
{No problem, then see you later!}
"Yeah, see you..."
"...What do you think about all of this?"
[She is different from what I thought; how can I put it? She is too nice.]
"Right! I mean, this kind of royal treatment is not something you normally expect from a queen to somebody who killed your people, right?"
[True!]
"And she also offered to help me find the weapon; this is so weird!"
[Well, I can understand your feelings, but for now, let's just rest.]
"Okay, but I have this feeling of having forgotten something important... well, I will think about it after I wake up. See you later then."
[Later.]
It has been some days since I started living in the spider queen's palace. For the whole time I was there, I had this feeling of being safe, like it was not the first time I was in that place. It was so weird, and what I was finding the most strange was the spider queen. She was nice, way too nice, but what worried me the most was every time I looked at her in the eyes, I had the feeling of needing to protect her, like something I must do.
At first I thought she was using a skill on me, but [Global Wisdom] told me it was not the case, so I just asked her.
"Did we meet somewhere before?"
{...Maybe, I don't know... Anyway, are you ready?}
I simply nodded to confirm. I don't know why or how I could feel the sadness in her words; unable to understand why, I could not say anything to console her. I just kept on having this strong sensation of having forgotten something really important.
We headed together to her room, and even before the maids opened the doors, I could see a strong light coming out that blinded me once they opened the doors.
The room was like what you would expect for a queen bedroom: luxurious furniture, a beautiful king-size bed, and a lot more, and they had these star night decorations.
I wondered why she liked this starry sky so much. Anyway, the most important thing in that room was the shining orb in the center of the room.
It was placed on a pedestal; well, "placed" it was more like floating midair.
{It was not doing something like this before!}
"Eh!?...Really!!"
The spider queen looked quite happy with the current situation, but I was too focused on the orb more than anything else before I notified it I was walking towards it.
The spider queen did not come inside; it looked like she didn't want to distract me at all.
The closer I got to the orb, the shinier it got. It was to the point where you could not see the orb anymore, just an intense light floating toward me.
Once we were one step away from each other, I reached out my hand to take it...