using frozen adventurers as shields with the assumption it'll deter attacks from other adventurers is indeed an indication of considerable intelligence.
That party's clearly strong; I like that they're not really all that arrogant about it or super demeaning, either. They let her tag along, and the moment Kachua's intel proved correct, they didn't balk or try to save face, but simply knuckled down and got to business. Kachua's hopefully paying attention; some good lessons to learn in how they coordinate and delegate tasks.
I kinda suspect the frozen adventurers won't be fully dead; but it'll be interesting to see how they defeat this Queen, and whether that auto-releases the prisoners or if that'll require a follow-up quest.
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Thanks for the TL as always.