Chapter 181

The Royal Academy is royal, you know.

Which means it’s a place the nation heavily invests in.

There’s actually a post office inside the school building. Though, since it’s not in the dormitory but the main teaching building, I had to go all the way there.

At first, it seemed weird, but when I thought about it carefully, schools often need to send updates to many parents about their kids.

Naturally, the mail volume would be huge. In fact, it’d be weirder if there wasn’t a post office inside the school building.

So, Victoria and I headed over to the main building where the post office was located.

On the first floor.

Go left, and you’ll find the classrooms for regular studies; go right, and there’s the administrative office.

Inside that, you’ll find the post office. It’s basically a dedicated counter functioning just like an actual post office.

This is information Victoria didn’t know. And it’s kinda obscure info, but luckily, Kannna knew this.

So, we got to the admin office, but before going in, Victoria hesitated.

Why are you getting nervous about something so trivial? What happened to the Victoria who slaughtered Fishmen?

I grabbed her hand, pulled her inside, and quickly led her to the spot where we could send letters.

Afterward, I had Victoria write down her home address.

While checking it, I noticed her mistake, stopped her, reminded her that her parents had moved, and then wrote down the address from the envelope she’d received.

Then, with eyes darkened like someone who hadn’t slept for days, I handed the letter to the clerk and left.

“Will the letter reach them properly?”

“As long as nothing unusual happens, it should.”

We used to meet often through the Harvesting System. Considering its location, we live pretty far from the center of Bern City.

These days, most of Bern City’s Harvesters are stationed in the city center protesting. Only a few have left Bern entirely to move to nearby cities.

Maybe the Bet family has also left Bern City and gone somewhere else.

Though I’m unsure because neither Maurice nor Beatrice uses the Harvesting System. At least, I’ve never seen them among the resisters in the city center.

I know every face of those resisting within the Harvesting System.

So, barring any mishaps, Victoria’s family should receive the letter.

Through this, I subtly hinted to the king about some special events happening in Bern City and created a scenario where Victoria reconnects with her family.

I’ve done what I can. Now, I’ll sit back and analyze the current situation.

Warmth is trickling in here and there.

There are three major groups sending out warmth:

One is Bern City’s Harvester group.

Mostly associated with the Twilight Association, they’re trying to start some kind of rebellion like the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Definitely expecting lots of casualties, so I’m looking forward to it.

Another one is the Brightshin slum’s Harvester group.

Surprisingly, a lot of them have died.

When strength and stamina increase, where do slum residents work?

Answer: Jobs requiring physical labor.

They deliver packages, carry heavy stuff up and down, basic tasks like that. And most of these jobs happen outside buildings rather than inside.

And outside, Black Thorn Trees grew wildly.

Inside buildings, people were pierced by creeping thorns and collapsed. Outside, most were struck by black thorn trees rushing across roads.

People standing in the middle of the road who died instantly were lucky. Most lost parts of their bodies to the thorns, bleeding profusely while suffering until they fell asleep.

And they gradually passed away.

Even if someone could stop the bleeding, once unconscious, they couldn’t control it. Plus, there were thorns digging into those lying on the ground.

Even if their initial injuries weren’t fatal, they might’ve been stabbed later and died.

By the way, Maleficent didn’t care about those dying. She planned to cast a sleeping curse on everyone and use them as hostages to humiliate the royal family.

After getting beaten dozens of times, she was crying and apologizing, thinking about transforming into a dragon and burning the capital to ashes.

As for the Harvesters she fought…

There aren’t many people with psychic abilities in the capital anyway, so even if they all die, it’s not much of a loss. So, I don’t really care.

But overall, too many Harvesters dying is kinda… disappointing.

Still, it’s not all bad.

Since this is just after a tough time, there will be plenty of labor needed to repair the damaged city. This will be a good period for the surviving Harvesters in the capital.

So, if they survive, their descendants will likely multiply.

Hehe.

Lastly, Harvesters from another world.

They use their newfound powers to overcome their own struggles.

It’s not like primitive civilizations produce tons of warmth, nor do advanced ones make less.

It’s more about how each individual acts that determines the warmth they give off.

Their warmth production is steady, like dividends from safe stocks.

From my perspective, this side is doing well. I don’t expect to gain everything at once.

I can be patient.

What I’m pondering now is something else.

When I gave knowledge to Daegon and the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign, which one will better advance the world?

Just giving knowledge doesn’t mean everyone gets it, and even if they do, not everyone immediately uses it.

So, I need a lot of test subjects to experiment with the given knowledge.

Like classic game healers, I’ll have to keep making Harvesters wherever there are injured people.

There are still plenty of people left to turn into Harvesters.

“Wow, this is such a scary world,”

Since I usually don’t talk much, by the time we reached the main gate, Victoria finally broke the silence.

Is that so? Maybe.

“Let’s go out and get some fresh air.”

“Sure.”

I nodded at Victoria’s suggestion. Normally, she’s fine being alone or sitting quietly in one spot.

But it seems the current situation is stifling her.

She’s probably worried about what happened to her parents, right?

If most of her memories are gone, it’s natural. So, let’s say Victoria grew up receiving proper love.

This Victoria is trying to ease her newly formed anxiety about her parents by stepping outside.

As soon as I said I’d come along, Victoria lit up, clung to me, and dragged me straight out the main gate.

But she quickly stopped thinking about having fun outside.

Because the scars left by the witch’s rampage were still visible.

Deep gashes remained on the roads and buildings, and in some places, bloodstains hadn’t faded yet.

The city felt more melancholic than bright, and the abandoned debris scattered around showed that the recent events were real.

“I want to go back.”

In the end, Victoria muttered that and turned back gloomily.

Once back, Victoria told me she was tired and wanted to rest, effectively shooing me away.

I knew she’d be sulking alone in her room, but everyone has those days.

So, I left her and returned to my accommodation.

***

The next day.

It’s still midweek, but this week is a break at the Royal Academy.

To make the free time productive, I left my dorm early in the morning. Not to create new Harvesters like usual.

And the destination isn’t near Brightshin. Brightshin itself, with its aging and dilapidated urban area, has fallen into being a slum and is almost at the very center of the capital.

But this time, I’m heading outside the capital.

It would’ve been nice to have a faster mode of transportation, but all I have is my body, so I ran hard.

Luckily, I retained the memory of running from the first world, so running wasn’t difficult. In fact, it was easier without the big chest I had back then, helping with balance and speed.

Still, it’s a bit faster than a normal adult walking briskly. Can’t help it if I’m short.

So, after running for quite a while, around noon,

I reached the edge of the capital.

Surprisingly, there’s no wall. Actually, I passed the remnants of walls a while ago. The city has grown beyond the range walls could cover, so there’s no gate controlling entry anymore.

Thus, countless people pass through, but there are also plenty of police patrolling.

Most capitals I’ve been to were surrounded by walls. As I walked further, realizing this world’s capital lacked such fortifications made me feel how ancient this city truly was.

And I arrived at a place where buildings disappeared and nature began. The boundary between the city and wilderness.

Here, it looks like an underground gas pipe exploded, with half-dried dirt scattered everywhere. It’s the mark left by thorns bursting out.

I crossed that pit and went to the other side.

Beyond here is the wild. But it’s not uninhabited. People avoid this route because it’s troublesome, so I went a bit off the main path and continued westward.

Far away, I see mountains. Beyond them lies the ocean. This country is shaped like a crescent moon with empty space on the left. Geographically, the pointed part above holds the capital, and the pointed part below houses Bern City.

Of course, it’s not perfectly symmetrical, and the side with the capital has more plains.

Anyway, the important thing is that to the west, there’s a mountain range blocking the sea breeze coming from west to east.

Scary monsters live there, but that’s why there are many local lords. When monsters bounce around like pinballs, these lords stay put and hunt the intruders.

So, it’s more profitable to leave them alone, according to Kannna’s memory.

And Maleficent lives there.

Yeah.

That’s right.

In short, I’m going to collect everything from the person I hunted.

This world isn’t like the first one where I couldn’t possess things due to my position, nor is it like the second world where times were so bad there wasn’t much to own.

Shouldn’t I gather what I can?

As soon as I reached the foothills, nature became denser. There were more moving lights here and there, and sharp gazes could be seen.

But it’s fine.

Although it’s tough to frequently use the ability to crush reality and turn beings into objects, it’s not impossible.

Just be careful not to break the world. Catch a big one, and the others will naturally bow their heads.

Anyway, I don’t plan things out meticulously. I’m not smart enough to begin with. Just thinking “this should work out fine” is enough.

To avoid contradictions, I just stick to the concept I set and live however it goes.

Also, the reason I don’t hesitate is that my body isn’t originally alive. No need to feel sorry, right?

With that in mind, I started climbing the mountain where the witch’s house is.

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