Chapter 195

Now, there’s no one blocking Victoria’s path ahead.

Victoria crosses the city. At first, it seemed like she was heading to the city center, but it’s likely she’s aiming for the eastern part of the city.

The address from the letter was in the east side of the city. Referring to the Faded Memory of the Harvesting System, the eastern part is where the middle-class resides among the four layers: the rich, the middle-class, the working-class, and the impoverished.

High-density buildings are scattered here and there, with commercial structures lining the main roads. It seems they’ve tried to unify building designs during modernization because nearly identical-shaped buildings stretch along the winding roads.

It looks like they only focused on constructing buildings without proper road planning.

However, the direction is clearly heading toward one side—east, upstream along the massive river flowing from east to west. The city expands chaotically against the current.

To explain the geography simply: taking the site of the old city hall in Bern City as a reference point, the northern side has the river flowing through it.

The western area is the old downtown, now slumified, where the poor and working-class live. Meanwhile, the southern area is home to those above the middle-class—or at least, that’s how it used to be.

Victoria hails from the south.

Beatrice manages a branch of a fairly large company in Bern City, while Maurice worked as a researcher for Gun and Rufu Company’s subsidiary before resigning.

Anyway…

The eastern district grew into a residential zone as people migrated to Bern City seeking opportunities under its influence, settling down after finding jobs.

Maurice and Beatrice mentioned moving there.

And it seems Victoria is heading that way too.

We share everything Victoria sees and feels, but her thoughts remain frustratingly unclear.

Meanwhile, the Harvesting System overseeing Bern City…

Once Victoria disappeared from sight, the ones holding power started grumbling. They muttered things like “She was just pretending to be a good girl,” or “That trash doesn’t deserve royal attention,” or even mocked the media by saying everything about her was fake.

Desperately trying to scrub the stains off their reputations, they unleashed a flood of words, acting as if they’d be in danger unless they brought Victoria down.

The square quickly turned into a sea of curses.

Then it happened…

*Screeeeeech!*

The sound of twisted steel drew everyone’s gaze upward.

The lightning rod atop a towering building had reached out and torn into an inverted ocean floating high in the sky. Unlike Nantes, where the water level was lower than the first-floor ceilings, this ocean hovered much higher—but still managed to touch the tallest objects, like the lightning rods.

At that moment, the heart of the Harvesting System raced hilariously loud.

This is pure calamity—and especially so since Victoria didn’t do it intentionally.

But the fear didn’t last long. To forget it, they shouted louder, barking aggressively like scared dogs. Criticism escalated until it became talk of elimination. They twisted the narrative, framing Victoria as the instigator of what was currently happening.

Indeed, someone with ill intentions could twist opinions surprisingly fast. Using the full scope of the Harvesting System’s surveillance, they identified the person spreading these ideas. Strangely, this individual wasn’t running or shouting loudly—they were just casually walking around, adding comments here and there.

Their voice was barely audible, yet their words spread like a plague. People who heard them repeated them verbatim wherever they went.

Could it be some kind of mind-control magic?

Nope.

Not yet. Magic can’t be used in Bern City. Some parts of the Harvesting System stand near power storage units, ready to shut down if magical energy exceeds safe limits, preventing malfunction.

Among the Harvesting System operators, there were several skilled in handling mechanical devices, like Maurice.

Even though half the researchers and staff capable of teaching others have died, somehow they keep functioning.

Anyone questioning issues with the mechanical devices got assassinated.

Protests escalated, and some residents began fleeing the city, which eventually stopped.

I didn’t know why until now. Back then, Marquis Gaston withdrew the intellectuals labeled as protest leaders and pushed protesters into the city to exterminate them all.

If he created a space where magic couldn’t work and no psychics existed, Gaston would’ve succeeded. Or, even if magic worked, his army equipped with mechanical gear would’ve crushed the resistance.

But the Harvesting System failed him. Threatened with losing funding from corporate sponsors, Gaston rushed to set up headquarters in Nantes and launched a full-scale assault on the city.

Thus, people trapped inside Bern City like pottery began breaking piece by piece.

Ah…

So that’s it.

We now understand why corporate operatives are violently manipulating the Twilight Association. Their plan has already succeeded in essence.

Treason.

In a monarchy, everyone knows what treason means.

Gaston ensured survivors wouldn’t escape Bern City and spread word of what happened, making thorough extermination necessary.

Any statements made by traitors will be buried.

They won’t leave any traces behind.

Smart move, but flaws will surface elsewhere sooner or later.

Why go through such extreme measures?

Maybe they don’t think that far ahead.

When people get drunk on power, they often act astonishingly foolish. Just look at faded memories of presidents of great nations spouting nonsense or CEOs raging online—it happens when social checks disappear.

Social awareness exists to survive interactions with those who can challenge you. Without such challenges, it crumbles naturally because thinking consumes energy—a painful process. Bodies avoid actions requiring excessive energy; muscles deteriorate rapidly when exercise stops.

Thinking follows the same logic.

Self-restraint demands effort, whereas doing whatever you want requires less. It’s not about right or wrong—it’s about conserving energy.

Ordinary people face consequences for unchecked behavior, but those above such consequences see no reason to change. Without threat to life, there’s no need to think critically.

Logically strange, but biologically sound.

Do you understand what this means?

It means I was right.

With enough power, humans will kill others without hesitation. That’s what Victoria and other Harvesting Systems have shown me.

In the future, we should create Harvesting Systems from individuals placed in more extreme situations to manifest psychic abilities.

Hi hi.

While plotting this future, dawn slowly breaks far away.

As the sun rises, the Harvesting Systems retreat indoors like bugs hiding in houses, avoiding giant stone or metal projectiles flying overhead.

These metallic balls contain no gunpowder—just solid chunks of metal. Even with distorted magic, physical laws like inertia hold true, so cities are bombarded with accelerated objects from afar.

Though weaker than bombs, these objects possess enough force to chip away at the city.

After soldiers invaded and were wiped out, attackers surrounded the city outside the magic-free zone and bombarded it.

But today, no magic flies.

Survivors from Gaston’s command center in Nantes must’ve reported back. Many lives were lost in Nantes, but not all.

Harvesting Systems surviving there don’t realize humans caused the chaos. Listening through their surveillance, survivors speak of Victoria nowhere in the narrative. Instead, stories claim the Sea God punished the unjust killing order with divine retribution, sending the ocean crashing down from the heavens.

No one suspects human involvement.

Most protestors and soldiers either evaporated or passed out during the bombardment, leaving gaps in the story—or maybe those who knew chose silence.

“Ugh… Is it morning already? How much time till school starts?”

Polaris’ eyes slowly rose from the bed. Stretching lazily, despite plenty of time before school, they woke unusually early.

I woke up too.

“Morning.”

“Who? Huh? Bell? What’s this blanket? Oh…”

Fully awake now, Polaris looked around confused.

“This is…”

“It’s Victoria’s house. This is the guest room.”

“Oh, right.”

Judging by the remaining belongings, it seems they haven’t fully moved out yet—most of Victoria’s family items still remain.

Maurice and Beatrice must’ve sent the letter after relocating to the east side.

Their current whereabouts remain unknown.

But judging by the address Victoria is following, they’ll likely find them soon.

I stood up, tidied the blanket neatly, and led the still-dazed Polaris to the bathroom.

Though water didn’t flow naturally, I gently bent reality to produce some for washing. Then we headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Ah, yeah. There were no ingredients left.

“Still infrastructure intact…”

Polaris mumbled sleepily trailing behind me. Not intact—it’s bent reality. Unlike the second world, this one warps more easily.

Unclear whether it’s due to the world’s nature, the original plumbing, or my improved skills—but it works well enough.

Alright!

After initially struggling to produce milk (reality felt rigid), I switched to fruit juice, which flowed smoothly. If something fits within reason, it changes easily, I guess.

Placing the bread and juice on the table,

“Is that all?”

“I guess so.”

“Well, bread and juice isn’t bad.”

Polaris tore off a piece of bread while complaining, then suddenly froze, face turning pale. Hmm? No signs of choking based on Polaris’ senses…

“Yesterday, everything here got looted… Yeah. We should be grateful for this much.”

With an expression like someone closing their eyes to block out fear, Polaris silently ate. I joined in lightly while observing the city through Victoria’s perspective.

Right now, Victoria ponders how to break through the military blockade ahead.

Once breakfast is done, I should head over there.

---