Chapter 210

The next day.

Now, the weekend is almost here tomorrow. Any student would love a day off to play. Usually, as the weekend approached, whispers and chatter in the halls would increase, but today’s different.

It’s raining from the sky.

Maybe because it got chillier compared to yesterday, lots of students are complaining about the cold, and the gloomy sky has dragged down the overall mood.

When one long-term student in the capital lamented that after this rain stops, it’ll get even colder, the classroom atmosphere grew even more depressing.

Even checking the Harvesting System’s memories confirms it.

While there are occasionally strange seasons where summer or winter might last longer than usual, or sometimes winter doesn’t come at all—those aren’t so much climate changes as they are anomalies caused by incidents.

Why?

Because there’s a monster living here that can change the seasons.

But basically, it never drops below 0 degrees Celsius here. To the west, there’s an ocean right away, and even if you go all the way east, there’s still the sea. Strangely enough, smack dab in the middle of the country, there’s a perfectly round sea that looks suspiciously like a crater.

If you draw a rectangular prism tilted slightly south of center with a circle cut out on the left side whose diameter equals the height of the prism, you’ve got a rough map of this continent.

By the way, this world has more landmass in the southern hemisphere than the northern one.

We may not know every detail, but we have a general idea of the entire landmass here. Of course, there are plenty of areas we can’t access, so there are still vast unknown territories, but at least we can outline the coastlines.

Anyway.

Even in winter, this country doesn’t get cold enough for snow.

So why do words related to diversity shortages or market and supply chain issues keep popping up as search terms these days?

It seems especially true in this world.

No, wait…

It’s because I gained so much warmth—and along with it, memories—from my time in the first world. In the second world, life was practically prehistoric, so there wasn’t much in those memories to bring up.

And Daegon, who once ruled an entire world, had an overwhelming number of memories. I only obtained them pretty late into my journey.

It took me quite some time just to process all of that, so it makes sense that memories keep shining brightly since coming to this third world.

In other words, the more I expand the Harvesting System, the more frequently these memories will shine, huh?

Guess that’s fine then.

Even if the simple searches sometimes produce errors, they don’t interfere with decision-making, so it’s okay.

“Why does she look so lively?”

Since that day, Polaris, who talks to us two or three times a week, grabbed Victoria’s glowing cheeks and asked while her face sparkled.

“Victoria becomes more vibrant when it rains.”

“Does she get stronger when it rains? Like some water spirit from a fairy tale?”

Polaris pinched Victoria’s cheek harder, then brought her finger close to her own eyes with a very surprised expression.

“What is this texture?”

“Hiihi, water can do many things, Pola. For instance, it can push away your harsh hands!”

Victoria’s skin rippled slightly.

There’s a thin layer of water acting as a barrier.

This kid… she can do this now, huh?

Or rather, isn’t her skill improving rapidly?

Until recently, she could only use water to wash quickly and wring herself dry, but now she can do something like *this*?

“Is something wrong? Are you coating your whole body with this?”

At that, Victoria shook her head with a wry smile.

“There’s nothing to worry about, Pola. Not only does this keep my skin in perfect condition, but I realized yesterday that I can raise the temperature!”

“It feels more magical than magic itself.”

Wow.

I was impressed too. So… Victoria can maintain a thin water barrier around her body while simultaneously heating it up so she doesn’t feel cold?

“How do you make it warm?”

Out of curiosity, I asked, and Victoria raised her index finger.

As she did, a droplet of water floated into the air.

When the droplet grew to the size of a fingernail, Victoria spoke again.

“If I harden the water, the temperature drops.”

The water instantly froze solid.

“Shake it, and the temperature rises.”

Then it started vibrating slowly.

“I tried it yesterday to relieve some stiffness in my shoulders, and it worked like this.”

Poof!

In an instant, the fingernail-sized droplet turned into white steam and vanished into the air.

That means she can do anything with water, right?

Wait…

On second thought, she already could.

Back in Bern City during the final moments, Victoria dropped the sea to the ground, compressed it, and hardened it into a mirror-like surface.

When she released her energy, frost formed around the edges of the ice. That means the temperature dropped when she froze the water.

There were signs of this ability before.

If water can do everything, isn’t that kind of vague?

Not even the Harvesting Systems from the first world could achieve this level of power.

Impressive.

“Tori, can I try too?”

“It’s hard to wrap yourself like me, but this part, yeah.”

With that, Victoria grabbed Polaris’ hand. Her hand rippled slightly, and Polaris’ expression softened instantly.

“It’s warm.”

“Right?”

Victoria giggled while looking at Polaris’ face.

A word popped up in my memory: “Steam Engine” and “Small Nuclear Reactor.” It flickered briefly before fading.

Definitely, you could boil water to spin a turbine.

Considering how much Victoria consumes, it’s almost like creating something from nothing, right?

Of course, I wouldn’t say that aloud.

After all, people here only know electricity as something that happens during lightning storms.

Even knowledgeable people don’t realize static electricity and regular electricity are the same thing.

Well, maybe the scholars don’t know, but soldiers and monster hunters understand it better.

Some monsters use magic power to discharge electricity, after all.

Things like water being dangerous when electrified or metal conducting current are considered hazardous knowledge.

So, buildings have proper lightning rods installed.

But that’s about it.

There’s no foundational knowledge, and most importantly, the technology to create turbines is lacking. Even though we have mechanical devices, without the necessary tech, we can’t develop further.

My memories confirm this too. Related searches for fluid dynamics and metallurgy suggest we’re missing more than just a few pieces.

“Hey, should I warm Bell too?”

“Yes! No, sure. Wait, no, that’s not what I meant. Temperature-wise, it’s fine.”

Victoria’s question caught me off guard, and I realized belaying warmth wasn’t exactly what she meant.

Yeah, mere physical heat won’t fix Bell…

Warmth.

It’s been creeping in lately.

More transport-based harvesters have appeared recently, but bandit attacks have increased as well. Normally, harvesters are physically strong, so they handle such situations easily.

Ordinarily, killing someone would mean facing legal consequences, whether from the police or local security forces. No society condones killing openly.

Not because morality matters so much—it’s more practical.

The rulers don’t mind exploiting their subjects until they die or doing it for fun, but they dislike seeing their assets diminish due to infighting.

An easy analogy from faded memories: in RTS games, sending worker units to scout enemy territory is fine. But if your workers fight each other and dwindle, the game is doomed.

Same here.

Rulers generally think it’s okay if their property wears out through personal use, but they don’t want their assets fighting among themselves and disappearing.

Divide and conquer.

Sure, splitting groups weakens them, but if everyone destroys each other, there’ll be nothing left to rule.

That’s why laws exist—to prevent asset loss.

However, these laws are loosening.

With rising prices, theft has increased. People justify killing others to protect themselves. Society is becoming desensitized to murder—or perhaps survival requires it now.

This issue likely arose from rejecting mechanical devices.

But the royal family isn’t cooperating with the three major companies and is instead developing independent technology to clean up internally.

Though things may seem chaotic now, they’ll improve soon.

Until then, enjoy the gradual warmth seeping in.

“It’s not that cold right now.”

Hmm. If I end it here, someone might press me about the cold I mentioned earlier. Let’s steer the conversation. People vividly talk about their problems, so let’s probe into that.

“So, Victoria, are you doing well in the dormitory? I heard the hot water system works great.”

Asking if someone’s doing well is polite, even if you already know. And yes, the hot water system functions properly.

But listeners might associate “cold” with dissatisfaction. Plus, I know Victoria has complaints about the dormitory.

This slight jab aims to encourage her to open up.

And Victoria took the bait immediately.

“The water comes out great, but as for whether I’m doing well in the dormitory… it’s a bit…”

“Is something wrong with the dormitory?”

Polaris looked puzzled. As the eldest daughter of the Barrington Marquis family, she doesn’t lack resources to hire guards, yet she stays in the dormitory.

Most noble students in the dormitory come from middling noble families.

“Have you noticed the recent influx of noble students in the dorms?”

“Oh yeah. A friend complained about having to move there. Is someone bullying you?”

Victoria gave Polaris a sour look, likely recognizing how she subtly shifted the topic to subordinates.

But Victoria didn’t call her out and instead shared her own grievances.

“They don’t kill me outright, but there are plenty of nobles blocking hallways with their petty power struggles, making it difficult to navigate. Kids like me either have to detour or climb out windows.”

“Whoa! Blocking Tori’s path? Those kids must be brimming with bravado!”

“Pola.”

“Hehehe. But it’s true, right?”

When Victoria glared, Polaris flinched and glanced away, though she was still smiling. Her muttering reached Victoria’s ears.

Victoria ignored it and continued.

“But there are fun moments too.”

“Fun moments?”

Curious, Polaris leaned closer as Victoria lowered her voice.

She told stories about boys sneaking into the boy’s dormitory at night, or girls quarreling over one boy, demanding breakups or declarations of love.

They chatted about these tales until class resumed.

Me?

While listening intently, I contemplated offering harvesting opportunities to any defeated girls.

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