Chapter 220

No one ever returned my kindness.

Of course not.

It’s a matter of life and death, so what difference would a single monster’s barking make?

It only brings more anger, that’s all.

Among the protestors in front of me, there were people who recognized me.

But there was no Harvesting System. In other words, there was no one to properly verify my abilities.

For some reason, they reached out and grabbed me.

“You, you can make those bastards listen, right?”

“Sorry, but sacrifice yourself for us.”

Rough hands touched my shoulder.

“You guys haven’t done anything wrong.”

That’s what I told them. Of course, no one really listened to me.

I did what I had to do. So now, it’s fine to let go of those thoughts, right?

I walked straight toward the sharp wooden stick. The stabbing part immediately pierced my chest, and the man wearing a creepy expression felt the sensation.

“Huh?”

Pssht.

I cleanly stabbed the heart, and blood sprayed forward. The person in front got completely drenched in the sudden blood fountain.

“AAAAAAH!”

The one splattered with blood looked confused, while the woman standing nearby screamed.

“What are you doing?!”

Then, the man beside her grabbed the collar of the guy who stabbed me and shouted.

“Uh, no, I didn’t mean to…”

The beast-human hybrid shook his head nervously. But, no one believed him. That’s why I picked someone who looked ferocious on purpose.

Blood flowed from the wooden stick stuck in the middle of my chest, and the man finally lowered the hand holding it, looking flustered.

The smell of blood spread around.

“Bell, what are you doing?”

At that moment, Victoria calmly asked me from behind.

But contrary to my expectations, no one came here. The stench of blood was overwhelming, but it seeped into the nostrils, easily clouding rational thought. Once chaos began, it would be like dominoes—everyone killing each other.

I believed that, but it didn’t happen.

Hmm, starting a fight to steal a bit of warmth failed. And paralyzing Victoria beforehand also failed.

I pulled out the wooden stick stuck in my chest.

With a pssh sound, blood gushed out.

Simultaneously, my skin became even paler. Any living being would already be dead. Blood wasn’t reaching the brain cells, and the muscles were gradually loosening.

But life isn’t important to me.

What matters is the vessel.

“People won’t stop unless there’s blood and corpses, right?”

“Yeah, but doing that…what are you gonna do?”

Oops.

I turned around wondering why no one was moving, and then I understood. Behind Victoria, a massive water current was swirling and growing bigger.

Of course.

When such overwhelming power is visible, whether someone dies or not isn’t the issue.

“Are you trying to throw away your life?”

“I didn’t know? At least as far as I know, I can’t die.”

Meaning it’s the cheapest option.

Would anyone value something they have infinitely? Especially something they want to discard but can’t?

“Victoria has become a complete thug.”

“If I don’t do this, soldiers might cast magic from behind. To others, it’d just look like a horrifying murder scene.”

Yeah. At least now she has enough sanity to use her powers for others.

The incident in Bern City recently still lingers in my mind.

So you weren’t that surprised when I died, huh?

To cover up a situation that should’ve caused confusion with an even stronger power…

That’s the taste of strength. It’s sweet, isn’t it? Unfortunately, it prevented the chaos. Maybe leaving things alone would’ve been better for Victoria.

Anyway.

Since my body started creaking, I suppressed reality and regenerated the wound.

“Shall we go?”

“Healing clothes too, huh… Alright, let’s go.”

Victoria checked my clothes and started walking. Everyone cleared the way in front of her. Of course, no one thought they were stepping aside willingly.

It was because a thin stream of water shot straight ahead, splitting sideways and creating a path. Of course, there were people who tried to resist.

But they were pushed aside like they were against a steel rod, by the water.

Ultimately, they couldn’t block this.

Thinking that, I followed Victoria.

After cutting through the crowd for a while, the line of protestors ended. There were people following from behind, but when Victoria subtly glanced back, they stopped approaching.

No, they couldn’t move.

There were water-made rings around their ankles, gently swaying. They couldn’t chase even if they wanted to.

She truly uses her psychic ability like her own body.

The more she uses it, the more familiar it gets, similar to a physical body. Or rather, isn’t she using it even more freely than her own body?

What exactly is psychic ability?

Surprisingly, I have no memory about this. Even the most knowledgeable Daegon and Primordial Heavenly Sovereign show “no results found” when searched.

Psychic ability remains shrouded in mystery.

Thinking that, I headed toward the Mechanical Knight School along the main road.

It’s still early for dinner, but half the sky over the capital is filled with hazy smoke.

Because it’s gotten so cold that sleeping outside could kill you. Despite this country having a mild average temperature where water doesn’t freeze even in winter, it’s still cold for its inhabitants.

If you lower your head slightly, you can see buildings with windows boarded up and shops reinforced with iron frames.

Of course, there are people.

They’re not buying anything but standing with signs saying, “Please give me work,” hanging around their necks.

Many people who can’t wash themselves look ragged. Each one, with depressed expressions, occupies various spots on the street.

We cross such a city.

It’s hard to believe this is the capital of a nation.

And in just two months, food prices have tripled. The shorter the shelf life, the higher the price spike.

Following the mood of the city, Victoria’s expression gradually hardened. Not because it’s hard to walk through such a place sanely…

It’s because black smoke, not white, is rising from a specific location. A place Victoria knows well.

The place she’s going to study now.

Victoria’s steps quickened.

And soon, she ran to that place, leaving me behind.

I know what’s happening at the Mechanical Knight School. So instead of rushing to catch up with Victoria, I continued walking at my normal pace.

Right now, the Mechanical Knight School is in chaos.

Citizens stormed the school walls around lunchtime.

Exhausted citizens armed with sticks broke in and started smashing everything. Of course, the students studying at the time were also included in their targets.

Here’s the logic of the citizens:

“It’s because of you that we’re freezing and starving.”

“It’s because you created these trashy mechanical devices that we’re suffering.”

Strictly speaking, this isn’t revenge.

It’s retaliation.

They needed someone to vent their anger on. As the economy plummeted, they needed a scapegoat for this situation.

Originally, the king should have been the target. Regardless of the truth, the king should have borne the brunt of criticism.

But this country handled the media excellently.

They made three companies enemies, explained in detail how their mechanical devices caused problems, and clearly propagated who to hate.

However, all that appeared only in newspapers or broadcasts.

They couldn’t feel it.

All they could feel was their homes getting colder day by day, unable to even warm up, and prices skyrocketing to the point they couldn’t afford a meal.

Life became increasingly terrible, but the ones to blame were too distant.

So, they created sacrificial lambs they could beat to death. They designated targets they could punch and take revenge on.

Not nobles, who were too high and unreachable, but a school attended by commoners.

A place related to the mechanical devices causing the harsh reality.

Whether it was actually such a place or if they were truly guilty didn’t matter.

That it was a place developing improvements to problematic mechanical devices to return to normal life also didn’t matter.

There was a suitable outlet for their emotions, so citizens went to the Mechanical Knight School, dragged out teachers and students, killed them, destroyed all equipment, and set fire to everything.

Included in there were several Harvesting Systems, so I know well.

One by one, they tore apart students who were originally neighborhood kids. Without discriminating between men, women, young, or old, they trampled over the corpses with their feet.

As if doing so would return the society that horribly changed in just half a year to its original state.

Of course, the students there didn’t just sit there. They had mechanical devices. Some heavy machinery-level mechanical devices too.

They fought riding those.

Blood splattered, people died.

What I tried to create earlier is happening here. Since they’ve killed fellow citizens, no one tries to stop them now. Well, not no one, but those who try soon cease to exist.

They get murdered.

After eliminating traitors, they furiously attack in honor of our noble comrades who died, becoming even more brutal. Anyone even remotely related gets captured and tortured to death.

Yes, this is humanity.

Blaming others for their misfortunes. Transferring responsibility and using it as a reason to beat someone to death. The pleasure gained at that moment is considerable.

Because since ancient times, when humans started forming groups, they learned this pleasure to maintain the group. Destroying the enemy of the group ensures its survival.

An instinctive pleasure. It’s not bad. Without such a reward system, no one would have picked up weapons for the group. Groups without this reward system would’ve collapsed and perished.

This is the result of evolution.

A trait acquired by the social animal called humans.

If someone in charge here intervened properly, there’d be a chance to change hearts…

But the law enforcement doesn’t diligently protect this place.

Perhaps because there aren’t enough troops to guard it.

Because most of the forces are guarding the Royal Academy.

Thus, in a place with no one stopping them, they kill each other. Into this meaningless hatred-filled area, Victoria arrived.

With a pale-white face, she saw the teacher who used to split time teaching her at another school. Strictly speaking, the meat lump that was once a teacher lay squashed on the ground, and citizens stepped on it, laughing and dancing happily.

Victoria faced the reality where emotion was the only thing correct.

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