Chapter 228

Victoria boarded a train at the largest station in the capital.

And her train headed east, curving broadly from there toward southeast before continuing straight south.

After heading southwest and then west again, it would reach Bern City—but Victoria didn’t return that way.

Instead, around when she descended further south, Victoria switched trains.

She went even farther south.

Then she got off at a station.

Victoria looked around the countryside with an expression questioning if this was the right place.

The train station was rustic, featuring only stone platforms and a tiny building—a real country stop.

There were deep green fields covered in crops, and beyond them rose a towering mountain range. This was the same range that had been visible to the east ever since the train started heading south.

With her luggage in hand, Victoria exited the station.

*Squish.*

Looking down, Victoria saw mud-covered ground, which splattered onto her legs and bag.

But she didn’t frown. Watching quietly, water droplets sprang from her clothes, cleaning off the mud and drying everything around her instantly.

She glanced around.

Victoria frowned.

It wasn’t for any other reason—there was a corner that clearly looked like a junkyard filled with broken mechanical devices.

“It hasn’t been long.”

Victoria muttered softly.

At first, it wasn’t clear what she meant.

But realizing it referred to the state of the broken mechanisms, Victoria continued walking without hesitation.

She trudged along a road made of dirt, sand, and mud mixed together.

Occasionally pulling out a letter and muttering the address under her breath, she walked beneath the harsh winter sun.

Finally, Victoria arrived at her destination.

Compared to the capital or Bern City, this place featured old-fashioned wooden buildings.

Victoria read the sign by the door, checked the mailbox once more, and entered.

Knocking on the door, an elderly man and woman with tanned skin appeared. They asked her name with complex expressions.

Victoria replied, introducing herself while they introduced themselves as well, saying:

“So we finally meet. Please wait a moment.”

They loudly called out Beatrice’s name.

A disheveled, scarred woman soon emerged wearing loose clothing. Though drastically changed compared to three months ago, this was Beatrice. Seeing her, Victoria hesitantly asked:

“Mom?”

“Huh? Tori? Why are you here so early?”

Beatrice seemed flustered.

An older woman approached her to calm her down, mentioning a word that caught attention: daughter-in-law.

Meaning Victoria’s grandmother. So the man beside her must be her grandfather.

Ah!

This was Maurice’s family side.

When big trouble strikes, people often turn to their parents as a last resort.

Of course, most people don’t have parents they can rely on, but that’s just how things go.

After all, being someone’s child is rare enough, and being born into a family where the parents can help you is like trying to pluck stars from the sky.

That’s not the child’s fault.

In terms of sheer numbers, such cases are more common than not.

Still, many believe they can create happy families, leading people to marry. If that belief collapses, people might give up on family altogether, living only in faded memories of better times.

Even if the present seems full of unhappy people, dreams of a brighter future keep families forming.

However, if society crushes those dreams with cold reality, the future disappears. How can you see the future when all you’ve seen is the past?

Investments happen because people hope for a better tomorrow. But if every indicator shows collapse, few will invest.

In this sense, Victoria is lucky.

Not only does she have Maurice and Beatrice, but also her grandparents.

“I’m here for vacation. Where’s Dad?”

As soon as Victoria finished speaking, the expressions of everyone around her darkened.

Eh? Did something happen to Maurice?

“Well, since you’re here, you should meet your dad.”

With a heavy heart, Beatrice hugged Victoria tightly. Realizing what this meant, Victoria’s face stiffened.

“Mom, what happened to Dad?”

Beatrice whispered softly while holding Victoria.

“He’s… slightly unwell.”

After letting go, Beatrice took Victoria’s hand and led her inside.

Deep within the house.

They entered a room that looked like it belonged to a boy.

Pointing at the bed, they revealed a pale man lying there groaning. The formerly robust figure now lay emaciated.

But Victoria’s gaze wasn’t on Maurice’s face—it was on his leg.

Where his right leg should have been, there was nothing.

A terrible sight.

Now she understood why Beatrice had been the only one replying to letters, why details about Maurice were absent, and why the messages were so brief.

She probably didn’t know what or how much to write.

“Mom, what exactly happened?”

Beatrice wiped Maurice’s sweat before taking Victoria outside.

In the hallway near the door, she explained.

During the large riots in Bern City, they barely escaped. However, Maurice had injured his leg during the chaos and concealed it until arriving here, where it was already in critical condition.

By then, the infection was severe, and his right leg had already necrotized.

So they amputated it.

Though they avoided the worst-case scenario, Maurice has been bedridden for weeks now.

Biting her lip, Beatrice warned Victoria to prepare herself mentally.

That’s something you say to someone who might die.

“Why did it come to this, Mom?”

Victoria asked, looking at the scars covering Beatrice’s body. But Beatrice shook her head.

It means she can’t explain.

Still, the scars make it obvious this wasn’t just a simple injury.

After all, running away with wounds bad enough to cause sepsis is suspicious. Memories spark hundreds of possibilities.

First, the scars aren’t over two months old—they’re relatively recent.

Two months ago, Victoria visited Bern City. Thus, they likely lived somewhere else before coming here.

Hmm?

Coincidentally, the Bern City incident triggered something significant.

Specifically, the destruction of mechanical devices—and the subsequent mob violence against corporate employees.

Do people act rationally when given an easy outlet for anger?

If someone looks like they work for a big company, they’d likely become targets in such a game.

Let’s play soccer! You’re the ball! That kind of thing.

The scars covering Beatrice’s body.

Maurice hiding his injury while traveling far.

The grandparents meeting Victoria for the first time. Do close families really avoid contact like that?

They must’ve reached out only because the situation was dire.

And if their relationship was so strained, finding them after losing their home wouldn’t feel natural.

Something’s hidden.

But Victoria doesn’t seem aware of it.

Rather, she has no time to care.

Returning home, she finds her mother battered and her father dying. Moreover, Beatrice’s condition suggests more than just physical harm.

Her pupils dilate and constrict irregularly, and her hands tremble faintly despite attempts to hide it.

Yeah.

This is the worst.

In other words, it’s a fantastic situation for me to arrive in.

I organized my thoughts and stepped out of the car.

Even without a royal transportation pass, they brought me here for free based solely on an address. Sure, I had to transfer vehicles a few times, but beggars can’t be choosers.

“Thank you.”

“Yes, please contact us anytime using this number if needed.”

The driver handed me a business card.

Taking it, he returned to the car, which promptly drove off. I approached the house I’d seen earlier.

I knocked.

*Creak.*

The door opened, revealing Victoria’s grandfather—an appropriately tanned man with thick arms and legs, muscles honed by years of labor.

Fields surround this area. Behind the house, I smell livestock. Plants and animals indicate food isn’t scarce here.

Meanwhile, starvation is rising in the nation’s major cities.

This place is lucky…

“Who are you?”

“I bring unpleasant news.”

He looks confused, but I ignore him and enter, heading directly to the corridor where Beatrice and Victoria are having a private moment.

“Hello. Unfortunate humans.”

Startled, Victoria and Beatrice stare at me as I push past them into the room.

“Bell?”

Approaching the bed, I detect a foul odor. It’s rotting flesh. Victoria couldn’t get close enough to notice, but parts like his armpits are already oozing pus.

“I’ll offer you this person. In return, when you finish everything, I’ll take everything you own. Deal?”

My flesh swelled, hardened like porcelain, then crumbled into sand, revealing a blue-skinned man beneath, bewildered.

“Bell?”

“Hello, Maurice. What a miserable day.”

I turned back.

“Isn’t that right, Victoria?”

Victoria avoided my gaze.

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