“Do you want to go back now?”
Victoria didn’t answer Polaris’s pleading question.
Whether they returned or not, the era had already begun to roll forward.
Because the Twilight Association in Bern City had started moving east with a device that rapidly altered the magic power in the atmosphere using a power device.
The previous event of the ocean falling to the ground was thought to be the result of the military fighting against Victoria, even though there was no evidence.
They interpret the results to suit themselves, judging as they please.
Moreover, those who went to verify exactly what was happening came back reporting that the military stationed in the east had vanished.
Without properly considering the cause-and-effect relationship, they blindly began moving eastward, convinced that everything was unfolding well.
Factions wanting to create a new country, factions wanting to start a religion, and factions wanting to restore Bern City to its former state.
All of them were moving without sound judgment.
Of course, there were harvesting machines that chose to hold their position.
But there was no one among them who had truly reached the truth. They just ran away because they were scared of fighting.
They look for reasons to escape.
Interestingly, they discovered the one inciting this chaos.
Yes. The order is reversed. They sought a reason to hide because they didn’t want to go.
Thus, the harvesting machine eagerly informed people of this. However, it was impossible to stop those who were captivated by attacking the one who was already suffering.
Instead, the instigator ambushed the harvesting machine.
The instigator, presumed to be a special agent, was strong. An opponent that someone who had never truly fought and had no intention of fighting could not defeat.
In the end, the harvesting machine was killed by the instigator.
Dragged into a dark place, it was beaten to death. After confirming the life had truly ended, it was discarded like garbage, as if dealing with someone who had fainted from defeat.
But you know what?
How do I know this? There were harvesting machines watching the instigator. Several of them, in fact.
For some unknown reason, they were monitoring the harvesting machine from different directions. And when the instigator left, one of them approached the corpse, confirming that it was indeed dead.
Originally, it was a harvesting machine with no role at all. It didn’t mean to be spying on anyone. Just one of many who struggled to survive in Bern City.
It had not acted for anyone; it just moved to stay alive. A normal citizen.
To me, it only seemed like a harvesting machine, but when I heard a story from some of those machines who usually moved together, it turned out they weren’t the only ones who realized the situation.
Among the ordinary people, there was someone who deduced that the instigator had silenced one person. And they understood that there was a high likelihood that this was true.
While opposing the massive flow occurring in Bern City was impossible, not everyone was intoxicated by that flow.
It’s those with rationality that bothers me the most.
When something goes wrong, I prefer those who clean their hands of wrongdoing by saying they were just following orders without thought.
They always provide warmth.
Exploiting people, driving them, ultimately killing them while sucking out profits.
A truly remarkable harvesting machine.
The problem is that once you become a harvesting machine, intelligence increases. This is mainly true for lower intelligence beings who cannot think from others’ points of view.
Sigh.
I don’t get why there are so many flaws in abilities.
Becoming a harvesting machine would be great if you could just gain muscles or psychic abilities and act selfishly, but why does intelligence have to increase uselessly?
Or, it would be nice if the intelligence does increase, but the beings born with a lack of empathy would just develop in a way that benefits me, but that doesn’t happen.
Oh, and there’s one more amazing point.
I had sent bits of knowledge about the abilities of Wonsi Cheonjon and Daegon earlier, and those abilities appeared.
Although they were quite primitive techniques, Daegon and Wonsi Cheonjon understood their skills thoroughly, making them effective.
What shocked me the most wasn’t Daegon’s ability, but Wonsi Cheonjon’s.
The ability to convert magical power not into kinetic energy but into light and thermal energy. It can consume even more magic power abruptly than changing it into kinetic energy.
The downside is that it can’t produce enough light to kill a person. The conversion efficiency is too low, so all it does is create an incredibly bright light.
But that is sufficient.
The stress placed on the machine itself is much less compared to when converting it into kinetic energy. This means you could create areas where magic cannot be used much more easily and quickly.
Bern City is a cutting-edge city. It is packed with all kinds of research labs. The lab where Morris used to work was right at the center of Bern City.
There’s strong environmental pressure from war, and there are plenty of tools for advancement.
And I had also let slip some knowledge.
In a world where magic is used as fuel, they invented a devastating weapon.
Of course, that isn’t something shared entirely by the Twilight Association. Some groups use special inventions, and others just have devices with wheels attached to power devices.
They each think of different things, carrying different weapons as they stepped out from their hidden locations in the center of Bern City and made their way east.
As Polaris said, if they want to flee, they can cross the currently dried-up river and head north, or go around the mountains straight to the next city in the east.
This country is shaped like a flipped C. So if they continue heading east, they can catch a train to the capital from there.
Of course, it will take much longer compared to flying ships or ships, but at least it’s safer.
Victoria decided to move.
“Let’s go get Bell.”
“Huh? No, but, Bell is…”
Victoria pointed at Polaris’s hair.
Light purple hair with faint pigmentation.
“Since you’re alive like me, it must mean you were alive. The last time I saw you, you were dying. If anyone could do something about that, it’s no one but Bell.”
Ah, thinking back, that was true. The last thing Victoria saw was just me with a hand remaining, and Polaris, half-baked.
It seems Polaris’s injury wasn’t life-threatening, but anyway, hair doesn’t regenerate like that unless something special happens.
“Let’s take Bell and return to the capital first. I don’t know what else to do anymore.”
Polaris looked utterly exhausted, and Victoria had lost her sparkle.
Both must be tired enough. But they still moved.
No, they were about to move.
Grrrroooowwwlll.
“I’m hungry.”
“Hungry? Huh? You haven’t eaten anything until now?”
“Yeah… Ah, my bad.”
Suddenly, the ocean lurched and fell to the ground from far away.
Kwahhhkk!
Sounds like a landslide echoed all around.
“What are you doing!”
Polaris shouted urgently. Her face turned pale as she shouted loudly.
“If I use this more, I’m just going to get hungrier, right? Could it be a calorie shortage?”
Victoria clutched her stomach as she said that. If it were just a simple mass of water, it wouldn’t be a problem, but the density of the water above is immense, enough to crumple metal once it touches the ground.
What happens if that falls to the ground?
“Go search houses for food!”
“No, can we just steal…?”
“Is now the time for you to care about that? If you miss that, the city will disappear from the map!”
As if Polaris had forgotten despair, she suddenly got up and dashed toward a house that was still somewhat standing.
Of course, the door was locked, but Polaris tore the door right off and began rummaging through the kitchen.
Victoria scanned her surroundings, especially observing the long line cutting off the east. Until just now, there must have been military present in this place.
So they must have struck with weapons anyone trying to get out.
The north meant a river. The west was the ocean, and the south required descending a cliff. Of course, if there’s someone with special abilities, they could go in any direction except west, but going through either north or south would be challenging for plenty of people.
Victoria stretched her arm towards the sky.
What is she planning to do?
Even in the daytime, the sky remained pitch black with not a single beam of light. Distantly, a faint shape could be seen reflecting light.
A gigantic water column slowly descended.
And as if scratching the ground with lasers, the water column began washing the ground along the terrain without a single building.
Shwaaaahh!
No, let me correct that.
The water pressure was so intense that a large crater was formed.
Why on earth?
Victoria approached the hollow place. Her eyes examined the cut-up surface. Several large pipes presumed to be sewage lines.
And beside that, a mechanical device popped out.
Those who know about mechanical puppets understand what that is.
A mechanical puppet moving through the underground. It’s responsible for repairing sewers, or swiftly sending letters or parcels.
Originally, it was a machine designed to lay the tracks there for repairs, tackling small damages. Memories begin to shine as that recollection surfaces.
It’s not just about burying a coffin and watching it corrode; many damages happen because of monsters or shockwaves from above using magic, so using a person for repairs is standard.
What Bern City has done is replace that with machines.
Moreover, they didn’t just reserve the tracks tangled alongside the drainage for repairs, but also added the functionality of delivering letters and items.
In other words, it means items can go back and forth.
The water snake-like moved, bringing a machine that was stuck underground to Victoria. As she opened it up, a small mechanical device was revealed. Something that was likely attached to a space meant for storing something not yet established.
Click click.
As she disassembled it, Victoria let out a deep sigh.
“It really isn’t just Marquis Gaston’s military that is the enemy, huh.”
The memories indicated that this device for entering programming was attached to some machinery. Victoria also understood that.
Carrying that, she approached Polaris, who was shivering in fear after suddenly bursting out of the house.
“Did you find anything to eat?”
“Um? Yeah. But all I could find were hard cookies. But what’s that you’re holding?”
“Didn’t you say the mechanical puppet attacked suddenly from the airship?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s the device that creates it.”
In an instant, Polaris’s eyes sharpened, but she said nothing and led Victoria back into the house.
And the two of them had a late lunch.
