Polaris turned her gaze from me to Victoria.
“Toriy, what magic was that just now? I didn’t feel any magic power at all; it was like the floor just got wet, right?”
She spoke with an extremely excited voice as she looked at Victoria, unlike how she had spoken to me until now. She immediately called her by a nickname. She sure knows how to march forward!
Victoria looked at me as if she were in a lot of trouble. Even so, I couldn’t really help her.
“Is it really a psychic ability like I saw on the broadcast? What else can you do?”
Polaris moved in closer.
Victoria started to hesitantly explain, “Yeah, a psychic ability. The only thing I can control is water.”
Victoria pulled a thin stream of water up from the air. Polaris stared at it closely.
“Indeed, there’s no magic power. That means it’s not magic. Hmm, it’s a psychic ability that can be easily used even in cities with low magic power, huh? Scary.”
At Polaris’s words, Victoria tilted her head in confusion.
“Scary? It’s nothing compared to magic, right?”
Polaris chuckled. Then, she poked Victoria’s chest where her heart was with her finger.
“It’s not the psychic ability that’s scary. It’s you, Toriy. You came after me to bury me if need be, didn’t you? I felt an eerie chill.”
At that, Victoria gently turned her head aside to avoid Polaris’s gaze. In response, Polaris straightened her shoulders.
“See? A kid like you is rare. And with this kind of power. How about becoming a knight? You’d be a noble, and I can help you a lot, you know?”
From commoner to knight. It’s a good opportunity in a society with lingering class divisions. But Victoria shook her head.
“Even if I become a knight, my dream is to be a clockwork knight. If you’re looking for another knight, try somewhere else.”
“Would giving you a factory be enough?”
At Polaris’s playful remark, Victoria showed a glimmer of interest. But when she shook her head vigorously in rejection, Polaris chuckled again.
“Too bad. If you ever get interested, just come to the Barrington Marquis house. If I like who you are then, I won’t hold back on helping you.”
Then Polaris briefly greeted before heading toward a building.
“What a stormy person. But she doesn’t seem bad. When she lowered her voice after mentioning her acquaintance dropped out, it felt like she was trying to help Bell.”
“Really?”
“It was a bit funny when they were wary of meeting the prince.”
“I think so too.”
It seemed like there had been some bloodshed among students of the same grade as the prince.
Even if they needed a benefactor, using someone as bait shows they’re already passing the harvesting period. If we set that part aside, everything else is fine.
“Are you going to see Shgeadore now?”
Victoria cautiously asked, keeping an eye on me. Instead of answering that question, I lightly changed the subject.
“I didn’t know Shgeadore was like that.”
“You met him last time, didn’t you? Didn’t you notice then?”
“He was just sitting there. It was a high-ranking person, so I thought I wouldn’t need to pay close attention.”
In every world, I had been somewhat of an outsider, so this attention was a first for me.
As long as there’s a physical form in this world, I wasn’t meant to observe through the harvesting period; I was there inside this world.
Following the flow, I just needed to pick up the warmth that spilled out from it. But can I create that flow?
It’s like realizing that while playing a simulation game, I can actually step in and become a player.
I’d like to pretend I have no ego until I set a base, but such opportunities don’t come around often.
Hmm.
When have I ever been so picky? I just aimed for one goal and did what I could in between.
Let’s just respond as needed this time too.
As the topic shifted, instead of asking more about Shgeadore, Victoria began to grumble.
“Why did I suddenly have to enter the Royal Academy and end up like this?”
“Well, you could say it’s open-minded in that it accepts prominent figures in society.”
To know that accurately, one should understand history and the current international situation. But I don’t know that. My memories from the harvesting period contain hardly any information about foreign lands.
All I have are bits of rumor about significant events and modest bits of information like how the food was delicious there.
If I could make that person of Shgeadore into a harvesting period, I’d probably gain useful information.
But I won’t make contact.
It’s not a troublesome situation at all. If I use the truth as a weapon, I’ll end up being bound by that truth. Truth is powerful, but its constraints are considerable.
And if the purpose is to treat obstacles, they would approach on their own, so let’s try to take the initiative here.
“Um, is Bell smart?”
“No, she’s not. She’s got a lot of knowledge, so she’s confident in interpretation, but she can’t create something new or predict using the information she has. In short, she lacks creativity.”
Interpreting objects in front of her based on accepted information and predicting the future are entirely different functions.
But it seems Victoria didn’t see it that way.
“You better apologize to the clockwork knight wannabes for not being able to do simple interpretations.”
“If she memorizes a lot, it should be okay.”
“No matter how I see it, it won’t stick no matter how much you memorize!”
It seems she was talking about herself. Victoria was grumbling.
Was memorizing that difficult?
I rummaged through faded memories.
I have memories of struggling to memorize. So, being able to memorize well means having a good head after all. Even if you have knowledge, it’s frustratingly hard to create something new with it.
“Let’s just consider that those who can create something are the amazing ones.”
“Seems like you envy what even monsters don’t possess…”
For some reason, Victoria looked like she had an epiphany, staring blankly into space.
Isn’t it true that the lacking parts tend to stand out more? Once envy sticks, it’s hard to shake off.
That’s why an environment where I can easily gain warmth is formed, so I’d actually like to encourage this aspect.
Anyway.
“Let’s head home now.”
“Are you talking about the dorms? I can’t go with you; I have places to stop by.”
Victoria is busy preparing for her clockwork knight dreams.
“Oh, by the way, where do you live now, Bell?”
Victoria threw a legitimate question. So I pointed to the main gate of the Royal Academy.
“I live in the building directly to the left once you exit through the main gate.”
“Left from the main gate? Ah, is that it?”
It looks like she recalled it. The clockwork knight school is also in the capital like the Royal Academy. Plus, Victoria has been around this area, so she should be able to remember it.
“When you go back to your room, what do you do? Do you play videos? You don’t cook or clean or anything, right?”
Victoria asks about what I had done at her house. So I shook my head.
“Those things are done by the staff inside. I just go into my room and sit quietly.”
“Don’t you do anything else?”
“Nope. I don’t have to, so I don’t.”
At my words, Victoria looked at me with a worried expression.
“Then you don’t get bored?”
“Time flies by in an instant.”
There are more than ten thousand harvesting periods. In other words, it means I have that many channels. I can’t just watch one; I’m observing all the harvesting periods at once. And that’s still the case.
So there’s never a dull moment.
If I had to use an analogy, it’s like lying on a bed and watching very briefly edited videos.
Human lives are essentially a comedy when viewed from a distance, so it’s enjoyable to watch.
Even now, the only warmth that came in was from a harvesting period, where someone died buried under construction materials.
Someday, plenty of warmth will come in.
Of course, not just humans, but killing living things also brings warmth.
However, that side is lacking. Butchering livestock doesn’t yield much warmth. The bugs on the roadside have more warmth than those livestock.
Perhaps, it means such livestock have their potentials shut off from the beginning.
Of course, there are many living creatures out there. When going from a small port to Bern City, I saw the jungle from the sea.
There were many beings with considerable warmth there. If I cleared that out and developed it, I’d gain a lot of warmth in that moment.
But in the end, human warmth is the most efficient. Even if each individual monster has more warmth, in terms of density, humans hold more.
So considering efficiency, humans are excellent preliminary harvesting periods.
“In an instant, you say? Does that mean time passes quickly? You sound like a grandmother. Ah, speaking of which, how old are you?”
“As you grow older, time tends to feel like it passes more quickly.”
When I accepted that as a fact, Victoria made a horrific expression.
“Wow, if so, I don’t want to get old. There’s still so much to do, and time just keeps flying!”
“Don’t worry. You won’t age easily from now on.”
I pointed at Victoria as I said that.
When you become a harvesting period, aged individuals regain youth, and younger individuals don’t age much. Missing hair appears again, and the traces of time that come with aging disappear.
“Really?”
“Yep. Just think of it as your lifespan doubling.”
Of course, it resets from the next generation, but if I’m thrown in, it will increase.
“Bell is amazing.”
At that, I smile.
That’s what makes people cling to me. Everyone ages, and aging bodies break down. If you can restore it to the original state, many will pay any price.
The Highpion King will surely come looking for me.
Hehe.
But before that, there’s one problem I have to face.
The witch who cursed Aurora.
That witch may see me as an enemy and attack. I welcome the attack itself. But there’s something I’m concerned about.
That witch was quick-witted. Hyungkesuni was like that.
After I fell to the ground, she transformed midway into a monster but failed to become one and disappeared. Not all humans that fall to the ground become individuals like me.
That witch suspected me right from the first world.
And she had almost reached the truth.
The other side of the harvesting period—the real danger I didn’t tell anyone about. The reason I could only remain an evil monster.
What will happen if that witch figures it out?
At that time, I may have to use aggressive military power.
Or perhaps it would be better to shatter this third world and gain warmth instead of leaving with nothing.
Let me lay out a few options and wait.
“If you expect that, you’re going to regret it, Victoria.”
Then I started walking towards the main gate, and Victoria followed me for a bit before waving her hand and saying she was going to the office.
The day passes quickly.
