Thud! I entered the accommodation and relaxed as if nothing had happened, and the day changed.
Ding ding! Today, yet another class was going on that wasn’t particularly important for me, and I watched it. Unlike everyone else, I didn’t need to care about grades or strive to gain knowledge.
Pop! If it’s necessary, I can just create a harvesting period, right?
While watching the class, I saw the world through the eyes of the harvesting period.
Wooosh! The Purple Twilight Society of Bern City.
It’s a group that was formed to survive during the incident in Bern City. Originally, it was accidentally created by the second harvesting period but officially became known as a charity organization after the incident. The royal family funded it.
Blink! Officially, the royal family didn’t support it, and even the office staff didn’t have clear evidence of where the money came from.
However, there are harvesting periods that have figured out where the funding comes from.
I overheard what that harvesting period said.
And when the support was cut off, those who felt they had suffered losses banded together.
Of course, not every harvesting period aims to stir trouble in the Purple Twilight Society. In fact, it’s only a very small minority.
But the loud minority sometimes ends up representing the majority. And if they’re seen as the majority, there are people who get swept up in the tide and participate.
Crash! It’s bound to escalate into a big fight.
In fact, even now, there are individuals in the office rallying people in front of them. They shout, claiming that the office embezzled money and demands it be returned.
Shout! The office side整理 the transactions but that person yells that it’s a lie. They probably know that’s not true, too.
But here, the truth doesn’t matter.
Because they’ve suffered based on their standards, their will to reclaim that loss is much stronger.
Whoosh! It’s selfish.
And that’s a good thing.
What happens to others is secondary. You have to survive first. It’s only natural for any living being.
Therefore, self-sacrifice is valuable. If everyone does it, would it still have value? I like a world like that. A noble world where actions of sacrifice are held in high esteem for others.
In other words, it means a world overflowing with selfish people.
As expected in a world full of selfish people, selfish actions occur.
Bang! Just now, a selfish few barged into the office, flipping tables and kicking chairs.
The atmosphere is tense.
A verbal fight breaks out, and they grab each other by the collar, yelling.
But it doesn’t go too far. Especially the one going wild stops when others intervene.
Hmm. On the surface, it seems like they listened to reason, but I know better.
They intentionally stopped. Being broken up is part of the plan.
Because they have experience. Looking back, it all started when their former workplace didn’t pay them. To get that, they squeezed money between legality and illegality. But I saw the one leading the charge being taken away by the police.
They exploit the methods they learned.
While working, they demand extra payments under various excuses and if denied, they stop working or gather people to storm in demanding payment. That’s how they get more money. In return, the one leading is someone else.
Those people became harvesting periods.
Simply put, harvesting periods just increase ability stats; they don’t touch anything else.
In other words, a villain remains a villain. Of course, not everyone is beyond redemption. Some can be reformed.
But that’s one in a hundred. One in a thousand at best.
Woosh! In other words, more than 90% remain unchanged or become even more wicked. So, even if I do nothing, warmth is naturally given.
That 90% is the harvesting periods I’m currently watching.
They’re laughing as they go back now, bragging about how scary they looked, thinking that if they do this, others will join in, and at that point, they can pin the blame on them and just take the money.
Evil laughter! Hearing their laughter filled with desire makes me feel good too.
I hope they can do what they desire.
Meanwhile, the harvesting periods obtained from the Brightshin region face similar situations.
Will anything change for the poor who’ve cleaned themselves up? After the first day, they realize that nothing about their reality has changed and carry on with the same routine.
They do dirty work and use their bodies recklessly. Since they’ve become stronger, they easily fall into violent acts.
In the meantime, there are also those trying to change.
I see some people writing down the knowledge I share in various places, seemingly under a spell, scribbling on walls, floors, and random objects.
Writing frenzy! The reactions from those around suggest they might have finally lost their minds.
Anyone would think so.
I wonder if they truly understand, or if they need to reduce the amount of info. I remember sending Yasle’s memories in that volume, but seeing this phenomenon, is there a difference between human memory and non-human memory?
Pondering. I’ll need to reduce the amount next time if they completely lose it while I’m watching.
Aside from that, everything is flowing smoothly.
Disruptions will soon break out in Bern City, and in Brightshin, individuals with Daegon and the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign’s techniques are emerging.
While watching the harvesting periods, the morning class ended and it was lunchtime.
Ding! “Bell, I’m tired…”
As soon as I sat down, Victoria whined.
Yesterday, when I went to the royal castle, Victoria had gone to the Clockwork Knight School for a separate class.
Hmm. She doesn’t go every day but just a few times a week, yet it seems quite exhausting.
“Is that so?”
“There’s a lot to do. Even getting to the Clockwork Knight School takes time.”
Saying that, Victoria started eating the food on her plate. Grains, vegetables, meat, and fruit. A plentiful meal in various aspects.
Most importantly, the fact that there’s plenty of spice shows that this is a good school.
Back when I lived with Soo-oh, even salt was precious.
Crunch! “So, are you going to give it up?”
“No. I mean, it’s tiring compared to before, but I can manage. Still, it’s tough. You should empathize with me, Bell!”
Even while deliciously cutting the meat, she said…
Bam! “I met the King yesterday.”
“Yeah, I’ll stop empathizing. Let’s drop this topic.”
As soon as I spoke, the cafeteria suddenly grew quiet. Although no one was looking this way, it became quiet as if they were eavesdropping, and Victoria hurriedly changed the subject.
Feeling indifferent is odd. I decided to skip the details and only share what Victoria needs to know.
“Then, I’ll just tell you what you need to know.”
“To me?”
“I’ll have a bodyguard. Take care.”
Surprised! Upon hearing the word bodyguard, she looked at me with an incredulous expression.
“Why?”
“It seems my recent visit to the area called Brightshin was the problem.”
Strictly speaking, it’s more of a surveillance than a bodyguard. Rather than just simple watching, it’s more of a management officer to keep me in check.
They could have assigned a bodyguard without telling me, but sending someone this way likely means they need someone to relay their messages.
And there’s that matter about the witch too.
“I don’t know when the bodyguard will come, but once they do, I probably won’t have much alone time anymore.”
I said while glancing around. If there’s someone planning anything against me, I hoped they’d not be too late.
“Oh wow, you’re getting a bodyguard! They’ve been talking about miraculous people and divine apostles in the newspapers today, so I guess that’s not so strange after all.”
Victoria nodded.
“Then, who is it? A man? A woman? Older? Will a knight come?”
And then she showed interest in who the bodyguard would be.
“I don’t know. I was just notified I’d be getting one, so I’ll find out when they arrive.”
“If it’s your bodyguard, you might see them at school, so you can check at that time. Seriously, it’s weird. This is a story that seems like it belongs in another world, yet it’s happening for real.”
To put it bluntly, Victoria belongs to the citizen class while the people attending this school fall within the noble class, so it’s not strange to think like that. Of course, there are bourgeois types. To put it crudely, children of the nouveau riche also go to this school.
Here, nouveau riche refers to those who have land and capital but can’t participate in the noble habitus, making them intermediate outsiders. Typically, they try to better themselves by pulling up bloodlines.
Victoria likely isn’t wealthy or brought here for her talents. There’s a possibility she’s been taken hostage to use me.
At first, I thought it was because she had given immense help in saving Bern City, but if that were the case, other harvesting periods should’ve come here too.
There were plenty of people who became harvesting periods and awakened psychic abilities, helping solve incidents, even among kids around Victoria’s age.
So, her presence here is by chance.
“Just adapt.”
“You can be quite harsh sometimes.”
I shrugged. I don’t say anything cruel, but it’s essential to view things from the listener’s perspective.
If needed, I might have to soften my words a bit more.
We finished lunch while chatting more, but of course, most of the talking was mostly Victoria rambling on about her day.
Chat chat! Perhaps because this has been the case since I started staying at Victoria’s house, she doesn’t find it strange.
After eating and taking a brief break, it was time for the afternoon class.
Once the afternoon class ended, the teacher left the classroom. Just as I was about to head home, someone approached me.
A girl with long, dark hair and sharp features, sporting animal-like ears atop her head, approached me.
Rustle! It’s Shekal. I don’t know her full name, just that she belongs to the Shekal family.
“Lady Shiodore is calling for you. Follow me.”
Zing! Always the same. A stiff and sharp tone. It doesn’t seem like she harbors any feelings of hatred towards me, so this must be her natural disposition.
Whispers arose as people looked at Shekal and me.
“What’s happening?”
Victoria quietly approached and asked from behind.
“Go ahead first.”
I answered and looked at Shekal, who was a head taller than me.
“Let’s go.”
Shekal nodded and immediately turned around, leading the way. Looking at her, she seems like a hunting dog now.
Similar to last time, I followed Shekal down the central hall, taking a left straight away.
Then, we turned right at a right angle and continued straight to the innermost room.
Shekal stopped once she guided me to the entrance, and I stepped inside.
