The Royal Academy is, well, royal. Ding ding! That means it’s a place heavily invested in by the country.
Inside the school building, there’s even a window for sending letters. But alas, it’s not in the dormitory; it’s in the classroom building, so we had to make the trek there.
At first, I thought it was odd, but after digging through my memory, I realized that schools need to send news about students to various parents.
The volume of mail is naturally high. In fact, it’s weirder that there isn’t a post office within the school building. Head scratch.
So, off I went with Beatrice to the main building where the post office is located.
On the first floor, if you go left, you find the classrooms, and if you go right, you reach the administrative office. Within that space is the post office. There’s a separate window that serves the same function.
This is something Beatrice doesn’t know. It’s tough information to figure out, but luckily Kanna was in the know! Light bulb moment.
When we arrived at the admin office, I playfully nudged Beatrice, who was hesitating at the door.
Why is she so tense over this? Where did the Beatrice who slaughtered fishmen go? Epic facepalms.
I took her hand and led her inside, straight to where we can send our letter.
Right after that, I called Beatrice over to write the home address.
As I scanned the address, I noticed a mistake and grabbed her hand. I reminded her about her parents moving, and then I wrote down the address that was on the envelope she had received.
Then I handed the letter to a clerk with eyes as dark as someone who hadn’t slept in days, and we stepped out.
“Hope they get the letter correctly.”
“That should be the case if nothing goes wrong,” she replied.
In previous years, I’d seen her during the harvesting period. Compared to where we were now, she lived far from the Bern City center.
Now, most of the harvesting in Bern City is centered around the city, with only a select few having moved to nearby towns.
Maybe the Bet family also left Bern City entirely. Brain gears turning.
Morris and Beatrice might not know for sure since they’re not involved in the harvesting, but I certainly haven’t seen them among the resistors in the city center.
I can recall every face of those resisting through the harvesting, so I’m confident the letter will reach her family.
There were signs that something special was happening in Bern City for the king, and Beatrice was involved in an event to contact her parents.
I’ve done all I can. Now, just gotta sit back and observe the unfolding situation.
Currently, warmth is sporadically streaming in.
The harvesting groups can be broadly divided into three.
One is the harvesting group from Bern City, primarily trying to trigger a rebellion like the Purple Twilight Society. Expecting significant casualties, I’ll be waiting and watching! Evil chuckle.
The second is the harvesting group from the Brightshin slums.
Surprisingly, they’ve taken quite the hit.
Where do the empowered downtrodden work?
The answer is, doing heavy labor!
They engage in basic activities like hauling goods or lifting heavy items. And they mostly do this outside the buildings!
On the outside, the Geomeun Gashinamu (Black Thornbush Building) is viciously sprawling.
If they were inside, they’d get pricked by the thorns and collapse, but most outside were hit by the black thornbush rampaging down the street.
Those caught in the road and instantly killed were the fortunate ones. Most bled out painfully, losing limbs to the thorns while succumbing to agony.
And they slowly died.
Even those who could’ve survived with pressure would lose consciousness, leading to an unstoppable blood flow. Plus, some poor souls felt the thorns burrowing into them as they lay on the ground.
Even if they hadn’t initially sustained life-threatening wounds, they could’ve been fatally pricked shortly after.
For the record, Maleficent didn’t give a hoot about those dying. She just cast a sleep curse on them, planning to use them as hostages to humiliate the royal family.
After taking several hits from the harvesters, if they cried and apologized, she figured she’d turn into a dragon and burn down the capital.
The harvesters she fought… they weren’t many with psychic abilities in the capital, and even if they died out, it’s not like it would hurt her side.
But overall, too many harvesters bit the dust. That’s a bit of a bummer.
Still, it’s not entirely bad.
At this point, they’ve just begun to escape their hardships, and to repair the damaged city, a lot of labor will be needed, making it a good time for the surviving harvesters in the capital.
So, life blooms, and the descendants of the harvesters will multiply!
Hehe.
Lastly, there’s the harvesters from another world.
They’re moving to overcome their reality with newfound powers.
There’s no correlation between primitive civilization producing much warmth and developed civilization producing little.
It all depends on how each person behaves!
The production of warmth is creaky, but like dividends from safe stocks, it trickles in.
At least from my perspective, it seems to be running smoothly. I don’t expect to get much on the first try.
I can be patient.
What I’m really pondering is another issue.
When I granted knowledge to Daegon and Wonsi Cheonjon, which one would develop the world better?
Just giving knowledge doesn’t mean everyone gains it, and even if they do, those who immediately utilize it are rare.
So, I need many test subjects to see how the knowledge I provide gets utilized.
Like a priest in a vintage game, I should keep approaching the injured to create more harvesters.
There are still plenty who can be turned into harvesters.
“Whew, what a terrifying world,” sigh.
I usually don’t talk much, but as we walked toward the main gate, Beatrice suddenly murmured that.
Really? It could be.
“Let’s go get some fresh air outside.”
“Sounds good.”
I nodded at Beatrice’s suggestion. Generally, she has no problem sitting alone or staying put.
But I guess the situation is a bit overwhelming for her right now.
Is it normal to worry when not knowing what’s happened to her parents?
Since most of my memories say otherwise, I guess it’s not a given. So let’s assume Beatrice had a loving upbringing.
Now, in her desire to ease her anxiety about her newly-found parents, she was determined to step outside.
The moment I said I’d join her, Beatrice beamed and practically glued herself to my side, dragging me toward the main gate.
But not long after stepping out, Beatrice’s playful mood evaporated.
Because the marks left by a witch were still fresh.
Deep, gaping scars marred the roads and buildings, and in places, bloodstains remained as stark reminders of recent horrors.
The city felt more gloomy than bright, and the few people wandering the streets, along with the abandoned debris, were clear indicators that the recent events were all too real.
“I wanna go back.”
In the end, Beatrice said that and turned dejectedly on her heels.
Back at the dormitory, she claimed she was tired and shooed me away.
I knew she was wallowing in her room, but there are days like that too.
So I returned to my accommodation, leaving her behind.
*
The next day.
It’s still the middle of the week, but this week, the Royal Academy has a day off.
To make efficient use of this empty time, I stepped out of my accommodation bright and early. This wasn’t to create new harvesters as usual.
Additionally, I was not heading to Brightshin. Brightshin itself has turned dilapidated and old, deteriorating into a slum, and rests nearly in the heart of the capital.
However, the place I’m headed to is outside the capital.
I wished for any quick mode of transport, but all I had was my legs, so I ran with all my might.
Fortunately, I still had memories of running from my first world, so it wasn’t challenging. Surprisingly, my smaller frame made balancing and running even easier than before.
Even so, I was moving slightly quicker than an average adult walking. Being short had its drawbacks.
After running for quite a while, as the sun positioned itself high in the sky, I finally arrived at the capital’s outskirts.
Surprisingly, there’s no city wall. Nope, no signs of a city wall anywhere! With the city expanding beyond the walled confines ages ago, there are no barriers to control access anymore.
Countless people come and go, and accordingly, the patrols are plenty as well.
In retrospect, the capitals I inhabited in my previous world were all enclosed by city walls.
Walking through this city, I vividly felt it was indeed an ancient urban area.
I eventually reached a place where buildings disappeared, giving way to nature— the boundary between city and wilderness.
Here, it was as if an underground gas pipe had burst, with dry soil scattered all around. A remnant of the Geomeun Gashinamu (Black Thornbush) bursting forth.
I crossed over the gaping hole and emerged on the other side.
Beyond this point is the wild. But that doesn’t mean it’s uninhabited. To avoid annoying human encounters, I veered slightly from the main path, continuing my trek westward.
In the distance, I could see mountains. Beyond them lay the sea. This land resembles a crescent moon, its left side empty. The sharp, pointed edge above harbors the capital, while the point below is home to Bern City.
Of course, it’s not entirely symmetrical; the area housing the capital has more plains.
Regardless, none of that is the main point. There’s a mountain range to the west that blocks the sea breeze from entering.
Scary monsters roam there, but that also means many territorial predators thrive. As monsters bounce around pinball-style, they remain still, hunting the ones that wander in.
It’s more profitable to leave them be than to try to eradicate them. This tidbit is from Kanna’s memories.
And in this area lived Maleficent.
Yep.
You heard that right.
In short, I’m heading to collect everything from the prey I once hunted!
This world isn’t like the first one where my standing position deprived me of belongings, nor is it like the second world, where a poor era left everything in scarcity.
I ought to gather what I can, right?
As I reached the foot of the mountain, the essence of nature thickened almost instantly. Sparks of lights danced around, and I felt sharp gazes upon me.
But that’s okay!
Crushing reality to turn living beings into possessions isn’t an often-used strategy, but it’s not completely off the table.
I just need to be careful not to shatter the world. After all, a big catch would have them bowing their heads.
Honestly, I don’t map out every tiny detail. I’m not smart enough for that! I just think, “this should work out,” and leave it at that.
I live day to day while sticking to the concept I set, ensuring no contradictions arise.
The fact that my physical form isn’t that of a living person is a mere lack of hesitation. No need for apologies, right?
With those thoughts swirling in my head, I began my ascent into the mountains where the witch resides.
