As people gathered around.

The harvesting machine stood up with a bewildered expression.

Victoria was glaring at me as if she could pierce through me, but what can I do? I have no intention of missing a chance to create a harvesting machine.

I’ve done that all along.

No matter the situation, I made it look like I was saving people.

Of course, once I became a harvesting machine, I wouldn’t care. Unless it’s another situation where all harvesting machines are annihilated, I have no plans to interfere.

“What do you wish us to do?”

The harvesting machine at the front looked at me and asked. Originally a person with a proper job, they lost their job when the store they worked at couldn’t withstand the rising water prices.

With five family members to support, there was no specific reason for them to storm the Mechanical Knight School.

At least at that moment, they believed that the people in the Mechanical Knight School were responsible for their plight. They vaguely thought that if they killed everyone, they would somehow get compensation.

As a result of being caught up in a group, they blindly believed they were doing the right thing.

Most of the harvesting machines in front of me are like that. There’s even a girl who picked up a weapon to kill people because she thought life would get better this way. An old man with a bat thinks he will receive a bounty for taking out bad people.

It’s not that there’s anyone filled with malice.

Everyone here believes they are doing the right thing. Not knowing the truth from falsehood, they blindly listened to someone telling them it would all go well.

And they failed.

That’s all. From start to finish, it was a failure, and at the end of it, they became harvesting machines.

The end of an unfortunate choice.

That must be their fate. Instead of expressing that, I say this to those who have already perfectly failed.

“Do what you want. I’m not here to limit you. I don’t ask for anything in return for giving myself.”

How many of them will charge at Victoria and end up dead, or will it end with them fleeing?

Maybe someone will gain a psychic ability to resist Victoria.

“Hey, um, what are we going to do?”

“What about you?”

“I don’t know. Should we just keep doing what we were doing?”

“I, got younger, right?”

“Uh, are you that old man from before?”

They’re whispering on the ice with very confused expressions. Ah. The ice is slowly sinking below the ground.

It seems like Victoria is getting ready to reuse it.

I think to myself that I hope she spares them annihilation, while looking at the fools standing there with stupid expressions.

“Let’s stop.”

Huh? Isn’t Victoria, who has just pushed you into a life-and-death crisis, right in front of you?

“What are we doing? Storming the school won’t improve anything.”

Are they realizing something?

“If it’s like this, surely a job will come my way.”

Did you forget that the harvesting machine was among your group? From the start, the harvesting machine knew about this.

In other words, being a harvesting machine doesn’t make things better.

Ignoring my gaze, they lowered their heads as if they had no face to show to the sky, and fled the scene like guilty criminals.

Hmm?

Well… They ran away, so I guess that’s good.

If it spreads, I’ll be happy.

I turned around.

There’s Victoria glaring at me with fierce eyes.

She’s the enemy of my mentor, and the enemy of my friend. To revive and release them, that’s something.

For a normal person, this would immediately be talk of cutting ties.

Surprisingly, even if Victoria kills them, it’s not a crime. Why? Of course. For society to function, laws are important.

They are the ones interfering with the functioning of society, and Victoria is the one putting things back on the right path.

How could that be seen as a crime? Killing people is a sin, you say?

No, it’s not. The law against killing people was created to prevent laborers from reducing their numbers by killing each other.

Why can’t a person in power easily kill someone?

Why does it seem nothing happens if a rich person kills someone?

It’s because it doesn’t harm the functioning of society. The law operates fairly, but there are strata that operate even more fairly.

If it’s not even a crime, Victoria might as well just let her anger flow and take her revenge.

Instead of exacting revenge, running away led to this.

“Bell. Are you saving anyone at all? You already know, right?”

Victoria pointed at them, cursing harshly, then threw it at me.

“Did you really have to save them?”

She’s repeating the question she asked before.

Well, strictly speaking, it’s not a question. She knows the answer will be the same, but she can’t help but blurt it out without saying it.

I answer again.

“I did what I wanted.”

Ah, I shouldn’t have said that.

This sounds like I’m telling her not to restrict me. I’m okay with it, though. Even if I become a harvesting machine, I won’t lose warmth at that moment.

The harvesting machine merely takes the warmth from creatures it directly or indirectly kills and takes the warmth when that harvesting machine dies.

There’s no way to measure that.

Victoria raised her hand to cover her face. And then she looked down.

Is she crying?

No. Tears aren’t coming from Victoria’s eyes. There’s no sound of crying from her throat either. She’s just standing there pretending to cry and then walks forward.

It seemed she might come toward me, but she walked past me without glancing in my direction.

In that direction is the Mechanical Knight School.

What choice will she make?

I thought I could just go back to my accommodation, but my feet naturally followed Victoria.

Hmm.

Yeah. It’s probably curiosity.

Even though it will be hard to see her face later.

I walked in the direction Victoria was headed.

***

Black smoke billowed, and the people who killed those dwelling within the burning school were laughing and chattering.

In this hellish place, Victoria has returned.

Will warmth fill the area now?

Victoria steadied her breath at the place where a wall used to be and entered inside.

I thought she would walk in boldly, but she hid among the shadows where wood and debris were mixed. Then, whoosh.

The closest person coughed violently and suddenly collapsed. From the lack of warmth, it seems they aren’t dead.

Achoo!

After someone sneezed loudly, they coughed again and then collapsed.

At first, nobody noticed when the first few collapsed. It was too noisy for that. But once it exceeded ten, it suddenly became quiet, as if cold water had been thrown on the festive atmosphere.

Perhaps someone blocked their throat with water and fainted, but what’s happening?

Watching curiously, I noticed fear slowly creeping into people’s gazes. They turned their heads this way and that, finally looking at me.

But they quickly looked away.

Huh?

I thought they might point me out since I was nearby the school, but they just passed by?

It seemed Victoria was trying to drag me into something, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

As time passed, more people were collapsing from coughing. When someone whispered that it might be a disease, panic suddenly inflated like a balloon.

In that situation, when someone coughed, the area around them immediately emptied.

The person who coughed looked pale and extended their hand toward the crowd.

“Sa-save me!”

They ended up collapsing pathetically. And as if infected by that cough, the next person coughed.

“Isn’t someone cursed?”

“Magic? Oh no, is there such a magic?”

“No. There’s no flow of magic. This isn’t magic!”

“Then what the hell is it!”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen this before, could it be a disease?”

“A disease? A disease? Where could a disease spread like this so quickly?”

“It’s a plague!”

“A plague? Why would something like that suddenly appear?”

“I’m, I’m getting out of here!”

The very first person to rush out was one individual. They grow bolder when they have an opponent to face, but a plague is not something you can fight.

Panic spread uncontrollably in all directions. They screamed and fled.

Instead, the plague of rumors began to spread. The mob that came to check it out saw people collapsing from coughing and immediately fled in fear.

Ordinary people, as well as the harvesting machines, fled without concern.

Now the harvesting machines that weren’t even on the scene heard the call to flee from the spreading plague and ran home without confirming the truth.

Though only about thirty people fainted from breathing difficulties, over ten thousand of the mob fled in an instant.

Could it be?

Did Victoria plan this?

Did she make people flee with such a small trick?

Before long, the school was empty.

In the place where people had vacated.

Victoria emerged from her hiding spot.

And with a deep, deep sigh, she waved her hand.

Ripped corpses flew around her. She pieced them together one by one and laid them on the ground.

As she wandered around the school, Victoria collected the corpses.

There were still some mobs that remained, but they collapsed with the sound of air leaking as water poured out of them.

They no longer need water now. They’ve pulled bodily fluids from their lungs, right?

From the lack of warmth, it seems they aren’t dead.

Truly, she didn’t kill anyone.

Me?

I approached the corpses and pretended to check them, sucking in any remaining warmth as I went.

Hehe.

“You, what are you doing here?”

Suddenly, the first person to lose consciousness regained their senses. They trembled as they looked at me. Not a harvesting machine, just an ordinary person.

“I’m taking away the warmth of the dead.”

I don’t lie, so I speak the truth.

So when I said that, he immediately dropped to his knees.

“Please spare me! Please spare me! I haven’t done anything bad!”

Even saying things they themselves don’t believe…

But I was okay with it, so I walked toward the pieced-together corpses that Victoria had worked hard to arrange. Then I touched their chest.

Hmm. This one’s empty. They must have been murdered around the same time; why is there a difference?

Discovering the characteristics of light and warmth that I didn’t know about, I walked around the corpses, gathering warmth. Indeed, if there’s even a bit of light left, there’s warmth.

There can be light without warmth, but there can’t be warmth without light.

If light is the soul, could this be something the soul possesses? Something like spirit power?

While considering that, I rummaged through the corpses left by Victoria.

Hmm. I’m totally like a hyena.

I hope terrible rumors don’t spread too much.

Thinking that, I collected warmth as much as possible.