As winter deepened, that day finally arrived.

It was the start of vacation.

I’m not really a studious person, and my grades don’t sway my future prospects much, so vacation didn’t hold much significance for me.

But vacation is an important day.

Because it’s when Victoria goes back home.

Of course, she isn’t heading to Bern City.

That place is no longer an ordinary city. It has become a land where the wounded are overwhelmingly secluded, and people avoid it.

The high-tech city is nowhere to be found now, just a ruined city remains. Moreover, monsters have taken advantage of the weakened defenses to crawl into the city. So, areas where people once thrived now feel just as wild.

To handle such places, you’d typically need people to manage them, but, as I said, it’s a seclusive area.

No one capable of dealing with it can enter.

The vacant spaces are vast, and there are hardly any people.

A harvesting machine?

It’s weak. Surprisingly, the group with psychic abilities is weak. Because they’re arrogant with power, not understanding the monsters.

Pyromancers, water manipulators, and ice-launching psychics.

But monsters aren’t just powerful beasts. There are also creatures like youkai and ghouls.

I encountered such beings in the first world and met them directly in the second world.

In this world, those things are just ordinary monsters.

Before they can shoot flames or manipulate water, they get summarily executed through irrational administration. It’s absurd.

They either get cut open by flying scissors that rip out their insides or get caught by mechanical devices moving at impossible angles, grinding their victims to bits.

This isn’t driven by force but rather curses manifested, so having a tool to protect oneself from the curse will automatically cast them away.

From the memories I gathered in the third world, there are items that prevent such occurrences and specialized companies that deal with them.

However, those items tend to break down when tainted with corrupted magic due to power sources.

Even if some specialized handling companies remain, the infrastructure is crumbling and they only offer temporary solutions.

Even if such monsters were dealt with, similar ones reappear shortly after. Originally, only small clockwork devices were needed, but they are all corporate property.

You can’t use them in Bern City.

No one who knows the old extermination methods is in the big city, and without clockwork devices, a situation akin to urinating on frostbitten feet persists.

Of course, there are still some in the smaller towns. But the newfound closeness creates obstacles.

They distrust outsiders and push them away.

To put it bluntly, Bern City has completely fallen. It has become a closed-off city full of wounded and ruined humanity.

Such cities inevitably turn malevolent. Without fresh blood transfusions, they begin to rot from within. In fact, it has already happened once.

A class society created around powerful psychic harvesting machines.

That’s bound to happen again.

Of course, now that magic can be used, it’s not just psychic harvesting machines that rise; strong individuals can ascend as well.

And here’s one interesting tidbit.

The remnants of the army led by Richard Gaston moved to Nantes Port. Most soldiers and their families began rebuilding the city from Nantes Port.

What does that mean?

It means the army has ceased protecting Bern City. The army that originally defended Bern City is now independent.

To put it accurately, the Marquis Gaston’s domain has shrunk to Nantes Port, and Bern City has become a desolate wasteland.

On paper, it’s still labeled the Marquis Gaston’s domain, but Richard Gaston, who replaced the deceased Marquis, has abandoned Bern City.

There are several reasons.

First: too much killing happened between them. The discomfort led them to move across the river.

To put it another way, when I’m sleeping at night, you might sneak up and slit my throat, so let’s keep our distance.

In short, it’s distrust.

And secondly.

The effects of the recession could not be escaped here either. No, in fact, this is ground zero.

Most of the productivity stemmed from clockwork devices, and they discarded all of it in an instant. Furthermore, it rapidly deteriorated relationships, so it didn’t end up in mass unemployment like in the capital.

Yes.

Society regressed entirely.

And third.

It’s the succession issue concerning Richard Gaston. Although Richard is known as a harvesting machine, he is, in a sense, a love child. Thus, he seems likely to succeed since he’s the current head’s brother, and the head has no children.

However, there were objections from the head’s wife.

The aristocratic political dynamics that Richard himself doesn’t quite comprehend have tied him up, leaving him with no power but to command the army he leads.

Hence, it’s closer to saying he couldn’t act rather than just stepping back.

In short:

Bern City has crumbled.

In fact, Beatrice’s reply to Victoria is coming from another city—one quite far from Bern City.

On the evening of the vacation ceremony.

As Victoria was packing her things in the dormitory, I went to her room.

“Are you going home?”

“Bell?”

“Yes. It’s me.”

Victoria paused her packing to look at me. The room behind her was already clean. She had successfully prepared to return home.

“Yep. I need to see my parents.”

With that, Victoria stared at me intently.

Then, with a calm expression, she spoke.

“It’s been half a year since we met.”

“Yeah. It has.”

We met when summer vacation began, and now winter vacation is upon us, so it was exactly that long.

“I was surprised from the first time we met. You were a monster over 25 feet tall, right? Now, suddenly, you’ve become this cute girl.”

Victoria reminisced about the past.

“And when I got home, a dangerous incident unfolded in Bern City, and suddenly you started healing people. And then you even met the king and got into the Royal Academy, where you shouldn’t have been able to go.”

As she crammed the last of her belongings into the bag, she completely closed it and locked it.

Click.

“And then you had to fight some witches, and just when my parents suddenly decided to move, I rushed over because I hadn’t received a letter, only to find everyone going crazy and acting weird.”

“And it’s not just Bern City; even the people in the capital have gone mad, vandalizing my alma mater and killing my teachers and friends.”

By the end, an unerasable hatred dripped from her words.

“A lot has happened. It’s been too, too hard. So, I want to go home now.”

Victoria said that.

As if she were too exhausted and struggling.

And as if she were trying to bid farewell to me.

“Take care, Bell. You were a remarkably brilliant person.”

Then she pushed me away and walked off.

Yes.

So I followed her. All the way to where she was heading.

But when she got into the carriage, I couldn’t follow. Because I didn’t have any money. Victoria looked back at me with a bittersweet smile, waved goodbye, and then rode off.

The carriage moved away.

I stared blankly as it faded and then turned to head back to my accommodation.

Yet, my feet wouldn’t move.

So, I stood still.

Thought I had a problem with my body, I tried to muster strength in my legs, but they wouldn’t budge.

Huh? Are they broken?

There’s no particular issue with my body. The sky has turned to night, and if I don’t return, there will be trouble for those working at the accommodation.

Ah.

My feet are moving.

I took a step and then halted.

Hmm……. Right.

I moved my feet again. And headed toward the accommodation.

The place where Victoria had taken the carriage wasn’t too far, so I arrived at the accommodation quickly.

Standing at the entrance, I pressed the bell, and the butler came out.

“I’m going to visit a friend.”

The butler looked puzzled.

“At this hour?”

“It’s an important friend. I feel like if I let her go like this, I might not see her again.”

He stared at me intently. And instead of saying anything, he asked this.

“Is it your friend named Victoria Bet that you wish to visit?”

Yep. He knows well.

Though we hadn’t spoken much until now, considering his connection to the royal family, it makes sense he’d know how I live.

Would they let me in since she’s a royal?

The royal family sold the functionality of the harvesting machines I create to another country. If they can’t use it when needed, the blame will be on this country.

Ah. They might lock me up if I’m not careful.

“What do you need?”

Huh?

Looking at the butler’s face, he’s genuinely asking. If I have a wish, he’ll fulfill it.

“I want to follow her.”

“I will prepare everything immediately. It will take a moment, so please come in.”

Saying that, the middle-aged man, who is on the brink of old age, opened the door for me.

“While you wait, I’ll change you into something comfortable for going out.”

I nearly asked whether it was truly alright for someone from the royal family but managed to hold my tongue.

I nodded and entered.

Inside, the maidens came out, dressing me in not just the usual dress, but proper clothes with pants. And while sipping tea as I waited, the butler called me.

So, when I went outside, a heavy-looking vehicle was waiting for me.

Upon entering the vehicle, the butler and maids who had taken care of me for the past six months stood lined up at the door. Wondering what was going on, I looked at them as they bowed.

“Lady Bell. We wish for your safe return once again.”

Are they saying this as if I’m about to part forever?

“I’ll be back.”

I said and the butler smiled as he closed the carriage door.

And the carriage set off, rolling forward.