As winter deepened, the day finally arrived.
It was vacation ti.
I’m not the type to study diligently, and my grades don’t impact my future prospects much, so vacation isn’t very aningful.
But, vacation is still an important day.
Why? Because it’s the ti Victoria goes ho.
Of course, she isn’t going to Vern City.
Vern City is no longer an ordinary city. It has beco a land run by the wounded and shut off from the outside, where people don’t approach.
The once advanced city is now nothing but a ruined place. Moreover, with the weakened defenses, monsters have crept into the city. So, the areas where people used to be are now like wilderness.
To handle such places, people need to be going in and dealing with it, but I ntioned it's closed off, right?
The people who could handle it can’t get in.
The space is vast and empty.
Harvesters?
They’re weak. Surprisingly, the group with psychic powers is weak. Why? Because they don’t understand the monsters and are overconfident in their powers.
People with powers to shoot fire, control water, or launch ice.
But monsters aren’t just strong beasts. There are also creatures like demons and yokai.
I saw them often in the first world, and t them directly in the second world.
Even in this world, such creatures are just ordinary monsters.
Before they could shoot flas or control water, they’re killed through irrational administration. True monsters.
The scissors co flying and cut open the abdon, ripping out the organs, or the clockwork machine, which originally couldn’t move, moves at impossible angles and crushes the victim into a grinder.
These aren’t powered by strength, but by curses. Conversely, if you have the right tools to defend yourself from the curse, you can bounce away, even without strength.
In the third world, I learned that there are items that prevent such things, and there are specialized companies for it.
But those items that prevent such things, most of them were ruined when tainted by magic power from the power engines.
Even if specialized companies remain, the infrastructure has broken down, so it’s only temporary.
Even if you deal with these monsters, similar ones appear shortly after. Originally, a small clockwork device would have sufficed, but it’s all company property.
You can’t use it in Vern City.
People who know the old thods of monster extermination are not in the big city, and since clockwork machines can’t be used, the situation continues to be like peeing on cold feet.
Of course, small cities still have these thods. But the recent isolation is a problem.
They don’t trust outsiders and push them away.
To be blunt, Vern City has completely fallen. It has beco a closed-off city full of wounded, ruined humans.
Such cities inevitably turn evil. If new blood isn’t supplied, they start to rot from the inside. In fact, it’s already happened once.
A class society ford around strong psychic Harvesters.
That will happen again.
Of course, now that magic can be used, it’s not just psychic Harvesters who rise; anyone strong will rise.
And sothing interesting.
The army that was led by Richard Gaston moved to Nantes Harbor. Most of the soldiers and their families began creating a city from there.
What does that an?
The army stopped guarding Vern City. The army that originally protected Vern City beca independent from the city.
To be precise, Richard Gaston’s territory shrank to Nantes Harbor, and Vern City beca a no-man’s land.
Nominally, it’s still under Gaston’s control, but Richard Gaston, who replaced the late Marquis Gaston, abandoned Vern City.
There are a few reasons for this.
First, they killed too many people. They were so awkward with each other, so they moved across the river.
In other words, it’s like saying, “When I sleep at night, I might secretly slit your throat, so let’s just stay far apart.”
In short, it’s distrust.
Second, the effects of the recession couldn’t be avoided here either. In fact, this is the ground zero.
Most of the productivity ca from clockwork machines, and they threw all of it away in an instant. Moreover, because the relationships deteriorated so quickly, it didn’t end in large-scale unemploynt like the capital.
Yes.
Society has completely regressed.
And third, Richard Gaston’s succession issue. While Richard Gaston is considered a Harvester, he is actually an illegitimate child. So, being the younger brother of the current head of the family, with no children of his own, it seed like Richard Gaston should inherit the position.
However, the wife of the head of the family raised objections.
Because of the complicated noble political dynamics that Richard Gaston himself doesn’t understand, he can’t do anything beyond leading the army.
So, it’s more accurate to say that he couldn’t act, rather than saying he simply gave up.
To sum it up: Vern City is finished.
In fact, the reply from Beatrice to Victoria ca from a city far from Vern City, a rural area.
The evening of the first day of vacation.
As Victoria was packing her things in the dorm, I went to her room.
“Are you going ho?”
“Bel?”
“Yes. It’s .”
Victoria stopped packing and looked at . The room behind her was already clean. She had finished preparing to go ho with her things.
“Yeah. I’m going to see my parents.”
Victoria stared at intently as she said this.
Then, with a calm expression, she spoke.
“It’s been half a year since we t.”
“Yes. It has been.”
We t around the start of sumr vacation, and now it’s about to be winter vacation, so it’s about the right amount of ti.
“I was shocked when I first t you. You were a monster over 25 feet tall, right? Suddenly, you beca this cute girl.”
Victoria recalled the past.
“And when I went ho, dangerous incidents happened in Vern City, and then suddenly you started healing people. Then, you t the king, and you even managed to get into the Royal Academy, which you shouldn’t have been able to attend.”
As she spoke, Victoria finished packing her last belongings into the bag, then closed it and locked it.
Click.
“Then there was that battle with the witch, and when my parents suddenly moved out of Vern City, I rushed there because no letters ca, and people had gone crazy.”
She then pulled her bag from the bed and stood up.
“It wasn’t just Vern City. People in the capital also went crazy, destroyed my old school, and killed my teachers and friends.”
At the end, hatred flowed from her words, impossible to wipe away.
“There’s been so much. So, so much. It’s been too hard. So, I’m going ho now.”
Victoria said that.
As if she was too exhausted and in pain.
And as if she were about to say goodbye to .
“Take care, Bel. You’ve been a truly brilliant person.”
Then she pushed aside and started walking away.
Yes.
So, I followed her. Following wherever she was going.
But when she got into the carriage, I couldn’t follow. Because I didn’t have money. Victoria, seeing that, smiled a sad smile and waved at , then got into the carriage and left.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
The carriage moved away.
I stared at it blankly and then turned to head back to my lodging.
But my steps didn’t move.
I stood still.
Wondering if sothing was wrong with my body, I tried to put strength into my legs, but they didn’t budge.
Huh? Is it broken?
There’s nothing wrong with my body. The sky is now the ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ night sky, and if I don’t go back, the staff at the dorm will be in trouble.
Ah.
My feet are moving now.
I took a step and then stopped.
Hmm... Yeah.
I moved my feet again. And headed for the dorm.
Since the place where Victoria got into the carriage wasn’t far, I arrived at the dorm quickly.
I stood at the entrance and rang the bell, and the butler ca out.
“I’m going to visit a friend’s house.”
The butler looked puzzled.
“Are you going at this hour?”
“She’s an important friend. I don’t think I’ll be able to see her again if I let her go like this.”
He stared at . Then, without saying anything else, he asked:
“You an you’re going to see a friend nad Victoria Bet?”
Yes. He knows her well.
Considering that we haven’t really spoken much, and it’s connected to the royal family, he probably knows well how I live.
Since she’s a royal, would it be alright to let in?
The royal family sold the Harvester-making functions to other countries. If we can’t use it when needed, it’s this country’s fault.
Ah. They might imprison if I’m not careful.
“Tell what you need.”
Hmm?
Looking at the butler’s face, he’s genuinely asking. If I want sothing, he’ll do it for .
“I want to follow her.”
“I’ll prepare everything imdiately. It’ll take so ti, so please co inside.”
As he said this, the middle-aged man, transitioning into his older years, opened the door.
“While you wait, I’ll change you into sothing more suitable for going out.”
Being a royal, I almost asked if that was really okay, but I barely kept the words in.
I nodded and went inside.
Inside, the maids ca out and dressed not in the usual dress but in proper clothes with trousers. While I waited, drinking tea, the butler called for .
When I went outside, a heavy-looking vehicle was waiting in front.
After getting into the vehicle, I noticed the butler and the maids who had cared for for the last six months standing in a line at the door. I wondered what was going on, and when I looked at them, they greeted .
“Bel, we hope you will co back again.”
Anyway, whether they’re this or that, are they speaking as if we’ll never et again?
“I’ll be back.”
I said that, and the butler smiled as he closed the door.
Then, the carriage started moving forward.
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