Third World
After changing cars a few tis, I finally arrived at the capital.
It took several days to get here, just like on the way out.
The only fortunate thing is that there were no major dangers during the journey. It was winter, so I had thought there might be a blizzard blocking the road, but in this country, it rarely snows even in the middle of winter.
Compared to the faded mories, the «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» slightly chilly weather here is the coldest winter—it's a nice place to live.
Of course, the trip wasn’t entirely peaceful.
More than half of the villages I passed through had been destroyed to the point where they couldn’t function as cities.
For safety reasons, I had to take a longer route around cities with military presence, which took more ti.
While the capital has stabilized to so extent, it doesn’t an the country is stable. It will likely take a long ti for the ripple effects to settle down.
And one interesting point...
The number of foreigners has increased.
Rather than tourists, more people have fled to survive.
In short, illegal immigrants.
Most of the people entering the country have flowed into the slums, and I know a bit about them. For instance, the number of foreigners in the Brightshin slums of the capital has been increasing.
The Brightshin slums still have many Harvesters living there.
Not all cities are like this.
Vern City has no foreigners, possibly because of its isolation, or maybe because it’s clearly a ruined city that no one wants to visit.
But in the port town of Nantes, which seems like it might grow into Nantes City, there has been an incredible influx of foreigners coming by ship.
I can roughly guess the reason for this.
What happened recently in this country, or is still ongoing, is happening in other countries too.
The fact that three corporations have disrupted national security.
Although the country has banned their use, many places, like the Atlan Fortress city I visited recently, are still using them.
These are not just industrial-level technologies, but technologies that support the very foundation of civilization, and now, there's a problem.
It’s not easy to replace them right away.
So places might be properly replacing them, while others might be compromising.
I’m curious to see how it all plays out.
There is already technology available to replace it: Daegon’s thod and the Primitive Heavenly Sovereign’s thod.
Since the foundation is already sowhat laid, the speed at which new technologies will settle is fast. In fact, Vern City is rapidly developing with the Primitive Heavenly Sovereign’s technology.
While I was reflecting on the general flow of this world, I soon arrived at the lodging right in front of the Royal Academy.
A butler was waiting at the door.
So, as usual, I greeted him, saying I had returned, and entered. After greeting the usual people, I rested in my room.
On the other hand, in the Fourth World, I have nothing to do.
I just recite the contract whenever a stimulus cos.
The mage, poking and prodding my body and head, eventually concluded that I didn’t have human-like cognitive abilities.
It was quite a hasty conclusion.
Instead, he focused on using byproducts he could obtain from .
Yes.
Harvesters.
Roughly once a day.
He would fix my neck so I couldn’t move my gaze and make my head tilt downward.
Then, after limiting my vision, he would remove my blindfold.
When I opened my eyes, I’d see a potential Harvester trembling in front of .
I would recite the contract while looking at them.
Then, a Harvester would be created.
Once that’s done, I’d put the blindfold back on and return to my original posture, while feeding pleasure into my brain.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
As a reflex, my body would shudder. At that mont, I’d observe the mage’s expression through the Harvester. The mage would smile in satisfaction, seeing that his magic was working properly.
It’s all an illusion, though.
If I were to compare it to sothing in the faded mories, to him, I must appear as if I were overwheld by pleasure, with hearts in my eyes.
Perhaps demons and gods are truly corrupted like that.
It’s rather amusing to think of surrendering to the possessed body.
Anyway.
The mage is conducting more and more experints.
For example, he would detach the limbs or organs of a potential Harvester, make them a Harvester, and then bring them to .
Of course, once soone has beco a Harvester, they can’t be turned back into one.
I would chanically recite the contract, but there was no change. I was already full of light, so what difference would the contract make?
At that point, after enduring pain and pleasure multiple tis, the mage finally realized the rule.
Once soone becos a Harvester, there’s no second ti.
It was quite convenient to not have to explain. He understood on his own.
And I played a little prank.
The won with the sa face. Simply called clones.
The clones are already contracted, but I’m not inside them.
To prevent him from realizing that difference, when a clone approached , I did the sa thing I would with another person.
I only inserted myself into the clone in front of .
Through the Harvester, I was able to observe the mage.
The Harvesters made from the people brought from the outside were all ground up in a grinder after the experints. But the clone Harvesters were left untouched.
It’s so obvious.
The mage can’t trust people.
He can only trust the creations he made.
Because of this, he is overly optimistic about his creations.
That was his mistake.
At first, he kept the clone Harvesters only in the research area. But after making a few more, he took them to his living area.
The scope of his gaze is widening.
I observe the outside through the Harvester.
The mage lives in a huge mansion. The laboratory is in the basent of the mansion.
And I saw several young girls running toward the mage from his living area. These weren’t just ordinary girls. They were children with demon horns and tails or halos above their heads.
Hmm.
I see.
The idea of extracting power through babies wasn’t entirely a lie.
He’s smart. He possesses pregnant won and makes them give birth to children with those traits. However, judging by the fact that the clone that served as the vessel is nowhere to be seen, it’s likely dead.
And none of them noticed my gaze.
I’m not sure if it’s because they need more ti to develop the ability or if they can never sense even after they grow up.
I see a few children with exactly the sa external features. It seems that several were produced from one parent?
It’s a bit funny calling the mage “dad.”
Normally, it’s a very efficient way to create a parent for a creation.
Generally, a sense of self grows, and rebellion sets in, but it’s not that hard to raise them from a very young age so they won’t be able to rebel.
Moreover, there’s one more thing.
They don’t call the clone “mother.” They see it more like a servant who does what they’re told.
Focusing attachnt on one object would make control difficult later on, and mories of Harvesters from similar industries flash in my mind.
There were slave traders, orphan collectors, and many others with similar businesses.
The concept of adolescence itself was invented after modernization. It didn’t exist before.
It was always just children and adults.
Even when an eight-year-old went to work up a chimney, it wasn’t sothing particularly cruel that happened during the industrial revolution.
At that ti, children worked at ho, starting with minor tasks and learning the trade. They were already workers at that age.
The concept of protecting children from dirty and dangerous work didn’t exist until much later.
In other words, the young hybrids reaching out to the mage saying “dad” and forming a deep attachnt is a rather odd dynamic.
The mage lives in an incredibly closed-off world. What he can trust, what loves him—that’s all that remains in his environnt.
In other words, he has too many weaknesses.
Heh-heh.
His unstable ntal state is almost palpable.
Perhaps it’s because he’s dealt with so many toxic chemicals, or maybe it’s just his face, but there’s swelling and distortion in his features, and his walking gait is off. The mage is physically and ntally unstable.
Unfortunately, both his mind and body are uncomfortable.
This is the perfect mont to observe the charm of the Harvesters.
Regeneration and enhancent.
If I continue being a Harvester vending machine like this, I feel that one day the mage will ask to beco a Harvester too.
Hmm.
It will be simple if that happens.
No need for extra thought, just repeating the sa words mindlessly will not only increase the Harvesters, but it will also bring knowledge that allows to summon the intellectual.
If I had shown my personality, the mage might have suspected more.
Eventually, I could have made a mistake and gotten caught.
But if he sees as just a tool, he won’t suspect . He’s already had his doubts, and the results are out, right?
People tend to blindly believe the conclusions they themselves draw.
They don’t like admitting their mistakes, and their belief that they’re right is deeply rooted. So, no matter how evil their actions, they can always claim they were right.
That’s the easy elent to manipulate.
Once a conclusion is made, it’s difficult to doubt it again.
People call soone a genius if they can repeatedly doubt even their own knowledge.
And from what I see, the mage is not a genius.
Moreover, having created a comfortable environnt for himself, there’s no one to give him harsh advice. He has no choice but to fall.
I wait leisurely, hanging in the middle of the basent laboratory.
Just waiting with my mouth open, a delicious apple is sure to co to .
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