The Outer God Needs Warmth

Highpion King, Solindiges Prince, and even Princess Lunaria came to celebrate Aurora’s awakening.

I didn’t see it myself, though. After Aurora woke up, I was practically chased back to where I was staying.

But since I could see things from Aurora’s perspective, I knew what they were talking about, so it wasn’t a huge problem.

I heard stories there that Aurora didn’t know. Apparently, she had become weak due to a witch’s curse.

It was said to be a curse she received on the day she was born.

That thin resistance must have been a pact with the witch. At least from the moment of the pact, it seemed weaker than Daegon. It was far too feeble compared to the resistance I felt when it settled on Choseol’s body.

When I rummage through Daegon’s memories, on the day I entered Choseol’s body…

Though the connection with Daegon was severed, he didn’t feel a thing. The moment he realized it was much later. He found out through the Hematoma Mystic Art that something else had taken over that body.

I hoped to uncover the reason, but there were no shining memories.

Shining memories seem like pure reflections. If something applies, it glows, saying “Hey, I know this!”

Here, intelligence issues keep tripping me up.

I can’t draw new facts from what I know. With Daegon and the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign’s memories, a fair amount of phenomena should be explainable, right?

But I only know what I know.

I can’t prepare and move ahead; I can only react once something happens.

If only I were a bit smarter.

While I was grumbling like that…

Suddenly, Highpion King summoned the Harvesting Period to the capital.

Just when I thought they were off to another experiment, they surprisingly gathered people at the broadcasting station and interviewed them one by one.

It wasn’t about the incident in Bern City; I was the topic of the interview.

From those with fair skin to those with blue skin. Everyone.

And not long after, a documentary about me was broadcasted throughout the kingdom. It wasn’t just on TV.

Newspapers featuring the interview on the front page were also distributed.

Hehe.

I love it.

Rather than a divine miracle or something, it’s more amusing that it clearly states I was resurrected with a special psychic ability, and my body hair and skin color changed.

Now, when I create a Harvesting Period in this world, I have a stepping stone to avoid rejection.

In the second world, the Harvesting Period was a public enemy, but in the third world, it became the image of someone who was resurrected from a death crisis.

Moreover, given the earlier image of someone who was saving people in Bern City, it all combined to create a very good image.

I’m so happy.

While I’m delighted, I wondered why they would widely publicize this. I thought it would benefit those in power to keep abilities like this hidden.

Monopolies tend to be despised.

I realized why around the end of summer.

Princess Aurora officially declared in a public setting that she regained her health thanks to my abilities.

Her beautiful blonde hair had turned purple, and her skin had turned blue, but the royal family announced she had regained her health. They also said that I was the one who treated her. In other words, Princess Aurora is like someone who received powers in Bern City.

It was then that I understood why they were promoting the Harvesting Period.

It wasn’t that the princess looked strange; they intended to convey that it was the result of her resurrection.

They thoroughly highlighted the Harvesting Period who had been roaming around saving people in Bern City and advertised the fact that I had resurrected from a death crisis throughout the kingdom.

All for Princess Aurora.

Hmm.

That’s right.

If seen from the perspective of just over 9,000 Harvesting Periods, there are various races living in this country, but there are no people with blue skin.

There could be such people in other countries, but at least as far as the Harvesting Period is concerned, such existence doesn’t exist.

Simply passing off blue skin as odd is difficult. Blue skin is an ominous color akin to a corpse already beginning to rot or someone suffering from argentiasis where silver infiltrates the skin.

If Princess Aurora had just come out, she would have been met with strange rumors. Just like contracting smallpox and becoming pockmarked, her value as a princess would have diminished.

But now public opinion has changed.

She isn’t merely someone who benefited from a miracle; she’s now part of those rewarded for doing good deeds.

Even though there’s no actual causation, isn’t that how groups generally work?

Then the country held a festival. The king emptied the treasury for a celebratory feast. It was probably a method to solidify the image.

By the time I could scrounge some crumbs from the table, the summer in this country had completely ended.

I was dragged to the Royal Academy.

*

“Bell!”

“Hello.”

On the day of enrollment.

As I stood dazed in what was supposedly my classroom, Victoria spotted me and rushed over. She too had been forcibly enrolled in the Royal Academy from today.

“It’s been a while, but you’re cold…”

“Since you made a pact with me, you haven’t been away from me for a single moment.”

Since I was seeing it through Victoria’s eyes, it was as if I was never out of her subjective view.

Upon my words, Victoria hugged me.

There were eyes watching us.

Not just one or two, but nearly all the students were looking at us.

From their expressions, there was a spectrum of feelings ranging from admiration to disdain.

There were many from high-ranking classes. In other words, people likely to become Harvesting Periods.

While pondering what kind of attitude to take, someone who seemed to be a teacher entered. Without any introduction, the class began.

It felt less like a public institution and closer to a university, perhaps showing little interest in the students.

Classes were conducted for two hours, twice. Once in the morning and once again after lunchtime in the afternoon.

As soon as the afternoon class ended, Victoria grabbed my hand and exited.

We walked along the diagonal path leading from the academy building to the main gate. Then we turned right near the front gate.

There, the dormitory appeared in the distance. It seemed Victoria was trying to take me to her dorm.

Following the stiff and silent Victoria, I headed towards her room.

As soon as we arrived, Victoria locked the door and let out a big sigh.

“Haah. That was scary.”

Saying that, Victoria stumbled over to the bed and flopped down.

“Scared?”

I remembered her expression had no hint of terror.

“There are so many people I can’t even talk to, right? Plus, there are tons of people completely different from me living among nobles; it’s terrifying!”

No matter how much the Sahaquin had a tool for instant death, it’s more horrifying to think of Victoria, who switched from hiding to slaughtering every single person she encounters to reach the landing site.

Still, even while saying it was scary now, it looked more like a bothersome expression, similar to avoiding a balloon that might pop.

“If I hadn’t helped people, I wouldn’t have come here.”

So, once.

Before any blame comes my way later, I preemptively said it. The good-natured Victoria will likely deny this statement here.

“Right. If I hadn’t moved back then, I would probably be on my way back to the wind-up puppet school by now, huh.”

Victoria looked at me with unquestionable clarity.

“But I don’t regret that. Even if I returned, I would save people again.”

Yeah. I know.

Victoria is that kind of person. I don’t know how long that will last, though. If she gets bullied here, her mind might change, right?

Even if she’s steadfast against pain, that doesn’t mean she can endure it forever. Considering the expressions of the students I saw during the class, there’s a good possibility Victoria will be bullied.

So, I need to sidestep responsibility before she breaks.

“Are you giving up on being a wind-up puppet engineer?”

“No. I found out there are classes for that here too. I’m thinking of heading over there.”

I know that. But what Morris, who had informed me, additionally pointed out was that it was more about learning the perspective of those who will be working with wind-up puppet engineers rather than just teaching engineering.

It’s the viewpoint of a manager, not a technician.

So saying this is just flaunting. And if you’re going to flaunt, you must be ready to back it up. Victoria would do just that.

“I’m glad.”

Victoria smiled awkwardly at my words. She really is a nice person. She probably said that to consider me.

Even if she breaks down in the future, I can bet it will be directed elsewhere.

“How about you, Bell? You treated the princess? For a while, all that played on TV was that, right? Have you talked to the princess? What’s she like?”

Victoria changed the topic.

Though I was technically a guest at the royal palace, I was closer to a tool there. But I don’t mention that. Not because I’d worry about Victoria, but due to my own subjectivity.

Subjectivity that treats oneself impersonally.

Now isn’t the time to show my subjectivity. If I do, she’ll try to tackle me head-on.

If I move without subjectivity, like an object, those who are holding me will be more focused on using me than on worrying about me.

Easy mode is nice. Easy mode.

When others try to deceive me, there’s no guarantee I’ll catch everything. Even as a Harvesting Period, that remains unchanged.

It would be great if the Harvesting Period had brainwashing capabilities or unconditionally showered me with affection, but sadly, such features don’t exist.

So, I must proceed safely, step by step.

There’s plenty of time.

But I want to leverage my experiences from the second world to be bold without being too intimidated. Balancing that is tough, but I must do my best. That is my homework.

“I don’t know. I only met her for a single moment, then spent the rest in the royal chambers.”

Considering that the only ones entering my room changed no more than once every three days, it’s clear they had malicious intentions.

Even if there are many people around, if no one interacts, one feels lonely. Loneliness easily impoverishes a person.

It creates ideal conditions for gaslighting.

It’s similar to how cults force people to preach in crowded subway stations. Their actual aim isn’t to bring unaware people into their cult.

Cults are despised. While evangelists attempt to preach to many, they’re mostly ignored or insulted. With humiliation, they instill the impression that the person is a valueless loser.

When they return empty-handed, they break down their self-esteem and impoverish their mind by asking why they failed to preach, numbing their reason and getting them to rely on the cult.

Give a disease, then offer a cure.

Isolate and create dependency.

It’s a frequently used method by rulers to make people their dull subordinates.

“Ahh, that makes sense since it’s the royal family. I thought you might have met the prince, but it seems you didn’t have such experiences?”

“I exchanged greetings with his face, but that was all. Not even names were exchanged.”

“Wow, that’s a bit much.”

With a slightly displeased expression, Victoria sat down and patted the space beside her. Once I sat there, she began to recount the events that transpired in between while sitting next to me.

She spoke about the horde of people that came and went from the broadcasting station, how she had been invited to the royal palace but couldn’t meet me, and how many strange individuals sought her out afterward.

She shared how Morris was fired from the company and how his family hugged and cried about it, but she strangely omitted the part about weird people breaking into their home, leading them to move.

Poor Morris.

If he had only shed a bit of his humanity, he could have been a splendid person at the company by now.

Additionally, they moved to the outskirts of Bern City. To put it in metaphorical terms, it’s like moving from Seoul to Gyeonggi-do.

That area has many people who were affected by the Bern City incident.

In other words, it means many Harvesting Periods.

If being alone helps concentrate the goals, moving to a place where they are dispersed can be a good strategy. It was a wise move to relocate.

So, while I thought about when to share this, I spent time with Victoria, who was unfolding her stories.

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