The Outer God Needs Warmth-Chapter 227: Song of the Betrayed (7)

As winter deepened, the day finally arrived.

It was vacation time.

I’m not the type to study diligently, and my grades don’t impact my future prospects much, so vacation isn’t very meaningful.

But, vacation is still an important day.

Why? Because it’s the time Victoria goes home.

Of course, she isn’t going to Vern City.

Vern City is no longer an ordinary city. It has become 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 mentioned 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 met them directly in the second world.

Even in this world, such creatures are just ordinary monsters.

Before they could shoot flames or control water, they’re killed through irrational administration. True monsters.

The scissors come flying and cut open the abdomen, 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 methods 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 methods. 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 become 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 formed 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 something 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 mean?

The army stopped guarding Vern City. The army that originally protected Vern City became independent from the city.

To be precise, Richard Gaston’s territory shrank to Nantes Harbor, and Vern City became 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 came 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 unemployment 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 seemed 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 came 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 home?”

“Bel?”

“Yes. It’s me.”

Victoria stopped packing and looked at me. The room behind her was already clean. She had finished preparing to go home with her things.

“Yeah. I’m going to see my parents.”

Victoria stared at me intently as she said this.

Then, with a calm expression, she spoke.

“It’s been half a year since we met.”

“Yes. It has been.”

We met around the start of summer vacation, and now it’s about to be winter vacation, so it’s about the right amount of time.

“I was shocked when I first met you. You were a monster over 25 feet tall, right? Suddenly, you became this cute girl.”

Victoria recalled the past.

“And when I went home, dangerous incidents happened in Vern City, and then suddenly you started healing people. Then, you met 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 came, 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 home now.”

Victoria said that.

As if she was too exhausted and in pain.

And as if she were about to say goodbye to me.

“Take care, Bel. You’ve been a truly brilliant person.”

Then she pushed me 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 me, then got into the carriage and left.

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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 something 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.

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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 came 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 me. Then, without saying anything else, he asked:

“You mean you’re going to see a friend named 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 me 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 me if I’m not careful.

“Tell me what you need.”

Hmm?

Looking at the butler’s face, he’s genuinely asking. If I want something, he’ll do it for me.

“I want to follow her.”

“I’ll prepare everything immediately. It’ll take some time, so please come 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 something 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 came out and dressed me not in the usual dress but in proper clothes with trousers. While I waited, drinking tea, the butler called for me.

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 me 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 me.

“Bel, we hope you will come back again.”

Anyway, whether they’re this or that, are they speaking as if we’ll never meet again?

“I’ll be back.”

I said that, and the butler smiled as he closed the door.

Then, the carriage started moving forward.