The Outer God Needs Warmth

A week passed without anything happening.

Despite throwing the witch’s treasure, there has been no notable movement. Of course, that so-called treasure is a cruel and merciless weapon.

I believe that if it were in the hands of a person, it would be used excellently.

Perhaps a small number of people were sent in advance to collect all the witch’s treasures, but at least as far as I know, I’d have to go back to that place to find out.

The valuables inside the castle?

They’re nothing but metal material. If the world can break, I could create a gold nugget the size of the sun, so there’s really no need for it.

I don’t have much material desire.

If the body were merely a game avatar, at least there would be some fun in decorating it.

But this is not such a place.

It’s like creating a curse, placing food at a distance where you can’t reach it, while being left to starve for days with just your head sticking out of the ground.

And even if you can’t reach it, you know that the moment you stretch out your tongue toward the food, you’d get your throat cut.

So I endure.

If there’s a reason, I can endure it.

By grit and determination, I slowly feel a weak warmth coming in.

Endurance brings reward.

I hold onto that as a pillar and desperately hold on. But is it okay to sniff the smell? Is it alright to gaze at it?

So, be a bit more proactive.

Create a harvesting period.

In such a state, if I were to undergo a mental evaluation, anyone would say it’s madness.

Thus, material things are not important.

From now on, the hope that warmth will come to me is everything.

With that mindset, honestly, once I became capable of manipulating reality, I really lost interest in material things. Due to the minor flaw that this shock could ruin reality.

Rather, knowledge is more precious.

Perhaps making people into a harvesting cycle involves elements of knowledge collection.

The shining memories keep increasing.

Memories feel alive, not as if they possess consciousness like saying, “Is this it?” but more like a sensation that highlights the words I searched for as I ask, “Is this what you’re looking for?” in a continually running search engine.

However, there’s a strangely uniform light that shines in specific situations, probably because we share similar experiences.

Or possibly like Maleficent, fresh memories that have only just been acquired are referenced as soon as I search them.

In any case.

I have a good memory and excellent search capabilities.

Do you know what that means?

“Test paper, I will walk.”

“Gwaaaah~”

I can manage to take a test without studying.
The day after a week-long holiday, as soon as class started, we had a test. Not a pop quiz, but a midterm.

Since the morning, the teacher made a cruel announcement, and the light disappeared from the student’s eyes, who returned to the classroom after a long time.

With sighs of despair echoing and the sound of rustling filling the morning, I simply solved the problems.

Unless it was a problem I wasn’t informed about or required application, simple memorization is no problem.

However, perhaps due to it being the Royal Academy, the ratio of simple problems is half. If you get all the difficult ones wrong, it’s a tie.

I’ve written as much as I can, so I should at least get an average score.

By the way, no one realizes that Merryweather has disappeared until the exam is over.

The atmosphere is such that nobody even knows if that person existed. They’ve even vanished from the attendance list.

That means Maleficent must have been a powerful sorceress.

According to Maleficent’s memory, if you manipulate perception, non-existent documents can suddenly appear. It wasn’t just some bizarre magic resembling science; it was magic that changes the world itself.

So it seems nobody even noticed.

Even if something was supposed to be received, it seems like it’s just as well to say that it feels like I’ve received something.

As long as a catastrophic contradiction like finding Merryweather’s corpse fragments doesn’t arise, it seems like something simple to shatter.

This witch.

If a person were to face her, she was a witch strong enough to be overwhelming.

If it were a person.

Against Daegon, it appears there is a technique specifically designed to deal with such beings after chaotic battles.

Since I’ve never fought a similar opponent, it seems that powerful entities who don’t even realize their weaknesses are the easiest to catch.

When you go from the highest predator to just an upper predator, it’s not so strange to be massacred in an instant.

Even though you might think something just pops up above your head, many beings that had no natural enemies went extinct as soon as potential predators entered their islands over hundreds of generations.

If you’re not engrained with survival instincts, you can vanish just like that.

It seems even Maleficent, who seemed to possess remarkable intelligence, is not exempt.

Even the Wonsi Cheonjon has a few memories of subjugating such wicked beings.

Cross-referencing shows that those who are born strong with no experience of failure are typically seen as gifts.

A gift that provides materials, that is.

This world filled with malice is scary, isn’t it?

Anyway.

After the exam, I intended to approach Victoria, who was sitting there blankly, but someone blocked my way.

Freesia Tabakian Shekal.

She perked up her triangle ears that were protruding from her head and stood before me.

“Bell. Lord Shiodore is calling for you.”

Her stiff demeanor has become much softer than before.

Ah, come to think of it, Kanna had asked Freesia to bring me to him after returning to the capital over the weekend. I forgot since it was the next day.

“Yes.”

I waved lightly at Victoria, who had to go to the clockwork knight school that evening, and followed Freesia.

At the main gate, based on the central hall, we went left. Moving straight west, we turned left at a 90-degree angle and continued until we reached the innermost room among several.

“Did you arrive?”

Uh-oh? Kanna Temrane Shiodore?

I thought she hadn’t changed, but hearing it directly makes a difference. Her voice is brighter by over 30% compared to when we last met.

Maybe it’s because she was desperately held back from leaving the Shiodore family.

Or perhaps it’s just good to know she can move her body somewhat. Or maybe it’s both, but the gloomy atmosphere that clung to her body has completely vanished, leaving only a refreshing smile behind.

Hmm~?

Hmm, it might be harder to read that person entirely by observing her from that perspective than I thought.

From Kanna’s perspective, I believe she hasn’t changed. But seeing it directly in front of me, there’s a clear difference.

Is it because people can’t perceive their own weight gain as numbers? Or is it that since all five senses synchronize, it’s merely difficult to register slow changes?

I never thought I would learn about such flaws this way.

That perspective she possesses isn’t perfect after all.

But that aside, let’s greet her first.

“Hello.”

“You truly haven’t changed. Come, take a seat.”

Freesia quietly bowed and left. Kanna glanced at her with a regretful expression. But as soon as the door closed, she immediately turned and walked over to a cart carrying food and a teapot nearby.

Then she poured tea into an empty cup within my line of sight.

According to Kanna’s memory, this is how nobles would usually meet.

Souvenir? Poison.

Additionally, there’s an underlying, ominous etiquette, like questioning whether I can recognize the substance I’m giving to you.

If I don’t respond with something like “This ingredient is great,” and return it, I’ll be treated as ignorant, but I completely ignore that.

Kanna doesn’t care about it either.

It’s engraved in the souls of the nobles to the point where that action is natural; rather, the disgust that arose during our first meeting was, in fact, self-disgust.

According to memory, it wasn’t directed at me.

Even reading emotions isn’t perfect.

Finding a flaw in the tools I’ve been using doesn’t shake my heart because it’s been a consistent pattern of making passive and safe choices until now.

Yeah. If I had thought, “Since I can understand people’s emotions, manipulating sentiment would be easy,” I would have made a truly fatal mistake.

In reality, even if I ignore all the etiquette that a typical noble should adhere to, I don’t feel ill at ease drinking the beverage she offered.

“Tasty, right? I drink it a lot near my house, but it’s rare to find here, so I brought a lot with me.”

For reference, Kanna means she mixes a high-alcohol liquor when she says “near her house.”

And this is the kind of drink Kanna used to enjoy. When she drinks alone in her room, she does it in her hometown style. This person.

By the way, in this world, neither alcohol nor tobacco is prohibited for minors.

Rather, it’s regarded as a health tonic if consumed in moderation.

“Are you doing what you want to do properly?”

I paused for a moment and asked.

At my words, Kanna blinked a few times before smiling brightly.

“Yeah, I’m doing what I want to do to my heart’s content.”

“Seems like it was worth handing you over.”

If it were my desire, I would prefer that the privileged class be a bit more corrupt and act filled with greed, but I’ve somewhat let go of the current harvesting period.

Since supply comes from Bern City and real-time rebel groups are forming, blood will likely flow like a river.

Indeed, it’s bound to be warm.

Hehe.

“On the contrary, I am more grateful. Plus you. I heard you fought with that scary witch in the capital? How was it?”

Ah.

I see. She must have been wanting to ask this.

It’s not that there’s some noble conspiracy or scheme hidden, but she’s looking at me with sparkling eyes filled purely with curiosity.

Moreover, the distance of her heart toward me has drastically decreased.

So I thought a little bit of it would be okay and started to describe Maleficent’s current appearance with my hands.

“Maleficent has become something like this, a crown.”

“Uh… I see.”

The distance of her heart has widened again.

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