Nothing has happened to those in the capital.
It seems there is no movement to suppress the harvest period itself.
Considering Vern City, it wouldn’t be strange if some action had been taken, though.
Vern City’s anger from the protesters is turning into despair. Normally, even if a fight starts out of anger, people get tired as it drags on.
Now that the emotions have calmed, what couldn’t be seen due to the intense emotions is starting to become visible.
Perhaps because of that, those who had protested in Vern City are now divided into two opinions—one saying the Purple Twilight Association should surrender, and the other saying that even if they surrender, they will still die.
Division is a bad omen.
Of course, I would be happy if I could obtain a lot of warmth in the process, no matter how things go!
More importantly, I need to tell you that a witch named Maleficent attacked me. So, when I meet with the king, I’ll have to scratch at him, asking what he did while I was attacked without any help.
If I tell the guards that I was attacked, the king will find out, right?
I thought so as I waited for the Royal Academy to end. After all, it wasn’t a topic that was good to bring up inside the academy.
In the meantime, there was nothing special in the classroom.
Well, there was one thing.
Towards the end of class, the teacher told us to prepare for the midterm exams. Most of the students were buzzing about it. But this wasn’t something I needed to worry about.
It was a bit funny to see Victoria’s face turn pale. She has to study twice the amount a normal person does, right?
I cheered her on inside as I finished my afternoon classes and went outside. Then, I went to the main gate and called for Merryweather.
“Merryweather.”
“What? You called?”
“A witch attacked me.”
When I said that, Merryweather was extremely surprised. Was it because she hadn’t recognized that at all, even though she was part of my guard?
“So?”
Hmm? “So?” you ask? Oh. Do you think I can handle it since I have special abilities?
It wouldn’t be strange if I could, but it’s better to let them deal with it if they can.
The fact that I can handle a witch means I’m someone stronger than the witch, right?
And there’s also a chance I won’t be able to deal with her. If she doesn’t attack me and refuses to sign a contract, I can’t reach her.
Besides, taking away warmth doesn’t necessarily kill them...
A witch who has had her warmth drained might turn into a monster as terrible as me, so I think I’ll approach this cautiously.
Of course, I plan to act more boldly, using the failure from the second world as a lesson.
Remembering the beast who laughed at me and took its own life back in that world makes it hard to simply take the witch’s warmth.
“You’re my guard, aren’t you? Aren’t you going to report this to the king?”
“To the king, huh....”
Merryweather gives me a suspicious look. I guess she’s questioning why I suddenly say a witch attacked me.
It’s like she’s wary of me, like she’s seeing a scary monster.
When I was hit on the head yesterday, I must have had to heal quickly so the wound wouldn’t show. The priority was lower because my body had entered it rather than a living person, but looking back, it was a horrible sight.
Hmm.
“First, why don’t you tell me what you know?”
Merryweather says this.
Ah, well. It would be strange to just say the witch attacked Bell without properly reporting it.
“I was hit by a nightmare-like illusion yesterday.”
When passing through the black space, I overheard a conversation between two witches. I didn’t hear it all, but I did hear them say they lost control at some point.
It might seem trivial to say they lost control of the magic, but looking at what happened to me, it was quite significant.
From the morning until the afternoon that day, I couldn’t properly recognize I was under an illusion.
It was a very powerful spell.
“You didn’t just have a nightmare, did you?”
Ah, I see. You wouldn’t know that even though my body falls asleep, my consciousness is always awake. Should I say that out loud?
I’m anxious about revealing too much about myself, but still, to persuade the king that I was attacked, I need to give him a reason. I just twist the words slightly.
It’s not because I can’t do it; it’s because I don’t have the ability.
“I’m unable to sleep.”
“What? You can’t sleep? But you’ve been sleeping just fine so far.”
“My body falls asleep, but my consciousness is always awake. In my perception, I never lose consciousness.”
And in the meantime, as I observed other harvesters, my sleep time quickly disappears.
“So, you know everything that happens when you sleep?”
“No. I told you, didn’t I? My body sleeps. If I don’t see it with my own eyes, I can’t see it.”
I can sense sounds or smells, but /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ I’ve hidden that part away.
“Okay, I understand. But what do you think of the witch?”
“What do you mean, what do I think?”
“She attacked you. Don’t you hate her or something?”
That’s a weird question. I already knew I’d be attacked by a witch, so do you think I need to consider my feelings about it?
“The witch is a witch. And her name is Maleficent. Is it a name you know?”
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At my words, Merryweather made a strange expression. She looked angry but full of suspicion. What’s wrong with what I said?
I explained everything properly, didn’t I?
“I know. It’s a name I know very well.”
“She doesn’t seem like a famous witch, though.”
Among the harvesters, no one knew about the witch. The lower class may not know, but even Victoria, who was somewhat middle class, or even Kanna, who was high-class, didn’t know.
Even Aurora didn’t know about the witch.
Suddenly, Merryweather’s mood visibly darkened.
“So, after you report that the witch attacked you, what are you going to do? Are you going to capture the witch?”
Merryweather grits her teeth, seemingly holding back boiling anger as she asks me.
As expected of the royal intelligence, Merryweather is really good at digging for information about me. But I shook my head.
“Why would I capture her?”
I’ve shown only two things to people: my strong regeneration abilities and my ability to turn them into harvesters. Capturing a witch with those abilities is difficult.
In fact, unless the witch attacks me, I can’t capture her.
It’s not completely impossible, though. If I were to destroy this world, I could probably get warmth on my own. But that won’t happen, so it’s safe to say it won’t happen.
“Okay. I understand.”
Merryweather nods, turns around, and walks away. By now, the royal family must realize I won’t be of much use beyond being bait.
But can the royal family capture the witch?
I watched Merryweather head toward the palace and returned to my quarters.
Now, she’ll be busy not just keeping an eye on me, but also capturing the witch.
The evening that day.
As Victoria was returning to the Royal Academy’s dormitory from the Gear School, a group of people appeared in front of her.
They were armed with spiked clubs or heavy tools and began to threaten her.
They demanded blessings for themselves.
They shouted, asking why only they were in such a state when everyone else had received blessings.
And they exaggeratedly expressed that they knew the blessings were free, but they still wanted one.
Victoria loudly shouted that she wouldn’t give blessings to people like them. As she said that, her eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.
But not only the ones holding weapons in front of her, but everyone around her was glaring at her with eyes full of desire.
It wasn’t a few people who attacked impulsively.
They had thoroughly planned the attack to ensure there was no escape.
Victoria then said she didn’t have such abilities. She suggested they find someone else, but...
It seemed the people there already knew.
They mocked Victoria’s words and spoke up.
They knew that the one who gives blessings was a small child, and that person almost never comes out, so they planned to use the person they were with as a hostage.
Me. I’ve been going out a lot lately, right?
Though I’ve been going through less-frequented paths, they must not have known.
And they picked Victoria.
No grudge, but they decided to make her a hostage, and harvesters started to charge at her.
But their weapons never reached Victoria.
Transparent water droplets blocked their weapons. Then, as Victoria swung her hand, those who had charged flew in the opposite direction.
People were being tossed around in the currents made by water flowing from all directions.
There were some who could use magic, like those shooting fire or lightning, but none of them could break through the water Victoria conjured.
The one who shot lightning was actually electrocuted by his own attack and collapsed.
Watching from my vantage point as a harvester, I saw the scene of her power.
Someone knocked on the door of my room.
When I went outside, several armed soldiers were standing there.
Merryweather must have informed the royal family, and reinforcements came.
The leader among the soldiers approached me. He introduced himself as part of the royal guard and asked:
“Bell. Merryweather Olcat has been your guard up until now, right?”
Huh? I thought they’d protect me from the witch’s grasp or have me as bait to capture her, but he’s saying something strange.
“Yes. Is something wrong with Merryweather?”
In response, he said:
“Merryweather Olcat was found dead.”
What? In just a few hours? Looks like the witch was truly targeting her. But it’s a legitimate tactic. Blocking reinforcements is basic strategy. If she’d just stayed alive, I could have made her into a harvester, it’s a shame.
“We couldn’t find the body, but the autopsy suggests she was killed about 20 days ago.”
But then the commander said something really strange. He claimed that Merryweather Olcat was killed three weeks ago.
“Then, who has been guarding me?”
“Someone took her place and deceived everyone. And that someone is the only one.”
The commander said, suppressing his anger.
“It’s the witch. The witch was hiding.”
“Maleficent?”
“You know that cursed name too, Bell? Yes. That’s right. On Princess Aurora’s birthday, she came uninvited and cast a powerful curse on us.”
So, the person I had thought was part of the royal intelligence had been a witch all along?
Now that I think about it, Merryweather’s nickname sounded a bit odd. It might have been a subtle hint. But calling Maleficent’s nickname makes it clear.
I can now understand her reaction when she talked about the witch.
I had been thoroughly deceived.
As expected, I’m not that smart. If I were, I would have figured out her identity in an instant.
“Then, what now—”
Just as I was about to ask, something crashed.
Boom!
I heard a sound of something collapsing from all directions. The commander quickly ran to the window. The soldiers who came with him turned to the sound.
Meanwhile, I, as a harvester, observed what was happening in the capital.
The black thorny vines were wrapping around the capital, growing around the royal palace. Like a tidal wave, it tore through anything that stood in its way.
After some time, what felt like an earthquake, the thorns stopped.
Numerous harvesters were torn apart on the road, and the survivors quickly fell into sleep when pierced by the thorns.
The massive vines stopped moving, but the smaller branches continued to spread, slowly burrowing into buildings.
From the perspective of the harvester, these thorns were surrounding the entire capital.
Maleficent is quite the witch.