I left the five people looking at me with moved expressions and climbed up the stairs.
They’ll feel like something has changed immediately. In fact, it has changed.
But soon they’ll realize that they themselves haven’t changed. Even if they’ve become stronger and smarter, the self they’ve lived as until now continues, right?
It’s like starting to exercise to lose weight, giving up after 3 days, and eating more than the amount you exercised.
I considered setting a limit of 3 people here too.
I made too few harvesters in the second world.
In the first world, there were many people trying to increase harvesters, so I tried to limit them, and in the second world, I stuck to three because of the collapse of the first world.
In the third world, for the first time, I didn’t start as part of a group.
Because I had no ability to escape, or because I needed the ability, certain rules were necessary to parasitize that group.
Even if it wasn’t true, I could act as if it was.
But here, it’s free. So I decided to do it freely.
Of course, the situation might suddenly become strange and I might be kidnapped somewhere and only produce harvesters, but that wouldn’t be bad in its own way.
Given how evil such a group is, it probably won’t spread as abnormally fast as in the first world.
If it’s a ruler full of desires, they’ll only use it for themselves.
In other words, there’s no problem.
First, after climbing up, I go to look for Victoria.
Victoria is now hurriedly returning to the room. Because she realized I had disappeared. She goes back to the room, confirms I’m not there, and comes out again.
So I met her by going in a direction where we wouldn’t miss each other.
“Hey! I found you!”
As soon as she sees me, Victoria rushes towards me urgently.
It’s understandable.
If I were an ordinary child, I would probably be suffering terribly in a corner of the third-class cabin by now. But if she knew my true identity was something like a monster, she wouldn’t need to worry so much.
“Yes, Belle is here.”
“If you’re going somewhere, tell me!”
“There was no time to speak. Victoria was absorbed in looking at the machinery.”
I slightly turned the topic, twisting the story as if Victoria had done something wrong.
“Still, ugh. No. It’s fine if you’re safe. Let’s go to the room.”
“Alright.”
Perhaps because she felt embarrassed thinking about how she had been absorbed in the machinery, there was no further questioning.
After that, although I was on guard in case something else happened, the night passed without any particular incidents. And when morning came.
Cities can be seen on both sides of the river.
Of course, I know this because I’ve been up watching out the window since the ship stopped at a port with its horn blowing at dawn.
From that port, the ship entered the river, and through the window, I could see houses gradually appearing from the wide plains. And it gradually changed into a big city.
And not long after, as noon approached.
The ship stopped at a port on a river running through the middle of a huge city.
I disembarked from the ship with Victoria. Fortunately, they didn’t check tickets when disembarking, so we could get off without any problems.
Coming out of the port, there’s a harmony of steel structures and brick houses, and buildings tall enough to be called skyscrapers can be seen.
And on the surface and inside of such buildings. You can see huge mechanical devices embedded here and there, turning. It’s like a city themed after the inside of a clockwork watch.
In the sky, you can see vehicles similar to high-floating balloons, and creatures like wyverns with saddles carrying people flying around.
“You’re not very surprised?”
“I am surprised.”
“Hehe, right? This is Bern City. The city built with the most cutting-edge technology in this country.”
Victoria told me with a voice full of pride.
Should I say it’s fortunate that it’s not steam because of magic, an energy source with strangely good efficiency?
There are too many clockworks to call it arcane punk, and there’s no steam to call it steampunk.
Gaslamp fantasy? It’s closer to that feeling.
“Taxi!”
As soon as we came out onto the road, Victoria waved her hand and called a taxi. Not long after, a strange three-wheeled vehicle stopped in front of us.
“Do you need service? Try our Cogni Transport Company! After setting the number of people and destination, you can board once the calculation is complete.”
It has an inverted triangle structure with what looks like an engine at the back, and above the engine is a brass doll made to look just like a person.
It’s artificial intelligence.
Victoria, not finding the appearance of such a machine strange at all, explained what seemed to be the number of people and address, then held out money.
The brass machine completed the calculation, put the luggage Victoria handed over on the roof of the vehicle, and opened the door.
When Victoria and I got in, the arms of the doll at the back moved to close the door and started forward.
I really feel like I’ve entered a different world.
It looks much clearer than when I knew it from Victoria’s memories.
If I were a person who liked traveling, would I have liked this kind of thing?
I’m not sure about that.
Anyway, the taxi drove for a while and stopped at a place where skyscrapers could be seen in the distance.
It’s not a house good enough to be called a mansion, but there’s a house that’s plenty good for people to live in.
“Cogni Transport Company is always with you. We hope you’ll use our services often in the future!”
The doll attached to the taxi played a short recorded voice and then left without looking back.
“I’m home!”
Victoria opened the door with a bang and went inside carrying her bag.
But there’s no response.
Victoria goes inside without caring at all. I followed her inside.
There’s a place to shake off shoes, but Victoria just goes in wearing her shoes.
Of course, that’s not normal. Strictly speaking, it’s okay to do that in your own home, but generally, you should change into indoor shoes at the entrance.
I guess I should follow the manners in Victoria’s memory since this is the first meeting.
The shoes are a bit big, probably because they’re for guests.
I put on the loosely fitting shoes and went inside.
“Who’s this bitch?”
As we walk down the corridor into the interior, a very sharp voice is heard.
“Mom. Did you pull an all-nighter again? Are you still not in your right mind? Let’s put away the gun.”
From Victoria’s perspective, there’s a woman with dark circles under her eyes pointing a gun at Victoria.
Victoria is making an expression like “not this again”, so it’s not that big of a deal.
“I’ve never had a daughter like you. How dare you come in with your hair dyed like that! Didn’t I tell you not to set foot in this house if you did such a thing!”
“When did I ever dye my hair!”
“You’ve completely doused yourself in purple dye! Looking at how it’s dyed to the roots, it wouldn’t be strange if you did it on the way here! What is this, rebellion?”
No. That’s…
Certainly, from a mother’s perspective, it’s an event that might make her think her child has suddenly gone astray.
First, before the situation escalates further, I went inside.
“Hello.”
“Oh my, a guest?”
Her expression relaxed for a moment, then became sharp again upon seeing the color of my hair. But that was only for a moment. As she looks me up and down, her wariness gradually disappears.
It must be because I’m young.
“Tori, who is this?”
Tori is Victoria’s nickname. Victoria let out a sigh of relief and then looked at me and came to my side.
“Mom. This is Belle. Belle, this is my mom.”
Victoria’s mom approached me, moved her hand at an incredibly fast speed to flick Victoria’s forehead, and stood in front of me.
“I’m Beatrice Bete.”
“I’m Belle.”
As she held out her hand, I shook it in return. When I shook her hand, she made a very surprised expression.
“You’re just a young lady. Tori. Where on earth did you bring this child from?”
Aha. She judged me by touching my hand.
Strictly speaking, it’s true that I wasn’t made long ago, but if you don’t know that circumstance, it’s not strange to misunderstand like that.
Victoria froze as if suddenly faced with a difficult question.
“No, well. Mom. There’s really a long story. It’s probably a story that would make you faint if you knew, so can I go organize my luggage first?”
And as if deciding to postpone it for now, she pointed upwards with her finger. Victoria’s room is upstairs. Beatrice stared at Victoria for a while and then nodded.
“Wait just a moment!”
Hurriedly.
Victoria urgently took her luggage bag and went upstairs. Isn’t it considered impolite to move around freely leaving a guest in front of your parents?
Beatrice in front of me seems to think so too, looking at the ceiling where Victoria’s room is with an exasperated expression.
“Haah. I wonder if she’ll ever improve by going to school… Come this way and sit down.”
As if remembering me, Beatrice pointed to one side. There’s a large table that looks like a multipurpose table.
There are lots of papers scattered on it, and several pens of the same type are rolling around. Seeing that some are severely worn down, it seems they’ve been used here for a long time.
“Look at my state of mind.”
Beatrice also hurriedly approaches and clears away the documents piled on the table. Glancing at the contents, there are many papers with large amounts of money written on them.
According to Victoria’s memory, since both parents are merchants, it’s not strange to have such contents.
“So, where are you really from? How old are you? What’s your surname?”
Beatrice, who had roughly organized the documents in a corner of the floor, sat down in front of me.
“I don’t have a surname. My age is ambiguous. And I’ll tell you the detailed story after hearing from Victoria.”
Beatrice’s eyes gradually narrow.
It’s because she realized that I’m not an ordinary child. I don’t hide it either. In the first place, there’s no way I could pretend to be child-like.
And it also depends on how much Victoria says.
“You’re not an ordinary child, are you. Alright. Then do you drink tea?”
“Water is enough.”
“I’m not that inhospitable.”
Saying that, Beatrice went to the kitchen and started brewing tea.
By the time a fragrant smell was wafting and Beatrice had prepared various things and returned to the table.
Victoria also came down, having changed into very comfortable clothes.
Although she was scolded by Beatrice because the level of comfort was really clothes with so little fabric that they should only be worn inside the house.
But that was only for a moment.
After Victoria sat down next to me and started telling about the events she had experienced, that atmosphere disappeared instantly.