Nothing happened to those in the capital.
It seems there's no movement to suppress arvesters themselves.
Considering Bern City, it wouldn't be strange if there was some action, but.
In Bern City now, the protesters' anger is turning into despair. Even if a fight starts with anger originally, when the fight continues for a long time, people get tired.
Now when emotions calm down, they can see what they couldn't see because of intense emotions.
Maybe that's why the people who protested in Bern City. The Purple Twilight Society is divided and fighting between opinions that they should surrender and that they'll die even if they surrender now.
Division is not a good sign.
Of course, I'd be happy if I could get a lot of warmth in the process, no matter how it rolls!
More than that, I need to say that a witch named Maleficent attacked me. So when I get to meet with the king, I should scratch about what they were doing not protecting me when there was an attack.
If I tell the escort that I was attacked, the king will know too.
Thinking that, I waited for the Royal Academy to end. After all, it's not a good topic to talk about inside the academy.
Meanwhile, there was nothing special in the classroom.
No, there's one thing.
Near the end of class time, the teacher said to prepare for midterms. Most students were buzzing. But this isn't something I need to care about.
It was a bit funny that Victoria's expression turned pale. The amount Victoria has to study is twice that of an ordinary person, right?
While cheering her on inside, I finished afternoon classes and came out. Then I went to the front gate and called Merriwather.
"Merriwather."
"What? You called?"
"A witch attacked me."
When I said that, Merriwather was extremely surprised. Is it because she didn't recognize it at all, even though she's supposed to be an escort?
"So?"
Huh? What do you mean, so? Ah. Does she think I can handle it myself because I have special powers?
It wouldn't be strange to think that, but if possible, it's better to let them solve it with their own hands.
Being able to deal with a witch means being more powerful than a witch, right?
And there's a possibility that I can't deal with her. Because if she doesn't make a contract until the end and doesn't attack me, I can't reach her.
Moreover, it's not like she'll die just from having her warmth taken away...
Since there's a possibility that a witch who's had her warmth taken away might become a terrible monster like me, I plan to approach this part carefully.
Of course, taking the failure in the second world as a lesson, I plan to go more boldly, but.
Remembering the beast that laughed at me and took its own life in that world, it's hard to readily take away the witch's warmth.
"You're an escort, right? Don't you report to the king?"
"To the king. Well..."
Merriwather sends me a suspicious look. I guess she's suspicious because I suddenly said a witch attacked.
She's guarding as if looking at a scary monster.
I guess I should have regenerated quickly to hide the wound when I was hit on the head yesterday. The sense of pain was duller than when I entered a living person's body, so it was pushed back in priority, but thinking back, it was quite a horrific sight.
Hmm.
"First, why don't you tell me what you know?"
Merriwather said that.
Ah, right. To report properly, it's a bit much to just say that a witch attacked Belle.
"Yesterday I was caught in a nightmare-like illusion."
When passing through the black space, there was a conversation between two witches behind. I didn't hear all of it, but in the middle, they said they lost control somewhere.
It might sound like nothing much to say they lost control of the magic, but looking back at what I experienced, it is indeed great.
Moreover, from that morning until the afternoon, I couldn't properly recognize that I was under an illusion.
It's an extremely powerful magic.
"Isn't it just that you had a nightmare?"
Ah, I see. They don't know that even if my body falls asleep, my consciousness itself is always awake. Should I say this?
I'm uneasy about too much being known about me, but I need to give a reason if I want to convince the king that I was attacked. But I twist the words slightly.
Not that I'm not doing it because I have the ability, but as if I can't do it because I don't have the ability.
"It's impossible for me to sleep."
"What? It's impossible for you to sleep? But, you. You've been sleeping just fine until now, right?"
"My body falls asleep, but my consciousness is always awake. From my subjective view, there's no point where my consciousness is cut off."
And during that time. The sleep time quickly disappears as I spend time observing other harvesters.
"Then you know everything that happened during the time you were sleeping."
"No. I told you, right? My body is asleep. It means I can't see directly unless I see with my eyes."
I can hear sounds and smell, but I hid that slightly behind.
"Okay. I got it. But what do you think about the witch?"
"What do I think?"
"She attacked you, right? Don't you feel like you hate her or anything like that?"
It's a strange question. You knew I was going to be attacked anyway, so is there anything to consider about my feelings?
It wouldn't be strange to think that, but it's better to let them solve it with their own hands if possible.
"A witch is a witch. And her name is Maleficent. Is it a familiar name?"
At my words, Merriwather made a very strange expression. It's an expression full of doubt while also being angry. What's strange about what I said?
I explained everything I needed to explain properly.
"I know. It's a very familiar name."
"It didn't seem like a famous witch though."
* * *
Among the harvesters, no one knew about witches. Even Victoria, who belongs to the middle class, and Kanna, who's upper class among the upper class, didn't know.
Even Aurora didn't know about witches.
Suddenly, Merriwather's mood visibly worsened.
"So, after you report that a witch attacked, what will Belle do? Will you catch the witch?"
Merriwather, who seems to be holding back boiling anger, asks me through gritted teeth.
Merriwather, who tries to dig into my information until the end as befits the royal intelligence department, is really a woman who does her job well. But I shook my head there.
"Why would I catch something like that?"
Powerful regeneration ability and the ability to make harvesters. I've only shown people exactly these two. It's difficult to catch a witch with just this.
In reality, I can't catch the witch unless she attacks me.
Of course, it's not completely impossible. If I just break this world, I could get warmth on my own. But that won't happen, so it's right to say it's not possible.
"Okay. I got it."
Merriwather, who lowered her head, said that and turned her body. Now the royal family would know that I won't give more help than being bait.
But can those in the royal family catch the witch?
I watched Merriwather going to the royal palace and returned to my lodging.
Now Merriwather will be busy not only monitoring me but also catching the witch.
* * *
That evening.
A group of people appeared in front of Victoria, who was returning to the dormitory at the Royal Academy from the clockwork knight school.
And they threaten her by pointing clubs with nails or heavy tools.
They say to give them blessings too.
They shout why only they are in this state when everyone else is getting blessings.
And they express in an exaggeratedly ridiculous way that they know the blessings are given for free anyway, so give them blessings too.
Victoria shouted loudly that she wouldn't give blessings to people like you. Whether she intended to seek help from someone, Victoria's eyes quickly scanned the surroundings while saying that.
But not only the people standing in front with weapons, but all the people around are glaring at Victoria with eyes full of desire.
It's not a few people attacking impulsively.
They attacked with a thoroughly planned strategy so she couldn't escape.
Then Victoria says she doesn't have such ability. She says they've mistaken her for someone else and should look for another person, but.
The people there seem to have already known.
They laugh at Victoria's words and open their mouths.
They say they know the person giving blessings is small like a child, and since that person hardly ever comes out, they'll take the person who's been sticking close to them as a hostage.
Me. I've been going out often lately, right?
I've been going out often recently, but I guess they didn't know because I walked on paths where people don't often go.
Of all people, they chose Victoria.
I have no grudge, but saying they'll have to become a hostage, harvester candidates rush in.
But their weapons didn't reach Victoria.
Because a transparent sphere of water droplets blocked those weapons. And when Victoria swings her hand, the person who rushed in flies in the opposite direction they came from.
People flying here and there, swept away by the flow created by water streams pulled from all directions.
There were some people who shot fire or lightning, perhaps someone who had learned magic, but none of them could penetrate the water Victoria had wrapped around herself.
The person who shot lightning rather fell down electrocuted because of the water.
While I was watching Victoria's unrivaled performance from her perspective sitting on the bed, someone knocked on the door of the room where I am.
So I went out and several armed soldiers are standing there.
It seems reinforcements came because Merriwather told the royal family.
When they saw me, the person who seemed to be the commander among the soldiers approached me. And the man who introduced himself as belonging to the Royal Guard asked me this.
"Miss Belle. Until now, a person named Merriwather Olcott has been your escort, right?"
Huh? I thought they would now say they'll protect me from the witch's touch, or send me somewhere as bait to catch the witch, but they're saying something strange.
"Yes. Did something happen to Merriwather?"
To my question, he said this.
"Merriwather Olcott has been found dead."
What? In just these few hours? The witch must have really been holding a grudge. But it's a legitimate tactic. Cutting off reinforcements is a basic tactic. If she had just been alive, I could have made her into a harvester, it's a shame.
"We only found part of the body, but autopsy results estimate she was murdered approximately 20 days ago."
But the commander said a very strange thing. He says Merriwather Olcott was murdered 3 weeks ago.
"Then, who was the escort who has been with me until now?"
"Someone took her place and deceived people. And there's only one such subject."
The commander says that while holding back his anger.
"It's a witch. A witch was hiding."
"Maleficent?"
"You knew that ominous name too, Miss Belle. Yes, that's right. The powerful witch who came uninvited on Princess Aurora's birthday and arbitrarily cast a curse."
So, are you saying that the person I thought was the royal intelligence department until now was a witch?
Come to think of it, Malley is a bit strange as a nickname for Merriwather. I thought it might be because there are examples of slightly twisting the rhythm, but if you say it's a nickname for Maleficent, it makes sense.
And when talking about the witch, I can easily understand the reaction she showed.
I was completely fooled.
As expected, I'm not smart. If I was smart, I could have found out her identity in an instant.
"Then, now-"
Just as I was about to ask what they're going to do.
Rumble!
The sound of something collapsing was heard from all directions. The commander rushes to the window urgently. The soldiers who came together also go to the window and turn their gaze towards where the sound is coming from.
Meanwhile, I watch what's happening in the capital now through the harvesters' eyes.
Black thorn trees grow surrounding the capital, centering on the royal palace. They spread out like a tsunami, tearing apart everyone who blocks them.
And after the earthquake that felt like the world was shaking continued for a while, the thorn trees stopped.
Many harvesters who were on the road were torn to death, and even surviving harvesters fall into sleep immediately when pierced by the thorn trees.
The huge trunks of the thorn trees have stopped moving, but the small branches don't stop and slowly spread out, digging into buildings.
Gathering the scenes seen by the Harvesters, these thorn trees are surrounding the entire capital.
Maleficent is an incredible witch.