Today, as soon as class ended, I returned to the accommodation.
Victoria was busy, you see.
It’s been nearly three weeks since that day.
The weather has gotten quite cold.
I don’t feel it that much, but the students coming to the Royal Academy have been wearing really thick clothes.
There’s also the confusion due to the completely different kind of cold.
Both summer and winter are equally chilly.
Aside from the cold, I was hoping the Royal Academy would have a normal class schedule.
Well, the classes are indeed proceeding normally, and the classrooms haven’t changed, but there’s something different.
It’s the dormitory.
Originally, nobles commuted from their villas outside the school. Only those who were broke or from the middle class like Victoria used the dormitories, so most rooms are empty.
But suddenly, a noble has moved into the dormitory.
They enrolled without regard to grade or anything.
So, unlike when it was empty, incidents are happening in the dormitory. Well, to be precise, it’s more accurate to say fights broke out as personal territories were established.
Like in the main school building, they huddle in factions, and in severe cases, they pick fights if someone from another faction enters.
And some complain about the dormitory being too small or that there’s no one to help them.
It’s just the usual stuff.
So, Victoria had to change rooms as well.
Since the Royal Academy is a class society, you have to follow orders from higher-ups.
To prevent this, the only way is to befriend someone high up, but the truly wealthy nobles still commute from outside.
But the quality of those who follow them has changed.
Vehicles for commuting now have gloves attached, and the number of people on them has increased for safety.
Those who pushed the kids into the dormitory must have thought they couldn’t guarantee safety outside.
At least if anything happens at the Royal Academy, the military stationed next door would respond immediately.
That’s how much the kingdom’s situation has become dangerous.
For those with average power, living in the dormitory is better. So the dormitory becoming dangerous is quite funny.
Anyway, I thought society would abandon the mechanical puppets.
But the mechanical puppets aren’t completely rejected.
When Victoria went to the Mechanical Knight School, she learned this through her perspective.
If the mechanical puppets are kicked out, the Mechanical Knight School would have to shut down, right?
But that didn’t happen. Rather, it seems they’re trying to train mechanical knights on a large scale, as the Mechanical Knight School is under construction with a new building.
Listening to Victoria’s conversation with a teacher, they’re trying to exclude all mechanical puppets related to three major companies and start the industry from scratch.
They’re disposing of all products based on those three companies and are intentionally changing specifications to make compatibility difficult from the start.
In short, they want to create a public enterprise again.
Indeed, it’s too late to easily dismiss mechanical puppets as if they never existed.
Various aspects of society have already reached a point where it would be hard without the mechanical puppets.
But in transportation, especially so.
The railroads not only span the kingdom but are also connected to other countries. That’s hard to replace.
Once I realized that, I saw various things. They aren’t simply trying to eliminate mechanical puppets; they’re actually replacing companies. It’s too much to eliminate mechanical puppets as there are too many products produced using them.
The country is moving diligently.
Firstly, discrediting the mechanical puppets focuses on the three companies, using the media to paint them as foreign forces, calling the products we’ve created to use.
Of course, once the aversion to mechanical puppets takes root, it continues to grow. Especially as harvesters fleeing to small towns witness it more.
No matter how small the town, newspapers still come in.
Articles like “wicked companies hiding machines to kill people” easily numb the rationality.
And in small towns, once a certain atmosphere spreads, it’s nearly impossible to change.
The kingdom recognizes this and moves to suppress it properly, but whether that will apply well throughout the entire country is uncertain.
There’s another interesting thing.
This is information obtained through Aurora’s perspective.
Not only in this country but also in various nations, they’re moving simultaneously to erase the three companies.
Still, since they have technological prowess, I thought some countries would accept them and get ahead, but they’re enforcing regulations very actively.
The related nations are even going to designate them as public enemy states.
At first, I didn’t understand the reason.
However, Aurora had the same question and asked Solindiges about it to get an answer.
It’s just like discovering a blade that could kill a king or noble anytime.
Like the mechanical puppets piloting the royal airship, it had also infiltrated the kingdom’s core because it was convenient. The fact that it could betray at any moment got discovered.
This is about the technology transfer.
Their honor was damaged.
There was a reason for the territorial creatures to go into a frenzy upon realizing they had let murderers into their safest domain.
The upper class cherishes their lives dreadfully. Moreover, there’s something even more important than life – their honor.
Reputation, family prestige, things like that.
That got pierced.
It could even be called a seizure. No matter how much power the three companies hold, they weren’t in an international position.
I guess I was thinking based on too faded memories. I thought once a global company withdrew from a single kingdom, it would be the kingdom that suffers.
However, if it’s the era where kingdoms are mainstream, my thoughts don’t match the situation.
It blew away the very location where these global companies could plant their feet. If some country thought of that company as an opportunity and embraced it, it would destroy itself.
This country is also arresting people related to the three companies for investigation and trial.
It’s glaringly obvious that the king of radical nations would execute those involved.
Thinking about it, it’s a shame to waste the warmth being thrown away.
If possible, I want to turn other countries’ royalty into harvesters too.
But that can be done slowly.
Anyway.
Overall, a lot of good things are happening to me.
In these rapidly changing times, it’s easy for those below to seep up. Especially if they have special powers or skills, even more so.
Harvesters in Bern City. Among them, most of the technicians have entered the national research institute instead of punishment after being investigated by the nation.
In other words, several “collared” workers have been created.
It’s obvious that their lives won’t shine afterward, but those harvesters seem to be in a good situation.
Some even think they can take revenge on the three companies that have messed up their lives.
However, those who think that all moved to cities near the capital.
Because Bern City is too dangerous.
No, it’s not just Bern City anymore. In almost every city, it has become the norm to thoroughly investigate outsiders, and if they’re found to be from the three companies, it’s natural for them to be beaten up.
The state has instructed not to do that and is cracking down.
The problem is that the enforcers may overlook it or even leak information.
So society is very chaotic, and witch hunts often occur.
And among them, there are those who pass through without any trouble.
That’s none other than the harvesters.
They’ve created a strong image of leading those harmed in Bern City, and the state-run broadcasts portray them as heroes who resisted the wicked companies.
A person from Bern City who was detained there comes out on the media to interview about what happened back then.
It seems Aurora is continuously managing the impression of the harvesters, which is likely why they became trustworthy talents.
Then harvesters from Brightshin were summoned here and there.
As the saying goes, a crisis is an opportunity; those whose very face becomes a symbol of trust are sought-after talents everywhere.
Especially in occupations that involve moving or relocating.
Being treated favorably instead of being suspicious when going to a certain place or region is an enormous advantage, right?
Harvesters are aptly finding proper jobs and getting out of the poverty ranks.
In other words, it means they’re spreading widely, right?
Then they’ll probably have a lot of children too.
Hehe.
May you prosper widely.
The more you flourish, the easier it is for me to warm up.
Time flew by quickly as I kept observing the surroundings through the harvesters.
It was already evening when I came in during the afternoon.
I enjoy the sunset through the harvesters.
The capital has changed a lot too.
First, when evening comes, white smoke rises from various places into the sky.
Looking down, there’s a huge gashinamoo scraping through, leaving scratches on the buildings. That’s the footprint of Maleficent.
Three weeks is too short to deal with all the traces.
It’s not just the small scratches on the surface that are a problem; it’s the buildings that have been crushed by the gashinamoo or seriously damaged walls, and those on the brink of collapse are bigger issues.
Looking down further, it’s very dark because it’s evening.
Originally, it was brighter. But since the magic lights on the streets were left damaged by the gashinamoo, only a few magic lights or torches have been placed to illuminate the surroundings.
Maybe that’s why there are fewer people walking along the roads. Of course, the number of vehicles has decreased significantly too.
But the vehicles have also changed a lot.
Magic-powered vehicles have significantly disappeared, and now animal-drawn carts are roaming.
Honestly, it’s hard to see this as anything but a decline of civilization.
But there are plenty of technicians, and the kingdom is working hard to resolve the issues, so I believe it will be solved soon.
Right?
