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I woke up after a night’s sleep.

Morris remembered it as an old and dilapidated house, but it turned out to be a well-maintained and nice family home.

Victoria had been missing since dinner, but what could be done about that?

I suppose I was a bit harsh on her, right?

Upon waking in the morning, I said goodbye to four adults and left the house. Why only four, you ask?

Because Victoria was throwing a fit and refusing to come out when Beatrice went to call her.

So, I said my goodbyes to everyone but Victoria and headed to the station.

To my surprise, there were a few people standing in the empty train station. Perhaps they were headed to work, or maybe they had other business.

As I tried to go inside, a person presumed to be a station attendant approached me, asking if I was going to buy a ticket.

Now that I think of it, I needed to do that.

I handed over the business card I received yesterday and asked if it was possible to contact this person. I wanted to check if there was a chance for a royal transport pass, but sadly, the attendant shook their head.

They said there was no direct way to make contact here, unless it was through a letter.

Okay. Then there’s nothing that can be done.

I have no choice but to walk.

I remember the road.

Of course, I’m not planning to walk all the way to the capital. I’m going to a big enough city to get in touch with a soldier and then head to the capital.

After receiving the business card back, I stepped out of the station.

And I began walking towards the city.

It was winter, and though it would have been the time for the sun to rise high in the summer, it was still dawn.

At that time, I entered the forest.

If I didn’t know the path, I would have walked along the railway, but considering the direction, the train wouldn’t pass through the nearest city.

So, I opted to walk.

If I walk non-stop, I should be able to reach the city by this evening.

After walking a little, the traces of civilization quickly vanished, leaving only what vehicles had left behind.

No paving, just dirt and gravel. And a path with wild grasses blooming in between.

Even in the morning, the forest remained dark. The trees were tall enough that sunlight couldn’t filter through well. Additionally, every time I went deeper, I frequently saw lights around me.

There were more lights than in the city.

Of course, there weren’t many lights large enough to be considered human. That’s how rare the warmth in this space is.

If the city is like a plain littered with torches, the forest resembles a dark night sky. The light and heat are weak, yet abundant in number.

It was while I was walking through the forest when, at around the thickness of a tree that reached my height, someone called out to me.

At first, I thought it was someone calling from the forest.

But no.

It was from somewhere far away.

A place very distant. Not a planet, not a galaxy, not even outside the universe.

It was a completely different world calling me.

So, I reached out and grabbed that call.

Unlike when I was below the surface, I felt myself being pulled sideways.

*

Clang.

Chains?

I couldn’t see outside. No, I couldn’t see ahead.

It felt like I had eyes, but seeing a faint light around me, I wondered if I had a blindfold or something.

Of course, Bell was walking through the forest. After all, he was monitoring all the harvesting machines at once, so entering another body wouldn’t cause any to stop.

No, more than that, my body felt strangely heavy, and it felt like I had no arms or legs.

Considering the emptiness in my mind, could it be that I’ve entered an artificially created body like Bell’s again?

At that moment, I heard a strange sound.

No, judging by the tone, it was language. Someone was speaking to me.

But none of the harvesting machines understood the language, so I couldn’t comprehend it. It sounded like familiar words due to a mondegreen phenomenon, but since the content was odd, it was probably something I didn’t know.

I tried to move.

Creak.

With the sound of iron clashing, pain spread throughout.

It seemed something was sticking around my spine, as if some metallic needle were embedded along my vertebrae.

Are they going to create a human body like this?

No. For now, I’ll just keep watching.

Given the state I was in, I felt more like an experimental animal, so recklessly showing my appearance could lead to trouble later.

That said, after the intense pain pierced my body, the signal shifted, and pleasure pricked my entire being. Given that the pleasure felt oddly stronger than what an ordinary living creature would experience, it seemed something special was at play.

Could that tube embedded in my spine be the cause?

Observing the flow of my body, it appeared to have originally been a human body. There were no arms or legs, yet something was stuck in my head, and tubes were inserted all over.

What kind of body would be injected with such things?

Considering the alternating pain and pleasure, it felt like I was undergoing an experiment. So, I waited for the pain to start again before I opened my mouth.

“I’ll offer myself to you. But only after you wrap everything up, I’ll receive everything you possess at that time. What do you say?”

That wasn’t the language of this world. Still, no doubt speaking endlessly would elicit some response from the other side.

Of course, I wouldn’t just speak out of nowhere.

I deliberately spoke when the pain began.

That way, it would seem like I was desperate to speak to escape the pain, right?

After that, the torment presumed to be torture continued.

The stages of pain would change, interspersed with moments of pleasure or only pleasure at times.

Yet, I kept repeating the same words. I had already arrived in that world. If I were to die, I could regenerate as long as a corpse remained.

Moreover, the body of Bell was still intact.

This was the first time I was subjected to such experimentation.

Since I was just observing the opponent being tested, could I also perform some tests?

And after a considerable amount of time, I finally felt the warmth of living flesh touch me.

The moment the warmth first touched my face, I recited the contract document.

But instead of answering, the other party rustled something in my head. Then my vision cleared.

My sight was filled with what looked like an underground prison. A dark room built of bricks. Surrounding it were glowing symbols presumed to be magic circles.

And deep inside, I recognized a familiar figure.

It was Yasle’s technique.

No. Hmmm?

There were several parts starkly different from Yasle’s memories. Whether it was coincidentally similar or they modified Yasle’s summoning method, I couldn’t tell.

At least the first world had been perished, so this wasn’t it. Then perhaps it was merely coincidentally similar.

Anyway, after scanning my surroundings, I lifted my gaze further ahead.

A man was looking down at me from a slight distance. His face was swollen, and his waist was bent. He looked like a horrid wizard straight out of a fairy tale.

Was this the person who called me?

But it was too far for him to simply remove my blindfold.

There was someone else. Turning my gaze, I saw a strangely immaculate woman looking down at me. She was holding a blindfold, indicating she had removed my blindfold.

That woman said something to the man.

Then the man fell silent for a moment before speaking again. The woman then distanced herself from the scene.

I tried moving my arms and legs.

Clang clang.

The sound of chains moving echoed. The man shouted something anxiously, and pain surged again. Allowing my body to reflexively contract, I inspected my own state.

My limbs had been severed at the top and were connected by chains. The chains extended upward to the ceiling. I was like a completely butchered pig. Moreover, strange patterns were drawn haphazardly on my skin.

What was particularly strange was my abdomen.

Oh, there seemed to be a creature inside me. Yet, it provided no light or warmth. Given time, it seemed like it would rot inside.

As the body dies, it doesn’t get expelled outside, so that’s not an issue at least.

After a while, the pain ceased.

My body drooped, and whether it was reflex or not, bodily fluids and blood were spilling from my face.

Yet, they didn’t go any further than that.

Did I speak to the woman, and because of that, she spoke to the man?

As I lay there observing the situation, several women with identical faces approached me. In between them was a man whose limbs were twisted and a disheveled mess.

He wore a massive necklace that covered his entire neck.

Let’s simply say he was a prisoner.

The one who attempted something towards me was presumably the wizard. When the wizard said something, the identical women pulled the prisoner towards me.

And the one at the forefront made the prisoner touch me.

At that moment, I took the opportunity and began reciting the contract document.

However, the man didn’t reply. Then the wizard shouted loudly from behind.

“Aaaaargh!”

As a result, the prisoner clutched the necklace and screamed. Ah, I guess this is similar to what they would do to me.

As if undergoing an electric shock, the prisoner jerked, soon sagging to the ground.

When the wizard yelled again, the woman slapped the prisoner to wake him. Then the woman made the prisoner touch me again.

The moment the skin made contact, I recited the contract document.

And then the prisoner seemed to acquiesce.

Soon after, the prisoner’s body began to swell, and his skin turned porcelain-like. Gradually, as it peeled away, a pure white skin emerged.

The distorted limbs returned to their original state cleanly.

The slightly darkened skin transformed into white, and his hair changed to purple, but still…

The prisoner, now in decent shape, immediately moved to punch the adjacent woman in the head.

With a sickening sound, her head caved in and the contents within her skull burst out. Instant death.

Having just killed the nearby woman, the prisoner turned and charged at the wizard.

But he didn’t get very far.

The necklace around his neck started glowing and then exploded. It was like a bomb collar hidden in the faded memories.

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and the severed head flew up to the ceiling before falling to the ground.

The harvesting machine died. But that wasn’t the first harvesting machine.

Right now, there are identical-faced women next to me.

The contract is already concluded. In other words, they are descendants of the harvesting machine made long ago.

Or perhaps replicas of the harvesting machine.

But that’s something to deal with later. I turned my gaze towards the wizard and this time asked in the language of this world.

“I’ll offer myself to you. But only after you wrap everything up, I’ll receive everything you possess at that time. What do you say?”