The Outer God Needs Warmth

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Tiana’s worry doesn’t mean she’ll skip class.

The afternoon classes went by just like any other day.

However, that boy was notably absent from his seat. Being in the same class, he must have developed a crush on Victoria.

Whether it’s a sweet crush or something more indecent, who knows?

Surprisingly, the gossip didn’t spread much, and even when it was time to go home after class, nothing seemed amiss.

Given that it was about Solindiges, I expected something to happen when class ended, but it was strange.

Why, you ask?

If it involves Solindiges, even the smallest incident spreads throughout the entire school before the class time concludes.

This year was the last chance to encounter Solindiges at the Royal Academy, so it’s particularly important.

It’s a final opportunity, right?

Last year was the same, and I doubt this year will be any different.

The rivalry can be quite fierce. Jealousy is always ugly.

And it goes for Aurora too, but…

There seems to be a slightly different atmosphere here. The first princess, Lunari, is studying abroad, while the second princess, Aurora, is present.

Boys think they might have a chance with the second princess and are hanging around.

However, the directions of the girls’ gatherings and the boys’ gatherings differ a bit.

The female students are busy competing by crushing anyone ahead of them, while the male students rush in and then tease those who sink.

Either way, it’s quite dreary.

But at least they both share the commonality of information spreading like wildfire.

But why is it so quiet?

The mystery didn’t resolve until I got home.

Even Kanna knew what was going on by the time class ended.

Or will something happen tomorrow?

I’m curious.

*

If the growing doubts belong to the Third World, the Fourth World is easier to understand.

Jeber ultimately triumphed.

When a powerful wizard appears, Jeber runs in right away to deal with them using his psychic abilities.

When mediocre champions gather, they send out artificial humans.

If anyone tries to resist, they change the combination of collected wizard genes to create a new artificial human and send them out.

They keep winning like that.

There’s a reason it works.

You can extract memories by inserting metal needles into a person’s brain, right?

The magic extracted that way fits well with the artificial human who inherits the bloodline of that wizard.

If we liken it to a game, the genetic techniques extracted from a single entity can be taught to its offspring.

Of course, they aren’t as powerful as the predecessors.

But does it matter if strength is only half of the predecessor’s?

You just need to create more. That’s what Jeber did.

And the older generation of wizards, including Jeber, prefers to fight alone, especially if they belong to powerful families. Wizards inherently suffer from narcissism.

They can’t resist showing off their power.

The more prestigious the family, the more pronounced it becomes.

They see themselves as the protagonists of this world while the world is an audience. The basic premise of a wizard with a noble lineage is to show off their prowess by defeating enemies.

Thus, they fell to the Inspection Bureau’s system, which exploits their weaknesses through group tactics.

Jeber would have lost if it weren’t for me.

Consequently, when the royal family calls upon wizards, their pride prevents them from going out all at once. They go out one at a time and get picked off one by one.

Moreover, they don’t even consider teaming up because they think the loss of an ally means the fallen is just a show-off who lost after bragging. They confidently believe they’re different.

I never expected it to proceed to the point where every wizard would lose.

The royal family also struggled against the wizards fighting alone, trying various tactics, but they were thwarted by the artificial humans.

The wizards from noble families are powerful, thus prefer to fight solo. The trained wizards can fight organized like an army but are weaker.

So when the noble-born wizards and the royal family’s wizards came to support the kingdom, the situation was over when the royal wizards from princely households were defeated.

Yes.

In the civil war, Jeber won.

A powerless royal family is no longer a royal family. Just a defeated wizard family.

Does the world change with that?

It’s only been a few days since their victory, but it hasn’t changed much.

This war isn’t the total war one might think; it’s fundamentally different from ancient tribal warfare.

Rather, it feels like the team that previously always won has lost, resulting in a team that never reached the top winning.

Why?

Because for citizens, the war is someone else’s affair.

Of course, it’s a bit inconvenient while fighting, and losing brings some loss of pride and increases taxes.

But it’s not about putting your life on the line.

Instead, fights between wizards turn into entertaining spectacles. So during the war, the harvesting machines in the city were dining safely away, cheering for Jeber.

When Jeber would defeat an opposing wizard and come back, he would wave like a famous athlete.

They don’t mind watching; instead, they assume it’s a given to cheer for him.

The Third World isn’t quite like this, but the Fourth World has some incredibly different culture.

This might explain why this world is so developed.

On the surface, it looks like a magical civilization, but digging deeper reveals that the societies of the common folk and the wizards are separate.

And the differences between the ordinary citizens and wizards are so vast that they’ve continued existing in their own separated states.

So even if artificial humans are killed randomly, no one fears it.

When many beings with the same face emerge, it’s obvious they aren’t human, right?

Listening to what a man turned into a harvesting machine would say during a rejuvenation event, it’s considered some extraordinary magic by the nobles. They resemble humans, but since they were strange from the start, people just brush it off as normal.

Without the slightest clue that fellow citizens are sacrificed for this.

So commoners live in a civilization powered by oil, while wizards live above a civilization powered by magic.

It’s certain there is some overlap and shared influence.

Ah.

I recognize this feeling from somewhere.

In a faded memory world, it’s reminiscent of Greco-Roman mythology.

If we equate wizards with the gods of Greco-Roman mythology, it begins to make sense.

The separation of the godly world and human world is the same.

Occasionally, wizards come down to the village to take beautiful maidens, mirroring myths where gods take maidens for impregnation and then abandon them.

From this perspective, Jeber represents the priests who, in exchange for collecting money and resources, offer various conveniences.

In a theocracy.

If we look at just this, it’s no different than early humans, yet there are vehicles running on oil. Moreover, it’s an era where electric lights exist, but not even a radio can be found.

By my standards, the Fourth World feels like a chaotic mishmash.

But for them, this is probably normal.

Not everything can be declared right.

In such a chaotic world, Jeber doesn’t seem to be satisfied with the victory.

Why do you ask?

Despite the victory, I am working harder.

Moreover, Jeber sprawls out maps and contacts other nobles every day, mulling things over.

Creating a full army of artificial humans.

He doesn’t seem to think of stopping here.

Every night, he writes letters in his room intended for other noble families. A lot of the content reveals the royal family’s intention to erase the noble families and unify them into a single kingdom.

However, there isn’t any mention of needing to join forces.

The letters are almost like requests not to interfere with his plans.

Compared to the Third World, they’re raw, devoid of courtesy.

But they don’t need to pull others down to maintain power, so it makes sense they wouldn’t develop.

Wizardry is everything.

In other words, it can be likened to primitive chieftains, where strength is all that matters.

No, but with all these clones being created, it feels more like techno-barbarians… Magical barbarians?

That kind of vibe.

Jeber is meticulously plotting his revenge.

And I’m counting on Jeber for that.

Jeber lacks a proper sense of morality.

It’s not that he hasn’t learned it; it’s simply that adequate morals haven’t developed in this world. A moral code binds human society, but one that binds wizards doesn’t exist.

So once Jeber invades the royal family, do you know what comes next?

Subduing one is tough, but the next step is easy.

As the royal family potentially disappears, those who used to be friendly with them may resist.

If they attack, he’ll retaliate; if they attack, he’ll retaliate. And will he relax once his enemies are gone?

Interestingly, in the world, eliminating one enemy often leads to many new enemies.

Goodwill fades easily, but hatred explodes and chains together.

If Jeber’s multiple enemies are powerful enough to hide in the shadows instead of retaliating, or if they are as catastrophic as a natural disaster, that would be fine.

But Jeber isn’t that kind of power.

So Jeber, as he crushes his foes, is bound to think,

I might as well rule over everything.

He has loyal subordinates who will heed his every word.

What enemy could stop him?

In the Fourth World, I think that as I work.

As the conveyor belt moves, artificial humans grow too rapidly, becoming awkward with mismatched limbs and swollen insides, resembling lumps of meat come before me.

I recite the contract document, and the artificial humans become harvesting machines.

The artificial humans take on the beautiful forms of humans.

Then they are pushed along the conveyor belt, while new artificial humans come before me. I recite the contract document again.

This is how I produce harvesting machines.

I’m cranking out Jeber’s army.

Harvesting warmth for my sake.

Hehe.

The Fourth World is really amazing.