The Outer God Needs Warmth

Evening.

Joanna went to Hieronymus to request a room with a window for me. In response, Hieronymus spent the late hours of the night searching for a suitable space with Joanna.

During this process, I observed something interesting: Joanna has excellent night vision.

I realized this while they were inspecting one of the rooms Hieronymus had led them to. Despite being in a room dimly lit by moonlight, Hieronymus groped his way around as if blind.

The room wasn’t bright enough to see clearly. After all, the crescent moon outside the window didn’t provide much light. Joanna, seemingly aware of this, promptly found a small lantern and lit it.

I thought I knew everything about Joanna, yet here was something new.

It’s true the world has grown brighter compared to Joanna’s memories, but I hadn’t anticipated this level of difference.

This realization reminded me that what I perceive might not always align with what others feel.

It’s a reminder to be cautious.

Assuming you fully understand someone based on borrowed perspectives is a mistake. When I lose sight of this, it will mark the moment I’ve stopped caring about others.

After inspecting five rooms, we settled on one. Joanna took it upon herself to prepare the space alone.

Hieronymus offered to assign help, but Joanna declined.

She spent the entire night cleaning the room herself, carrying over necessary furnishings from the storage area—including a massive wardrobe and bed—all on her own.

Has she grown even stronger since I first met her?

By the time Joanna finished, dawn had broken. Sunlight streamed into the room she had cleaned.

In one corner of the room stood a full-length mirror, reflecting Joanna’s image.

Through the light, the reflection seemed to reveal a distant memory—of a girl with violet hair, blue skin, faintly golden irises, and sclera turned black. A form no longer entirely human.

Was Joanna thinking about that time?

She stared at the mirror without reacting for a while, then resumed her tasks as though nothing had happened.

She prepared my breakfast and ate her own meal beforehand, consuming an impressive amount—easily four times what I eat.

Admittedly, I don’t eat much. My stomach feels uncomfortable once it’s full, so I avoid overeating. Worried I might not be eating enough, I inspected Rebecca Rolf’s body.

It wasn’t emaciated.

Missing meals for six days doesn’t cause extreme weight loss. If anything, her body had gained a bit of weight—understandable, considering Rebecca had been starved and bound in chains for a while before becoming a sacrifice.

When I first occupied her, the body was somewhat thin but not skeletal. After all, her heart had been torn apart and she’d died.

When I woke, it was me inside this body.

I had repaired it, though the noises of the human body had irritated me so much upon my arrival that I replaced the heart with something quieter. Rebecca’s heart no longer beats. Instead, a sphere connected to her blood vessels rotates and maintains circulation at a steady rate.

It’s a wonder there haven’t been complications. Or perhaps the body is already falling apart, sustained only because I’m here.

That’s a problem for later.

If it breaks, I lack the means to fix it.

So, let’s move on.

How much does my presence alter a human body?

There’s so much to learn. Shall I organize my goals?

• Primary Objective: Create harvesters.

  • Current count: 4.
  • Future production planned.

• Secondary Objective: Test and enhance harvesters’ abilities.

  • Attributes: vision, strength, stamina, regeneration, unique flames.

I’ll verify these step by step as I produce more harvesters. They might gain unique abilities like characters in supernatural stories.

This ties directly to my relationship with warmth.

As for the Future Hope Sect, there are additional objectives:

• Understand the dynamic between Hieronymus and Andrew.
  • Is this a classic struggle between a leader and their ambitious second-in-command? Without knowing their shared past, it’s hard to say.

Either outcome works for me. If Hieronymus strengthens the sect and deploys harvesters against other nations, great.

If the sect tears itself apart in a power struggle, that’s fine too. Whoever wins will surely use my harvesters to bolster their forces.

Hehe.

No matter how many harvesters I create, I don’t feel any diminishing returns or limitations. So, I’ll keep making them as long as I can.

There’s always the possibility of a third path.

I look forward to it.

On the sixth morning since I awoke in this body, Joanna entered my room.

“Good morning, Joanna.”
“Good morning, Lady Rebecca.”

I rose from bed, washed, ate, and changed into new clothes. While I could summon garments using the dark purple mist as before, I refrained.

Overusing it might provoke unnecessary attention from Hieronymus.

Afterward, Joanna informed me about moving to the new room. When she asked if it was fine to proceed, I agreed.

She bowed and left to handle the arrangements.

Would she be able to find Hieronymus easily? She walked with confidence, showing no hesitation.

How does she always know? If I delved deeply into Joanna’s memories, could I uncover how she tracks him?

As I pondered this, the door opened.

For a moment, I wondered if she’d returned, or if perhaps she and Hieronymus had crossed paths.

But the figure who entered was a small girl.

Not as tall as Joanna or Hieronymus, both of whom are quite tall even for women. This girl was just slightly shorter than me.

I know her name.

Hyungkeshni.

The silver-haired girl with a petite frame and a face etched with suppressed misery stood before me.

“Hello, Hyungkeshni.”
“Oh, yes. Hello, Rebecca Rolf.”

She spoke, clutching her staff tightly. I could see her trembling faintly—she was deeply afraid of me.

Have I done something to frighten her? Not that I recall. Could Hieronymus have mistreated her?

I couldn’t be sure, but it was possible.

Still, she had been unnervingly confident the first time we met, which didn’t align with someone who had been a victim of abuse.

I stood up.

Her grip tightened on the staff, and an unpleasant energy began to seep from her. It wasn’t like mine. While my energy pours down from above, hers seemed to be drawn from some internal pocket within herself.

Perhaps it was something akin to a mana heart, a dantian, or another vessel for storing power. These are common in fictional worlds. Or maybe it was from a place tied to her soul.

But if it was the soul, shouldn’t it emit light? I’m currently speculating that the soul and light might be one and the same.

Regardless, I could tell she was highly agitated, so I kept my distance.

“What… what are you doing?”

Her voice wavered as she spoke. I pressed myself against the wall, tilting my head as I observed her.

“Hyungkeshni is afraid of me.”

She flinched.

Her entire body shuddered as if goosebumps ran up her skin.

Ah, that was a mistake. Perhaps revealing my ability to perceive emotions was premature. Monsters that can understand humans are far scarier than those that can’t.

Because it means they can respond to humans.

I wanted to calm her, but my chosen "pet" persona made it difficult to speak too intelligently.

So, I opted for brevity.

“That’s why I stayed away.”

Hyungkeshni let out a shaky laugh.

“There’s no need for that. I’ll be taking care of you from now on. I need to put in some effort too. Yes.”

Her laughter was riddled with fear, a pitiful attempt to deceive herself. What was driving her so hard?

She clearly had an agenda.

Fine. I’ll use it.

Like a fool, I decided to approach her.

“Smiling means you’re fine, right?”

Of course, I knew she was terrified. But I pretended to take her smile at face value. Feigning ignorance of her emotions, I moved closer.

Watching her brace herself with every step I took was almost endearing.

Her soul—or light—was faintly dimmed but still substantial in size. Yet, her warmth was almost nonexistent.

I had a feeling I could extract more warmth from her. This might be a good opportunity to test it.

I stopped just in front of her, close enough to feel her breath.

Humans have personal spaces, particularly around their faces. I intentionally breached hers.

And, just as expected, Hyungkeshni panicked. Her confusion and tension grew, and her trembling intensified.

“What are you doing?”

Now, what answer should I give? I’m a monster feigning ignorance of human behavior. I’m allowed to be impolite.

I reached out and placed a hand on her cheek. Beneath her pale skin, I could sense a dark, lingering energy waiting in reserve. Was she really this afraid?

“Isn’t this how you treat a child?”
“Oh, really? Who taught you that?”
“Rebecca Rolf did.”@@novelbin@@

Yes. Since I’ve already revealed that I know Rebecca’s memories, I might as well frame it as if I only know about her.

It makes it seem like I’m gradually adapting to human behavior.

“Ah, I see. That’s her body, after all. So, her memories are in the brain? But I’m not a child.”
“Your proportions—short stature and large head—suggest otherwise.”
“It’s a… condition. Think of it as my body being frozen in a youthful state.”

I see. An adult in a child’s body. I had suspected as much when I first heard she was a witch.

“Then is this action unnecessary?”

Her cheek was softer than I expected. Could her body truly be fixed in a childlike state? I felt a faint vibration through her skin, signaling I shouldn’t push too far, but I allowed myself a moment longer to indulge.

“Remove your hand. I don’t need this.”

Strange. She didn’t just tell me to stop; she framed it as being unnecessary for her. What could that mean? Turning the puzzle over in my mind, I withdrew my hand.

Hyungkeshni immediately stepped back three paces. She placed a hand on her cheek for a brief moment before lowering it again.

Then, in an exaggerated motion, she bowed.

“From now on, I’m Hyungkeshni, the one who will care for you alongside the woman by your side. Please take care of me, Rebecca.”
“Yes, Hyungkeshni.”

I nodded. The puzzle pieces were scattering everywhere, waiting to be pieced together. I’d take my time unraveling her thoughts.

It’s always nice to have more to enjoy.

As I observed Joanna returning with Hieronymus in tow, I couldn’t help but smirk at the silver-haired girl standing before me.