Chapter 62- The Young Soldier and the Homunculi
Following the death of the first homunculus, a new subfield of research opened up. The development of “Homunculus Soldiers.”
The plan itself had existed for quite some time, but it was shelved in consideration of the first homunculus girl, the beloved enigma of the nation.
However, with the girl now resting within a casket, many scholars begin to open up research in the field.
The number of available soldiers around the world was running low, and countries wanted troops specialized solely for combat rather than flawed human troops.
In order to meet the demand and, above all, to improve homunculus technology, research on combat specialized homunculi had been promoted at various research institutions in the Republic.
Only a few months later, the Republic succeeded in their first batch of combat homunculi.
Their external appearance was almost identical to the normal girls of various races, but their internal structure was everything but the same. In the first place, they ran on magic and needed no flesh nor blood.
The homunculi that had been produced so far were developed in the image of “friends of mankind,” who were expected to work in fields with a lot of human contact, like working as maids or nurses.
To that end, despite running solely on magic stones, they could sleep, they could eat, and many more “luxury functions” were packed in, like excretion
But weapons didn’t need such features. Rather, they were just obstacles, useless functions that would only drive up cost while lowering efficiency. The researchers only kept the necessary organs and nothing more. And with all that extra space, larger more powerful magic stones could be installed.
Thanks to these efforts, homunculi soldiers could operate for long periods of time with a single charge of magic power while at the same time becoming cheaper to produce.
Further specialization proceeded, even simplifying their artificial soul. The models until now had souls which could feel joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, similar to human emotions, but weapons did not need any of that. They only needed to obey the commands of their superiors. Instead of emotions, their brains were packed with all sorts of military and combat knowledge.
These new homunculus soldiers were the closest thing to a perfect force. They were welcomed by every country, many orders coming in from all over the world as soon as development finished.
For the Republic to meet those enormous demands, they built a huge mass production facility to produce an equally enormous amount of soldiers. Once off the production line, the homunculi were packed into magic transports. They delivered them to their target countries in high spirits, for on their return they would instead be transporting copious sums of money.
Thus the Republic continued to develop even through the warring states era, acting as a merchant of death.
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（…The houses are burning, the roads are lined with corpses. The beautiful flower beds are trampled, and the bandits are carrying out our precious food supply…
…oh, it’s this dream again. This was the most memorable event from my childhood that still visits me in my dreams.
That night.
My village was raided by bandits. They killed our people, robbed us of our crops, and set fire to our homes. I was young back then. I just stared at the chaos from the shadows, shivering and weeping in fear.
At such a time, the night sky suddenly became as bright as midday. While the bandits were surprised by the bright light, an angel descended to the middle of the road.
She was mesmerizing.
The beautiful angel held a long magic staff, which she slowly pointed at the bandits.
Those who she targeted tried to draw their own wands but to no avail. Her staff flashed, and a gaping hole appeared in the bodies of the bandits. They died while vomiting blood, with their organs scattered and falling out of their bodies.
I saw everything from behind. That’s when she noticed me and gave me a gentle smile.
＜Are you injured?＞
She had asked.）
Seeing that much, the young soldier opened his eyes.
（I can’t believe I dreamed that in this transport vehicle. What could it mean?
…well, it can’t be helped. The homunculus soldiers back then really looked like angels.
I can still vividly recount that night.
I had finished supper and was about to go to bed… when bandits attacked.
My mother hid me in a dark corner while my father confronted them with a wand that could only use agricultural magic. The adults in our village also brought out wands and knives and desperately fought the bandits.
But they were outmatched. The bandits were accustomed to fighting. They killed the villagers one after the other, before they set fire to the houses.
(We’re finished.)
So I thought, but that was when magic lit up the night sky.
It was a spell cast by a troop that happened to pass by. With the road illuminated by light magic, a homunculus soldier as beautiful as an angel descended.
More homunculi rushed in one after another until they killed all the bandits. I was enthralled by them. While other villagers were mourning the dead, I was staring at the beautiful homunculi, stained with the blood of bandits.
The homunculus soldier who noticed my gaze smiled at me.
My chest screamed. My heart was beating like never before. I felt like I was suffocating.
…Ahh… put simply, I fell in love with them at first sight）
Lost in thought, the young soldier’s dog ears twitched. Lying on the bed while dressed in a brand new military uniform, he yawned loudly.
He was a soldier of a certain country. The boy had volunteered for the army and became a soldier at 15.
He was a recruit who had finished basic training just a week ago. Now he was heading to the garrison where he was assigned.
（It’s been a week since I left the base…
The front line is distant as expected.
There must be lots of homunculus soldiers at the front line.
I wonder, could I fight together with those girls?
…I’ll do my best.
In hopes that I can be a reliable partner, just like in this picture book.）
The young boy built up his determination, while his hands stroked the cover of a picture book.
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