Chapter 75 - The General's Proposal
The general became encouraged by their joint development.
He generously provided all his experiences to the Republic of Sages, politely explaining what people wanted from the homunculus.
In response to that explanation, the development of the simplified homunculi proceeded at a rapid pace in the Republic of Sages.
Every country met the development of the simple homunculi with anticipation, many of them aiming to one up each other by buying large quantities of the simple homunculi, despite not even having a prototype yet.
The Republic of Sages was extremely surprised by their reaction.
They never expected that there would be such a reaction; however, the Republic of Sages met this anticipation with great enthusiasm.
Of course, the general who expected this situation was very pleased.
To the Republic of Sages, the simplified homunculi had been found to have generated enormous wealth.
The general believed that if enough simplified homunculi flowed to the market, people would have more exposure to the homunculi and better understand them.
With this, the development of the simplified homunculi proceeded steadily, yet the true purpose of the general's cooperation with the Republic of Sages was different.
One day, a large meeting was held to confirm the progress of development.
Naturally, the general attended this meeting with Katamimi.
By now, he had already mastered the technical aspects of homunculi production and the intricacies of each research departments' presentations were not lost on him.
Progress continued to be had, and the researchers of various departments all explained their various developments, including the skin, muscular, nerve, magical core, skeletal, and even optical and dental departments.
The presentation went on without problems until finally, the announcement the general was looking for began.
It was the presentation about the simple brain and artificial soul to be implanted in the homunculi.
This department was central in the development of the homunculi, and it was also the one with the most researchers from the Republic of Sages itself.
The content of their presentation was so sophisticated and technical that even researchers from other departments could not understand it, resulting in no suggestions or comments from the other departments.
After the presentation, the spokesperson asked the researchers,
"Does anyone have any opinions or questions?"
However, none of the researchers said anything, all making difficult faces…
The only thought permeating through them was that of resignation.
(We didn't understand a thing you said, but if we leave it to them, it'll probably be fine.)
Seeing the situation, the presenters also felt resignation.
(Well… as usual, no one understands…)
They began to wrap up, clearly disappointed, but it was at that was the time a single voice echoed throughout the room.
"I have a suggestion."
Those small words made the conference room become lively.
(Who said that?)
The researchers all craned their necks, looking for the speaker, but no one was to be found at the researcher's conference table. It was only when the researchers began to doubt their ears that the speaker spoke again, rising from his seat.
"Oh, sorry. You're supposed to stand up when making a statement. I forgot because we only raised our hands in the military."
The speaker was someone who was invited from the outside.
A one-eared homunculus soldier stood beside him.
The speaker continued with his statement.
"About the simple homunculus… shouldn't we lift the restrictions on their thoughts?"
This remark calmed down the conference room.
"You said you're lifting your thinking restrictions right now?"
"Since the homunculi are merely here to obey humans, won't it merely harm society if we allow them free thought?"
"In the first place, it's just a simple soul and brain. Wouldn't they runaway if restrictions were lifted?"
In response to the general's remarks, the researchers began to raise objections, but the general calmly continued.
"In this country, isn't there a story about a female scholar and the first homunculus? Then you should all understand just how wonderful it is for homunculi to have free thoughts."
He took out a tattered picture book and raised it so everyone in the conference room could see it.
"This picture book depicts a homunculus girl thinking for herself and helping a female scholar many times. And it's not just picture books. It's been a while since I came to this country, but I've seen stories, movies, and even textbooks tell this story. Shouldn't people and homunculi return to the relationship in this picture book?"
The researchers in the Simple Brain and Simple Artificial Souls Division answered with trepidation.
"Certainly, his Excellency's proposal is fascinating. If we could restore the relationship of humans and homunculi to that of the first generation, we would be overjoyed as researchers. However, things are just too different between now and the past.
The purpose of developing the simplified homunculus being developed this time is simply as a labor force. For a mere labor force, simple obedience will suffice.
Therefore, wouldn't it be more beneficial for the future to develop it as a tool rather than to risk trouble by granting them free thought?"
The researcher's answer matched the consensus of those in the conference room, but the general didn't give.
"Surely, while everyone has a point… I still must question whether this should be the case. Should homunculi really just obey our orders?
This is just experimental data from the military, but I had regular homunculus soldiers and recycled homunculus soldiers each create trench positions respectively.
The result showed that trenches made by recycled homunculus soldiers were more defensive than ones made by the regular homunculus soldiers.
Why did this happen? I predict that, while repairing their injured bodies, the recycled homunculus likely incurred damage to their thought restrictions, resulting in their restrictions becoming less effective than that of the normal homunculi.
Couldn't it be that their freer thoughts allowed them to create a better trench position? I think so."
While speaking, he distributed a piece of paper with the experimental data to the researchers.
"Even the simple task of creating a trench base can make a difference. If the simplified homunculus flows into the market as a labor force, it could actually benefit society to remove their thought restrictions."
His remarks make the conference room even louder.
The researchers moved towards debate, and it was gradually becoming difficult to collect.
At that time, he announced the final deciding factor.
"There are certainly a lot of risk, so I have a suggestion.
Why don't we just lift the thought restriction and observe how the homunculi works as a test?
I understand that this is my personal selfishness; therefore, I will provide the homunculus to undergo the test from here.
I volunteer my partner, Katamimi, for the experiment. "
The general looks at Katamimi, who stands beside him.
Then, Katamimi quietly bowed to the researchers.
R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at f(r)eew𝒆bnovel.com Only