Chapter 68 – Made with Love
Two months had passed since the child accepted the Colonel’s proposal.
He now personally owned a battalion sized troop of combat homunculi, and received four company-sized buildings from the Colonel. His daily life was something unimaginable for just a mere recruit.
The young soldier’s mornings were packed.
He lived in the former company commander’s office on the barrack’s first floor. In front of his room were about 10 homunculi lined up before the sun had even risen above the horizon.
The leading homunculus checked the clock in the hallway, then knocked on the door and waited for a response. When the young soldier gave permission to enter, the homunculi lined up neatly and filed into his room.
After that, their flow of work was almost like an assembly line. Several homunculi changed the young soldier’s clothes, while others fixed the tousled bed, or folded his nightwear and stored them in his drawers. When they finish, the leading homunculus tells him the schedule for the day. Then he would organize the assignments and roles of each company and unit in his head, hurriedly eat his breakfast in the dining room then rush back to his camp.
Upon the young soldier’s arrival, his combat homunculi now grown to the size of a battalion would be lined up in front of the building. He would climb up to the stage prepared a while ago, and listen to each company reporting their presence. They would then each be given their assignments.
At that time, the tasks the youth was given were diverse. Not to mention logistical support, he would receive requests for everything from construction of defence facilities around the garrison, extension of front line trenches, maintenance of garrison facilities, to the maintenance of roads linking up the garrison to the front lines to the reserve bases.
Because there was no such person like him until now, the young soldier was practically doing every behind the scenes assignment. Thereupon, even the veterans who found faults with his actions began to give their acknowledgement.
Recently, as he was eating in the dining room, veterans would approach him and call out,
「Yo, thanks for your hard work every day.」
「Thanks for your efforts, now it’s easier for us to move to and from the front lines.」
「Hey, thanks for fixing the leak in my room.」
The youth was pleased to hear such words. For his efforts to finally be acknowledged, he truly was pleased to hear those words.
After that, things went smoothly.
Every day, he would save combat homunculus. When his buildings became too cramped, the base commander would give him another unmanned building while increasing his responsibilities.
And from time to time, when he visits the homunculi in their living quarters, they would happily wag their tails while inviting them into their buildings.
?????
In a sense, the room where the youth lived was filled with love from the homunculi. Take for example the lamp. At night the magnificent lampshade on the desk gave off a warm glow as if light was passing through a thin layer of human skin, illuminating his hands and documents as he worked.
…Yes…
The light emitted through the lampshade was「warm as if the lampshade was made from human skin」
This lampshade was the homunculus girls’ self made work, which they presented to their Captain.
On a certain day, a homunculus noticed that the lampshade he was using was torn, and thought while spacing out,
＜I would like to thank Captain, for I am indebted to him.＞
So far, this was a perfectly normal idea. But that did not last very long.
In the first place, pretty much all of them are combat homunculi who do not exist on paper, therefore they could not receive supplies from the military through normal means. Not only that, the homunculi were originally unpaid, so even if they wanted to give their Captain a new lampshade, they didn’t have enough money to buy a commercial product.
So how could they get a lampshade for their gift?? Their answer was simple. They made the lampshade themselves and gave it to him. It was from here where the story quickly lost any sense of normalcy.
Self-made usually meant made 「by」 yourself, but in their case it was a little different. They made it 「with」 themselves. At this point, most people would notice the “materials” of the lampshade presented to him.
…yes, it was a lampshade made from the skin and bones of homunculi. They secretly stripped clean and undamaged skin and bones from homunculus corpses and processed them into a lampshade. That was how they made the magnificent lampshade.
The young soldier immediately noticed the 「true nature」 of the lampshade, but when he saw the homunculus girls happily wagging their tails, he could only keep his reservations to himself and say,
「Th, thank you very much. I will use this with care.」
(TLN: I think the author made a pun, not sure how to translate. (to itte shimashita > to itte shimatta): 「と言って し ま っ た 。」Suggestions are welcome.)
Since then, the “works of love, self-made by the homunculi” would increase in his room.
On that day, after finishing his day’s work, he returned the “bone like pen” to the pen stand, closed the “texture like skin curtains,” and slept in the ”smooth like skin” bedding.
?????
「aah….
That young soldier, and those combat homunculi,
They don’t know how groundbreaking their actions are themselves…」
Today like always, I observed the world through drones. This time with a young girl who stood by me. She wore a tight maid outfit and held a teapot filled with black tea. When she confirmed that my cup was empty, she refilled it silently.
I enjoyed the smell of the fresh tea and savored the lingering taste as I drank it.
「Thank you for everything you’ve done.」
I said, smiling at her. She lightly bowed her head at my thanks.
I drank my tea while thinking of the young soldier and the homunculi.
（In the first place, these homunculus soldiers do not act without orders, for they were made as weapons.
If soldiers and weapons do not obey their superiors and perform under their own judgement, their army cannot win. As a solution, the Republic thoroughly eliminated individuality, put restrictions on thinking, and mass produced combat homunculi as pure weapons without thought.
Yet “idle without orders,” could be said to be equally applicable to not only the combat homunculi, but to all living homunculi in the world today. Even the medical homunculi and those who interact with humans long term, none of them act without orders.
They sometimes perform routine work, but they never make new proposals, for every homunculus has some restrictions on their thought.
There is a critical difference between those everyday homunculi and the combat homunculi that that boy owns.
But what is that difference? The answer is quite simple.
The homunculus he owns has an emotion that can counter their thought restrictions, the emotion known as “love.”
The girls who love him are serving him with every fiber of their being. That is the driving force for overloading their thought restrictions. And so, they are able to think and act beyond these limiters.
At first, those girls could only think of feeding him and giving massages, but then they took the initiative to make various handicrafts and prepare them as gifts… not just as gifts, but as a gift for a surprise they planned themselves.
The only homunculi that can voluntarily serve people so far, excluding the homunculus girl who accompanied that female scholar, are these devoted combat homunculi that serve this boy.
Yet he does not seem self aware of that yet.）
I looked down at the newly poured tea,
（Perhaps he can create a bond that can greatly propel new humanity. Perhaps his future actions just might let new humanity avoid the “catastrophes” that befell the ancients.
…If that happens, the progress of new humanity will surely accelerate further. Depending on his actions, new humanity might be able to secure an irreplaceable existence…）
And I sipped from the teacup while enjoying the rich flavor.
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