34 – An Idea

The house residents gathered at the entrance as carriages entered the yard. When Arthur Moryet got off one of them, they bowed, except for Lance and Ashe. As members of the military, they salute instead.

With quick steps, Arthur came to Lance and shook his hand. "I'm sorry that they stopped your and Eve's project. I'm making another attempt to get the permission, but don't get too hopeful."

Lance locked eyes with the tired old man. "Thank you for your help, sir."

"No, thank you for making Eve's life more meaningful." After saying that, Arthur continued his steps and ordered the subordinates who followed him. "Prepare everything! We'll be tending Eve!"

Julian passed Lance, saying nothing. The red-haired young man didn't even look at the engineer.

Ruth then stood next to Lance, who was looking at Arthur's back. "Too bad. It's Eve's birthday, and she's with her father. But they can't celebrate."

***

Lance waited outside Arthur's workroom for a long time. Upon the old man's arrival, he saluted again.

"What is it, young man?" Arthur asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I wanted to talk about Eve, sir. I hope I'm not bothering you." Lance found some bloodstains on the council member's clothes. "This is very urgent."

Arthur spoke to the subordinates behind him. "Leave us. I'll just change clothes later."

They bowed and left. This time Julian gave Lance a sharp glance, but the engineer didn't care.

Arthur opened the door to his workroom. "Please come in."

"Thanks, sir." Lance walks in.

"If you want to ask about Eve's condition, I can't give you a definite answer. She might survive for a few months, or just a few days. Or maybe tomorrow she can't make it…. I still have to find a new method." Arthur sat in his work chair, then poured whiskey into a glass. "Do you want this too?"

"No, sir. Thank You." Lance shook his head. "Yeah, I know Eve's condition is like that. That's why I wanted to talk about this as soon as possible, sir. I hope you consider it."

The Moryet family head's brow furrowed. "Why do I have a bad feeling?"

"First, I'm sorry. Maybe my words will offend you." Lance cleared his throat. "The thing is, you really love your wife. You don't want people constantly pressuring your wife to get pregnant. So, you made a 'child' using your blood, some human souls, and other ingredients."

In other words, Arthur sacrificed many lives to create Eve.

"So, you already know, huh?" Arthur chuckled and took a sip of his drink. "I have to admit, your words are offensive, but I will listen to you because this is about Eve, and you are her friend. She didn't have any friends before."

"Do you willing to sacrifice more lives to save Eve, sir? You love your daughter too, right?"

Arthur gazing at his glass. "Homunculus possesses several weaknesses, such as poor body metabolism, they are all female, and so on. You know anything else, kid?"

"They can only live for eighteen years." Lance responded. "And to extend their lives, you must collect 100 times more human souls than when they were created."

"When creating Eve, I used 20 human souls from unforgivable criminals." Arthur took another sip of his drink. "This means I have to collect 2000 human souls so that she can live another eighteen years."

Lance narrowed his eyes. "You've done it?"

"What do you think?" Arthur chuckled again. "Even with a high position, I can't do it easily. I had to be careful to prevent them from discovering my actions and harming Eve. I don't care about the Moryet family's good name anymore. But for Eve…."

Arthur choked and took a gulp of his drink straight from the bottle.

The government bans homunculus production. They consider living being creations to be God's territory.

"After so many years, I could only collect half of the human souls we need." The old man wiped his mouth. "It's a massive task, you know?"

"Have you tried to contact Zashrend? I heard they have a method to extend a homunculus' life without needing human souls." Lance walked over to the Moryet family leader.

"I've said too much to you." Arthur Moryet's voice become unclear because he was drunk. "If you have nothing else to do, it's better for you to leave."

Lance suspected that Arthur Moryet had done it. Perhaps the old man offered a method to give the Homunculus magical abilities. Then, Zashrend will provide a way to prolong the artificial human.

But it seems like the negotiations have failed, or are stuck. The Zashrend people felt they didn't need Arthur's methods.

Hiding your relationship with Zashrend is simpler than finding and kill thousands of people. A massacre would attract more attention.

"The point is, you are not afraid to sacrifice many lives for your daughter." Lance felt this was the right time to convey his big plan. "So, let the war continue."

Arthur, who was about to take another gulp of his drink, froze. "What?"

"I will make an armor blueprint that is better than our current one." A smirk graced Lance's face. "And you will take them to Zashrend. You will exchange it for a method of extending the life of a homunculus."

With a shaking hand, Arthur lowered the bottle. "You're willing to do whatever it takes to keep your project going, huh? If they make powered armors, the war will continue, and many will die indeed."

"If you love your daughter and wife, I love my job." Lance hissed. "With Zashrend being able to develop powered armors, the government will panic. They will resume this project and I returned to work. And because I love my job, I don't want to lose Eve. Only she can handle the magic aspects of this project."

The trembling in Arthur Moryet's body became more intense. He was silent, processing Lance's words.

Lance just stood there, silent as well. Having said everything in his mind, he only needed to wait for the results.

Then Arthur laughed like a madman. "I can't believe I heard something like this from your mouth, kid!"