"So this is your goal? Using these homunculi as materials for magical research. Doesn't your conscience hurt?"
Chiron stood before rows of green cultivation tanks. Within them floated homunculi, suspended like organs in jars, their bodies serving as living sources of mana. His voice carried quiet reproach.
"Their lives are short to begin with. Why not at least grant them a peaceful end?"
"My conscience is very much alive and kicking." Rhodes curled his lip, casting a mocking glance at Chiron's earnest expression. "Relax. I came here precisely to extend their brief lives and give them real value."
"Value…" Chiron paused, then sighed, as if something had just occurred to him. "My oversight. I forgot your habit of stripping value from everything you pass by. Miserly exploitation, perhaps—but even so, it does count as saving them."
"Tch. I'll take that as praise." Rhodes shrugged. "If a life that exists only as a mana battery has no meaning, then they can serve as my weapons instead. Compared to the idiocy of Gordes' techniques, I have more than enough reason to be confident."
"Of course. On the level of a 'magus,' I've never seen anyone superior to you. Not even in the Age of Gods." Chiron nodded gently. "Please, save them. Even as expendables in war, they're worth far more than as mere mana sources."
"Hmph! You don't need to spell out how great my Master is!" Tamamo-no-Mae suddenly leapt between them, baring her teeth with exaggerated ferocity. "Master, stay away from him! If you pick up any strange habits, this one would be heartbroken!"
"Tamamo, you're really asking for discipline…"
"If Master personally does it, this one wouldn't refuse—no, I would absolutely accept it with joy!"
Once again, the degenerate master-and-servant duo derailed the conversation. What had been solemn veered sharply into indecency. Chiron could only shake his head and withdraw, choosing not to follow them into the workshop where the homunculi were stored.
Bang!
The heavy door slammed shut. The grin vanished from Rhodes' face, replaced by a grave expression.
"He didn't follow us, right? Darnic has bad intentions."
"Indeed. Please avoid being alone with Chiron." Tamamo-no-Mae pinched a soundproof talisman between her fingers, her tone serious, devoid of earlier playfulness. "He's not as simple as he appears."
"I know. Besides, do you really think Chiron doesn't realize we're suspicious of him?" Rhodes spoke calmly, caution threading his words. "The reason he left so conspicuously is because he doesn't want to accept the task of monitoring me either."
"This one agrees. Still, we should move quickly." As she spoke, Tamamo-no-Mae drew out a stack of talismans from between her ample curves. With a faint, elegant fragrance, she scattered them through the air. The snow-white charms streaked like arrows, passing cleanly through the glass walls of the cultivation tanks without damaging them.
In moments, every homunculus in the workshop bore a talisman. The charms sank into their bodies, transforming into intricate curses that seized control of the Magic Circuits within.
With remote manipulation, Tamamo-no-Mae could sever those Magic Circuits outright, forcing the homunculi into self-destruction and cutting off the Yggdmillennia Servants' mana supply.
With the exception of a few Servants possessing Independent Action, the rest would lose all combat capability once their mana supply was cut.
As for Gordes' so-called "mana supply and Command Spell separation" system, it had a fatal flaw. After separation, a Master holding Command Spells could no longer provide immediate mana to their Servant. In other words, once these homunculi were destroyed, the Servants of the Yggdmillennia family would be helpless for a considerable period of time.
"Good. There aren't any other workshops with reserve homunculi, right?" Rhodes exhaled, lifting a strand of Tamamo-no-Mae's pink hair and inhaling the faint scent lingering on her.
"That's right. This is the only place supplying mana to the Heroic Spirits." Tamamo-no-Mae strolled between the tanks, a satisfied smile curving her lips.
Without question, the homunculus girls inside the tanks were underdeveloped, their appearances far from Tamamo-no-Mae's perfection.
"Tamamo, total victory!" She flashed a furtive V-sign, her face full of mischief. Rhodes, sensing something, spoke up.
"What is it? Still haven't found suitable materials for golem construction?"
"No! Of course not! Tamamo is working very hard!" She puffed up her cheeks and carefully examined the Magic Circuits of the homunculus girls—naturally ignoring the boys entirely.
"Tch…" As her Master, Rhodes could trace Tamamo-no-Mae's thoughts and actions through magecraft. Seeing her antics, he could only smile wryly.
"Find homunculi suitable for conversion into golems. I need constructs with strong melee capability and weak spellcasting aptitude, to deal with what's coming in the Holy Grail War."
"Tamamo understands!"
◇◇◇
"What… are they doing?"
A suffocating pressure echoed in his mind. The homunculus boy floated inside his tank, mana being drained from him without pause. His body felt limp, powerless. His short life had left him without even the strength to raise an arm. He could only drift, a cheap disposable resource.
"That is…" He watched as homunculus girls were pulled from their tanks, realization striking him like lightning.
Consumption meant death. Death meant worthlessness.
Homunculi repeated this cycle endlessly, walking toward death over and over again. He was no different.
"Master! Are all these homunculi going to be used to make dolls? Then we're saving them too, right?"
Tamamo-no-Mae's words detonated inside the boy's mind.
"Saving…? Do they have value?"
Something stirred within him. A will to live broke through the magical restraints. His eyes snapped open.
The two intruders were carrying homunculus girls away. Rhodes, clad in a pristine white suit, turned back. His gaze swept over the boy, filled with mockery, his lips moving silently.
"What did he say? Jeanne has big boobs—no way he's giving her up?"
The thought drifted lazily as the boy's consciousness sank back into darkness. His eyes closed once more.
Rhodes dragged more than a dozen "spoils" toward the shadowed exit of the workshop. When he glanced again at the homunculus boy, there was not the slightest trace of pity.