Translator: yAmi
We gave our best in experimenting on that day.
“Open the head and brain juice will一♪ What could go wrong while fooling around during surgery一♪”
She sang innocently while cutting a slave on the laboratory bench. Seis was already being put to practical use after her final adjustments. She looked no different from a competent surgeon when wearing her prescription glasses and white laboratory robes. However, she was enjoying herself and humming a parody of a lullaby, making her appear more like a child making merry.
Currently, as a trainee researcher until my wing, I made her try a simple human restructuring surgery.
She had various defects like having poor physical senses and extreme myopia, but fortunately, she was dextrous with her fingers. As expected of an elf, even if she was cultivated. Their race was masters in wielding bows and in crafting, though not better than dwarves in craft. Of course, a bow on Seis would be dangerous.
“Heal the openings completely一♪ Fix up the split open head一♪ ...Alright, done.”
She finished the operation nimbly.
I whistled. She was faster than expected.
“Uni. Time?”
“22 minutes, 46.07 seconds, master. It is much less than the given 30 minutes to complete it.”
Uni, who was the timekeeper, announced.
An excellent timing. Compared to the other 4 EE series that did this previously, she was almost twice as fast. As expected, the lack of restraints on emotions and on thought processes were showing better performance.
Even though this was just practice, it was a stellar result. If we keep the progress up, it would not be long before she can head the research department.
“Huhu~♪ How is it, father?”
Seis thrusted her chest outwards excitedly and boasted. Her entire body was saying, Praise me! Praise me!
Well, there was room for improvement in today’s surgery though.
“Seis. You get full marks for speed and precision. However, brain surgery should not be the last procedure. In fact, I believe it should be the very first. This subject is just a human slave, but to progress in future research, you would have to handle superior races and dangerous monsters. When that time comes, if the subject wakes up in the middle of the surgery and runs wild, wouldn’t it be dangerous?”
“Ah. Is that so...”
She lowered her shoulders and her ears drooped. She looked pitiful but this too was education. It was important to point out clearly when something was bad.
She must have assumed that it was a common procedure to do it that way when she herself was strengthened first before her brain surgery. Her circumstances were special. It was not possible to bring her out of the cultivator until she was strengthened.
“The most essential part of research is safety. Our final goal is to achieve immortality. If we lost our lives before that, then all is futile. Please remember that dearly. Alright?”
“Yes...”
“...That aside, the execution was perfect. Well done, Seis, as expected of my prided masterpieces. Don’t need to feel bad, just don’t make the same mistake again and it is fine.”
Needless to say, I had to show some support after all that lecturing. It was important to point out mistakes, but equally as important was to give praise when she deserved so. When disciplining children, rather than scold them when they did not do well, it was better to appreciate them when they did well. That is what I believed in. After all, I have already experienced raising Uni. This was the most optimum way.
“Really? Am I a good child?”
“Yes. Seis is a good child.”
“Ehehe...Father...”
After stroking her head that drew close to me, her ears moved up and down. And she was about the same as me, on the taller side in terms of stature. I was feeling awkward rather than embarrassed on the way she behaved. But I did not show any of that to her. It would hurtful for the child if a parent was embarrassed about his own child.
“Well, now that we are done with this, it is time for snacks. Uni, what’s on the menu today?”
“As you wish. We have donuts prepared today.”
“Really!? I love donuts! I love Uni and father too!”
“...Ugh, thank you.”
Uni mumbled as she was being hugged by an overly emotional Seis. It was not like she hated Seis. This child would behave cautiously usually but when dealing with others that she deemed her friend or family, she was surprisingly unreserved about it. I will not name the person exactly but there was a certain vampire that had his ass kicked when she was joking around. If she really hated somebody for real, surely she would rip that person apart right away. So it wasn’t too bad to leave Seis as she was now.
“Seis, listen okay. Before snacktime, make sure to wash your hands. And don’t add too much jam to the black tea. Also, don’t forget to brush your teeth after eating sweet food.”
“Yes, got it~!”
See, how reliable Uni was in taking care of Seis.
While enjoying this pleasant sight, I operated on the communication tool inside the operating theatre. I was calling for a certain mass produced person, who was on standby, to come in.
“It’s me. Procedure on the subject at the 4th operating theatre is done. Please help move the subject to the designated location.”
“Understood, master. I, B-08, will head there now.”
Okay, business was done. Time to enjoy some tea, perhaps?
Seis looked like she was tired of waiting already.
“Father! Miss Uni! Hurry up, freshly served donuts are the best!”
“Seis, don’t run out of the room so quickly. Don’t run in the corridors eith―”
“Kyaaa!?”
Uni was a step too late. Seis jumped out of the room and fell flat on the ground.
Even her glasses were flung off.
“Sniff…, it hurts! Ah, my glasses! Where is it!?”
“...Such a troublesome kid, really.”
While saying towards nobody especially, she went out of the room to pick up the big child.
※ ※ ※
Drei was kept busy that day too.
Amongst Tullius’ masterpieces, people like her were rare. She was capable of brainwashing others with her demon eye and using various useful spells, so she was convenient for her master.
She managed the monsters they had captured, which were released in the mountains or forest. She was sent out to procure materials they lacked. She also had to inspect the magical barrier erected at their base… these were just some of her duties from day to day. In addition to all the manufacturing, she was also tasked to mobilise their forces because of the emergency situation at the capital. Her way of working could be said to leave one with no regrets. The only other person who might potentially work harder than her might just be Uni, Tullius’ personal assistant.
And this was Drei’s schedule for the day.
“...So you are saying we are starting to lack essentials like firewood for winter? Hmph, idiot. How could you not have noticed until now, E-01.”
She was currently in a small log hut, harshly reprimanding the other elf while warming herself by the fireplace.
“Yes, it’s because I was unfamiliar with it...”
The other elf sitting across her scratched her head and replied. She was an elf from the Witte clan that was discovered previously. She survived the massacre then and acted like a leader of the village, so she was installed as the village chief of the new village at Marlan..
Communicating with the elves was part of Drei’s duties. Drei was the person who brought them in and she was also part of the long living race despite some differences in their ethnicity. Tullius’ argument was that Drei would be able to understand them better than any other human or former humans. Against that argument, Drei had no room for disagreement. She thought it was a reasonable decision. Though that did not mean she was happy with the job.
“We’ve never had this issue until this year. We have no idea why this happened.”
The village chief had a perplexed look. Their memories have been altered, leading them to believe that they have always been living in Marlan. And that somehow led to their current lack of resources. The villagers must have carelessly made wrong estimations based on how they lived previously.
Well, this new village was only completed around summer. It wasn’t too long ago when the Witte clan started adjusting to the terrain here. There was not enough time for them to stabilise spiritual protection in the area to make living here easy. It wasn’t the same as when they were at the White Birch Forest.
An elf’s doman was the same as a spirit world. Physics and normal phenomena change within the protection of the spirits, so it is possible for a warm and pleasant environment to be maintained. From human folklore, elves are thought to live in a country of eternal spring. Of course, a full year in spring was probably an exaggeration but surely their old village, which was further inland, had a warmer winter than Marlan.
That being said, Drei felt no reason to sympathise with the elves.
“You didn’t realise the weather changes at the start of autumn? Irredeemable fools. What do you have brains for? None of you guys noticed it? Perhaps, E-31?”
“Chaga? No, he didn’t notice anything special―”
“Tch, that kid is useless...”
E-31, Chaga, was an individual who received special reconstruction. His memory was untouched and he still remembers the series of events that occurred with their old village. While it was to reward him collaborating with the mission, the real aim was to have somebody deal with the inconsistent memories of the other elves internally. It seemed that he had failed to do as intended.
