Chapter 538

Magi Craft Meister 538

16 The Demons Mastermind Arc

16-17 No. 700672

Father!

Neige jumped at her father, who had just started to open his eyes.

Father, father!

Nei ge?

The words did come out of his mouth, albeit with difficulty. Ann took another recovery medicine and offered it to him.

Can you drink this? Please try to.

Ill feed it to him!

After receiving the ampoule from Ann, Neige had her father open his mouth and poured its contents inside.

After drinking the recovery medicine, Neiges Father slowly took a deep breath.

Thank you.

This time around, his voice came out much stronger than before. The medicine seemed to have been very effective.

Help me sit straight, Neige.

Yes, father.

With Neiges help, her father straightened up on the bed.

He then looked around at the new faces around him, catching a glimpse of Ann, Reiko, and then stopping on Alectus.

After silently staring at Alectus for a full minute, Neiges father softened his expression.

Impressive. So even one of the descendants of the Fallen Ones has managed to get here. I commend you for finding this place.

Alektus, who had been silent until now, opened his mouth in response to those words.

Y-You Are you from the Origin clan?

Correct. I am Servant No. 700672. I am one of which you know as the Origin clan.

This place No, this facility what is it?

This time around, it was Reiko who asked.

Well, if it isnt an Automata with a will of her own. Truly impressive Ill answer your question. This is a place that was once part of the Soaring s.h.i.+p. And this room where I ought to sleep for all eternity.

Soaring s.h.i.+p. Those words sounded somewhat familiar.

Are you one of the people who came here on this Soaring s.h.i.+p?

Correct. I have come to this land with my master.

Where is your master now?

My master is no more. The lifespan of his kind is shorter than ours.

W-What are those Fallen Ones you spoke of?

This question came from Alectus.

The Fallen Ones are those who were born after we arrived on this planet, from the descendants of my masters.

Then, that means

Correct. They are the distant, yet direct, descendants of my masters.

Meanwhile, in Hourai Island, Jin sensed that the common roots of both humankind and the demons were about to be revealed.

Through Laojun, Jin asked for an urgent meeting of the Family.

Brother Jin This is very interesting.

Elsa was already in the loop.

What is it, Jin?

Then Saki arrived.

Did something happen?

What happened, Jin?

Whats going on, Jin?

Master Jin, did you call for me?

Then Toa, Stearleana, Vivian, and finally Mine.

Whats up, Jin?

What happened, Jin?

Finally, Reinhardt and Berthie arrived.

My masters came to this Ars after leaving the resource-depleted Hale. There are abundant resources and ethers here, all which have rejuvenated the masters.

Hale would be the name of their planet of origin, while Ars seemed to be their name for the planet where Jin and the others lived.

Some of my masters have a.s.sociated themselves with the natives of this world, which resulted in the creation of offspring. As this offspring carried a weaker blood than that of my masters, they were dubbed Fallen Ones.

Did you understand? This is the answer to your questions from earlier. My master is no more. All that remains are you, the Fallen Ones, who have inherited their blood.

This made Jin wonder if those who inherited the blood of this Master are the ones who can use magic, and those who havent, cannot.

Jin, does this mean

Ah, thats right, Vi! This will make for a great story to tell!

The precious truth is about to become history

So, what have you been doing here all this time?

The partys next question was asked by Ann.

I shall answer that as well. I am the last Servant, No. 700672. I am merely waiting here in this land where my masters lie buried until the day I too crumble to dust.

How How old are you?

I am my masters creation. Therefore, the question how old are you? makes no sense in my case. The closest concept that I could rely on to give you a suitable answer would be that my master created me over 5,000 years ago, according to this planets calendar.

F-Five thousand years!?

Reiko, Ann, Alectus, and everyone else listening to this exchange in Hourai Island were equally amazed by his answer.

Correct. I am a homunculus. A fabricated life form. Therefore, the concepts of aging and death are foreign to me. I shall instead decay and cease functioning before crumbling to dust.

T-Then, why have you used this needle to exert dominance over our kind?

A needle, you say?

No. 700672 was deep in thought with an expression that hinted that he didnt have any idea what they were talking about, but eventually found an appropriate answer to deliver.

Would it be a Magic Tool about 2 centimeters long and 1 millimeter thick?

Thats right! Please answer my question! Why are you trying to control us?

Alectus voice became louder as he was overtaken by his emotions. However, No. 700672s face looked as if he couldnt understand.

Control you? What do you mean?

Dont play dumb!

NO!

Neige interrupted the agitated Alectus.

Wait, Neige. Perhaps he too is going through a situation of his own.

In contrast with Alectus excitement, No. 700672s answer was completely devoid of pa.s.sion.

Ive been sleeping in this room for quite some time before you arrived. How long has it been according to your time standards 300 years, perhaps?

No. 700672 looked at one of the windows that were present in the room.

Therefore I cant say I am aware of the particular strife youre talking about.

300 years

Alectus, and everyone else listening in Hourai Island, were half amazed and half surprised to hear about such a long slumber.

However, I can think of a possibility. Please explain the situation in detail.

O-Okay. The thing is

No longer concerned about using the proper honorifics with whom he was speaking, Alectus explained his clans situation. And Reiko and Ann explained what was going on with the other clans.

Hmph. Its possible that this is the doing of the failures.

Failures?

The last Servants my masters created. However, it seems that my masters had no particular need for them in this world, and so they came out as imperfect, disobedient creations.

Are they homunculi as well?

Correct. My masters used to refer to these defective homunculi as Failures.

Alexus was at a loss for words. The fact that the technology to create a person artificially actually existed was incredibly hard to believe, and yet one such person was sitting right before their eyes.

I havent been able to move my body satisfactorily for about 400 years now. I havent left this room for that long. Thats why I dont know whats been happening in the outside world.

According to No. 700672, a total of 13 failures had been created, and all of them should have been discarded.

However, it is possible that some of those failures actually managed to avoid being discarded.

That Nega-Doll we met earlier Was that one of those failures?

Reiko interrupted his monologue.

Nega-Doll? Is that what it called itself?

Yes. We encountered it in the previous hall, just before we found this hidden room. Though it teleported away shortly afterwards.

I see. I have an approximate understanding of the situation. I would like to think about this for a moment.

After saying that, the seemingly exhausted No. 700672 lay on the bed once again.