The vintage homunculi sleeping in the culture tanks were all at an age where secondary sexual characteristics had begun to appear from their fetal state.
According to Rulus, they are raised naturally at the same speed as humans until they are thirteen, after which their metabolism is suppressed through medicine and culture tank settings.
Then, around the age of fifteen, when they reach adulthood, their growth is halted, and they await awakening.
Strictly speaking, they seem to grow slightly even in this state, but it is incredible that they can be stored for over several hundred years in this condition.
Of course, it goes without saying that Anya is responsible for the daily management of long-term storage.
They are all beautiful girls created by Rulus, but since their hair had grown so long, few could confirm their facial features.
There were also individuals with identical appearances lined up, and others with slight variations.
The differences seemed to be at Rulus’s discretion.
Furthermore, there were missing numbers on the identification tags attached to the culture tanks, leading to the thought that they might have already awakened or been disposed of due to some malfunction.
Nonetheless, being surrounded by so many beautiful girls would devalue them.
This is why Rulus was careful about when to awaken them.
Some of the awakened girls are fortunate enough to live out their lives as noblewomen, while others are put up for auction as slaves to fund research.
I believe it will be necessary to negotiate with the Raymond Trading Company to have them deal directly with us in the future, based on our current relationship.
It is said that vintage homunculi have lifespans equivalent to humans and the ability to conceive, thus entering the cycle of reincarnation.
General homunculi, even with long active periods, only last a few years and were not supposed to conceive, making this a significant difference.
Furthermore, I felt I had met some of the vintage homunculi before, including noblewomen and even a Saintess… but it would be best not to delve too deeply into it.
Among those who become vintage homunculi, there were also demi-humans mixed in.
Some vintage homunculi exhibited traits that suggested they were half-human and half-demi-human, giving me a glimpse into Rulus’s passion for pursuing beautiful girls.
“Lord Raymond, this vintage homunculus sleeping in this culture tank is Sasha No. 3.”
At Anya’s voice, I peered into the contents of a particular culture tank and saw a beautiful girl with long brown hair, like Ilisha’s, growing wild, slumbering.
Miraculously, her face peeked out from amongst her hair, and she looked exactly like Ilisha.
Her build and physique were slightly young, but I assumed it was within the margin of error.
I felt that with this vessel, Ilisha could live without any sense of discord.
“Thank you for the tour, Anya. This has dispelled most of my concerns about Ilisha. By the way, I see Sasha No. 4 written next to it!?”
“Yes, there are five homunculi created from Sasha’s ‘egg cells.’ Sasha was originally a noblewoman of a certain kingdom, but she fell from her horse and suffered a fatal blow, passing away soon after. She had her wedding to her fiancé approaching, so Rulus received a request to create homunculi. Sasha No. 1 was accelerated in growth and shipped with Sasha’s memories imprinted, thus it is missing. Sasha No. 2, as you know, Lord Raymond, was purchased by a certain lady. Later, there was a request to purchase Sasha No. 3 as well, but Rulus became enraged and turned them away.”
Listening to Anya’s explanation, I realized I had stumbled upon a dark part of history.
However, Anya’s explanation implied that Sasha No. 3 was intended to be Ilisha.
And through a series of coincidences, we have arrived here, and Sasha No. 3’s body is about to become Ilisha’s.
It could be called a very strange encounter.
However, this series of coincidences seemed like a necessary evil of fate, so I had no intention of reporting it to the Inquisitors of the Asgard Holy Church.
Yet, as Anya spoke, it was revealed that religious organizations, including the Asgard Holy Church, were also regular customers, which gave me a headache.
At the very least, as someone who had been a cardinal, I was unaware of this, so there must have been a department handling it in secret.
Perhaps it was an exclusive prerogative of His Holiness the Pope.
It seemed they had secretly entrusted the ‘egg cells’ of Saintesses and prepared vintage homunculi who would become Saintess candidates after awakening.
However, to reliably awaken the skills of a Saintess, the ‘sperm’ of a saint-like individual was also necessary, making it difficult to create a stable Saintess.
“Lord Raymond, these fetuses in the culture tanks are vintage homunculi created from Sophie’s ‘egg cells’.”
“These are quite cute, aren’t they?”
“Ly, if these girls have the same kinks as Elder Sister Sophie, it will be a disaster!”
We were then led to the vintage homunculi originating from Sophie.
Three of them had been created.
While they were a troublesome existence, Rulus explained that there were no plans to awaken them as long as Sophie was alive.
Next, we arrived in front of a culture tank where a vintage homunculus, originating from Sophie’s grand-aunt Meika, slept, intended to be Sophie’s new vessel.
Rulus had obtained Meika’s ‘egg cells’ when she was brought in injured after an encounter with bandits, apparently collecting them under the guise of treatment.
Well, even if left alone, they would have been discharged through menstruation and become waste, so this time I decided to be purely grateful that they were saved.
In the back of my mind, I heard the voice of Lester the Cleric from my past life raising ethical concerns, but I completely ignored it.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. This is Meika No. 1, the one next to her is Meika No. 2, and Meika No. 3 is lined up beside them.”
As Rulus explained, each one was different. All had silver hair and featured faces strikingly similar to Sophie’s.
Meika No. 1 had a sturdy bone structure, a ‘Princess Knight’ type, said to be a faithful reproduction of the original Meika.
Ly and Liliana testified that she also closely resembled Sophie during her time as a ‘Princess Knight.’
Of course, her breasts were rather small, with only a slight swell.
Meika No. 2, however, had a slender bone structure, a ‘Princess from a sheltered home’ type, but her breasts remained small.
And finally, Meika No. 3, also of the slender ‘Princess from a sheltered home’ type, had voluptuous, large breasts, exactly like Sophie’s current appearance.
“Lord Raymond, what do you think? Any of these vintage homunculi will do.”
Rulus also urged me, but wasn’t this, in a sense, the ultimate choice of three…
“Mmm, I can’t decide. Ly and Liliana, please decide.”
In the end, I couldn’t decide and entrusted the choice to Ly and Liliana, Sophie’s distant relatives.
“Lord Hal, thank you for considering us. Liliana, let’s first say our choices, and if they differ, we can discuss and decide.”
“Yes, Ly.”
When I delegated the choice to them entirely, Ly and Liliana seemed to think for a moment.
” “On three! I choose Meika No. 2!” ”
The next moment, Ly and Liliana’s voices harmonized, and they both chose Meika No. 2.
This answer was unexpected for me.
Choosing Meika No. 1 would make her resemble the former ‘Princess Knight,’ and choosing Meika No. 3 would make her resemble her current appearance.
“Why Meika No. 2?”
I asked out of curiosity.
“Lord Hal, it’s because… if Meika No. 1’s body is chosen, Sophie might become conceited and revert to her old habits.”
“I agree. I’d rather not be taken advantage of by Elder Sister Sophie.”
Ultimately, Meika No. 1, the closest to Sophie’s original body, was not chosen due to issues with Sophie’s habits and attitude.
Furthermore, it was said that Sophie had recently been enjoying herself, led by her milk sister Nemea, which had caused her reputation to plummet to the depths, but I didn’t realize there was still room for it to fall…
It seemed to be a case of “what goes around comes around.”
“Then, what was the reason for not choosing Meika No. 3, who closely resembles your current appearance?”
“It’s a waste for Sophie’s habits to have big breasts. Also, with small breasts, there’s a possibility of being able to swing a Rapier with training. If her breasts naturally swelled like mine, it would be fine, but it seems difficult to suddenly have large breasts…”
“In my case, Elder Sister Sophie means small breasts. Yet… she boasted about them being larger than mine in the bath, in a truly annoying way, so they needed to be shrunk again. Wouldn’t you say this is what Mai and Kirika often exclaim, ‘These breasts should be ripped off!’?! Hohoho”
Sophie had complained about the weight of her large breasts, but it seemed she had effectively used them as a weapon against them.
It seemed they didn’t like her attitude.
In the end, the decision to settle on Meika No. 2 was attributed to Sophie’s “sins of her own making.”
Since they would need to interact closely with each other in the future, I felt I should respect this decision.
“Rulus, it’s decided. Please use Meika No. 2 for Sophie’s new body.”
“Understood, Lord Raymond.”
“By the way, once the memories are transplanted, the Mimic Slime’s mimicry will be broken and it will be summoned, but is that okay?”
“Of course, there is no problem. All I want is the body turned into a beautiful girl from an Ancient Magical Civilization Era Magic Tool (artifact).”
Thus, Sophie’s new vessel was decided, and we returned from the ‘Doll Cellar’ on the second basement floor to the first-floor examination room to finalize the treatment schedule.
Thank you for reading.
Episode 32-8: The Secret Technique of the Saint Lies in the Elixir ① is scheduled for release on May 13th at midnight.
