Chapter 114

A smell that arises with a crackling fire spreads over the building.

Illuminated by fire, my hands in a way looked hollow.

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# Day of # Month

Finally, Master has completed the facility.

I was informed about contents of the plan for a long time and find it far too generous for an aged old man’s last job.

Thanks to that young hero that the princess brought, I could get assigned to raising soldiers while I am still in the good shape.

I am really grateful.

Tomorrow, children from that orphanage will arrive at this facility.

For starters, let’s welcome them with a warm meal.

A warm meal with a small dose of 「Ramune」 mixed in it.

Then we will proceed with strength training and the elimination of disobedience.

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As expected, the children quickly get used to their environment.

Even the kids that were crying from anxiety when they were just brought here realized that it is pointless after only one week.

This whole week after coming here, except for meals and sleep, they spent training in traversing mountains.

I do not care how slowly they proceed as long as they follow the predetermined route and do not stop in their tracks, otherwise they get a whip.

Until they get back to running as they were instructed, I will whip them again and again.

Were they to disobey out of pure defiance, after a set of whipping they will have their meal portions and sleeping time reduced after which I will be only whipping them and coercing them into an apology.

And thus will hammer into their minds and bodies that「Following orders」is the best way to avoid pain.

I add a tiny bit of powdered 「Ramune」 into the meals that they take after the training every day.

Resistance to the drug’s toxicity is acquired by exposing oneself to it numerous times.

What is even more important, an addiction that accompanies drug-induced euphoria makes training even more worthwhile.

Soon enough, kids will remember that: “If you do your best during the training, you will receive a tasty meal”.

Yes, first I will reduce them to mere common beasts.

To completely empty shells not capable of making any decisions on their own.

Drugs and training, carrot and a stick.

And then from that empty state, I shall reshape them into devoted soldiers.

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Before long, the difference between those that can be used and those that can’t be emerged among the kids.

Well, talent is not distributed equally so there is no helping that.

As Master said 「It is inevitable since it is our first attempt, it is enough if there is at least some that might be useful」.

Such welcome words.

In order for the Grond Trading Association to make even greater progress, I have to make them ready as soon as possible.

Late blooming talents do exist as well, so, for now, lets calmly observe them.

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There are some rather stubborn children that refuse to obey.

Several of the orphans from among those that were brought here first with a girl named Toria as their leader, those that were particularly close with the Hero.

The woman that was raising them previously is said to have disappeared under undetermined circumstances.

However, no matter how many times I tell them that 「She abandoned you and ran away」 they don’t waver at that while saying 「It cannot be」 and seem to believe that 「One day, the hero will save us」.

They surely adore him a lot, how envious.

Well, at the moment, that hero is engrossed in the fight with demons that have become more active and is located quite far away.

Moreover, this place was built with the money that the hero brought, but even if you were to tell them that, they would not believe it and it will only make them more rebellious.

Well, the effects of adding 「Ramune」 to their meals are showing properly anyway, after all, they are just children.

If I approach them with some strictness, defiance is bound to disappear before long.

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Year ###

# Day of # Month

Today, children from yet another orphanage will arrive.

This time, it will be the orphans from the Empire.

Matching that, I made an increase to the number of personnel from among old Grond Trading Association employees.

As expected when there is only ten, no, it is eight children now, since I completely ruined two of them, I could somehow manage alone, but with twenty kids, it is no longer possible to take care of all kids by myself.

Therefore I will have them help me with monitoring and preparing daily meals.

Let us make women into a carrot for the children.

Children tend to yearn for a motherly figure.

And it is also will be them who will make and serve meals filled with 「Ramune」 to the children.

Of course, I as well will continue to observe the rate of their mental completion, but women will monitor them even more closely.

It is about time for the kids that were brought here first to start learning how to kill.

It would bear no meaning were they to break like Master Nonorik on a completely uncontrollable level.

Were they to turn into the dolls without their own judgment, they would become unable to cope with any unforeseen circumstances, which would make them unusable.

Ideally, I want to make them into the soldiers that treat obeying orders as the ultimate bliss.

Possessing their own judgment but being unable to resist orders and drugs, such a form would be ideal.

Let’s proceed things carefully so they will grow into such soldiers.

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Year ###

# Day of # Month

Today, master arrived at the facility for an inspection.

He wanted to check on the children’s progress, so after briefly observing their training, we talked about future developments during a dinner.

Since it is a good opportunity, I passed a certain proposal to Master.

In order to see their completion level, it has been decided to make kids participate in an exhibition that thugs producing 「Ramune」 periodically hold.

For starters, their opponents will be people that have completely lost themselves to 「Ramune」.

If they cannot easily handle this much, it would be a problem.

I considered going only that far, but it appears that for Master it is a bit underwhelming.

「In the next round, let’s make those kids compete with each other. Even if around half of them died, its not a big deal. We have an infinite amount of replacements, it is perfect to filter inferior and defective goods.」

Thus with Master’s command, killing each other was hurriedly added on a menu.

Well, I feel like it might be a bit too soon for them, but I was planning on doing that eventually anyway.

As result, the number of kids was reduced by half, but it seems replenishment should arrive soon, so it became good training.

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Looks like I am still too soft.

A group of kids formed around the girl named named Toria, who was mentioned in past entries, and were planning to escape.

Naturally, I did not let them get away and apprehended them all, but this is a serious incident.

They are just a bunch of kids that otherwise would have spent a meaningless life without accomplishing anything. It is truly hard to comprehend.

Their lives were about to be given some meaning and they just betray the expectations put upon them and run away…

Anyhow, it appears that training should be more severe.

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Year ###

# Day of # Month

An order for the subjugation of the Hero now turned into the Demon Lord was published by each nation on the continent

Looks like the Hero that was not needed anymore after defeating the Demon Lord was framed.

It appears that the Hero was saying that after defeating the Demon Lord, he intends to widely spread otherworldly technologies for which the Grond Trading Association has an almost complete monopoly at the moment.

I was pretty sure that Master would not allow to make waste of such technologies that are bringing him an enormous profit, so I was wondering what is he going to do and so it became like this after all.

Well, the Hero was given purpose and was able to fulfill it so he should be satisfied with this ending.

The Demon Lord is feared for he controls Demons and a certain portion of Monsters, but the Hero is just one individual, he is bound to be crushed by state power in the near.

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Year ###

# Day of # Month

The cultivation of soldiers goes well.

From simple kids, they are turning into the soldiers loyal to our commands.

The「Ramune」 that they were absorbing for a long time.

Without mixing it into the meals anymore, I am just giving it to them as pills.

Of course, even a child can understand that this is a drug, but they have already passed the stage of addiction at which willpower could be effective.

Has increased the number of children that in order to obtain more 「Ramune」 were training voluntarily outside of everyday practice hours.

Because the only way to get more 「Ramune」 aside from what was given to them regularly was to show good results during practice.

A number of children that were trying to snatch 「Ramune」 from the others had now appeared.

Truly an excellent trend. Even if they are bound by a drug, to make them more suspendable to our control, I would like their suspicion for everyone else to deepen even further.

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# Day of # Month

A problem has emerged in a plan that was going smoothly so far.

There started to appear those that were unable to endure the toxicity and addictivity of 「Ramune」.

It is something that was expected from the beginning but its control is more difficult than I imagined.

However, they turning into quite capable assassins.

After that, there were a number of replenishment for orphans but those that came later were breaking, unable to withstand the poisonous influence of 「Ramune」 at an increasingly higher rate.

As expected, since I got the first batch of kids accustomed to it by giving them really small doses, they get more resistant to it down the line.

Through even if I proceed with a cautious dosage, by the time they reach their completion as soldiers, they will only have from one to three years left to live.

Well, as was planned, we collected plenty of data on Ramune so there is no issue at all.

Most of the first specimens are kids that had almost a purely experimental purpose.

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Year ###

# Day of # Month

Along with a replacement for kids that died during the training, I received from Master a new type of 「Ramune」.

Compared to what was used before, its effects have been weakened slightly but its toxicity to human body was reduced by a good measure.

Since it has plenty of strength for brainwashing which is the main purpose of its use, I will switch to it from now on.

Children that were brought this time will in true meaning become a private army of the Grond Trading Association.

To be honest, children that were brought here first were reasonably good material. I was careful with adjustments but the fact that they could last this long is good evidence.

It is a bit regrettable but nothing can be done. One could say that this is their fate.

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I received a demand from Master to swiftly get soldiers to a level of real combat.

As I was told, it seems that the Hero escaped to this area. And for a test, I should throw them at him.

It is that soft and naive Hero we are talking about, he just might actually lose to those children.

But in the current situation, the status difference is way too large for them to be able to do anything.

As I reported that, I received a reply that 「It is fine to completely ruin them for this」.

Indeed, with improved 「Ramune」 kids from the early stages of the experiment are no longer needed.

As prototypes, they are superb but for a finished product, they are complete failures.

But even so, if they intake a large quantity of the 「Quick Growth Drug」, they should get enough status to stand against the Hero.

Their bodies are already badly tattered anyway.

If they don’t have long to live anyway then going out in flames is the salvation of its own.

Since there is no value for a person without a purpose to live anyway.

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The record ends there.

I throw the document that I picked up into the flames.

A desk from evergreen oak.

On top it was a paper with a list of names, almost asking me to look at it as well.

I was thinking that it is a list of children that were the first subjects for this experiment but it was not.

「Fegner, Orouley, Lidia, Adlon, Sivi, Bodhi, Jude, Monika…」

I see. I’m not sure if it was Fegner or Grond that left this here, but they sure hate me a lot.

Written there are likely the names of employees that worked here.

Those are people that were either subordinates or servants of Grond.

Among unfamiliar names, there are also those that make me instantly remember their faces.

He always maintained courteous demeanor. She is a cheerful woman.

Such obvious provocation.

If I go after their lives, my own will be put in danger.

So there is no point to continue reading this here.

There is no point, but I cannot stop myself.

And at the end of it as if laughing at me were the names of children deemed as failures, written in ink.

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I did not want to take this list outside.

But I also did not want to forget the names written here.

Therefore I just stood there, looking at the list until just a moment before this room would crumble down.