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I stayed up late into the night, but no solution came to mind. I was tormented by the regret of having implanted a defect in Hom, who should have been perfect.

This was an inconceivable change for me during the Glass era. Glass would have treated the homunculus as a defective product and would have immediately created a new one. However, I immediately dismissed that option.

Alfe, my family, St. Salaius Middle School, and Tao Ran all recognized the homunculus as “Hom,” making her a unique and irreplaceable existence.

Having spent the night sleepless, I greeted the morning and decided to change my mood by borrowing the inn’s kitchen from the landlady to prepare breakfast. The inn’s kitchen was equipped with proper cooking tools, so I decided to make a carefully simmered soup by heating finely chopped vegetables with a magical oven.

Since it was morning, I thought something light that wouldn’t burden the stomach might be good. Yesterday was chicken porridge, so it seemed fitting to adapt the vegetable soup with rice to create an Empire-style porridge out of the Canado version. I decided to make use of the vegetable broth for flavor and had the landlady give me some solid soup stock.

“Heh heh heh. You’re up quite early today, Miss Leafa.”
“Good morning, Teacher.”

Tao Ran joined me in the kitchen, where only the landlady was present so early in the morning. Just then, the magical oven sounded, indicating it had finished heating. When I opened the door, a pleasant vegetable aroma wafted out.

“Oh ho. Are you making vegetable soup?”
“Yes. I’m thinking of adding rice to make an Empire-style porridge called risotto.”

I put on oven mitts, removed the glass bowl from the magical oven, and transferred it to a pot of boiling water.

“Do you know what this is, Miss Leafa?” Tao Ran asked, pointing to the heating magical device as I continued cooking.

“It’s an oven,” I replied, thinking it was a peculiar question. I knew how to use it, so he couldn’t possibly think I didn’t know its name. Puzzled by his question, I stared at Tao Ran, waiting for his next words.

“…Exactly. It’s called an oven. There’s something very similar in my homeland, called a microwave oven.”
“Judging by the name, it doesn’t seem to be a magical device, so what exactly are you—”
“It’s what’s known as forbidden scientific technology. Heh heh heh…”

Tao Ran laughed as he answered my question, then turned his back to me.

“As for today’s training, let’s take a break. I thought I was keeping pace with Miss Hom’s progress, but it seems I may have been a bit too hasty.”

Forbidden scientific technology.

I repeated Tao Ran’s strange question and his answer in my head. According to him, remnants of such technology still existed in the Canado region. I wondered if it had any relation to Hom. I wanted to ask, but the pot on the stove began to boil over, and our conversation ended there.

Since the weather was nice, we decided to have breakfast at a long table with chairs set up in a corner of the garden. Hom carried the table and chairs, and Alfe served the breakfast I made. I had intended to handle the serving myself, but Alfe wanted to help, so I let her.

My reason for leaving the serving to Alfe wasn’t just that. I wanted to ask Tao Ran about the intent behind his question, so I approached him as he was doing his daily exercises a little distance away.

“Teacher, about this morning’s mention of forbidden scientific technology—”
“It seems it piqued your interest after all,” Tao Ran said, straightening his posture and facing me as if he had anticipated my question.

“There are many things considered forbidden in this world. Some scientific technologies that function similarly to the magical oven are overlooked, but others are not… is that correct?” I tried to summarize my thoughts into a question, but it felt off. I hadn’t expressed myself well, and it was clear from my words that I hadn’t fully grasped the meaning of Tao Ran’s earlier statements.

Tao Ran gave a noncommittal nod and glanced over at Alfe and Hom.

“Do you know why there is no scientific technology in the current world?”
“Yes. The heroes who ended the war declared the old human technology as forbidden and sealed it away.”

This topic had come up several times in our magic history and magic engineering classes, and even Glass was familiar with it.

“Well studied. And who carried out this act?”
“I know! It was the Eight Heroes, right? I like Lord Salai,” Alfe chimed in, raising her hand.

“Indeed. I also like Lord Salai. However, it wasn’t him who sealed away the scientific technology.”

That was correct. While the textbooks glossed over the details, I knew the truth. “Euzeth Arcadia, the founding emperor of the Arcadia Empire.”

“Indeed. He exterminated the old humanity and buried all their technology in darkness…” Tao Ran spoke in a somewhat somber tone as he began to recount the history.

Euzeth was the son of Joshua Arcadia, the leader of the New Humanity Liberation Army, and was known as a genius of warfare. He excelled in martial prowess, inherited his father’s charisma, and became a symbol of hope for the new humanity.

However, after his father Joshua died in battle and Euzeth took over as the leader of the Liberation Army, he gradually began to lose his sanity. With each sacrifice made in the war, Euzeth lost many friends and loved ones, leading him to fiercely hate the old humanity. This deep-seated grudge drove the victorious Euzeth to commit the atrocity of exterminating the old humanity.

“This isn’t really a story for the morning…” Tao Ran continued, looking apologetic towards Alfe, who was left speechless by the grim tale.

“We Canado people are the descendants of new humanity who couldn’t follow Euzeth’s methods. Do you know the roots of the Canado people?”
“I believe it was the Eight Heroes, Lord Izanagi and Lady Izanami,” I answered.

Tao Ran nodded deeply, his long beard swaying.

“That’s right. The siblings were close to the old humanity, who were known for their peaceful and harmonious nature. However, Euzeth’s slaughter spared none, not even those who abhorred conflict. Unable to bear his atrocities, Izanagi and Izanami, along with those opposing Euzeth, moved to the northern part of the continent.”

Thus, the Canado people did not shun scientific technology and continued to integrate it into their daily lives. I was beginning to understand the story more clearly.

“The Thunder Step technique mimics the mechanism of a large railgun from my homeland. Although it uses my body and magic, the railgun can achieve a similar effect,” Tao Ran explained. He manifested the familiar rails beneath his feet and stepped onto it. The current wasn’t flowing, and he didn’t proceed with the next move. He simply continued speaking quietly.

“The new humanity shunned science, sacrificing much to abandon it. Yet now, they create inventions that mimic science… Essentially, they are recreating what the old humanity once made, but through different means.”

I see, that’s why he brought up the magical oven and the microwave oven. If one knows about the scientific technology of old humanity, the proliferation of magical devices controlled by simplified formulas would give them mixed feelings.

Using Tao Ran’s words, it’s like they’ve let go of and destroyed everything once, only to recreate it differently. In other words, it implied that what was deemed unnecessary and discarded was actually needed all along.

“You can dismiss this as an old man’s rambling if you like. However, I want you to remember that such a story exists.”
“Rambling? Not at all—”
“Power and technology are neither good nor evil. It’s the people who wield them who determine their morality. And it’s the role of adults to guide children towards goodness to prevent the birth of evil.”

Looking into his earnest eyes, I finally understood why he had taken on Hom’s training without compensation. Perhaps he had already seen through the negative feelings I harbored towards Hom.

“Miss Leafa… There was no need for distinctions like ‘old humanity’ and ‘new humanity’ in this world. If everyone had acknowledged each other equally as ‘human,’ there wouldn’t have been such wars. Regardless of their form, those who take the shape of a human are equally human. You must not forget that.”

Of course, this included homunculi. While this was not a concept held by my adoptive father or by Glass, as long as I lived as Leafa, I needed to recognize Hom as a person. It was a roundabout way to convey this, considering Alfe and Hom were present, but it was a clear admonition.

“…I understand, Teacher.”

In this life, I wanted to help others and bring happiness to those close to me. My reluctance to discard Hom as a defective product stemmed from my experiences living as Leafa. Even so, it was difficult to immediately treat Hom as a human being.