Chapter 114: Dissolution of the Female Knight Training Grounds (1)
I started pondering why she was here.
'Did she come looking for me?'
That didn't seem likely. Unless it was some joint training session like in the past, there was no reason for our schedules to overlap. Moreover, I had come here secretly without informing anyone, making it almost impossible for her to track me down even if she wanted to.
Of course, if she spread word about a knight wandering around with a small slime in casual magic knight attire, she might manage to locate me. But would she really go through all that effort?
If she had something to discuss, she could have just waited until I returned to the knight order.
'Then it's not about me... Oh!'
A thought hit me, and it seemed obvious in hindsight.
Just like men have sexual desires, women have them too. Erin might have come here to indulge in her secret preferences.
This place, after all, was a homunculus workshop specialized in creating female-type homunculi. I'd heard they didn't make male homunculi, but with the recent expansion, they might have started producing them.
'Though Frederica did mention she wasn't interested in making male homunculi for profit...'
After all, men are generally satisfied with simpler stimulation. Give them a big-breasted homunculus with limited intelligence that says things like "Wanna touch my tits?" and they'd be happy. On the other hand, female customers required more delicate and thoughtful service.
If Frederica's goal was to appeal to either the crowd looking for simple gratification or the ones seeking more nuanced satisfaction, she chose to focus on the former.
'For someone like me, who can acquire artificial intelligence separately, I could just ask them to make the body and handle the rest myself...'
"What are you doing here?"
"There are some complicated business matters I need to handle. And you, Erin?"
"Well... that's..."
"That's?"
"None of your business."
Erin hesitated, trying to hide the flyer in her hands. If it was the same as before, it likely had something like "Custom Homunculus at Cheaper Than Shoes Prices" written on it.
'Yeah, you've got needs too... women aren't free from sexual desires either, after all.'
"You're giving me a weirdly smug look right now."
Her sharp, glowing blue eyes through her armor hinted at her anger, but I decided to take the high road and be understanding.
If someone caught me jerking off and said, "I understand, it's normal at your age," I'd feel annoyed too.
'This reminds me of the time with Delphine not long ago.'
Thankfully, I'd managed to resolve things peacefully back then, since Delphine was particularly curious about male-female intercourse. But with Erin, we'd already had some unpleasant encounters. She even helped me out when I was captured in the Arachne den.
"If you're planning a friendly gathering here, could you at least take it outside the workshop? If not, explain your purpose. I'm a busy man."
"That's..."
Still hesitant, Erin eventually handed the flyer in her hand to Frederica.
"Are you requesting a custom homunculus?"
Sure enough, the flyer's content matched, so Frederica shifted into her usual customer service mode.
"In that case, I'll need to ensure client confidentiality, so you'll have to leave."
"Yes, yes. I'll get out of your way..."
"Whatever misunderstanding you have, I didn't come here for that."
It's common to make such excuses when you run into an acquaintance in a place like this.
If it weren't my fellow knights, I'd also come up with an excuse like "I had work-related matters" instead of boasting, "I tried out a knight-themed homunculus equipped with AI and had fun."
Understanding this, I nodded vaguely and started leaving the room.
Thud!
"No, that's not it."
"Sure, sure. Whatever you say."
"It's. Not. Like. That."
She didn't need to deny it so fervently. I could understand her situation perfectly well.
"I won't mention seeing you here. Let's just pretend we didn't run into each other, okay?"
"That's not it! I'm here because..."
Her voice trailed off mid-sentence, as if she had clamped her mouth shut. Watching her flustered, I realized just how embarrassing it must be to have your sexual preferences exposed. I resolved to keep it a secret.
"...because I wanted to..."
"Huh?"
Her normally firm voice softened into a low hum that seemed to reverberate inside her helmet. It was so faint I couldn't catch what she said.
Realizing I hadn't understood her, Erin took a deep breath and spoke again, carefully enunciating every word.
"I came... to find... a job."
Hearing that, Frederica glanced at the flyer she was holding again.
"So, you're not a customer but an applicant?"
"I came because it said you were looking for skilled guards."
"Until now, there wasn't much need, but we can't rely on Model 3 to handle everything forever. It's true we do need additional security personnel."
Given Erin's skills, which were at least knight-level, it made sense. But from my perspective, I couldn't quite understand her reasoning.
"What about the knight order? Are you dropping out midway?"
"...You haven't heard yet, have you?"
"Heard what?"
"The current term of the Female Knight Training Grounds is being disbanded early."
"What...?"
"It's not that surprising, is it? Neither the royal family nor the Holy Knight Order is interested in hybrid female knights."
"That's..."
The Holy Knight Order fundamentally operates under a human-centric philosophy. While "for the sake of humanity" might sound noble, it essentially means they exclude non-human species.
Still, even if not the Holy Knight Order, the royal or noble families' private knight orders usually had room for female knights. Why would Erin go to such lengths to join this workshop?
'So, other places rejected hybrid female knights too?'
My peers and I had also harbored doubts when we first encountered the female knights. However, after seeing their courage, strength, and grace—on par with or even exceeding the magic knights—we abandoned our initial prejudices. Some of us even formed admirers' clubs.
But for outsiders who hadn't fought alongside them, hybrid female knights seemed unwanted, even dangerous, to have nearby.
"You may leave now."
In the end, without any further conversation, I had no choice but to leave Erin behind in the room.
---
"Unbelievable, seriously."
By the time I returned, news about the disbandment of the Female Knight Training Grounds had already begun spreading through the Magic Knight Order.
Not just Erin—other female knight trainees were also scrambling around the capital, desperately looking for orders to join or saying their goodbyes as they prepared to return to their hometowns.
The news hit particularly hard for trainees like Vanerim, who hadn't been able to secure a position in the capital. When some of my peers heard she was heading back to her village, they were so shocked they radiated mana unconsciously.
As a result, the atmosphere among the rest of the knights was grim. We gathered at the training grounds to discuss the situation.
Originally, we were scheduled for light sparring practice today. But no one could focus—punches were half-hearted, and we just stood around talking. Eventually, everyone grouped up to vent their frustrations.
"How can they just disband an entire order?"
"Those filthy bastards in charge!"
"Watch your words. We're still part of a national knight order for now."
Although knight orders aren't sacred or untouchable, their disbandment usually follows severe losses, necessitating a merger, or natural attrition as members transfer to other orders. An abrupt notice, confiscation of all facilities, and throwing the members onto the streets? That was unheard of.
This wasn't just about the female knights. The Magic Knight Order, already facing poor treatment, could meet the same fate one day. Anxiety spread among us, compounded by the rage of seeing comrades we'd trained and bled with treated so unjustly. The entire situation was a mess.
Morale was so low that no one was training. Instead, we just stared at the wall separating the Female Knight Training Grounds from ours. At that moment, our senior knight, who had been away on an external assignment, returned.
"You lazy brats! I told you to spar autonomously, not sit around doing nothing!"
His tone was harsh, but he didn't seem genuinely angry. He likely understood the gravity of the situation.
"Sir! Is it true that the Female Knight Training Grounds are being disbanded?"
Of course, Dane had to blurt it out. The senior knight hesitated, his lips moving as if to form a response. Eventually, he sighed and nodded.
"Yes. As of tomorrow, all members will be disbanded, and their training knight status revoked. Their equipment will also be collected."
Those words froze the expressions of everyone present, myself included.
"They say the order didn't meet the required numbers and failed to achieve the performance standards set by the higher-ups. That's why they decided to dissolve it."
Unable to contain myself, I muttered under my breath.
"This is bullshit..."
If the numbers were insufficient, shouldn't they train the existing knights further instead of disbanding them mid-process? And failing performance standards?
I'd seen these female knights in action—fighting, sweating, and bleeding alongside us. Their skills were comparable to active knights, especially considering their feats in the Arachne's lair. How could they possibly fail to meet expectations?
"There's one more announcement."
The senior knight pulled a gilded scroll from his coat.
"To commend the hard work of the knights, His Majesty the King has decided to host a banquet. All trainees will be invited."
Under normal circumstances, such an announcement would have been met with joy. But in light of the Female Knight Training Grounds' dissolution, the mood was sour, and no one reacted.
"From the Magic Knight Order, a total of 128 individuals have been invited."
"Not 150, but 128?"
The odd number immediately raised suspicions. I voiced my thoughts reluctantly, hoping I was wrong.
Perhaps it was just a select, smaller group being invited. But 128 was a strange number—one that hinted at an unpleasant reason.
The senior knight, looking ashamed despite not being at fault, lowered his head and confirmed it.
"Only human trainees were selected for the invitation, excluding hybrids and demi-humans."