Diary of Guarding Monster Girls

But the situation just now obviously didn't meet his requirements—at this moment, he was neither at ease nor was the other party necessarily innocent.

"Nenasha, you heard the sound just now too, right?"

["Yes, I heard it. That soul fluctuation indeed came from that constructed life form."]

Constructed life form.

In this world, a constructed life form is a special existence.

They are usually life forms created by combining magic and machinery, possessing a variety of shapes and functions.

From simple stone golems to extremely complex magical creatures, anything is possible.

Strictly speaking, the Holy Grail bearing the Wine of Oblivion is also a kind of animated being, categorized under constructed life forms.

The creation of constructed life forms usually requires powerful magic power and some extremely rigorous specialized knowledge.

Creators need to collect specific materials, such as metal, gems, magical items, and so on.

Once the materials are prepared and the assembly is complete, they need to apply specific spells and magic to grant it life and consciousness.

And such spells and magic are very rare, being the most cherished trump card by each caster capable of creating constructed life forms, and not easily taught to others.

This has also resulted in the price of constructed life forms consistently being high, making them quite sought-after high-priced products.

In this situation, some evil beings have created another cheap and quick shortcut method.

According to their method, most people can skip the soul-endowment step and easily create constructed life forms.

Alternatively, another simpler name can be used—Wetware.

"This world has wetware too."

Unlike the world with four vendors, the wetware here doesn't rely on artificial brains or other physical tissues.

Instead, it relies on another kind of power—souls.

Artificial souls are rare and hard to come by, but aren't the souls of intelligent beings everywhere?

Why go to great lengths?

Powerful casters would imprison the souls of intelligent beings inside special gems, sealing them within the constructed life form, making them its soul.

To maintain intelligence, their consciousness is not completely erased but deliberately preserved.

The imprisoned souls would carry out their master's orders day after day, helplessly watching their bodies move, unable to make any change.

Without any doubt, this method was deemed extremely cruel and evil by the Justice Faction as soon as it emerged, and was immediately classified as a forbidden technique.

But due to the high demand for constructed life forms, many evil and neutral faction casters secretly create them.

Even people from within the Justice Faction would purchase such cheap constructed life forms.

After all, it's not like I killed the person, extracted their soul, or sealed it in there.

I bought it to liberate it, to prevent it from falling into the hands of those evil people!

Pretending to deceive oneself is very simple.

There are as many reasons to convince oneself as needed, as long as they can cross that hurdle in their own hearts, it's not a problem.

Also due to the trend, the situation gradually changed, and people slowly relaxed the restrictions on this kind of soul wetware.

Although it still cannot be flaunted, it is no longer explicitly forbidden.

It is now implicitly assumed that all used souls were extremely evil people, sealing them in constructed life forms is making them atone for their sins.

This is also one reason Herbert is unsure whether the other party is innocent.

Sofia's arrow shattered the gem on the robot's forehead, does this mean those poor souls have been liberated?

If so, then why do they still want Herbert to save them?

And if not... why should Herbert save them?

He has no reason to risk his life for those souls of uncertain allegiance.

Besides, the robot's body exudes an aura of eeriness.

Although the constructed body didn't show any magic power fluctuation, it gave Herbert an intense sense of crisis.

"Nenasha is also unsure of its attack method... Is it pure energy?"

Before the robot launched its attack, it showed no trace of magic fluctuation.

Compared to the magic side's animated construct, it looks more like a machine purely relying on mechanical structure to move.

But the energy it uses is beyond Herbert's understanding.

"It can't possibly be the seed of fire, right..."

After all, what aspect did that destroyed civilization focus on developing?

Herbert, after serious thought, shook his head; the knowledge he currently holds is insufficient to continue supporting his ideas.

"I'll look for the Guardian for more relevant information when we return to the Monastery."

What makes Herbert most apprehensive, however, is the "unclean flesh" on the robot's body.

What does it mean for the robot?

Where do they come from?

Is it the corruption of some existence? Or a curse?

"..."

Herbert pondered silently, and Sofia, believing she had made a mistake, didn't dare interrupt, silently leading him swiftly back towards Elda.

This time they chose a different route, crossing towering mountains, avoiding another encounter with the Heavy Knight Heroic Spirit.

A lot of time was spent on the exploration road, but the return journey was several times faster.

As they were not far from Elda, Nenasha broke the silence and asked:

["Herbert, you've looked at the three wreckage owners, have you decided which one to target?"]

"Which one are you asking about..."

Herbert came back to his senses and, after blinking and pondering for a moment, helplessly said: "Those guys, they're all tough to handle."