[Rosinante's eyes narrow as he listens. The fact that he has no idea what a Philosopher's Stone is doesn't matter - though he'll ask in a second. But what Maes describes is mass slaughter of his government's own people, using them as a resource for its own implied gain. Something above the military, something planned out by people who had the resources to direct the future of the country itself and who had been doing so for a very long time.]

Governments are established for the protection of their people. To abuse that position and use people as fuel for something else - that's monstrous. What is this Philosopher's Stone?