Life in the Royal Capital
062. A Spirit is…
After vaporizing the golem I flashed an evil smile.
Ku ku ku.
Now we can continue the conversation on our terms.
「Now then, if you don't want to be scorched to death, how about you come on out?
I know exactly where you are all hiding, you know?」
I know the general direction but not the exact location.
I'd much rather they come out of their own volition.
In response to my words, in great panic,
「Yes! Yes, yes, yes!!!
As You have commanded, though greatly embarrassed, we appear before you!!! 」
And, with dragonfly wings growing from their backs, tiny and cute girls (?) came flying out.
They were no longer than 30 cm in height. Not midgets, but the kind of fairy you'd hear about in a fairy tale.
At the front of the group lined up girls dressed in dazzling dresses with many frills; behind them, another group was dressed in rather plain dress.
Overall, they dressed in darker colors.
「Ta-daa! I am one of the ten gweat~…」
She bit her tongue.
Should I make fun of her? It seems that she's gotten so used to telepathy that she forgot how to talk.
「….. are you okay?」
She held up her hand in response,
「I am one of the ten great demon lords! Ramiris of the Labyrinth!!!
Cease thou haughty actions! Show humility!!!」
She happily said,
While proudly showing off her none-existent chest. Why do I feel so pissed off…
First, let's chop her.
「Uhyou!!! Wha-what was that for! You'll give me a heart attack!!!」
She complained after dodging with her small body.
Horrible, right~? Right~?
Should we kill it? Kill it?
But, but, but, but, it killed the golem, right?
Impossible. Impossible. We'll be killed!
How noisy.
My head was filled with their chatter.
「Besides, you are cheating! Why aren't you affected by『Thought Manipulation』!
It's been too long since we last met someone like you!!!」
Isn't she furious.
I see, so the strange anger I feel towards them is due to me resisting their『Thought Manipualtion』right?
However, there's no way anyone among these fairies (brats) is a demon lord. Are they still messing with me?
「Hey, next time you lie come up with a more believable one.
There's no way anyone among you brats is a demon lord! 」
「Don't call us brats! Seriously, how rude. What else am I, if not a demon lord!」
「Huh? An idiot? Anyways, speaking of demon lords, you know how stupid your claim sounds in comparison to my friend Milim?
Compared to her, you guys are… pathetic?」
「Stupid!
Stupidstupidstupidstupid!!! You are so stupid~!!!!!!」
The spirit named Ramiris loudly shouted and then stopped to catch her breath.
And,
「Listen here.
When you say Milim, surely you refer to that unreasonable demon lord Milim.
The one that solves everything through brute force.
To compare that unreasonable brute to the beautiful I, aren't you just being rude?
Hey, I'll be troubled if you can't understand that much!」
Her words full of indignation.
And,
「Besides, aren't you a strange one yourself?
What was that? Did you have to suddenly use that dangerous skill!
How many special skills must you possess to use that hell flare?
Please don't be so unreasonable.
Ah, whatever.
I'm not even surprised that you're that Milim's acquaintance; I believe you.
So, believe me as well!」
Somehow, she might not be lying after all.
Well, you know? They look pretty harmless up close.
And, they actually listen when you sit down to talk to them.
For some reason, I was preparing the snacks.
If I am the guest, why are our roles reversed?
Not that I care.
The kids have gotten friendly with the fairies and are happily munching on some snacks together. With a satisfied smile.
In the first place, the golem that freaked us out was meant to be shown after we have had our fun.
In fact, they didn't intend to kill us or hurt us.
Which is why,
「Aaaah… and we we had just finished making it from all those parts…」
She complained begrudgingly.
Nothing can be done about it now. If I don't kill it, it'll kill me–so I thought back then…
「Do you know just how efficient it was?
Earth Spirits manipulated the weight,
Water spirits moved each individual joint,
Fire spirits provided its power,
Wind spirits regulated the temperature.
Combination of many chemical elements. It was the epitome of the genius of the Ghost Researchers…」
She's surprisingly persistent.
If I knew it was going to end up like this, I would have eaten it and made a copy. Though I don't know if I could have done so…
But, genius of the Ghost Researchers? Does that have anything to do with Kaijin's story–the one about the "Magic Soldiers" plan the dwarfs had undertaken withe the elves?
「Hey, are you talking about the magic soldiers that the dwarfs and elves have been researching together?」
「Bingo, bingoooo!!!
How did you know! It went wild after they failed to use the heart–the Spirit Magic Circuits!
So, we picked up the shell that they threw out!
Does that make us… geniuses? Are we that amazing?」
Annoying, but, yes, amazing.
But, we are talking about Ghost Researchers who employ the power of ghosts, and fairies who are probably an existence close to that of ghosts–in other words, I can accept their proficiency in regards to this question.
Anyways, to summarize Ramiris' story: people tried to manipulate the power of ghosts to create a golem.
Filling its body with magical energy as if blood, and pumping it with oil to make it move. And to control its weigh with magic.
But it proved nonsensical.
I mean, its magic supply would be cut off if it just jumped five meters away.
However, were it made usable, it would become a terrifying weapon.
Though Ramiris is an idiot, I guess she is amazing.
「Alright, I understand your awesomeness.
Now, I have a request to this awesome you!」
I declared.
Then, I explained the children's circumstances.
Without hiding anything; truth and only the truth. The children listened intently.
「I see, I see~
I remembered. There was a guy who came here to try some things out.
Leon, it was Leon-chan!
He had not become a demon lord back then.
Well, I could have taken him out with a single punch! No question! Seriously…」
That's a lie.
I mean, it's not a case where she is averting her eyes–they are just spinning out of control.
I listen to her story.
One day, a young Leon showed up here.
Ramiris'『Though Manipulation』had no effect.
In fact, she was controlled in stead.
For Ramiris, who was only proficient in〈Illusion Magic〉of the〈Spirit Magic〉archive, there was nothing else she could do.
「Besides, just as it happened with you, once illusion magic failed it was game over!
I had not more cards to play, you know?
This adorable Ramiris had no other plan.
So, I planned to have the Golem become my arms and legs…
And silence the demon lords who constantly ridiculed…」
She's complaining again.
Not completely disheartened, but certainly holding a grudge.
Well, she then went out and lost to the not-yet-demon lord Leon, and had to help him out.
It seems he was researching things–knowledge on how to summon ghosts.
Without a single clue, he had managed to summon a high level fire spirit out of pure anger and then sent him away.
The fairies were dumbfounded when he told them.
「And then, he had this absurd request. To summon World Travelers, special individuals from other worlds!
Stop asking for the impossible. Are you an idiot!
He looked about to cry when I said that…
No! Really, he started crying!
Yeah. I am not exaggerating in the slightest.
Pathetic~!!!
A crybaby but so cheeky! Idiot!!!」
Why's she getting excited all on her own?
Is this a demon lord? Thank goodness. Had the first demon lord I met been this, I would consider them a miserable existence.
But, is she going to be fine? If someone learns of her malicious gossip, she'll be erased, no…?
I mean I can easily squash her.
「Hey…
You are thinking something rude right now, aren't you?」
「No, not at all?」
Though she's looking at me with suspicion, let's not forget that she's an idiot.
She's easy to fool.
By the way, the conversation got side tracked.
The point is, I want to have high ranked spirits stop the children's collapse.
Though I can't expect much from this idiot, I still decided to ask.
「Well, in that case, I was wondering whether a spirit could stop the body's breakdown.
What do you think?」
Her expression became serious.
She looked at the children–at each of their faces.
She could make a face like that? One truly unbefitting of a demon lord–filled with love.
「Um. You know, while I am a demon lord, I am also the saints' guide.
I bestow divine protection on heroes.
So worry not! I am fair.
I, this person before you, preserved the balance of the entire world!」
So? What's the point?
While I was thinking that, she turned to face me,
「Alright. I will help with the summoning. We'll summon the best spirits there are!」
She so declared.
Thus, I was taught about spirits by Ramiris.
A spirit is…
"In nothingness power finds its fill.
That is a holy spirit. The great holy spirit is the source of power.
Among these, light and darkness, the two great spirits.
Who came to exist at the same moment as the world.
But, the world was without form, a ephemeral existence.
Light and shadow, darkness and the light. Two existences that shall never interweave.
One day, the great spirit time was born.
The child of light and darkness.
And thus the world began to move.
The moving world spun, without purpose, around itself.
Inside the flowing currents of life and death,
Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Sky–these five great spirits were born.
And since then, these were the great eight spirits.
Until the light consumes the world, erasing darkness,
Until a new spirit is born, erasing all.
Life and death.
Heralding the coming end of the world…"
Is what she said.
「In other words, first the holy spirit had existed, and it gave birth to the other eight!」
Splendid… right? For a myth, it surprisingly lacks gods.
Perhaps this is the truth of this world.
By the way, great spirits did not have ego–they were masses of energy.
The Fire Spirit was just an excess fragment of the entire mass.
Like a monster, this fragment gained self awareness.
And this self-aware fragment of pure energy thus became a monster.
In a few words–paranormal phenomena is what it is. Not that I understand, or want to understand.
But, I do get what she wants us to do.
The point is,
「Create another fragment, is that it?」
Ramiris nods.
To give birth to a new spirit. If not that, then call forth an existing one.
Not an easy task.
Since they are capable of thought, it will be difficult to make a spirit obey.
Moreover, I don't know whether the kids can handle it.
Even so.
We have no choice but to try.
Either we summon a spirit that can fix our problems, or one that possesses the kids.
We'll solve that problem when we get there.
I look at the kids.
They are all staring at me with a serious expression.
「Okay?」
「「「Yeah!」」」
A stupid question.
All that's left is to have some faith and try it out.