7
“You are quite the summoner, girl, summoning me to this world. It’s been centuries since I’ve tasted this air…”
The demon standing on the magic circle appears to waver like a mirage. I guess that means it’s only here in spirit at the moment.
“Wow, I’m impressed! You actually summoned something! And he looks pretty powerful!” I can’t help but praise her work.
Grimm stares at the summoned demon, tilting her head to the side. “Who are you…?”
“Hey!”
I grab Grimm by the arm and whisper into her ear, “Just so we’re clear, you are the one that summoned that thing, right?”
“Well, I’m not entirely sure. I was just trying to summon the undead. Ghosts, basically. I thought I’d summon an ancient evil spirit of some sort, but, well, this thing showed up instead…”
I try to ignore the fact that Grimm wanted to summon an ancient evil spirit and instead focus my concern on the demon standing in front of me.
Somehow, I get the feeling it won’t be amused if we tell it, “Sorry, we summoned you by accident.”
Just then…
Ignoring our hushed conversation, Alice stands in front of the demon, glancing a bit dismissively at its hideous face.
“Seriously, Grimm? This hologram is pretty sad.”
……
“Hologram? What is a hologram, little one? I am a servant of the dark god Zenarith, the great demon— Hey! S-stop that!”
Just as the demon is about to introduce itself, Alice grabs the sheet with the magic circle, rustling it up and down.
Each time she waves the sheet, the demon wavers and lets out a loud cry, but Alice doesn’t seem the least bit perturbed by it.
“What are you doing, little one?! Such insolence after summoning me! This will not stand!”
“Oh, shut up, you holographic nobody. Where are you actually hiding?” the fearless android says breezily. This appears to impress the demon.
“Ah, so you’ve realized this form is only temporary. For me to fully manifest in this world, the rabbit is much too small a sacrifice.”
The demon’s form ripples in the air as Alice continues to maintain her hold on the sheet—
“If you wish to see my true form, provide more sacrifices! Then provide your soul as payment and cry out your heart’s desire! Now, little one… Hey! Stop that! What are you doing? Why do you interrupt me?!”
The demon appears to panic as Alice tries to roll up the sheet for storage.
“I asked for a ghost. I don’t need an imitation Gadalkand.”
“Imitation?! You dare call me an imitation?!”
Even as Alice continues to taunt the demon, an idea comes to me.
“Hey, if you’re a demon, does that mean you can grant three wishes?”
“Commander! I know it sounds odd coming from me, given I have a contract with Lord Zenarith, but you really don’t want to sign a contract with a demon!”
At my question, the demon finally appears to notice our presence.
“That’s correct, little one. I will grant any wish you ask in exchange for your soul. Now, do you desir— Stop it already! I can’t leave until we close the deal!”
Alice turns over the sheet, as if hoping to find something installed on the other side.
“You, the child that keeps doing these odd things. I’ll grant your wishes first. I’ll take a suitable payment, but I’ll grant anything you wish.”
“All right, then, make a couple of habitable planets around Earth’s star. Same amount of resources as Earth. But use the atmosphere from about fifty years ago, back before all the pollution.”
“Your wish will be gra— Um… What? Earth? Planet?”
The demon goes silent for a moment when it realizes the scope of the android’s demands.
“P-planets? Are you mad?! You just asked me to create two or three worlds! Just how greedy are you?!”
The demon practically screams the words.
“You’re the one who said ‘anything.’ It’s not like I’m trying to take advantage of a loophole by asking for more wishes. Fine. Then solve our energy crisis at least. Give us an infinite energy source that’s clean and compact.”
“Ener— Wh-what? Could you explain it in simpler terms? Can’t you just wish for money or gems? Maybe ask for power or a curse on someone you hate…”
It appears the demon doesn’t understand what energy is and proposes some alternatives.
“I’ve got plenty of money and power. All right, how about you wipe out all hostile life on this planet. The Demon Lord, the barbarians, also the mokemokes and giant monsters…”
“That’s a massacre of untold proportions! N-no, I can’t grant a wish that could bring about global disaster all for a single soul!”
The demon appears to be at a loss, unsure how to handle the android’s extreme wishes.
Feeling a little sympathy for it, I turn to Alice.
“Hey, just let that thing go home…”
“He’s the one who said he can’t leave without granting wishes. Still, thinking about wishes this thing might grant… Oh, the hideout’s toilet was backed up. Maybe we can get it to fix that.”
The demon realizes Alice isn’t kidding about the plumbing and some panic creeps into its expression.
But then it suddenly looks up, as if realizing something.
“…I—I know. Youth! How about eternal youth, like any woman would desire…?!”
“Androids don’t age. Version upgrades can deal with age-related degradation. This is a waste of time. Just get out of here.”
“……”
The demon, now completely deflated and looking down, disappears without a word. Compared to its flashy entrance and attitude, it’s a bit anticlimactic.
The silence that remains afterward is deafening.
To try to break up this weird tension, I mutter, “…I wanted to wish for debauchery.”
“Once you become a Supreme Leader you can secure that on your own. Don’t get sucked into a shady cult like that.”
…Guess I need to try harder, starting tomorrow. At Alice’s words, I swear to myself I’ll redouble my efforts here on this planet—!
“So, Alice. Do you believe me now?”
“………”
[Status Report]
Conducted surveys on this planet’s life-forms and magic.
This planet has many large life-forms, and almost all of them are aggressive and combative.
The strike from a supopocchi is particularly deadly, claiming the lives of several hunters each year.
The supopocchi’s predator, the mokemoke, is a relatively tame creature, and we believe coexistence with it is possible. It appears to recognize other mokemokes through its distinct cry, and if approached honestly will answer in kind.
Concerning magic, Alice is still skeptical about its existence and believes we must conduct additional studies.
We have discovered that the entities known as demons are not particularly impressive.
However, we believe additional research is needed and will be conducting another summoning ritual during the next full moon.
Will follow up with an additional report at that time.
Reporting Operative:
Combat Agent 6, Mokemoke Fan
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login