Ever since I came to this world, I didn’t bother much with how things worked. I already had a tough time figuring out how electronics worked in my old world so magical technology was something I didn’t dare to learn more.

There were papers that could store magic, there were machines that could read memories, and there were even satellites that broadcast information. I just simply nodded and said ‘Magical technology’ whenever I saw something weird.

But this was the first time I saw someone like the pink-haired man in front of me.

“I don’t sense any Life Force from you. What are you? A golem?” Rushia asked.

“I’m not just a golem. I’m the holoroid ver. RIKKA. Feel free to call me Ri-”

Before he could finish, Kanata grabbed his arm and pinned him to the ground while Ayame unsheathed her swords. A silhouette of a woman made from purple flames came from Asura and black mist came out of Rakshasa.

“W-W-Wait! I’m not dangerous! I’m a non-combatant unit!” the man shouted.

“Only a dangerous creature will say he is not dangerous”, Ayame said.

“Hey, Ayame. Can I crush him?” Kanata asked as she used three fingers to grab the man’s neck.

“P-Please, just listen! If you destroy me, the Demon Realm is going to be obliterated!!” 

Ayame and Kanata’s shadows rose up and pushed them away. They glared at me but the man’s shadow moved and bound him in place.

Nice control you have there, Mikage! Noir praised me.

“Let’s give him a chance, shall we? He won’t be able to do funny business like this”, I said.

“That thing is a holoroid! It’s dangerous!” Kanata shouted.

“If he’s dangerous, he could’ve killed us already”, Ollie told her.

“Exactly! He can choose to kill us anytime!” Ayame said.

“Can you give us the reason why you two are afraid?” I asked.

Ayame and Kanata looked at each other and nodded.

“A long time ago, there was a mad mage who wanted to create the perfect being. He is obsessed with surpassing the limits of the organic body that he focused more on golems”, Ayame said.

“That person is named Arief, a legendary golem maker. There are many stories where he created a golem only to have it endure so many trials that it’ll become disassembled. Then he will take down notes on what he should improve before moving on to the next project”, Kanata added.

“If he’s legendary, then how have we never heard of him?” Rushia asked.

“Because his masterpieces, the holoroids, are too dangerous. When he created them, the countries wanted to take that power for themselves and tried to negotiate with him. They even resorted to underhanded methods”, Ayame answered.

“And since he couldn’t do his experiments with them being annoying, Arief commanded his holoroids to destroy one empire in just a single night to show a message. After that, he disappeared and the surviving countries swore to never mention his name again to give him the peace he wanted”, Kanata said.

Sounds like someone I can chill with, Noir chuckled.

“Are you saying that this person is one of the holoroids?” I asked.

“If what he claims is true, then you can see why we’re wary of him”, Ayame glared at the pink-haired man.

“This information was only passed down through selected people. Ayame and I are the presidents of the student council so we know this”, Kanata said.

“If… If Arief knew that you broke your promise to not tell anyone about his existence…” the pink-haired man stopped smiling.

I was ready to enhance my Dark Magic and bind him even more while putting up a wall of darkness to protect the bystanders who were watching us. At the very least, I should be able to protect them.

“He really can’t do anything since he’s dead!” the man laughed.

“Huh?” Ollie asked.

Everyone was prepared for combat. Ollie had her sword drawn, Ayame took a stance, Kanata looked like she was ready to crush something with her fingers, and Rushia had green butterflies fluttering around her. But when the man said those words, they looked confused.

“Besides, Arief was not the one to make a big deal out of things like this. As long as you leave him alone, he won’t harm even a single fly”, the man smiled.

“He’s the mad scientist who destroyed a country just because he wanted to!” Ayame shouted.

“I can remember that he politely refused the messengers and diplomats demanding me and my brothers and sisters. He even served them tea and sent them home without any harm. It was until they barged in with soldiers that Arief had enough and decided to destroy the country those soldiers belonged to. That’s a justifiable act of self-defense, right?”

“If you put it that way…” Kanata muttered.

“And for the record, the reason why I’m here is because Arief still cared about the world. The Legion is going to activate tonight and I wanted help to stop it.”

“Legion?” Ollie asked.

“No way… It was completed?!” Ayame’s face paled.

“Before I say anything, what do you think it is?” the man frowned.

“During the negotiations, several diplomats saw Arief building a robot army. He answered their questions with ‘They are a backup plan in case I need to destroy something’ so the diplomats knew he was dangerous and needed to get him on their countries’ sides”, Kanata said.

“That sounds like Arief! He is easily misunderstood because of his words!” the man laughed.

“What do you mean by that?” Rushia asked.

“The Legion is a defense system! Arief created it in case a threat happens and needs to be destroyed! It’s a backup plan in case another country wants to aim for world domination! He’s always been the type to ask ‘What is my legacy in this world?’ so he wanted to make something like that!”

“Wait… Are you saying that there’s a threat that activated it?” I looked at him.

“Yes. So are we going to talk about it or do you need more convincing?”

I looked at Ayame and Kanata. They sighed and nodded which gave me enough reason to release the man from his shadow.

“Alright. Now that’s out of the way, my name is Rikka, holoroid ver. RIKKA. I can recognize the student council presidents of the Underworld Academy and the Celestial Academy and I can see the genius necromancer of this generation…. But who are you two?” he looked at me and Ollie.

“I’m Mikage Kamishiro, someone who’s under the orders of the Demon Realm”, I introduced myself.

“Super cute idol, Ollie Kureiji is-”

“I see. Your name is Mikage Kamishiro and Ollie Kureiji, noted”, Rikka nodded.

“LET ME FINISH MY INTRO-”

“What do you mean by a threat that has been activated?” Ayame asked.

Ollie just sulked in the corner while we focused on Rikka.

“Over the past months, I have detected a presence of a strange energy in the Demon Realm. However, a concerning event happened a few days ago which led to the Legion preparing their activation sequence”, he said.

“And what will happen if they activate?” Kanata asked.

“The threat is that strange energy that causes demons to become dangerous beasts. Arief’s Legion is only good for destroying things…”

“... That means every single demon who had that strange energy will be destroyed??” Rushia asked.

“We only have until sunrise before they finish their activation sequence. I tried real hard to shut them down but Arief didn’t really put a failsafe so I have to destroy the Core Mind.”

“But why didn’t you?” Ayame was still wary of him since she didn’t sheathe her swords.

“Because it has its own defense system. I’m a non-combatant unit and the other holoroids are dormant. You can guess what I’m trying to say here, right?”

The rest of us thought. I already had an idea what Ayame was going to say and Rushia seemed to have no choice but to agree with it.

“Can we reach it before sunrise?” Ayame asked.

“Yes. It’s not that far. That’s why I went to this village since this is the nearest one”, Rikka nodded.

Another side quest, huh? Noir snickered.

One after another, I replied.

“Lead the way”, Ayame said as she sheathed her swords.

“Thank you”, Rikka smiled.

This world really doesn’t want to give me a break….