Plan "Fake Demon Lord."

It was simple.

I had a tower and some hospitable land nearby due to the wonky spacetime collapse.

Stella was too frail to take with me to go explore the lands, but here in the tower and this microclimate bubble, she'd be safe. Food wasn't an issue, and I could slowly recover in safety if a rumor about a terrifying Demon Lord existed.

But that wasn't all.

If this spacetime collapse incident was anything like the teleport incident was for Rudeus, it meant there were probably a bunch of people who could use some help.

And while I still didn't agree with Dad's philosophy of sticking my neck out for strangers, I did agree with the fact that helping someone could lead to them wanting to help other people. And in a chaotic time like this where time was important and people were desperate to cling onto any form of help, it was the perfect environment to build up a group of people under a common banner to help search for victims.

Especially if the leader of that group was a shadowy figure with seemingly unlimited resources and terrifying might.

In short, I'd be playing up the role of a Demon Lord... or at least a powerful figure gathering up forces and people.

We could use the tower as the base, and since I could terraform a bit, I could even do some kingdom building shenanigans to gather forces. And I could also rack up gratitude by finding specific people with scrying magic or something too. Wasn't sure about the exact details, but it was plausible at least.

Then in the meantime, I could get a group of people paying tribute in magic stones that I could use to power teleportation magic research to get us back home directly without having to make the trip on foot. Barring that, I could work on making something like a floating fortress and fly it across the land too... Though that would probably take up more magic stones.

And with Ruijerd here as a feared Supard warrior who would be out doing good deeds, mystery would build up around the owner of the tower.

"..And that's the rough gist of it. What do you think?"

Silence.

Ruijerd slowly nodded and said, "I don't disagree. Being able to help and rescue those in need would lead to great strides in restoring the Supard reputation. However..." He looked at me and said, "The Demon Kings will not take your appearance lightly. We are in the northeastern wastelands, so it is unlikely that trouble will arise soon. But if your influence spreads..."

"Bah!" Rika crossed her arms and said, "Why worry about those weaklings?" She looked at me and said, "Rika thinks that it's a great plan! Might makes right, so if Rudy shows his strength, the others will fall in line. And if it becomes a big problem, when Rudy recovers, you can go defeat Sister-in-law and become a Hero!"

Ruijerd paused. "...That would be an option. But..." He looked at me, thinking. "...The Immortal Demon King is formidable."

"Immortal Demon King, huh?" I paused to think about it. "Is she stronger than Orsted?"

The name was pretty intimidating. Bit weird how a 'she' was considered a king, but titles were titles. And a 'King' was still less than a 'God'.

Ruijerd blinked. "The Dragon God? Of course not."

"Great. Should be fine then." I paused and said, "I wonder what that guy's up to anyway? Hopefully he's been putting those spells to good use."

Being W had clearly hyperfocused on me and wasn't paying attention to Orsted at all. That, or he still didn't know Orsted was a thing. Either way, he was about to get kicked in the teeth whenever Orsted started making waves... Which would be the perfect time to do just about now.

Ruijerd stared at me and then said, "You know the Dragon God? Personally?"

"Hm? Yeah. We're at least comrades, hopefully friends."

Ruijerd frowned and then muttered, "Is this the power of children?"

"Anyway." I decided to ignore Ruijerd's comment and then said, "Before we start, how about we lay out what we can do first? Oh, and get Rika some proper clothes."

-LIV-

Later that evening, Ruijerd went out hunting to clear the area as well as gather a few more magic stones for the first step in Plan "Fake Demon Lord." As for me, Rika, and Stella...

"Rika thinks that a supposedly human child shouldn't be able to do this, Rudy." The former Demon Lord stared at me with glowing eyes. Probably identification considering what I was doing.

I carefully placed the helmet onto the mud mannequin I made and then gave it a once-over to check the magic circuits. After that, I looked at Rika and said, "It's called being creative and having fun. Imagination is very important for a child." I glanced off to the side at Stella and smiled. "Isn't that right, Stella?"

My baby sister giggled from her carseat cradle and then said, "Ga!"

Rika frowned and glanced over at Stella. "Your sister is a strange one as well. You are disgusting with the ease at which you manipulate mana, but that one..."

"Well, if I have the potential to become someone called a 'Magic God,' that's obvious." I turned my attention back to my project and said, "But anyway... You don't see any problem with this, right?"

Rika's eyes flashed green and she said, "...Not that Rika can see. Though Rika wonders how you layered so many magic formations and weaved ambient mana into an artificial circulatory system..."

"Trial and error. Also, good. In that case..." I stepped back and brushed off my hands to look at my work.

A sleek knight with shining silver armor. Tall and heroic, with a broadsword and a shield emblazoned with R3. Reminiscent of a certain mech from an anime with a Demon Emperor who united the world by becoming the common enemy.

Rika looked at me and said, "Are you certain that this will work? Rika knows that Perugius has summoned many Ancient Spirit familiars to serve at his side, but what you are attempting..."

"No reason why it shouldn't. And in the worst case, I'll just operate it remotely when you give me the Clairvoyance Demon Eye." I paused and said, "Speaking of which. Is there a reason why you haven't?"

"For someone as powerful as Rudy, Rika will be exhausted for a while. If you are willing to take the risk-"

"Oh. Then I'm good." I started drawing a magic circle beneath the armor and said, "We'll do this first."

Rudeus had rambled on about a lot of different things... Which I still needed to get down on paper so I didn't forget.

Note to self: do that after this experiment.

Anyway, among the many, many, many things that he rambled about, he mentioned that one of his friends had managed to create an automaton of Sylphy in the future. Well, his future.

Considering I probably wouldn't meet the same people as him, that was up in the air.

Not to mention that one Sylphy was scary enough. The thought of one that didn't need to sleep at all...

I felt a shiver run down my spine and shook my head, focusing back on the magic circle.

But to sum things up, it was possible. While I didn't know the process, I had some hypotheses on how to do it.

This would be the first test.

It was possible to summon 'spirits' as a familiar. The higher leveled spirits had physical and humanoid forms, a la Perugius's mythical 11 Ancient Spirits. Lower level ones though seemed to be just blobs of sentient mana, a la Mercy with Master Roxy.

But that was the interesting thing.

Summoning magic here didn't use catalysts or mediums to summon or draw particular familiars. Unlike certain magi seeking heroic spirits as servants or alchemists doing equivalent exchange, summoning circles were pretty basic.

...At least, none of the summoning magic I or Rika knew. And considering that Rika was a few hundred years old, she knew a lot.

So, the test.

I finished drawing the magic circle and then pulled out a bag of magic stones I had condensed for this first experiment.

Since I was still low on mana, there were only three tiny ones, but it should be enough.

Now...

I placed the magic stones at the foot of the armor and then activated the summoning circle.

"Gate, open."

Crimson light flared as the summoning circle came to life and then absorbed the magic stones, melting them down.

Good. Things were working.

"Rika still thinks this is ridiculous."

"Well." I stared at the gathering mana and said, "It's this or testing out mana drain."

"NO!"

"Then it's this."

...I still think it's a good trump card to use, but since Rika was so adamant against it...

I shook my head and focused.

The spell I had in mind was different. While it had been great that I managed to summon Rika to help out... in theory. So far, her only upside had been entertaining Stella and acting like a mascot.

But anyway, while it was great to summon a Demon Lord, I needed something intangible this time. A spirit that could inhabit and use the armor and artificial circuits I placed in the mud doll. Not only that, something that could talk and fight. One with learning capacity to pick up the sword techniques that I knew and apply the combat theory.

With those goals, I sent out my mana.

For a while, nothing. All I felt was my mana being swept to and fro like when I was summoning Rika.

But then I felt a tug. Not only a tug, but a pull. Something holding onto my mana like a lifeline and pulling itself closer.

At the same time, a swirl of mana started gathering around the summoning circle. Localized to the circle itself, but definitely amping up every second.

"R-Rudy! I can't see it!"

"Wait, what?"

I glanced back at Rika and saw that her eyes were green. She was using her foresight eyes to peer into the future.

...And she said she couldn't see what was going to happen?

I felt a surge of panic and quickly tried to pull back my mana.

Yeah, bad idea. Definitely going to just pilot the suits remotely-

A sharp tug. Overwhelming silver mana that felt like a sword aimed right at my neck. Mana that drew in my own and started mixing with it, giving off the appearance of a bloodstained blade. A terrifying presence that seemed to draw closer with every moment.

"Gah! This is why I hate spells!" I cursed and forcibly cut off my mana flow. At the same time, I reached out to erase the magic circle.

But it was too late.

A pillar of crimson light, shooting to the sky and piercing through the ceiling. Intense winds billowing out from the summoning circle along with the crackling of rainbow lightning.

Stella giggled. Probably because it was an exciting light show. And also because she was safe from being blown away from the necklace I gave her. But...

I quickly jumped to my feet and ran over to Stella. At the same time, I looked at Rika and said, "Any chance you know something to stop this? Anti-magic? Magic drain? Nullification?"

Rika ran over to my side and ducked beside me. "T-This One is still but a child! A true child, unlike you! How can you expect This One to fight?!"

Was it because she was terrified? Rika reverted back to her initial habit of talking.

So... she was out.

Fortunately, I could see Ruijerd's mana racing back towards the tower. He definitely noticed.

Though, the person being summoned right now seemed a lot stronger than him...

Well.

I reached out my left hand to the side while holding out my right to Rika. "Lend me your mana!"

"W-What?"

I stared at the crimson light and said, "I can kill it, but I need a top up."

"Y-You said you wouldn't eat This One! A-Are you a liar? A betrayer?! This One knew it was too good to be true!"

"Argh, that's not- Whatever!" I lowered my right hand and focused. "Just make sure to keep Stella safe!"

Alright, me. The World Egg theory worked. By that logic, inverting the World Egg theory should work too. My mana wasn't enough to actualize it, but it should be enough to pull one trump card out.

So. Conceptualize the weapon first, transform it from imagination to reality through mana...

And in this situation, what we needed was-

The crimson light suddenly vanished, sucked into the armor. And when it did, crimson lights flashed in the helmet's visor, swirling around to look at the room.

I froze.

...Strong. I didn't know how strong Perugius's Ancient Spirits were, but the guy in that armor didn't seem much weaker than Orsted.

Okay. So... maybe not a good idea to do magical science experiments when I'm not topped up to prevent situations like this.

The armor... No, the summoned spirit tilted its head and looked at its sword and shield. After that, it turned to look at me. Then Rika. Then Stella. And then... it stared at my left hand before focusing its gaze on me.

...Yep. Bad idea. That spirit seemed to be able to sense the flow of mana. Or maybe its instincts were that good?

Alright then. I'll try to get out of this, but in the worst case it'll be time to see if Rudeus was right about me having a few more charges left for-

"I ask of you. Are you my Master?"

A distorted and raspy voice. And one that seemed... a bit confused?

Not hostile at least. That was good.

Now to buy time for Ruijerd to get here just in case things went south.

I stepped forward and nodded. "That's right. My name is Rudeus Notos Greyrat... But you can call me Rudy." I put on my best winning smile and held out my right hand. "What's your name, Mister Spirit?"

The spirit stared at me with its glowing red eyes.

I stared back, resisting the urge to flinch.

The spirit didn't move. But then it reached out with his hand to grab mine. "Rudeus Notos Greyrat..." The spirit shook my hand and said, "...The contract is sealed." The spirit knelt down to the ground and said, "From this day forth... Rudeus Notus Greyrat. My sword shall be at your side and your fate shall be as mine."

The moment the spirit said that, I felt a connection form. Like with Rika, a bit of my mana wrapped around the spirit and latched on like a collar. Except with the spirit... It turned into a cool crimson scarf?

...Okay. Summoning magic was officially weird. Cool, but weird. Did I like... just pull a SSR or something? There was that dramatic pillar of light, the rainbow lightning-

Wait.

...Holy crap.

I *am* just doing gacha pulls.

Three magic stones. Summon circle. The mascot by my side making a dramatic reaction. Stella giggling in the background.

IT'S A FREAKING FIVE STAR SUMMONING ANIMATION! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-

A flash of green from up above. Ruijerd, jumping down from the hole in the ceiling and his spear aimed at the spirit.

"W-Wait, Ruijerd-!"

I tried to stop him. But before I could, the spirit moved as well.

It gently pushed me aside and then swung its sword at the tip of Ruijerd's spear.

Crimson light flashed, mixing in with the spirit's silver mana. And the result of that...

Was Ruijerd somehow being dragged to the ground in one move and the spirit standing behind him with its sword against Ruijerd's neck? Not only that, but the momentum sucked away and forcing Ruijerd to a complete stop?

The heck?

"...You are not strong enough." The spirit's raspy and distorted voice echoed. "Strong, but not enough."

Ruijerd tensed and looked at me. "Rudy..."

"It's fine. Mister Spirit here is a friend." I looked at the spirit and then said, "And Mister Ruijerd is too. So, um... Can you let him go?"

"Understood." The spirit lowered its sword... His sword? Probably his. Anyway, the spirit lowered his sword, leaving Ruijerd to step back and frown.

...God I had a headache.

Note to self. Catalysts work. They work really, really, *really* well.

Additional note to self: Just summon ordinary spirits and make a suit for them later.

A tense silence.

The spirit seemed content to sit and wait at my side.

Ruijerd looked concerned. But seeing the spirit not move from my side and also not show any more hostility, he just sighed and said, "Please be more cautious with your experiments. A show of force is useful to establish your identity, but at this rate things will become troublesome."

"Y-Yeah." I nodded and said, "I got it, Ruijerd."

He nodded and said, "I will resume hunting. In the meantime." He looked at the spirit and said, "I suppose you will be in charge of their protection?"

The spirit nodded.

"...Fine."

With that, Ruijerd left.

And then it was just me, Rika, and Stella... who was smiling happily at the spirit and giggling.

Well, at least my sister had a positive mental attitude about things. Or was easily entertained. Both good things.

Rika on the other hand looked like she was seeing a monster.

Didn't blame her.

I resisted the urge to sigh and instead looked at the spirit. "Um, Mister Spirit? I never got your name."

The spirit turned to look at me again, staring down with those ominous crimson eyes. And then it said, "Call me what you wish. Names are all the same."

...Did I jinx it? I must have jinxed it. By declaring myself a demon lord, was I going to have to deal with all sorts of weird characters for potential subordinates? And since I wouldn't accept Ruijerd as a subordinate, I got a super edgy and ultra loyalist knight to stand by my side?

Argh... I need aspirin.

No. Focus, Rudy. You can complain and rant later when you're with Stella. Turn that frustration into amusement for your baby sister. Right now, be professional. Business.

"Alright. Then..." I looked up at the spirit.

The armor it wore had changed a bit. The gold was gone, replaced by a vivid crimson color. At the same time, it became more formfitting. Almost like a futuristic body suit rather than armor. And in accordance to that new appearance, the R3 logo I designed had turned into a patch on its shoulder.

Thankfully, the overall aesthetic still looked heroic... Despite Mister Spirit's totally evil and raspy voice.

"...How about Roland?"

"...Understood. Roland. Roland..." The spirit's distorted voice started to change. As it said its name, the voice became clearer, more smooth. Until finally...

"Yes. My name shall be Roland, a knight in service to Lord Rudeus Notos Greyrat."

A charming and charismatic male voice. One that actually matched the heroic appearance of the armor it wore.

"...I don't even know anymore." I let out a deep sigh.

When I did, Stella giggled.

Great. At least she's having fun.

I shook my head and then waved Mister Spirit... No, 'Roland', off to the side. "Thanks for joining the party, Roland. Now sit tight and keep the kids safe while I get some more pals."

Okay. No magic stones this time. Apparently that could pull SSRs... or something.

So if we were going by gacha logic, if I just used magic power, it would be normal spirits, right? Right.

...Please?

I walked back up to the summoning circle and hesitantly held out my hand. "Gate, open."

Just some basic elemental spirits. Baby ones. Nothing too crazy. I'd train them up, so please keep it simple...

...Aaand there goes the mana drain. Plus eleven different mana signatures racing towards me from wherever the summoning circle connected me.

Well. Guess we're doubling down on the Demon Lord gig... Might as well make a whole Knight Corps for Roland to lead then. The Knights of Charlemagne had twelve people in it, right...?