With this, I can proceed with the story favorably.
"Come out now, or you'll burn and disappear? I know all the places you're hiding in?"
?
I have a rough idea, but I'm not entirely sure.
It's better if you come out on your own, as it's less troublesome.
Seeming to be taken aback by my words,
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!!!
Right now, though I'm embarrassed, I've been called out!!"
A small girl with wings like a doll's, who is cute, flew over.
She's a bit taller than 30cm. She's not a dwarf, but more like a fairy from a story.
The child, wearing a glittering, frilly, luxurious outfit, came forward, and a few others with the same modest attire were flying behind her.
Overall, their clothes were uniformly dark.
"Wha-wha-wha??? No! I, the great......"
She bit her tongue.
Should I call her out? Perhaps, being accustomed to telepathy, she's clumsy with words.
"......Are you okay?"
She stopped me with one hand in response to my question,
"I, one of the great ten Demon Lords! I am Lamiris, the 'Labyrinth Fairy (迷宮妖精ラビリンス)'!!!
I'm smart! Show respect!!!"
She said, puffing out her nonexistent chest and leaning back. What is this, this rising irritation...
First, it's a pain.
"Whoa!!! W-What are you doing! You scared me!!!"
She complained while dodging with her small body.
That's too much, isn't it? Isn't it?
Should I get rid of her? Should I get rid of her?
But, but, but, but, she was hit by the golem?
No way. No way. Get rid of her!
It's noisy.
Each word rings in my head.
"From the start, you're cowardly! Why doesn't 'Mind Control' work on you!
You, the one who's ineffective, it's been a while!!!"
She's angry, making pfft pfft sounds.
Is it because she's resisting that 'Mind Control' from the start?
However, this fairy (little girl) can't be a Demon Lord. Is she still playing around?
"You, if you're going to lie, at least make it a proper one.
There's no way a fairy (little girl) like you can be a Demon Lord!"
"Don't call me a little girl! Really, you're so rude. What else could I be besides a Demon Lord!"
"Eh? A foolish child? By the way, when you say Demon Lord, there's a friend named Mirim who is amazing?
Compared to her, you're so weak, right?"
"Bah????????? Stupid!!! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!!! You're the stupid one????!!!"
Lamiris, the fairy, shouted loudly while catching her breath with her shoulders.
Then,
"You know,
Mirim is called an unreasonable Demon Lord.
She solves everything with force.
Comparing that unreasonable one to the pitiful me is a grave insult?
At least, you need to properly understand that side of things!"
She was indignant.
From then on,
"From the start, aren't you a bit strange?
What? Why are you using such an unreasonable and dangerous technique!
For that thing just now, don't you think several special abilities are needed to realize it?
I wish you wouldn't do such unreasonable things.
Whatever.
Even if you know Mirim, I won't be surprised, I believe you.
So, you should believe me too!"
Perhaps it's not a lie.
What is it? Looking at them, they seem harmless.
I decided to calm down and listen to the story.
For some reason, I prepared tea and snacks.
Just now, I called them guests, but it's the opposite, right?
Whatever.
The children also got along with the spirits and were happily eating snacks. It's heartwarming.
Originally, she planned to scare us with the golem and then come out to have fun.
It seems she really had no intention of killing or hurting us.
Therefore,
"Ah... After finally completing the toy we collected together..."
She complained repeatedly, as if resentful.
I couldn't help it. I thought they would die if I didn't kill them...
"From the start, that thing was incredibly high-performance?
Using earth spirits to manipulate weight,
water spirits to move the contact between parts,
fire spirits to generate power,
and wind spirits to control heat.
The culmination of elemental forces. Made with the essence of spirit engineering..."
It's incredibly persistent.
To this extent, it would have been better to eat and copy it. Whether it's possible or not is unknown.
However, the essence of spirit engineering...? This seems related to the "Magic Soldier Plan" that Kajin mentioned before, which the elves were trying to develop together...
"Hey, that thing, the magic soldier that the dwarves and elves were trying to develop together?"
"Ding dong, ding dong??? Oh!!!
You know well! It's called the 'Spirit Magic Core,' and it couldn't be made, so it went out of control!
So, I picked up the shell and brought it back to restore it!
Maybe I'm a genius? Isn't it amazing?"
It's annoying, but it's definitely amazing.
However, since spirit engineering is based on the power of spirits, it makes sense that a spirit close to that power can understand its essence.
In any case, summarizing Lamiris's story, it seems there was a plan to create a golem that could be manipulated using the power of spirits.
By circulating magic power throughout the body like blood, it creates hydraulic pressure to move. The weight is controlled by magic.
It was a mess.
By making it jump about 5 meters, it could become a weapon just by cutting off the magic.
However, depending on how it's used, it could be a powerful weapon.
She seems foolish, but she might actually be amazing.
"Alright, I get that you're amazing.
So, because of your amazingness, I have a favor to ask!"
I brought up the topic.
I explained the children's situation.
Without hiding anything, I was honest. The children were listening seriously.
"Is that so, is that so????
I remember. A while ago, a kid came here to undergo a trial.
It was Leon, Leon-chan!
That kid became a Demon Lord so arrogantly.
Well, if it were me, I could knock him out with one punch! I have the leisure! Really..."
It's clearly a lie.
Her eyes aren't just looking elsewhere; they're spinning.
I listened to the story.
It seems a boy named Leon came here before.
Lamiris's 'Mind Control' didn't work on him.
Instead, she was almost manipulated in return and was flustered.
Lamiris seems to specialize in 'Illusion Magic' among 'Mind Magic,' and it didn't work at all.
"From the start, you, and illusions, if they don't work, it's over!
Now there's nothing you can do?
There's nothing I, the pitiful one, can do, right?
So, the golem was supposed to be my hands and feet...
I thought it would show me the Demon Lords who mocked me...."
She's still talking...
She doesn't seem to be discouraged at all, as she continued to complain.
Well, she was completely defeated by Leon, who wasn't even a Demon Lord, and had no choice but to cooperate.
It seems she was investigating something and called upon a spirit of knowledge.
Most importantly, she couldn't find any clues and, in frustration, took control of a higher fire spirit and left.
She was astonished by this.
"Anyway, she made an impossible wish. In this world, summon a specific person!
Of course, it's impossible (unrealistic). Isn't she stupid!
She had a face like she was about to cry....
No! She was crying!
Yes. Saying she was crying is not an exaggeration.
Eh???!!!!
Crying and being arrogant! Stupid!!!"
She gets excited on her own.
Is this a Demon Lord? Fortunately, if the first Demon Lord I met was like this, it wouldn't end in disappointment.
But, is this kid okay? If this kind of gossip gets out, won't it be erased...?
If she realizes I'm talking about her behind her back, I can easily erase her.
"Wait...
Aren't you being incredibly rude right now?"
"No, not at all?"
She looks at me suspiciously, but she's just a foolish child.
I easily brushed it off.
However, the conversation is going off track.
The point is, she wants to use a higher spirit to stop the children's collapse.
I can't expect much from this foolish child, but I'll ask anyway.
"Well, thinking about it, I wondered if a spirit could stop the collapse.
What do you think?"
Lamiris, with a serious expression, flew around the children, looking at each one.
Can she make such an expression? A Demon Lord, but full of benevolence.
"Yes. I am a Demon Lord and also a guide for the holy.
I have the role of granting the blessing of the Holy Spirit to the hero.
So, don't worry! I'm fair.
I, I am the one who maintains the balance of the world!"
So? What are you trying to say?
She looked at me and said,
"Alright. I'll cooperate with the summoning. Please, try to summon a great spirit!"
And she declared it.
Here, I received a lecture on Lamiris's spirits.
What is a spirit...
"The void is filled with power.
This is the Holy Spirit. The great Holy Spirit is the source of power that simply exists.
In the midst of this, two pillars, light and darkness, the great spirits, were born.
It was the moment the world was born.
However, the world is merely a floating existence.
Light and shadow, the moon and the sun. They try to mix but cannot.
At one point, the great spirit of time was born.
It is the existence of the child of light and shadow.
And the world began to move.
The world started to turn, aimlessly, endlessly.
In the flow of life and death, one-way.
The five pillars of earth, water, fire, wind, and space, the great spirits, were born.
The world, interfering with each other, eventually stabilized.
These are the great eight pillars of the great spirits.
And the world overflowed with light, enveloped in darkness.
New spirits were born and disappeared.
Life and death.
Until the world eventually comes to an end..."
"Meaning, the Holy Spirit existed first and gave birth to the world and the great eight pillars of the great spirits!"
Grand...? It's like a myth, but not a god.
This is the truth of this world.
Additionally, the great spirits seem to be formless energy.
The higher spirits of fire, for example, are fragments of energy that have been cut off.
Like monsters, they are beings with self-awareness created from the fragments.
Like how magic power creates monsters when it gains self-awareness.
In short, it's an inexplicable phenomenon. I can't understand it, and I don't want to.
However, I could understand what she was trying to say.
In summary,
"You want me to cut them off, right?"
Lamiris nodded vigorously.
To create new spirits or call wandering spirits.
It's not simple.
It's difficult to subdue spirits born with will.
Or, I'm worried about the children's aptitude.
Still.
It has to be done.
To neutralize with will-less spirits or be controlled by the spirits.
That's something to think about after summoning them.