*Bang! Bang!*
*Thud! Thud!*
The sound of knocking echoes through the door.
“…Huh?”
Rayos, who had been lost in a delusional fantasy of summoning a radiant red-haired woman, wielding glowing knives, equipping innocent girls with them, and eventually creating an unstoppable harem of adult women with these weapons, snaps back to reality.
“Eeeek——What do I do, what do I do…”
He had consumed an important magic stone to summon a cheap knife from another world.
Originally, the plan was to summon a formidable warrior from another dimension, bind them with a master-servant contract through the ritual embedded in the summoning circle, and have them dedicate their life to the kingdom while he waited safely in the rear for good news.
But instead, he summoned a weapon outside the summoning parameters—a cheap knife. Why a knife of all things?
“If this keeps up, I… I’ll be gang-raped by the soldiers on the front lines…”
No way! I don’t want to become some breeding ground for new soldiers!!!
The red-haired woman who conducted the summoning ritual begins to glance around, trying to find a way to escape.
During the summoning ritual, there’s no way to let the summoned individual escape.
There are no windows or secret passages. The walls and ceiling are inscribed with spell formulas that disperse any attack.
The only entrance is a massive door engraved with the sacred deeds of the gods, which is being pounded on incessantly.
To open or close it, one simply needs to pour magic power into the device installed at the bottom right of the door (the magic of the red-haired woman, as designated by those outside).
If the red-haired woman is killed by the summoned individual, the highest-level spell embedded in the summoning circle will bind the summoned person with a master-servant contract, placing them in standby at the center of the circle.
If the red-haired woman dies, the device’s registration is reset, and it can be opened or closed from the outside.
“Aria?! Did the summoning succeed?! If it did, hurry up and open this door!?”
*Bang! Bang!*
*Thud! Thud!*
The red-haired woman—Aria—is being pressured by someone outside, someone important, to either open the door or explain the situation.
“So it’s Aria, huh…”
Rayos, having learned Aria’s name, briefly returns to his fantasy of creating an unstoppable weapon harem before refocusing on the conversation with Aria.
〈So your name is Aria…〉
“What should I do…? Who’s there?!”
Aria, panicking at the call from someone outside, is shocked that someone else has infiltrated the summoning chamber. She pleads for her life, claiming she’s a valuable asset, and tries to negotiate her way out of this crisis.
“Who do you think it is?! Have you forgotten my voice?! I know who you are, Ariadne=Aria=Fesipis, the court mage!?”
The person outside calls out Aria’s full name. However, Rayos can’t fully understand the language. Half of him is happy about the language barrier, while the other half grumbles that it’ll make manipulating Aria more difficult.
“Lord Kisarabis?! That’s not it!”
The man pressuring Aria is apparently named Kisarabis.
Rayos detaches from the knife and considers what Kisarabis looks like. If he’s handsome, Rayos decides to arrange an “unfortunate accident” before Kisarabis can lay a hand on Aria or the other women.
*Bang! Bang!*
*Thud! Thud!*
“That’s not it? What’s not it?! Just hurry up and open the door! The summoning’s done, right? You’re standing in front of the door! Quickly, introduce me to the Otherworlder!”
Kisarabis is a dignified old man, dressed in priestly robes, clearly a high-ranking figure. The building housing the summoning chamber is a marble temple, a place for communicating with the gods.
“Do I really have to serve some old man with beautiful women?”
Rayos decides to arrange an “unfortunate accident” for Kisarabis, reasoning that it’s unacceptable for a man of power to have his way with young women. If that’s the case, then all men in power deserve such accidents. What a tyrant! There’s a tyrant in here, God, who doesn’t discriminate based on the scale of power!
Rayos retreats further into the temple.
He attempts to communicate with the panicking Aria, who can’t fully understand him due to the language barrier but isn’t completely in the dark. He reattaches to the knife and calls out to her.
〈Aria. Aria. Listen to me.〉
“Huh? It’s not just my imagination… right? Who are you…?”
Realizing that speaking loudly would alert Kisarabis outside, she quickly lowers her voice and scans the spacious room.
She’s not carrying any weapons. If the summoned individual were to take them, she’d be in immediate danger. Additionally, she doesn’t arm anyone who might try to escape in case the summoned individual turns out to be incompetent.
“…Where are you? Show yourself already! I’m in a life-or-death situation here…!”
Aria crouches down, wondering if there’s a secret escape hole in the floor, checking for any drafts while searching for the source of the voice.
〈I’m at the center of the magic circle… the summoning circle.〉
“Huh? There’s nothing there! If you don’t show yourself, I’ll really get angry, you know?”
Aria turns her gaze to the summoning circle. There’s no trace of a human figure. She’s frustrated but can’t shout out loud to avoid further upsetting Kisarabis. She angrily whispers to the unseen presence.
〈Aria. The knife you summoned—that’s me.〉
“…Huh? The knife? You’re lying… right?”
Aria cautiously approaches the knife lying near the center of the summoning circle.
Angry at herself for approaching so carelessly, she reassures herself that if the knife is the substitute for the legendary warrior she intended to summon, she can handle this. She doesn’t touch it, keeping a safe distance in case it attacks, and asks if it’s really the one speaking.
〈Yes, I’m the legendary weapon from another world, the one bestowed by His Majesty the King to those destined to become heroes.〉
Rayos spins an elaborate, clichéd fantasy tale to convince Aria that he’s an incredible weapon, one that would please even someone as important as Kisarabis. He guides her thoughts, saying she’s an excellent summoner, and begins to manipulate her.
“I’m… amazing?”
〈Of course you are.〉
Aria, cornered by Rayos’s smooth talk, has no choice but to fall for it.
*Bang! Bang!*
*Thud! Thud!*
If it weren’t for Kisarabis’s continued pounding, Aria might not have been deceived by Rayos.
After this, Aria carefully holds the knife with Rayos’s spirit, opens the door, and introduces the “legendary weapon” (Rayos’s knife) to Kisarabis, who furrows his brow in deep thought.
