What is this feeling…? Boredom? That’s really weird because it’s been a long time since I’ve been bored. Usually, I’m allowed to do whatever I want because no one can stop me, but I’m with the ruler now, and instead of exploring the ancient ruins, she’s more interested in wandering through Patriarch Atlantis’ garage! I don’t even know what a garage is, but clearly, it holds something important because the ruler’s not leaving. The underground space is empty and flat and really dark. If I didn’t have any divine sense, I would have to light a fire or use my Path of Slaughter to see.

“Finally!” the ruler said, her eyes lighting up. She went to the wall and placed her hand against it. That must be where the secret button is to activate whatever formation’s working inside this garage! The ruler grunted and took a step forward towards the wall, pushing with her palm. There was a huge crashing sound, and the wall collapsed! “Patriarch Atlantis was pretty good at hiding his stuff. I couldn’t find his secret hangar the last time I was here.”

Mm? What’s hidden behind this wall? The space inside is mostly empty, but there’s two strange-looking things. “What’s that? Some kind of metal bird?”

“They’re fighter jets,” the ruler said and walked towards the two metal, bird-looking things. One of them looked damaged beyond repair compared to the other one. The ruler pursed her lips before touching her earring. Out of nowhere, a really short man appeared by the ruler’s feet! The short man was squatting with his pants down by his ankles. A moment later, he fell over backwards while yelping. He scrambled to put on his pants and stood up at the same time.

“Your wish is my command,” the short man said and bowed. Beads of sweat slid down his forehead. “What would you like me to do?”

“Get this in working condition,” the ruler said and gestured towards the least-damaged-looking metal bird. The ruler came to my side and beamed while wrapping her arm around my shoulder. “Are you wondering who he is? He’s my engineer. If I need something fixed, I take him out of my earring.” She pointed at her ear. “This gem right here holds a spatial dimension capable of supporting life, a lot like your life pouch. I keep all sorts of people in there in case I ever need them.”

The ruler holds people against their will in a separate dimension, only letting them out when she needs their abilities? That’s … genius! Why haven’t I thought of doing that? Mm, it must be because I have Durandal and Puppers and Sir Pot already. I usually had Ilya with me too, and she could do everything. Right, for the times where I’m all alone and separated, I should keep people with me like the ruler does and use them in case of emergencies! “What other people do you have in your collection?”

The ruler raised an eyebrow at me. “One of every profession,” she said. “Hold on. Actually, I’m missing an architect. My last one died in an unfortunate accident.”

“Mm? What happened?”

“He slipped and fell off the world tree.”

Oh, that explains it. The world tree is really tall. If someone falls off of it, unless they’re capable of teleporting or flying, then they’re pretty screwed. Well, if they were being responsible, they wouldn’t have fallen off the tree in the first place. For some reason, the short man shivered while inspecting the fighter jet. It must be tough having no fur; I get cold even with a furry tail and furry ears. I’d feel bad for humans if the majority of them weren’t jerks.

The ruler’s engineer coughed and lowered his head, turning around to glance up at us with upturned eyes. “This lowly engineer isn’t enough to repair this craft by myself. Can I request for you to summon the formation master as well?”

The ruler tapped on her earring, and a demon came out this time! Ah? For some reason, this demon doesn’t really feel like a demon…? Does that make any sense? Demons are pretty sharp and prickly. They give off an aura of wanting to be left alone, but this formation master demon is … rounded and soft? Mm, my divine sense doesn’t just let me see things that’re far away, it lets me see the people close to me much more clearly!

“This is my formation master,” the ruler said. “She’s part of the moon race. You can tell the difference between them and demons by looking at their eyes. A demon’s pupils are a little taller than a moon race member’s pupils.”

Oh! …Yeah, I don’t see a difference. Maybe it’s because there’s no demon nearby to make a comparison. “I’ve been wondering for a while now, but … is Ilya a demon or a moon race person?”

“Without a sample of her blood, I can’t actually know for sure,” the ruler said. “From what I’ve seen of her in your memories, I’m eighty-five percent certain she’s a demon, but it’s always possible she’s a mix between the two as well.” The ruler turned her head towards the fighter jet where the formation master and engineer were working together. “Well? Give me an update.”

The engineer turned around and bowed his head. “We’ll need access to your material interspatial ring to repair this vehicle. If you summon the blacksmith as well, we can shorten the time it’ll take to repair this craft by several days.”

The formation master turned around a second after the engineer finished. “I’d like to make a request for an enlightenment pill,” she said. “With one, I could reverse-engineer the formations crafted to recover the vehicle’s original functions; otherwise, I’ll have to make a few modifications. I’ll make full use of the materials provided, but it’ll no longer be the original vehicle at that point; it’ll be a brand-new one wearing the skin of this rusty heap.”

“Sounds good,” the ruler said and threw a pill towards the formation master. Another person appeared beside her as well—I’m going to assume he’s the blacksmith. “How long will it take to get this jet up and running?”

“No more than eight hours,” the engineer said. “You can count on us.”

“Of course, she can count on us,” the blacksmith said while walking over to the jet. “If we fail, she’ll eat us alive.”

I looked at the ruler, and she looked back at me. “That’s not true,” she said. “At the very least, I’d cook them first.”