I had never considered it possible, but there it was, staring me right in the face.

The creature had just materialized out of thin air. If I didn’t know about the ritual I would have thought that it had just appeared there of its own accord.

Honestly, I never thought such a thing could exist. Not the creature, well, maybe the creature too. But the ritual: an ancient ritual, more myth than science, with missing pieces since many of the steps and required ingredients just didn’t exist or were not understood anymore. And yet, the ritual had been successful.

In front of me was a creature from a different world. Their outward appearance was just like ours: two feet, two legs, a torso and a head with two eyes and one mouth. All the right number of fingers and toes. But they were covered in strange clothes, of a material I had never seen before, like silk, but more luxurious, of brighter color and shine than anything I had ever seen, not even in the Imperial Court.

I’m not sure whose expression was more surprised, ours or the creature’s. She, or at very least the creature seemed to be a young female, stood rigidly, her mouth and eyes wide open, perhaps unsure if she should scream or run away.

“Don’t be afraid” master Ellure spoke from my left, perhaps the only one of us that thought the ritual had more than a slight chance of success. “We are sorry for bringing you here without your consent, but we desperately need your help.”

The creature blinked, closed her mouth and stood more firmly. “Ok, what is it this time? Demon-lord? Demographic collapse? Demographic collapse caused by a demon-lord?”

It was our turn to be surprised. Master Ellure was at a loss for words, I had to intervene “Yes, actually a Demon-lord is trying to conquer our lands, we have a problem with refugees and food production, which threatens to collapse our population…”

“Ok, I get it”, said our heroine, “I guess you haven’t tried to talk to them. The problem is your low productivity and lack of economic system that encourages trade. Not to mention the feudalism, you probably have serfdom too, zero social mobility. Here, have this electronic book reader, it has treatises on the scientific method, democracy, and economic theory. The battery should last several years. Good luck!”

And with that, she disappeared.