Life is so difficult.
Pastel, with a pained expression, rolled around wrapped in blankets like a caterpillar.
Rolling this way and that.
Ugh, ugh.
She moved restlessly, as if trying to shake off her troubled conscience.
“Lord Demon! Lord Demon! Isn’t it a bit harsh to sentence me to prison for life just for teaming up with the Cult?”
Even if it was for the sake of the retainers’ revenge, it felt too harsh.
The demon looked down pityingly.
“There’s no need to think too innocently. The process by which Sinclair became the Guild Master is filled with suspicious circumstances. There’s enough doubt to affirm suspicions from the moment he got involved with the Cult. It’s simply that due to time passing, it’s difficult to find evidence, so it was appropriate to punish him with other charges. The victims will surely be satisfied in the afterlife.”
Pastel felt her emotions becoming complicated. The solid support from the Lord Demon slightly relieved the pain of her conscience, but instead, a sense of crisis emerged.
The comforting feeling made her conscience smooth out.
Her rough conscience was poking at her chest, but the demon came with sandpaper and rubbed it gently, easing the pain.
Rubbing gently.
Smooth.
It really felt like the whisper of a true demon.
“Lord Demon, do you not know about the presumption of innocence? I do!”
“Hmph.”
The demon grabbed the blanket that Pastel was tightly wrapped in and pulled it away.
Pastel rolled out of the blanket and onto the bed.
“Woah!”
“Don’t attach reasons to things that have already happened and suffer more.”
“Totally a demon!”
“That’s right, I’m a demon.”
Ugh.
The accusations were completely ineffective.
As she slouched down, the demon brought out a glass vial. When she received it, the clear liquid splashed inside. It was a colorless, odorless poison.
“Check the skills of the recently merged Prism Upper Trading Guild. They tried to leave the hard and boring work to me and failed, so they must possess a certain level of skill.”
Pastel flinched.
Ugh.
Since being caught for sabotage, she felt like she’d been labeled a bad girl for shirking her responsibilities.
“I’m not that kind of girl!”
I do all my work and still play!
“Just, just!”
What should she say, what should she say?
Waving her hands around, she shouted her inner thoughts.
“I only do this to the Lord Demon!”
Oh wow.
The demon looked very unimpressed.
“That’s worse.”
Huh?
Now that she thought about it, it was true, wasn’t it?
Pastel awkwardly whistled. She glanced around anxiously and unnecessarily inspected the glass vial.
The clear liquid lapped gently.
Wow, how fascinating.
“Is this a deadly poison that can kill a dragon with just one drop?!”
Oh no.
Super strong poison in my hands?!
The weight of death feels heavy!
Shiver, shiver.
“That’s not possible. A poison that can kill a dragon could not be bought even for a fortune. This is a paralysis poison mixed with a nerve toxin.”
Hmm.
Slightly disappointing.
“Can I smell it?”
“Sure. Besides, it won’t affect you anyway.”
“I didn’t think being a glutton who solely eats magic stones would be helpful.”
She opened the glass vial and took a quick whiff. She didn’t smell anything. It really was odorless.
As she reached out, a magic stone knife flew into her hand. She hesitated to tip the vial over it, thinking it might flow out too quickly.
“So this means…”
The demon handed her a small brush.
Aha.
Carefully inserting the brush into the vial, she poked the liquid. It became moist quickly.
“Don’t get it too wet. You have to apply it lightly. If it flows, that will only cause trouble.”
“Okay.”
Pastel lightly bit her tongue and painted the knife with the brush like an artist.
Slather, slather, slather.
The clear poison coated the blade.
She glanced at the knife, feeling like nothing much had changed.
Pastel tilted her head.
“Is this it?”
Super easy.
“That’s right.”
Yay.
Pastel stared at the poisoned knife, slowly trembling her hands.
“Can you really kill a person with such an easy method?!”
Can the weight of life be allowed to be encapsulated in such a simple method without any effort?
The smooth conscience that the Lord Demon had polished smoothly began to feel rough again!
“Others wouldn’t normally use such a method, right?”
“That’s correct.”
Gasp.
Pastel’s mouth dropped open.
The fact that they didn’t use such a simple method suggested that at least some remnants of conscience had preserved a moral line.
“So am I the only one doing something especially bad?! Am I lacking one million times more conscience than others?!”
Her conscience felt rough again!
Poke, poke.
Ahhh.
Don’t torment my heart.
The demon pondered for a moment.
“It’s not that they don’t use it because of their conscience, but rather because it’s dangerous. Poison may seem like an easy method, but in fact, it is not at all.”
The demon’s fingers curled down one by one.
“It’s tricky to manage; there’s a high chance of accidental deaths because of it during meals. Moreover, there’s no distinction between allies and enemies, so you can’t apply it all the time; it’s more cumbersome than you think. Plus, it affects your reputation, making it difficult to rescue allies. It’s not that they choose not to use it; they can’t.”
Oh, is that the reason?
The demon’s enthusiastic polishing made her conscience smooth again!
Is this the feeling of corruption?
It might not be so bad after all.
Pastel nodded in agreement but suddenly gasped.
Oh no!
She naturally fell for the demon’s whispers!
Ahhh.
“Hmph.”
The demon bent down and carefully examined Pastel. The red eyes scanned the girl’s state.
“Looks like sending the Guild Master to prison has had an adverse effect on your mental and physical health.”
The demon placed a hand on the girl’s forehead and checked her temperature.
“No fever?”
Pastel stared blankly up at the demon and rubbed her forehead.
“I guess that must be it.”
“Rest for a while. I’ll inform you, so skip the Skywhale gathering and take a good rest during the remaining vacation.”
The demon straightened its clothes and surveyed the room. It was a temporary hut made on the back of the Skywhale.
“It might be good to return to the Academy dormitory completely.”
“But the vacation is ending soon anyway.”
“That’s precisely why I’m telling you to rest well. A change of pace should help a lot.”
“A change of scenery…”
Pastel muttered blankly.
The demon looked at her, then turned to head towards the door.
“I’ll let you know, so rest well.”
“A change of scenery…?”
How should I go about doing that?
Pastel thought deeply and then suddenly brightened.
Oh, right!
I forgot something!
How could I forget such an important thing?!
How engrossed was I in revenge?
The demon looked back as it opened the hut door. Then, in a gentle voice, it said,
“Cover yourself with blankets and sleep well—”
“Lord Demon! Lord Demon!”
Pastel suddenly ran over and bumped into the demon.
Bam!
A loud impact was heard. The sudden ambush made the demon gasp and stagger.
The girl hugged the tall demon around the waist and looked up. Her pink eyes sparkled.
“The Skywhale! The Skywhale!”
According to her mood, her pink hair bounced.
“There’s a giant whale! A huge whale, and what am I doing here?! The Skywhale! The real big whale is floating!”
Flooooat, ding, floooat!
“Wait, calm down for a second. Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”
The demon looked bewildered.
“There’s a whale this big!”
Pastel stretched her arms wide and spun around. Her hair whipped against the demon.
“Whoa! A full 360-degree whale! It’s a massive whale!”
The demon spread its palms, gesturing for her to calm down.
“First, take a deep breath and say a proper sentence. So what about the Skywhale?”
Pastel paused when hearing the demon’s words. She took a deep breath slowly.
Inhale, exhale.
Inhale, exhale.
Calmly opening her mouth, she said, “The Skywhale…”
The demon sighed in relief.
“I’m listening. Go ahead.”
“The Skywhale…”
Pastel was beginning to speak but suddenly widened her eyes in surprise.
“This is not the time!”
Total emergency!
Emergency, emergency!
“What happened—”
She grabbed the bewildered demon’s arm and ran. As she pushed open the hut door, her view cleared, revealing a campsite filled with people and livestock.
“A giant whale is waiting!”
She needed to see everything before school started again.
“Let’s go! Let’s go!”
The girl pulled the demon and ran into the campsite. Beyond it, lush green nature unfolded.
A huge bird cut through the blue sky and flew away.
#
Pastel, who surely was not a bad girl that shirks her responsibilities to others (it’s true!) met Leonard and his friends to check on the status of the Skywhale gathering.
Various leather bags were filled with gathered herbs, mushrooms, and safely collected animal bones from their wanderings.
“Everyone is working hard!”
So proud.
Leonard looked unimpressed.
“What were you doing?”
“I took over the Prism Upper Guild! Now that my friends are on break, they can fill the Student Council budget! Great job, everyone!”
“No way, you’re actually working?”
Ahem.
She had handled matters related to the Prism Upper Guild after meeting with the Guild Master of Grace. Although she essentially swallowed it for free, due to the various debts held by the Prism Upper Guild, additional funding would be necessary.
“In the end, we’ll need the smuggling fleet we sent to the Demon Realm to return to resolve this.”
“That’s right.”
This was a very important point for Melissa, who had taken care of the smuggling.
What a situation where all my wealth depends on someone else!
Shudder, shudder.
But as a best friend, I believe in Melissa!
Melissa surely has a knack for smuggling!
I had heard the journey was treacherous, with many detours caused by the habitat movements of aerial creatures and frequent encounters with pirates, but Pastel slept soundly without worry.
Melissa, I trust you!
Zzz.
After handling the tasks, she wandered around on the back of the Skywhale.
“Wow, a whale blowhole!”
She climbed into the gigantic blowhole, surpassing the size of a crater.
“Wow, a wing storm!”
She marveled at the storm created by the wing fins, watching her clothes and hair whip wildly.
“The wind is so strong! I feel like I’m going to fly! Flapping my arms! I feel like I can really fly, whoaaa! Lord Demon! Lord Demon!”
“No.”
Later, when she genuinely took off, it was a secret that the Lord Demon caught her.
After that, she spent time saying goodbye to the baby birds.
—Peep! Peep!
“I can also peep! Peep!”
—Peeep.
“Hey, what’s that? As if I cursed in bird language?”
—Peep!
“Gasp, really?! I learned to curse in bird language first?!”
Shock.
Confusion.
Time passed, and vacation came to an end.
The season of studies began.
Ahhh.
Studies…!
What to do, what to do!
Oh, right!
I didn’t study at all before?!
Phew.
What a relief.
