“Ugh.”
Pastel, with her pink hair in disarray, maneuvered the broom. The broom wobbled as if about to crash and then landed on the deck.
Thud.
A quarrel between an angry mother whale and a baby whale unfolded beyond the sky.
Both the mother and baby whales were pink, just like Pastel, but here I am, a little shrimp…
Pink pink shrimp shrimp.
“Your Excellency, are you okay?!”
People rushed over.
I’m not okay!
I wanted to shout that, but the overall commander couldn’t panic in this situation, so I collected my thoughts.
“I’m fine.”
I stood up, refusing the support of the faculty.
Ugh.
It seems the only thing that keeps increasing is my acting skills.
I roughly arranged my tangled pink hair with my fingers.
“The mother whale is in a very angry state. Do you think it will affect Sky Island?”
A major professor briefly observed the quarrel through a telescope.
The mother whale shot a gigantic beam, and the baby whale knocked by the beam bounced into the sky. Surprisingly, the baby whale seemed perfectly okay despite the high-powered blast.
“It’s uncommon, but it doesn’t seem likely that a normally gentle mother whale would take out her frustrations on innocent people. However, I can’t make a definite statement since the reason for her anger is unclear.”
“Perhaps the baby whale is getting punished for running away.”
Meanwhile, that baby whale was completely focused on dodging its mother’s beams without any regret.
“Ah.”
The professor seemed to lick his lips for some reason. It was a rare opportunity to announce the extraordinary case of a baby whale being kidnapped, but he seemed disappointed when he realized that such a thing did not occur.
Ugh.
Mad scientist.
“If running away is the root cause, then it wouldn’t necessarily fly all the way to Sky Island. Skywhales are gentle and tolerant.”
Is it similar to how bears can be unexpectedly docile? Because they are at the top of the ecosystem, they have little to fear, so their character tends to be gentler.
“I agree. In fact, it would be better for this scoff to remain still. The mother whale is only aiming her blasts in paths that won’t hit the scoff. There’s no need to move and court danger unnecessarily.”
I see.
It seemed that the mother whale’s eyes were periodically checking over here.
Pastel opened her mouth and noticed some individuals marveling at the majestic scene. She clapped her hands to focus their attention.
“Everyone, pay attention! Wait at your designated spots!”
The chaos quickly settled.
Alysia approached with a wooden cup in hand.
“Good work. Drink this.”
“Thank you!”
Pastel gulped down the orange juice.
“Whew!”
This was the pleasure of a powerful person overcoming a crisis!
It felt like taking a shower and drinking milk.
Hmm.
Now that I said it, it’s nothing special.
Ugh.
The whale fight didn’t last as long as expected.
The mother whale swung her pectoral fin at the baby whale and sharply turned to leave. It was as if she was done with everything.
The baby whale, having been struck by a much larger mother, was sent bouncing away. It flew through the clouds, following a parabolic arc and came flying back here.
“Whoa.”
Its body collided against the side of the scoff. There was a tremendous sound and the scoff shook. The wooden hull shattered, sending fragments flying.
“Ouch!”
Pastel staggered and ran towards the railing. She looked down at the hole in the hull.
“Whale friend!”
That shooting was bound to turn any creature into a water balloon!
A wooden board from the hull was shaking. The baby whale tumbled out. It had some minor scratches, but its pink skin was glossy and unharmed.
Totally tough.
Pastel let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew.”
Then she hurriedly pointed towards the mother whale.
“Whale friend! Hurry back! Mom is leaving!”
The mother whale was truly leaving without a single moment of hesitation. Its massive body was growing further away. The baby whale, being only a fraction of her size, was moving at a speed that made it questionable whether it could catch up.
The baby whale shook its body to drop the wooden debris. It gazed blankly at its departing mother.
The whale’s pink eyes shimmered.
This is a bit… I mean, quite sad.
Running away is wrong, but isn’t the response a bit too harsh?
Pastel felt a wave of sadness herself.
This is like leaving a child in the middle of the highway just for throwing a little tantrum while riding together.
Ugh.
The baby whale slowly floated up. It soared above the deck and looked down at the people in the scoff.
Everyone’s expressions grew complicated.
The baby whale pointed its pectoral fin at its mother. Then, it flapped its fin as if pointing to itself and slapped its belly.
Slap slap.
What does that mean?
The baby whale raised its head and let out a sound that somehow seemed filled with happiness.
Huh?
Then it quickly began shaking its body and fins, presenting a whale dance.
Flap flap flap flap.
Shake shake.
A victory dance for everyone to see!
I beat mom!
Whale breath beam~!
A joyful light beam shot up into the sky.
“Whoa!”
Pastel finally understood the situation.
“That’s not something to boast about!”
You ungrateful whale!
#
Pastel gazed at the academy’s lake.
The pink baby whale was swimming leisurely. It looked very happy eating the fruits thrown by the gathering students.
Crunch crunch.
Ugh.
“Are all pinks like this?”
The devil in a suit pondered beside her.
“It seems so.”
“Huh? Why aren’t you denying it?!”
I was joking!
“Considering you and your mother, that was my answer.”
Ugh.
Mother.
What on earth did you do to the devil to have such a reputation?
Even if I ask inwardly, there’s no answer coming back from the dead.
Pastel let out a deep sigh.
“A whale friend who doesn’t know the value of parents.”
The devil twitched his lips. His expression showed he regretted saying that, and he slowly closed and opened his red eyes, contemplating how to salvage the situation.
Pastel observed his expression and shrugged, muttering under her breath.
“If only I had a wealthy inheritance, I would have spent the whole day lounging around and playing with my friends~.”
The devil looked taken aback by her blatant wish.
Hehe.
Let’s not take it too seriously.
It’s just the cult’s manipulations; it’s not the devil’s fault.
The sound of footsteps was heard.
“Hey.”
Alysia had come closer. She awkwardly held a stack of documents. Her posture made the errands look out of place.
“The student council said they finished investigating the knight corps.”
“Oh! Thank you!”
Pastel reflexively took the documents. Then, she hesitated upon spotting a mistake.
“Why did you bring this?”
It wasn’t Elina or Dustyn or any of her friends.
“Huh?”
Alysia looked bewildered.
“I went to the student council, and they gave it to me.”
Was the duchess originally meant to do these errands? Or was Ellie, having sent her over, doing something impressive?
“Why did you go to the student council? Is there a request or something?”
“Huh?”
Alysia looked even more confused without saying anything. Her expression seemed to say, why are you asking that when you called on me.
Huh?
I never did that, though?
Popular Pastel suddenly felt a flash of vigilance.
Whoa.
This chilling feeling.
It’s like treating someone who has no friends kindly, only for them to think they’re your only friend and start making plans left and right.
Even if you decline because you already have a schedule, they would take it as being rejected as a friend, not because of the schedule.
Uh-oh!
A friend who has never had many friends would have a hard time accepting being turned down because of other plans.
Pastel completely understood!
But if I leave it like this, it’ll cause gossip, so I’ll be straightforward.
“Sorry, Alysia. It’s very enjoyable for us to be friends and for you to visit the student council, but I can’t always have time. Can you understand?”
I can’t spend all my time on you.
Alysia looked dazed.
“You and I were friends…?”
Huh?
Pastel was shocked.
“Weren’t we friends?”
Alysia tilted her head. Her silver hair flowed down.
“When did we become friends?”
Their expressions turned into one of mutual confusion.
Silence flowed between them.
“What are you saying to someone with no friends? A forced hierarchical relationship can’t be a true friendship.”
A voice was heard from behind some garden trees. A blonde girl peeked out, barely showing her face.
“Pastel, if you forced Belamont to ally in the duke family’s succession competition, then you should be responsible as a noble.”
Whoa, Melissa.
“What’s going on?”
Melissa flinched. Looking very guilty, she hesitated before completely stepping out from behind the tree.
“Um, um. That was indeed lacking in dignity. I apologize.”
The next grand mage brushed off her robe shyly.
Alysia saw this and suddenly remarked.
“Lacking in dignity.”
Melissa’s lips quivered.
Whoa!
The northern warlord suddenly picking a fight with the southern warlord!
“Wait! Wait!”
You two, don’t start fighting again!
I waved my arms around.
“What did we talk about? What did we talk about?”
A paper fluttering along with my arms caught my eye.
The knight corps investigation report.
“Ah! That’s right! The knight corps!”
The bad knight corps, who drew lines with the internal issues claiming to handle terror threats and tried to seize power over the Skywhale issue.
“You two have something to help with!”
The task of correcting the wicked knight corps as rightful administrative authority!
This is also an act of justice that allows the academy to re-emerge as the sole authority of Sky Island!
Ahem.
