“Right here, it’s me!”
Pastel pointed at herself.
“I’m the next Demon King!”
Ellie looked stunned.
“What?”
“I’m the Demon King!”
Ellie blinked slowly. After a moment of silence, she questioned again.
“What?”
Pastel jumped up energetically.
“Your Majesty, the Demon King! Your Majesty!”
She ran around the room, her pink hair flying.
“Demon King Pastel!”
I don’t know what being a Demon King entails, but I understand that it’s a title that should not be touched by a good friend!
Is this the corruption of the Demon King?
Thump, thump.
Pound, pound.
Thrill, thrill.
What is power?
The influence to wield others as one desires.
If it’s a position that can shake the entire demon race with a single word, it’s a complete powerhouse!
It might be a million times more fun!
“Demon King, Demon King Pastel!”
Pastel dashed around. However, since it was a small room, she just circled around Ellie.
“Maybe you should quit the habit of speaking in a way that can be misunderstood.”
Ellie watched the running Pastel blankly. After gathering her thoughts, she splashed her face with cold water.
“This is how you create the so-called unfair situations you talk about.”
A somewhat emotional reprimand.
Pastel abruptly stopped running, pointing at Ellie striking a pose.
“Hey! How is that disrespectful to the Demon King?!”
“Demon King, you say.”
Ellie let out a slight snicker.
“I understand what you’re getting at. I’ve been paying attention to your bizarre props as well. Floating knives and brooms sound like the Demon King only if the user is not a great sorcerer.”
“Quick to understand, aren’t you?”
I’m your Majesty, the Demon King!
“But a Craft lineage can’t be a Demon King, so I had already suspected that the artifact or technology created by the Craft clan was acquired during the War Era.”
Ellie’s forehead slightly furrowed.
“I couldn’t have imagined our unspoken agreement and investigation from the party involved would be entirely unknown to me, but Demon King’s legends and myths are my field of expertise.”
Huh?
Are you going to take that declaration of being the Demon King while preparing to get scolded by the demon lord?
Ellie was wrong in her field of expertise.
Huh.
“Is it comfortable for you to think like that, Ellie?”
“It’s not that I feel comfortable; it’s the truth. It’s already a well-known fact in academia that the Craft clan has secretly researched the powers of the Demon King. While it was speculation whether they succeeded, as the clan leader, you displayed the results to the world, proving it.”
Ellie regained her composure, speaking clearly and steadily.
“I know for sure what you’re saying. You want me to act like the Demon King. If I just hide the identity of ‘Craft,’ I would practically be the next Demon King. It should be easy enough to turn the moderates to our side.”
Huh.
Pastel puffed out one cheek, feeling disappointed.
I might not be purple yet.
Did being nice all the time lead to this side effect?
It’s a good thing, but somehow disappointing.
To relieve this disappointing feeling, it seems I would have to commit some bad deed like breaking the seal of the great demon and causing a crisis of world destruction.
Pastel raised her finger and poked her puffed cheek. The air whooshed out.
“It’s not an act.”
Pow!
“Ellie, Ellie. You enrolled with a major in legends and myths, but what if you make mistakes during important times? Aren’t you doing too little academic study or research?”
Lack of sincerity.
“I’m saying this because it’s my major.”
Ellie was resolute.
“Most demons believe that the Demon King’s position is destiny for the strongest, but that’s not a necessary condition. The essential requirement is the identity of an outsider.”
Huh.
“Demons and humans are distinguished, but if you trace their lineage up, they are ultimately the same beings. The only difference is that humans live in the Demon Realm outside the mainstream of the divine myths. Beings that deviate from the god-created world are always outsiders.”
Ellie folded her fingers one by one.
“Non-homogeneity, non-typicality, non-conventionality. The power of the Demon King is manifested not by physical destruction but by conceptual destruction. Therefore, one must be an outsider.”
Pastel’s pink eyes widened.
If the conversation suddenly shifts to difficult academic matters, it feels off.
She turned her gaze to the work desk. Among the patterns of the high-quality wood, she briefly saw a cute puppy face.
“Wow! A puppy!”
Moving forward, she realized she should greet her puppy friend first when working here!
“Hello, friend!”
Ellie looked perplexed.
“Well, anyway, that’s what it is. Someone born in the Craft clan, which is the very mainstream of imperial history, can’t be an outsider. This is separate from the resentment of the demons.”
“Right! I see!”
Having absorbed it all, Pastel feigned understanding.
I don’t know what it means, but I clearly understand that Ellie is unable to accept Demon King Pastel!
“You can think however you want, Ellie! Anyway, it’d be nice to lay the railroad!”
Ellie got lost in her own thoughts, muttering.
“That’s right. Creating a fake Demon King would entail the risk of being discovered, but the railroad project is a plan tied to the future of the demon realm. We should hurry before the empire realizes the need for a technological overhaul…”
As Ellie organized her thoughts, she flinched. Noticing she had mentioned something confidential, she glanced at Pastel before changing the subject.
“I can take full responsibility for asserting the existence of the Demon King. There are more people filled with anticipation upon having finally found it rather than doubting it’s fake, so hiding your identity should be fine for now.”
“Wow!”
Pastel cheered, punching the air.
“Demon King Pastel!”
Spinning in place~!
Ellie carefully observed the swirling pink hair.
“But still, it might be good to prepare some sort of disguise just in case. How do we change that noticeable hair? Doesn’t the Craft clan have any disguise techniques or something?”
“Double spin~!”
Pastel spun at high speed.
Spin, spin, spin, spin!
Her hair flew around and hit Ellie’s face.
“Ah.”
Ellie backed away, trying to block Pastel’s hair.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
I need to quickly inform the demon lord about this corruption!
Oops! That’s right!
I can just inform now!
Pastel, who agonized over this simple matter, is a fool!
“More importantly, we need to figure out how to change my hair-”
“I’m leaving work early!”
Pastel burst through the secret room door, revealing the Academy corridor. She swiftly waved quick hand gestures at the friends she occasionally encountered and ran off.
“Goodbye! Goodbye! I know you want to talk to me, but I’m super busy! I’m so, so, so busy! Sorry for not fulfilling my duty as a popular person!”
Whoosh, whoosh.
As she rummaged through her assigned personal dorm room, she burst into the kitchen. Upon thrusting open the kitchen door, there stood a demon.
In a white shirt and apron, the demon was making a recipe for cookies with high flour content and looked back.
“Hmm? Is it already this time? That’s surprising. Wait a moment. I haven’t prepared lunch yet. I’ll do it quickly.”
Pastel quickly shook her head.
“No, no! It’s not lunchtime yet! More importantly! More importantly!”
She pointed to herself.
“Your Majesty, the Demon King!”
The pink eyes sparkled with eager anticipation.
The demon, unaware of the intent, looked bewildered. They approached the door, checked if anyone was listening, and closed it.
“Are you leaving work early today? Well done. Current student council tasks are excessively bizarre.”
Pastel ignored that and pointed at herself again.
“Your Majesty, the Demon King!”
The demon appeared confused.
“Young Craft, communication is a two-way street. Just throwing out a context that only you know doesn’t mean the other person will understand.”
“Huh?”
Shock.
“You should understand if you’re the demon lord!”
Pastel pointed at herself once more.
“Your Majesty, the Demon King!”
Suddenly confronted with the riddle, the demon seemed somewhat pained. They appeared troubled thinking about how to respond appropriately.
After much consideration, the demon raised both hands.
“I don’t know.”
Pastel lowered the hand that pointed to herself. Her cheeks slowly puffed up.
Puff.
“Why are you reacting as if I’ve done something wrong? This is your fault.”
Puff!
“Just how far are you expecting me to go?”
The demon sighed and moved their finger. They poked Pastel’s cheek, and the air whooshed out.
“Ah! My cheeks are puffy!”
That’s something only a chosen one can touch!
The demon chuckled.
“Don’t get fixated on strange things. Huh? Oh dear, I’ve gotten flour all over.”
The demon took out a handkerchief and cautiously wiped it off.
“So what’s this about your Majesty, the Demon King? Have you found some new legacy of the Demon King?”
Pastel became sulky.
“The Craft clan is hard to suspect, but you emphasized that I can never confess my identity to others, right, demon lord?”
“You may not feel it, but the existence of the Demon King can’t be taken lightly by the empire. On hearing this, they will take immediate action. You must be cautious.”
“Hehe.”
Pastel smiled subtly.
The demon paused.
“Don’t tell me…?”
“I just revealed it!”
After spinning around, she jumped and raised her arms high.
“Yay!”
The demon silently facepalmed. It seemed the girl, who refused to listen, was making his head spin.
The pink eyes sparkled.
The response she desired!
“Killing extermination, or it can’t be happening.”
The demon let out a deep sigh.
“Lord Demon! Lord Demon!”
Pastel was overjoyed, her mood lifting beyond relief.
“I did well, right?! I did great, didn’t I?!”
“I can tell you want to be scolded.”
The demon reached out, taking hold of Pastel’s cheeks and pulling them.
“Reflect on your actions.”
Her cheeks stretched. The pain increased accordingly.
“Uuuaah!”
Pastel’s expression turned to one of sadness in an instant.
Demon lord, you are so mean!
