“The ruins are located beneath the belly of the Sky Island.”
Pastel tapped the lower part of the Sky Island-shaped toy she was holding.
The discovered ruins existed right at the very bottom, beyond the underground of the Sky Island. Instead of digging down from the surface, they had to fly beneath the Sky Island on a scoff and find the entrance at the ground level before entering.
Given the vastness of the Sky Island, it was an inconveniently mind-bending position for something that had yet to be discovered.
“It’s verifying the possibilities I only heard about.”
The top student Melisa smiled.
“The exploration of the underside of the Sky Island hasn’t been done this far because the expected results against the costs were too small. Since last year’s freshmen didn’t enroll, the Academy ended up with a sizable budget surplus, allowing us to finally conduct the exploration. The actual exploration was carried out this year, though.”
“Ah, Melisa!”
Pastel cheered.
“Are you perhaps very interested in these ruins?”
“Can I leave the ruins exploration to Melisa and just enjoy myself?”
“Yes? Not really. It’s the area I studied to become the top in the written exams. It’s the latest news from the Sky Island, so I thought it could come up as a question.”
“Ah! You worked hard! Although I was the written top student!”
Ahem.
Melisa paused and stared blankly.
Then she looked somewhat downcast.
“I didn’t work hard enough…”
Elsior entered through the helm’s door.
“I’ve confirmed the food supplies. Can we set off now?”
“Yes! Everyone, to your positions!”
“Positions?”
Melisa panicked a bit and carefully sat down in a suitable co-pilot seat. Elsior did the same.
“That’s it!”
Pastel quickly ran to the helm wheel, grabbed the wooden wheel, and raised one arm triumphantly.
“Captain Pastel! I declare the departure!”
She forcefully turned the helm wheel.
“Departure! Departure! Departure!”
The helm wheel spun around.
“Departure! Departure!”
As Pastel was turning it with enthusiasm, she had a question.
Why isn’t the scoff moving?
Is this one of those things?
Heh heh.
Only those who are worthy can make me move.
You are not yet the captain!
Gasp, no way.
I wasn’t the captain yet?!
Pastel’s mouth dropped open in shock.
『…The helm wheel is for emergencies. Normally, it’s just decoration. You need to operate the control device in front of it to make it move.』
Gasp, that’s right.
It was.
She felt the peculiar gazes of the two girls.
“Hehe.”
Pastel twisted her body and blushed. She turned the helm wheel one more time unnecessarily and walked to the control device to reclaim her seat.
『First, pull the lever on the right side.』
Okay.
Pastel started to pull but paused. She looked back at the helm wheel and examined the latest control device made up of gears and magic circles.
Huh?
It seems too advanced.
This doesn’t feel like the super impressive navigation I wanted.
After some deliberation, she had a realization.
“Melisa! No! This is not suitable for the gentle Melisa!”
“Yes?”
She turned her head.
“Elsior! Go to the helm wheel! It’s very important! Extremely important!”
Quick, quick!
As she waved her hands in urgency, they quickly swapped places. Elsior looked on in confusion from the helm wheel.
“What is it?”
Pastel pointed decisively at the helm wheel.
“Turn it!”
Okay, okay.
Elsior stared at the helm wheel and then turned it once. The wooden helm wheel spun around and then stopped.
“Keep going! Keep going!”
“Keep going…?”
Elsior continued to turn the helm wheel.
Spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning.
This is it!
Pastel felt an abrupt satisfaction.
“Why are we turning this?”
“It makes me feel good!”
Yay, yay.
Elsior continued to turn it while tilting her head.
“It doesn’t feel that way.”
Gasp.
No way.
She gazed at the helm wheel with trembling eyes.
“Helm wheel friend, I’m sorry! Even if I turn you diligently, it doesn’t make me feel good! It doesn’t mean that Elsior thinks you’re a useless decorative item wasting budget and feels sorry for the wood!”
“I didn’t say it that way.”
Elsior looked bewildered.
“Poor helm wheel! Apologize as a friend!”
Apologize! Apologize!
Elsior seemed flustered.
The helm wheel came to a stop.
The silver-haired girl hesitated, then gently stroked the helm wheel while murmuring.
“I’m sorry.”
Melisa looked incredulous.
“What are you two doing…?”
—
Pastel pulled the lever. The gears of the device began to turn, preparing for navigation.
The noise of the navigation device mixed with the sound of the helm wheel continuing to turn behind them.
Spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning.
The atmosphere of navigation was thickening.
Melisa sneaked up from the co-pilot seat and approached.
“Do you really know how to operate a scoff? They say that while it seems easy with semi-automated navigation, immense foundational knowledge is required to avoid accidents. Wouldn’t it be better to hire a navigator even at this stage?”
“Trust the captain!”
Pastel put on a smart look.
And with one hand, she patted the magic sword at her waist.
Demon lord! Demon lord!
『If you follow my instructions properly, you should be able to navigate without issues. First, examine the magic circles in front of you.』
Heh heh.
I just need to listen well to the demon lord~.
For Pastel, who usually followed instructions well, this was the easiest task above all.
『It may be difficult to see since they are not aligned in a straight line, but I will refer to the leftmost magic circle as number one. This scoff has a total of eleven magic circles.』
Oh ho.
Eleven magic circles is a breeze.
Just using both hands and a toe will do!
『Pull the left lever down by one notch. Well done. The arrangement of the magic stone powder has changed, altering the shapes of the eleven magic circles. However, if you look closely, the types of magic circles are the same; only their positions have changed.』
Okay.
Completely easy.
『The total number of arrangements for this setup is 39,916,800. That is also the number of chain magic circles you need to consider.』
Huh?
Suddenly it got too hard.
Pastel inspected the arrangement of the magic circles with trembling eyes.
There are eleven magic circles!
Why are there so many of you!
Then she glanced sideways.
The candidate for the next great mage, who had previously advised her that it would be difficult, looked at her with a hint of expectation in her eyes.
As Pastel’s expression twisted with mischief, the expectation slowly dwindled, filling the space with anxiety.
“Do you seriously have no experience?”
Pastel put on a smart look again.
“Trust the captain!”
Melisa grew even more anxious.
“You have done it, right?”
『Scoff technology is somewhat unstable, and if you improperly manipulate the magic circles, navigation can be interrupted mid-flight. Above ground.』
Pastel projected an even smarter expression.
“Trust the captain…!”
Melisa trembled her lips.
“You’re not just studying theory, are you? I also like to study theory, but I know well not to overestimate practical application based solely on knowledge. You understand that well, right…?”
“Of course!”
She patted her chest.
“What kind of person do you see in Pastel!”
I didn’t study theory either!
Melisa, who couldn’t hear the inner feelings, felt relieved.
“Well, that’s true. I suppose you wouldn’t be someone who couldn’t even handle that. I’ve overstepped here.”
“It’s okay! It’s okay! I’m a broad-minded person; I’ll understand!”
Ahem.
Silence filled the room.
Melisa watched again, filled with anticipation.
Pastel was about to twist her expression but composed herself and put on a one-hundred-fold smarter look.
A full hundred times.
Then she hurriedly patted the magic sword.
Demon lord! Demon lord!
Time passed in a flurry.
Boom boom wham wham~!
The scoff smoothly ascended.
Melisa was amazed.
“Just as expected from you.”
She puffed up with pride.
A joyful atmosphere.
The silver-haired girl continued to turn the helm wheel blankly.
A double joy-filled atmosphere!
Spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning.
—
They reached the underside of the Sky Island. The deck of the scoff was covered in shadow and became dark.
“Wow!”
Pastel’s mouth dropped open.
The underside of the Sky Island wasn’t overly large like a glacier. It resembled a glacier being grasped and pulled wide horizontally.
Instead of ice, however, mounds of dirt and rocky surfaces mixed precariously, forming a shape. Between some mounds of dirt were gigantic vine-like tendrils emerging and hanging down below.
“Wow!”
It was almost in front of the Academy, and yet she hadn’t seen it until now!
Melisa looked up at the Sky Island.
“We need to navigate further toward the center, where the ruins we aim to reach are, but there should be many patrols from the Knight Corps in this bordering area. Is it okay to approach so openly?”
She pointed at the docking station carved from the rock at the bottom.
“That place is likely to be owned by the Knight Corps as well. It looks like a docking station made for military use during the conquest of the Demon Realm.”
“There won’t be any patrols from the Knight Corps on the route we take! I researched the entire patrol routine!”
Pastel declared.
This saying conveys that she would strike before the Knight Corps fully exhibited hostility. If they had completely turned against the Academy, they wouldn’t have shown the patrol routines.
“Is that really sufficient?”
Melisa questioned skeptically.
“They hide the patrol records because weakening enemy forces can penetrate through them. It’s a method of assassinating the weak link within their ranks. You’re not planning to assassinate the Knight Corps members, are you?”
A valid question raised by a southern warlord.
Pastel became triumphant.
“That’s exactly why the Knight Corps is incompetent and suspicious! Their patrol routines have meticulously woven gaps! They take a huge budget, yet unusually, there are patrol voids that lead directly to the ruins!”
This must clearly be a gap for spies to facilitate the cult’s infiltration into the ruins.
It’s not that the Knight Corps cooperates; rather, spies keep the backdoor open while remaining incompetent.
Perhaps the silence when internal issues arose during a terror was a conflict between factions of the existing normal power and those of the spies.
It isn’t easy for the Academy to ask about something that poses serious internal problems.
Okay.
The scoff navigated smoothly without obstacles. It could arrive at the makeshift docking station set up for the ruins, and it was a docking station with no one around.
“Arrival!”
Now, I must tell Elsior that she can stop turning the helm wheel!
I hadn’t told her to stop, so I was curious about how long she would keep turning, but I never imagined she would keep going like this.
Surely, she doesn’t think it’s a command or something?
Okay!
That would never happen between friends~!
