The next day.
Pastel found herself caught between two girls who had become awkward with each other.
Ugh.
To her right, Melissa was unnecessarily checking the map on parchment. With a serious expression and a quill in hand, she looked as if she was deep in thought, but seeing as she hadn’t done anything while walking, that wasn’t the case at all. She was just doing something else to cope with the awkwardness.
To her left, Alysia, carrying three backpacks, moved along with a blank expression. She looked like she had lost her spirit, sensing she had no friends.
Ugh.
Bad Melissa.
Usually flexible and kind, Melissa was rigid only with Alysia. Was this the unfortunate aspect of being a model student who listens well to their parents?
Seeing the reactions, Melissa seemed to feel quite sorry and kept glancing around for hints. Though she didn’t actually say the words of apology.
They’re in a much more serious state than they realize. They both want to get along, but they both are clumsy at it.
Pastel was thinking deeply.
What should I do to improve their relationship?
Given Melissa’s personality, she would apologize first…
“Melissa! Show me the map!”
“Oh, here!”
Pastel looked at the map, wearing a serious expression.
“Ugh.”
This is a huge problem.
“Is there something wrong with it?”
“I feel like our investigation speed is slow right now!”
“Isn’t that why we were going to move to the second floor right away?”
“No, no, that’s not it. I was thinking maybe we should divide our roles a bit. It’s slow when we’re all together.”
Melissa looked puzzled.
“Isn’t that dangerous? We’re an odd number, after all.”
Naughty naughty.
Pastel shook her index fingers to the sides as if to say that was wrong.
“Pastel counts as two people, so it’s two!”
That made sense.
“Just because Pastel counts as two doesn’t mean it’s right.”
Melissa stopped speaking. Perhaps realizing that it meant she and Alysia would have to team up, she flinched.
“Even so, it’s not good to go alone. This is a matter of attention. No matter how capable you are, making a fatal mistake while alone is possible.”
Ugh.
Such a valid concern.
“Alysia just carries bags and isn’t doing anything, so wouldn’t dividing the roles for efficiency be better?”
“Isn’t it because of that efficiency that we could invade here? The Knight Corps likely became careless in their surveillance of the ruins with that kind of thinking. But having backup is always important.”
Pastel realized.
I can’t challenge this honor student with logic.
It was difficult to argue when there’s an instantly relatable example.
As the Craft Lord, she wanted to speed up the investigation against the Cult, but she hesitated for a moment.
Should I just ask seriously?
But considering that it might give the impression of having a dual personality, it might just create an odd assumption.
Ugh.
“Isn’t that sacred language?”
Alysia pointed to one side of the corridor. A short sentence was written on it.
“Ah! You’re right!”
Pastel ran over quickly.
“Ugh.”
This is something, something.
“There’s a falling trap ahead!”
She looked forward. An empty corridor came into view. A peaceful sight. If she hadn’t known the sacred language, it would have been an environment where she would have definitely been caught.
Pastel stepped forward to give a warning.
“Guys, be careful! Especially you, Melissa!”
She turned back and pointed at her friend.
“You can only fly after becoming a great magician! The frail body of a weak magician is very, very vulnerable to traps, so be super careful!”
She heard a clicking sound from somewhere.
Oh.
That was the sound of a trap.
“Everyone, be careful!”
Pastel spread her arms. First, she checked on Melissa and Alysia’s safety. They were okay, not following closely behind.
Instead, both were staring at her with blank expressions.
Aren’t you all right?
What was that sound?
Pastel suddenly felt a sense of floatation. She fell through the gaping floor.
“Waaaah!”
An empty space extended endlessly.
Pastel, save me!
#
“Waaaah!”
Her pink hair fluttered wildly.
“Calm down and take out the knife.”
Pastel fumbled to take out the knife.
“Controlled landing! Controlled landing!”
The knife flew and landed beneath her. As she added her weight, it swelled slightly before coming to a stop.
Pastel floated somewhere in the pit.
“Whoa! Whoa!”
She saw a paralysis potion that had fallen from her possession tumble below. A moment later, the sound of it breaking echoed.
It’s so deep!
I almost died!
“Devil, I really almost died!”
I almost became flat Pastel!
“It shouldn’t be that way. Even if there was a spiked trap right below, you would have managed it.”
Ugh.
I feel like my hormonal friend would have done well, but please show a bit more earnest concern as a guardian.
Wiping her cold sweat, she glanced up. The original entrance looked small from such a height.
“Pastel! Are you okay?!”
Melissa looked down with great concern, her upper body leaning out.
She waved her arms.
“I’m fine! I’m fine! I’m okay!”
“Thank goodness!”
Melissa seemed relieved.
“By the way, did you hear that sound just now?”
“Huh? What sound?”
“The sound of a glass bottle breaking. Listening to the reverberation indicates that there seems to be an open passage below.”
Ugh.
Pastel looked down again. A bottomless pit came into view.
A hidden space difficult to find through ordinary methods?
It was just the sort of place those who couldn’t be proud in front of others would love.
She looked up at Melissa.
“Let’s divide up! I’ll investigate here and then go! Let’s meet at the original base tomorrow night!”
“Pastel?!”
Ignoring the outcry of shock, she descended.
“Knife friend! Gather your strength after such a long time! Prove that you’re the senior compared to the broom friend!”
Whoosh whoosh.
She continued downwards.
Moments later, she landed on a pure white surface where incapacitating gas had burst. The holy-looking white corridor caught her eye.
“Whoa?”
She stepped off the knife and looked around. Mysterious torches flickered against the walls. Focusing on the sounds, she felt a serene calmness.
“Hoh? This essence… this is truly a holy land. Did the gods take special care in creating this?”
“Is this really a holy land?”
What kind of difference from the previous area occurred? The appearance looked quite different, but…
“Look at the cursed sword. Because of the holiness, the seal on the cursed sword isn’t functioning.”
Ugh.
Pastel lifted the sword. Upon closer inspection, she realized an astonishing fact.
Nope, I couldn’t tell at all!
“Devil, this is a secret, but Pastel really doesn’t understand. Whoa!”
Pastel was startled to see a devil in a suit standing in front of her.
And when she looked at the cursed sword still in her hand, she was startled twice.
“Two devils!”
The devil opened and closed his hand.
“Not two, but the seal has loosened. The body that had forcibly synchronized with the cursed sword has separated.”
Her pink eyes widened.
“Did you evolve from a sealed great devil to a loosened great devil?”
A sense of crisis made her heart race.
The treachery of having released a great devil sent chills down her spine.
It felt like Pastel would transform from pink into purple.
“Why is your reaction like that?”
The devil looked baffled, reaching out to ruffle her pink hair.
“Uwaah! My hair is getting messed up!”
If it weren’t for the devil, she would have scolded him!
“I made it, so it’s my prerogative.”
Completely a devil!
Pastel ran away to fix her hair.
“If the holy land is broken, wouldn’t it be bad for you to stay here, Devil?”
“That’s not the case. On the contrary, since the source is the same, I can exert a certain amount of power here.”
The devil came close and rearranged her hairstyle. Pastel felt a tingling sensation as her hair was tidied.
“Now, that’s a relief. I was worried that if I encountered a knight level, I wouldn’t be able to escape.”
Ugh.
If you say that…
“Then I can just be Pastel, who messes around with my connections?”
Wow.
That sounds so fun!
“Why does that mindset come out first?”
The devil disheveled her hairstyle again.
“Waaaaah!”
Naughty devil!
#
“Is this a library?”
The devil took out a book and examined it.
“It looks more like a record storage. The temple will love it.”
Pastel wandered through the holy land.
The holy land was endlessly vast, just like the ancient ruins. The absence of any signs of life made it hard to tell if it was due to the spaciousness or simply because there were no people.
With this much space, wouldn’t it be the scale of a city?
Even if the Cult was hiding, the difficulty of encountering them by chance in such a large city was significant.
“I like temples, but I don’t like books!”
“That’s not something to brag about.”
Pastel started to get mentally exhausted as she stumbled into a section filled only with white bookshelves.
“Raspberry, apple pie, cheddar cheese, cream roll, fried chicken.”
Pastel suddenly surprised herself while speaking.
“Fried chicken?!”
It was a problem to suddenly blurt that out.
“Hm?”
The devil stroked his chin.
“Do you want to eat chicken?”
Thinking about it, she might.
She felt something like a mirage over there.
A chick, about the size of a person, was walking between the white bookshelves.
Peep peep.
“Oh no! The chicken is walking!”
How hungry was she?!
—Peep?
The chick turned to look.
Ugh.
It wasn’t an illusion.
—Piyack?
The chick tilted its head and approached.
Ugh.
Pastel tilted her head too, feeling as if they were familiar.
“Do we know each other?”
Perhaps they met at a table.
—Peep?
The chick tilted its head even more.
“We met on the back of a skywhale during vacation.”
“Ah! I remember!”
Pastel pointed at the chick.
“You are the chick I met on the back of a skywhale during vacation!”
—Piyack?!
The chick opened its beak in astonishment.
Why are you here?! That was its cry.
Pastel was astonished too.
“Why are you here?!”
Didn’t I save you after being kidnapped by the bad Cult and leave with your mother bird for a happy ending?!
