Pirate Noel ran away in a panic.
A silver knife dashed through the air, slashing a nearby pirate. It cut through limbs, leaving red lines on the body. The silver gleamed. Blood spurted forth.
The soldier battling the pirates got drenched in blood. The soldier’s pupils widened and their body stiffened.
The bloodied knife casually flew toward the next pirate. The pirate screamed and fled.
The knife grazed the pirate’s leg. The leg was severed, and the body crumbled. Countless red lines massacred the form. Chunks of limbs and flesh spilled out.
Chaos swallowed the surroundings like a tidal wave. Fear struck indiscriminately.
The battle between the Merchant forces and the pirates had long ceased. On the deck, instead of a fight, a massacre was taking place. Lives were being cut down, and red debris scattered. A sight that shook the very core of one’s mind unfolded.
Pirate Noel dripped with sweat. With that, he rushed and shoved the door open. He dashed out of the deck and into the corridor.
With screams, countless footsteps followed. Fleeing pirates surged into the corridor like a tide.
Behind them, a pink-toned girl chased after them. Knives circled around her.
As the girl gestured, the knives surged ahead. Their trajectories cut through people. Screams rang out. Blood stains splattered across the entire corridor.
Noel, leading the charge, staggered and barely managed to grab hold of the cabin door. With trembling hands, he turned the doorknob and stepped inside. The door closed, and silence enveloped him. The latch clicked into place.
His legs gave way, and he sank down. Rough breathing echoed. The red carnage lingered in his vision like an afterimage. The cabin was quiet, yet the screams and the horrifying silence that followed haunted his ears.
The girl, a murderous fiend in the form of a girl, was reveling in killing. With dazed pink eyes as if under the influence of a drug, she sliced limbs and scattered flesh.
The brutal slaughter crushed morale and instilled fear.
Noel wished this moment was just a nightmare. He fervently hoped that the ominous sensations felt from outside the cabin and the footsteps that had stopped in front of the door were mere illusions.
Just then, a shock slammed against the door. The wooden door shattered, and the latch came undone. Wind rushed in. A menacing aura swept through the cabin.
From beyond the open door, the girl gazed at Noel. Her pink eyes were hazy.
A nonchalant gesture pointed at the collapsed Noel. The knives circling her flew fiercely.
And halfway through their flight, they suddenly dropped with a wheeze, as if the battery had run out. The blade clanged against the ground.
Silence lingered between the pirate and the girl.
The girl blinked slowly, as if drugged. She looked down at the gem knife.
“Oh dear, I’ve run out of fuel.”
A moist voice echoed.
“Heh.”
“I used up all the gem fuel.”
“My gold coin value.”
Pastel felt a wave of embarrassment.
“Hormone friend.”
“You’re quite the waster~.”
“Eww.”
“Bringing in the cash is on me.”
Suddenly, a pirate surrendered, raising both hands and kneeling. Then he mumbled something.
“Waaah!”
“The corpse is talking…!”
“A being that should have died is alive…!”
Pastel gasped in shock and swung her sword. The blade swept through the kneeling pirate. His upper body was sliced diagonally and fell apart. Blood sprayed, soaking the pink hair.
“Wow, it’s warm.”
She brushed back her hair and picked up the knife. The knife lost its shine, as if the battery had died.
“Heh.”
“A real hormone friend.”
“That’s all gold, you know.”
“Because of you being such a wasteful soul, it’s causing corpses that should’ve died to rise, or something like that.”
“Ahhh.”
“Zombie!”
“So scary!”
Trembling, Pastel left the cabin. Returning to the deck while still in a daze, she witnessed the merchant soldiers cleaning up the chaos of the massacre.
Max, commanding the troops, turned around. Max’s body froze. The soldiers who followed suit did the same.
“Gah.”
“It’s the wicked Mr. Max.”
The kind and gentle Pastel trembled at Mr. Max’s wickedness.
A complex silence ensued.
“Huh?”
An unknown but intense gaze.
It was as if she was seeing Craft.
There were three battles during the extermination mission.
Like the Hormone Friend marking territory, pieces of corpses were littered across three pirate ships.
When the battle ended, someone had to clean up, but the Hormone Friend, who had never lived a cleaning life, didn’t care.
Of course, Pastel, who was lazily living a life where the Demon Lord did the cleaning in her stead, felt the same.
Pastel’s mouth dropped open.
“Gah.”
“Really?!”
It was time for loot distribution.
With unanimous consensus, ownership of the three pirate ships was passed to Marquis.
More than half of the profits from the pirate ship looting were handed over without complaint.
Thanks to Craft, whose insides were dark, personally butchering the corpses and marking territories all over the pirate ships, a clear warning of “Don’t mess with my loot” was felt.
Everyone passionately agreed on the Marquis’s will and consented to a peaceful loot distribution. It was definitely not out of fear.
The harsh truth that being a Marquis could roughly cover up some murder didn’t send shivers down their spines either.
Though Pastel, who lived recklessly without deeply considering how her actions affected others, was simply moved.
“Such good people.”
“People who willingly open their wallets for starving children.”
“Though it’s rude of me, I’ll gladly accept!”
“A pirate ship!”
“Wooah.”
“It’s rude to say that; Marquis has the right to possess.”
Mercenary Holden said.
“Mr. Holden…!”
A rough-voiced response.
“Gah.”
Twice the emotion.
“I thought you were a delicate flower in a greenhouse, but you’re the real deal. I can see why they say Craft is like this. I wonder if the noble folk would be scared to approach the Marquis every time.”
Max frowned.
“What disrespect toward the Marquis.”
“Oh gosh, so scary! My ankle’s hurting! Marquis, please stop that person! They’ll hit me at this rate!”
“Huh! I understand! Max! Please don’t be too harsh!”
Pastel pointed at Holden.
“This person is just rough with words and rude in thought! It cannot be helped because this is how they are by nature!”
Such good people.
Holden and Max both stared in astonishment.
“Huh.”
“Is something on my face?”
Rubbing their cheeks.
“Gah.”
“All clean.”
Holden rubbed his arms, shivering.
“Crafters are scary. I’ll be cautious with my words.”
They left behind a written record of loot distribution and dispersed. The merchant airships that completed the pirate extermination and looting set sail for Sky Island.
Pastel exited her airship alone and boarded the pirate ship. Although it was covered in corpses, thanks to the friendly merchant soldiers cleaning it, it was tidy.
“Wow!”
Spinning in the middle of the pirate ship.
This was really my airship.
Not just some useful airship from the academy, but a rightful airship obtained honestly.
Economic criminal Pastel became an economic criminal (not really) Pastel!
Brewed.
Any lingering sense of guilt faded away.
With her arms wide open, she proudly declared.
“This airship will be operated with the good intentions of the Craft Merchant established for starving children!”
“This is real.”
“A declaration without a shred of falsehood.”
“Oh yay!”
Pastel danced a dandy dance, waving her arms and tapping her step.
Dandy, dandy.
Tap, tap.
“Let’s dance~.”
“Gah.”
“I really dance well!”
Actually, a super genius?
A devil in a suit stepped onto the deck. Casually inspecting the gem knife, he approached at a leisurely pace.
“Child Craft.”
Pastel’s face brightened even more.
“Mr. Demon Lord! Mr. Demon Lord! Look at me!”
Dandy, dandy.
Tap, tap.
“Gah.”
“Really well!”
She sent an expectant gaze toward the demon.
The red eyes scanned over the dandying girl.
“Come to think of it, you must not have learned how to dance socially. It’s okay if you can’t dance well. Everyone has a first time.”
“Gah.”
A completely different assessment!
Pastel slumped down.
Super genius, frustrated against the wall of reality.
“Ugh.”
The demon looked bewildered.
“What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
“My heart hurts.”
Despair.
“Total despair.”
The demon looked on, trying to assess the situation, and perhaps accustomed to her reckless behavior, changed the subject.
“More importantly, I’ve found the cause of the performance decline.”
“Ugh.”
The chilling world of adults, ignoring the despair of a loser.
“I’m freezing.”
“Freezing, freezing.”
During the pirate ship raid, there were three prolonged battles.
Each time, the knife’s fuel was depleted and charged with gem energy, the process involving the knife being placed against the gem and buzzing while charging.
However, this led to an unexplained problem. The more it discharged and charged, the shorter the usage time became.
The Demon King’s legacy—how could it break after so little use?
“Ugh!”
“My life is a struggle, Pastel…!”
“Life is too hard…!”
The demon flicked the gem knife with his finger, producing a clear sound.
“I investigated the cause, and it turns out that every time it was in battle, something was filling the fuel tank instead of the actual fuel.”
“Ah…”
“Did it get damaged by being used too roughly and blood got in? Is that why it’s broken?”
“Hormone friend.”
“That’s not it. Well, maybe somewhat.”
The demon’s finger touched the knife, and thick black goo oozed out, coiling in the air.
“Oh wow.”
“Magic. Just as animals consume magic in the air, people unknowingly consume magic too. It seems the knife extracted the internal magic of those killed.”
“Oh?”
“However, it didn’t just extract the internal magic.”
The demon pointed at the black goo, which contained some murky gray mingled within.
“The essence of existence. It extracted not only the magic of the killed opponent but also fragments of their essence.”
“Oh dear.”
The demon frowned.
“This is a very evil byproduct. I can’t even imagine what sort of significant issues and side effects may arise.”
The demon continued examining the knife.
“We need to thoroughly investigate what the former Demon King intended to create with something like this—”
Noms.
The demon looked abstractly.
“Why are you eating that?”
Pastel’s eyes widened.
A jelly was being chewed in her mouth.
“Gah.”
“When did I put that in my mouth?”
“Is this poison?!”
“Ahhh!”
“Pastel is at risk of dying while randomly picking something up to eat…!”
“Chomp, pastel…!”
