Chapter 85
Uwak.
Uwaak.
Mother whale!
Super big mother whale!
Sky whale beam~
Boom! Bang! Pow!
Authority figure Pastel went thud.
Uwaa.
『Calm down for now.』
Pastel whose mind was flying away calmed down upon hearing the demon's composed voice.
Huk.
That's right, I'm the person in charge so I should handle the situation first.
She rubbed her cheeks to gather her wits as much as possible.
What should I do first?
Is this a matter requiring rapid response? Or a matter needing delicate approach?
The professor whose hair was tangled by the wind shouted.
"We must quickly evacuate the citizens and respond together with the Knight Order!"
Rapid response, I see.
Pastel stood up with a hardened face.
"Then-"
『Wrong.』
The demon struck down the professor's opinion.
『Awe and fear blind the eyes and deviate from the essence. The fact that the mother whale still hasn't come means the situation is unusual. We need to grasp the situation first. There's plenty of time.』
I see.
Pastel's expression relaxed slightly. She looked around at the surrounding soldiers including the professor.
"First I'll focus on controlling the chaos and forming a response team. Control the docking area and block rumors. While gathering all personnel related to sky whales. And medical staff to treat the injured whale."
She waved her arms.
"Move!"
The personnel quickly scattered.
As the surroundings calmed, Pastel examined the baby whale alone. Its pink skin was cracked and looked painful.
"What point makes you say there's plenty of time? I'm imagining an enraged mother whale flying over right away."
『Because it hasn't flown over right away.』
She took out a paralysis potion from her chest. She rubbed a little of the yellow liquid on her hand onto the whale's skin.
『There are many sky whale stories in demon realm folklore. It's understandable since demon race rode whales between the demon realm and Sky Island from times when airship long-distance navigation wasn't developed.』
The demon paused briefly.
『You can use the potion boldly. Even if it's a baby, a sky whale is a sky whale.』
"Ah, yes."
She poured gush gush on the pink skin to the extent the liquid didn't vaporize. The yellow liquid covered the whale's upper surface and flowed down to the white belly part.
Squelch squelch.
"So what's the reason there's plenty of time?"
『In demon realm folklore, there's a story of a mother whale whose child was kidnapped flying over and destroying one of the demon realm's islands.』
"Uwaa."
Completely the same situation.
Sky Island falling crisis.
Pastel's hand nursing the baby whale became extremely careful. The baby whale turned its body slightly and looked at her.
Flinch.
Whale friend.
You're not suddenly going to laser beam~ from your mouth or anything, right?
No such thing happened. The baby whale seemed tired and lay down completely again.
Squelch squelch.
『But that folklore is a made-up story. Because such a thing doesn't happen due to sky whale characteristics.』
"Ah, is that so?"
Was the sky whale that flew over last time just exceptionally large?
Well, it's nonsense for a living being to easily destroy an entire island.
Even glow-in-the-dark dragons can't do that.
『Imagining that a child could be kidnapped from that powerful sky whale is an error from the start.』
Uwee.
『You might forget since you can't see them easily, but sky whales live in the sky. Think about it. How do people approach a sky whale?』
"Airships?"
『Sky whales aren't foolish enough to miss beings approaching on noticeable airships to kidnap their children in a wide open sky without a single obstacle blocking the view in all directions.』
Uweh.
Now that I hear it, it's an impossible difficulty.
How could an airship escape from a super duper whale that can spew whale breath from its mouth?
『So this whale has a reason for being here. I don't know what the reason is, but if the mother whale still hasn't come, it will probably continue that way for a while.』
Pastel turned her head.
"I don't know how they kidnapped it, but assuming they succeeded in kidnapping, could it be the mother can't come because she doesn't know where her child is?"
The iron container the baby whale is trapped in had magic circles engraved inside. Could it be tracking prevention?
『Though it differs by species and individual, some elderly sky whales are thought to be able to communicate across distances from the demon realm to the human realm. It's not a being that can be blocked by mere human magic like this.』
Uwang.
Pastel's mouth fell open.
Come to think of it, even normal whales living in the sea can communicate with whales hundreds of kilometers away using ultrasound, right?
She looked down at the tired baby whale.
"You're really amazing!"
Let's be friends! Friends!
I'll take care of you diligently first!
Pastel treated the baby whale without a shred of self-interest. It was absolutely not a mindset of sticking to a strong kid.
#
Emergency countermeasures meeting.
"Everyone please calm down."
Pastel calmly opened her mouth. Participants who had fallen into panic looked at her.
"This is incomplete terrorism. Radical demon race blindly believed demon realm folklore and had impossible expectations."
She gestured to the seat next to her.
Ellie calmly moved her gaze.
Somehow Ellie seems to have just done tons of paperwork as a student council worker since enrollment, but she clearly entered with demon realm myths and legends as her major. Specifically Demon King legends.
Intense gazes from human participants focused. The demon race girl's expression became tense.
A contextual explanation to understand the terrorists' intentions continued.
"Recently, sky whale folklore has been over-represented among radicals. It's a wicked and primitive trend trying to fill the thirst for Demon King birth with whale strength."
The participants nodded.
"This is likely sloppy terrorism combining impulsive thinking and confirmation bias."
Demon King birth.
It feels like dangerous and wicked desires just from hearing it.
Oing.
Pastel's eyes went round.
Actually that Demon King was me.
Then the Pastel ultimate villain theory that talkative terrorist Mr. Tmaout earnestly claimed wasn't particularly wrong.
Oiing.
Pastel rolled her eyes then pretended not to hear.
Totally coincidence.
As the countermeasures meeting continued, rational analyses accumulated.
An ecology professor opened his mouth.
"Recently, one sky whale has been repeatedly exhibiting strange behavior like plundering sky mackerel habitats near Sky Island. Seeing how it's the same species as the baby whale..."
"It's the mother whale!"
Pastel's face brightened.
The professor nodded.
"Since it's abnormal behavior around Sky Island, we're already constantly grasping its location and condition by sending department airships. If it flies over, news will come right away."
Oh yeah.
Majors who weren't just playing around usually.
Is this system administration not relying on individual improvisation? And at the top of that is power overflowing Pastel.
Huk, power overflowing.
Countermeasures were quickly established.
They decided to just treat the baby whale and take it to the mother whale in a clean body condition. Since the mother whale could suddenly fly over, they'll treat it on an airship in nearby airspace.
It's nothing special and really nothing special, but that's how work usually is.
Pastel moved her steps to the airship's hospital room.
"If I hadn't listened to demon and hastily evacuated first, it would have been chaos."
Countless increasing refugees and collapsing market economy and falling authority.
The situation becomes increasingly uncontrollable and all administrative power must be poured into just dealing with refugees in an endless situation...
Uwaa.
At that level, it's no different from successful terrorism even if the mother whale doesn't come.
Now even if we propagate that the mother whale isn't coming, it's obvious people won't believe it saying only high-ranking people are trying to escape.
Uweeng.
Pastel wiped away cold sweat.
"Phew."
It's fortunate quick-witted media including the newspaper club cooperated without any conditions.
To cooperate actively just from sending private soldiers with an official document, they're really good people!
Authority figure Pastel, once again feels that power is created by gathering everyone's goodwill.
Nod nod.
Pastel approached the hospital bed.
There was a bandage-wrapped baby whale.
It's clearly a baby but the size is big so its tail fin came down past the bed.
The pink baby whale opened its mouth. The veterinarian personally peeled a shrimp shell larger than a palm and put it in its mouth.
Munch munch.
Somehow it looks like a good life.
"How's its condition?"
"As you see."
The baby whale opened its mouth again. This time the veterinarian picked up a black magic stone placed in a basket and put it in its mouth.
Huk.
Magic stones worth the same as gold as baby whale snacks.
Steam came from the pink skin. When the veterinarian lifted the bandages, the cracked and messy skin could be seen recovering.
Recovery super fast.
Somehow feels different from birth.
Pastel cleared her throat.
"Whale friend, I'll apologize on behalf of humanity. Though we didn't commit it, human greed and desire hurt you."
She bowed her head bow.
The baby whale opened its mouth.
"What does that mean?"
When she kept staring, the baby whale pointed at the shrimp basket with its tongue. The veterinarian hesitated then peeled a shrimp shell and put it in its mouth.
Munch munch.
"Sky whales can't eat shrimp shells?"
"It seems to just refuse saying it's not tasty."
Heeh.
Pastel's feelings became complex. I don't know what to do when the victim is so carefree. But it's better than suffering, I guess.
"But whale friend, how did you get kidnapped? Mom no is it mom? Anyway should we treat you moderately and take you to your parents right away?"
The baby whale opened its mouth.
Et!
This time what does it really mean?!
The whale's tongue pointed at the magic stone basket. The veterinarian put a magic stone in its mouth.
I was ignored...
Pastel became dejected.
The demon was dumbfounded.
『Why are you trying to converse with a whale? Just because you call any creature a friend doesn't mean it can really become a friend.』
Huk.
Is that so?!
Pastel's eyes went round.
Amazing fact.
Just because you call it a friend doesn't mean it's really a friend.
Surely surely!
Was popular Pastel's friend flirting just throwing out empty promises?!
Shock.
Great shock.