Chapter 132
The Corrupt Noble Faction's hideout was located in the basement of an inn that blended with the deep darkness of the Imperial Capital and looked purely evil and gloomy—or rather, it wasn't.
Just a little way outside the Grand Mansion Complex where the nobles of the Central Political Circles gathered and lived, there was a Villa Complex for nobles whose territories were far from the Capital.
The Noble Faction's self-proclaimed Hideout was one of those spacious villas.
What is this.
Pastel narrowed her eyes and examined the address on the note.
The villa with the art studio is located to the right of the third largest mansion.
A completely unfamiliar address system.
"Did I come to the wrong place?"
Was she perhaps bad with directions?
No, more than that, the address seemed too subjective. It was a bit too much for the smart Pastel, so to speak.
Still, it must have been intuitive for the Capital residents, as she was able to find her way by asking passersby, yet she still didn't understand it.
How could she ask, “Where is the third largest mansion?” and immediately get the answer, “Oh, there?” How was “the third largest mansion” being used like a proper noun?
Unlike this underdeveloped Capital, Sky Island used a somewhat decent address system. Was it because it was a planned city in its own right? However, Sky Island was way too big to just be called a city.
Pastel hesitated in front of the villa's main gate. She looked around the neatly organized street, completely devoid of trash—unfitting for the Corrupt Noble Faction—and crossed her arms, groaning.
Come to think of it, was it okay to just go in without an appointment? She came because she had received the hideout address like an invitation, but she hadn't expected it to be such a polite, normal place.
She had imagined just going to a dim, moody bar, receiving the stares of suspiciously dressed people, and sitting in front of the bartender.
—A Matador, without tequila.
If she placed such a cool-sounding order, the bartender wiping a glass would his eyes would shift.
—I will escort you inside.
Following him would reveal a hidden secret space where a gloomy-looking noble was waiting.
Then, the competent Governor-General Pastel would let out a relaxed smirk and corner the noble with words alone, and the noble would be pushed back, dripping with cold sweat, until...
—It was a misunderstanding! Our Noble Faction will acknowledge the great Governor-General Pastel as the Leader of the Royalist Faction!
And then, and then.
—To think you only realize it now. The low quality of the air here does not suit this schemer Pastel.
She thought she would look down at them while swishing her pink side hair, toss the mistakenly delivered note at them, and walk right out of the gloomy bar!
A truly realistic future!
"But Good heavens!"
Pastel stumbled and plopped down on the street. Gloomy, my foot! The clean street left only a bit of dirt on her when she sat down.
"To think I had such a bright and sunny future but couldn't experience it!"
My competent future!
She hadn't lost anything, but she already felt like she had taken a loss!
"Uwaaah!"
I should have just eaten marshmallows today!
Unfortunately, Pastel was far too competent. Knowing she would be scolded if she spent time alone with Lord Demon, who had told her to prepare to be scolded when she returned, she trotted off to do something else.
She had only thought that if she brought up the Noble Faction's hideout and asked him to make marshmallows, she wouldn't get scolded and could just eat chewy marshmallows!
But for a hideout that wasn't really a hideout like this, the standard procedure was to be polite, schedule a visiting date, and then come.
Unlike her plan, entering the hideout had become difficult, and getting marshmallows had become even more difficult.
"My marshmallows!"
I wanted to eat them right today!
Suddenly, a rattling sound came from beside her.
"Are you lost?"
When she looked back, there was an older brown-haired girl.
A wheeled box full of art supplies caught her eye. Her comfortable work clothes were smeared with various colors of paint. A leaf stuck in her brown hair fluttered. She looked as if she had just come from painting in the mountains somewhere.
As soon as someone appeared to comfort her, Pastel immediately adopted a despairing expression.
"I've lost my way in life."
Serious.
"That's an even more serious reason?!"
The girl covered her mouth in surprise. She examined Pastel with her brown eyes, then looked at her dirt-stained hem and became resolute.
"As an adult, I can't just leave you like this!"
The girl quickly supported Pastel.
Eek.
Then she threw open the villa's main gate and strode inside.
"Come in! It's a bit much to say so myself, but appreciating high-quality paintings will ease your mind."
Pastel walked along in a daze. A wide lake stretched out next to the refined garden. Painted canvases were scattered here and there.
Oh my.
Having only experienced quiet, calm, and tranquil human relationships so far, she found meeting someone like this somewhat bewildering.
"There's a stone sticking out here, so be careful. I need to tell the gardener, but I keep forgetting."
The girl grumbled as she walked straight across the lawn instead of the marble path laid out next to it. Pastel hopped over the lawn's decorative stone that was a stumbling block.
But wasn't this normal?
It wasn't good to divide people into normal and abnormal, but it was true that her friends were too calm!
They were so, so calm that Pastel even felt a sense of obligation.
But this person made her feel at ease.
"I suddenly feel like I'm back in my hometown!"
Should I call it Pastel-Pastel Hill!
"That one?"
The girl pointed to a nearby canvas. The painting of a coral reef underwater had the title 'Hometown' written on it.
Gasp, she had no idea what she was suddenly talking about.
But actually, logic wasn't important in a conversation, so she just nodded.
"Yes! And the lake is super pretty!"
The rippling lake sparkled with an emerald light.
A privilege only the rich could afford!
Making a lake in your front yard!
"I like this lake too!"
The girl smiled in satisfaction. The art supply box rattled as it was pulled along. A long brush was taken out and pointed from one end of the lake to the other.
"Originally, it wasn't just this size; I was going to buy up everything over there and try to make a small sea, but everyone stopped me, saying I'd go bankrupt, so I couldn't. To think they didn't understand my grand dream. Considering how much land prices have gone up, I should have done it then! Everyone really has no eye for these things!"
The brush moved and measured Pastel vertically. The girl examined her as if measuring human proportions, then smiled brightly.
"Shall I paint your portrait?"
"Wow! Really?! I'd love that!"
Pastel trotted after her and entered the villa's annex. It was a messy, white space like an art studio. The art supply box was roughly placed in the corner.
"Butler! A glass of alcohol! I mean, a cup of black tea!"
The girl who shouted put a hair tie in her mouth and fixed her hair. Then she discovered the leaf stuck in her hair and brushed it off.
"You know the worth of my name, right? The portrait is a gift, so you can just take it."
Eek.
Is a sudden “you know me, right?” coming in?
Would this artist girl succeed with the “you know me, right?” that even Lord Demon hadn't succeeded with?
Pastel could say it confidently.
"I don't know! Who are you?"
The girl chuckled as if she had heard a funny joke then pointed to a chair on one side.
"Sit over there. It's been a while since I've done a portrait, but I should be able to paint it quickly."
But since she was a nice person, it didn't matter if Pastel didn't know who she was, so Pastel sat in the chair without a word of complaint. She hummed and swung her legs.
"Please draw me pretty!"
Ah, right!
"If it's a gift, can I gift it to someone else as I wish?"
The girl divided and poured various paints.
"Not cash it in? Do you have someone to gift it to?"
The paints mixed little by little with other materials, turning into pastel tones.
"There's a Lord Demon I owe a lot to! The thought that I should give him at least one portrait of myself keeps popping up!"
"That Lord Demon? Isn't a portrait gift a bit early? Or is my mindset too old-fashioned?"
Her pink eyes grew round.
"Can't I gift it?"
The girl smiled brightly.
"Of course you can gift it! It's a gift. I thought you were going to cash it in, but since you aren't, I was just saying. You're more romantic than I thought?"
Cashing in a gift.
That was a total misdeed.
"I didn't have that thought for even a second! Turning a gift into money is a really, really terrible misdeed! It's a greedy action that fails to consider the feelings of the person who gave the gift!"
Although she was constantly getting glared at by Melissa to drop her un-noble greedy behavior, Pastel was sufficiently conscientious.
She thought Melissa's standards were just too strict.
"Is that so?"
The girl's expression turned perplexed as she began to brush. It was a reaction as if she were troubled because she couldn't understand the riddle hidden in Pastel's words.
"Still, if the person who gifted the painting wanted it cashed in, wouldn't that be fine too? The Empire has such an oppressive tax system, so converting assets into paintings is a form of liberal resistance against that oppression."
Huh.
A statement only a bad tax evader would make.
A context that Pastel, an honest taxpayer, knew absolutely nothing about.
Pastel-toned brushstrokes filled the canvas. As the conversation stopped and time passed, the pastel-toned portrait was completed.
The brush was set down. A fountain pen wrote the title below the portrait.
Marquis Pastel Lovecraft.
Oh my.
How did she know me...?
"Finished! It didn't take long, right?"
The girl put down the fountain pen and looked back. Her brown eyes smiled brightly. Within them lay the hidden side of the Central Political Circles.
"I'll introduce myself properly. I am Nastashaya, leading House Redgrave."
The strategist's eyes stared sharply straight at her.
"As the leader of the Republican Faction, I will verify whether you truly empathize with the spirit of the Noble Republic."
Eeeeh?!
She felt like she had come to a dangerous place...!