Chapter 191
Pastel neatly cleaned up the traces of battle.
She rearranged the tables, chairs, and various tableware that the Corrupted Fairy had scattered with Telekinesis back to their original state.
Because the Fairy patted her belly with a satisfied expression and went to sleep, she had to clean up the mess alone.
Pastel looked down at the last fork with narrowed eyes. She arranged it, precisely matching the horizontal and vertical angles.
Plate, knife, fork.
Perfect horizontal and vertical order.
Clean-Clean!
A proud smile formed on her face.
Prou~d.
With this level of skill, even Lord Demon would admire her cleaning!
It wasn't that Pastel couldn't clean, she just didn't do it!
"Cleaning finished!"
Now she just needed to return to the Banquet Hall!
She turned her body. A Vase Shard scattered on the floor caught her eye.
Oing.
The Vase Shard broken by the Corrupted Fairy.
Her Pink Eyes rolled.
The girl subtly looked around the lounge. Naturally, there was no one there. She slowly approached the Vase Shard.
Her Pink Eyes pointlessly looked elsewhere as her flat shoes casually pushed the Vase Shard into the corner. The shards were pushed away and went under the display stand.
The girl walked out with an expression that said it was nothing and scanned the whole area again.
A spotless, clean state.
A proud smile formed on her face.
"Prou~d!"
It wasn't that Pastel couldn't clean, she just didn't do it!
Lord Demon, who often sent her questioning glances wondering if she could survive on her own, needed to reflect on himself.
Pastel hummed as she walked to the door.
Suddenly, someone opened the soundproof door.
Oing.
It was Lord Demon with an urgent expression. After checking on Pastel, he let out a sigh of relief.
[Nothing happened, I see.]
"What's wrong?"
Lord Demon pointed at the Banquet Hall behind him. The space where the sale officials and Merchants had been leisurely munching away was filled with some hazy smoke.
Whoa!
A surprise event?
In the smoke, a wealthy Merchant flailed and staggered before collapsing. Countless screams of confusion could be heard.
"Hwaaah!"
It was poison gas...!
[It's Paralysis Gas. The Insider you mistakenly called your father really was him. His appearance suddenly reverted, and he shattered a gas bottle before running away.]
Gasp.
The Disguise magic must have worn off when the Corrupted Fairy died!
Dad, who had been Acting as the Insider Merchant, must have sensed that something went wrong and quickly ran away.
Eeeh?!
Pastel ran to the door. As the gas billowed in, she screamed, "Uwaaah! Save Pastel!" but felt relieved when Lord Demon reminded her that Young Kraft's body was disconnected from the world anyway.
Phew.
Come to think of it, I have a Magic Stone Munching Body, so I have Gas Immunity.
She quickly looked around the gas-filled Banquet Hall.
"Then did Dad leave?"
Did he really scurry away like Mouse Friend?
Even though his Daughter is here?
[I saw the Knight-level Escort who was accompanying him, so they must be far away by now.]
Hwaaah.
Dad, your judgment is too fast!
If you're an Executive-level of the Evil Cult, when your identity is discovered, you should first let out a wicked laugh, threaten the surroundings, blabber about your plan, mock the righteous Pink-Pink, and only then escape with smoke!
If he had done that, I could have seen the sight of Dad majestically explaining his evil plan before suddenly getting smacked by Lord Demon and collapsing.
Pastel's shoulders slumped.
Boo-boo.
She walked around the Banquet Hall and opened all the windows one by one. After flapping the curtains and taking some time, the gas cleared out. It must not have been a very strong gas, as people began to regain their senses one by one.
Pastel approached an Official who looked like the On-site Manager.
"What is all this? You will have to take responsibility for failing to properly fulfill His Imperial Majesty the Emperor's orders."
The Official grabbed his throbbing head. A confused gaze looked at her.
"Who are you...?"
Pastel tapped her waist. In doing so, she touched His Imperial Majesty's Sword, which she had brought from the carriage.
The Official must have been somewhat educated, as his eyes widened upon recognizing the sword. His gaze confirmed her Pink Hair.
Realizing the meaning of the pink hair—which he had previously glossed over, assuming Governor Pastel was in the Capital—he gasped.
"The sale of the Magic Stone Mine is strictly a Military Matter. You will have to explain very well how someone who appeared to be a Cultist was able to participate."
It was Corruption.
The Merchant that Dad had disguised himself as was able to become the Insider by heavily bribing the Officials.
Originally, matters regarding the Magic Stone Mine were usually managed by the Demon World Corporation. However, for this matter, Imperial Officials had come, perhaps because the Imperial Family didn't want to pay the company a commission.
Since they were people who would return to the Empire anyway once the job was done, they probably had no qualms about taking bribes from figures in the Demon Realm. Because it was a different Continent, the Surveillance was also noticeably less.
Even so, for them to take bribes and decide on an Insider for a matter involving His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, she didn't know how big their guts were.
Or had the previous tyrant's massacre of newborns caused Imperial Authority to plummet this much? The current Emperor betraying and ruining the Kraft Family—a Close friend's Family, generations of Loyal Subjects, and part of the Imperial Faction—probably also affected the Imperial Authority.
When they searched the carriage the Insider had arrived in, they found the real Insider tied up tightly.
Upon Interrogation, he revealed that after coincidentally hearing the news of the Magic Stone Mine sale earlier than others, he sought out a Sponsor to gather funds and scheme. That Sponsor, as it turned out today, was the Church.
It made no sense for a mere Merchant to coincidentally hear about the Imperial Family's decision earlier than others. It was safe to assume that the Church was the one who leaked the news to the Merchant's ears, pretending it was a coincidence.
Was the Merchant just used in the net woven by the Church?
"Hwaaah. The Church's ears have reached the Imperial Family?"
[Why has the Empire turned out like this...]
Now that she roughly understood the situation, all that was left for the one holding His Imperial Majesty's Sword to do was dispose of those involved.
"What do I do, what do I do."
Pastel grabbed her head and Groaned.
The kind Pastel had absolutely no idea how to dispose of the Officials who dared to insult the Imperial Family.
Should she cut off their heads?
Gasp.
The Imperial Officials, who had been waiting in a rigid posture across from the sofa for a long time, poured cold sweat.
Pastel drew His Imperial Majesty's Sword. She examined the blade and imagined the scene of cutting off heads with it.
A fountain of blood spurting.
Gasp.
One of the Officials hiccuped.
Oing.
Pastel stared at the Official who had eaten a hefty bribe. As she gazed at him intently, the Official's eyes trembled frantically.
Pastel's mouth opened.
"Oing."
The Official next to him hiccuped.
Pastel looked back and forth between the blade and the Officials.
Oing-oing.
A white-haired Official three seats down, who had only been sweating, hurriedly opened his mouth.
"By the way, Your Excellency, Governor-General, what brings you to this place?"
Although his voice trembled, his life-risking attempt to change the atmosphere showed his years of experience. Though all those years of experience had gone toward Corruption.
Still, Pastel, who knew Respect for Elders, neatly sheathed the blade.
"Just to take a look."
The Official Swallowed Dry Saliva.
"Do you perhaps have an interest in the Magic Stone Mine?"
"Well, I'm not entirely uninterested."
Pastel felt shy and pointlessly twisted her body.
The Official's eyes sparkled. He quickly exchanged glances with the other Officials, then suddenly dropped to his knees.
"Although we may have lost our minds and bodies to a few pennies, our hearts for the Empire and the Imperial Family do not fall behind anyone else's!"
"That's right!"
The Officials all dropped to their knees in unison.
Oing.
Pastel tilted her head.
The Official looked up with wide eyes.
"As Your Excellency
Context: d the Imperial Family do not fall behind anyone else's!"
"That's right!"
The Officials all dropped to their knees in unison.
Oing-oing.
Pastel tilted her head.
The Official looked up with wide eyes.
"As Your Excellency, Governor-General said, the Magic Stone Mine is a Military Matter. But for the likes of the Church to dare covet it, we cannot hold back our bitter grief."
"Is that so?"
Wow.
"It is certain that if, Governor-General said, the Magic Stone Mine is a Military Matter. But for the likes of the Church to dare covet it, we cannot hold back our bitter grief."
"Is that so?"
Wow.
"It is certain that if the Magic Stone Mine had fallen into the Church's hands like this, it would have caused a massive problem."
"That is true."
Listening to them, their sins were deep.
Since they themselves said so, it seemed right to cut off their heads?
The Official bowed his head deeply.
"Please punish us!"
Oing.
Her Pink Eyes went round.
Were these people actually Loyal Subjects?
The other Officials were startled and stared at the speaking Official, then exchanged eye conversations before hurriedly restoring their bowed postures.
The Official faced Pastel.
"But before that, please allow us to tie up this matter with our own hands! If the personnel change and things become chaotic, it will be easier for wicked hands like the Church to covet the Magic Stone Mine! Please consider our final display of loyalty!"
Eeeh?
It felt like it made sense, but also didn't, while His Imperial Majesty's Sword seemed to desire blood.
His Imperial Majesty's Sword: I desire blood.
Gasp, really?
Wow.
"My heart for the Empire and the Imperial Family doesn't fall behind either. I think it would be better for you all to step back and let me handle it instead."
The Official's eyes sparkled.
"As you say!"
Oing.
"That is exactly our thought. No matter how high a price must be received, selling the Magic Stone Mine—a Military Matter—through a competitive method was wrong from the start. Rather, entering into a Private Contract with a selected individual whose loyalty to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor is unquestionable, who is a Military Expert, and who can pay the proper price, is the truly correct method."
That did seem to make sense.
"Someone like Your Excellency, Governor-General Pastel."
Gasp.
That seemed to make twice as much sense.
The Official sent a subtle look. The other Officials did the same.
Oing.
Why such looks all of a sudden?
Wait a minute.
Isn't this a bribe?
It seemed to mean that if she covered up their sins, they would change the Insider for the Magic Stone Mine to Governor Pastel. Since there was already an Insider, the related procedures and clean-up must have already been prepared.
Are they trying to offer me a bribe right now?
To this Governor-General Pastel, a true Loyal Subject of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor?
"What are you talking about right now!"
Pastel jumped up. The Officials freaked out. The girl Pointed a Finger at them.
"What do you take me for, making such a ridiculous proposal! I cannot forgive this!"
"G-Governor-General!"
The Officials trembled in fear.
"We will also offer our own fortunes! It will not cost Your Excellency a single penny to purchase the Magic Stone Mine!"
"Do you think a mere penny is the issue here?!"
How dare they!
What do they take a person for...!
Unable to forgive them, Pastel pulled out a sharp fountain pen.
The pen nib flashed.
A signature was drawn on the Mine Purchase Contract.
Scribble, scribble.
These people seemed to have a good eye!
Wow.