Chapter 10: The Combat Practical Exam Isn’t Scary
by Polar Bear
The demon race girl.
Slightly pointed ears.
Black hair, black eyes.
A backpack so large it made her sway, and eyes like a scholar’s.
“How did you get left behind?”
Pastel tilted her head.
The demon race girl hastily slurped her soup, then swallowed.
“Phew. They said there was a problem with the airship and they needed to prepare a new one, so I took a short-term job. But they left without me in the meantime.”
Oh, oh.
Like going to the bathroom at a rest stop during a school trip and finding everyone’s left without you?
Wow.
Pastel handed her a new bowl of soup.
“Eat more! Eat a lot!”
“Thanks. But you’re really good at cooking.”
The demon race girl looked at Pastel with admiring eyes. Elaborate dishes were spread out on the table between them.
Feeling proud.
“I’m pretty good.”
Puff puff.
『Oh boy.』
Hehe.
Pastel, with a relaxed smile, picked up the pepper shaker. As she turned it over the soup, magic stone powder sprinkled down.
“What’s that?”
“Secret recipe!”
Pastel continued primly.
“I can’t tell you even if you’re a friend~”
She scooped up a spoonful. Nom.
A rich, deep umami flavor filled her mouth.
Wow wow, Mr. Demon is really good at cooking.
After finishing the soup, she tore into a roasted chicken leg. The meat tore off easily. The brown skin peeled away, revealing white flesh. Juices dripped down moistly.
Wowww.
She dipped it thoroughly in magic stone powder and took a bite. A moist, chewy texture filled her mouth. An explosion of fatty flavor.
Wowww.
『I adjusted the seasoning to match the sweetness of the magic stone powder. How does it taste?』
Pastel answered by biting into the chicken leg with all her might.
『…Eat a lot.』
The meal continued without conversation. Whether it was the demon race girl who had been enthusiastically homeless or Pastel who had to grind gold bars for one meal, their situations weren’t so different, so they were in agreement.
One by one, the plates emptied. A spoon was placed on the last empty plate.
“Phew.”
Pastel, her stomach full to bursting, slumped in her chair.
I’m full.
No, I’m hungry, but I’m full.
Physically, there was clearly no more room in her stomach. A sense of fullness filled her body.
But the feeling of emptiness didn’t go away. A void, as if an empty space had formed in her soul, whispered that she needed to devour what she had lost.
She dipped her finger in the magic stone powder and put it in her mouth. A candy-like sweetness. It felt like eating junk food.
Hmm.
It’s better than not eating, but I don’t think this is what I should be eating. There’s no thrilling stimulation to the mind.
『What’s wrong?』
Pastel shook her head.
It’s nothing.
The demon race girl, who had been sprawled out with her, looked over.
“Come to think of it, we haven’t properly introduced ourselves. I’m Ellie.”
She waited for a moment, but no family name was forthcoming.
Ah.
To avoid an awkward silence, Pastel quickly raised one hand.
“I’m Pastel Love Craft! You can call me Pastel! Nice to meet you, friend!”
Ellie looked at her with surprise, then nodded.
“Alright.”
A cool voice.
Oh yeah.
Finally, a friend I can talk to.
Pastel blushed.
“What kind of weapon does Ellie use? Are you a magician? Do you go doo doo doo with a staff? Or bang bang boom boom?!”
Magic Special?
Ellie tilted her head.
“I don’t know how to fight.”
Eh?
“I’m enrolling for academic research.”
Eh?
Ah.
Well, it’s an academy, not a military training camp.
Pastel smiled brightly.
“Then we’ll get along well! I’m pretty smart, you know. I got the top score in the written exam!”
“Really? You’re smart, huh?”
“That’s right!”
Hehe.
“What’s your major, Pastel?”
Major?
Her mind went blank. What had she been learning all this time? She was the top scorer in the written exam, so surely she must have learned something smart.
Oh, I don’t know.
Then my major is…
She raised the magic sword with a flourish.
“Combat specialist!”
Wow.
I’m really good at it.
Ellie stared blankly.
Then she nodded.
“I see. My major is myths and legends. Specifically, Demon King legends.”
“Demon King legends?”
What an incredible naming?
“The Demon King’s…”
Ellie suddenly turned pale, then changed her words.
“Th-the evil Demon King’s legacy is said to be sleeping on Sky Island. It was the site of the final great battle in the Human-Demon War, after all.”
Ellie’s fingers twirled her black hair.
“Of course, legends are just legends. But there might be some dirty contingency plans. We can’t let another human slaughterer driven mad by demon energy appear, so I’m researching and reporting to the Empire.”
Demon energy?
Oh?
“What are contingency plans?”
The demon race girl swallowed dryly.
“…Low and disgusting methods to create new madmen. Barbaric and crude ways of patching up inferior talent and bodies with demon energy and magic stones.”
Magic stones?
Her heart pounded.
“A-anyway, you said you’re majoring in combat, right? Are you well prepared for the combat practical exam? Isn’t it difficult for a swordsman?”
Pastel’s eyes widened.
“Oh right!”
She jumped up.
“I need to prepare for the combat practical! Thanks, Ellie! Thanks to you, I remembered! Sorry, but I’m going to play alone for a while! I like training by myself, you know!”
With Mr. Demon.
Ellie wiped her forehead with a handkerchief.
“But if that’s the case, shouldn’t you not be here?”
Huh?
“I’m taking the academic practical exam. Won’t the combat practical start even if we don’t arrive? As soon as the late demon realm airship arrives.”
That means…
“Uwaaah?!”
Pastel clutched her pink hair.
“I’m going to be late!”
Uwah!
Run, Bung-bung…
Bung-bung was the name she had just given to the airship.
…
In the middle of a forest on the outskirts of Sky Island.
“Where’s Craft?”
The professor looked over the group of examinees from the platform. The pink presence that should have stood out was nowhere to be seen.
An older student answered from the side.
“She borrowed an airship using student council authority. For transporting a stranded examinee to Sky Island.”
“‘She borrowed’? Why are you using honorifics for a young student?”
“Ah, she borrowed an airship using student council authority. For the stranded examinee.”
“Student council? An examinee?”
The professor furrowed his brow in thought. He tapped the platform with his finger.
“She was definitely the top scorer in the written exam, right?”
“Yes.”
“Let me see her file.”
Pastel’s file was handed over. The combat practical exam section was opened.
The crossroads of pass and fail.
The professor’s quill moved.
Suddenly, a horn blared through the forest.
“It’s a terrorist attack!”
All eyes turned to the sky. A small airship came racing as if it were falling. A girl’s voice could be faintly heard.
The airship crashed into something invisible in the air. Glass-like shards covered the sky.
“First barrier breached! How reckless!”
“It’s demons, those inferior creatures. I knew this would happen. We should have exterminated them long ago.”
Why did the Knight Order let a demon airship through?
The cold-faced professor took out his staff. The staff aimed at the airship. Countless staves followed suit.
Ground cannons aimed at the target following the staves.
“Prepare anti-air fire! Target is the demon airship! Fi-!”
Pink hair fluttered from the airship’s railing.
“Bung-bung! You’re too fast!”
The professor’s mouth fell open.
“V-Viscount!”
The professor hurriedly shouted.
“Change target! Aim for the secondary barriers!”
“What?”
“It’s Lady Craft! Destroy everything except the final barrier! Quickly, before she gets hurt in the collision!”
The older student who had been scolded for using honorifics for a young noble widened his eyes.
The professor, who had changed his words, shouted without a hint of shame.
“Fire!”
The ground cannons fired. Cannonballs covered the sky. Magic stone powder on the surface of the shells formed magic circle patterns.
The magic circles glowed and formed spells. Flames flickered. A thunderous roar echoed. Explosions covered the sky.
Countless glass barriers shattered.
In the face of a high noble’s authority and influence, all threats were neutralized.
The airship fell through the flames.
“Wooaaah!”
Pink hair fluttered.
The airship crashed right next to them. A thunderous noise rang out. Dust rose and wind gusted. The stunned examinees’ hair and clothes fluttered.
“Lady Craft!”
The professor ran.
“Medical team! Now!”
People followed.
A staff was waved. Wind blew and the dust cleared. A half-destroyed airship was revealed.
The pink girl sprawled among the wreckage muttered.
“I-I’m alive…”
Pastel staggered to her feet and looked around blankly.
The professor, older students, medical team.
Behind them, a group of dumbfounded examinees.
Examinees?
She raised both arms high.
“I’m not late!”
Narrowly surviving failure, starvation, and a crash landing.
Oh yeah.
Suddenly, the professor at the front exhaled roughly.
“Phew.”
The professor wiped his cold sweat. His expression changed to intellectual and cool.
Oh, oh.
“So Craft has arrived. Now everyone’s here. Since there’s nothing wrong, restore the barriers and continue the exam.”
Uwah uwah.
A merciless death game.
No consideration for latecomers.
The professor looked at the older student who had followed.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and restore it. Finish within an hour. Thoroughly and meticulously. The intruder prevention system is still active, so you can do the rest quickly.”
The older student let out a silent scream.
…
“Walk to the left, to the river.”
Pastel walked through the forest, looking at a map. The sound of a river could be heard.
She ran hurriedly.
The river gushed.
“Ah! This must be it! We’ve arrived at the location!”
『Seems right.』
The merciless entrance exam continued relentlessly.
Tremble tremble.
The combat practical exam was golem hunting. They just had to go to their designated positions and then catch the golems scattered throughout the forest. It was an absolute evaluation.
Thank goodness.
Pastel, who wasn’t particularly worried thanks to being with the great demon, looked around the forest with a meaningful gaze.
“Mr. Demon, Mr. Demon! Did you hear?”
『Hear what.』
“They said there’s a Demon King’s legacy!”
Wow.
“Mak mak mak, absorbing demon energy from the atmosphere. Yap yap! Replicating magic stones.”
I don’t know what it means, but it could be possible, right?
The demon heaved an incredibly long sigh. It sounded like it came from his soul.
『You absolutely have no connection to it. Because you’re from the Craft family.』
Oh?
What did our family do this time?
『The Demon King’s throne is a position that can only be obtained if the threads of fate touch you. The same goes for its legacy and contingency plans. Discovery is not coincidence, but destiny. That’s why even the Empire can’t find it despite knowing its location.』
“Oh, so it’s not just a legend!”
Wow.
The demon paused.
『…Think as you like. Anyway, the Craft bloodline and the Demon King’s legacy absolutely have no connection. I can assure you of that.』
What on earth did our family do to warrant such certainty?
Disappointing.
Pastel sighed deeply as she walked.
And then suddenly her foot caught on a tree root.
Huh?
Her vision tilted and she fell face-first.
Thump.
Her hand touched a stone on the ground. The stone hummed, revealing magic circle patterns, then glowed.
Rumble rumble.
The ground opened up and ruins were revealed.
Pastel looked down the stairs of the ruins with a dumbfounded expression. The cold smell of underground wafted up.
Ohing?
The demon belatedly muttered in the silence.
『Th-this can’t be.』
No way?
No way, no way?
“Could this be?!”
Pastel jumped to her feet.
She raised both arms with all her might.
“Pastel’s life is easy…!”
Woooow!
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Rustle.
Footsteps were heard from behind.
Huh?
Pastel turned around.
Her gaze met blue eyes.
A blonde girl in magician’s robes.
Melissa Camelot.
『This has gotten complicated.』
The demon spoke firmly.
『First, we need to eliminate the witness.』
What?
…
Respected Mother,
I always reflect on your words and teachings.
But lately, I’ve had some doubts.
Is it right to reject people based solely on their family’s infamy?
Is that truly a dignified action?
Is that really befitting of nobility?
…I’m sorry.
I’ve reached the age to enter the academy, haven’t I? I want to try sticking to my own thoughts just once.
It’s not so wrong to ask someone my age who came out of a crashed airship if they’re hurt, is it?
Even if that person is a Craft whose shadow we shouldn’t even step on.
Melissa, who had deduced Pastel’s exam location and moved there, pushed through the undergrowth.
As she pushed aside a branch, a pink scene filled her vision.
Pink hair sparkled in the sunlight. Pink eyes shimmered, catching the light.
Mother, respected Mother.
Someone this beautiful couldn’t possibly be wrong, could they?
If there’s justice in aesthetics and morality in art, wouldn’t there be truth in this girl?
Instead of betrayal and scheming, mightn’t there be a heart without lies hidden in her chest?
As sunlight illuminates clouds and dew embraces grass blades, could there be deceit in this girl who has descended?
So, just once, I want to ask about her injuries…
Yes, that’s right.
I’ll be honest.
I want to be friends with this child.
Because that’s what a noble who loves art would do.
I will live as a noble.
Like you, Mother.
Melissa placed her hand on her chest politely. She bowed her head slightly.
“Craft, I’ve come to apologize for my rudeness last time.”
The pink girl approached.
And then she suddenly reached out both hands to Melissa.
“Sorry, friend! Let’s talk later!”
Melissa’s body was pushed. Her body turned and the river came into view.
“Kyaaah!”
Splash-!
The river rushed over her.
Melissa flailed as she was swept away.
Mother! Mother!
As she flowed along, her robe caught on a tree root. Melissa thrashed her arms wildly. She managed to grab the tree root.
Gasping for breath, she crawled onto the riverbank.
Water dripped from her tangled golden hair.
Her weary eyes looked down at the ground.
Mud fell from her head.
Mother…
I’m sorry.
You were right.
Crafts are bad.
Totally bad.
Melissa became dejected.
The misunderstanding continues lmao! Poor Pastel, friendship chance slipped away. Also heeeh, I suppose her original black soul form is a demon of sorts?
Dang Melissa really got fooled by the looks LOL I mean I would too, but that’s like the first thing her mother warned LMAO!