Chapter 17 – The Stimulant Isn’t An Issue
by Polar Bear
『This craftsmanship, could it be the Order?』
The demon examined the stimulant. He broke apart the drug and closely inspected the black contents with tweezers.
『…No, it can’t be the Order. It hasn’t even been 20 years since we eradicated them after all that trouble. And the Academy isn’t an easy place to infiltrate.』
The tweezers separated specific contents.
『Sky whale fins? I don’t know the purpose of distributing the stimulant, but they wouldn’t use such expensive ingredients just for pure sales.』
The demon put down the tweezers.
『Young Craft, it won’t affect you even if you eat it. No effect. Just as you can’t get energy from food, various drugs won’t work on you either.』
The demon’s fingers tapped on the table.
『But just in case, it’s better not to eat it.』
Huh?
Pastel’s eyes widened.
Several stimulants were rolling around in her open mouth.
The demon turned around and put his hand to his forehead.
『Why are you eating that?』
“B-but it’s delicious!”
Pastel chewed quickly. Her eyes sparkled with each bite of the stimulant.
Magic stones tasted like junk food candy. But the stimulant was much more delicious than magic stones.
High-class candy?
It’s like a luxury candy that a candy art specialist chef personally pulled and worked on for days.
How should I express this?
After pondering, Pastel came up with a brilliant expression.
“The head chef’s drug cocktail!”
Wow.
Chef’s skills are totally fantastic.
『Drug cocktail…?』
The demon’s face hardened. Then he snatched away the stimulant box.
『Don’t eat it.』
Ah?!
“Give it back!”
Pastel reached out her hand.
『No.』
The demon stood up and raised the box high. His tall stature lifted the box high up.
“Give it back! Give it back!”
Pastel clung to the demon and reached out. Her hands flailed, unable to even reach near the box.
Ah, the height!
The height…!
The demon looked down resolutely.
『What’s this drug cocktail nonsense? Just don’t eat it.』
Uwah.
Maybe the expression was too strange.
“I’ll correct it! Drug, no no.”
Ugh.
Pastel, holding her head and thinking seriously, looked up at the demon slightly uncertainly.
“Magic stone cocktail…?”
Hehe.
The demon declared without changing his expression.
『No.』
Ah.
My special magic stone cocktail…!
Head Chef, please scold Mr. Demon!
Didn’t he say similar craftsmanship might be from the Order? I feel like I have a blood connection with the Order. Maybe I should have been with the Order?
Ugh, calm down.
Top scorer Pastel, you can protect your magic stone cocktail.
Logical and rational brain power!
Yah…!
“Mr. Demon, Mr. Demon. I’m not in a position to be picky about what I eat. Even though the expression was weird, as you said, there’s no problem if I eat it!”
She pointed to herself.
She had just swallowed several stimulants but there was no particular change.
『That’s…』
The demon hesitated.
No matter what, he seemed uncomfortable with a child picking up and eating just anything.
An opening!
Pastel jumped up. She snatched the stimulant box and ran away quickly.
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
She poured the stimulants into her mouth.
The sweetness of candy!
The demon hesitated whether to stop her, then gave up. He watched with an uneasy gaze.
Pastel smiled brightly.
“It’s okay!”
Because there’s no problem.
Really.
#
The next day, Pastel submitted one of the leftover stimulants to the faculty meeting in her capacity as a student council member.
Then she headed to the old dormitory. It was to tell the first-year student the results about the ghost.
“The ghostly presence at night was Leonard’s group.”
Not Mr. Ghost, how disappointing.
“L-Leonard?”
The first-year shook his head with a pale face.
“No, there was a sound yesterday too.”
“Really? But everyone was in the garden?”
“There really was!”
Is Mr. Ghost there?
Oh yeah.
Pastel brightened up.
The first-year flinched and averted his gaze.
“S-so I checked it myself. To see if it was really a ghost.”
Oh?
Our friend, unexpectedly courageous.
The first-year moved to the corridor. Then, trembling, he pointed at the floor.
“The cause was here.”
The floor he pointed at was just a normal corridor floor.
“At night, v-voices echo from below. It must be ghosts…!”
Huh?
Is that so? Isn’t there just a space under the floor? Like a basement.
“Okay, the student council will try to solve it.”
She sent away the frightened first-year.
Pastel put her ear to the ground and listened.
What could she hear?
As she stayed quiet, a faint animal sound could be heard.
Meow meow.
Pastel’s eyes widened.
“Mr. Demon! Mr. Demon! It’s a cat sound! There are cats living underground!”
Wow, underground cats.
『It must be a basement. Since it was an officer training school, it’s probably a remnant of that. They covered it with the dormitory but didn’t completely remove it, it seems.』
Ooh, signs of adventure are wafting up.
Pastel’s eyes sparkled.
“Let’s enter right away!”
And after rummaging around all day, she discovered that there was no basement entrance at all.
Eh.
『Did they cover it completely with the dormitory? We can’t enter like this. Give up.』
“What about the cats? How did they get in?”
『If the interior is wide, there might be an accidentally open entrance somewhere far away. Even if it’s abandoned, it was probably a military secret in the past. It’s better not to think you can find a hidden entrance.』
“Ah, I see.”
Disappointing.
The adventure ended like this.
I guess this is what life is like.
Regrettable.
Giving up on the adventure, she pondered how to comfort the first-year who was terrified of ghosts.
She crossed her arms and looked down at the corridor floor.
Suddenly, a sound came from inside her clothes.
Huh.
She took it out and it was the fate compass obtained from the Demon King’s ruins.
The needle spun round and round and then pointed at the floor.
Oh?
『…Looks like the Demon King’s contingency is underground.』
Pastel’s eyes shone.
Is it magic stone replication this time?
Or absorbing demon energy from the air just by breathing?
Whatever it is, if it’s the Demon King’s contingency, there should be at least one cheat key to make life too easy, right?
『You’ll have to hope for luck, but if you rummage through the library, you might find underground documents. If you’re lucky, you might be able to deduce the entrance.』
What are you saying? Read a ton of books?
Sit in a gloomy library where you can’t even talk?
Ugh, top scorer Pastel doesn’t do that.
“I have an idea!”
Smart people don’t study.
Pastel’s sharp gaze swept over the dormitory.
It was clean but quite shabby.
“Students living in such poor facilities!”
Everything visible was old-fashioned, all of it old-fashioned.
“As the student council, we can’t allow this!”
She raised one arm high.
“New dormitory construction!”
Pastel’s eyes shone.
“The student council will promote it!”
If it’s under the dormitory, why not just push the dormitory away?
Interfere with the construction site using student council authority and munch on the Demon King’s contingency.
A totally genius idea.
And and!
“The student council will directly recruit a construction company from the demon realm!”
Why specifically the demon realm?
Just, hehe.
No big deal.
“Let’s feed the poor child~”
The demon muttered in an anxious voice.
『…Why the demon realm.』
The first time is difficult.
The second time is doable.
The third time is easy!
Oh yeah.
Off to the demon realm~!
Oh wait.
Before that, we need to increase the student council members.
Ellie seems to be struggling alone.
#
Dustin Wilde.
The second son of the Wilde Barony.
He grew up under a father whose hobby was seizing commoners’ farms and a mother who was a good match for such a husband, with a harmonious relationship.
Haha hoho.
His brother, who was the spitting image of his father, was so close that he would look for his younger brother whenever he enjoyed his hobby of whipping maids.
Haha hoho.
He had never been hit and never been yelled at.
But Dustin wanted to run away from home due to a rebellious spirit he himself didn’t understand the cause of.
As a result, he worked hard and succeeded in entering the Academy.
Good job, Dustin.
But reality is cruel.
What he actually faced was the bottom rank in the written exam.
As the saying goes, you reap what you sow, Dustin couldn’t swallow his pride and picked a fight with the seemingly easy target who was the top scorer in the written exam.
There was also a calculation of interests.
Being the second son of a baron family meant an uncertain future. He had no choice but to gain fame and connections to become independent somehow.
In that sense, defeating a girl from a family with only a high reputation in the first duel was a rough but doable scenario.
Even if he gets cursed at, infamy is better than being unknown.
As a starting point, Pastel of the Craft family seemed like an easy opponent.
It certainly seemed that way.
But the result was a crushing defeat.
The fragile girl was the owner of ridiculous superhuman strength.
The girl went whack whack!
Dustin went ugh! ugh!
No.
After that, Dustin started to be quietly ostracized among the kids.
He was so thoroughly ostracized that he couldn’t make a single friend during the entrance exam period.
Dustin secretly cried under his blanket. His nose ran too.
He wanted to make friends.
He had even made a list of 100 things to do with friends at the Academy…
Days of eating alone passed.
The first item on the list, eating meals with friends, which was made half-jokingly, was not achieved at all.
I shouldn’t have written it.
Every day, wetting the pillowcase with tears.
But was there a day for sunshine in life?
After admission, Leonard approached him. What he wanted was combat experience from dueling with Pastel.
It seemed Leonard also wanted to defeat Pastel and gain infamy cum fame.
What a schemer, not letting his guard down and investigating his opponent in advance despite having a build like an upperclassman.
This guy will defeat Pastel!
Let’s become friends with this guy!
And eat meals together…!
In fact, Dustin, who just wanted to eat meals with a friend, answered Leonard’s command-like questions diligently.
It feels like becoming a subordinate rather than a friend, but that must be a misunderstanding.
And Leonard’s plan began.
Leonard was cold-hearted. Despite having an upperclassman-like build himself, he didn’t let his guard down about the girl having superhuman strength.
When he heard the news that the girl was doing consecutive arm wrestling matches, he seized the opportunity for a duel and waited for the girl’s arm strength to be completely drained.
This will be a win…!
The cold-hearted Leonard and the naive Pastel faced off.
The girl went whack whack!
Leonard went ugh! ugh!
No.
Leonard, what did you use that big body for? You shouldn’t fall with one punch after preparing so thoroughly.
He gave up thinking.
Nothing’s working out, sigh.
And Dustin, who still had nothing working out, was currently rolling on the ground to great acclaim.
“Hey! Step on him! How dare you fall for a honey trap?! You ungrateful bastard!”
At Leonard’s order, the underlings rushed in. Kicks hit his body.
The underlings’ self-interested kicks continued.
“That’s right! This ungrateful! We wanted to be honey trapped by Pastel too!”
Leonard, who was kicking along, flinched.
“What what?! Who just said that?! Who said that, I’m asking!”
Leonard’s fierce gaze, embarrassed, swept around.
As the search for the culprit began, Dustin was finally able to be released.
His beaten body ached all over.
He walked unsteadily, leaning against the wall.
“Damn them, it wasn’t a honey trap but confirming an innocent friend…”
Even though I’m the second son of a baron family, I’m still a noble, so I wouldn’t have fallen for the former. These guys are fantasizing on their own.
He moved with a slight limp. His ankle tingled as if he had sprained it. He walked carefully.
“Oh? Hello, friend.”
A familiar voice was heard.
He turned his head.
Suddenly, cherry blossoms bloomed in his vision.
Lush hair swayed with her steps. Dreamy pink eyes met his gaze.
At this moment, the wind seemed to carry the scent of flowers.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt somewhere?”
Dustin came to his senses at the worried voice. He hurriedly averted his gaze.
Damn, why now of all times.
How embarrassing.
“It’s fine, go on your way.”
At the firm rejection, Pastel tilted her head.
“…Ah.”
The girl suddenly looked very sorry.
“I didn’t consider your position. Sorry, I usually don’t pay proper attention to my surroundings.”
A soft hand carefully took Dustin’s hand. A warm touch was felt. The body temperature seemed to rise from the hand up to the arm.
“I’m sorry, friend.”
Pink eyes closed gently.
“Just forgive me this once.”
Dustin’s heart pounded. The warmth from the girl’s hand seemed to envelop his entire body.
“Of course, I’ll make sure Leonard doesn’t come near you!”
His delusions ran wild.
Could this be the free love I’ve only heard about?
“Hmm, how should I put it. Ah!”
Pastel smiled brightly.
“You have a lot of talent for serving under others! Join the student council! We’re short on hands right now! It’ll suit your talents too!”
Whatever was about to form in his heart shattered completely.
“What…? Are you saying I have a lackey constitution?”
Dustin Wilde, joined the student council.
Position? Lackey.
Pfftttahahahahahhaha! Lol, I mean… with how suggestive it was how Pastel coer— I mean persuade Dustin to be her friend, its easy to misunderstood as honey trapping. And lmao! One of the underlings is down bad! And just like that blooming love got smashed!
Free love lol