Chapter 17
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: No Issues with the Awakening Agent
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The awakening agent was completely fine.
“This craftsmanship... could it be the Church?”
The demon examined the awakening agent. He split the pill apart and peered closely at the black contents with a pair of tweezers.
“...No, it couldn't be the Church. It's been less than twenty years since we finally subjugated them after all that trouble. And the Academy isn't exactly an easy place to infiltrate.”
The tweezers isolated a specific ingredient.
“A sky whale's fin, huh. I don't know the purpose behind distributing these awakening agents, but they wouldn't use such expensive materials just for a straight sale.”
The demon set down the tweezers.
“Young Craft, you wouldn't be affected even if you ate it. Or feel any effects. Drugs don't work on you, just like you can't get energy from food.”
The demon's fingers drummed on the table.
“But there's always a 'what if.' Better not to eat it.”
Huh?
Pastel's eyes went wide.
A few awakening agents were rolling around in her open mouth.
The demon, who had turned to look, pressed a hand to his forehead.
“Why the hell did you eat it?”
"B-but it's delicious!"
Pastel quickly chewed and swallowed. Her eyes sparkled with every bite.
Mana stones tasted like cheap junk food candy. But the awakening agent was way tastier.
Fancy candy?
It was like a luxury candy painstakingly crafted by a master confectioner who squeezed the syrup by hand over days of effort.
How should she describe it?
Pastel, deep in thought, suddenly came up with the perfect phrase.
"The head chef's drug cocktail!"
Wow.
Chef's skills are totally fantastic.
“Drug cocktail...?”
The demon's face stiffened. Then he snatched the box of awakening agents.
“Don't eat it.”
Eek?!
"Give it back!"
Pastel reached out her hand.
“No.”
The demon stood up and lifted the box high overhead. His tall stature held it way up high.
"Give it back! Give it back!"
Pastel clung to the demon and flailed her arms. Her hands couldn't even come close to the box.
Eek, his height!
His height...!
The demon looked down firmly.
“What the hell is a 'drug cocktail'? Just don't eat it.”
Uwaaaah.
Guess the phrasing was too weird.
"Let me rephrase! Not drug, no no."
Ugh.
Pastel clutched her head and pondered seriously, then glanced up at the demon a bit uncertainly.
"Mana stone cocktail...?"
Hehe.
The demon declared without changing expression.
“No.”
Aaah.
My special mana stone cocktail...!
Head chef, please scold the demon a bit!
That similar craftsmanship was the Church's? It even feels like it has the essence of blood kin. Maybe I was meant to be with the Church?
Ugh, calm down.
Top note-taker Pastel, you can protect the mana stone cocktail.
Logical, rational brain power!
Hyah...!
"Demon, Demon. I'm not in a position to be picky about what I eat. The phrasing was weird, but like you said, there's no problem even if I do eat it!"
She pointed at herself.
She'd just swallowed several awakening agents, but there was no change at all.
“That's...”
The demon hesitated.
Even so, it seemed unsettling to him that a kid was picking up and eating random things.
A gap!
Pastel hopped up. She snatched the awakening agent box and bolted away.
Yay yay.
She dumped the awakening agents into her mouth.
The sweetness of candy!
The demon started to stop her but hesitated and gave up. Then he watched with a troubled gaze.
Pastel beamed brightly.
"It's fine!"
No problem at all.
Really.
#
The next day, Pastel submitted one leftover awakening agent to the faculty meeting as a student council member.
Then she headed to the old dormitory. To inform the first-year about the ghost results.
"The nighttime ghost noises were Leonard's gang."
Not a real ghost? Bummer.
"L-Leonard?"
The first-year shook his head, face pale.
"No way, I heard it last night too."
"Really? Everyone was in the courtyard though?"
"I really heard it!"
There really is a ghost?
Yay.
Pastel lit up.
The first-year flinched and averted his gaze.
"S-so I checked it myself. To see if it was really a ghost."
Huh?
Our friend here has some guts, surprisingly.
The first-year stepped into the hallway. Then he pointed at the floor, trembling.
"The source was here."
His finger pointed at an ordinary hallway floor.
"At night, v-voices echo from below. It's definitely a ghost...!"
Huh?
Is it? Isn't it just some space below the floor? Like a basement?
"Got it. The student council will handle it."
She sent the terrified first-year on his way.
Pastel pressed her ear to the floor and listened.
What could it be?
Staying still, she faintly heard animal noises.
Meow meow.
Pastel's eyes went wide.
"Demon! Demon! It's a cat! There's a cat living underground!"
Wow, an earth cat.
“Probably a basement. It used to be an officer training facility, so this must be remnants. They built the dorm over it but didn't fully remove it.”
Ooh, adventure vibes rising.
Pastel's eyes sparkled.
"Let's go in right now!"
And after rummaging around all day, she discovered there was absolutely no basement entrance.
Eh.
“They must've covered it completely with the dorm. Can't get in like this. Give up.”
"What about the cat? How'd it get in?"
“If the interior's large, there might be an accidental opening far away. Even if abandoned, it was once a military secret. Better not expect to find a hidden entrance.”
"Aaah, makes sense."
Bummer.
The adventure ends just like that.
Guess that's life.
Regrettable.
She gave up on adventure and pondered how to soothe the first-year spooked by the ghost.
She crossed her arms and looked down at the hallway floor.
Suddenly, a sound came from her pocket.
Huh.
Pulling it out, it was the Fate Compass from the Demon King's ruins.
The needle spun around and pointed at the floor.
Huh?
“...Looks like the Demon King's arrangement is underground.”
Pastel's eyes gleamed.
This time for sure, mana stone replication?
Or demonic energy munch-munch just from breathing the air?
Either way, a Demon King's arrangement means a cheat key to make life too easy, right?
“We can hope for luck, but digging through the library might turn up underground records. If we're lucky, we could even deduce the entrance.”
What? Read a ton of books?
Sit in the quiet library all stuffy-like?
Ugh, top note-taker Pastel doesn't do that.
"I have an idea!"
Smart people don't study.
Pastel's sharp gaze swept the dormitory.
It was clean but pretty rundown.
"Students living in such poor facilities!"
Everything in sight was outdated, all of it.
"As student council, I can't allow this!"
She thrust one arm high.
"New dormitory construction!"
Pastel's eyes shone.
"The student council will push it forward!"
If it's under the dorm, just demolish the dorm, right?
Sneak onto the construction site with student council authority and munch the Demon King's arrangement.
Total genius idea.
And and!
"The construction company—we'll recruit directly from the Demon Realm!"
Why the Demon Realm specifically?
Just, hehe.
No big deal.
"Feed the poor kids~."
The demon muttered in an uneasy voice.
“...Why the Demon Realm?”
First time's hard.
Second's doable.
Third's easy!
Yay.
Off to the Demon Realm~!
Oh right.
Need to expand the student council first.
Ellie seems overwhelmed alone.
#
Dustin Wilder.
Second son of the Wilder barony.
He grew up under a father whose hobby was seizing peasants' farms and a mother who got along splendidly with such a husband.
Haha ho ho.
His brother, a spitting image of their father, was so close they'd seek each other out whenever whipping the maids.
Haha ho ho.
Dustin had never been hit, never even yelled at.
But for some inexplicable rebellious urge, Dustin wanted to run away from home.
In the end, he gritted his teeth, worked hard, and got into the Academy.
Good job, Dustin.
But reality is harsh.
He ended up in the bottom ranks of the written exams.
Having learned thievery, Dustin couldn't swallow his pride and picked a fight with the seemingly easy top note-taker.
There was calculation too.
As a baron's second son, his future was bleak. He had to gain fame and connections somehow to stand on his own.
In that sense, beating the girl from a famous-but-only-in-name family in his first duel was a rough but viable scenario.
Infamy's better than obscurity, even if he got cursed.
As a starting point, Pastel Craft looked like an easy mark.
She definitely seemed that way.
But the result was total defeat.
The fragile girl was a ridiculous bundle of superhuman strength.
The girl went hyah hyah!
Dustin went augh! Augh!
No.
After that, Dustin started getting quietly ostracized by the other kids.
They shunned him so thoroughly he couldn't make even one friend during entrance exams.
Dustin sobbed into his blankets at night, snot and all.
Friends... I wanted to make some.
I even made a list of 100 things to do with friends at the Academy...
Days passed eating alone.
The first item on his half-joking list—eat with friends—remained totally unchecked.
Shouldn't have written it.
Every day soaking his pillowcase with tears.
But did sunshine finally break through in life?
After enrollment, Leonard approached. He wanted combat experience from Pastel's duel.
Leonard seemed eager to beat Pastel for his own infamy-cum-fame.
A guy with an upperclassman's build who researched opponents without slacking—
This guy's gonna beat Pastel!
Let's be friends with him!
And eat together...!
Dustin, who really just wanted a friend to eat with, answered Leonard's command-like questions promptly.
Felt more like a subordinate than a friend, but probably just imagination.
And so Leonard's plan began.
Leonard was cool-headed. Despite his upperclassman build, he didn't let his guard down about the girl's freak strength.
Hearing she was doing back-to-back arm-wrestling matches, he spotted his chance and waited for her arms to tire completely.
This is a win...!
Cool-headed Leonard vs. oblivious Pastel.
The girl went splash splash!
Leonard went ugh! Ugh!
No.
Leonard, what was that build for? You prepped thoroughly but went down to one punch?
Gave up thinking.
Nothing works out, sigh.
And Dustin, still with nothing working out, was currently rolling on the ground spectacularly.
"Hey! Stomp him! Falling for her honey trap?! You bastard!"
At Leonard's order, the minions rushed in en masse. Kicks rained down on his body.
The kicks carried the minions' own ulterior motives.
"Yeah! You scum! We wanted Pastel to honey-trap us too!"
Leonard, mid-kick, flinched.
"Wh-what?! Who just said that! Which one of you!"
Leonard swept a fierce, embarrassed glare around.
As the culprit hunt began, Dustin finally got released.
His whole beaten body throbbed.
He leaned on the wall and staggered along.
"Damn jerks. It wasn't a honey trap, just checking a pure friend..."
Even as a baron's second son, I'm still nobility. If it was that, I wouldn't have fallen for it. They're fantasizing on their own.
He limped along slightly. His ankle stung—probably sprained. He walked carefully.
"Oh? Hey, friend."
A familiar voice called out.
He turned his head.
Suddenly, cherry blossoms bloomed in his vision.
Lush hair swayed with her steps. Dreamy pink eyes met his.
In that moment, the wind carried a floral scent.
"You okay? Hurt anywhere?"
Dustin snapped to at the worried voice. He hurriedly averted his gaze.
Damn, of all times.
So embarrassing.
"I'm fine, go your way."
Pastel tilted her head at the firm refusal.
"...Aha."
The girl looked deeply apologetic.
"Didn't consider your position. Sorry, I don't always look around properly."
A soft hand gently took Dustin's. Warmth spread through. Her body heat traveled up his arm.
"Sorry, friend."
Her pink eyes crinkled sweetly.
"Forgive me just once~."
Dustin's heart pounded. The warmth from her hand seemed to envelop his whole body.
"Of course, I'll make sure Leonard doesn't touch you!"
His fantasies went wild.
Could this be that free love you hear about?
"Um, well. Aha!"
Pastel grinned wide.
"You're so talented at serving under others! Join the student council! We're short on hands right now! It'll suit your talents too!"
The budding emotions shattered.
"What... You saying I'm a minion type?"
Dustin Wilder, joins student council.
Position: Minion.