“I’m Max. I’m in charge of this expedition.”
A man dressed in leather armor with iron plates bowed his head.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Grace.”
The Grace High Merchant pointed at the other party with a fan.
“I won’t be participating in the battle. If you need anything after we set sail, just talk to Max.”
Pastel nodded her head.
“Thank you very much!”
“The pleasure is mine.”
They shook hands.
“He’s also someone who will be responsible for the Craft High Merchant’s escort troops later.”
Oh?
Is this person the key part of the automatic smuggling?
I emptied my entire fortune to send smuggled goods, and if I lose everything to pirates along with the airship, Pastel would end up starving.
Missing the deadline to restore the student council ledger and being caught for embezzlement would be a bonus.
Max here is an incredibly important person!
“Let’s get along well!”
Pastel shook the hand vigorously.
A hundred times of ‘let’s get along’!
Then she shook even more fiercely.
A million times of ‘let’s get along’!
Her hand was buzzing.
A wind of hands!
Max looked flustered as his hand was vigorously shaken.
“Y-yeah.”
After seeing his bewildered reaction, Pastel’s eyes widened.
Oh right.
“This isn’t the time for that! Just shaking hands with someone I’ve just met is such a waste of time! Max! Isn’t your leather armor with iron plates heavy?! Should I help you carry the plates?!”
『Why is that question coming up at this timing? What kind of accident do you need to go through to think of that?』
Does the Demon Lord not know how to break the ice? You should warm up the atmosphere first, then the relationship gets better. No wonder he’s always in a dull suit. He looked like he had no friends.
Max was flabbergasted. He patted his leather armor. The iron plates on the armor stuck out.
“It’s heavy, but it’s fine. It’s my lifeline. Without it, I’d be too defenseless against a gun.”
Wow.
Totally professional!
Someone who can double the fortunes of a starving child through a benevolent process has earned it!
Pastel’s cheeks turned red.
“The Craft High Merchant will be operated on a profit basis, so let’s become rich together!”
Hooray~!
Rich, rich!
Pastel spun around with her arms raised.
You’re rich.
I’m rich.
We’re all rich.
Oh.
Then would it be a world where everyone is doing smuggling?
Oh no.
Max and Grace whispered while watching the girl who was surprised alone.
“Is this really how she is?”
“I’m seeing her for the first time today so I don’t know much either. She seems like Craft but also different, and different but also similar. But it looks the same to me.”
“Does that mean Craft is still a girl?”
“I don’t think so yet. Isn’t it Pastel?”
“What do you mean?”
Pastel looked at the two with a smile.
The Grace High Merchant shook her head.
“My apologies. Max, please introduce the troops to her.”
“Yes.”
Pastel followed Max’s guidance and looked at the merchant escort troops.
“This is the escorting force of the Merchant Association. On normal days, you can think of this group as guarding the business. We do hire mercenaries occasionally, but we are the core.”
The soldiers, dressed in neat leather armor in uniform, stood in a line. When Max gestured, the soldiers simultaneously saluted Pastel.
Wow.
Professional!
Oh no, Pastel cannot follow this professionalism!
Oh no.
『Hmm, they are not your typical merchants, but quite strong soldiers. They should provide enough support against semi-knight levels. Pretty good.』
“Everyone, let’s get along well! The Craft High Merchant will be run on a profit basis, so let’s all become rich together!”
Woo, yay.
“Yes?”
Max looked flustered.
“We’re only going to pull a few of the resources from Craft High Merchant. We still have to run our merchant group.”
Pastel stopped in her cheer.
Oh right.
She felt the gazes of the soldiers.
Oh no.
I just said something weird in front of everyone.
This is totally, totally…
Funny!
Pastel burst out laughing.
“That was an embarrassing mistake! Oh, how embarrassing! It’s too bad that not everyone can join our merchant group! Well, let’s at least make some of us rich! I hope for your active participation!”
Oh yeah.
After being introduced to the soldiers, she went to meet the mercenaries.
“I’ve warned them, but they’re rough around the edges, so there might be rude comments. I’ll handle it immediately, so please understand, Your Grace.”
“Oh, it’s fine! There are all kinds of people, right? I don’t take those words to heart!”
A master at ignoring things.
A genius who can even ignore a demon’s whispers.
The mercenaries gathered in a clearing. Unlike the soldiers, their outfits and equipment were all over the place. Some looked quite annoyed about being called to the clearing.
Of course, they are mercenaries.
One scruffy mercenary scratched his neck with a hungover face.
“Is that girl the earl’s grace? No matter how I look at it, she’s just a girl. Did she grow up in a greenhouse and come out after dreaming big?”
Oh boy.
A statement made before the alcohol has worn off.
Max turned to Pastel, embarrassed.
“I apologize. They are rude.”
The mercenary raised an eyebrow.
“Rude? That seems a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
Max raised his hand immediately. The soldiers rushed in and kicked the mercenary and trampled him down.
Wow.
A wake-up call violence!
Screams echoed.
Pastel’s eyes widened.
No, that’s deadly violence!
“Wait! While the rude comments were true, it’s difficult for me to seem trustworthy due to my appearance!”
“I felt it was rude after all.”
As the soldiers stomped the mercenary down harder, the screams grew louder.
Oh no.
A slip of the tongue!
I’ve become a wicked superior pouring oil on the fire!
Pastel, the wicked superior…!
Pastel waved her arms frantically.
“Stop it, stop it!”
The situation was quickly settled under the earl’s firm order.
The mercenary was carried away on a stretcher. His limp arm dangled, shaking over the stretcher.
Ugh.
“Is he going to be okay?”
Max flinched and whispered, as if preparing for the encounter with Craft.
“Should we secretly make it worse for him?”
Oh dear.
What an unseemly statement!
Max is downright evil…!
The association’s airships popped into one’s head.
The sight of an airship mimicking the sky whale swimming in the sky reminded one of a pod of whales gliding through the water.
Just as a whale gulped down plankton and helped nature’s cycle, airships also swallowed up goods and aided in the flow of wealth, so in essence, they might not be so different.
At this moment, more so than ever.
The merchant association was moving in pursuit of nature’s cycle, emulating the whales. A nature-friendly act of cutting off pirates’ threads only to cast them as fish food.
“Wow!”
Pastel leaned against the railing of the airship, her eyes wide.
“It’s a whale! An incredibly huge whale!”
The enormous airship flew in the lead.
『It’s a warship. Originally it would be a scrap, but they must have bought it somehow. Is the empire so militarily corrupt now?』
Pastel shrugged off the gloomy remark.
“A super huge whale!”
Wow!
Gazing in awe.
They flew for a while, as the airship collective branched out onto different paths in the sky.
“We’re waiting here instead of hunting down the nest to ambush the fleeing merchant pirate ships.”
It’s getting real.
Swallowing dry.
When they reached a sky where Pastel couldn’t tell the difference, the airships came to a stop as a group.
『A narrow passage caught between sky spears. It will be hard for many airships to ambush here. There should be quite a few pirate ships escaping here.』
Sky spear?
A fish larger than a person with a spear-like snout?
Pastel’s eyes widened.
“You’re saying blue marlins are flying around the habitats on either side? For no apparent reason?”
『Yes. If you encounter them, it won’t end well. You might witness the airship being pierced.』
Whoa.
In a world where high mackerels are as thick as Pastel’s head, how big would the blue marlin be?
Surely it would be big enough to turn me into a Pastel skewer.
Pastel skewer.
Shivers.
I’d rather just eat a chicken skewer.
The soldiers and mercenaries nervously armed themselves on the deck.
Oh boy.
Without command, Pastel wandered to the railing and took out her demon sword, wiping it with a handkerchief.
Swish, swish, swish, swish.
She inspected the blade.
Shiny, shiny.
Oh my gosh, is it a mirror?
The approaching footsteps were heard.
“Are you really going to fight?”
Turning her head, she saw the rude mercenary who was carried away limping toward her, fully armored in leather gear, a large axe resting on his shoulder.
Oh no.
“Are you alright?”
The ankle?
The mercenary raised an eyebrow.
“My body is my own business.”
Ugh.
He seemed totally annoyed.
Pastel pouted.
“It’s a pirate ship!”
The lookout person shouted while looking through the telescope.
Eyes flew to the sky. Several pirate ships were rushing toward them at full speed. The merchant airships responded immediately and went out to greet the pirate ships.
Whoa.
It’s battle time!
Pastel’s hands trembled.
Shaking in fear and anxiety.
She had come to punish evil pirates for her own greedy smuggling business, but when the real situation unfolded, Pastel was flustered…!
Fidgeting,
Pacing,
In a fluster.
The pirate ships drew nearer. The mercenary adjusted his grip on his axe, alternating between the pirate ship and Pastel, frowning.
“Hold onto the railing tight.”
“Huh?”
“Hold onto the railing tight!”
A nervous Pastel held on tightly to the railing.
Then, it was an unspoken agreement as the speed decreased and the spinning airship and pirate ship narrowly collided. The whale-like constructs hammered together, causing a deafening sound.
“Whoa!”
The pink-toned girl was thrown upwards while clinging to the railing.
“Pastel, save me!”
Ugh.
After a moment, the shock settled.
The plank had stretched over to the pirate ship’s railing. The merchant soldiers drew their weapons.
“Pirate ship plundering! Hahaha!”
Cheers erupted from the merchant association.
Huh?
Is that an abrupt change in roles?
Whatever is going on, let’s charge!
“Whoo! Charge!”
Charge! Charge!
Pastel crawled up gingerly (scared of falling) and boarded the pirate ship.
The noise of clashing weapons echoed everywhere. Occasionally a gunshot rang out. People were dying and blood was spilling.
Whoa.
Pastel turned her head this way and that. Each turning view revealed dozens of people fighting, and she hugged her sword tightly.
This feels too real.
I feel like I’ve come to the wrong place.
Footsteps sounded. Turning her head, a pirate was charging at her. The pirate sword was raised high.
“Ahhh!”
The mercenary stood in front of Pastel.
“I don’t understand what an ornamental flower like you would dream of achieving in this pit.”
The axe swung. It collided with the pirate sword, crushing through the resistance and splitting the pirate in two.
The mercenary turned with the axe over his shoulder and looked back.
“Someone of your status should stay behind and appear once the victory is assured. Don’t be in danger; just stay back.”
Pastel’s eyes widened.
He might be rough, but he is one of the good ones.
Another pirate charged at her.
“Hey! I’m talking here!”
The mercenary frowned and turned his body. The axe was lifted, and his feet pressed against the ground.
In that moment, the pirate sliced through the air, and the mercenary stumbled as he twisted his ankle.
“Oh.”
The axe swung in vain. The pirate sword aimed for the mercenary.
The pink hair swirled.
Loyalty for the divine!
Swords clashed.
Hormones went wild.
Pastel’s pink eyes became dreamy.
One of the girl’s hands moved carelessly.
From her pouch, the gem knife rose.
This was a trajectory of disdain for the weaker.
The target area was everywhere.
A silvery trajectory ruthlessly pursued.
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