“Is this a cult?”
“Yeah.”
The demon, while inspecting items in the airship’s warehouse, brushed off his hands and pointed to processed herbs and powdered substances in glass bottles.
“These are the intermediate products of the gem awakening agents. They’ve been kept just before completion for convenience in preservation and distribution. Transporting them as they are and reprocessing will create the gem awakening agents.”
Pastel’s expression turned serious.
“I thought it was a suspicious mercenary group, but it turns out to be a really suspicious cult.”
He made a gesture as if stabbing the air with a sword.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
In a whisper, he vowed as loudly as he could.
“I don’t know what purpose you have climbing aboard the sky whale, but now that I’ve caught you, I’ll do everything I can to sabotage you!”
If he could capture the monster birds, freeing the captured monster bird friends would surely please the cult, right?
Pastel walked over to the baby bird cage.
“Baby bird friends!”
—Beeep.
The baby birds looked up, curious.
“You have a very important mission!”
It was a rescue of their kin!
“You can do it, right?”
Pastel deeply conversed with the baby birds and unlocked the cage. The bars were locked, but fortunately, the key was lying nearby.
While a caged bird might not know, a free Pastel had an easy time opening it.
As the baby birds stretched and spread their wings, they cheerfully shouted with their freed beaks.
—Beeep!
Pastel hurriedly put a finger to his lips.
“Shh! Shh! It’s a stealth mission!”
Whether they understood or not, the baby birds closed their beaks, swaying their bodies from side to side.
“That’s right!”
Pastel swayed along with them in agreement.
“It’s a stealth mission! Aren’t you clever?”
Ranking the baby birds by intelligence, they were definitely on Pastel’s level!
—Beeep?
Suddenly, footsteps were heard outside the warehouse.
Uh-oh?
Startled, Pastel looked at the demon. The demon transformed his hand into a sword. Shoving the baby bird friends back into the cage, Pastel quickly hid between wooden boxes. The darkness covered him delicately.
The door opened, and light flooded into the deep warehouse. A silhouette entered.
“It’s obvious that putting baby birds in the forward hold would make them ferocious, so why are they here causing me grief?”
A cult member approached near the box where Pastel was hiding.
Pastel gripped his sword tightly. His heart raced, and his eyes spun.
Oh no!
Is this a situation where I have to kill?
Killing with a clear mind?
Well, with the cult involved, if they find out the baby birds are freed, there’ll be chaos, so I should deal with this first…
Hormone Friend? This is your cue to shine! Come out!
Pastel gripped his sword, praying. But Hormone Friend didn’t respond. If he wanted to call them, it seemed he’d have to break stealth and throw himself into danger.
Oh no!
Not like this!
This is seriously bad!
His heart pounded fiercely. It felt like his heartbeat was rocking his light body. His thoughts tangled, and his breathing quickened.
The cult member passed by the box he was hiding behind, heading towards the baby bird cage, reaching out as if to move it and then stopped in surprise.
“Huh?”
The discovery of the cage being open!
Pastel hesitated while gripping his sword, urgently looking around.
He spotted a stone pressing down on the wooden cover. It was a suitable size to hold in one hand.
Grabbing the stone, he thought, “Why is this open?”
Then he dashed behind the cult member.
Oh ancestors of the Craft family!
I’m sorry for blaming you for being evil all this time! Please bless this foolish descendant just once!
He raised the stone high.
I will manifest the expertise and experience of the ancestors right here!
The stone seemed to shimmer.
This is a traditional game passed down through the generations of the Craft Family!
Back-the-head whack!
“Whoaah!”
The family’s secret technique was executed by the authentic heir. The expertly thrown stone accurately struck the back of the cult member’s head. A heavy thud echoed.
“Oof!”
A short gasp escaped before they fell limp.
Pastel panted, holding the bloodied stone, his shoulders rising and falling with every breath. His heart raced uncontrollably.
Wow!
Is this the Craft Family’s traditional game?
Blood dripped from the stone.
Pastel’s eyes darted around aimlessly. He looked down at the fallen cult member. The one bleeding from their head was utterly still.
“Ar-are they…dead?”
Oh no!
Please don’t!
I beg you to stay alive!
Then a calm voice resounded.
“It’s unconscious. You managed to control your strength very well.”
Ah.
Phew.
Pastel let out a sigh of relief. Rubbing his trembling body, he took another look at the cult member.
Checking to see if they were really dead, he shook them roughly and they seemed to regain consciousness as they opened their eyes.
“W-what…?”
The cult member clutched their head and started to rise.
Pastel’s eyes went wide.
I didn’t mean to wake them!
Uh-oh!
“Please don’t!”
Pastel swung the stone again.
Thwack!
“Oof!”
The cult member fell back down.
“Uh, no…”
The demon looked stunned.
Although Pastel swung the stone in surprise, he was astonished to see the cult member fall unconscious again, as still as a corpse.
Wow!
“Ar-ar-are they dead?!”
Oh no!
Please don’t!
I beg you to stay alive!
Shivering, Pastel muttered, “…It’s unconscious. But they’ll need a long recovery.”
Ah.
Phew.
Pastel patted his chest. Slowly calming his startled heart, he alternated gazes between the supposedly dead cult member and the stone.
“Could this be a situation where I acquire some loot…?”
“What do you mean by that?”
Pastel raised the stone high with both hands.
“A rock!”
The non-lethal weapon everyone desires.
A means of communication for the pacifist!
The stone friend spoke up.
Stone: I don’t kill anyone.
What a reliable statement.
Filled with courage, Pastel thought he could sentence the cult without Hormone Friend!
Grabbing the stone, he freed the baby birds from their cage again.
“Baby bird friends! The pacifist Pastel is ready! Let’s go rescue your kin!”
Let’s go! Let’s go!
Pastel carefully strolled inside the airship as the baby birds followed closely behind him.
“Conquering the airship means taking control of navigation itself. We should head to the helm.”
“First, I’ll rescue the baby birds’ kin. If a fight breaks out, they could get caught in the cages!”
Whispering.
“Well, do as you wish. After all, if tied up by hormones, I’d end up killing everyone anyway, so it doesn’t really matter if we take the helm or not.”
“Huh?”
Anyone hearing it would think pink was washing out with blood stains.
Pastel occasionally dodged or knocked out cult members.
Stone friend!
“Oof!”
“Oof!”
“Oof!”
Each corner echoed with gasps of defeat as the demon taught him to tie up the defeated and drag them away into corners, repeating the process.
Before he knew it, Pastel reached the deck. He saw the sunset. It was dawn after a long night.
Most cult members, being busy with cargo transport through the night, seemed to be asleep in their cabins, so it was easy to get to the deck.
On the deck, Pastel cautiously approached those dozing and turned them into unconscious individuals one by one.
Stealthily.
Suddenly.
Craft Family’s traditional game!
Thwack!
Thud.
Before long, he had completely conquered the deck.
“Good job!”
Pastel cheered.
For some reason, it felt good to smack people on the back of the head?
With the keys he got from knocking out the cult members on deck, he opened the cages containing the monster birds.
The monster birds soared into the sky.
“Don’t get caught again~!”
Pastel waved his hands cheerfully.
Seeing the hard work of the cult go to waste, he felt relieved.
Wow wow, at this rate, I might get addicted and turn bad!
“Why did they catch and tame the monster birds?”
“We need a flying means, but if it’s a location like ruins where the airship has trouble entering, the monster birds are useful. They can be ridden.”
“Oh, I see.”
Pastel looked over at the monster birds tied up with leashes. They had been trained by the cult. They even had saddles on their backs.
Wow.
I’d love to ride one at least once.
“What about these guys? Since they belong to the cult, wouldn’t it be great if they just flew away?”
Releasing the leashes didn’t seem to make them escape at all.
“Just kill them.”
“Aww.”
So that’s how it is.
Pastel glanced back at the baby bird friends.
—Beeep?
“Let’s let them go first! Can you fly? Are your wings still too short to fly?”
The baby bird tilted its head.
“Flapping is possible?”
Pastel flapped his arms.
Flap flap.
The baby bird tilted its head even more, then exchanged looks with another baby bird and called loudly to the sky.
—Beeep-!
The sharp cry echoed far into the sky.
The baby birds looked up with pride.
What?
“They called their parents. There’s no need to worry now.”
The fact that parents were coming was a considerable relief, making the baby birds calm and relaxed.
Oh, I see.
With just one call, their parents come?
Pastel gazed into the sky. As the freed monster birds took off, a familiar monster bird flew against the current and arrived.
A large bird shadow sliced through the sunset.
It’s really coming.
“How nice.”
Pastel murmured softly while crossing his arms.
He smiled and looked back at the baby birds.
“I’m glad you’re not hurt! Since your parents worry, don’t get captured in such bad places again!”
—Beeep!
Two baby birds nodded enthusiastically.
“Are you three siblings? Tri-siblings? Anyway, just get along well!”
Pastel suddenly halted.
Huh?
He counted the baby birds.
“One, two.”
There were only two.
Huh?
“Weren’t there originally three of you?”
The two baby birds looked at each other with open beaks.
Shock.
“Oh no, Demon Lord, where did the other one go?! It’s like one got lost in the middle?!”
“Hmm, sorry. I didn’t notice as I wasn’t that interested.”
Uh-oh?
Pastel looked around the deck, but as expected, he couldn’t find one.
Instead, the airship began to accelerate slowly. Then it tilted upward and started to rise vertically.
“Whoa?!”
Pastel grabbed onto the railing.
—Beeep!
The two baby birds fell.
Whoa!
“Guys!”
The massive bird swooped in and grabbed the baby birds.
Phew.
Pastel felt relieved and hung on to the railing.
The airship continued to tilt vertically and soared into the sky. Pressure enveloped his body. Clouds parted, and cold droplets washed over his skin.
“Did we get spotted?!”
The demon fell silent, surveying the situation.
“This isn’t normal acceleration. The engine must have malfunctioned and automatically adjusted the navigation direction to the sky to avoid crashing to the ground. What happened in the engine room?”
“Huh?”
Inside the airship, a series of explosions erupted. The shock waves shook the airship.
The demon calmly stated, “This is not good.”
“I know that too!”
Pastel clung tightly to the railing in a state of panic. The continuing explosions and lingering shock waves were gradually cracking the airship apart.
A massive explosion occurred. The airship shattered, splitting into several large fragments. From within the wreckage, dozens of cult members emerged.
The airship sprinted to a halt, and a moment of weightlessness ensued.
“A raid!”
Someone declared, and the gaze turned toward the pink girl.
Uh-oh?
Gripping the shattered railing, Pastel found himself gaping.
The feeling of floating stopped, and the descent began.
The wreckage of the airship plummeted.
“Ahhh!”
Gravity pulled at him, and the wind screamed. His white clothes and pink hair fluttered in the breeze.
A whistling sound rang out. The trained monster birds flew in, catching the cult members. The cult members skillfully mounted the backs of the monster birds.
“Eliminate the intruder first!”
A group riding the monster birds swooped in.
Swords and spells targeted the falling girl.
Ahhhh!
Hormone Friend!!!
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