Pastel sat perched on a white broom, gazing at the clouds.
“Wow wow! It must be a lovely day! There are so many interesting clouds!”
She pointed at the clouds with her finger.
“That one looks like a puppy! That one looks like a chick! That one looks like cotton fluff!”
Oh?
Pastel’s eyes widened in surprise as she spoke.
Gasp!
Come to think of it, clouds are naturally fluffy.
No way!
This can’t be…!
That wasn’t a cotton fluff cloud; it was just a regular cloud!
Shock.
Pastel gasped with her mouth open, then paused and shifted her thoughts.
Even if it’s just an ordinary cloud, if I call it a cotton fluff cloud, isn’t it going to transform into a cotton fluff cloud?
She pointed at a plain cloud.
“That one is a cotton fluff cloud!”
There are so many amazing clouds today!
“Hmm…”
The girl with pink hair sitting on the white broom looked happy while watching the clouds.
In this peaceful atmosphere, many would surely smile contentedly.
However, looking down at the ground showed a completely different scene.
“Graaaah!”
A glass bottle was thrown, and yellow gas erupted. Leonard, caught once again in the paralysis gas, screamed.
He had inhaled the gas while waiting for a declaration of disqualification from the fair judge, leaving his body sluggish and unresponsive.
He barely managed to block an incoming sword strike with a one-handed shield.
“Dustin, you shameless twit! Relying on biased judgments and calling yourself a knight aspirant!”
Dustin flinched as he pushed Leonard’s two-handed sword away.
“I didn’t want to, but Pastel kept insisting we must uphold the honor of the student council, so we joined hands…”
“Is being led by a beauty a point of pride? Why not spread the word across town?!”
Leonard seized the opening created by his taunts to strike Dustin’s two-handed sword with his shield. The sword was sent flying, leaving his body exposed to a one-handed sword attack.
But despite the experienced attack, it was slow due to his paralyzed body.
Dustin deftly stepped back to evade the sword strike and smacked Leonard’s thigh with his blade.
“Ugh!”
Leonard knelt down, falling to the ground and shouted in agony.
“Hey! Judge! Is this fair?!”
It was a desperate cry, yet the judge seemed lost in another world.
“Wow! That one really looks like a cotton fluff cloud!”
“Oh, indeed. It is one of the types of cumulonimbus, but the edges do flake like cotton fluff.”
“So you’re Cotton Fluff Cloud No. 2! But since you look even more original than the original, I’ll call you especially Cotton Fluff Cloud Cloud!”
Hello, Cotton Fluff Cloud Cloud!
Wow!
“Hey, you…!”
Leonard’s face flushed. He averted his gaze from the unflappable judge and surveyed his surroundings.
He spotted a professor awkwardly waiting at the far end of the training grounds to intervene when the match heated up.
Startled by the intense gaze, the professor broke into a cold sweat as the crowd’s attention turned towards him, and he slowly raised his hands.
His hands clapped together, slowly creating a sound that echoed. As his heart settled, the applause grew faster.
“The winner, Dustin Wild!”
The professor, having sold his conscience, said with a bright smile.
“Excellent skill! According to regulations, you were allowed to bring additional combat items that were not supplied by the academy!”
What?!
Leonard’s eyes widened.
“Using alchemical knowledge in combat! This highlights Marquis’ foresight in relaxing regulations to uncover talent!”
The professor waved his hands.
“What’s with you all! A winner has been decided; let’s start the performance!”
The waiting musicians began a grand performance.
As the professor spoke, the background music started booming, and the crowd cheered.
The cheering was certainly not due to the widely spread chicken skewer sets prepared by the revered Marquis in the audience, telling them to eat while they watched.
“Graah! Don’t bribe with that innocent appearance!”
Leonard tugged at his hair in frustration.
I was just minding my own business!
I was really just minding my own business!
How did Leonard and Dustin end up fighting over me?!
Ugh.
Is this the original sin of popularity?
I’m so sorry for being too popular…!
But still…
I am curious about the outcome.
Who will win?
Who’s stronger?
Thump thump, my heart raced.
Thump thump, Pastel swung her demon sword. The blade struck Dustin’s sword, creating a thunderous sound. Unable to withstand the impact, the blade flew away.
The girl turned lightly. Her pink hair danced as a spinning kick hit Dustin’s upper body, creating a heavy, resounding thud.
“Kak!”
Dustin was sent flying out of the training ring like he’d been hit by a bomb. His body crashed into the wall and collapsed.
Who’s stronger, you ask?
“The winner, Pastel Love Craft!”
Pastel raised her cheerful face in triumph.
“Wow! I’m the strongest!”
Pew pew!
I’m the strongest~!
She lightly stepped and danced.
“Oh yeah! Oh yeah!”
As she exited, she bit into a trumpet left in the passage.
“Pew pew~!”
The victory fanfare sounded fresh.
Leonard, watching from the aisle, mocked the shuffling Dustin.
“What’s the point of winning?”
Dustin looked at Leonard with a face drained of strength.
Their silent gaze met.
Then, sensing some shared sympathy, Leonard slowly stopped laughing.
He patted Dustin on the shoulder.
“You’ve had a rough time too.”
Sigh.
“Indeed, Melissa and Elshire have gracefully defeated the friends and made it to face each other.”
Pastel sat on the broom, swinging her legs.
Melissa and Elshire on the ground eyed each other from a considerable distance.
Melissa, holding a staff, glared at Elshire, faithfully adhering to her mother’s advice of not mingling with the infamous Bellamont.
Elshire flicked her silver hair back, smirking provocatively, as if to say she could handle someone like Melissa with ease.
Melissa immediately reacted by pointing her staff at Elshire.
Huh?
Pastel tilted her head.
“Even though their families are enemies, don’t they seem pretty friendly?”
The demon sighed in disbelief.
“Where do you see that?”
“The sulky demon lord wouldn’t know, but friends sometimes bond through fighting.”
Pastel wiggled her legs.
“It looks like Elshire just doesn’t know how to make friends. There’s a clumsy vibe about how she treats friends?”
Every time they crossed paths, Elshire would unwittingly provoke Melissa, signifying she was just an isolated soul who couldn’t initiate a warm conversation.
Since she only knows Melissa, every time they meet, it’s all happy but becomes an argument due to her clumsiness interacting with peers.
They probably kept this up since before enrollment, which might be why Melissa is overly sensitive.
“Is there no one of her age in the North?”
“Even if there are, there wouldn’t be a Northern house bold enough to get close to a princess from a royal family. The North was part of the kingdom, so those families likely feel more connected to royal blood.”
“Heh.”
Pastel thought for a moment and then clapped her hands in excitement.
“Then I have to become her best friend!”
I’ll have Melissa on my right, arm in arm, and Elshire on my left, arm in arm!
Oh?
Gold and silver?
Pastel’s mouth dropped open.
Does this mean my fortune in wealth is the highest?
It’s a sign I’m going to become a super ultra millionaire!
Just by making friends, I could become rich!
“Here we go.”
“Ah.”
Pastel focused and looked down at the ground.
The professor announced the start of the match.
Let’s see if we can witness a semi-knightly battle.
Elshire drew her spear across the ground. The ground of the training area was sliced cleanly.
As she stomped her foot, a shockwave erupted. The ground cracked, and a massive chunk of earth lifted into the air.
The spearhead smashed into the boulder. A booming sound echoed as the boulder shot at the magician girl like a cannonball.
Pastel’s eyes widened.
“Ugh.”
Having completed her spell, Melissa aimed her staff. Countless light projectiles shattered the massive boulder. The light exploded in a series of flashes.
Elshire continued to shoot up the ground like cannon fire while Melissa calmly blocked the attacks.
“Eek.”
Pastel shook her hands.
“With the power of consuming gems, I’m gonna power up! I’ll be flying just like a feather!”
Is this what it means to be a semi-knight?
“That’s your misunderstanding. She’s not physically superior to you. Your ability right now isn’t even human. There’s no way a human could rip steel purely with strength.”
The demon smirked.
“When you’re at a certain level of existence as a semi-knight, it’s easy to manipulate natural materials. The world itself aligns your will to materialize in reality. You can cut iron with a wooden sword and smash the ground with mere footwork. That’s magic with a heavy weapon.”
Huh?
“So when Melissa shoots magic with her slender arms, does it explode like a scarecrow? Impossible with just her bare hands!”
“Yes. The terrain obeys your order to be smashed, but manipulating a person is a different story; you have to exert yourself.”
“Wait a second.”
Brain power, activate!
“So then, let’s think about this: imagine facing off against a person in a steel armor with just a wooden sword. You can slice through the armor easily, but the fact that the person inside the armor is unaffected means it just ends up being a hit, right?”
“Exactly. A person exists as an independent world. Trying to slice into a person with a blunt wooden sword is just like trying to cut through a small world. It’s impossible for the other to just allow it, leading to results similar to simply hitting them with that wooden sword.”
Pastel’s head spun.
“Suddenly throwing deep metaphysical talk at me just makes Passtel feel foolish.”
“You’ll understand when you actually clash swords. Despite appearances, you’re much stronger, so as long as you can clash blades, it’s easier to fight with close combat. Even if you can’t cut steel, a sword to the neck will still kill.”
What the heck?
Pastel crossed her arms, watching the scene of boulders and light projectiles colliding.
I don’t quite get it, but does that mean it’s worth a shot?
Uh-huh!
“I believe in you, Demon Lord!”
I’ll defeat Elshire and claim the title of freshman champion!
“Right.”
Then Pastel noticed a guard holding a red flag in the audience.
A distress signal.
Oh?
She quickly flew over to the guard to hear what was happening.
“A nameless airship is flying here without slowing down. The intentions are unclear, but it likely has terrorist motives.”
Uh-oh.
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