The tournament event has been suspended.
While I did slice the necks of the terrorists to eliminate the problem, it appears to be impossible to resume the event.
Unfortunately, we can’t determine who the strongest first-year is, but honestly, Pastel didn’t really care about that.
This is because Hormone Friend proclaimed, “Semi-Knight level? Not scary,” and blasted the demon terrorist, Mr. Trimaut, with a shotgun.
Huh.
Hormone Friend!
I knew you could do it!
That’s why I faced off against a terrorist with a shotgun without a shred of fear! I believed in you, friend!
Right, right!
Having tasted the power of connections, Pastel decided to expand her circle of friends.
Specifically, the friends who are planets of the solar system.
Having defeated a semi-knight, it’s time to snack on some status!
“Good Pastel lives for her friends~.”
The gem knife perched on her pink head wobbled.
“I’m super popular and busy, but I’ll help you just a bit without selfish desires~.”
A demon in a suit crossed his arms and stared silently. He didn’t look too pleased.
Huh.
Pastel’s eyes widened.
“Demon Lord, why are you looking at me like that?”
He had the look of someone staring at a completely shameless delinquent.
No way…
Could it be that the Demon Lord actually believed the rumors about Mr. Trimaut (deceased)?
But I never incited any terror, and I didn’t threaten Elshire to make her a subordinate!
Huh.
Could it be that snacking on status seems dangerous?
Pastel remotely spun the gem knife resting on her head.
Twirl, twirl.
The knife’s blade brushed against her pink hair. A few strands fluttered down.
Oh?
Pastel grabbed the fallen hair, staring at the pink thread in astonishment.
“Ahhh!”
My hair!
My hair…!
“Demon Lord! Demon Lord!”
She lifted the cut hair.
“This was cut because of you, Demon Lord!”
The demon looked dumbfounded.
『How is that my fault?』
“If you had properly brushed my hair, it wouldn’t have gotten cut when I spun the knife around!”
Shock.
How shocking!
The poor Pastel, with her hair cut due to the Demon Lord, wobbled. She staggered a few steps to lean her head against the sleeping room wall.
Muttering like reading a fairy tale.
“Once upon a time, there lived a good girl on a sky-floating, fluffy island.”
『A good girl wouldn’t be so disobedient.』
Pastel pretended not to hear.
“The Demon Lord said that consuming status is a no-no. It totally messes with your mind, it’s very bad. Worse than sugar!”
Huh.
Worse than sugar…!
Pastel gasped, covering her mouth.
Then she suddenly calmed down.
“But the good girl didn’t listen.”
Right, right.
『You seem to know that well.』
The demon drummed his fingers against his crossed arms, looking disgruntled.
“Why didn’t she listen…”
Pastel, lifting her head from the wall, wore a triumphant expression.
With a puffed-up attitude, she pointed at her guardian.
“Because one should not follow a demon’s words!”
She dashed to the bed and jumped in. Her pink hair and white dress spread out.
“Waaah!”
The bed shook as she landed.
“So good! So good!”
Pastel rolled around on the bed. Then, in her crumpled outfit, she fiddled with the gem knife.
Black gooey substance seeped from the knife blade. It floated and clumped together, forming a jelly-like shape.
“Look at this, Demon Lord~.”
She pointed at the status.
“Now I can do it well without the Demon Lord’s help!”
Since she could manage on her own, just like the Demon Lord sometimes said, she thought that was solid growth, right?
The demon walked over to the bedside.
Huh.
Pastel warily clutched the jelly.
An adult looking to snatch her snack away. But with a million-fold guard up, Pastel wasn’t going down that easily.
The demon looked down at her with his arms crossed.
『Little Craft.』
The demon’s hand reached out. Startled, Pastel moved her arm back, pushing the black jelly away.
But it didn’t seem like he was trying to take it. His hand covered Pastel’s forehead. She felt the warmth of hardened skin.
『Haven’t you been feeling dizzy lately?』
His tone was serious.
Calming down from the heat of his hand, Pastel rolled her eyes.
“Is it because of eating other’s statuses?”
『That’s part of it, but your eating habits are more concerning. You can’t eat food, but if you keep consuming gems, it’ll negatively affect your brain. You don’t really believe that eating gems to strengthen your body wouldn’t affect your mind, do you?』
Is that so?
She thought for a moment.
“I wouldn’t say so.”
The demon narrowed his eyes slightly.
Pastel took the demon’s hand and rubbed her forehead. Then she smiled cutely.
“Is it because of those discussions about rebellion and power?”
The Demon Lord didn’t say anything but it seemed like that was the issue.
“Demon Lord, Demon Lord.”
Pastel chuckled.
“That’s just because when you get money and power, your true nature comes out.”
Right, right.
She popped a piece of black jelly into her mouth.
The delinquent sweetness spread in her mouth.
The demon removed his hand from her forehead, looking down at her with his red eyes, filled with mixed emotions.
“But Demon Lord.”
She swallowed the sweetness.
“When will I stop being Little Craft?”
She pointed at herself with her hand.
“Does the title of ‘young’ suit a power holder too much?”
Right, right.
The demon let out a big sigh. Wordlessly, he pointed to Pastel’s belly.
Her rolling around in bed had caused her outfit to ride up, exposing her tummy.
Oh?
Pastel looked back and forth between her belly and the demon.
The demon opened his mouth.
『Clean up your attire.』
Oh no.
She couldn’t argue…!
Pastel pressed her cheeks in despair.
Waaah!
“The standard is just too high…!”
『How low do you have to go to be satisfied?』
Is this the responsibility of a power holder?
The hurdle was just too high for Pastel!
Pastel floated through the universe of her inner world.
She could see the blazing black sun and her planet friends. The black sun acted as if it didn’t see her and gazed at Mercury and Venus.
She waved her arms.
“Mercury friend! Venus friend! Hello, hello! Did you miss me? Of course you did! Sorry, sorry!”
Then she abruptly stopped.
Huh?
In the universe, her voice was coming out.
After glancing around, she thought it didn’t matter since this wasn’t the real universe.
“Hehehe.”
Pastel rubbed her hands together.
“Mercury friend, Venus friend. Wait, saying it like this is too long.”
She pressed her cheeks with her fingers.
“Let’s shorten it to ‘Su-Geum friend…’”
Huh.
Su-Geum friend?
Wouldn’t it be too misleading to attach “give me money” to the front of the word “friend”?
If it’s Su-Geum friend, isn’t that “give me money friend”…!?
Panicked, Pastel flailed her arms.
“I didn’t say anything! Really! Really!”
Believe me!
“Anyway, friends! It’s time to add Earth to the solar system family! Earth, that’s Earth! Everyone, applause! Clap clap! Clap clap!”
Pastel clapped her hands.
Mercury and Venus, however, didn’t applaud and just continued to spin around the sun.
Because…
They were planets.
Planets couldn’t clap.
Huh.
So that’s how it is!
Pastel’s mouth dropped open.
Then she pressed her chin to close her mouth and surveyed the cosmos.
Where could the consumed statuses be?
In the distant universe, she spotted a cluster of rocky debris. It seemed to be quite a lot, more than enough to create Earth.
There sure are plenty of semi-knights.
Could there be enough to create a Mars friend too?
Pastel decided to start with Earth first.
Earth, Earth.
She moved her hands, maneuvering the rocky fragments. The rocks bumped against each other and formed a massive rocky planet.
Pastel pointed at the planet with both hands.
“The most important planet in the solar system.”
“Earth!”
You will be called Earth from now on.
She placed the planet in an orbit just after Venus. The rocky planet began orbiting the sun under gravity’s embrace.
“Earth friend, introduce yourself! What’s your hobby? Are you good at anything? If so, show us now!”
Mercury and Venus were waiting too!
Yay yay!
Pastel stared eagerly at Earth.
The silent Earth, which had been orbiting, seemed to react like a new transfer student who was about to perform on stage during recess right before a school trip.
The rocky planet began to crumble apart.
Crunch.
The rocky fragments helplessly scattered.
“Earth friend!”
Pastel clutched her head.
“I’m sorry! This is actually the third time a planet has crumbled, but I completely forgot to ask for your introduction!”
Please forgive me on this day.
Earth: I’ll forgive you!
Right, right! Thank you!
She began gathering the fragments again. They collided and molded back into a rocky planet, which she then observed slowly.
But why didn’t it work?
The fragments weren’t lacking. Maybe something distinctly Earth-like was missing?
Venus was currently just a chunk of gold, but since it was Venus, the inner world recognized it.
Pastel pondered what Earth should be.
It probably needed life, right?
Life, life.
The rational interference of external intelligences. The current process can be seen as Pastel, the divine being of this inner universe, attempting to birth life through a creationist approach…
Huh.
This is too intelligent a notion!
Pastel quickly shook her head. Her pink hair flailed.
Concentrating her thoughts again.
Life, life.
Considering the present world where magic exists, the possibility of a creationist approach seems quite bright, but Earth is likely more aligned with the theory of evolution.
In that case, borrowing a dialectical compromise, an intelligent design-style evolution theory could mix the two views without great contradiction.
If lightning strikes the sea, synthesizing inorganic compounds into organic compounds, leading to the evolution of life forms over time, then if Pastel, as a divine being, were to create the sea and lightning and induce evolution…
Whoa.
Her mind was suddenly alert.
This is genuinely an astoundingly clever idea!
Eww!
Pastel squeezed her eyes shut.
“Everything’s wrong! Friends are not made with brains!”
Clenching her fists tightly.
“Earth friend, Earth friend! You can’t make friends that way!”
That won’t do.
I should ask the Demon Lord!
Flailing her arms, the cosmic space swirled like a smeared crayon drawing.
Pastel found herself waking up at some moment.
With a groggy face, she hastily wiped the drool from her mouth.
Eww.
The demon, who had been sipping coffee with a complex expression, approached.
『You’re up quickly. Did something go right?』
She sat upright.
“Demon Lord! Demon Lord!”
Pastel looked like she was about to cry.
“How does life come into being?!”
The coffee cup dropped.
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