“Skywhale~.”
Pastel drew a whale on the back of a document.
The quill danced lightly.
A round body appeared gently.
The triangle tail fin was quickly added.
Pastel put down the quill and examined the crooked whale drawing.
“Perfect!”
It would be a great picture to hang in an art museum.
Am I, perhaps, an art genius?
Pastel admired her own work for a moment but then gasped, looking again at the whale drawing.
Oh no.
I forgot to draw the wing fins!
I drew the tail fin but left out the wing fins!
In shock, she grabbed her head.
“It’s not perfect~!”
Uwaah.
In shock.
Gyaah.
Was I not an art genius?!
After a while of being stunned, she picked up the quill again.
“But failure is the mother of success!”
Effort genius Pastel won’t give up!
She raised her quill high.
“Mother, grant me strength!”
The sharp tip of the quill sparkled.
“Yahap!”
Pastel ignited her passion. She swirled the quill over the whale drawing on the back of the document.
“Yahap!”
What a tremendous cheer!
A passion a million times!
The quill moved passionately.
A triangular wing fin was added atop the whale.
Crookedly.
Lightly.
“Perfect!”
Super-duper art genius Pastel roughly set down her quill. A shockwave rippled. The desk shook.
She held up the whale drawing.
“This is the fruit of perseverance!”
The whale drawing glittered.
Unique in heaven and earth.
Unmatched throughout history.
The craftsman’s skill created miracles, and undying passion painted the era.
A masterpiece that will go down in history glowed on its own.
A golden illusion rose above the whale drawing.
[SSS-level Whale Drawing]
Wow!
Light’s coming from the drawing~!
Is this the aura of a myth-level artwork?!
Uwah.
Just an S-level good kid, Pastel couldn’t resist the difference in rank!
“I feel like I’m going blind!”
Pastel squinted and twisted her head around.
Art genius in a crisis!
On the verge of becoming an unfortunate genius devoured by her own outstanding results!
Save me, A-level guardian demon~!
Pastel prayed earnestly.
It was a bit inappropriate to say anything to the child playing alone, so instead of the silent demon, a girl with black hair approached the desk.
Ellie, who brought a thick stack of approval documents with dark circles under her eyes, stared at the whale drawing.
She looked like a demon herself.
Pastel flinched.
Whoa.
I wanted the demon, not a subordinate looking like a demon!
Feeling very guilty, Pastel shook the documents she was holding lightly.
The whale drawing on the back of the document rippled like it was alive.
“Skywhale~.”
Yay.
Ellie ignored it and looked at her wearily.
“Pastel, have you finished all your paperwork?”
Uwah.
Pastel, who had been doodling whale drawings, was in real trouble!
Angry Ellie’s insurrection—Pastel, stripped of her power, felt the growl in her stomach.
With no more magic stones to munch on, all that was left for Pastel was to be at a loss.
Shuddering.
Pastel, looking like her soul had left her body, pointed subtly to the corner of the desk as Ellie’s expression began to get serious.
There were neat piles of documents. When stacked, they reached about Pastel’s height.
“I’ve done it all.”
Since I’ve finished, it’s time to play.
Ellie was bewildered.
She exchanged glances between her own documents and the piles of documents on the desk, realizing Pastel’s workload was several times greater than her own, and was left confused.
“Why am I the only one busy?”
The question brimmed with injustice.
Oh dear.
Pastel raised her chin.
She pointed at herself.
“Pastel, super elite.”
Then she pointed at Ellie.
“Ellie, just regular elite.”
The overwhelming difference!
Not understanding, Ellie rubbed her face and, with a fatigued expression, passed the stacks of documents back.
“Please approve them….”
How unfortunate.
Dustin, the second staff member, should have come by now.
Pastel reviewed the documents related to the Skywhale’s visit to Sky Island.
Since Skywhales are valuable just by existing, many trading guilds involved themselves whenever a Skywhale flew to human settlements.
Not to mention whether the whale enjoys visiting Sky Island; it’s an annual event, and many trading guilds prepare and wait for it. It’s a money-circulating, pocket-filling annual event for everyone.
The problem is that many only see the money and cause inconveniences, so especially when a Skywhale flies over the Academy, strict measures and vigilance are essential. It’s unacceptable for a nameless trading guild’s scoff to be flying openly in the Academy’s airspace.
The main tasks in this regard are tackled by the Knight Corps and faculty, but smaller areas or student-related matters often fall to the Student Council.
“Has Leonard not come to school yet?”
I need to outsource labor.
“Some of the group has shown up, but Leonard is not here. I heard he’s coming by scoff tomorrow.”
Pastel nodded and swiftly completed the document approvals. She passed some returned documents to Ellie.
“Then I’ll handle the collaboration with Leonard, so we can deal with this tomorrow. Let’s call it a day for today. It’s vacation time!”
Ellie examined the returned documents with a weary look.
“I’ll get it done by today.”
“No, no, no! Ellie, take a break!”
Pastel sent Ellie off and remained alone in the Student Council room. She neatly organized the documents and sat in a chair.
The sunlight streamed through the window.
“It’s a Skywhale, huh?”
『I see.』
“What makes it so lucrative?”
『Skywhales live for hundreds of years and serve as a small ecosystem by themselves. Over time, plants grow on their backs, and birds come to build nests. Life circulates, and with the help of rain and wind, nature draws a circle.』
Wow, that sounds like some profound wisdom.
“There are various plants and animals that don’t exist on Sky Island?”
『That’s right. The ecosystem changes slightly year by year depending on the journey of the Skywhale. It’s a great opportunity if you’re lucky. Plus, the by-products of Skywhales are very valuable, which makes them coveted by trading guilds.』
By-products?
“Are they hunted?”
『Rather than caught, it’s more about scraping off some scaly parts due to their enormous size.』
Hee.
So it’s a by-product from the Skywhale.
Pastel had a strange expression as she rested her chin on her hand.
Hadn’t I heard that one of the materials for the awakening potion spread by the cult was the Skywhale?
High-quality materials like Skywhales are limited in their circulation, often leaving traces in the trade process.
It’s unlikely that the named criminal organizations would just carelessly supply high-quality materials; there probably are trading guilds or cult-affiliated guilds which are in touch.
Is it a trading guild tied to the cult?
Such a trading guild wouldn’t miss out on this year’s annual event, where getting easy access to materials is possible.
Pastel smiled slyly.
Hee.
I see.
She leaned back in the chair.
『What’s with that expression?』
“Oh, nothing.”
She shook her head.
She rubbed the corners of her mouth and tapped her cheeks for a mood lift before smiling brightly.
“I just wanted to participate in this year’s annual event since I’m now the owner of the Craft Guild! It’s a complete money-making opportunity!”
A windfall that came by itself.
She raised her arms in victory.
“Yay! Yay!”
『It’s a decent idea, but the Craft Guild has already left for the trade.』
Pastel froze.
Oh no.
I even sent my best friend Melissa away.
Uwah.
Come back, Craft Guild.
『You have nothing to regret. This is clearly an opportunity where you need to build up know-how for high profits. The first trade through smuggling yields significantly higher returns.』
The devil’s rational calculations.
In other words, nagging with zero empathy.
“Don’t calculate opportunity costs! Greedy people want to have it all!”
『Oh dear.』
Pastel racked her brain.
Money, money, money!
Eureka!
A brilliant idea sparked!
She checked the Student Council budget situation.
It turned out that some unnamed person created a trading guild with the Student Council budget, leaving the treasury completely empty.
“This can’t be! The budget situation is this terrible! What in the world happened?!”
『You made it like this. It’s pretty shabby.』
Shabby.
Unbelievable, unbelievable!
“As the Vice President, the Accounting Manager, the Planning Manager, the Public Relations Manager, the Service Manager, and the Discipline Manager, I can’t just stand by!”
She kicked the chair back and stood up.
“I hereby declare a state of emergency for the Student Council effective today!”
『Hooh.』
The demon was impressed.
『Is the mastermind behind this embezzlement finally being revealed? Who is it? The Vice President? The Accounting Manager? The Planning Manager?』
It was a teasing voice.
Pastel narrowed her brows.
“The mastermind is you, demon!”
Avoiding responsibility, are we?
『What did you say……?』
The demon was shocked.
Closing her guardian’s mouth in one fell swoop, Pastel confidently declared.
“I can’t send the demon to prison, so I, the good one, will find another solution.”
She raised her arms high.
“Effective today, the Student Council will exert all efforts to raise funds from this very spot!”
She thumped the desk.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Pastel peeked around the docking station at Sky Island.
Students disembarked from the scoff. After enthusiastically greeting some friends, she waited again for a sturdy-looking upperclassman to get off.
Pastel smiled brightly and waved her hand.
“Leonard!”
Leonard, talking to a servant, flinched and turned around.
“What’s up? Why are you here?”
“I was waiting for you!”
Beaming.
Leonard looked at her strangely. Waving away the servant, he raised one eyebrow.
“You came all the way to the docking station to wait for me?”
“That’s right!”
Pastel spread her arms wide. Then she twirled around. The scene of the lined-up scoffs came into view.
“Wow, it’s the docking station!”
She felt the bustling atmosphere as people and luggage moved about.
It was like a train station.
“A friend that waits for me like this is quite rare, so you can feel happy about it!”
Pastel said that and then leaned closer to Leonard, whispering secretly.
“I like all my friends, but… you could say you’re a slightly special friend?”
Whisper, whisper.
Leonard flinched. He retreated, avoiding her gaze, then suddenly frowned and glared at her.
“How rare is it?”
“Are you curious about that?”
Pastel tilted her head.
It’s difficult to provide a statistical analysis on that.
She started counting people by folding down her fingers one by one.
“One, two, three….”
After folding all five fingers, she started folding down the fingers on her other hand. When that was still short, she began to unfold them one by one for additional counting. Even then, she folded them again to recount.
“Twenty, twenty-one….”
“That’s like totally a bottom ranking!”
Leonard shouted as his face turned red.
Pastel’s eyes widened.
“No, no, no!”
She waved her arms.
“I’m at least in the middle ranks!”
That was the rank with the bonus from the subcontractor.
“Is that even something to say?!”
Leonard got mad.
Ugh.
He’s quite irritable.
I can’t help it, I’ll just have to understand as a big-hearted person!
Ahem.
