Wowack.
Wowaack.
Mother whale!
Big mother whale!
Skywhale beam~!
Boom! Bang! Bang!
Powerful Pastel is in quite the mess.
Ugh.
“Calm down for now.”
Pastel, whose mind was swirling, calmed down upon hearing the demon’s composed voice.
Huff.
Right, I’m the one in charge, so I should start handling the situation.
She rubbed her cheeks to regain her composure.
What should I do first?
Is this an issue where rapid response is crucial? Or is it one that requires a delicate approach?
The disheveled professor shouted in the wind.
“We need to quickly evacuate the citizens and respond with the Knight Corps!”
It’s rapid response then.
Pastel stood up with a stern face.
“Then—”
“Incorrect.”
The demon dismissed the professor’s suggestion.
“Awe and fear blind you and divert you from the essence. The fact that the mother whale hasn’t arrived yet indicates that the situation is unusual. We need to assess the situation first. There is plenty of time.”
I see.
Pastel’s expression softened slightly. She looked around at the soldiers, including the professor.
“I’ll focus on controlling the chaos and forming a response team first. Control the docking station and block the rumors. Gather everyone related to the Skywhale. And bring medical personnel as well to treat the injured whale.”
She waved her arm.
“Move out!”
The personnel dispersed quickly.
As the surroundings calmed down, Pastel examined the baby whale alone. Its pink skin looked split and pained.
“What do you mean there’s plenty of time? I can already imagine an enraged mother whale coming this way.”
“It hasn’t come yet.”
She took out a paralysis potion from her coat. The yellow liquid was smeared on her hand and rubbed onto the whale’s skin.
“In demon realm folklore, there are many stories about Skywhales. Back when long-distance travel by scoff wasn’t developed, the demon race would travel between the Demon Realm and Sky Island riding whales.”
The demon paused for a moment.
“You can use the potion boldly. Regardless of being a baby, a Skywhale is still a Skywhale.”
“Oh, okay.”
The liquid poured onto the pink skin but didn’t evaporate. The yellow liquid covered the whale’s upper side and flowed down to its white belly.
Squish squish.
“So why is it that we have time?”
“In the demon realm folklore, there’s a story about a mother whale that destroyed an entire island in the demon realm after her child was kidnapped.”
“Ugh.”
It’s exactly the same situation.
Crisis of the Sky Island falling.
Pastel’s care for the baby whale became exceedingly cautious. The baby whale turned its body slightly and looked up.
Flinch.
Whale friend.
It wouldn’t suddenly shoot a laser beam from its mouth, right?
That didn’t happen. The baby whale seemed tired and lay down fully again.
Squish squish.
“But that folklore is a fabricated story. Such a thing can’t happen due to the traits of Skywhales.”
“Oh, really?”
Was the last Skywhale that came just exceptionally large?
Anyway, it’s unreasonable for a living creature to simply destroy an entire island.
Even the luminescent dragon can’t do that.
“The very notion that one could kidnap a child from such a powerful Skywhale is an error.”
Ew.
“While you might forget because you can’t see them easily, Skywhales live in the sky. Think about it. How would a person approach a Skywhale?”
“With a scoff?”
“In a vast, unobscured sky with no obstacles, a whale isn’t foolish enough to miss a scoff approaching to kidnap its child.”
Ugh.
Now that I think about it, that’s an impossible difficulty. How could a scoff escape from a super strong whale that can blow whale breaths from its mouth?
“So this whale has a reason for being here. I don’t know what that reason is, but if the mother whale still hasn’t come, it likely won’t for some time.”
Pastel pondered.
“I don’t know how the kidnapping was done, but assuming it was successful, isn’t it likely that it can’t find its child?”
The iron cage that the baby whale was trapped in had magic circles engraved inside. Was it to prevent tracking?
“Individual and species may differ, but it’s speculated that some older Skywhales can even communicate over the distance from the Demon Realm to the Human Realm. They’re not beings that can be blocked by mere human magic.”
Wowang.
Pastel’s mouth dropped open.
Now that I think about it, ordinary whales that live in the sea can communicate with others hundreds of kilometers away using ultrasound, right?
She looked down at the tired baby whale.
“You’re amazing!”
Let’s be friends! Friends!
I’ll focus first on nursing you!
Pastel treated the baby whale selflessly. She had no mind of clinging to a strong one.
#
Emergency response meeting.
“Everyone, calm down.”
Pastel spoke calmly. Participants who had been in a panic turned to look.
“This is an incomplete terror. Radical demon tribes have taken the folklore of the Skywhales too literally and have formed impossible expectations.”
She gestured to the side.
Ellie moved her gaze calmly.
Somehow, Ellie seemed to have just been buried in paperwork as a student council officer since enrollment, but she entered with a specialization in the myths and legends of the Demon Realm, specifically the legend of the Demon King.
Intense gazes from human attendees were directed at her. The demon girl looked tense.
An explanation of context to understand the terrorists’ intentions followed.
“Recently, the Skywhale folklore has been overrepresented among radicals. It’s a wicked and primitive trend to satisfy their thirst for the birth of a Demon King with the power of whales.”
Participants nodded in agreement.
“This is likely a hasty terror combining impulsive thinking and confirmation bias.”
The birth of a Demon King.
Just hearing it gives off a sense of dangerous and evil desire.
Huh?
Pastel’s eyes widened.
Actually, that Demon King was me.
Then the theory that the talkative terrorist, Trmaut, vigorously argued about Pastel being the ultimate mastermind isn’t entirely wrong.
Oh dear.
Pastel rolled her eyes and pretended not to hear.
What a coincidence.
As the meeting continued, rational analyses piled up.
The ecology professor spoke up.
“Recently, a Skywhale has been repeatedly exhibiting strange behaviors by robbing habitats of flying mackerel near Sky Island. Given that it seems to be the same species as the baby whale…”
“It’s the mother whale!”
Pastel’s face lit up.
The professor nodded.
“We’ve already sent departmental scoffs to monitor its position and status around Sky Island. If it does happen to come, we’ll receive news immediately.”
Oh yeah.
These specialists aren’t just idly playing around.
This is what an administrative system that doesn’t rely solely on individual improvisation looks like. And at its pinnacle is the powerful Pastel.
Huff, powerful.
The countermeasures were quickly established.
They decided to simply treat the baby whale and take it to the mother whale in a clean condition. Since the mother whale could suddenly come flying, they would treat it while flying in a scoff nearby.
It’s not a big deal, but that’s just how things work.
Pastel moved towards the infirmary of the scoff.
“If I hadn’t listened to the demon and rushed the evacuation, it would have turned into chaos.”
Countless refugees, a collapsing market economy, and waning authority.
The situation was becoming increasingly uncontrollable, and it was turning into a hopeless situation where all administrative power had to be poured into dealing with the refugees…
Ugh.
At that point, even if the mother whale didn’t come, it would be equivalent to the terror succeeding.
Now, even if they were to proclaim that the mother whale was not coming, it would be apparent that the higher-ups were simply trying to flee.
Sigh.
Pastel wiped the cold sweat off her forehead.
“Phew.”
I’m grateful the watchful media, including the newspaper club, cooperated unconditionally.
I only sent soldiers to dispatch an official document, and yet they actively cooperated. Truly kind people!
Powerful Pastel feels again that power is formed through the goodwill of everyone.
Uh-huh.
Pastel approached the infirmary bed.
There was a bandaged, whimpering baby whale.
It was definitely a baby, but it was so big that its tail fin hung off the edge of the bed.
The pink baby whale opened its mouth. The veterinarian peeled a shrimp shell larger than a palm by hand and fed it to the baby whale.
Munch munch.
What a delightful sight.
“How is its condition?”
“As you can see.”
The baby whale opened its mouth again. This time, the veterinarian picked up a black magic stone sitting in a basket and fed it to the baby whale.
Huff.
Magic stones, priced the same as gold, are a snack for the baby whale.
Steam rose from its pink skin. As the veterinarian removed the bandages, the sight of the previously cracked and messy skin recovering was visible.
Rapid recovery.
It feels like something fundamentally different from birth.
Pastel cleared her throat.
“Whale friend, I apologize on behalf of humanity. Although we didn’t commit the act, human greed and desire have harmed you.”
She bowed her head.
The baby whale opened its mouth.
“What do you mean?”
As she continued to look, the baby whale pointed its tongue at the shrimp basket. The veterinarian hesitated and peeled another shrimp shell to feed it to the baby whale.
Munch munch.
“Skywhales can’t eat shrimp shells?”
“It seems like it just refuses because it tastes bad.”
Heh.
Pastel’s feelings became complex. The victim seemed carefree, making it hard to know what to do. But perhaps it was better than suffering.
“But whale friend, how did you end up being kidnapped? Is your mother, I mean, is that really your mother? Anyway, should I just treat you a bit more and take you back to your parents right away?”
The baby whale opened its mouth.
Huh!
What does that even mean?!
The whale’s tongue pointed toward the magic stone basket. The veterinarian fed it another stone.
I’ve been ignored…
Pastel became gloomy.
The demon looked bewildered.
“Why are you trying to communicate with a whale? Just calling any creature a friend doesn’t necessarily mean you can become friends.”
Huff.
Is that so?!
Pastel’s eyes widened.
An astonishing fact.
Just because you call it a friend doesn’t mean it truly is a friend.
No way!
Pastel’s popular friend flirting was nothing more than throwing a blank check?!
Shock.
Total shock.
