NOVEL NEXT Governor Pastel was running in real time, working hard in the gem mine to make Duchess Nastasha her stepmother and save the fairy world.
“Whoa!”
In what used to be the Demon King’s upscale ruins, there was a giant plant that thrived on magic.
Without good air and filled only with toxic gas, the space was uninhabitable for monsters, but our brave Governor Pastel opened the door and stepped inside, where she encountered a “I love carbon dioxide!” Plant Friend.
“Wow, Giant Plant Friend!”
What a great friend to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen.
But if its plant tendrils were whipping around like whips, it would surely be a bad friend.
Would this giant plant friend be a good friend or a bad friend?
A giant worm friend that seemed drawn to the clean oxygen made by the plants struggled, impaled by a sharp branch. Its once lively body was now completely lifeless.
Regrettably, this plant friend was indeed a bad friend…!
The dark red stem whipped around.
“Whoa!”
Pastel, who had been running, ducked. Her pink hair fluttered and the trajectory whooshed over her head. The air burst with a sonic boom as it broke the sound barrier.
“Hormone Friend! Hormone Friend!”
The Fairy on her shoulder was panicking.
—Hormone Friend, who is that?! Call your friend right now! If you do, you might even see the Fairy’s face!
“I have a friend I can’t let out!”
—That’s not a friend!
Gasp.
Pastel thought she understood why the Hormone Friend wasn’t bursting with adrenaline. Although the ruin’s corridors were filled with plant stems and branches, that was really all there was. Without a clear flower-like body in sight, she couldn’t figure out how to punish the bad carnivorous plant.
The dark red tip of a branch aimed carefully at Pastel before suddenly lunging forward.
“Whoa!”
It narrowly missed her neck and pierced the ruin’s wall. The leaves on the branch wriggled, jammed into the hole in the wall.
“Ugh! Grotesque!”
“It’s like the prey has come looking for it! But I’m a cherry blossom! We’re the same species! Eating me would be cannibalism! Totally bad!”
—Exactly! This is a cherry blossom! Even the Good Fairy can’t deny it!
Even the Good Fairy acknowledged it!
From this day forth, Pastel was a cherry blossom.
“Let’s team up and ride out these evil animals that munch on plants! Bad animals! Bad animals!”
Right now, it felt like she could critique the wickedness of animals with conviction.
Munching on innocent Plant Friends was just the norm! As a plant herself, she couldn’t forgive that!
Down with them! Down with them! Absolutely down with them!
But our Giant Plant Friend appeared to have a ferocious appetite capable of cannibalism.
A branch sprang up from the pristine floor of the ruins, racing toward Pastel.
“Whoa!”
Pastel spun around. The branch brushed past her winter dress and soared up, piercing through the ruin’s ceiling. Cracks formed as dust flew everywhere.
“Save the cherry blossoms!”
Panicked, Pastel dashed back through the ruins. She spotted the door she had entered. Even if it was big and fast, a plant was still a plant, and she quickly reached the door of the ruins.
Relief washed over her.
Pastel glanced back at the ruin’s hallway.
The corridor, which had seemed fine when she entered, was now a wreck, with the giant plant’s stems and branches wreaking havoc. The ground shook beneath the dark red stem, and heaps of rubble were everywhere.
But once she opened the ruin’s door, the terrifying encounter with the plant friend would finally end!
Pastel, who had just been frowning moments ago, gradually wore a triumphant expression.
“I actually have a confession for the Plant Friend.”
She pointed to herself dramatically.
“I’m not a plant! I’m obviously a person! Didn’t you know?! Surprised, huh?! Trusting Craft was a mistake!”
Betrayal ran deep within the Craft Family, spanning generations!
She thought she was a cherry blossom, but it turned out she just had pink hair~
“You bad plant friend! When I get back, I’ll mix your plants with mayonnaise and eat them all up!”
She pretended to stab at a salad with a fork.
“Whoooa!”
I am an evil animal!!
The Plant Friend seemed shocked by her unexpected identity and thrashed all its tendrils. The ruin’s corridor buckled, and the stones twisted.
There were signs that something was about to happen.
However, since Pastel wasn’t the kind of person who’d become a villain while talking, she swiftly opened the door and escaped.
“Goodbye! Goodbye!”
She slammed the door shut.
The noise quieted.
“Phew!”
Pastel, her tension released, was shaking.
“I thought I was gonna die!”
—Hahaha!
The Fairy burst into laughter.
—Did you see the plant’s reaction just now? It’s unlikely, but it seemed to shiver in betrayal! You’re surprisingly good at playing the traitor role! I always thought you would be!
“Ahaha! Just a funny joke! Of course I wouldn’t betray anyone! Pastel is the icon of faith and trust acknowledged by everyone!”
Pastel and the Fairy shared a laugh and high-fived.
“Oh yeah! Oh yeah!”
Crisis averted!
As Pastel straightened her messy hair and clothes, she looked around. The magical lantern lit up the closed-off area. Aside from the door behind her, there were no paths except the hole in the ceiling that had fallen in.
“Huh?”
Hang on, isn’t this a blocked path?
Her pink eyes rolled around.
She thought she had escaped, but she was trapped!
Gasp.
Noticing this, the Fairy looked around in confusion.
—So where do we go now?
“Maybe teleport?”
—Wow! Teleport!
Uh, is that even possible?
The Fairy cheerfully replied.
—There’s no way I could do that.
Gasp.
“Then how do we escape?”
—Even I don’t know that.
This situation was totally trapped.
Sneaking a glance at the door revealed it was eerily quiet. It was too quiet. A cold sense of dread crept in.
Was it too much to think that the Plant Friend was contemplating how to cook the mouse in the trap?
Not too much at all!
“Ugh.”
Pastel’s hands trembling.
“A curse will fall on the bad Plant Friend?”
The Fairy shook her head.
“But Fairy! Didn’t you grow stronger and double your power?!”
Disappointed if she couldn’t even punish the Plant Friend.
The Fairy’s expression shifted to one of arrogance.
—That’s right! I defeated the corrupted fairy and became stronger! But plants that weak could rot at my touch anyway! Although love charms won’t work on plants without brains, one touch guarantees victory!
Wow!
“So you’re just gonna zoom in and smack it?!”
Pastel immediately prepared to open the door.
The Fairy flinched.
—W-well, if I move that dynamically, the stem would rot and break, so I’d need to touch it multiple times.
“I would?”
—After dodging your sword a few times, I’m unconfident in not getting hit, you know. It would hurt if I got hit, and I’m not sure if I could fight well.
Gasp.
The confidence she felt was on a different level from when she had taken the lead to face off against the corrupted fairy.
“Could it be that the moment you turned into a corrupted fairy, you started losing confidence just because I swung my sword a few times?”
The Fairy avoided eye contact.
—When I actually felt the sword, it was faster and sharper than I expected. It’s one thing to tease those who’re panic-stricken and don’t know what’s going on, but facing you directly feels like an issue.
Eww?
“Yeah, I was just intentionally missing! To help the Fairy get a grip!”
—That was intentional?! I thought I was gonna die!
The Fairy’s mouth dropped open.
Huh?
It was obvious she was deliberately missing.
But when the corrupted fairy showed intent to kill, maybe that would change. But fundamentally, it was always an attempt to miss.
Could it be that the Fairy simply wasn’t good at fighting?
The corrupted fairy was great at telekinesis, but now that she had absorbed that power and doubled in strength, it seemed she couldn’t even do telekinesis anymore.
After all, the Fairy specialized in love, so it made sense she wouldn’t be good at combat.
Pastel groaned.
“So what do we do now?”
—W-well. Am I supposed to do it? Should I?
The Fairy seemed hesitant about getting hit by the plant’s tendrils.
It would be too much to force combat onto a Fairy who specializes in love and peace.
Huh?
Suddenly, Pastel had a brilliant idea.
“You just have to touch the Fairy’s body, right?”
—That’s right.
“It’d be better if the Fairy didn’t take the lead in the fight, right?”
—That would be even better!
“Then I have an idea! Even if the Fairy struggles a little, it’s a way better method than getting hit by the plant’s tendrils!”
—Oh really? I want to do that!
The Fairy raised a hand in excitement.
Wow!
To jump on that without even hearing the explanation, what a good Fairy!
To be honest, Pastel wondered if this was okay for the Fairy, but seeing that she didn’t need to hear the explanation beforehand and agreed selflessly washed away her conscience.
“Alright! It’s not difficult to prepare, so let’s get to it right away!”
Pastel grabbed the flying Fairy.
—Huh? Why are you grabbing me?
The girl didn’t explain. She already had permission.
Instead, she caught the Fairy by the ankle and raised her like a weapon.
“Fairy Hammer~!”
The Fairy’s forehead sparkled.
With this, hitting the bad plant would kill it!
Bam! Bam!
The Fairy looked dazed.
—What’s a Fairy Hammer?
A Fairy Hammer is a Fairy Hammer!