Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 204

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 204
Ekion’s current state traced back approximately six years.
Just as we were emerging from the time gap, Ekion spoke to me.
“We’ll grow together, right?”
“Yes.”
The moment we left this place, time would flow through our bodies, causing both Ekion and me to suddenly mature.
Don’t be startled.
I nodded, understanding that I would have certainly been shocked if I hadn’t heard this warning beforehand.
There was an additional explanation though—we wouldn’t grow the instant we emerged, but rather the moment our bodies adapted to the current timeline.
It would take some time, he said.
Despite listening so carefully to his explanation, I never imagined I’d collapse and fall asleep less than a day after leaving the time gap.
And it was a long, long sleep that lasted three years.
‘Living through this, becoming a possessor and a returner was one thing, but this was the most absurd yet. Had I truly become a sleeping princess in the forest?’
I suppose I’ve experienced life quite thoroughly.
Not that I ever wished for it.
In any case, my sleep apparently wasn’t meant to last the full three years.
Ekion, who had already adapted and completed his growth preparations, had done something to ensure my sleep was as brief as possible.
In exchange, Ekion had maintained this form for three years.
“Calypso.”
The fortunate part was that time had now ended, and Ekion would soon mature as well.
If this had been a permanent aftereffect, the stress would have been unbearable.
I was grateful.
‘The more people I care for, the faster my lifespan burns away.’
I held Ekion with one arm while gently stroking his head with the other.
When I awoke from sleep three years ago, much had changed.
First, Lili, whom we had been protecting, had been taken by Palaya, the Black Panther family’s second son, who had completed his preparations by then.
He had persuaded his own mother, and the Snake family now protects her.
I felt a surge of satisfaction hearing this.
Those Black Panther cubs must be absolutely furious.
I wondered how he managed to take her without being connected to the Black Panther family, since that would have exposed everything immediately.
That Palaya—apparently he was permanently expelled from the Black Panther family for whatever he did.
Beyond this, the three years had allowed Levai and my older brothers to grow close to the forms I had witnessed in my previous life.
Father had become even sharper.
And it had been enough time for Lirivel to complete training as a formidable secret weapon.
Before I could even finish catching up, an incident occurred that required the entire family to assemble.
It was an attack by the Sharks.
In fact, the Shark Beastkin had also rebelled around this time in my third cycle, so I wasn’t particularly surprised.
The problem was that these creatures had split into small groups or factions, harassing and extorting ordinary Beastkin.
‘From what I remember, around this time they should have been united as one faction, attacking us together.’
Currently, they seemed to be employing more strategy than in my previous life.
These were terrorists, and when facing the Orca Family’s overwhelming military might, they deemed it more efficient to scatter in guerrilla warfare and harass ordinary citizens sporadically rather than clash head-on.
Moreover, they were so quick at fleeing that it took considerable time to apprehend each one individually.
At first, I deployed the Orca Family Knights, but they not only retreated even when they weren’t losing, the harassment of civilians simultaneously grew more severe.
Eventually, I had to step in personally and uproot them entirely.
Of course, the days I could move like this were numbered.
‘Two remaining bases, if I recall correctly.’
Since these terrorists had been preparing for nearly ten, or perhaps twenty years, clearing them out in three years was actually quite fast.
I slowly lowered my gaze.
I looked at the young boy clinging quietly to my hand.
“I missed you, Ekion.”
Over the past three years, circumstances forced me to be constantly on the move.
But whenever I returned, Ekion was always there waiting for me, unchanged.
‘Though admittedly, he wasn’t always this peaceful about waiting from the start.’
If I compared it to separation anxiety in puppies, I was surprised by how intensely both Ekion and I felt this way toward each other.
Since I couldn’t take the Dragon Duke everywhere, we compromised to never exceed ten days apart.
But truthfully, I never told anyone—when I awoke from that long sleep, seeing Ekion as the only thing that remained unchanged…
‘I felt somewhat reassured.’
I’m accustomed to everything changing except myself.
With each cycle of life, everything transformed.
But as time passed, something finally emerged that didn’t change.
It felt truly special.
Like a brilliant morning star shining alone in the pitch-black night.
Time flowed enough for Ekion, who once spoke in halting fragments, to now converse with considerably more fluency.
“Yes, I missed you too.”
Only then did I notice the dust clinging to Ekion’s hair.
Since I hadn’t changed clothes yet, all the dust from my body must have transferred to him.
It couldn’t be helped.
“You, and Father, and Eiya and Biyo, Dede, and Misa too. All of you.”
I shrugged and released the arm I’d been holding him with.
Ekion stared at me intently, then turned his gaze away.
“Yes.”
Why was it? At some point, whenever Ekion gazed elsewhere, I found myself imagining grabbing his small head and making him look back at me.
Even though such coercion was absolutely not my preference.
‘Have I developed worse separation anxiety?’
I decided to accept that it could happen between people too.
Yet I was simultaneously aware that I wasn’t normal.
‘Well, an Orca’s irrational obsession is just a species trait anyway.’
I’d always thought my abnormal fixation was solely on the Matriarch as a goal and revenge as a grudge.
But if the object of obsession becomes a person, isn’t that somewhat dangerous?
Isn’t it a bit dangerous when the object of obsession becomes a person?
I scratched the back of my neck.
If I still retained more of Earth’s moral values and ways of thinking, I would have considered it a serious matter.
But in truth, over sixty years, my memories of Earth had grown faint except for those concerning family.
‘Well, as long as it doesn’t show, it should be fine.’
It wasn’t that I didn’t care, but it wasn’t a major concern either.
Even as I spoke this way, I felt myself continuously following Ekion’s gaze, and I could only scratch my cheek.
“Ah, this time I’ll be staying at the family estate for quite a while. We finally have only about two of those Shark bastards’ bases left.”
One was literally their main base, while the other had a high probability of being a decoy.
Regardless of which one was the true base, the fact that this was nearly the end was clear.
“Shall we go? Where is Tus?”
“In his room.”
“I see.”
I naturally took Ekion’s hand and walked.
Then I paused for a moment.
“Tomorrow is my birthday. You’ll be changing too, right?”
When I opened my eyes, Ekion remained alone in his original form.
Startled that I might have caused some fatal penalty, Ekion spoke to me.
He said that once time passed equal to how long I had slept, he would naturally grow.
I could only determine the exact timing this year.
By coincidence, that date was tomorrow.
My birthday, and the day I come of age.
Ekion nodded.
As his golden, gleaming gaze turned toward me, a sense of stability washed over me simultaneously, and I smiled slightly to myself.
I pondered for a moment.
‘Once he grows, I should ask him once whether he wants to go to the Dragon’s city…’
This is troublesome.
‘How strange that my Orca instincts grow stronger with age.’
If you were to say, even as a joke, that you’d leave me and return.
For some reason, I have this strange thought that I’d have to bind you here no matter what.
I looked down the long corridor and walked again.
“I’m looking forward to it. Your growth.”
* * *
“Hey! You really came, Matriarch! Where are you!”
I didn’t even turn my head, just picked at my ear. I felt the presence of someone striding in through the door that had been flung open.
Instead of looking, I threw a thick ornament that was caught beside me without even glancing at it.
“Ow! What are you doing!”
“And what are you doing? Where did your manners go, Second Brother?”
“…Ahem.”
As I turned my gaze, there stood Second Brother, who had grown massive over the years, clearing his throat awkwardly.
He had truly become as large as I remembered.
‘If even a tenth of that height had come to me…!’
I glared at him with cold, disapproving eyes.
“Aha, so when the brain is dull, manners disappear too. I’m here, little sister—or should I say, Matriarch?”
Behind Atlant, a young man knocked loudly and deliberately before poking his head through the doorway.
The one with relatively slender but sharp and toned features was Agenor.
“I heard you arrived. Can I come in?”
“Yeah. But throw Second Brother in the trash for me.”
“Got it. As commanded!”
“…Ugh, I said I was sorry.”
“So what’s this about?”
I cut him off with the question, and the two brothers exchanged glances.
“Just came to report and see your face.”
Agenor spoke up first. Second Brother stared at me intently, then said bluntly:
“But you… still haven’t?”
“Haven’t what?”
Atlant scratched his cheek with his long, thick hand as if he’d never complained about anything.
“The power of water—you still haven’t recovered it?”
“As you can see?”
It didn’t seem like a question worth reading too much into, but Agenor also glanced at me hesitantly.
That was right.
Nine years had passed, yet the power of water still hadn’t returned.
Of course, even without the power of water, I had enough skill to beat down all three of my older brothers if they came at me together.
‘Considering I’ll be going to the Imperial Palace in the future, it’s lacking.’
I clenched and unclenched my fist.
…In truth, I thought that once time passed naturally after traveling through the gap in time, it would resolve itself.
The moment I thought otherwise, I went searching for the treasure I had obtained in my third playthrough.
The object that had awakened the power of water within me.
And then.
“…Noble Lady, we visited the location your sisters mentioned, but… there was no such treasure there.”
I had asked Levai’s relatives, who were staying nearby as an urgent measure close to the Dolphin Beastkin territory.
But the answer I received was that no such thing existed.
‘Instead, they said there were signs of intrusion.’
Since it was a distinctively shaped jewel, it wasn’t impossible to track.
Where exactly had that treasure, ‘Lineus,’ gone?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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