Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 223
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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 223
Hauser found it utterly absurd.
“You’re attending the council meeting too.”
The day after I confessed everything I had learned, Calypso came to find me and said this.
Her expression seemed to say, ‘You’ve had a day to rest comfortably, haven’t you?’
The Matriarch I remembered was exactly the same, and I nearly laughed.
Like a madman.
Attending itself wasn’t the problem.
Sharp gazes poured down on this unfamiliar figure, but I didn’t care.
Atlant Aquasiadel’s gaze was peculiar, but Calypso had already hinted that Atlant retained his memories too, so I let it pass.
Yet the face I remembered was playing innocent.
It was enough to make me forget, if only briefly, the treasure that had occupied half my thoughts all this time.
A pristine pale face. A Dolphin who, like some mutant standing alone, had those distinctly rebellious eyes hidden behind glasses as if they couldn’t be helped.
Even beneath the refined appearance and neat attire, it couldn’t be concealed—that defiance seeping through.
‘What is he doing right now?’
Despite clearly having memories, Levai Dolphin was brazenly playing dumb.
* * *
“Welcome.”
It took exactly four days to reach where Bellus was.
Eldest Brother came out to greet me personally in front of the palisade.
The Knights who had been fidgeting nearby only seemed to understand once I removed my hat and revealed my face.
“Why do they look like that?”
“Why? Because that damned bastard of an older brother looks so repulsive they can’t help but feel nauseous?”
“Ah, so they can’t adapt because Eldest Brother is showing a kind side?”
“Precisely.”
As I interpreted Second Brother’s words, Levai clapped expressionlessly as if impressed.
Atlant looked at the two of us like we were madmen.
Then he suddenly grabbed me. A barrier of water surrounding just the two of us appeared.
“Hey, does that bastard really have no memories? Why does he stick to you just like before, driving me crazy?”
“What are you making a fuss about? He doesn’t have memories, I told you. We confirmed it together, didn’t we?”
“Tch….”
“And do you still have energy left? Hurry up and drop this barrier.”
Second Brother ground his teeth slightly before dispelling the water barrier that blocked sound.
“That bastard’s acting up again today.”
“Why don’t you try speaking more gently to your younger brother, Eldest Brother?”
“I’m already sufficiently gentle with you.”
So he was using all his gentleness on me, leaving nothing for Second and Third Brother.
I looked at Bellus.
Eldest Brother was openly giving off the air of ‘I’ll only be like this to someone stronger than me.’
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Where is Father?”
“He went to Narpa.”
“Narpa? That’s to the north?”
“Yes.”
It was a city further north from this one.
It was the territory of one of the Orca’s branch families, and among the branches, it ranked in the top one or two.
“Why there?”
“Apparently Mother’s grave is there.”
“Hm?”
I tilted my head in confusion.
‘Wasn’t it this guy who told me Mother was alive?’
As if reading my thoughts, I heard him continue—saying he had tried to stop Father, but Father wouldn’t listen.
True, he had spoken of it consistently whenever time allowed, but Father refused to believe Mother was alive.
He even spoke of witnessing her death himself. At some point, even Eldest Brother stopped insisting otherwise.
“I could swear by the Sea’s Oath, but I don’t wish to shatter that steadfast conviction of his so thoroughly.”
I agreed with him, precisely because Father was remarkably stubborn—especially regarding Mother’s death, he seemed desperately resolute.
Besides, even if Mother were alive, we had no idea where she could be.
‘In Korea, they sometimes treated prolonged disappearances similarly to death.’
What difference was there from being dead?
“How are things progressing?”
We entered the city together. Bellus gave me a brief explanation of the current situation.
Unlike the stronghold I had visited, this place had apparently failed in its self-destruction.
‘Huh, they removed the self-destruct mechanism entirely.’
That meant they intended to face us in direct combat.
It was unlike those Sharks.
“Can those bastards actually defeat us in battle?”
“That’s what’s strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“When they prepare to fight, their palisades disappear.”
I blinked.
“Disappear? Could it be….”
This fact wasn’t surprising. We had already experienced something like this before.
Eldest Brother looked around, then created a water curtain for sound suppression, just as Atlant had done earlier.
“Peacocks?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Peacocks. These creatures could create illusions that entranced people.
When they gathered in numbers, they could deploy large-scale illusion abilities.
They had even used this specialty to hide the castle.
“According to the information you provided, this place has also joined hands with the land-dwellers.”
“…Those insolent bastards.”
You’re calling in cowardly landlubbers instead of keeping this a fight between sea creatures?
Even Sharks haven’t escaped discrimination from those land-dwellers.
It was laughable.
So to achieve victory over the Orcas, they were willing to grovel before those who looked down on them as stinking filth?
“Well, that works.”
The appearance of Peacocks was surprising, but that was all.
I’d dealt with headaches from them in the third cycle’s battles before.
“We won, didn’t we? If we did it once, what’s the difficulty in doing it twice?”
I was the one who led that battle to victory.
“With respect, Matriarch. Carelessness could——”
“Who said I was careless?”
I laughed softly, arms crossed.
“If those bastards came out cowardly…”
I smirked.
“Then we just go even more ruthlessly, right?”
They gave us the justification themselves.
* * *
After a brief exchange of reports on the situation, Bellus hesitated for a moment.
At this uncharacteristic behavior from Eldest Brother, Calypso’s beautiful face turned sharply with irritation.
“What is it? If you have something to say, say it.”
At words that could pass for a back-alley thug’s speech, Bellus suppressed a smile.
Back-alley thug or street punk—even such crude speech was elevated to nobility by her, his younger sister and sovereign.
“The man you brought along.”
Calypso hadn’t informed Bellus about Hauser. Not yet.
But Bellus seemed to have recognized him at a glance, just as Atlant had.
Calypso briefly shared information about Hauser and what he’d reported.
“Oddly enough, there are many who remember things.”
It was something they both agreed on.
Bellus nodded to himself, as if considering something.
“If he’s an Orca, he’d be an excellent warrior and useful.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“The way you keep staring at him suggests you have something to tell him.”
“Hm? Did I? Haven’t I always looked at him that way?”
Unbelievable. She was far too dense.
Though it was a known fact, Bellus laughed quietly.
She grew softer with her subordinates and allies within her circle, yet——
When it came to matters of the heart, she couldn’t even recognize a man’s expression when he had something he wanted to tell her.
She acted like someone who’d been forced to live only for battle, administrative duties, and her life as Matriarch, and it showed even here.
“Ah, he specifically requested that just the two of us meet, but things came up so suddenly that I didn’t have time.”
Calypso recalled Hauser’s request and nodded slowly.
“Thank you. That helped me remember.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Right then. Let’s begin executing the plan tomorrow. I’ll send a messenger this evening.”
Calypso turned to leave. A meeting would be held this evening with everyone present at the castle.
“You’re not going to live the same way in this life either… are you?”
Bellus spoke quietly to her retreating figure.
“What do you mean?”
“Whether you’ll reject romance and marriage like you did in your past life.”
“When did I ever reject it? Really. I simply didn’t have the time. Time.”
Calypso turned halfway around.
“Well, in this life I’ll handle it myself. Try romance, try marriage?”
“With whom?”
“Hm?”
“You know the Orca’s feelings.”
Though Calypso was remarkably dense, she couldn’t possibly be unaware of the heart of someone who had confessed directly to her.
“In this life, I need to give him an answer? I know that too.”
Her response was straightforward.
“Since when do you meddle like this?”
That was true. The brothers she had faced as enemies in the third cycle.
Among them, after Atlant was defeated and came down below, his meddling in Calypso’s affairs grew worse with each passing day.
Bellus was different.
“In the past life, we started as enemies, became allies, and ended as subordinates. But in this life, we started as family, so I thought.”
Calypso’s bewildered expression grew somewhat dazed. Then she laughed.
“Right. I understand. Brother.”
Bellus smiled quietly as well.
For a moment, warmth lingered between the siblings.
“Oh, but does the lord’s castle happen to have a room with two beds? Or even a very large one would do.”
“Why?”
However, that didn’t last long.
“Is it for a handmaiden? But you didn’t bring a handmaiden with you.”
“Not a handmaiden.”
Rather, it was because of Calypso’s shocking declaration.
“I have someone to share a room with.”
* * *
“You know the Orca’s feelings.”
I knew, but I had put it off, not expecting it to come so soon.
Bellus had pinpointed exactly this.
On my way back after finishing my conversation with Eldest Brother, someone blocked my path.
A massive frame.
I smiled at the sight of the wavy-ended hair.
“Why?”
It was Hauser.
“…If I may be so bold, could you spare me a moment of your time?”
“You don’t need to be bold about it. Just ask me freely.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“We’re not master and servant, are we?”
“….”
Hauser lowered his darkened gaze.
“…There is something I wish to give you.”
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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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