Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 224

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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 224
I couldn’t help but be bewildered by his sudden words. He was going to give me something?
On the other hand, knowing how Hauser had lived in this life, I could judge that it wouldn’t be anything trivial.
“Is it okay to hand it over here?”
I cannot use the power of water.
Therefore, I cannot use a barrier that blocks sound.
Hauser glanced briefly around the surroundings.
“…Let us move to a different location.”
“Fine.”
Near the city we had arrived at, there was a small forest.
It was too shabby to even be called a forest, but it was secluded with hardly anyone around.
‘Good, I don’t sense any presence at all.’
I straightened my head.
Hauser’s expression tensed for a brief moment, then he knelt on one knee.
“Master Suha, when did kneeling become so easy for you?”
I looked down at him indifferently.
“There seems to be a misunderstanding. I have always been quick to kneel.”
“That’s funny. You only knelt quickly when you were in the wrong, just like that Dolphin Retainer and Levai. Are you bragging?”
“…”
At this, a subtle and inexplicable expression crossed Hauser’s face.
“I have urgent matters to discuss regarding the Dolphin Retainer you mentioned, but… since my business is more important, I will postpone it.”
What is this uncomfortable and ominous tone?
“Will you accept this?”
Just as I was about to say something, I paused at the fist being extended toward me.
Until now, I only thought he was trying to report some extraordinary secret.
That was all I thought…
The moment the fist opened, I stood there with my mouth agape.
What is this…?
“…Could it be Lineius?”
If Hauser hadn’t given a brief nod, I would have thought I was dreaming.
…Why is this appearing here?
‘The report clearly said the leader of our base had it…’
The base had been destroyed. Moreover, those people were already entangled with the Imperial Family.
It could be buried in the ruins.
Or it could have fallen into the hands of the Imperial Family.
If it fell into the Imperial Family’s hands, that would be the worst case. I had considered that far…
“Why do you have this?”
“Because I brought it with me.”
There was no one among my subordinates who didn’t know of Lineius’s existence in my hands.
It was because I used to babble about how I awakened the power of water whenever I got drunk.
‘How desperate must I have been to ask Eldest Brother and Second Brother about their memories, and then inquire about Lineius one by one?’
Hauser began his story slowly.
The story went like this.
After leaving the capital, he hadn’t headed straight to the Wasteland, but instead to the Dolphin’s territory.
He’d noticed the Crown Prince was trying every method to get his hands on Lineius.
‘If I truly remembered, I would have tried to seize it.’
Besides, in the original story, it was a treasure that ended up in the Crown Prince’s hands anyway.
“So you’ve been keeping it in your possession all this time?”
“Yes.”
“How? You were bound all this while, weren’t you?”
After saying this much, my expression darkened. This bastard…
Hauser let out a small chuckle.
“Time has indeed passed, Matriarch. For you to ask such a thing…”
“…Never mind. I don’t want to hear it.”
The omitted method wasn’t a particularly pleasant one.
I took Lineius and slowly lifted it. The jewel sparkled brilliantly as it caught the light.
However, contrary to its effects, it didn’t look particularly impressive—a characteristic of this treasure.
‘So it’s finally in my hands.’
I thought that with time, I’d naturally be able to use the power of water.
But what does it matter? If that won’t work, I can borrow the treasure’s power like I did in the third cycle.
I quietly recalled the moment I awakened the power of water in the third cycle and gripped the jewel tightly.
My hand was cut by the sharp edge of the gem, and blood flowed. The drops of blood beaded on the jewel’s surface.
Then I waited for what would happen next.
“…”
Silence stretched on for a long time.
“…Matriarch?”
“…”
I opened my hand and lifted the jewel again.
Bewilderment and disappointment crossed my face as I stared at it.
“Hey, Hauser.”
“…Yes?”
“Is this a fake?”
“Ah, no. How could it be?”
It was the genuine article brought from the Dolphin’s territory. Moreover, it had never fallen into anyone else’s hands.
I stared at the jewel again with a complicated expression for a long while before finally admitting it.
“…This thing isn’t working.”
* * *
That night.
I sat on the bed with a complex and subtle feeling in my heart.
The room Bellus had arranged for me was spacious, and the bed was enormous.
Even a bed large enough that three people the size of Atlant or Whale—the largest of my subordinates—could lie down with room to spare was satisfactory.
But I had no time to properly savor that satisfaction.
In my hand lay a jewel wrapped tightly in cord.
‘…Why won’t this blasted thing activate?’
I already knew how to use this jewel.
I had even awakened through it before.
Surely the method of use hadn’t changed from the last cycle. Was there some condition I wasn’t meeting?
“Does Lineius have eyes? Are you being shy?”
I muttered in exasperation, and then I sensed a presence.
Someone approached quietly.
“You came?”
I greeted him calmly, though for a moment I forgot about the jewel entirely.
‘What… why are you dressed like that?’
It was the Dragon Duke wearing nothing but a robe.
Taken aback, I tilted my head in confusion.
“Hey, why are you dressed that way?”
“Dressed?”
“Don’t give me that look like you don’t understand. That robe.”
The Dragon Duke’s robe hung loosely, revealing the curves of his chest and bare skin beneath.
Seeing him like that in the soft candlelight…
“The person sharing the room with you is… what? The Dragon Duke?”
The expression of Eldest Brother flashed through my mind.
He had looked astonished that the person I would share a room with was the Dragon Duke.
I explained the circumstances, but his expression remained the same.
‘Now that I know the Imperial Court’s sole objective is the Dragon Duke, how could I leave him alone?’
Beyond that, he said he couldn’t even sleep without me.
I’d never heard of a Dragon going berserk from insomnia.
But one could never be too careful.
‘Though the fact that he can only sleep if he removes his upper garments is… somewhat troublesome.’
I turned my gaze away naturally and tapped the bed with my fingers.
It wasn’t as though I hadn’t seen my subordinates’ bare chests once or twice.
But the Dragon Duke had something subtly captivating about him that made it difficult.
I’d stake my hair that I wasn’t the only one who felt this way.
At today’s meeting, I noticed more than a few female Beastkin who couldn’t tear their eyes away from the Dragon Duke.
“…Come lie down if you’re here. I have some things to think about, so I’ll sleep a bit later.”
Whether the Dragon Duke understood or simply didn’t mind as long as we were together.
He lay down quietly on the bed.
Or rather, he sat with his upper body leaning against the headboard.
“…”
“…What, you’re not sleeping?”
“Just like that.”
I started to look at Lineius again but let out a sigh instead, lowering the jewel.
“Don’t tell me you need me to pat you gently like a baby before you can fall asleep?”
“I’ve never experienced it, so I wouldn’t know, but I wouldn’t refuse if you offered.”
“Why are you saying that so confidently?”
“Then how did my younger self respond?”
“I have no intention of telling you.”
I smiled faintly. The Dragon Duke, sensing the subtle line I’d drawn, said nothing more.
“Don’t think about anything and sleep soundly. The end is drawing near now.”
The Dragon Duke gazed at me with deep, brilliant golden eyes.
“Are you happy right now?”
“Huh?”
Out of nowhere?
“It’s nothing. Just a fragment of the dragon whispering something bothersome.”
“What…”
How exasperating.
I watched the large man fidget and lie down, then turned my back to him.
My back straightened rigidly.
Soon, hearing the soft snores of sleep, I let out a quiet sigh.
I rose from the bed.
* * *
“Father seems to be running a bit late?”
“It appears so.”
The next day, we decided to head straight for the palisade as planned from our meeting the previous evening.
First, we divided our forces into two: one to draw attention.
The other…
Would eliminate the peacocks and personally sever the leader’s neck.
The latter was assigned to move covertly as a small elite unit depending on their roles.
‘I should have brought that Agenor if I’d known we’d need infiltration.’
Bellus also knew how to dismantle the peacock’s illusion, but we needed at least one more person who had directly experienced it.
Until now, we would have been helpless.
“Then I’m counting on you to command that side.”
“As you command.”
I patted Bellus’s shoulder and pulled the hood of my cloak down firmly over my head.
Second Brother currently remained at the main castle with the Dragon Duke.
He had raged at the fact that he was being left behind, but what could be done about it?
“You’re the only one I can trust and leave this to, Second Brother.”
At these words, though he ground his teeth, he stayed behind.
Hauser filled the combat position that Atlant would have occupied.
I examined the faces of the selected personnel carefully and smiled slightly.
Perhaps it was because I had just met Hauser, but I found myself thinking of my subordinates’ faces with unusual longing.
“Everyone, let’s depart!”
* * *
And exactly thirty minutes later.
I stared at the crumbling ceiling and laughed awkwardly.
“Well… I took quite a hit there.”
Stone fragments fell. The fractured ceiling was visible above me.
‘Eight seconds if I’m lucky, ten at most?’
It would likely collapse within ten seconds.
I wished I could move, but.
The floor itself was barely maintaining my weight and balance.
If I moved, it would crumble immediately.
The next outcome would be entrapment beneath a massive pile of rubble.
‘At least I’m alone here.’
I let out a small sigh.
I never imagined my end would come like this. But that didn’t mean I could simply do nothing.
“Listen here, you cursed gem. Are you watching?”
I grabbed Lineius from around my neck and lifted it up.
“If you don’t activate, I die.”
I squeezed the gem so hard blood began to seep from my palm.
“And I absolutely cannot die here.”
Threatening a gem was absurd, but.
“If you don’t activate here, even you—a thousand-year-old relic—will be reduced to dust.”
I applied crushing pressure to the gem. Crack. The moment Lineius fractured under my strength, unable to withstand it.
A brilliant blue light leaked through the cracks. Seeing that welcome radiance, I grinned widely, blood staining my face.
“You should have done this from the start.”
Shatter. The gem crumbled in my hand.
Simultaneously, the released power flooded into my entire body.

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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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