Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 68
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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 68
In an instant, the killing intent dissipated.
Bellus wore an expression of utter disbelief.
“Do you keep pets?”
“Would I keep one?”
Even as I answered, I realized that the taut tension from moments before had grown hazy.
‘The killing intent has vanished. Has he abandoned the thought of killing me?’
What I had felt from Bellus was undoubtedly killing intent.
Though it lasted only a moment, it was a sensation I perceived with absolute clarity.
Truly, these older brothers of mine were creatures one could never let their guard down around.
“Why would a whale keep a snake in the first place?”
“I thought perhaps as a delicacy.”
“I don’t eat them. I don’t eat snakes.”
“There are whales that do eat them, you know?”
It was absurd.
“Which whale in the world eats snakes?”
As I spoke, my hand began to tremble involuntarily.
I looked at the snake in my bosom, which had begun to quiver sweetly, with exasperation.
“Hey, I’m not going to eat you. Calm down too.”
I exhaled a deep sigh and lifted my head.
I suddenly extended one hand.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean what? Just hold my hand.”
“….”
I laughed with a snort.
“Father is approaching. You feel his presence too, don’t you? He’ll be here soon. Quickly, take my hand and score some points.”
“Why would I score points with Pierre Aquasiadel?”
“So you’re saying you’ll keep picking fights the whole way? If that’s the case, don’t ride in the same carriage.”
“It was the Matriarch’s order.”
“Instead of switching carriages, I’ll take the punishment myself, so go in a different one. Agreed? What will it be? You said you had interest in me, so if that’s true, let’s compromise. I don’t want to ride in another tedious, silent carriage anymore.”
Of the three brothers, Bellus was the most rational and logical.
Soon he grasped my hand and lifted me up.
At that same moment, Father appeared before my eyes.
I murmured softly as I watched him approach with great strides.
“Thank you for helping me.”
“….”
“You could have let me die, after all.”
He held my hand tightly, then released it.
“It may be unexpected, but I don’t dislike you. Though I do find you troublesome.”
Not long after he let go, my body rose gently into the air.
A hand suddenly dug into my armpit.
Huh? I blinked.
“Calypso Aquasiadel.”
“Y-yes…?”
Wow, I was terrified.
An ominous shimmer seemed to hover around Father.
“Did they attack?”
His facial expression seemed no different from usual, but…
No.
It wasn’t that it was no different…?
“Well, yes, Teacher?”
“Tell me every location where you were struck.”
“Pardon?”
“Starting today, those bastards won’t have those parts anymore.”
“Huh?”
That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but…
“It’s fine, Teacher. Those bastards probably won’t last long anyway, right?”
I pointed toward the assassins still writhing on the ground.
They were the ones who had tried to kill a three-year-old child.
I felt no pity for them.
If it weren’t for Bellus, I would be the one dead.
‘Those bastards would’ve just spat on my corpse.’
Baian and the Orca Family Older Brother’s subordinates had dirty personalities, just like their masters.
“They seem to be dying soon anyway.”
“Why would we grant them a merciful death?”
“There’s no reason, is there?”
The moment my words ended, the fallen bodies were engulfed by streams of water.
They vanished into the depths of the forest, and Father, holding me, watched the forest for a moment.
“Krraaaagh!”
“Ugh! Aaaaagh!”
“Gasp, p-please, kragh ugh! Aaaaagh!!”
As screams echoed out, I frowned briefly, but soon even the voices disappeared.
When the water stream finally returned to Father, it was empty.
Father remained expressionless until everything was finished.
“It’s done. Let’s go back.”
But the arms holding me tightened with more force than usual.
“Um, Teacher. Wouldn’t it have been better to leave one of them alive?”
“Why?”
“Well, I knocked one out to use as a witness, but…”
Father’s water stream carried that one away into the forest as well.
“There’s no need. The identity of whoever sent them will be obvious. Finding them won’t be difficult either.”
Obvious was certainly true, but how did he plan to find them?
Anyone could tell this was the dirty strategy of my Orca Family Older Brother Rodesen, but to prove it, I should have kept one of them alive.
“I’ll figure it out by taking them down one by one.”
“Huh?”
In that moment, I realized that this father of mine, despite his quiet demeanor all this time, was indeed an orca.
His gaze, no longer merely fierce but coldly exposed, revealed a depth of madness and murderous intent so profound it was suffocating.
‘Well, yes. He said he’d take revenge for me instead. That should be fine.’
I was about to say something, but sensing his expression was far from normal, I chose silence instead.
* * *
That evening.
Calypso sat before a crackling campfire.
Her plump, small legs swung back and forth with vigor.
Her shadow danced gently in rhythm with her legs.
It was a movement like a whale dancing with its tail.
Pierre leaned against the carriage, staring intently at Calypso.
“The traces?”
He asked the knight standing by without looking. The knight bowed his head.
“Yes, Pierre. All handled. Have no concerns.”
The size of the party heading to the Dragon’s Festival was remarkably small.
“No one will be able to discover anything.”
This was because both Pierre and Calypso disliked crowds and the inconvenience of large numbers.
If Calypso had wished to travel with a large retinue as most noble beastkin did, Pierre would have been willing to indulge her once.
But.
Calypso had never made such a request.
After the truth of her deception was revealed, the only favor this small daughter had ever asked was.
“Can you take me to the Dragon’s Festival?”
That was all.
“The smell of blood?”
“All handled. Even beastkin won’t catch the scent and will simply pass by.”
“….”
“I assure you, those creatures will never return to the sea, Pierre.”
Aquatic creatures were thought to return to rivers or the sea when they died, so they were always buried in water.
When that was difficult, they would bury them in earth and then sprinkle water over them.
“When we return, we will all testify before the Matriarch.”
It was their shared funeral rite.
To that extent, not being buried in water was considered a disgrace.
The knights who had come with the current party all followed Pierre.
If they had anything in common, it was that their eyes all gleamed with blind loyalty and reverence.
It was worship directed toward the strong.
“I will testify as well, Pierre.”
“That’s enough.”
Pierre answered quietly.
“There’s no need to go to trial. I’ll handle the punishment myself.”
“….”
The knights giving their report instinctively hunched their shoulders, seized by an icy dread.
The sight of water rippling around Pierre was wondrous beyond measure, yet they could not fully appreciate it.
A killing intent pierced them like arrows.
Though clearly not directed at them, it was formidable nonetheless.
‘Ah, if only I weren’t sick….’
One knight muttered inwardly and squeezed his eyes shut.
Meanwhile, having finished what he needed to say, Pierre glanced quietly toward where Calypso was.
Soon his handsome brow furrowed slightly.
“…Legs.”
“Pardon?”
The knight asked for clarification, but received no answer.
When the knight cautiously turned his head to look, Calypso was hopping about near the fire.
In Calypso’s hand was a peculiar blue-green snake with horns, but since they disliked land creatures—or rather, paid them no mind—they took no particular interest.
‘Land animals certainly come in all sorts of strange shapes.’
That was all they thought.
Aside from that snake, it was an ordinary scene.
As a knight, he could not fathom what had caused Pierre’s brow to furrow.
Thus the two knights bowed their heads and withdrew.
Just as Pierre, alone in the shadows, fell into deep silence, a presence approached.
“Pierre.”
Pierre glanced sideways.
There stood Bellus, impeccably composed.
“What is it?”
“I believe I can answer what you were wondering about.”
The hair covering his forehead swayed gently in the approaching breeze.
“I know which part of Calypso Aquasiadel the dead assassins struck.”
Just moments ago, Pierre had persistently asked Calypso where she had been hit, but she had responded with a look that asked why he was making such a fuss.
“They’re all dead anyway, so what does it matter?”
Indeed, they were dead.
So why wouldn’t his irritation subside? Pierre remained quietly silent.
“And I’ve also discovered decisive evidence symbolizing the assassins’ identity. I’ll provide that as well.”
“What do you want?”
For a conversation between father and son, it was remarkably bleak and businesslike.
Yet neither of them found it strange.
Had Calypso witnessed it, she would have thought their resemblance made the situation seem perfectly natural.
“Three times.”
Bellus calmly held up three fingers.
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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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