Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 71

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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 71
“Gasp, Noble Lady…!”
Ah, that voice only reaches my ears. It must look like I’m talking to myself.
I heard Misa’s words but brushed past them, raising my eyebrows.
“Did you hog the entire lake to yourself?”
-No…! I was trying to stop!
“Then come down. I don’t want to create a nightmare where you ruined an entire lake because of you.”
-Ugh…
The snake slithered over and plopped down onto my hand.
Its golden eyes seemed to dart around nervously.
-Did I make a mistake? Did I do something wrong?
At the childlike tone, I let out a small sigh.
“Fortunately, you stopped just before making a mistake. You don’t need to drink any more water?”
-Yeah. I don’t need to. I can go about three months without water now!
“Well, that’s fortunate.”
I looked directly at the snake coiled around my arm like a bracelet and asked what I’d been wanting to know all this time.
“No matter how I look at it, you don’t seem like an ordinary snake. What exactly are you?”
Despite the innocent tone, there was something extraordinary about it.
I tensed, waiting for an answer.
An existence I didn’t know, despite having regressed three times and being confident I knew all the original content.
In this world, there was only one existence I didn’t know well.
-My name is Tus! I am the retainer of the great Dragon Duke!
Yes, that existence was in the place I was heading toward so eagerly right now.
Only the Dragon Duke.
* * *
I arrived at the City of Dragons.
Or rather, I was scheduled to arrive in about thirty minutes.
Looking out the window, I couldn’t hide my grinning expression.
‘My goodness, what a windfall this is.’
On my shoulder was a coiled baby snake—or rather, ‘Tus’.
‘Not just a windfall, but a massive one. Yes, luck has come rolling in with vines attached.’
The baby snake had revealed its identity two days ago.
Two days had passed since the day it had sucked up the lake water.
“Are you that pleased?”
“Hm?”
When I lifted my head, Father seemed to be looking at me with slight curiosity.
I became aware of the corners of my mouth curving upward in a grin.
“Yeah. I’m so excited.”
I didn’t want to show it, but I couldn’t help it.
‘Because it’s the retainer of the Dragon Duke, after all!’
I had already been pondering how to become deeply entangled with the Dragon Duke once I arrived at Dragon’s Castle.
The problem was that as the city drew closer, I still hadn’t thought of a solution.
‘And then this tiny snake appeared. Perfect.’
I recalled the conversation I’d had with Tus, the small blue serpent with horns.
I traced back through time to relive that moment.
It was when I returned to the campfire from the lake.
“What exactly is a familiar?”
As I’d said, I understood not only the characters from the original work but also most of the major families and figures of land-dwelling beastfolk through the war. Of course, I was equally well-versed in aquatic beastfolk.
However, the one existence I knew virtually nothing about was the Dragon Duke himself.
So the word “familiar” felt unfamiliar to me.
-A familiar!
The baby serpent’s explanation went like this.
-The Dragon Duke took his power and made this body!
It seemed the Dragon Duke could detach his own power to create subordinates like this.
When I asked if there were others, he said no—only Tus existed.
Moreover, a familiar and master shared a special bond; the familiar was absolutely loyal while the master was responsible for the familiar’s life.
-The Dragon Duke cherishes me!
Then a question arose.
‘If their bond was so extraordinary and precious, why was this familiar serpent languishing alone at this roadside?’
I accepted the concept of a familiar as something like family or a most cherished subordinate.
Then naturally, he should be at his master’s side.
Besides, the place where I found Tus was a forest quite distant from the City of Dragons.
Considering how he was languishing that evening, if I hadn’t met him, he would have certainly died.
When I pointed this out, Tus drooped.
-That’s right, I left the Dragon Duke… I’m bad.
From the way he wouldn’t answer further when I asked what happened, there was clearly a story behind it.
Though I was desperately curious about that story, I kept my mouth shut, so this was all I’d learned so far.
-Your name is Calypso? You’re my savior. Thank you!
The situation wasn’t bad at all.
‘He recognized me as someone to be deeply grateful to.’
When I mentioned we were heading to the City of Dragons, his expression brightened.
“Will you take me to Dragon’s Castle?”
-Yes! Calypso, thank you!
Well, I should be the one thanking you.
Though one could argue it was one-sided help.
Because now I had an excuse to meet the Dragon Duke privately.
‘When I bring him back, the Dragon Duke will surely be pleased, and I can use that as leverage to extract information or build rapport.’
How could my mood not be excellent in such circumstances?
Returning to the present, I hummed a cheerful tune.
‘Things have been going smoothly since we set out.’
I could even think of nearly regressing again when I let my guard down against the assassins’ attack as fortunate—a necessary step to meet Tus.
Had I been humming too loudly?
Even Bellus, who had been quietly reading until now, shifted his gaze toward me.
“What is it? Why? Did I bother you?”
“Not really.”
Bellus wore a peculiar expression.
“…Where did you hear that song?”
“Huh? Oh, someone I knew taught it to me a long time ago.”
What song had I been singing?
Ah, it was the song I had learned from Suha in the previous cycle.
Suha, who always sang whenever he was in a good mood.
The problem was that he was someone who never had an unhappy day, so he sang constantly, and I naturally picked it up.
“Life is joyful, Matriarch!”
I ended up humming it naturally, and my three older brothers would occasionally glance at me as if tired of it.
Remembering those times, I smiled slightly.
“If I was being loud, I apologize. I’ll be quiet.”
After receiving Bellus’s help, I tried to accommodate his requests as much as possible during the journey.
At that, Bellus frowned and lowered his head again.
‘What’s with that expression even when I’m trying to accommodate him?’
But my mood quickly brightened again, so I soon forgot about that face.
“Teacher, when we go to the City of Dragons, there will be plenty of land-dwelling beastfolk, right?”
“Yes, though it’s called a festival of beastfolk, you could say it’s a festival lacking aquatic creatures.”
Father pondered for a moment before continuing.
“From what I learned before departure, the Imperial Palace doesn’t arrive at the city until the final day of the festival.”
“Really? They don’t normally do that?”
“Usually not.”
The Imperial Palace typically arrives mid-festival and stays until the final day before leaving.
“It seems the Pantherion Duchy gives the opening ceremony speech on the first day of the festival in place of the Imperial Palace.”
At the suddenly mentioned family name, I froze in place.
“…Ah, really? They’re coming?”
That wasn’t awkward, was it? I was startled.
The Pantherion Duchy.
The place where the original heroine was, and a black panther beastfolk family.
“Disappear.”
“The fact that a woman like you is my fiancée is something I find utterly repulsive.”
And it was also the family I had been sold to for an engagement in the previous cycle.
That was a transaction. The Orca Family Matriarch must have sent me here to profit from the family’s interests.
No matter how many times I regressed, it was a name I could never grow accustomed to.
I exhaled slowly.
‘I was startled. Just thinking of their faces makes my skin crawl.’
Ah, of course it’s not out of fear or dread, nor is it concern.
It’s purely out of anger.
That pure hatred—the moment I see those bastards’ faces again, I’ll flip them over?
The Pantherion Duchy was where the original work’s protagonists resided, and it was a place that wielded power second only to the imperial family in this Empire.
As the name suggests, it’s a strong and magnificent beastman clan, but they’re not the type to back it up with character.
To be precise, it’s a household that becomes doting older brothers and father fools only toward the protagonist.
As always, the law of this childcare fantasy world is protagonist-centric.
“The castle gate.”
Soon after, a massive castle gate appeared.
Ekina, the City of Dragons, said to have been built by a dragon himself a thousand years ago.
The walls here were enormous in size and magnificent, as if touching the heavens.
‘Wow, even in the previous rounds I never got to visit this place, and now I’m finally here.’
I found myself lost in a fresh sense of wonder.
I could see the Lord’s Castle of this city in the distance.
-The castle, Calypso! The castle!
“Yeah, yeah, it’s a castle. And it’s Calypso, not Calimso.”
-Yes! Take me to the manor quickly. I need to go to her!
Well, this is good news.
He’s asking me to take him quickly, which means I’ll get to see the Dragon Duke sooner too, right?
“Okay, wait. We’re going into that castle.”
Bellus and Father knew that only I could understand Tus’s words, so they didn’t mind even when I spoke to myself.
-I need to go to her. She must be lonely….
Tus spoke dejectedly.
His small head drooped down.
“Does a dragon even feel loneliness?”
-Of course I do!
“I see.”
Well, the name Dragon Duke gives off such a solitary and noble atmosphere that I wouldn’t have thought otherwise.
If I hadn’t witnessed his rampage in the previous round, I’d still think that way now.
“But your master is a dragon—why are you a snake?”

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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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