Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 78

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

Chapter 78
“Let’s pretend you didn’t say that. I’ve only recently come to realize it….”
Father stared at me intently, then reached over and pinched my cheek.
It didn’t hurt, but as my cheek stretched out, the serious atmosphere suddenly crumbled away.
“You need to be more childlike.”
“What?”
“I admit it. I probably wasn’t as capable as you at three years old. I’m aware that geniuses tend to mature early. In such cases, alongside education tailored to their level, they should also be exposed to what their peers enjoy.”
…What are you talking about?
As Father continued speaking, questions flooded my mind, and I found myself looking around his surroundings.
Since entering this room, I’d been consumed with the thought of getting to the main point, so I hadn’t examined my surroundings at all.
‘A book?’
Near Father’s legs lay a book, turned upside down as if he’d been reading it.
Upon reading the title, I was seized by an indescribable feeling.
「How to Raise Your Child Properly」
I blinked.
An honest—a very honest—impression burst out of me.
“That doesn’t suit you.”
Pierre reading a parenting manual? No one would believe it if I told them.
And I’m not a genius—I’m just someone who’s regressed.
I’m sorry, but learning to grow up properly became impossible long ago.
“After neglecting me all this time, do you really think reading books like that will make you a good parent?”
“Perhaps not. But what’s wrong with making an effort? Did you think I wouldn’t even try?”
“Yes.”
“…I’m receiving quite the poor evaluation.”
“If you cared, you should have seen me as a three-year-old from the beginning. What changes now by seeing me differently?”
I wish you’d cared from my first life.
What difference does effort make now?
I had firmly decided to go home. This change won’t sway my resolve.
Father stretched out both arms and lifted me up, examining me from different angles.
“Is it from the long journey? Your expression looks off today. Are you unwell?”
“I take after you—I’m annoyingly sturdy. A journey like this won’t tire or hurt me. Didn’t you see me beat up that fox at the restaurant earlier?”
Father chuckled softly.
“Yes, it was quite satisfying.”
“….”
I admit it.
If we’d become like this just a little sooner, I might have thought differently.
Or at least, if I’d lived until ten years old like this, perhaps I’d think otherwise.
‘I arrived at the City of Dragons too quickly.’
What he did was for my sake, but it became the reason we can’t be together.
With the path home right before my eyes, why would I give up now?
‘But that expression I glimpsed just moments ago was far from ordinary…?’
Somehow, it felt like if I simply stayed here and told him to leave, something catastrophic would unfold.
I needed to be careful.
After a brief moment of deliberation, I reached a simple conclusion.
For now, I would pretend not to know.
Things would work themselves out somehow.
This wasn’t resignation or mere procrastination.
‘I haven’t met the Dragon Duke yet.’
Everything could be decided with certainty after meeting the Dragon Duke.
Still, like someone clinging to lingering attachments, I stared intently at Father.
“…Teacher, be good to me.”
Even as I said this, I was an orca.
An orca understands orca obsession better than anyone.
If you had cherished me from the very beginning as my father.
You wouldn’t have died from illness.
I might not have let you die no matter how much you suffered from sickness, do you understand?
This present is better for us instead.
“Yes. From now on, I’ll contemplate how to do better each day.”
I didn’t respond.
I quietly let pass the fact that this embrace was warm.
* * *
That night.
When the night had grown very deep, I opened my eyes with a snap.
In truth, rather than sleeping, I had simply waited for time to pass with eyes wide open.
‘I’m glad I took that afternoon nap.’
After that strange and awkward conversation with Father, I returned to my room and lay down immediately.
Thinking about it seemed only to complicate my feelings, so I forced myself to sleep.
“My goodness, our Noble Lady must be quite exhausted.”
“Indeed, I saw her nodding off repeatedly! How adorable…!”
I woke briefly to the voices of the Herring Maids calling me to dinner around evening and ate a meal.
For some reason, Bellus also came out and joined us for the meal.
For some reason, I found it difficult to meet Father’s gaze, so I focused solely on eating.
My conversation naturally fell to the Herring Maids and Misa, who had just returned from playing outside.
“Was the City of Dragons worth seeing?”
“Yes! It certainly had a different feel from our territory!”
“Right, the festival eve celebration had already begun, so it was fun.”
“No one picked a fight with you?”
“No, we didn’t encounter any because we wore robes. There were quite a lot of people in the market dressed as heavily covered as us!”
The Herring Maids and Misa appeared lively and vibrant.
Especially watching Misa, who was usually the most composed, explain things with her cheeks flushed a rosy pink.
I suppose I was just glad that even though I couldn’t go, at least you all got to enjoy the festival.
After the meal ended, I lay down pretending to sleep, and that’s when it began.
‘Though I wasn’t actually just lying there.’
The moment the meal finished, I began retrieving the items I’d asked the handmaidens to prepare beforehand, one by one.
One was a child-sized dagger, and a belt I could wear around my waist.
I casually mentioned that I wanted to try wearing a baby’s robe too, so I had them leave it behind.
‘While I was lying there, I made sure to ask Tus in detail about the geography of this place.’
-Calypso, are you ready?
Just as I was putting on the robe, Tus was already prepared. Well, there wasn’t much to prepare anyway—she was coiled tightly around my wrist.
-Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go.
I opened the window.
Though we were quite high up, I jumped without hesitation.
While falling, I grabbed a passing tree branch to slow my descent.
An ordinary person would have dislocated their arm, but for some reason, my body had become sturdy enough that such a movement posed no problem.
I landed silently on the ground in one smooth motion.
‘Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve moved like this.’
In my third playthrough, I challenged the Matriarch with absolutely nothing, so at first, I had to do everything myself.
That included keeping watch on my enemies’ movements.
I still vividly remembered those nights flying across rooftops.
-You said west, right?
-Yeah! You have to run for a really long time. Really long.
The advantage of conversing with a demi-human was that, like the “sound transmission” in martial arts novels, only we could hear each other.
-Alright, I get the distance roughly. Hold on tight—I’m going to run at full speed.
-Huh? Aaaahhhhh!
I discovered for the first time that snakes could scream.
About twenty minutes later.
Tus spoke in a whimpering voice.
-Calypso, faster. Faster! You’re going too fast!
-What are you fussing about? The Dragon Duke runs even faster than this, doesn’t he? He’s certainly not slower than me.
-The Dragon Duke… can’t run.
-Why?
-It’s too narrow to run.
It was a cryptic answer, but Tus wouldn’t elaborate no matter how much I asked.
Instead of asking further questions, I lifted my gaze.
I’d find out soon enough anyway.
We had arrived in front of the building Tus had mentioned.
‘This is… quite bewildering.’
I couldn’t hide my confusion as I stood before the building.
And for good reason.
‘Is this seriously a ghost castle? The Dragon Duke actually lives in a place like this?!’
What lay before my eyes was an extraordinarily desolate and ancient castle, crumbling into ruin.
Could this even be called a castle?
It would be no exaggeration to say it resembled the dilapidated mansion where a vampire from a classic film might dwell.
To be honest, the building where I lived at the Orca Family Estate looked positively refined by comparison.
The true reason for my bewilderment lay elsewhere.
The Dragon’s Castle where guests were housed was so magnificently ornate.
And the castle where the Dragon Duke supposedly lived, located right beside the one Bellus had mentioned, was extraordinarily grand.
‘…Not a single word of what I heard seems to be true.’
The mere fact that the Dragon Duke lived in such a place told me his circumstances were far from favorable.
I would learn the more precise and detailed reasons once I entered.
From him directly.
-How exactly do we enter from here?
-Calypso, you must be quiet.
Before I could even question Tus’s words, I quickly lowered my posture.
The bricks of the dilapidated building were pitch black.
Beneath the moonlight, they even gleamed with a faint blue luminescence, and from what appeared to be merely a wall, a figure suddenly emerged.
And I witnessed it clearly with my own eyes.
The newly appeared person’s skin and clothing were identical to that brick color, then gradually transformed back to human skin tone.

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