Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 79

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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 79
‘Lizard-type… No, a Chameleon beastkin?’
I knew them well.
They weren’t particularly formidable in combat, but their troublesome specialty had disrupted my forces during the war.
As you can see, their specialty was ‘camouflage’—they could hide in any environment.
It was a different ability from the concealment skill the Flounder beastkin I’d encountered before possessed.
Even among aquatic animal beastkin, there were those with the specialty of blending into their surroundings like this.
Such abilities were treated specially even among aquatic beastkin forces, and the land dwellers were no different.
‘If the land animals’ system hadn’t fundamentally changed…’
Chameleons were weak in combat, so they always moved in pairs of two.
And the partners of these lizard-type creatures were always carnivores.
“Haira, it’s quiet here.”
“Yeah, well, it’ll be quiet as always.”
A woman emerged with a casual gait.
Beige hair with black spots. Dirty dark fur scattered around her ears.
‘A Hyena?’
That woman was definitely a Hyena beastkin.
If she was a Hyena, she was among the top-tier predators of the land dwellers, and her house held considerable influence.
“Ugh, guard patrol duty? This isn’t even my rank, seriously.”
“Hahaha, all the predators who come here say the same thing…”
Yet such a beastkin was deployed merely to guard that dilapidated building?
-The beastkin watching the Dragon Duke is too strong. Meticulous.
Now I understood why Tus had said that.
If a Hyena-class was standing guard, most other beastkin wouldn’t even dare introduce themselves.
“So? Who came and left before me?”
I gestured to Tus to cover his mouth with my index finger, then focused on their conversation.
“Ah, they were from the Pantherion Duchy…”
“Huh? Wow, black panthers? They shouldn’t even have the rank for this. What kind of ordeal is this?”
Pantherion Duchy. At the mention of the original story’s protagonist house, I held my breath slightly.
That was close.
If they had been guarding, even I might have had difficulty entering right now.
“I really don’t understand what’s going on. We’re actually surveilling the Dragon Duke, whom we should respect?”
“Haira, your voice is too l-loud…!”
“What, you said no one’s around? I said it knowing that much. Or are you saying you’re dissatisfied with what I’m saying?”
“No! No!”
“Right? You’re all running circles because you’re Imperial troops. Damn, I want to go home and tear into some meat… I still have three days left, right? My shift? And this right before the festival.”
“Um, Haira, is the festival really not being held this year?”
“Look at this situation. Will the Dragon’s Festival even be held?”
“That’s true…”
“Who would have imagined it? The Imperial Court is confining the Dragon Duke, yet they’re decorating the castle as if nothing happened. How could anyone not notice?”
Tus, coiled around my arm, flinched and trembled so violently that my wrist went numb from the contact.
Was it fear, or rage?
I observed them in silence.
“You lot should keep your mouths shut too. The Imperial Court is using expensive personnel from our five Noble Houses just to make sure nothing leaks outside. Why else would the black panthers be standing guard? If you don’t want to be devoured, watch your tongues.”
“Y-yes! Of c-course!”
“Just endure a little longer. Things should improve once that one dies and is reborn.”
“R-really?”
“My Mother, the Matriarch, made that prediction, so it must be true.”
“Th-thank you for the valuable information!”
“Mm.”
Soon their voices grew fainter and fainter.
They were moving away. Thus the two beastkin disappeared from sight.
I remained silent for a long while.
I had heard much, but could not comprehend it all at once.
-Tus, let’s go inside for now.
-….
-Tus?
I wrapped my trembling wrist in my other hand.
The smooth texture of Tus’s scales was vivid beneath my touch.
-We don’t have time, Tus. I need to account for getting you settled and making it back. Can you calm down just a little?
Tus lifted his head.
Fortunately, he seemed to have returned to normal.
-Thank you, Calypso….
-It’s fine. I’m nothing special. Let’s just get inside now.
I wanted to ask Tus about what we had just heard, but now was not the time.
-You said there wouldn’t be any guards once we’re inside, right?
-Right! The outer perimeter is the toughest. Getting in is the hard part!
Though they seemed far enough away, the building was not large, so they would return soon.
I had to slip inside the building in the short time we had.
Fortunately, entering the building proved not difficult.
Well, it would have been extremely difficult for any other beastkin.
One would have to evade the keen eyes of the Hyena, a apex predator, and simultaneously slip quietly into a building whose windows were not merely locked but nailed shut.
But those conditions did not apply to me.
-There are gaps everywhere here….
-Yeah! Tus came out through here.
It was fortunate.
The building was so dilapidated that the bricks had crumbled in places, and among them was a gap large enough for me to slip through.
Being smaller than my peers proved advantageous.
As I barely made it inside the Castle, a massive corridor stretched before us in greeting.
‘Wow, this place is ridiculously enormous too.’
When I saw the castle where the guest was staying, I felt it then too, but this place was equally dilapidated—yet the ceiling was remarkably high, confirming this was indeed the Dragon Duke’s Castle.
I heard that the dragon who became the Empire’s guardian deity a thousand years ago was enormous, so all the castles were built proportionally massive to accommodate it.
-Tus, pay closer attention from here on!
-Right, this is your private chamber, isn’t it? I’ll need you to show me the way.
Though Tus had already told me, the corridor was truly empty of anyone.
No guards, no sentries. Not even a single retainer or maid wandering about.
‘I’d believe it if someone said this place was completely vacant. Why do they guard the exterior so meticulously while the interior is this poorly secured?’
Based on the conversation from moments ago, they were definitely monitoring the Dragon Duke.
But if it were like this, couldn’t the Dragon Duke escape from somewhere inside the castle?
The sentries seemed not to have considered that far, which struck me as odd.
-Tus, what exactly happened to the Dragon Duke? Why do these land animals, who should worship him, treat him with such contempt?
-…Tus wasn’t born long ago, so I don’t know much. But from the moment I opened my eyes, they were there. The beasts.
It was the moment I was about to ask Tus something more.
Tap, tap, tap.
Footsteps echoed from the opposite direction, and I quickly hid myself among the decorations.
Fortunately, the corridor was filled with suits of armor, and concealing myself in the darkness was not difficult.
‘A maid?’
The person I spotted from my hiding place was a maid with an extremely gentle appearance.
In one hand, she carried what appeared to be the Dragon Duke’s meal.
‘Isn’t it too late for a meal?’
However, there was something strange—her expression was gripped by excessive terror, and her hands trembled violently.
It was remarkable that she hadn’t spilled the food despite carrying it in such a state.
-Tus, do you know that maid?
-…Yes! That direction leads to the Dragon Duke’s chamber.
Tus informed me that the maid was heading toward the Dragon Duke’s chamber.
Then I simply needed to follow her.
I quietly concealed my presence and trailed behind the maid.
“Ah, why me? Why always me…! Ugh, I’m scared, I hate this. I don’t want to go…. Mother….”
The maid muttered incessantly like someone in a panic, arriving before a single door.
It was an enormous door.
‘Is that the Dragon Duke’s chamber? It’s incredibly massive.’
Though the building was dilapidated, the size of that door alone was magnificent.
The maid standing before it was a mouse, as evidenced by the tail protruding from beneath her skirt.
When a beastkin is gripped by extreme terror, the animal aspects sometimes manifest like this, and she appeared to be in that state.
‘But why?’
Soon the maid grasped a cord beside the door and pulled it.
Ding-ding-ding, a clear bell sound attached to the cord rang out. The moment I thought it was quite a pleasant sound.
KYAAAAAAAA!!
At the enormous roar, I quickly covered my ears.
Ugh, what is this?
‘Pear? It’s similar to the Pear that uses the power of water, isn’t it? No, it’s an even more colossal force….’
Then, with the sharp sound of dishes shattering, I saw the maid screaming in panic and fleeing.
Even I felt a momentary vertigo, so it was only natural that the mouse-like maid would be terrified out of her wits.
It was a force that no lower-tier prey could endure.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As massive footsteps followed, even Amura couldn’t help but tense.
‘Based on the conversation between the Chameleon and the Hyena earlier, the Imperial Court ordered the Dragon Duke’s surveillance and confinement. If that’s the case, the Imperial Court must have had its own compelling reasons for doing so….’
The first thing that came to mind was undoubtedly ‘rampage.’

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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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