Black Killer Whale Baby [EN]: Chapter 68

The murderous intent vanished in an instant.

Bellus wore an incredulous expression.

“You keep pets too?”

“Would I?”

Even as I answered, I realized that the tension from just a moment ago had faded.

‘The murderous intent is gone. Has he given up on killing me now?’

What I felt from Bellus was definitely murderous intent.

A momentary feeling, but a clear one.

Really, these brothers of mine are the type you can never let your guard down around.

“Why would a whale keep a snake in the first place?”

“Maybe to eat as a snack.”

“I don’t eat them. I told you, I don’t.”

“Some whales do eat them, though, right?”

I was dumbfounded.

“Who on earth is eating snakes?”

As I said this, my hand started vibrating on its own.

I looked at the snake trembling in my arms with disbelief.

“Hey, I’m not going to eat you. Calm down.”

I sighed deeply and then raised my head.

I abruptly held out a hand.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean, ‘what am I doing?’ Just grab it.”

“…….”

I grinned.

“Dad’s coming, you feel him too, right? He’ll be here soon. Quickly, take my hand and score some points.”

“Why would I try to score points with Pierre Aquasialdel?”

“Then are you just going to keep picking fights while we go? If so, you shouldn’t have gotten in the same carriage.”

“It was Grandmother’s order.”

“I’ll take the punishment for switching carriages, so go to another one. Deal? What’s it going to be? You said you were interested in me, so if that’s true, compromise. I don’t want to ride in this boring, silent carriage anymore.”

Bellus was the most rational and reasonable of the three brothers.

Soon, he grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

At the same time, Dad appeared before my eyes.

Watching him approach, I muttered softly.

“Thanks for the help.”

“…….”

“You could have just let me die, right?”

He squeezed my hand tightly and then let go.

“It might be surprising, but I don’t dislike you. I just think you’re annoying.”

Not long after he let go, my body floated into the air.

Hands dug under my armpits.

Um? I blinked.

“Calypso Aquasialdel.”

“Y-Yes……?”

Wow, I was scared.

An ominous haze seemed to be floating around Dad.

“Did those things attack you?”

His facial expression certainly didn’t seem any different from usual, but…….

No.

Wasn’t it different……?

“They did, but, um, Master?”

“Describe in detail the parts of your body that were struck.”

“Huh?”

“Those parts will cease to exist for those guys, starting today.”

“Uh-huh?”

That’s not bad, but…….

“It’s okay, Master. I don’t think those guys will live much longer anyway, right?”

I pointed to the assassins who were still twitching.

They were the ones who tried to murder a three-year-old child.

I didn’t feel sorry for them.

If it hadn’t been for Bellus, I would have been the one dying.

‘Those guys would have spat on my corpse.’

Baiyan and my granduncle’s subordinates were just as nasty as their masters.

“They look like they’ll die soon.”

“Is there any reason to grant them a comfortable death?”

“There isn’t, right?”

No sooner had I said that than the bodies of the fallen men were engulfed in streams of water.

They disappeared into the middle of the forest, and Dad stood there holding me, watching the forest for a moment.

“Kuaaaaack!”

“Ack! Aaaaaack!”

“Huk, pl, please, keuak ack! Aaaaack!!”

I frowned slightly at the sounds that followed, but soon even the voices disappeared.

When the streams of water finally returned to Dad, they were empty.

Dad was expressionless until everything was over.

“It’s over, let’s go back.”

But the arm that held me was tighter than usual.

“Um, Master. Wouldn’t it have been better to leave one of them alive?”

“Why?”

“Well, I knocked one of them out to use as a witness…….”

Dad’s stream of water had taken even that one into the forest.

“There’s no need. The identity of the person who sent them is obvious. It won’t be hard to find them.”

It was obvious, but how was he going to find them?

It was clearly a dirty tactic used by my granduncle, Lodesen, but to prove it, we should have kept one alive.

“We’ll just take them down one by one until they show themselves.”

“Uh-huh?”

In that moment, I thought that this Dad, who had been quiet all along, was indeed an Orca [a type of whale known for its intelligence and hunting prowess].

The fierce, almost cold gaze revealed a deep and profound madness and murderous intent that made it impossible to move.

‘Um, well, he’s avenging me, so it’ll be okay.’

I was about to say something, but his expression was so unusual that I chose to remain silent.

* * *

That evening.

Calypso was sitting in front of a crackling bonfire.

Her chubby little legs were swinging back and forth.

The shadows moved along with her legs.

It was like a whale dancing with its tail.

Pierre leaned against the carriage, staring intently at Calypso.

“The traces?”

He asked the knight who was standing by without looking at him. The knight bowed his head.

“Yes, Pierre-nim [a respectful title], everything has been taken care of. Please don’t worry.”

The number of people traveling to the Dragon Festival was surprisingly small.

“No one will be able to find anything.”

This was because both Pierre and Calypso disliked crowds and the inconvenience of large numbers of people.

If Calypso had wanted to travel with a large entourage, as most nobles did, Pierre would have been willing to consider it.

But.

Calypso had never asked.

After the fact that she had been acting was revealed, the first and last request that this tiny daughter made was.

“The Dragon Festival, can you take me there?”

That was all.

“The smell of blood?”

“Everything has been taken care of. Even the Suins [a race with heightened senses, particularly smell] won’t smell anything and will just pass by.”

“…….”

“I can assure you that those guys will never return to the sea, Pierre-nim.”

It was believed that aquatic animals returned to the river or sea when they died, so they were always buried in water.

When it was difficult to do so, they were buried in the ground and then watered.

“I will testify in front of the Lord when we return.”

It was their common funeral rite.

Not being buried in water was considered shameful.

The knights who came with the group were all followers of Pierre.

What they had in common was that they all had blind loyalty and respect in their eyes.

It was a worship of the strong.

“I will also testify, Pierre-nim.”

“That’s enough.”

Pierre answered quietly.

“There’s no need to go to trial. I’ll take care of the punishment myself.”

“…….”

The knights who were reporting instinctively cowered in the face of the chilling terror.

The sight of water swirling around Pierre was mysterious, but they couldn’t fully enjoy it.

Because the murderous intent pierced them like arrows.

Even though it was clearly not directed at them, it was overwhelming.

‘Ah, if it weren’t for his illness…….’

One of the knights muttered inwardly and closed his eyes tightly.

Meanwhile, Pierre, having finished speaking, stared intently at where Calypso was.

Soon, his handsome eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“……Legs.”

“Yes?”

The knight asked back, but there was no answer.

The knight glanced over and saw Calypso jumping near the fire.

In Calypso’s hands was a blue snake with horns, but they hated land animals and had no interest in them.

‘Land animals sure do have some strange-looking ones.’

That’s all they thought.

Except for that snake, it was an ordinary scene.

The knight couldn’t understand what had made Pierre frown.

As the two knights bowed their heads and retreated, Pierre was left alone in the shadows, sinking into deep silence, when a presence approached.

“Pierre-nim.”

Pierre glanced sideways.

There stood Bellus, neatly dressed.

“What is it?”

“I thought I could answer what you’re curious about.”

The hair covering his forehead fluttered in the blowing wind.

“I know which parts of Calypso Aquasialdel’s body the dead assassins struck.”

Until just now, Pierre had persistently asked Calypso where she had been hit, but Calypso had not answered, looking as if he was making a fuss.

“They’re all dead, what does it matter?”

That’s right, they’re dead.

Why couldn’t he feel relieved? Pierre quietly remained silent.

“And I also found a decisive piece of evidence that symbolizes the assassins’ identities, so I’ll give that to you as well.”

“What do you want?”

It was a truly bleak and businesslike conversation for a father and son.

Neither of them thought it was strange.

If Calypso had seen it, she would have thought that they looked alike, so it wasn’t strange.

“Three times.”

Bellus calmly held up three fingers.