Chapter 12
Fold the clothes into the closet, put the bulky tools and equipment into that large box—I had heard several instructions, but I hadn’t heard how to handle something like this.
Still, I couldn’t just throw it away on my own, could I?
The moment Master Alfonso turned his head and stared at the handkerchief, I saw a subtly grimacing expression on my father’s face for the first time.
“Throw it away.”
His tone was firm.
But ironically, his voice carried more complex emotions than at any other time I had heard it.
‘I’d bet my four lives that if I throw this away, something will go wrong!’
I am a Killer Whale who is quite quick-witted for a Killer Whale.
It’s all thanks to the years I’ve spent surviving by reading the room.
“Alright. I’ll throw it away.”
However, Master Alfonso’s eyes were so resolute that it felt like trouble would brew even if I didn’t throw it away right now!
So, I casually approached the trash disposal area, pretending to throw it away…… and took advantage of the moment he turned his back to quickly tuck it into my pocket.
When I looked back, Master Alfonso had already turned his gaze away from me.
As I resumed organizing the items, I asked offhandedly.
“What was that handkerchief just now? Is it not yours, Master?”
“……Correct.”
I expected him not to answer, dismissed as useless chatter, or to give me a scolding, but surprisingly, a straightforward answer came back.
I flinched while lifting a giant hammer, which I had no idea why it was even in this room.
‘Ah, that startled me. I almost dropped it and crushed my foot.’
I blinked cutely while still holding the hammer.
“Then whose is it?”
“It is my wife’s item.”
This time, I really almost dropped the hammer……!
‘Whoa, that was a surprise. He didn’t even use a turn signal before entering that topic.’
To think it was Mom’s item.
It was an unexpected story.
I don’t know why he answered so readily, but I felt glad I hadn’t thrown it away.
‘I don’t know what kind of history is behind it for him to tell me to throw it away in that voice, though…….’
Despite living repeated lives, all I knew about the mother who gave birth to me was, naturally, that she was a beastman.
And that she was a person of good character.
Those were the only two facts.
‘Because no one ever told me.’
Even in the previous timeline, when my brothers became my subordinates, I never heard anything.
Perhaps it was because I had been standing there too blankly, lost in thought.
“It seems the work was too easy for you.”
“Uh, huh?”
I had to pay a steep price for that.
I watched as water manifested in the air and buoyed up the tool box.
“Gauging the disciple’s level is also the duty of a master.”
And then, everything inside it came crashing down!
“Organize it.”
……Ugh, this damn father!
Before I knew it, I had forgotten my mother’s handkerchief and was cursing inwardly as I diligently organized the tools.
‘No, seriously, why are there so many giant hammers in one room!’
Still, I suppose it wasn’t entirely unhelpful.
As I did it, I felt like I was gaining the knack for moving heavy things.
‘It seems it wasn’t a lie that you gain more skill the more diversely you use the power of water.’
I certainly felt my strength becoming greater and my movements more agile than when I was just running or repeating squats.
However, because of that damn father who kept flipping things over using all sorts of excuses after that, I had to spend most of the day busy in Master Alfonso’s room.
Thus, I did not see it.
That Master Alfonso was now looking at me instead of the window,
Or that he wore a smile that was barely, just barely, visible on his lips.
* * *
‘Ugh, my poor joints…….’
The next morning.
Just like yesterday, I took the carriage with an attendant and went to the educational institution.
And I did not forget to report my situation before heading in.
“You mean…… you are entering the 8-year-old class, and the Alpha Class at that?”
“Yes.”
The attendant with me was also Grandmother’s closest aide.
This story would surely reach Grandmother’s ears.
‘Actually, the report might have already gone in as of yesterday?’
It wasn’t just skipping a grade, I skipped straight to the highest-level class.
Moreover, it was possible because Laila, the head of the primary educational institution, had permitted it.
In other words, it meant I had received Laila’s recognition.
For those who knew how strict a person she was, this would be news they could never ignore.
This would be the same for Grandmother.
‘I told you to just wait and see, you old lady.’
But this was only the beginning.
I treated the attendant with a beaming smile.
“Also, I have one request……”
The attendant, who was still unable to hide their admiration for my articulate speech, nodded quickly.
The attendant tilted their head after hearing my request.
“……Since you say you will not move your residence, I understand. I will take note of that and report it to the higher-ups first.”
Normally, I would have planned to move to the main castle around this time, but I judged that if I did that, visiting Master Alfonso would become difficult or impossible.
I don’t like my current shabby room, but it can’t be helped.
‘Besides, the new arrival, Misa, seems to be good at cleaning.’
Speaking of cleaning…….
‘Maybe I should ask Misa for some cleaning tips.’
Yesterday, I didn’t just clean Master Alfonso’s room.
After several rounds of repetition, I finally finished organizing all the items, but then, heavens, didn’t he take me to another room and make me sweep the dust there!
“Next is laundry.”
I almost fainted when I heard those words as we parted.
‘I seriously considered not going today.’
Thanks to that, at age 3, I learned sooner than expected what fatigue from labor feels like.
‘Come to think of it, isn’t this happening because I keep doing a good job whenever he tells me to do something……?’
Should I have slacked off a bit more?! But then I feel like he’d kick me out.
I finally approached the neighborhood of the truth, then erased my thoughts in front of the person I faced.
“Good morning, Young Lady.”
“Laila.”
Laila bowed her head gracefully.
Her appearance with her glasses on was as strict as ever today.
“Let us go. I will personally guide you to the class you will be entering, just like yesterday.”
She seemed subtly more polite than yesterday.
Since she wasn’t a person who easily knelt before power, perhaps the story about Master Alfonso I mentioned yesterday was impressive?
Since any Killer Whale would admire my father and his mighty power.
“You have become very famous in just a single day.”
“Huh? Me?”
Laila said this while we were walking after parting with the attendant.
It was a statement that made me tilt my head naturally.
‘All I did yesterday was put away tools and sweep dust over and over again……. Um, there was nothing but labor……?’
My eyes are tearing up from the thick fog of labor.
I erased yesterday’s memories and looked at Laila.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t guess the reason why she was saying this.
‘Because it was only yesterday that I talked about Dad in front of Laila.’
Yesterday, I showed off my linguistic abilities and, without stopping there, dragged Dad into it to pull off my “rumor game” tactic.
If I keep spreading the rumor, it will become the truth someday…….
‘Anyway, since he took me as a disciple, it’s not a false statement, is it? We have become closer.’
If I search my memories, Master Alfonso never had anyone close to him until he died.
So, I don’t know the reason either, but I should consider it impressive just to be in the position of a disciple right now.
Moreover, Laila wasn’t the only one in the spot where I was yesterday.
The infant class teachers, who were making a fuss in silence, were also there.
I thought their expressions and fuss were unusual.
I guess the rumors have spread quite a bit?
“It seems the word has spread to at least sixteen branch families of the Killer Whale.”
“Cough, cough……!!”
At the following words, I didn’t just stumble; I couldn’t hide my dry cough.
‘W-what?’
Originally, Killer Whales are not creatures that form large herds.
To be precise, they are animals that form pods centered around family, and usually, the leader of the pod is the strongest grandmother Killer Whale.
Furthermore, even if they are of the same species, different pods are not very friendly with one another.
We beastmen inherited these Killer Whale traits exactly.
The leader of the Killer Whales.
In other words, the family led by my grandmother became the representative family and the direct line.
And other Killer Whale pods claimed to be branch families or independent vassal families.
Accordingly, these branch or vassal families also used to have their own pod leaders.
‘From what I know, there were about 32 families including the vassals……?’
Just as I didn’t call our family a gang for no reason.
Each individual is on the strong side, but a group that is even more like gangsters by forming pods—that was us, the Killer Whale beastmen.
‘No, but more than half of them already know my story? And about what happened just yesterday?’
At this point, the security was at a level where I wondered how the secrets or classified information of the primary educational institution were even maintained.
Perhaps because the shock was too clearly revealed on my face, Laila gave a small dry cough.
“The teachers who were together yesterday…… each have a bit of a mouth.”
“No, just how loose are their mouths for it to spread like this?”
“I heard that one side’s father is a Flying Fish beastman.”
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