TBODM 12

Chapter 12

I had been given plenty of instructions.

Clothes were to be folded and put in the wardrobe, large tools and equipment belonged in that enormous box, and so on.

But no one had told me what to do with this particular item.

And I couldn’t exactly throw it away without permission.

The moment Pierre turned his head and stared at the handkerchief, I saw a subtle frown on my father’s face for the first time.

“Throw it away.”

His tone was firm.

Ironically, though, his voice carried more complicated emotions than I had ever heard from him before.

‘I’ve lived four lives, and I know this is definitely something that’ll cause trouble if I throw it away!’

I was a perceptive orca.

I’d had plenty of practice reading the room after surviving all these years.

“Okay. I’ll throw it away.”

But Pierre’s eyes were so firm that it seemed like I’d get into trouble even if I didn’t throw it away right now!

So I casually walked over to the trash area and pretended to throw it away…

Then, while my back was turned, I quickly slipped it into my pocket.

When I looked back, Pierre had already turned his gaze away from me.

I went back to organizing the room and casually asked:

“What was that handkerchief just now? It wasn’t yours, Master?”

“……No.”

I had expected him to say it was unnecessary information or scold me for asking.

Instead, I received a surprisingly straightforward answer.

I had just lifted a huge hammer that seemed completely out of place in this room when I suddenly froze.

‘Whoa! That startled me. I almost dropped this on my foot.’

Holding the hammer, I blinked cutely.

“Then whose is it?”

“My wife’s.”

This time, I almost really dropped the hammer.

‘Whoa, that came out of nowhere.’

It belonged to my mother.

That was something I had never expected to hear.

I didn’t know why he had answered so readily, but I was glad I hadn’t actually thrown it away.

‘I have no idea what happened for him to tell me to throw it away in a voice like that, though…’

Despite living through repeated lives, there were only two things I knew about the mother who had given birth to me.

Naturally, she was a beastman.

And she was a good person.

Those were the only two facts I knew.

‘Because no one ever told me anything about her.’

Even in my previous life, when my older brothers became my subordinates, I never heard anything about her.

Perhaps I had been too lost in thought.

“You must have found the task too easy.”

“Huh? Wha—”

I had to pay the price for that immediately.

I watched as water appeared in midair and effortlessly lifted the toolbox.

“Determining the disciple’s level is also part of a master’s duties.”

Then everything inside the toolbox came tumbling out!

“Organize it.”

……Gah! This damn father!

Before I knew it, I had completely forgotten about my mother’s handkerchief and was cursing inwardly while busily sorting through the tools.

‘Seriously, why are there so many enormous hammers in this room?!’

Still, it wasn’t completely useless.

As I continued, I seemed to be developing a knack for moving heavy objects.

‘I guess it wasn’t a lie that the more varied ways you use the power of water, the more adept you become at handling it.’

I could definitely feel my strength and agility improving more than when I simply ran or repeatedly did squats.

However, thanks to my terrible father, who kept making up various excuses to dump more work on me, I ended up spending most of the day busily cleaning Pierre’s room.

Because of that, I didn’t notice.

I didn’t notice that at some point, Pierre had stopped looking out the window and was watching me instead.

Nor did I notice the faintest hint of a smile resting on his lips.

‘Ugh… my whole body hurts…’

The next morning.

Just like yesterday, I rode to the educational institution in a carriage with the servant.

And before arriving, I didn’t forget to report my situation.

“You’re entering the eight-year-old class… and the Alpha Class at that?”

“Yep.”

The servant accompanying me was also Grandmother’s closest aide.

Which meant this information would definitely reach Grandmother.

‘Actually, it might have already been reported yesterday.’

I hadn’t merely advanced to the next level.

I had jumped straight into the highest-ranking class.

And I had only been able to do that because Laila, the head of the basic educational institution, had approved it.

In other words, I had earned Laila’s recognition.

Anyone who knew how strict she was couldn’t possibly overlook such news.

Grandmother would be no exception.

‘I told you to wait and see, old hag.’

But this was only the beginning.

I smiled sweetly at the servant.

“And I have one request…”

The servant, who still couldn’t hide his amazement at how clearly I spoke, immediately nodded.

After hearing my request, he tilted his head.

“……You don’t wish to move residences? I understand. I’ll report that as your current preference to the higher authorities as well.”

Normally, I would have been expected to move to the main estate around this time.

But if I did, I judged that visiting Pierre would become difficult—or perhaps impossible.

I didn’t particularly like my current shabby room, but there was nothing I could do about it.

‘Besides, the new maid, Misa, seems to be good at cleaning.’

Speaking of cleaning…

‘Should I ask Misa for some cleaning tips?’

Yesterday, I hadn’t merely cleaned Pierre’s bedroom.

After finally putting everything away following countless laps, he had actually taken me to another room and made me sweep the dust there!

“Next time, laundry.”

I nearly fainted when he told me that as we parted.

‘I seriously considered not going today.’

Thanks to him, at the tender age of three, I had learned far sooner than expected what fatigue from hard labor felt like.

‘Come to think of it, isn’t all this happening because I keep doing everything he tells me to do so well…?’

Should I have slacked off a little more?!

But then he might kick me out!

I had finally gotten close to the truth when I wiped the thought from my mind at the sight of the person standing before me.

“Good morning, Your Highness.”

“Laila.”

Laila elegantly bowed her head.

With her glasses perched on her face, she looked as strict as ever.

“Please come with me. Just like yesterday, I’ll personally escort you to your new class.”

She seemed strangely more polite than yesterday.

She wasn’t someone who easily bowed to power, so perhaps what I had said about Pierre yesterday had made an impression on her.

After all, every orca would admire my father—and his overwhelming strength.

“You’ve become quite famous in just one day.”

“Hm? Me?”

Laila said this as we walked after parting from the servant.

I couldn’t help tilting my head.

‘All I did yesterday was organize tools, sweep dust, sweep some more… Hmm. All I did was work.’

The sheer amount of labor was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

I pushed yesterday’s memories aside and looked at Laila.

It wasn’t hard to guess why she was saying this.

‘I only mentioned Dad in front of Laila yesterday.’

Yesterday, I had shown off my language skills, and then I had gone a step further and dragged Dad into it, using the Seodongyo strategy.

If you spread a rumor long enough, eventually it becomes the truth…

‘Anyway, he did make me his disciple, so it’s not exactly a lie, right? We did become closer.’

As far as I could remember, Pierre had never been close to anyone until the day he died.

So even though I had no idea how it happened, I supposed I should consider the fact that I had become his disciple quite an achievement.

Besides, Laila hadn’t been the only one there yesterday.

The teachers from the nursery classes had also been present, silently making a huge fuss.

Their expressions and reactions had seemed far from ordinary.

Apparently, the rumor had spread quite a bit.

“At least sixteen collateral Orca families seem to have heard about it.”

“Cough, cough—!!”

That statement made me stumble, and I couldn’t even hide my sudden coughing.

‘W-What?!’

Orcas weren’t naturally creatures that formed large groups.

More precisely, they formed family-centered pods, and the leader of a pod was usually the strongest grandmother orca.

Furthermore, even among members of the same species, different pods weren’t particularly close to one another.

Our orca beastmen had inherited this trait as well.

The leader of the Orcas—

In other words, my grandmother’s family had become the representative clan and the direct line.

Other Orca pods claimed the status of collateral families or independent vassal families.

Accordingly, these collateral and vassal families also had their own leaders.

‘If I remember correctly, there were around thirty-two families in total, including the vassals…’

There was a reason I had jokingly called our family a gang.

Each individual was strong enough on their own, but once they grouped together, our Orca beastmen became an even more intimidating bunch.

‘Wait, but more than half of them already know about me? And they heard about what happened just yesterday?’

At this point, I was starting to wonder how this basic educational institution managed to maintain even the slightest degree of confidentiality.

Perhaps my shock was too obvious, because Laila quietly cleared her throat.

“The teachers who were with us yesterday… are, well, somewhat loose-lipped.”

“No, just how loose are their lips for this to spread this far?”

“One of their fathers is apparently a flying-fish beastman.”