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Chapter 13
“Ah…”
Flying fish. If it was flying fish, I could believe it.
Even among us aquatic beastfolk, they were particularly loose-lipped and fond of chattering—rather like gossipmongers among land animals.
“Besides, it was certainly shocking enough to warrant such a reaction… Rumors spread faster the more scandalous they are.”
Was that really something she could say so calmly?
“It sounds like you’re saying my story is scandalous.”
When I frowned, Laila merely gave a small shrug.
“For some people, wouldn’t it be preferable if it were nothing more than a scandalous story?”
When I looked up, Laila was holding out her hand.
There was a staircase in front of us before I knew it.
Instead of taking Laila’s hand, I deliberately huffed and puffed as I climbed the stairs.
I was three years old. I could climb this much perfectly well.
Laila withdrew her hand without seeming offended and gave a small laugh.
“For instance, Lord Bayan, who would naturally be nervous at the appearance of a genius… And Lord Sorte as well, I suppose.”
They were the eldest sons of my uncle on my father’s side and my other uncle, respectively.
The first grandson of Grandmother’s first son. The first grandson of her second son.
I casually dusted my hands and said,
“Why did you leave one out? What about Bellus?”
Laila froze for the briefest moment.
“What? Is he too much of a genius compared to me?”
Bellus. That was the name of my eldest brother.
When she gave no answer, I simply shrugged and continued climbing.
Laila soon followed behind me.
“Hm. Now that I look at you, it seems your abilities aren’t limited to language. Your strength and stamina seem quite impressive as well…”
“You noticed that? You have a good eye.”
“I would hardly be qualified to run this educational institution if I couldn’t notice something like this.”
Look at her subtly changing the subject as soon as my eldest brother came up.
I shrugged.
Well, I suppose she meant that, for now, I was still nowhere near the greatest genius in the history of this elementary institution.
Bellus.
Even in my previous life, he had been the brother who gave me the most trouble when I was trying to become head of the family.
In the end, I picked a fight with him, beat him, and took him under my command.
‘Hmph. Why should this life be any different?’
Laila could not hide her curiosity.
“Was the rumor that you failed to awaken the power of water also false?”
“No, that part is true.”
But why? Laila didn’t seem convinced.
Well, considering I was practically climbing these stairs like a rock climber, lifting myself up with my hands without even becoming short of breath, I could understand why she would think otherwise.
“Do I look impressive?”
“I can’t exactly say no.”
I grinned.
“Then tell Grandmother exactly that.”
Tell her just how smart and amazing her granddaughter is.
Laila asked me a few more questions after that, but I didn’t answer.
If I kept my mouth shut here, she would naturally deepen her own misunderstanding.
‘Besides, what you see right now isn’t the end of it.’
This was only the beginning.
When I refused to answer, Laila gave up without fuss and continued up the stairs with me.
Soon, we entered a long corridor. Laila took the lead and pointed toward one place.
A golden half-moon sign with a whale painted on it swayed gently in the breeze.
“That is the highest-level class of this institution, where you will be studying from today onward. The Alpha Class.”
Beastfolk take after the characteristics and temperaments of the animals that form their origins.
As such, whale beastfolk generally avoided fighting and loved peace. They tended to be affectionate and close-knit with their own kind.
They also tended to be more accepting of other species than most.
Even the humpback whales, who were currently one of the most endangered beastfolk species, loved peace enough to embrace even land animals that were hostile toward them.
Personally, I thought that might be why they were endangered in the first place, but anyway.
That was enough to give anyone an idea of the general temperament of whales.
“Now that today’s report class is over, we’ll be playing a game where you build sculptures using the blocks provided.”
“Yeees!”
However, there was one exception among these whales.
There was no need to explain who.
They were the orcas, who had seized the position of leaders among the aquatic beastfolk.
“Hmph. Why are we doing some stupid childish game like this?”
“That’s what I’m saying, too, Brother Charon!”
The fact that every whale except orcas loved peace was of little importance to the orcas.
And the other whales were all under the control of this orca gang of bullies.
“Ordinary whales are hopeless. Look at them getting all excited over some stupid blocks like children.”
“That’s what I’m saying, Brother Charon!!”
Their behavior, backed by overwhelming strength and sheer numbers, was no different even though they were children.
If anything, the stronger their instincts were as beastfolk children, the more their behavior resembled that of wild animals.
“Hey, move.”
This was Alpha Class, the highest-level class among the whales. It consisted only of the most elite and outstanding children from each whale species, including orcas.
“That’s mine…”
“What? You wanna get it?”
“Waaah! Teacher…!”
Even among these children, the orcas were the bullies.
And among those orcas, the undisputed leader was Charon, a member of a collateral branch of the family.
“Hmm, Charon. You mustn’t hit your beluga classmate.”
“When did I hit him? My fin was just there, and he ran into it.”
“…”
“What? You can’t talk? Say something.”
“Eeeh! Teacher…!! Charon glared at me!”
Eight-year-old Charon was twice the size of the other children.
“Charon, make sure you behave without disrupting the class.”
“Yes, yes. I understand.”
However, there was one common characteristic shared by whale beastfolk.
Even at seven or eight years old, they inevitably spoke with slightly slurred and childish speech.
Even Alpha Class, which gathered the best children between seven and eight years old, was no exception.
Charon was no different.
“Hmph. These guys aren’t even worth my fin…! I’ll show them.”
Yet Charon believed that he alone was the best among these clumsy whales.
Being placed in the highest-level class at this educational institution, where children were grouped according to age and ability, was a source of immense pride for Charon.
And being the strongest in that class was a matter of pride for his entire family.
‘Even if I’m not as much of a genius as the direct-line princes… I’m still pretty great!’
He even had grand ambitions of awakening the power of water someday.
Moreover, his family—and even people from neighboring families—had high expectations for him.
Charon was bigger, stronger, and more physically capable than ordinary orca children, so everyone expected him to distinguish himself even among the collateral branches and eventually awaken the power of water.
“Oh, there he goes again. Again and again.”
“Again!”
“Hey, you dolphin twins! Can’t you be quiet?”
“……Hup!”
“…Hup!”
There was, without a doubt, no child in this class superior to Charon.
This was an educational institution established by orcas, where the strong monopolized everything.
That was also the philosophy behind the aquatic beastfolk educational institution itself.
Therefore, as long as the teachers didn’t make too much of a fuss, they rarely intervened.
As a result, Charon’s tyranny only grew worse by the day.
He would remain the leader of this class until he graduated from the elementary educational institution.
The orca children had already been following Charon for quite some time.
“Now, everyone, we have a new friend joining us today. Her name is Calypso. Please welcome her with a round of applause.”
Even that would not change simply because the teacher had brought in a new child to introduce.
But…
The moment Charon saw the tiny child toddling along behind the teacher, his eyes widened.
‘A member of the direct line?’
Jet-black hair.
And white spots resembling eyes on top of her head.
They were unmistakable proof that she belonged to the direct line of the orca family.
It was a coloration that was rarely seen.
“Would you like to introduce yourself?”
Moreover, the person accompanying her was someone no child attending this elementary institution could possibly fail to recognize—the owner of the institution herself, Laila.
The teachers who rarely scolded the children or simply looked the other way weren’t particularly frightening.
But Laila was different.
Charon instinctively feared her and flinched.
“Our institution certainly welcomes strong children, but Charon… I think you should learn some moderation.”
That was because Laila had once warned him after he hit the dolphin twins.
The power of water he had witnessed from her that day was still etched into his body.
It wasn’t just Charon.
The other collateral-branch orca children who behaved just as badly as he did were also tense as they looked at Laila.
And on top of that, the new child was a girl.
Charon suddenly remembered something.
“I heard Lord Pierre’s daughter was born, right? But apparently she couldn’t even awaken the power of water.”
“She’s a useless child. We support Lord Bayan, the first son of the head of the family and his grandson. So it’s a good thing that something useless was born. I heard she’s supposed to be sold off as a bride to the Dragon God. Good for her.”
“How could something so useless be born to Lord Pierre…?”
“Isn’t that the mystery of genetics?”
Those had been the words exchanged between Charon’s parents, the heads of a collateral branch of the family.
Charon, in particular, had fixated on one word.
‘Useless.’
‘Could that be the child my parents were talking about?’
Unfortunately, Charon’s parents belonged to a collateral branch that had not heard the rumor that had spread throughout the family in just a single day.
“Um, Miss Calypso? Would you like to introduce—”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just looking around for a moment.”
Charon confidently raised his head, but then his eyes widened.
‘W-What was that just now?’
It wasn’t only Charon.
Every child opened their eyes wide.
The dolphin children, who were particularly curious by nature, sparkled with interest.
