Chapter 245: Whales Who Suspiciously Like Humans (2)
Her entire body was covered in blood as if she had been slashed all over with razor-sharp blades, but the moment she escaped the dark space, her wounds began to heal, the bleeding stopped, and the flesh reattached, restoring her body to its original state.
"Finally, I've got it... the divine sword...!"
Looking at the beautiful hilt of the sword housed in her wooden scabbard, she gazed at it with teary eyes, filled with emotion.
Even now, it was trying to escape from her grasp, but it couldn't get out because it was sealed within the world tree's scabbard. It could only tear at the dimension through the hand holding the hilt, but the black-haired girl refused to let go.
She couldn't let it go, no matter how painful it was to have her hand ripped open, because this was the only way to fulfill her destiny.
"...Kuh!"
Duke Ballor, who had been watching nearby, kicked away the senior knights getting beat up in front of him and withdrew his murderous aura that had been dominating the surroundings.
"I think I now understand why that half-dragon bitch sent me here."
"Duke Ballor..."
"Get lost! If you block my path, I'll kill you first!"
When Duke Ballor shouted, the soldiers panicked and started to flee, and the knights also took several steps back in fear.
"You... human? Then I don't want to fight you."
To the black-haired girl's words, Duke Ballor spat on the ground and grinned with bared teeth.
"What should I do then? I really want to crush you to pieces."
"Then... are you... a bad person?"
Wuuuuung!
Above Duke Ballor's thick greatsword, the symbol of a Sword Master—the Aura Blade—began to blaze.
"I don't like you. Yeah, it feels just like when I see those noble ladies getting pampered. I've lived a dirty, rough life, and seeing girls like that just pisses me off."
"..."
As his murderous aura spread toward her, the black-haired girl closed her eyes.
Her body had already completely regenerated, and the only signs of the wounds were the tattered remnants of her clothes.
"Divine sword, manifest."
Shwack!
The moment the sword was drawn from the scabbard, her hand split open, exposing the bone and spraying blood, but her hand regenerated again and gripped the sword tightly.
As if restraining the divine sword that looked ready to rip open a dimension and flee at any moment.
Feeling the space around her distort as the dimension cracked, the black-haired girl—no, the Hero—declared to Duke Ballor:
"I can only swing it once with my power."
"Heh, once is enough for you too."
Screeeeeech!!
Fwooooom!!
The unpleasant sound of a dimension tearing mixed with the roaring flame of the Aura Blade filled the area.
And after exchanging a single blow, only one person remained standing at the spot where the girl and the old man had been.
"As expected of Duke Ballor!"
Seeing the girl's body torn apart, half of it missing after taking a direct hit from the Aura Blade, a few soldiers were retching, but the knights simply stared between her and Duke Ballor with grim faces.
"Ha... damn."
Drip.
A wound was carved into Duke Ballor's chest, despite him standing firm.
It was a wound that tore through the dimension itself, something that could never be healed by any means.
Splash...
The whale girl pushed through the waves, occasionally exhaling water from her blowhole and creating a light drizzle.
And to move quickly, I rode on the back of the head orca girl. Whenever the orcas seemed tired, I approached the whale girl, and she would flip over to let me rest on her belly again.
Sometimes the orcas and whale girl had some tension, like nudging heads or tapping tails, but maybe because I was present, it never escalated into real conflict.
'Maybe because we're going all the way back on the route we traveled on the military ship for a week, it feels like a long trip.'
At this pace, I thought we might run into Mary and the dolphins, but no such encounter happened.
"Still, I can't imagine orcas being friendly with mermaids."
I was just speaking casually, but another orca swimming beside me popped her head up and replied.
"Mermaids? You know our baby mermaid too?"
"I mean, broadly speaking, aren't you guys also mermaids?"
"We're different from real mermaids. We're mammals."
"Then, do you know those real mermaids? The legendary ones with fishtails covered in scales and upper bodies like humans?"
Another orca answered that question for me.
Splash!
The head orca came closer and lay on top of the whale's body to answer instead.
"Of course we know. Mermaids are the royal family of the sea, right?"
"...What?"
I nearly dropped my canteen into the sea from the shock.
"Apparently the youngest princess went to land recently and came back with a kid."
Why do I get the feeling I know who that mermaid is?
"Normally, mermaids lay eggs just once in their life, but the youngest suddenly got pregnant before she was even ready, and it caused an uproar among them."
"I-I see..."
"Yeah. Mermaids have poor fertility."
'Is that so? I could've sworn I felt more than ten eggs inside back then...'
"Usually, laying thousands or tens of thousands of eggs means you're trying to have kids, but mermaids only lay around a dozen. And even then, maybe one or two get fertilized. If the body doesn't have a mature egg sac, the chances drop even further. Thankfully, the youngest seems to be safely carrying the baby."
"..."
"Hey, our baby suddenly looks pale. Are you cold?"
"N-no! Not at all! Haha, so that's how mermaids are!"
I never knew.
That mermaids only spawn once in their life.
'And wait, Mary... was a princess?'
Now that I think about it, she did say her mom acts like a queen. She even said she was in a princess-like position...
'I thought she was just bluffing. But seriously... her mom really was like royalty?'
Splash...
The whale girl began spraying water and singing with her calls more intricately than usual, maybe because of the mention of Mary. I didn't understand the meaning, but the orcas seemed to.
"What does that mean?"
"Ah~ nothing. Don't worry about it, baby."
Nothing? But their faces clearly showed they realized something!
"They say if the mermaid queen catches you, she might kill you. She's apparently furious and waiting to slaughter anyone she catches."
"So that's why whales, who usually don't show up, were hanging around the military ship checking if any humans were onboard?"
"Wait a second."
I eavesdropped on the orcas and asked again.
"So this whale... was sent by Mary?"
"...Since you know her name, I guess you're our baby. The guy who touched the youngest princess."
"But... you had sex with this whale?"
"I thought a shark had bitten your dick off. There was so much blood."
So when I came to the ocean, I was at risk of getting tortured by the mermaid queen. Mary sent this whale to help me... and I ended up fucking that whale?
"What? So what?! I'm a guy! I've got a pussy right there, okay?!"
Guess I need to add an aquarium to my next home.
'It finally happened... damn. I have freakishly high fertilization rates.'
Why does it always work on the first shot?
Splash...
The whale girl started slowing down. Instead of paddling with her massive hands like oars, she lifted them and tried to pick me up in her palm.
"Oh. Is it time to part ways?"
"Hm? Already?"
"I smell a human ship from over there. They're yelling and looking for someone... What was our baby's name again?"
"Ban."
"Right. They're calling for you over there."
I couldn't see anything on the horizon, but I guess the orcas and whales could already spot the military ship.
'It's probably best not to take the whale close to the ship.'
Since the last incident, the Baran Duchy's ships might attack whales on sight.
"We'll carry you closer and drop you off. The humans will find you from there."
"Wait."
I approached the whale girl's chest and gave her tits a firm hug.
This time, it wasn't sexual. It was like a goodbye embrace.
She seemed to think the same and placed her huge hand on my back for a hug. Then she gently lifted me and placed me among the orcas.
"Well then, goodbye. Please give Mary my regards."
As the huge tit island lowered, the whale girl could finally breathe freely again and spouted a tall fountain into the sky as if answering.
Splashhhh—
Sea spray fell like rain, and the military ship spotted the column of water, sounding their horn and heading our way.
"Time to say goodbye to our baby too. Wanna visit again when another sister starts her period?"
"Haha... if possible... actually, no, I can't."
Mary might hear about this. My life's already hanging by a thread.
"I thought our baby would like it. But if you don't, we can't help it."
"...Still, if I get the chance, I'll try to visit."
That seemed enough. The head orca patted my head and sank into the sea, leaving only her dorsal fin above water so it looked like I was riding a regular orca.
As the ship approached, the other orca sisters dove into the deep, and the head orca held me up until the rescue boat found me and only began to sink once they confirmed I was safe.
"Want me to carry you all the way to the end?"
"I'm good now."
Why do orcas like people so much?
They usually live rough, like tyrants of the sea.
It's good for humans, of course, but still...
"Take care of yourself. Not that you seem like you need luck."
"You be careful too, baby."
She smiled and kissed my nose, then whispered one last secret.
"We're actually royal guards. We came because our baby princess asked for help."
"Ah... what?!"
No wonder they weren't just nice—they were protecting me!
'Wait, so I messed with all the sea creatures Mary sent?'
"Don't know what the big one will do, but we can't lie to the princess."
"Th-that's..."
"So come back and apologize later, okay?"
I could only nod, completely dazed.
"Oh, and the princess wanted to know something. Could you answer before the ship arrives?"
"Why ask that now?! Hurry, what is it?"
"She wanted to know... what you'll name the baby."
Ack! Why would you ask that now!
"..."
A name for the baby... I hadn't really thought about it.
But if she was asking me, I had to think carefully... and just before the rescue ship reached me, I dipped my head into the water to whisper my answer to the whale girl.
Plop.
With my head submerged, I mouthed the words. She probably couldn't hear it, but maybe the orca could.
'Alicia.'
That would be the name of the daughter to be born.