In the early evening.
Jerome, who had been tormented by Lia all day, returned to the island inhabited by shark demibeasts with a tired body.
He wondered if she was joking when she suddenly assigned him to search the alleyways, saying that she needed to find a raccoon demibeast.
It was funny that there was a raccoon demibeast in the Weil family estate, and it was absurd to leave the search for it to a shark demibeast.
“…Is she really a penguin? She picks out only the places that really hurt, and she hits them well.”
His body still throbbed from the blows she had dealt with her magic wand.
To begin with, it was the first time he had even heard that there were penguin demibeasts, and it was strange that she was not afraid of him, who was high up in the food pyramid.
But he couldn’t be sure she was a killer whale either. She was very different in size and aura from the killer whales he had seen from afar.
When she first let it slip that she was a penguin, her reaction and the conversation she had with her escort didn’t seem to be made up of lies.
“I can’t believe we will meet at the same place tomorrow…”
Of course, the fact that the new killer whale of the Weil family was actually a penguin was valuable information to himself, a shark.
‘I’m going… just to see if she’s really a penguin…’
Even if she really was a penguin instead of a killer whale, it must be true that she was leaning on the Weils.
Still, he didn’t understand why she wanted to meet him again.
She even demanded he talk about Mama.
It wasn’t a very good feeling because it seemed like she was ignoring him as well as the rest of the sharks.
Jerome let out a small sigh as he remembered how the girl vigorously swung her magic wand.
Be it in the Weil territory nor on the shark-infested island, there seemed to be no place where he could breathe comfortably.
He didn’t bring money today, so he would obviously only hear a lot of curses from the sharks.
He had been ignored by other sharks since he was young because he was particularly timid and could not harm others.
They regarded weakness as a disgrace because they had lived with the lifelong goal of killing several killer whales.
To a large extent, it was because of this that Jerome’s desire to escape from this persecuted life was greater than his desire for revenge against the killer whale.
…Sure enough.
As soon as he finished thinking about it, the shark demibeasts who found Jerome approached him with insidious smiles.
“Have you taken a lot today, weakling?”
Jerome was hesitant to reveal that he had met the new killer whale to the Weil family.
“…Today is shit. I was caught by the guys whom I had robbed.”
Then, as if finding him pathetic, the other sharks mocked him.
“Tsk tsk. You can’t fight, you can’t steal money. What do you know how to do?”
“Except for a slightly smoother face, he is useless.”
“It might be better to sell him somewhere instead of sending him to steal in the Weil territory.”
“Oh, look at his expression. He is gonna cry.”
“Are you crying? Just from this?”
They sniggered, calling him weak and useless again.
“Anyway, you know what will happen if you don’t meet your quota this month, right?”
Someone hit Jerome hard on the head, but he couldn’t say anything, only biting his lower lip.
After they left, Jerome silently moved on. The ridicule hurts.
But he did not have the strength to resist.
At least, the bullying today belonged to the weak side. He could even say it was fortunate.
If it was as usual, he would have been beaten.
He was thinking of reporting to Mama about the demibeast he met today.
It was judged that it would be good to report even if it was uncertain as it was a matter related to the number of killer whales.
It could be a good excuse when he couldn’t meet the quota this month.
Shortly after arriving at the door of Mama’s room, Jerome cautiously requested a visit and waited.
He had hurried here, but permission fell slowly.
After waiting at the door for over an hour, he was finally able to meet Mama.
In Jerome’s field of vision, there was a person who was like the mother of all shark demibeasts.
Commonly known as ‘Mama’.
It was said that when she was young, she had covetous blue hair, but now that she is old, it’s closer to gray.
With just a simple glimpse, it was hard to make sense of her original hair color from the current faded sky blue.
Mama’s gaze landed on Jerome.
“You…”
Looking at Jerome, who had nervousness clouding his face, she involuntarily let out a smile that was closer to a grimace.
The face was familiar, but the fact that his name did not come to mind meant he was waste.
Garbage that was of no help to the killer whale hunt.
A chuckle slipped out for a second when she saw that mere garbage had boldly requested a visit, but her eyes quickly cooled as she looked at Jerome.
“What is your name?”
“…It’s Jerome.”
Hearing his name, she belatedly pretended to know him.
“Ah, Jerome. I remember. So, what are you here for?”
“Today, I met a demibeast, the new killer whale to the Weil family.”
“Ohh?”
It was then that a twinkle flashed in her eyes.
Needless to say, she heard of it.
How stressed she was when she first heard the news that there was a new killer whale demibeast.
However, she was able to soon calm down, thinking that Bella’s weakness had only increased.
‘Not all killer whales are as strong as Bella and Suradel.’
The two of them were unusually strong, and the few killer whale demibeasts she could remember were not that strong.
“Where and how did you meet that killer whale?”
“I stole her money… I was caught by her escort.”
For a brief moment, a look of irritation flickered in her eyes.
Noticing that, Jerome flinched and hurriedly continued his words.
“Umm, but while arguing, I learned an interesting fact.”
“Okay, I guess you didn’t come to me to brag or say pathetic stuff. Tell me.”
“In front of me, that killer whale demibeast named ‘Lia’ made the mistake of saying that she was a penguin demibeast…”
“Penguin?”
Mama’s brows narrowed as if asking what sort of nonsense was he on, so Jerome quickly added.
“Yes. I can’t be sure if it’s true because I didn’t see her animal form, but it didn’t seem like she was bluffing.”
“How can a penguin disguise herself as a killer whale and enter the Weil family?”
“Her hair color is the same as that of a killer whale. But… They didn’t look as majestic as the killer whales I’ve seen.”
“Hmm. It’s not a killer whale, it’s a penguin…”
“Should we feed her drugs to turn her into an animal and see if she is really a penguin?”
“No, Jerome.”
Mama got up slowly and moved closer to Jerome.
“Your job is not to find out if the child is a killer whale or not.”
She whispered affectionately into Jerome’s ear and put something in his hand.
It was light and firm.
Jerome knew what it was without even checking.
“Whether she is a killer whale or not, Bella will be in great pain if she dies.”
“…What?”
“She lives in a group and cares deeply for the people around her. A killer whale with deep camaraderie.”
Jerome’s pupils trembled slightly.
“Since no information has reached my ears, maybe Bella really thinks she is a killer whale. If the child is a penguin, not a killer whale…”
The corners of her mouth rose slowly.
“On the contrary, it would be better to kill her when Bella doesn’t know about it.”
The death of a killer whale, the same kind as her, would be more painful than a penguin.
Mama looked at Jerome and smiled. It was the first sincere smile shown to Jerome, who was an inferior tool.
“Can you do it?”
The bewildered Jerome stared at her and spoke gibberish, as if begging for the order to be taken back.
“M-Mama. I-I’ve never killed a person…”
“Jerome.”
Mama’s expression as she faced him suddenly changed to that of a doll without emotion.
“You have been weeded out for so long. But if you succeed, none of the sharks will be able to say anything to you. You will be a hero.”
However, unlike her expressionless face, her voice was like a caring parent or grandparent.
Jerome cried out inwardly.
—I don’t want to kill someone and become a hero.
“You know, I don’t have much time left to live.”
Jerome stared blankly at Mama’s face.
Originally, she was not in good health, but in recent years, her physical condition had deteriorated rapidly.
“I really want to see killer whales go extinct before I die.”
Mama took Jerome’s hand and held it with both of her hands.
“Jerome. Think about it. The reason you grew up without parents. The reason why we can’t set foot in the Weil territory. Whose fault is it?”
Jerome, who had been constantly asked such questions since he was a child, answered like a machine before he even processed it.
“It’s… It’s because of the whales.”
“Yes. I’m expecting good news.”
—My son.
With a benevolent expression, Mama looked at Jerome.
Ame: Along with this shark, there’s also future episodes that center on the others (most importantly, Suradel). I’m so upset that I missed the chance to use the “another story” title for Theodore/the wolves’ imprinting stuff! TT_TT
