Chapter: 10
“I figured by now she’d be boiling over.”
Judging by the time, it was already well past noon.
That meant it had been more than four hours since I had deliberately disrupted the lesson.
“Now then, this is our new friend, Calypso.”
The moment I saw the classroom I was being led into, I understood immediately.
“Ah, so they don’t believe I’m actually intelligent.”
They didn’t believe the rumor that Grandmother had acknowledged me.
Otherwise there was no reason they would put someone who spoke the language perfectly into this class.
Even after hearing my greeting, this was the treatment I got.
“Just wait. I’ll wreck this class so thoroughly they’ll regret it!”
And my plan succeeded. Spectacularly.
There was just one small problem.
“…What is with these baby whales clinging to me?”
I had only tried to attract the children’s attention a little so I could disrupt the lesson, but they seemed to like me far too much.
The sparkling eyes of the babies staring at me were almost burdensome.
“…They’re definitely still cute at this age, before the survival-of-the-fittest instinct fully kicks in. But why?”
What was with all this excessive sparkling?
On top of that, they were all desperate to give me snacks. I did not want candy that had already been in someone else’s mouth!
Then I happened to notice Laila’s gaze and realized.
“Oh ho, so her patience has finally run out!”
I stood up from my seat and dusted off my skirt.
The child I had pushed aside pouted as if about to cry.
“There, there. A proper whale shouldn’t cry.”
“Hehe.”
After patting the child’s head one last time, I walked over to Laila.
“Laila.”
“…I am in the middle of instruction. You should not speak to me.”
The woman I knew as Laila hated wasting time.
That also meant she admitted her mistakes quickly and corrected them immediately.
“Don’t you think this class is far below my level?”
“….”
“Or do you need more time?”
“I see. So that is the case.”
Just like that.
“I apologize. It seems I judged the rumors about you on my own and made an incorrect decision, Young Lady.”
“It’s fine. Any whale can make mistakes.”
Laila’s eyebrow twitched.
But she did not pick a fight.
“In that case, I believe you should be transferred to a higher class. Is there a particular class you would prefer?”
The moment I heard that, my eyes lit up.
“…I’ve been waiting for this exact moment.”
I could have chosen a class one or two levels higher and enjoyed a peaceful school life.
But if I did that…
“Grandmother would never hear about me. I wouldn’t catch her attention.”
I had entered the educational institute now, but since I still had no idea when I might awaken the power of water, I could be thrown out again at any time.
So I needed something certain.
I had to become a genius.
“Put me in the eight-year-old whale class. The Alpha class.”
“…Pardon?”
For the first time, Laila’s composure cracked.
Oh, so until now she’d been like an AI. I didn’t know “Siri” could make expressions.
“I don’t know how you learned of it—or perhaps you don’t fully understand it—but the class you mentioned is…”
“The class with the oldest students in the beginner institute, and among them, the most outstanding children. I know.”
“….”
“If I can hold a conversation with you at this level, Laila, then I think I’m more than qualified to enter that class.”
Laila flinched.
Because I smiled sweetly.
“Or is there anyone in that class who speaks better than I do?”
I looked at her as if I already knew the answer.
“…I see. You are not entirely wrong.”
Laila’s black eyes looked down at me coldly.
The pressure I felt from her was noticeably weaker than the pressure I felt from Pierre.
The power of water. Hah, so even the head of the educational institute can use the power of water.
“But you will have to bear the consequences of every choice you make yourself. Do you agree?”
“Laila.”
I smiled brightly as if I felt no pressure at all.
“The fact that you’re saying that means you don’t see me as a three-year-old, doesn’t it?”
That was Laila’s complete defeat.
A faint flush rose to her face.
Was she angry? It would be troublesome if she got angry and refused me here.
Just as I thought that, I heard a small sigh.
“Well now. Siblings really are siblings.”
“What?”
“Since your third elder brother, you are the first person who has managed to fluster me like this, Young Lady.”
When I looked up, Laila was smiling faintly.
“But I don’t think any of the young masters ever flustered me as much as you have.”
Before I could blink, Laila extended her hand.
Her expression had softened a little.
“I understand you do not interact much with the young masters, so who told you about the class levels in this educational institute?”
I hesitated for a moment before answering.
“My dad told me.”
“…What?”
At that, not only Laila but also the teachers caring for the children nearby all stared at me in shock.
As if it were impossible.
Well, of course it was a lie. But I couldn’t exactly say I knew because I had regressed, could I?
I grinned shamelessly.
“My dad loves me sooo much that he explained everything to me one by one.”
*
The teachers froze stiff.
Only Laila managed to keep her composure.
“When you say your father… do you mean Lord Pierre?”
“My dad. Do I have another one?”
Sorry, Father. I’m borrowing the old rumor-spreading strategy for a bit.
While Calypso chuckled inwardly—
Laila looked momentarily speechless, then quickly returned to her usual expression.
“Lord Pierre… took care of his daughter?”
Any noble living in this land knew of Pierre.
It was equally famous that he had never once gone to see any of his children.
“Wait… the place where Lord Pierre resides is not far from where the young lady is staying, is it?”
In truth, it was a somewhat complicated route for a child to find, but after witnessing Calypso’s intelligence firsthand, a new hypothesis formed in Laila’s mind.
The idea that Calypso had met or interacted with Pierre.
It was not entirely wrong.
It had simply happened very, very recently.
“…Even if one is born with language ability, language fundamentally develops through interaction.”
Yet this child could carry on such perfect conversations and speak so skillfully.
Surely someone excellent had been teaching her.
There was no way such a teacher existed in the building where children were left unattended until the age of three.
Naturally, the only remaining possibility was the hypothesis she had just conceived.
Laila swallowed hard.
“…Perhaps this is not merely the appearance of another direct descendant. It may be the emergence of a challenger in the succession struggle.”
It was an absurdly grand conclusion to draw about a three-year-old.
And yet, perhaps not entirely absurd.
If Pierre himself chose to step forward, what would be impossible?
Without realizing it, Laila let out a shallow breath.
…This feeling was something she had never experienced even when dealing with Calypso’s brothers, those troublesome or terrifying young masters.
“Would you follow me, Young Lady? I will guide you to your new class.”
And so Calypso’s little fraud worked far better than even Calypso herself had imagined.
She could not have predicted how today’s events would spread through the lips of one teacher and the assistant teacher Henny.
*
“That went much more smoothly than I expected.”
I sucked on the candy in one hand and held out the other.
But after a while, there was still no response, so I turned my head.
“Master, aren’t you going to eat one?”
“I’m not eating it.”
“Why? Not a plankton fan?”
“…I think it’s stranger for an orca to like plankton.”
“What, because only big whales like it? Master, that’s very intolerant of other people’s tastes. No wonder you live alone your whole life—ow!”
I clutched my forehead.
When I looked up, a floating droplet of water bobbed in the air, clearly the culprit that had smacked me.
“What exactly went smoothly?”
The owner of that floating water wore the same languid, world-weary expression as always, as if he had long since given up on life.
Lately he seemed to be taking an interest in what I did, but…
“It doesn’t feel like affection or anything. It feels more like a scientist observing a fascinating ant.”
Well, I was using him for my own purposes too, so it was a mutually beneficial arrangement.
“What do you mean what went smoothly? My amazing abilities being recognized, obviously.”
“You, an amoeba?”
“I am not an amoeba. My outstanding language skills! Can’t you tell? I’m a three-year-old having a brilliant conversation with someone as socially inept as you!”
“Would you like me to add ten more laps today?”
“…and that concludes my thirty-three-line acrostic poem.”
The more I looked at him, the more obvious it became that he really was Grandmother’s son.
The way he casually fired off brutally sharp insults without a second thought.
I recalled what had happened earlier at the beginner educational institute that day.
