Chapter: 11
Now that Laila had given her permission, I had skipped a grade, but I couldn’t join the new class immediately.
As it happened, the class was out on an outdoor activity.
So I decided to head home early today instead, and on the way I came to find Pierre.
‘But seriously, why is this guy always at the fountain no matter when I come?’
Even while wondering that, I enthusiastically chattered away, proudly telling him all about how impressive I had been at the academy today.
That stingy excuse for a father didn’t stop making me dive underwater or run endless laps every few minutes.
“What’s there to be excited about? If you can’t control the power of water, you’ll just be left behind.”
“Wow… Master, what a masterpiece of an expression.”
“Masterpiece?”
“Not an insult! You knowâgem, not swear words.”
As I repeatedly stood up and sat down during my exercise, I kept talking.
“And I’m not that pathetic, okay? Look at me. Have you ever seen a three-year-old with this much stamina? At this rate, I’ll probably be able to smash rocks soon.”
“How peculiar.”
Pierre frowned ever so slightly.
He looked at me as though I were something fascinating.
“You can’t even produce water, yet your physical abilities alone keep improving.”
Exactly.
I wondered about that too.
With each passing day, I could clearly feel my body growing stronger, yet creating waterâthe most basic abilityâremained impossible.
Why is that?
“Don’t worry, Master. At least nobody’s going to beat me up.”
“We’ll see.”
“Hm?”
Pierre seemed to mutter something, but I couldn’t hear it.
He stood up.
“Follow me.”
“Huh? Where are we going?”
“I have something for you to do.”
Something for me to do?
I tilted my head.
Up until now, every time we met, all we’d ever done was train.
‘Wait… is this finally a green light? A heartwarming father-and-daughter bonding moment?’
Fourth time reincarnating into a childcare novel!
Was I finally about to witness the legendary moment where the family started calling him “Daddy”…?
…Or so I thought.
Instead, I found myself facing something far beyond my expectations.
“Um… Master… what is this?”
Spread out before me was a room in complete chaos.
‘I never imagined I’d actually get to come in here…’
When Pierre told me to follow him, I assumed we were heading to some impressive training ground.
Maybe he was finally going to start giving his disciple some real lessons.
Instead, we arrived at the building where Pierre lived.
Most of the buildings on the western side of the estate were old and run-down, but Pierre’s building alone gleamed as though it had been newly built.
‘It looked like the only intact house standing in the middle of a collapsing ruin.’
Well, even if he chose to live quietly, this was still the residence of someone as powerful as the current head of the Orca Clan.
‘Grandmother always rewarded those with strength appropriately.’
In her eyes, even this probably wasn’t enough. She must have hoped Pierre would find it too cramped and move back to the main house.
As if that would ever happen.
Orcas were notoriously stubborn.
Many of them would rather die than change their minds, and both Grandmother and Father were no exception.
Anyway, getting inside Father’s house had been exciting enough…
‘But why am I looking at… this?’
Pierre hadn’t just brought me into his house.
He led me straight into the nicest room.
Naturally, that meant his bedroom.
And to my astonishment…
It was an absolute disaster.
Not just messy.
It was so horribly messy that I genuinely wondered how anyone could live like this.
‘…I’m pretty sure one of his subordinates said in my previous life that Pierre liked things clean.’
I stared around the room in disbelief before looking back at Pierre.
“Master… is this a pigsty?”
“How unpleasant. Comparing it to a land animal.”
Ah.
So you hate land animals too?
For some reason, that made me feel oddly closer to him.
I obediently apologized.
“Sorry, sorry. I was just so shocked… Anyway, what’s with this disaster? The doctor fish would mistake all this for garbage and eat it.”
Even after hearing my brutally honest opinion, Pierre didn’t get angry.
Instead, he simply said,
“This is the place you’ll clean.”
“Oh… clean…? Wait. What?”
“I said this is what you’ll clean.”
What did this old man just say?
He wanted me to clean this filthy room?
I looked at the piles of junk scattered everywhere before raising my head again.
‘Now that I look closely… the only perfectly clean place is the bed where he sleeps.’
It was true.
The area around Pierre’s bed was spotless.
The rest looked as though someone had gone out of their way to make the room as messy as humanly possible.
“The power of water is born from a calm mind.”
In other words, he was telling me to clean while cultivating inner peace.
What kind of ridiculous nonsense was this old man spouting?
‘He still hasn’t realized I’m only three years old. Meditation? For a three-year-old? Seriously?’
Putting my age aside…
“Don’t lie. The power of water is strongest when you really want to punch somebody.”
“So you know that?”
“Of course. I’m smart. And that’s not all. The power of water is connected to an orca’s emotional state too.”
“…”
After hearing that, Pierre rested a hand on his chin and slowly tilted his head.
Uh-oh…
Every time he made that face, my training somehow became even harder.
As I grew wary, Father’s lips slowly parted.
“Sometimes… you speak as though you know that power exceptionally well.”
“…”
“As if you’ve used it yourself.”
…
Actually, I had.
In my previous life, I had become the strongest creature in the ocean.
Obviously, I couldn’t exactly say that.
So, for the first time in a while, I put on an innocent expression and looked away.
The stronger one’s power became, the sharper their instincts.
To divert Pierre’s attention, I reached for one of the objects lying on the floor.
“So I really have to organize all this?”
“Neatly.”
“…Perfectly clean?”
“Of course.”
“Master, I wasn’t going to say anything, but… is it normal for one person to make the mess and another to clean it?”
“It is.”
His answer came so confidently that I quietly lowered my hand.
I knew that if I said one more word, I’d probably end up experiencing the power of water firsthand.
‘That orca has definitely forgotten I’m only three years old. I’m absolutely certain of it!’
Grumbling under my breath, I walked over to the nearest object and picked it up.
Just as I was wondering where to put itâ
“Use the power of water while you’re cleaning.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve already realized that, subconsciously, you’re distributing the power of water into your strength, stamina, and agility.”
That much was true.
Leaving scratches on rocks and being able to run ten laps without getting tired could only be explained by the power of water.
Yet I still couldn’t create water itself.
“Among the things here are objects your physical strength alone won’t be able to move.”
“That’s true. Master, I was just thinking how incredibly filthy you arâ… I mean, I wasn’t. Anyone can make a mess.”
Feeling the familiar pressure in the air, I hurriedly corrected myself.
“If your awakening isn’t far off, then the only way to bring it about is to keep using your power. Instead of simple running drills, we’ll try this method.”
Pierre explained that carrying objects and putting them back where they belonged required using more senses than I might expect.
As I listened, a question occurred to me.
“Master… does that mean…”
It almost sounded like he’d deliberately trashed this room just to train me.
I quickly shook my head.
‘No way.’
Because the moment he finished giving instructions, Pierre acted as though he’d been waiting for it.
He walked over to the bed, flopped down lazily, and gazed out the window.
As if he didn’t care what I was doing.
As if he had no interest in me whatsoever.
It was familiar.
Back at the fountain, he’d make me run endless laps before assuming that exact same posture.
Watching him sit there quietly…
He looked like someone with no attachment to anything in this world.
Like someone who might disappear at any moment.
‘Is that just how chronically sick people are?’
This was already my fourth life.
But I’d only ever died from illness once.
And that had been sudden tetanus.
I’d never spent years bedridden the way Pierre had, so I couldn’t understand what he was feeling.
“Master, where do I throw the trash?”
“Over there.”
Without even looking at me, Pierre pointed in a direction.
As I continued cleaning, I found one item that seemed completely out of place.
A pure white lace handkerchief.
The edge was decorated with cherry blossom-colored lace, making it seem unlikely to belong to Pierre.
Among all the other objects, it stood out all by itself.
‘Where am I supposed to put this?’
Holding the handkerchief, I tilted my head.
Despite appearances, Pierre actually behaved like a proper teacher.
He hated unnecessary chatter during training and showed no mercy when increasing the number of laps I had to run.
Normally, I didn’t want to interrupt my handsome father while he was either lost in thought or simply staring into space.
Still…
“Master, where should I put this?”
