novelraw Chapter 115: Whale-kin
Chapter 115: Whale-kin
Fischer was fast. The shadowy figure hadn't even noticed the man sprinting through the dark wilderness behind it when it scaled the wall. It wasn't until the figure was about to drop down the other side that it sensed something approaching at terrifying speed.
A glance back revealed a gentleman clutching a walking stick, hurtling through the darkness. His speed — far beyond human — was already closing on the wall. The figure panicked and leaped headlong from the top.
Fischer wasted no time. He followed, vaulting up and over the wall in one motion. On the other side, the shadow was fleeing blindly across the campus.
'Can't let this one reach the dormitories. If it's hostile — if it harms a student...'
Fischer acted on instinct. He reversed his grip on the walking stick and hurled it like a javelin at the retreating figure. The shadow seemed to sense the projectile the instant it left his hand and scrambled sideways. It watched the stick slam into the ground ahead like an arrow.
"Wuu..."
A faint whimper — panicked — escaped the figure. Seeing the path ahead blocked by the embedded stick, it veered off in another direction.
Saint-Nazareth University had plenty of students about at night, but most were clustered around the central library, the lecture hall, and the distant dormitory buildings. This side held only faculty offices and the gymnasium — deserted at this hour, security patrols not yet having reached it.
Watching the shadow bolt toward the gymnasium, Fischer gave chase. He ignored the stick jutting from the ground and sprinted after the figure at full speed.
The shadow ran astonishingly fast, but its stride was strange — bouncing and bounding in the dark, almost comically. At this closer range, Fischer could make out the enormous tail hanging beside the cloaked figure's legs.'A demi-human?'
Before he could process the thought, the figure suddenly launched itself through a gap in the gymnasium. Fischer looked up — it had dived inside.
Frowning, Fischer planted two steps on the gym's outer wall and flipped over after it.
He landed in a cavernous ball court. The ceiling had been built high to prevent stray balls from hitting it easily. No lights were on. In the pitch blackness, the sound of Fischer's landing carried a long way.
The shadow, however, had landed in absolute silence.
In the darkness, Fischer lost track of the figure's position entirely.
He immediately regretted not retrieving his walking stick. It held an illumination spell — enough to light up this dark court.
Fischer scanned the surroundings warily, but could see nothing. The only sounds were his own footsteps on the floor and the slap of water from the natatorium connected to the court. The gym's windows hadn't been fully closed for the night, and the gusting wind churned the pool water up against the tile edges.
Fischer moved carefully toward the water sounds.
At the far edge of the court, the door to the natatorium stood ajar. Fischer pushed through and was greeted by the sharp scent of pool disinfectant. The space was smaller. Still no sign of the shadow.
A window was open. Fischer went to it and examined the sill by moonlight — no footprints. The figure hadn't left this way.
Had it simply vanished?
Fischer turned back to the swimming pool — a sheet of blackness ceaselessly rippled by the wind. He walked to the edge and stared into the seemingly bottomless water.
He stood there in silence, listening for any sound — the faintest footstep, the slightest shuffle — that he could catch.
But aside from the lapping of water, there was nothing.
Fischer fixed his eyes on the pool for a good several dozen minutes, afraid the intruder was hiding beneath the surface. He didn't dare enter. He had no idea what waited below, and aquatic combat was not his strength. A single misstep could go very wrong.
Several dozen minutes should have been past the diving limit for any demi-human or human. Yet the pool remained placid, utterly silent — dead still.
Had the figure already escaped?
But how?
From the moment Fischer entered the court to the natatorium, the main door had been shut. The only exits were the court's window and the pool's window. He had heard no footsteps, no sound of departure. And even if the figure had plunged into the water, there should have been a splash.
Yet since entering, Fischer had heard nothing at all.
Crouching at the pool's edge, Fischer silently replayed the panicked cry the figure had made when the walking stick nearly struck it. There was something familiar about that voice...
After a long, fruitless vigil, Fischer rose from the natatorium and walked back through the court. He climbed out of the gym and disappeared into the night.
Emptied of Fischer, the gymnasium slowly returned to darkness and the endlessly lapping water sounds of the pool.
In the silent facility, an indeterminate span of time passed — and then, in the center of the pool, a head slowly broke the surface. It emerged as though one with the water itself, making not a sound.
The head surveyed the quiet surroundings with painstaking care, confirming that the terrifying gentleman was truly gone. Then the figure swam from the center to the edge and leaped onto the deck in a single bound. Throughout the entire process, not a single extraneous splash was heard.
It stood there — dripping, wrapped in a sodden cloak — and whispered.
"Lord Ramastia... please..."
In the darkness, a soft female voice sounded. The water droplets covering her body began to glow faintly. Then, as if alive, they danced across her skin. In moments, the tail behind the girl began to retract — vanishing entirely — replaced by a pair of human legs. The blue luminous crown hidden beneath her cloak faded as well.
She surveyed her surroundings once more, then cautiously climbed out through the natatorium window and vanished, heading toward the distant student dormitories.
After the girl fled into the distance, the gymnasium fell dark and silent once more. The pool water still lapped against the tile. And yet — unnoticed even by the girl — in the adjoining ball court, a gentleman sat expressionless atop the wall connecting the court to the natatorium, head tilted, listening to the sounds that had just occurred.
In the darkness, his hands held open a brightly colored book — the Demi-Human Completion Handbook.
Its pages turned of their own accord, flipping rapidly past the "Demon-kin" section until blank pages appeared. Golden text flickered to life, inscribing a new classification heading.
【Whale-kin】
【Please select a research subject. Available subjects: 0/2】
【Jasmine — Juvenile Whale-kin】
Fischer's gaze lingered on the spectral text for a long time.
'Whale-kin?'
'And two available subject slots?'
That meant the mysterious "Sea Child" recorded in the World-Ending Prophecy was a Whale-kin!
Discovering one of the prophesied demi-human girls sent a rush of clarity through Fischer's mind — as if the moon had parted a bank of clouds.
"Jasmine?"
He murmured the name. In his mind's eye, the image of that well-developed girl appeared — the shy one who always shrank from others' gazes.