Chapter 254
[The quest ‘Homecoming of the Whalekin’ has been generated.]
[Homecoming of the Whalekin]
The homeland where the whalekin once lived was the Endless Sky. That was their refuge and paradise. When they gave up their homeland to the waterdrakes, the whalekin fled to the Sea of Clouds, driven by their love of peace. After many years, the whalekin realized they made the wrong choice. But they cannot return to their homeland. In order to leave the Endless Sky, they imposed the ‘sanction of a vow’ upon themselves. Help the whalekin return home.
Clear rewards:
Blessing of the Whalekin
Whalekin Sinew
?
The information he already knew was recapitulated in the quest description.
‘Something huge is getting closer.’
Hyukjin felt ‘something huge’. In fact, the silver-haired man approaching them wasn’t huge in stature, but Hyukjin felt as if he were facing a tranquil and massive mountain.
“Are you a guest of Natalie’s? Greetings. I am the leader of the whalekin, Naphthan.”
Natalie piped up. “He protected me from the skybirds!”
“From the skybirds?” The man’s brows furrowed a little. He sighed. “Our mistake has endangered you.”
It wasn’t just Natalie who was in danger. The whalekin needed to leave the Sea of Clouds periodically to breathe, and that was the chance the wicked skybirds—Steel Wyverns—seized to attack and hunt the gentle giants.
“I don’t resent you, Dad.”
Natalie flashed a sunny smile, which bewildered Hyukjin to see.
‘She’s like a different person again.’
Natalie seemed to be an individual of many faces. In front of this man she called Dad, she had the personality—whale-ality?—of an incredibly kind and warm young girl.
‘As expected, I can’t use Eye of Perception.’
Naphthan wasn’t someone Eye of Perception could read. What Hyukjin felt was immense power, like he was gazing into the endless cosmos. And despite that, despite all that power, these foolish people bound themselves into utter helplessness.
“That the whalekin are living in the Sea of Clouds…” Hyukjin paused, considering what the Guardians would like to hear most. “Is, in my opinion, unjust. I felt awful for your people after hearing of your circumstances from Natalie.”
“500 years ago, we thought this was the best choice.”
After 500 years, the whalekin thought differently about their decision.
“But our choice was wrong.”
Having lived in the Endless Sky in blessed ignorance, they thought other places would be like the Endless Sky. But that wasn’t the case. Places that weren’t the Endless Sky were perilous for the whalekin.
“It’s not that the choice the whalekin made is wrong. The waterdrakes who stole your home are in the wrong.”
“They, too, were in need of a place to call home.”
Hyukjin decided not to strain his brain trying to comprehend how the whalekin thought. It was futile. There was no way a human and whale could think the same way or have the same opinions. He just had to think of it as, ‘Oh, that’s how they see it,’ and move on.
‘My job isn’t to change their minds.’
What he had to do was enter the Endless Sky with them.
“They rejected coexistence. Was the Endless Sky such a small place?”
“The Endless Sky is limitless.”
“Then the waterdrakes wanted to chase the whalekin out of the Endless Sky.”
“Indeed.”
“And in the end, the peace-loving whalekin left the Endless Sky.”
Their minds might work in very different ways, but one thing was clear. This silver-haired man deeply cherished Natalie. He loved her. That could be seen in his eyes. It seemed love for one’s child was an absolute law that took precedence over the boundaries of race.
“Natalie almost died today.”
“…”
Hyukjin calmly led the conversation in a way the whalekin could follow.
“I’m not saying the waterdrakes are bad.”
In his point of view, they were bad. Basically, they were the invaders who chased out the whalekin living happily and bothering no one. The whalekin were too kind, and that kindness was their downfall.
“But the situation today where Natalie nearly died was too dangerous. That situation was bad.”
“I agree that the situation was bad.”
“The Steel Wyverns you call skybirds are quite an intelligent species of monster.”
“I know. Their means of attacking us have become more refined and elaborate.”
The Steel Wyverns were sure to have developed their hunting methods little by little over 500 years.
“Before long, the whalekin may be completely wiped out by the skybirds.”
Even that might not be all that important to the whalekin. That was why Hyukjin dragged Natalie to the forefront.
“Natalie misses the Endless Sky. If all the whalekin are wiped out, Natalie will be forever unable to set foot in your homeland.”
“…”
Tears whaled in Naphthan’s eyes. He gazed at Natalie. “That’s true. Natalie must resent us.”
“Being hungry is the saddest thing in the world,” Hyukjin said. “Don’t you want to return to the Endless Sky?”
“I do. But the waterdrakes are there.”
Hyukjin shook his head. “It’s too early to think about the waterdrakes.”
“What do we think about, then?”
“What’s the first thing you need to do in order to reach the Endless Sky?”
They had to leave the Sea of Clouds.
“We need to swim. Towards the sky.”
It was just as he thought. The Endless Sky was ‘up there’.
Naphthan nodded. “The skybirds are a problem.”
“Exactly. The whalekin may possess great strength, but they are incapable of using it. You are a race tightly bound by such a setting.”
“Indeed.”
The waterdrakes were a problem for later. The first thing they needed to handle wasn’t them, but the wyverns.
* * *
Translator – Lei
Proofreader – Ash
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