Chapter 197: The Dog Waiting for a Promise
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 197: The Dog Waiting for a Promise
A round, flat disc swam through the sky, cutting through the fierce wind. The wind blew so hard from behind that even a light toss sent it soaring far away. Its speed was just a little slower than the Meta Conveyor Belt.
“Woof woof woof woof!”
Azzy gave chase. Thump, thud, scritch. She sprinted across the Meta Conveyor Belt with a clamor, then leaped off, tumbling head over heels, unable to control her momentum, before taking off again like the wind. She finally snatched the disc that had vanished into the distance.
After catching the disc in a picture-perfect moment, Azzy’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the now-distant Meta Conveyor Belt. Even the distance that had grown while she was off chasing the disc was just another part of the game for her. She flipped in mid-air, stomped hard on the bare ground, and launched herself forward before the mound of kicked-up earth could even settle.
Her paw prints were left behind like craters from cannonballs. Leaving shattered earth and scattered dirt in her wake, Azzy furiously pursued the Meta Conveyor Belt. She leaped onto the land that flowed like a river in a single bound and scurried right up to me.
Her eyes shone, clearly enjoying the exercise after so long. Her tail, an open display of her emotions, wagged cheerfully. Her brown tail wagged so hard it stirred the air, a clear sign of her delight.
“Woof woof woof!”
Azzy offered me the disc she held in her mouth. My fingertips were cold, perhaps from being exposed to the wind for so long. I couldn't tell if the disc was cold, or if it was my own hand.
Wow, playing fetch on hard mode. Only the Dog King could pull this off.
“Azzy, that was amazing!”
Azzy puffed out her chest and replied.
“Woof! I, amazing!”
“The king of all dogs! Now, you worked hard, so you deserve a reward, right? Here, some meat!”
“Woof! That's okay! You eat!”
When I offered her a piece of meat, Azzy gave it to me without a moment's hesitation.
So, after Azzy worked so hard to fetch the disc, she sees this perfectly grilled, sizzling piece of meat and tells… me to eat it? Was this for real?
This was no small matter. It had to be a sign of something more serious than I could imagine. Wiping the smile from my face, I asked with the utmost seriousness.
“Azzy. Are you sick?”
“Woof? No?”
“Or are you… getting your affairs in order?”
“Order? I, no order!”
“I wish you would clean up a little, even if you are a dog.”
Then what could it be?
This wasn't canned meat. This was grilled meat, cooked quickly over a high flame to seal in all the juices, taken from the Regressor's Pocket.
She was giving up a dish that would make even a human's mouth water uncontrollably? And to me, of all people?
After pondering deeply, I asked, needing to confirm the last remaining possibility.
“Don't tell me you're already preparing for your battle with the Wolf King?”
Her fur was a mess from running at full speed. Shaking her head violently, as if to shake off water, Azzy immediately denied it.
“Not yet! I, no promise with King of Humans! Military State, broke promise!”
“The Military State broke their promise? Those bastards. I knew they'd pull something like this.”
“Woof! Right, bad! I, must find good king!”
Azzy, who was usually more friendly to humans than anyone, complained with uncharacteristic grumbling.
After agreeing with her wholeheartedly, I suddenly changed my tune and muttered.
“Then again, this was bound to happen.”
Since ancient times, the Dog King has always allied with humans to fight the Wolf King.
It was something of a regular event, occurring every few decades. In those legendary wars, sometimes the Dog King won, and sometimes the Wolf King won.
Victory for one side meant death for the other. Before the next king could be born and raised, the victorious king would howl at the full moon, drunk on their triumph.
The war between dogs and wolves. This ancient conflict was so famous it couldn't even be called a secret, known to all. Paradoxically, its very fame became an obstacle to the fight.
“The Military State wouldn't have wanted to go out of its way to fight the Wolf King. Think of how much a single war costs.”
“Woof? Then I, tricked?”
“What's so surprising? A strong but simple animal getting tricked by lies is a common trope, even in fairy tales.”
The outcome of this legendary, fairy-tale-like war depended on the strength of the human faction that sided with the dogs. It's said that when the Empire once sided with the dogs, victory was decided in a mere half-day.
But what nation would want to mobilize its entire military for a fight between beasts? Nations gradually turned their backs on the Dog King, and from a certain point on, the dogs began to suffer defeat after defeat.
A great brawl held once every few decades. Victory brings nothing but a sliver of honor, while both victory and defeat come at a great cost. Humans, living within the flow of history, didn't want that historic war to happen in their generation, on their land.
Why should they be the ones to bear the whole burden?
And so, while humans avoided the battle, neglecting, abandoning, and forsaking the dogs…
“...the wolf pack grew stronger. Strong enough to rival a decent-sized nation.”
“Woof. Right. I, can't win alone. So I, need King of Humans.”
Azzy admitted it frankly, then gestured with her eyes for me to just eat.
“So, eat lots! You, be king!”
“Seriously? Is being a king something you can just appoint someone to? If you tell me to be king, I'm suddenly king?”
“No, woof! Many humans! Representative! King! Woof woof!”
“I can't tell if you're barking or talking. Try to explain it properly.”
Anyone else might have already read her thoughts and figured it out, but even my mind-reading can't decipher a dog's thoughts. If Azzy didn't explain it coherently, I had no way of knowing what she meant.
“Do your best! King! You can do it! Eat lots! Go for walks! Get strong!”
“So now you're planning to raise a king yourself?”
“Awoooooo! Right! So, you do your best!”
“Sorry, but we call a human who eats a lot and gets strong a 'strongman,' not a 'king'.”
When I chided her, Azzy clamped her mouth shut and said.
“Stupid! I know that! But, health, is best! You, be healthy!”
“What the…”
There's nothing quite as insulting as being called stupid by a dog. I know for a fact, because I just heard it.
“You're supposed to be the Herald of All Dogs. How is anyone supposed to understand you when you talk like this? Speak normally, for crying out loud.”
I must have been truly desperate to be expecting a proper answer from a dog. But this damn dog just said her piece and didn't give me the answer I wanted. Frustrated, I was about to press her again.
Just then, the back of the container we were using as our lodging clanked open. The large door fell open with a thud, and a cat's lazy cry came from inside.
“Nyaaa. The stupid doggy is looking for the King of Humans, nya.”
The Meta Conveyor Belt was a raging torrent of land moving at tremendous speed. Exposed on its surface, with no shade or shelter, one was directly subjected to the sun and wind.
Tyrkanzyaka hated the sun, and Nabi disliked strong winds. Unlike the former, for whom it was directly harmful, Nabi's dislike for strong winds stemmed from the trivial reason that the dry air made her fur frizzy. But for a beast, nothing is more important than its own mood.
Perhaps that was why. Nabi, who had been holed up inside the container day and night, rain or shine, bullets or no, finally crawled out after overhearing our conversation. Nabi stretched languidly and answered.
“The doggy is the Dog King, nya. As the Dog King, she must form an alliance with the King of Humans, nya. But humans don't have a single king like us, nya. So she's looking for those who have the makings of a king, nya.”
“Oh, look who it is. The spokesperson for the spokesdog.”
“I am not the doggy's spokesperson, nya. The doggy is stupid, so I'm just explaining for her, nya.”
I held back from pointing out that's what a spokesperson does. There was no point in trying to reason with a cat.
Nabi, out in the open for the first time in a while, looked quite uncomfortable as she licked her front paw and spoke.
“She's looking for those who have the power to rule and command humans, nya. Generals, chiefs, lords, vassals… kings who keep changing their titles as they please. Since the King of Humans is gone, the doggy wants one of these partial kings to fulfill the promise, nya.”
Hmm, I think I get the gist of it.
The Dog King always sought a nation to fight alongside her. Not just any human, but those with at least the semblance of an army. She wouldn't ask for help from an individual, even if they were the strongest in the world.
It was as if she valued the number of humans, or their representation, more than individual strength.
I nodded, but that only made me more confused, so I asked.
“But why me? I have nothing.”
“Nyaa. That's right, nya. You're pathetic, nya.”
“These damn beasts sure run their mouths now that they can talk.”
“However, just barely… if we're only talking about influence, you might be quite close to a king, nya. It's strange, nya. Are you a person of high standing, nya?”
“High standing? What are you talking about? The most people I've ever commanded was about 160. And even they're gone now, vanished beneath the Hamelin River.”
A back-alley crook as a king? A passing dog would laugh.
“Azzy, go on, laugh.”
“Woof! Okay!”
“Heh,” Azzy laughed brightly. Having brought the old saying about the dog to life, I said dismissively.
“Forget it. It'd be irresponsible for me to become her partner when I'm a fugitive relying on the worst criminal in history for shelter. I'll settle for just being her playmate. Hey, Nabi, you want to play too?”
“Nya. No thanks, nya. The wind smells unfamiliar, nya. My fur is puffing up with static… it's prickly, nyaaaaa.”
Nabi fiddled with her wind-blown fur, looking displeased. Nabi, who had been trying to lick her puffed-up fur flat, soon scrunched up her face and headed back into the container.
“Don't call for me, nya. I'll be sleeping in there, nya.”
“You have it rough, too. You should be holed up somewhere comfortable.”
“Nyaaa. If you know, then leave me alone, nya.”
Nabi sauntered off and vanished as if sucked into a particularly cramped box inside. Mail that had clearly once been inside the box was scattered all around it. The items Nabi had pushed out to claim the box surrounded it bleakly, like displaced refugees.
After slipping inside, her swishing tail grabbed the box lid and pulled it down. And so, Nabi enjoyed the coziness of her mail-order box.
In any case, after hearing Nabi's explanation, I understood a little better. In the end, Azzy had been rejected everywhere else and was now clinging to a sliver of hope in me.
“Sigh. I feel for you. What do you see in me to have such expectations?”
But I couldn't possibly qualify in the first place. A guy like me, busy running for his life? A king? Don't make me laugh.
When I placed my hand on Azzy's head, static electricity crackled from her wind-battered fur. Sighing, I combed her fur with a simple, makeshift comb and said.
“So, Azzy?”
“Woof! Mostly, right!”
“What do you mean, 'mostly right'...? You want to go to elementary school with Shei-ssi? You need to learn how to talk first.”
“What did you just say?”
Perfect timing. The Regressor, who had just arrived, scowled.