[The Art of Being Chosen]
I spent quite a while being carried in the arms of that woman with the short hair, wandering through various streets. It felt exactly like a generic medieval fantasy setting. The woman walked into a building where mercenaries—who looked like quintessential adventurers—were coming and going. She got into a heated argument with the receptionist there, eventually walking out with a few copper coins in her hand.
"Haa." I could feel her sigh. This woman... she’s an adventurer, but it seems her income is pretty pathetic. Did I end up with the wrong master? Still, isn't the first contact—the first Goshujin-sama—the most important thing? I can't just dump her immediately, like some "no-refunds-after-chapter-one" policy. Damn it.
"Woof woof!"
-Pat pat-
As I barked cutely, the woman stroked my head and made a tearful face. What’s wrong with her? Carrying me along, she walked for a long time again until we arrived at a street that looked like a marketplace.
"@#$@#$"
"@#$@#$%#$%"
She handed me over to a guy with a menacing face. Watching the "certificate of completion"—no, a single copper coin—being placed in her hand, I finally realized the truth. This bitch. She sold me. And for a measly 1 copper, at that.
"Woof-woof-woof-woof!! Grrr!!! Yipe-yipe!!!"
I wailed at the top of my lungs. You bitch. Don't go. Don't leave me. I liked your tits. We were fine until this morning, weren't we? Huh? You fucking bitch!! But the heartless short-haired woman sold me off and left, humming a tune without even looking back.
Ah, I’m screwed. As I barked wildly, the man grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and shoved me into a smelly, filthy iron cage. There were other puppies inside, but they were all just mutts that looked just like me. Other cages were full of pets, too. So this is a pet shop.
I’m starving. Damn it. Isn't this too harsh for a nursing puppy? I stared at the man sitting on a chair, puffing away on a cigarette, and barked with a pitiful look in my eyes.
"Woof woof!!!"
Food! You asshole, give me food!
"@#$@#@#$!!!"
-Clang! Clank!-
When the man kicked the iron cage with his foot, I was so startled I fell over backward. Seeing my pathetic state, the old guy let out a hearty laugh and went back to smoking his cigarette. Ha, damn it, the dog life is brutal. To be sold for 1 copper after getting to touch some tits and pussy, only to end up in an iron cage—it’s horrific.
What’s going to happen to me now? A medieval fantasy mutt life? Just imagining it is fucking terrifying. The puppies next to me sniffed me and then went back to the corner to fall asleep. These guys are in the same boat, probably only thinking about food. When will they feed us? Food? Food? Food? I feel like my stomach is going to cave in. Aren't unweaned puppies supposed to sleep all day and just drink milk?
The sun reached its peak. Only then did the man, who had been chain-smoking, get up, cut some raw meat into a large plate with milk, and shove it into the cage. The sweet scent of milk pierced my sensitive doggy nose. I dashed forward to drink the milk, but the bastards who had been huddled in the back suddenly jumped up and shoved me, causing me to tumble over. Still, I couldn't give up the chance to fill my starving belly. I stood up immediately, shoved the other mutts' heads aside, and was just about to bury my face in the bowl to start drinking when...
Someone was walking toward us.
Holy shit. Out of all the people I’d seen since entering this village, she was top-tier in looks. She was a beautiful young girl in a high-quality maid outfit, with black hair tied up in the back and round glasses. Her breasts were way bigger than that short-haired bitch who sold me out!!!
...But her expression was scary. How should I put it? Her eyes were filled with killing intent. She had a smile on her lips, but her gaze alone was enough to kill dozens of people. I’d seen a woman like that in my previous life. What was it? A female MMA fighter? Anyway, she had the eyes of a bully who could beat a person to a pulp with her bare hands. Her eyes were completely different from her pretty face.
My body shivered at the inexplicable killing intent, but I knew instinctively. That woman. She definitely came to buy a dog. The maid talked to the man sitting there and then glanced down at the iron cage where I and the other puppies were trapped.
Heh... you idiots. Unlike the morons who were mindlessly burying their noses in the food, I endured the hunger, sat up straight, and looked straight up at her.
"Ang! Ang!"
I didn't forget to bark cutely. Come on, hurry! Pick me! Now!
A maid in an elegant black-and-white uniform visited the pet shop and greeted the owner.
"Hello, Mr. Dorson."
"Oh, you've come again. What kind of creature are you looking for this time?"
Dorson, the menacing-looking man, hurriedly crushed the cigarette in his mouth and stood up. The person before him was a maid from the Esper Baron family, who owned the territory in this area. Setting aside the etiquette between customer and owner, he had to show some level of formality, so he hurriedly wiped his dirty hands on a rag and bowed.
The maid, having received Dorson's greeting, examined the animals trapped in the cages with inorganic eyes. Dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, and even insects.
"As always. I will look and choose for myself."
"You mean the ones with magic power? The ones the young lady is raising..."
"Yes. Regardless of bloodline, I prefer those from the arena or those suitable as a Familiar. Do you have any new arrivals?"
"I have a few... take a look."
"...Wait."
Before stepping into the back of the shop, her gaze landed on a small iron cage.
"Ang! Ang!"
A common-looking puppy with black fur. Judging by its fist-sized frame, it was clearly not even weaned yet. The creature, which should have been busy sucking on its mother's milk or sleeping, was sitting upright, looking up at her and barking. As if to say, "Look at me." But the strange thing was that while the other puppies in the same cage were burying their heads in the food bowl, it was the only one looking up at a person.
Intrigued, she pointed at the puppy with a small nod of her chin.
"What about this one?"
"Ah, it came in today. Some adventurer sold it and left."
"What is its breed?"
"Breed... you ask? I'm not sure. These kinds are a dime a dozen. It's just a local mutt. Yeah."
"You're ignorant. You run a pet shop of this size, and that's the extent of your knowledge?"
"...It's still young, so I don't know either. I'd have to raise it for a few months to check its skeletal structure and such. Look at this small snout. It's not even a month old, so I can't even check its teeth."
"Hmm."
"First, why don't you check the new arrivals inside?"
"Very well."
Just as she lost interest in the shop owner's words and was about to step inside—
-Grab!-
".......?"
Something was pulling on the hem of her skirt. At the end of her gaze, the tiny puppy she had seen earlier was biting the long hem of her skirt and pulling. It had stretched its small snout as far as it could through the cage, and in its tightly closed mouth, I could see its not-yet-fully-grown fangs.
"Ho-ho."
She stopped walking and gave her skirt a sharp tug! The impact caused the puppy to roll backward and tumble over. Even so, it stood up like a roly-poly toy, rushed back to the cage, and looked up at her. As if it had absolutely no interest in the food in front of it. Only in her.
"This little!"
Dorson, the shop owner, kicked the iron cage with his foot at the sight of the incredibly rude mutt. The impact caused the dog bowl to flip over. Milk spilled, and the puppies yelped and ran to the back. However, only one ran back and looked up at her. It was that same one from before.
"Interesting."
She smirked and pointed at the puppy with black fur.
"Take it out."
"Yes? Ah. Understood."
When Dorson grabbed the creature by the scruff of its neck and pulled it onto the counter, it sat down very calmly, unlike before, and looked up at her again. As if to say, "Take me."
For the maid, who had been searching for a pet suitable for the young lady in the royal capital and near the barony for the past three years, this was the first time she had seen such a creature. Her curiosity grew, as it was clearly a creature with potential. However, since this alone wasn't enough to make it suitable as a pet for the great Esper Baron family, she infused her magic with killing intent and projected it at the puppy. She hoped it would foam at the mouth and faint. But it didn't. It just sat there quietly, looking up at her with bright, innocent eyes.
This reaction meant it was either just a beast with infinitely low magic reactivity regardless of bloodline... or, it was so excessively high that it couldn't be measured.
When she stroked its head with her hand, the tiny puppy lowered its head and took a submissive posture. A curve formed on the maid's lips, and her mouth opened.
"The price?"
"It's 20 copper."
For 20 copper, this kind of "gacha" pull was worth it. The maid silently took out the coins from her pocket and handed them over, and Dorson took them.
"What about the others..."
"That will be all for today."
Receiving the puppy in a wooden box, she left the pet shop with a pleasant gait. Trusting that the young lady would be satisfied this time.
This is psycho-high kimochi!!!!!! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm being adopted by the best maid in the city? Holy shit. What the fuck. Oh my god. My judgment was fucking correct. As expected, the fate of a hyper-intelligent genius dog is inevitable. It’s on a different level from those moron mutts that were in the same cage, you see? Heh heh!
I let out a pleasant purring sound and poked my head out of the box. Arriving at a carriage parked on the side of the road, she loaded me into the cargo area and hopped inside. Hmm? Where am I being sold off to now? Don't tell me?
-Gurgle-
An embarrassing sound echoed from my stomach. No, damn it. Anyway, my food. ...I'm hungry.
-Crack!-
-Hii-hi-hing!!!-
With the sound of a whip, the carriage departed.