EP.197 The Dog Awaiting a Promise
Cutting through the fierce wind, a round, flat disc soars through the sky. Because the wind blows fiercely from behind, even with just a light toss, it streaks far backward. Its speed is just slightly slower than the meta-conveyor belt.
"Woof woof woof woof!"
Aji chased after it. Thud, thud, step. Running atop the meta-conveyor belt with loud sounds, he leapt off the belt, unable to control his speed, tumbled over and over, then ran like the wind again. He finally caught up to the disc that had vanished far in the distance.
Catching the disc as handsomely as a painting, Aji's eyes gleamed as he looked at the meta-conveyor belt that had drawn far away in the meantime. Even the distance that had grown while he went to catch the disc was merely an object of play for Aji. He flipped his body in midair, stomped hard on the bare ground, and launched himself before the mound of kicked-up earth could even settle.
Footprints remained like traces of artillery shells. Leaving behind shattered ground and scattering dirt, Aji fiercely pursued the meta-conveyor belt. Having leapt onto the land flowing like a river in a single bound, Aji quickly scampered along and reached right in front of my nose.
His eyes sparkled, perhaps enjoying the exercise after so long. The tail that showed his emotions wagged cheerfully. The brown tail wagging enough to generate wind clearly displayed pure joy.
"Woof woof woof!"
Aji passed the disc he held in his mouth over to me. Perhaps from facing so much wind, my fingertips are cold. I'm still not sure whether the disc is cold, or if my hands are cold.
Wow, catching the disc itself is hard mode. I guess this is possible since he's something like the King of Dogs.
"Aji, you're amazing!"
Aji answered with his chest puffed out.
"Woof! I, amazing!"
"Truly the King of Dogs! Now, you worked hard so there should be a reward, right? Here, meat!"
"Woof! That's okay! You eat!"
When I offered a piece of meat, Aji yielded it to me without even a moment's hesitation.
So, Aji worked hard to catch the disc, saw the beautifully grilled meat glistening with fat, and then said... for me to eat it? Is this right?
This is no ordinary matter. It's definitely a situation more serious than imaginable. Wiping the smile completely from my face, I asked more seriously than ever.
"Aji. Are you sick somewhere?"
"Woof? No?"
"Then are you putting your affairs in order?"
"Order? I, don't do order!"
"I wish even a dog would do some organizing."
Then what could it be.
It's not even canned meat. It's grilled meat made by quickly cooking over high heat the meat from the returner's pocket, preserving the juices intact.
Yielding a dish that even humans cannot suppress their appetite over, making saliva pool at the corners of their mouths? And to me of all people?
After pondering deeply, I asked to confirm the last remaining possibility.
"Don't tell me, you're already preparing for a battle with the King of Wolves?"
His fur was wildly disheveled from running at full power. Aji shook his head violently as if shaking off water, and immediately denied it.
"Not yet! I, haven't made promise with human king! Gun-guk, broke promise!"
"Gun-guk broke their promise? Those bastards, I should have known they'd do that."
"Woof! Right, bad! I, need to find good king!"
Aji, who would normally be more well-disposed toward humans than anyone, complained in an uncharacteristically sullen voice.
I enthusiastically agreed, then suddenly changed my attitude and muttered.
"But actually, it was a foreseeable matter."
Since ancient times, the King of Dogs has formed alliances with humans to fight the King of Wolves.
It was like a regular event, continuing at intervals of several decades. In those legendary wars, sometimes the King of Dogs won, and sometimes the King of Wolves won.
One side's victory was determined by the other's death. Before the next-generation king could be born and grow, the intoxicated victor king howled at the round moon.
The war between dogs and wolves,
That long-standing battle was so famous that it couldn't even remain a secret and was passed down to everyone. Paradoxically, that very fame hindered the fight between dogs and wolves.
"Gun-guk probably had no intention of fighting the King of Wolves. Do you know how much money it costs to wage a single war?"
"Woof? Then I, was deceived?"
"What's new? A strong-but-dumb animal falling for lies is a common occurrence even in fairy tales."
This fairy-tale and legendary war's outcome depended on how powerful the human faction siding with the dogs was. It's said that in a war where the Empire once sided with the dogs, the dogs' victory was decided in just half a day.
However, if national power must be mobilized for a fight between beasts, what country would want that? Nations gradually turned their backs on the King of Dogs, and accordingly, from some point on, the dogs only repeated defeat.
A great melee that occurs once every few decades. Even in victory, there is only meager honor to be gained, and whether winning or losing, a great sacrifice is paid. Humans living in the flow of history did not wish for that historic war to occur in their generation, in their territory.
Why should they be the only ones to bear the burden?
While humans evaded battle, neglected, abandoned, and discarded the dogs.
"Meanwhile, the wolf pack grew even stronger. Strong enough to stand against any decent nation."
"Woof. Right. I, can't win alone. So I, need human king."
Aji admitted it refreshingly, then motioned with his eyes as if telling me to just eat.
"So, eat heartily! You, become king!"
"Give me a break. Is a king something you can just assign me? If you tell me to do it, am I a king from that day on?"
"No, woof! Many humans! Representative! King! Wang-wang!"
"I can't tell if you're barking or talking, so try explaining a bit."
Anyone else would have already read my thoughts and made a judgment, but even with my mind-reading, I can't read a dog's thoughts. Unless Aji explains coherently, there's no way to understand what he means.
"Cheer up! King! You can do it! Eat a lot! Take walks! Get strong!"
"So now you're thinking of raising a king yourself?"
"Awooooo! Right! So, you cheer up!"
"I'm sorry, but we call a human who eats a lot and is strong a 'merchant', not a 'king.'"
When I scolded him, Aji also clamped his mouth shut and said.
"Fool! I know that too! But, health, is best! You, be healthy!"
"What the hell."
There's nothing as unpleasant as being called a fool by a dog. I'm certain because I just heard it myself.
"You said you're the spokesman representing all dogs. Will anyone understand you if you talk like this? Speak normally, please."
How frustrated must I be to expect a proper answer from a dog. But this mutt just said his piece and didn't give me the answer I wanted. Just as I, growing impatient, was about to press him.
It was then. The back of the container we were using as lodging clanked open. The massive door fell with a thud, and a languid cat's cry came from inside.
"Nyaa. The stupid doggy is looking for the king of humans, they say."
The meta-conveyor belt is a torrent of land rushing at tremendous speed. With no shade or windbreak, it's directly exposed to sunlight and wind.
Tirkanjaka hates sunlight, and Nabi dislikes strong winds. Unlike the former which directly causes harmful effects, Nabi's dislike of strong winds is due to the trivial reason that dry wind makes her fur frizzy, but to a beast, there is nothing more important than its own mood.
Perhaps that's why. Whether day or night, rain or bullets pouring down, Nabi, who had been staying quietly inside the container, crawled out after hearing our conversation. Nabi answered as she stretched languidly.
"The doggy is the King of Dogs, they say. As the King of Dogs, they must form an alliance with the king of humans, they say. But among humans, there is no king like meow, they say. So they seek those who have the appearance of a king, they say."
"Oh, you came out. The spokesman of the dog's spokesman."
"Meow is not the doggy's spokesman, they say. The doggy is dumb, so meow explains instead, they say."
I set aside the argument that that's exactly what a spokesman is. There was no need to persuade a cat.
Nabi, who had come outside for the first time in a while, said with a distinctly uncomfortable expression as she licked her front paws.
"Like meow-elves, they seek those with the power to rule and command humans, they say. Generals, chieftains, lords, feudal lords... kings who change their names as they please. Instead of the vanished king of humans, the doggy hopes for the fulfillment of a promise from a partial king, they say."
Hmm, I roughly understand.
The King of Dogs always sought a nation that would fight alongside them. They didn't seek individual humans, but joined with those who at least had enough structure to be called an army. Even the world's strongest individual, they didn't ask for help.
It seemed they desired human numbers or representativeness rather than individual strength.
Nodding my head, I instead grew curious and asked.
"But why me? I have nothing."
"Nyaa. Right, they say. You are pathetic, they say."
"These beastly creatures sure talk rough when they can speak."
"However, by a hair... if considering influence alone, you could be quite close to a king, they say. Interesting, they say. You, are you a high person, they say?"
"High, my foot. The most people I've ever commanded was about 160. And even those have now disappeared beneath the Hamelin River."
A back-alley petty criminal as a king? A passing dog would laugh.
"Aji, try laughing."
"Woof! Yeah!"
Aji laughed brightly with a "heh." Having fulfilled the saying about dogs, I tossed out the words.
"Whatever. As a fugitive entrusting myself to the worst vicious criminal in history, becoming your match would be irresponsible. I'll be satisfied just being someone who plays with you. Ah, Nabi, do you want to play too?"
"Meow. No, they say. The wind's scent is unfamiliar, they say. Fur is tingling and puffing up, they say... Prickly prickly, nyaaaa."
Nabi fiddled with her fluttering fur as if displeased. Nabi, trying to calm her puffed-up fur by licking it, soon scowled and headed back into the container.
"Don't call meow, they say. Meow will sleep inside there, they say."
"You have it hard too. Even staying put in one place isn't enough."
"Nyaa. If you know, leave meow alone, they say."
Nabi walked away with a swaying gait and disappeared as if sucked into a particularly cramped box inside the container. Around that box, mail that had clearly been contained within was scattered about. The things Nabi had pushed aside to claim the box surrounded it desolately like refugees.
After slipping completely into the box, a swishing tail grabbed and pulled down the box lid. Nabi thus enjoyed coziness inside the mailbox.
Anyway, after hearing Nabi's explanation, I understood a little. Ultimately, Aji has been rejected here and there and is harboring a threadbare hope in me.
"Sigh, you're pitiful too. What are you expecting from me."
But I couldn't qualify in the first place. Someone like me, too busy running away, being a king? Don't make me laugh.
When I placed my hand on Aji's head, static electricity sparked from his fur battered by the strong wind. Sighing, I brushed his fur with a simple comb I'd made and said.
"So, Aji?"
"Woof! Roughly, right!"
"What do you mean roughly right again... Do you want to go to elementary school together with Shey and learn how to speak? You need to learn how to talk first."
"What did you just say?"
Good timing. The returner who had just arrived scrunched up his face.