EP.25 Resistance
A leather ball flies through the sky. Along with a joyful howl, the sound of running is heard. *Tak-tak.* As clawed feet kick off the hard concrete, a powerful sound rings out in an uneven rhythm of twos. Unlike soil, concrete fails to absorb vibrations, so the impact is entirely converted into sound and approaches me.
"Woof! Woof!"
My short break is coming to an end. Aji has already grabbed the ball in its mouth and is running this way. I faced the approaching small disaster with unfocused eyes.
My break time is proportional to the flight distance of the ball.
Throw it high, and Aji is late to catch it.
Throw it far, and Aji is late to arrive.
So at first, I threw it as far as possible without overdoing it. So that I could rest while Aji ran far away, grabbed the ball, and ran back.
But nothing in this world is eternal. Except Aji's stamina.
I learned that while throwing the ball.
The more I repeated it, the shorter the flight distance became. The leather ball that once soared high into the sky now only dropped to the ground just above my head. It had reached the point where the rolling distance was longer than the flying distance.
Now, Aji didn't even prepare to run out. It just crouched at my feet, and when the ball rolled away, it would pick it up and come to my side. Then I would pick up the ball again and lightly toss it, using only the wrist that was still okay.
And eventually, that moment arrived.
"Wait."
Humans are originally beasts too, so bestial intuition sometimes strikes unexpectedly. The beastly sense in my heart, visiting for the first time in a while, was whispering to me.
*If you throw any more than this, your shoulder will break.*
"Woof?"
I stopped mid-throw and raised my hand. I felt a strange creaking sensation in my shoulder. It was like turning a pencil sharpener where the axis is misaligned, causing the handle to wobble in all directions. A familiar feeling, but one that absolutely shouldn't come from my arm.
I stopped throwing the ball and let my arm hang limp. Aji approached me with a questioning face.
I let my arm drop and declared.
"Ball play is over for today."
"Woof woof! More! More!"
"I can throw more. But."
I deactivated the clothing packet I was wearing. The sweat-soaked standard-issue shirt dissolved into particles, revealing my shabby body hidden beneath.
A lean and agile body specialized for escape and survival. I hadn't felt any major discomfort with my body until now, but with my durability being tested like this, I regretted the time I had spent in laziness. If I had known I'd be trapped in Tartarus as a ball-throwing machine, I would have at least worked out when someone recommended it...
Regret is always too late, no matter how fast you do it. I can only do my best in the moment, hoping my future self won't regret today.
Leaving my regrets behind, I flopped down on the spot and showed Aji my reddened shoulder.
"If I keep going, my shoulder will break. Are you okay with that?"
"Woof!"
"Do you want me to die?"
"Whine."
Even so, Aji seemed displeased that it couldn't play anymore. With a sullen expression, it started circling around me and glaring.
Hmph. Not a chance.
"What are you going to do? If you make me throw the ball right now, just watch. I'll become a body that can no longer lift its arms, I'll groan from the aftereffects, and eventually drop dead at some point."
"Woof!"
"What? I won't die just because I don't have arms? Nonsense. I could fall down the stairs and die because I can't raise my arm to grab the railing, or terrorists could raid the place and shoot me dead because I can't raise my hands when they tell me to! Having an impaired body part is an incredibly serious threat in and of itself!"
"Woof woof..."
"Just watch if I die. It means the human in this Abyss who obediently throws the ball for you like me will disappear from this world! For a momentary gain, are you going to permanently ruin the goose that lays the golden eggs—no, the machine that throws the ball?"
"Woof... I hate that."
"Haha! Do you understand? If you don't want me to break, guarantee me some break time!"
It was time to teach this intellectually challenged beast the basic concepts of labor efficiency, fatigue limits, and rest. Aji pondered for a moment, then hugged my arm with both of its front legs and brought its mouth close.
What? Is it trying to eat me? Since I can't lay golden eggs, is it telling me to at least become goose meat? Surely it can't be that stupid.
Wait. If it's a dog, it would value goose meat more than a golden egg it can't even eat, right?
Huh? Wait a minute.
"Boss, I'm sorry! I'll throw the ball, so please, just spare my life!"
Just as I tried to pull my arm out, Aji's snout approached faster. Anticipating terrible pain, I squeezed my eyes shut. Then, with a slurping sound, something wet and soft brushed past my shoulder.
Opening my eyes into thin slits, I saw Aji carefully licking my reddened shoulder.
"What's this? I say it hurts and you're applying oil or something?"
"Woof."
I thought so. The King of Beasts wouldn't eat a living human.
No, it's just. Since I can't read its thoughts, I instinctively flinch without realizing it. It can't be helped. It's a self-preservation instinct.
Feeling awkward, I scratched my head and stared at Aji diligently licking me.
It treats me like a completely evil boss. Since I'm not running smoothly, it starts by applying oil first.
"Hey. Even if they say licking by the King of Beasts heals wounds, will this heal? This isn't a wound, it's a body worn out from overuse..."
As I muttered that, I felt a strange coolness around my shoulder. It felt like opening a window in my body and letting the wind pass through, yet it wasn't freezing; it was a refreshing, welcoming sensation.
If it were because of the saliva, there were too many differences from just being wet. Just in case, I lifted my arm.
It was slightly stiff, but my arm moved much more easily than before. No, it might even be smoother than before I started throwing the ball.
"This actually works?"
I had heard that the licking of the King of Beasts was on the level of holy water, but to this extent? Or is Aji special?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Aji inspected my shoulder from all angles and barked as if it was done.
"Woof! It's healed!"
"Your after-service is reliable. Looks like my arm won't be falling off. Still, let's rest a bit since it just healed."
"Woof woof!"
Aji rested its upper body on my thigh and lay down. I parted Aji's fur with my fingers and looked around.
If the Golem's words were true, supplies would be arriving soon. But how on earth would they get here?
Logically, an airdrop would make sense. But can it reach the bottom of the Abyss through normal means? If it can, how do I receive it? They won't make me catch it with my body, right? I'd just become a hamburger patty and only the vampire would be happy.
Ah, come to think of it, there's a vampire too. I turned my head to look at the underground armory far away. The entrance to the underground armory, sitting ominously like a door to the abyss, was firmly shut today as well.
"They really haven't been able to wake up lately."
They say the older you get, the more you sleep. If there's even a 10% truth to the correlation between age and sleep time that people talk about, it's not strange that the vampire's daily average sleep time converges on 24 hours.
On top of that, they have orthostatic hypotension, so they can't easily come out of their wheelchair—no, their coffin. Even so, they pushed themselves to generously bestow precious True Blood just because we formed a master-servant bond. And now they can't even receive a blood supply.
Tsk tsk. Clicking my tongue, I suddenly recalled a certain fact. Blood supply.
"Wait. If the vampire runs out of blood, wouldn't I be in danger?"
If the vampire gets dementia and forgets I'm a human, or gets the midnight munchies and unconsciously tries to grab a snack, wouldn't I be the first to die? Since I have no ability to resist, they would just tear open the wrapper and consume my blood like eating the food inside.
"Blood probably isn't... on the supply list, right?"
I got chills. Shouldn't we do something about this?
Blood packs... aren't the kind of items supplied like this. Are they sending death row inmates instead?
"No, it's a problem if they come too. There's no guarantee I can beat a death row inmate."
It should be fine for a while. If the three-day ration for four people here became a 90-day ration, it means there were originally at least 100 people living here. Even excluding the escapees, a lot of people must have died.
But when I came down here, I didn't see any corpses or bloodstains. The Military State wouldn't have dispatched a cleaning unit, so there's only one possibility. The vampire ate them all.
Thinking about it, it's a bit unsanitary. It's not like a human sewer...
Anyway, if they drank that much blood, they won't crave more for a while. But who knows. An engine that's started needs continuous fuel, so the vampire might steadily need blood in the future.
For me to survive, a blood supply source is needed... Isn't there something like livestock that can keep having its blood squeezed out?
Wait. There is.
Didn't I just find one?
"The Immortal Clan, right. They were called the Immortal Clan."
At the genius idea that popped into my head, I unconsciously sent praise to my own brain. Self-praise is ugly and shameful, but this time, calling myself a 'genius' wouldn't be enough.
The Immortal Clan doesn't die even if their arm is cut off. Similarly, they probably won't die if a bit of blood is drawn. And since they'll keep regenerating by eating food, as long as the supplies are sufficient, we can supply blood almost infinitely.
"Keukeukeu. Good. Perfect. There really is no rule that says you must die."
"Woof?"
"Aji. I just had an insane idea, want to hear it?"
"Woof woof?"
"I know. You're too dumb to understand. That's why I'm telling you, so just listen. I just came up with an idea so brilliant that even the greatest genius in history would slap their forehead."
"Woof? Dumb, me?"
"Keukeukeu. Originally, I was going to make you dispose of the leftover food scraps, but do we really need to do that between us? Let's eat well and live well just the two of us. The leftover food, burnt food, and spoiled food will be given to the Immortal Clan."
"Woof! I'm not dumb!"
"Since it's spoiled food, we should give it to a spoiled person. Besides, the Immortal Clan won't die even if they eat that wrong, right? Instead, they'll detoxify it themselves and produce blood. So here's the thing. We'll squeeze out that blood and sell it to the vampire. The vampire is broke, but the guy claiming to be their disciple is rich, so he'll pay us instead. So..."
*Smack.*
Aji's front paw struck my cheek and passed. My head snapped around at the sudden impact.
It didn't hurt, but I was bewildered. Hah, no way. Slightly bristling, I glared at Aji, but Aji, who was lying resting its head on my leg, was staring right back at me. It's still resting on my leg in this situation? Does it have no awareness of what it just did?
How dare a mere beast strike a human's cheek?
It crossed the line. I really didn't want to, but it's time to slowly prepare the sob-story protocol.
Just as I made that resolution and jumped up to shake Aji off—
I expected Aji to slide off my thigh, but Aji suddenly jumped up first and looked up.
What. Is there something up there? I also raised my head to check above, but there was nothing other than the pitch-black darkness that was always visible.
What. Was it baiting me?
No, Aji doesn't have the intelligence for that.
I raised my head again and glared, scowling deeply. Then, far away, I saw something glowing in the pitch-black space. Is it the sky seen through a hole? If so, the light was growing larger, as if approaching this way.
The merciful Earth Mother Goddess sometimes approaches us, but the lofty Celestial God never easily comes near. When humans want to approach the gods and climb high, the Celestial God punishes them with wind and lightning.
Therefore, what is approaching this way is not the sky. Probably.
"It must be the supplies the Golem mentioned."
Right after, a flapping sound was heard. A massive presence was felt in the darkness. The Abyss is quiet because there is no wind. Yet here, the air sank heavily.
It will arrive even if I'm not impatient. I waited calmly. The undulating darkness in the distance and the periodically flashing light grew closer and closer.
When they reached the range where the light spread, their appearance became much clearer.
A square box wrapped in a waterproof tarp was falling, attached to a large parachute. A small indicator light was attached to the side of the box, flashing. It was a measure taken so that it wouldn't be crushed by the box unseen in the darkness. The talk of 90 days' worth of rations wasn't an empty claim; the box was big enough for a person to fit inside. It must be filled with food.
Perhaps because there was no wind, the supply box landed on the concrete in an upright posture without even swaying. *Thud*, a heavy vibration ran through the concrete.
"Woof!"
Aji bounded over. I also walked toward the landing zone following Aji.
So they drop things into the Abyss attached to parachutes like that. I was probably dropped in the same way. The Military State bastards, at least they used a parachute so I wouldn't break. It's a matter of common sense, but I was honestly a little moved that the Military State adhered to common sense.
As I approached, the sound of fabric swirling was heard, and the parachute was sucked into a small packet. The parachute was also made using the clothing packet system. If they use it like that, they wouldn't have to struggle to roll it up again. It's really ingeniously utilized.
Just as I was grinning and about to open the lid of the box.
Huh?
Why is the unopened sticker peeled off? Did someone peel it off and eat some while delivering?
*'Infiltration successful. It's been a long wait, comrades. Let's infiltrate now.'*
At that moment, a strand of thought was heard from inside.
Comrades? Infiltrate?
That's a thought that shouldn't be coming from a food supply box.
While I stood there dumbfounded, the sound of hurried movement came from inside. The supply box rattled ominously, and something that had been curled up stretched.
*'Let's risk our lives, comrades! To defeat the oppressor, the Military State!'*
Damn Military State. What the hell did they supply?
Before I even had time to prepare for anything, the side of the supply box burst open.