If the opponent is human, Azi is powerless. As the Dog King, Azi can only resist as passively as possible without harming the other party.
But if the opponent is not human, Azi is more reliable than any beast king. Because even while tearing everything apart with bestial ferocity, he would never harm a human.
"Awooooo!!"
Azi, running like an arrow, struck down a wolf. The wolf desperately twisted its body to survive, but Azi precisely grabbed the wolf by the scruff and threw it aside. The wolf tumbled across the ground, twisted a few times, and then went limp.
While one was being sacrificed, the rest of the wolf pack had fled far away. Azi, with blood on his muzzle, threatened the distant wolves. With no thought of revenge even in their dreams, the wolf pack hung their heads like defeated soldiers and fled beyond the plains.
Azi, who had stared with bristling fur until the wolves disappeared, then relaxed his expression and barked brightly. Toward the human he had protected.
"Woof!"
The Dog King is friendly. Even with blood on his muzzle, it's hard for a human to feel fear toward Azi.
However, right now, the humans collecting the corpses of those killed by wolves were directing resentful glances at Azi.
Azi, sensitive to human emotions, felt the subtle hostility hidden in their gaze and tilted his head.
"...Woof?"
"What are you smiling about... My son is dead..."
The woman who had been crying over the straw-covered corpse clutched her skirt tightly. Though invisible, the emotion transmitted made Azi droop his ears and tail.
"In the first place, the wolves shouldn't have attacked... Why do we have to fight wolves?"
"Woof."
"It's because of you! Because you're here...!"
The woman glared at Azi and shouted with a trembling voice.
"If only you weren't here! The wolves wouldn't have invaded this place!"
"Hey, sister-in-law! Calm down!"
"That's enough. The King came to help us!"
"Help, my foot! There were no problems until recently! I was happy with my child! But now everything is over! It's all over!"
People resenting, people stopping them, people watching carefully, people subtly taking sides and egging them on. Amidst all kinds of humans clamoring, Azi gradually curled up his body. His once-bristled fur lay flat again, his vigorously wagging tail tucked tightly as he watched for people's reactions.
Geez, this is why you should live flexibly.
Only after Azi had chased away all the wolves and was being pointed at by people did I finally catch up, panting heavily.
"Hah, hah. Oh my, I'm out of breath. Azi, are you done?"
"Woof..."
"Alright. Good job. Let's go back. They said there's an important meeting."
Azi nodded and immediately started moving. Having just arrived, I had to go back the way I came without even a moment to catch my breath.
"Hey, hey, hey. Slow down. It's hard for a walking human."
I must have gained some stamina because it wasn't as hard as before, but I still couldn't keep up with Azi's pace. As I hurried to follow, Azi suddenly stopped and said,
"Woof. Me, disliked?"
"No. Why?"
Squatting down, Azi spoke without even looking at me.
"Woof woof. Humans, hate me. If, me not here, they say."
"Well, that could be. Not everyone in the world can like dogs."
"I, like humans."
"You should learn to dislike something too. There are many bad humans in the world."
"No bad humans, in world."
"I feel like that should be said the other way around."
Bad humans are as common as dirt. But there are no bad dogs. Because bad dogs all either died or became wolves. Dogs can only be good, and Azi, the king of such dogs, is like an incarnation of goodness itself.
"So the humans who treat you badly are the truly bad ones."
"Woof? You?"
"What about me. When did I ever treat you badly?"
"Promise! Not kept!"
"Did I not keep it because I didn't want to? And originally, was the promise supposed to feel like this? Didn't something change in the middle?"
"I don't know!"
Yeah. How would you know. You and I are just beasts.
But a promise is a promise. No matter what problems arise, it must be kept, and only by keeping it will we understand what problems arose. There's only the difference between keeping it now or postponing it; there's no option to break it. When you can't die, you have no choice but to take things on little by little.
"Don't worry too much. I'll finish it quickly."
"Woof."
I've already planted the seed in their hearts. They will make a cruel choice, grown by feeding on anxiety, fear, and dread.
But they also have one major misconception.
That the world can change with their choice.
The public assembly announced by Orcma was held in Ende, not Oberly. Ende didn't have a space large enough to gather people, so they cleared out the outer tent village to make room. Nevertheless, because more than half of Ende's citizens had gathered, the open ground was packed without room to step.
On that platform. What appeared before everyone in Ende watching was none other than Orcma's Poyna.
"We are currently facing a great calamity."
Originally, Mayor Triver or Sapien would have spoken, and someone with a loud voice would have relayed it through a megaphone. But Poyna said she would speak herself if they just wrote the script, and Mayor Triver considered it briefly but respected her will. Poyna had a loud enough voice that with just a single megaphone, she could project her words resonoundingly.
"Wolves have appeared. The wolf pack that roamed outside Ende has torn through the fences and is eating sheep and people. The cruel and fierce wolves are not satisfied with that—they want to bite and kill everyone inside. To those beasts, we are nothing but prey."
Poyna was eloquent, unlike a typical pig beastkin. Without her words being interrupted by her nasal voice even once, she read through the script. Mayor Triver compared the script with Poyna's words and slowly nodded.
Mayor Triver believes. That all beastkin are equal, and given the opportunity to learn, they can become equal to a certain extent. That beastkin need opportunities. It was a convenient situation, but Mayor Triver thought it wasn't bad. If the pig beastkin survived this war, they would gain pride.
"But they are merely beasts."
However, from here on was content not in the script. Poyna briefly checked Mayor Triver's reaction, then pulled out extra paper prepared beneath the script.
It was a new speech written by Orcma.
"Wolves don't kill all the sheep. Their goal is to fill their stomachs, not to exterminate the sheep. It's the same. The wolves' goal is not to kill all of us. Beasts don't attack cities for such reasons. The wolves have a different purpose."
"...Miss Poyna?"
Poyna believes. That all beastkin are equal, and pig beastkin also deserve the same treatment as them. That given the opportunity, they will show the same abilities. That's why she attacked Oberly and gained power.
And now she had to protect the opportunity she had gained. Even if it meant abandoning everything else.
"The wolves are targeting the Dog King."
Poyna pointed at Azi. Suddenly singled out, Azi's body stirred and his eyes went round.
"The reason wolves attack a mighty city? The reason the Wolf King comes to Ende? It's all because the Dog King is here. In other words, if the Dog King leaves this city. The wolves will withdraw from the city and chase after the Dog King."
"Miss Poyna. This is...! Mmph!"
Urkfang subdued Mayor Triver who tried to step forward. The Orcma who silenced Mayor Triver continued the speech without hesitation.
"We can overcome this threat. But there is a wiser way to avoid it, and there's no reason to make Ende, our home and foundation, into a battlefield."
Murmuring can be heard. But no jeering. They had already spread rumors using the pig beastkin. In Ende, already chaotic from raids and plunder, placing the blame was all too easy.
Poyna shouted more powerfully than ever before.
"I will issue a banishment order to the Dog King."
Orcma's personnel. The agitators brought by the pig beastkin. And the beastkin who heard the rumors and firmly believed them shouted in unison. All of Ende's crowd except the dog beastkin were cheering at that decision.
"Ende will not fight the wolves. Dog King, please leave the city before today ends."
"Woof? Me? Me mean?"
Only now realizing the conversation was about him, Azi perked up his ears and asked back. Before I could give a measured answer, the crowd's voice was heard.
"Leave!"
"Leave!"
Those who normally couldn't find order even if they looked for it are keeping good rhythm at a time like this. The crowd's chanting gradually sounded like one voice.
Azi is the Dog King. He is sensitive not only to humans but also to the emotions of crowds. At the collective hostility from the rejecting humans, Azi gradually shrank back. His gaze, not knowing what to do, turned to me. As if asking what to do now.
Sorry, I don't have an answer for you right now.
'...'
The regressor didn't react even in this situation. Because they already knew my plan. But they were so displeased that killing intent was streaming out of them right now.
It's a good thing I told them in advance. If I hadn't given them a heads-up, some of them might have lost their right arms.
"Uh, eh?"
"Stop this farce!"
It was then. Mayor Triver, who had broken free from Urkfang's restraint, leaped onto the platform. The flustered orcs tried to stop him, but Poyna quickly gestured to hold them back.
'Shouldn't we stop the mayor?'
'Trivers is a prestigious dog beastkin. If we stop him, there will definitely be talk behind our backs.'
'But if we let him speak...'
'I have a way.'
Amidst the orcs who quickly exchanged opinions and decided to leave him alone, Mayor Triver panted and shouted on the platform.
"This is a covenant! We must fight the wolves! If we run or betray, we will all lose our pride!"
"-Dog beastkin would say that. I won't stop you. Dog beastkin, take up your weapons and go protect the Dog King. You have the freedom to choose."
Poyna said with a sneer.
If you want to fight the Wolf King, then fight. I won't stop you. It's a common rhetoric that forces one's own opinion under the guise of choice, but for orcs who use that to practice politics, they were no different from humans now.
"Not just because of the promise with the Dog King! It's because of the treaty with the vassal state!"
But can they truly accept a real equal fight?
Why did Ende become a city of free beastkin? Though a public official rules, it became a city where not many humans actually live, holding only power.
To truly become equal, what must one fight against?
Mayor Triver shouted with the feeling of vomiting blood.
"Ende's autonomy was obtained on the condition of fighting the wolves! Ende is the shield of the vassal state! A bulwark to counter the ever-growing wolf threat!"