EP.91 The Outcast Game
Lieutenant Callis is an officer of the Military Nation.
She was proud of that fact.
Having stood out since the Military Middle School, she naturally entered the Senior Military Academy, and after achieving excellent grades, she finally became an honorable officer of the Military Nation.
The moment she graduated from the academy, she was granted Level 3 citizenship. As her Level 3 citizenship was engraved into her bio-terminal, Callis shed tears for the first time, overwhelmed by a surging sense of grievance.
There were various privileges that came with Level 3 citizenship, but the most significant among them was the acquisition of inheritance rights.
From Level 3 citizens onward, one could inherit property.
Callis, having become an officer, headed first to the Veterans' Affairs Office and inherited her father's estate before it was incinerated.
A house with a yard, an old but luxurious automated carriage, a gold-foiled sword, and special military gear.
If Callis hadn't claimed them, they would have been confiscated into the state treasury. Childhood memories that would have been dug up and buried under the shovels of military engineers.
Callis was proud of the fact that she had secured them entirely. She had protected the memories that might have been buried under concrete with her own hands and her own abilities.
'I can't stop there.'
If she had worked so desperately to get this far, naturally she should aim even higher, shouldn't she?
Level 4 citizens could use all facilities existing in the Military Nation without restriction. They could even own land, employ servants privately, and upon marriage, temporarily grant Level 3 citizenship to their spouse.
Above all, Level 3 citizens only had the right to inherit... but from Level 4 onward, one could bequeath their property.
The inheritance from her father, and all the wealth she would build upon it, could be passed down to the next generation without any loss.
She would leave it behind.
Level 4 was worth striving for that alone.
However, to reach Level 4, talent alone was not enough. It required the right opportunity, sufficient luck, and the ability to seize them; only then could one barely reach Level 4.
Even her father, who was an excellent officer... achieved a two-rank special promotion because he chose the right place to die, and thus reached Level 4.
If her father hadn't been near the headquarters in crisis, if his death had been even slightly less heroic, Callis wouldn't have received the inheritance regardless of her level.
'Fortunately, an opportunity has come for me too.'
Just as she became an officer, 'they' approached her. Overflowing with ambition but lacking the courage to throw herself into danger, she took their hand to plunge herself into hell.
She was assigned to unreasonable incidents, but Lieutenant Callis fully utilized her abilities to achieve meritorious deeds. She even received a medal at the New Year's speech.
After such things repeated a few more times, she became a Lieutenant Colonel at a relatively young age.
After that, the new mission 'they' entrusted her with.
To infiltrate the Abyssal Pit, Tartaros, and grasp the internal situation.
To be exact.
'To figure out what factors might interfere when securing the Dog King.'
Tartaros was a demonic realm one should never enter, but... the danger level had decreased significantly due to the recent prison break incident. Even the laborer sent down first, a petty criminal used for reconnaissance called 'Litmus' by the Military Nation, was reportedly still alive.
Although it was an order she had to follow anyway, Lieutenant Callis readily accepted it because of such calculations. If she successfully carried out her mission here, 'they' wouldn't be able to discard her either.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Callis volunteered as a supply monitor and fell into Tartaros, pretending it was a mistake.
However, plans always go awry for the worse.
As if it was destined to be so.
Immediately after the officer fell, I took time every day to play with Aji. I slipped the heavy disc between my fingers and let out a sigh.
"Ah. I used to be able to just play with him half-heartedly. Now that a rival has appeared, I can't slack off."
The affinity built up over three months was still there, but a puppy whose tail wags easily rushes in as soon as it sees a human, so I had to keep his eyes on me.
I threw the disc. Aji jumped.
Leaping up to catch one in his mouth, kicking off the wall to snatch another, and simultaneously stretching his body, which had saved some spare energy. Aji's body bounced up in mid-air. It was as if he had stepped on the air to change direction.
Having successfully caught the other disc as well, Aji landed on the ground and his eyes shone with joy.
"Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof!"
"Triple disc, success!"
"Rufffff!"
Difficult challenges, repeated attempts, and thrilling success always provide an immense sense of reward. Aji bounded in place a few times, savoring the joy.
When I took the disc out of his mouth, Aji shouted with sparkling eyes.
"Woof! Competition, good!"
"What competition? The only competition you know is competing for food."
Does he think parroting difficult words makes it human speech? You have to know the meaning to use human words.
As I snorted, Aji smiled brightly and said.
"Monopoly, hate! Get lazy! Like you!"
"...Monopoly? Where did you learn a word like that?"
"Woof woof! Ball! More!"
"This is a disc... Anyway, since we've reached three discs, what should we do next? Hmm."
Scratching my chin in thought, I snapped my fingers as an idea suddenly came to me.
Oh, wait. Could it be that angle? Is it finally time to try that?
"Hey, Aji. Do you have any thoughts on four discs?"
"Woof? I, like! But can't!"
If I throw them, Aji would be happy. It's playing, after all. But it meant there was no angle for it, no matter what.
Since Aji couldn't step on mid-air, it was an objective self-assessment. It was because he couldn't change direction in the air without a foothold.
"But what if I become a foothold for you?"
"Woof?"
"Yeah. Jump and catch one, step on me and catch one, kick off the wall and catch one, and with the last bit of momentum, catch one. Like this!"
"Woof! I, like! You?"
"We'll just try it once."
Until now, Aji had only read my movements, but from the four discs onward, we had to match our breathing. He had to carefully observe my position, and when ready, step on me and leap up at the right timing to reach them.
Alright, let's see.
I knelt on one knee and braced my other knee firmly with my arm. So my body wouldn't shake even when Aji stepped on it.
"I'll throw them one by one. Aim for the closest one first."
"Woof!"
"Now, start!"
Swish, swish, swish, swish.
I threw four discs in succession at short intervals. In order from closest to farthest. After that, seeing Aji running towards me, I fixed my body firmly.
...But wait. Aji is the Dog King, but he's in human form right now. Then his weight would be roughly...
Uh-oh.
"Wait, step—"
Before I could finish speaking, Aji leaped aiming at me.
An impact similar to being hit by a carriage slammed into me.
Tir, seeing me rolling on the concrete, scolded me as soon as she saw me.
"That's why you should have been careful with your body!"
"I'm fine. It's all healed, see?"
I showed her my arms and legs. The scrapes I got from the concrete earlier had completely disappeared.
One of the powers the Beast King possessed: healing by licking. The Beast King, a conceptual being, had the ability to heal by licking, and Aji had utilized that ability to its fullest on me.
Tir looked at the already healed wounds and let out a sigh.
"...I don't like it, but it's a relief that the Beast King is here. By licking... wounds can heal."
"Why don't you like it?"
"How can I be close to the Dog King? We were once mortal enemies."
"Aji is the Dog King of this generation. Compared to when you guys were fighting, there must be a difference of dozens of generations."
"Even so, the essence is the same. The discomfort doesn't go away. And."
Poke. Tir poked my shoulder with two fingers. Her haughty gaze looked at me with dissatisfaction.
"Dozens of generations, you say. How mischievous. It was merely a few hundred years ago."
"I don't know why you'd attach 'merely' to a few hundred years, but it's actually true? The Dog King's lifespan is relatively short."
"Doesn't he wear a human body and age like a human? Given that, how can such a fortunate Dog King be said to have a short lifespan?"
"He fights with the Wolf King every single day."
"The Wolf King?"
"Yeah, don't you know that story? It comes up often in fairy tales."
At that, Tir forgot her worries for a moment and looked at me with eyes full of expectation. Her blood-red eyes gleamed brightly.
For the progenitor hungry for a story, I recited the fairy tale exactly as I remembered it.
The Dog King and the Wolf King.
The two were originally friendly beast brothers. The two beasts, who liked to form packs, would cooperate to corner prey and bite their necks to end their lives.
The one cornering the prey was mostly the small and agile dog, and the one ending the prey's life was the role of the wolf with sharp teeth. The two, who were smart, agile, and well-coordinated, helped each other and spent idyllic days of hunting.
Then one day, a shepherd visited the place where they lived. Driving a cloud-like flock of sheep.
The shepherd was looking for grass to feed the sheep. Looking around, the shepherd spotted the dog who had come out to scout and spoke to it.
'Hey there, little wolf. Will you guide me to a land full of meadow grass? Then I'll give you something delicious.'
Meadow grass was of no value to the dog. The dog guided the shepherd to the mid-slope full of meadow grass. Seeing the wide hills covered in green grass, the shepherd rejoiced greatly.
'You are such a good wolf! Thank you! Here, I'll give you a meaty bone!'
The dog, who got a delicious bone just for pointing out a grass patch it couldn't even eat. Excited, the dog held the bone in its mouth and ran straight to the wolf to tell it the news.
That the human driving the sheep gave such delicious meat. Boasting about what it had obtained, it shared the spoils.
The wolf, hearing the story, got excited and ran over, sinking its teeth into the neck of a young lamb grazing on the outermost edge. If the enraged shepherd hadn't struck the wolf with his staff, it wouldn't have ended with just one.
The wolf, beaten on its back, held the limp sheep in its mouth and quickly fled.
The hunt was successful, but neither the dog nor the wolf was satisfied. Because one young lamb was too small for the two of them to eat.
The dog longed for the meaty bone, and the wolf feared the heavy wooden staff.
The wolf wanted the dog to help it during the next hunt. While it hunted the largest sheep, it ordered the dog to draw the shepherd's attention.
And then, claiming its wounds needed to heal, it devoured the one young lamb they caught in a single bite.
The dog only got a single bone with not a trace of meat left on it.
The next day. As planned, the two split up and approached the flock of sheep. It was when the Dog King, who was supposed to draw attention first, appeared in front of the shepherd.
The shepherd, discovering the dog hovering before his eyes, leaned on his hard wooden staff and stood up. However, instead of swinging it, he waved his hand broadly and said.
'Good wolf. Tell me where the big guy who took my sheep last time is. Then I'll give you a bone full of meat.'
What the shepherd gives is a bone full of meat. What the wolf gives is a bone without a single piece of meat.
After contemplating for a moment, the dog accepted the shepherd's offer. The dog led the shepherd to where the wolf was coming from, and the hiding wolf was beaten black and blue and driven out of the pasture.
From that day on, the dog lived with humans, and the wolf, whenever the full moon rose, would howl, recalling the pain and sense of betrayal of that day....
"...It's a story about how the Dog King and the Wolf King came to fight each other, don't you know? The Wolf King must have existed back then too."
Tir, having heard my story, wore a fascinated expression. Having been deeply engrossed in the story and then snapping out of it, Tir lifted her gaze slightly and recalled an old memory.
"Wolf.... Ah. I see. I forgot. That one who led the wild dogs and charged."
"Makes sense. To vampires, the Dog King or the Wolf King would have been the same. Whether it's the dog, a friend of humans, or the wolf that rushes in smelling blood."
"Regardless, it is an interesting story. I heard it for the first time today."
"This is a story from a fairy tale book."
"There was no one beside me to tell me such fairy tales, after all... Though there is now."
Tir snapped her fingers. A shadow rose beside me and formed the shape of an antique chair. Tir sat there and looked up at me with worry.
"Whatever happens, don't get hurt. If you get hurt, who will tell me stories and make my heart beat?"
"It was just a little blood. I'll consider what I shed as given to you."
"Nonsense."
A small hand slapped my right arm. It didn't hurt at all.
After that, Tir grabbed my right arm with that hand and whispered to me with utmost earnestness.
"I mean your blood tastes bad. So keep it safely inside your body. Don't spill a single drop."
To Tir, who spoke with such deep concern, I had to reassure her several times that I understood.