EP.97 Promise and Stubbornness
Naturally enough, the Immortal's and the officer's progress was not smooth.
After some searching, the two found Aji lying on his stomach and dozing in a corner of the first floor. That much was easy.
The problem was that only that part was easy.
"Oh! Dog lady!"
Ears perked up, tail swished. Sensing a presence, Aji opened his eyes to slits and surveyed the humans calling him.
And then immediately growled.
"Grrr."
The visible attitude was quite different from usual. It wasn't even mere unfamiliarity. Even compared to when Aji first met the officer, that had been like meeting an old friend.
This growling was directed solely at the Immortal. It was a color of vigilance born from fundamental rejection.
Sensing something ominous, the officer looked at the Immortal.
"Trainee. Don't tell me."
"Haha! Come to think of it, it was like this when I first came here too! It seems the king of beasts doesn't much like our race!"
"Grrrr."
Earth-folk.
The immortal race that offered their entire tribe to the Earth Mother, becoming the bodies closest to the Earth Mother.
True to that name, the Earth-folk's flesh and blood resembled earth and lava. Their skin was hard but stiff like clumped mud, and their blood flowed hot but solidified inside their bodies when cooled. Like the Earth Mother who made all the world her flesh.
Because of this, while perhaps less so than a vampire reeking of blood... Aji did not feel any closeness to them.
"But it's fine! Originally, when first taming a beast, they all bare their teeth and growl! Surpassing this and communicating is precisely the wisdom of humanity taming beasts, is it not!"
The Immortal shouted confidently and strode toward Aji.
"Dog lady! Come, let's build our friendship!"
"Woof."
CRASH.
Aji irritably swatted the Immortal's right arm. With a sound like a mound of earth bursting, his right arm snapped at an odd angle with a crunch.
The Immortal, having instantly become a man with a reversed joint, looked down at his hand, then scratched his head with his remaining left hand and stepped back. Only after he stepped back did Aji stop growling.
The officer glared at him, who had returned without any results, with eyes as cold as could be.
"...Hey."
"Hahahaha! This beast is exceedingly picky! It's regrettable, friend!"
The Immortal raised his dangling right arm and shouted.
"I don't think I can do it!"
"Then what are you going to do about it!!"
The lieutenant colonel who finally exploded approached the Immortal with an angry expression. The Immortal realigned his dislocated right arm and let out an awkward smile.
"Haha. I'll leave this part to the lieutenant colonel who is a true human! Still, since Dog lady is a dog, she'll follow the lieutenant colonel better... Ugh!"
A hard military boot struck his shin. Unable to continue speaking from the pain shooting up his shin, the Immortal bent over.
Having rebuked the incompetent one, the officer turned her gaze away from the groaning Immortal.
"Unbelievable. To think I even used a World Tree leaf for this incompetent one."
"Haha! I have nothing to say! But don't worry! At least our tribe doesn't eat and run!"
"I'd rather you disappeared from my sight right now."
In the end, this incompetent one accomplished nothing. The assistant's assistance was nothing but chattering noisily beside her.
As always, the success or failure of the mission now depended entirely on the officer's ability.
The officer passed him and headed toward Aji.
"Step aside. I'll do it."
"I entrust you! Please accomplish what I could not!"
Leaving behind words that could be encouragement or mockery, the officer approached Aji. Aji, who had coldly swatted away the Immortal, wagged his tail and showed delight at the officer.
The officer shouted in front of Aji.
"King of dogs, Puppy. Rise!"
"Woof!"
Aji sprang up. The officer looked at Aji, who was grinning slightly below her, and spoke clearly.
"Listen well, King of dogs. I am Kalis Kritz, lieutenant colonel of the Military Nation, appointed as the general director of Tantalus by order of the Military Nation."
"Woof? Director? Is it something to eat?"
"...I am Lieutenant Colonel Kalis Kritz."
Only after explaining it simply did Aji understand that the officer's words were a self-introduction. Aji wagged his tail and responded cheerfully.
"Woof! Nice to meet you! I'm Puppy!"
"...What was the one who named this King of dogs thinking? Of all names, why this kind of name."
Muttering with dissatisfaction, the officer straightened her posture again and spoke.
"Puppy."
"Woof! My name! Did you call me?"
"I, as a human, demand of you."
"Woof..."
Upon hearing the word "demand," Aji instantly drooped his ears and tail.
"Demand, dislike. Annoying."
"You must listen. I am human, and you are the King of dogs. You must follow my words."
"Woof..."
Aji stood askew, showing extreme annoyance. The officer didn't know whether to blame this delinquent attitude or be grateful that he was still listening despite it.
Regardless, the officer had work to do. Clearing her throat, the officer spoke in a commanding tone.
"Puppy. I—no, I demand of you. From now on, when I call you, you must follow me immediately."
"Woof. Got it."
She received a positive answer but the officer was not satisfied. Aji's answer was so quick that it felt too light.
The officer added words for confirmation.
"...Even if another human calls you, you must ignore them and follow my words."
"Woof? That won't do."
And the rejection was equally fast and, at the same time, firm.
The officer gritted her teeth. This meant that if the laborer set his mind to interfering with the officer... it meant she could never bring the King of dogs outside Tantalus.
With her mind growing anxious, the officer spoke.
"Why? You should obey human commands! Therefore, you must follow the command I give now! Since I have commanded you not to listen to him, according to the pact, you must ignore their words!"
"Wooof..."
"Answer properly. Keep the promise!"
"Promise, it's not like that..."
"No, you must follow!"
People can always see their own reflection in the reactions of those they face.
Aji looked at the officer as if looking at a child throwing a tantrum, and facing those calm eyes, the officer realized she was being stubborn.
The officer had neither power nor justification now. All she had was one promise from long ago that humans had made with dogs. Leaning on something whose very identity she didn't know, she was being stubborn, demanding the King of dogs to follow her command.
The first emotion the officer felt was shame. While she clenched her mouth shut, Aji spoke as if soothing or persuading the officer who was throwing a tantrum.
"I, follow human words. That's not obedience. It's trust. Like the promise we shared long ago, if I follow humans, if I trust and entrust my body, it's the hope that they would lean on me that much in return."
"Right! So you must follow my...!"
"You, human. But, you're not the only human. Woof."
Aji, who calmly conveyed the truth that she was just one among countless humans—a truth everyone knows but hesitates to recall—carefully added.
"...And, woof. You are my friend, but I, am not your friend. You... dislike me, don't you."
The officer's body jolted.
Her true feelings had been seen through by a mere dog. Moreover, the King of dogs had guessed her feelings and even showed consideration.
She had been defeated in both strength and character.
That fact gnawed at the officer's pride.
The Lords of All Creation are human supremacists. They are a group that even sees beastmen as inferior to humans. They fundamentally treat beasts with hatred.
The driving force of that emotion was her unfortunate childhood along with the beastly brutality she experienced that day.
Especially for Kalis, who had lost her only family—her father—to beasts, this kind of defeat was unacceptable.
"Shut up and follow my words!"
Even when the officer shouted, losing her reason, Aji didn't bat an eye. He only looked at her with large eyes full of worry and concern.
That greatly annoyed the officer, and she reacted in a fit.
"Don't look at me with those eyes! A mere beast!"
The officer turned her eyes. Tantalus's holding cell, this place full of tools to restrain prisoners, still had remnants of them.
Among them, what caught the officer's eye was an iron chain with its middle broken, dangling on the floor. Quickly picking up the iron chain, the officer pulled it threateningly and walked toward Aji.
The Immortal, guessing what the officer was about to do, tried to stop her.
"Uh, lieutenant colonel. Wait. Isn't that a bit too much? You should reconsider..."
"Shut up, you incompetent fool! If you had done your job properly, I wouldn't be doing this!"
The Immortal scratched the back of his head with a truly troubled expression. Meanwhile, the officer made a loop with the iron chain and threw it at Aji, who was still standing without resistance.
Clank.
The makeshift loop of iron chain landed around Aji's neck. Even as the chain tightened around his neck, Aji only frowned and did not resist. Until the chain wrapped twice around Aji's neck, Aji only looked at the officer without a word.
'I don't like it. A mere dog who can't even resist a human acting as if she understands everything...!'
Even after pouring out curses and wrapping a chain around his neck, the officer's anger did not subside.
If he had followed her from the start, this wouldn't have happened. If he had been cooperative with the mission, if he had obediently followed her, if he had helped her successfully complete the mission.
The problem was that a mere dog had gone against her will.
"A beast like you is fine with a collar and being dragged around! Calling yourself a king and wearing a human body, in the end you're nothing but a beast! Trying to resolve things with words was a mistake. It should have been like this from the start...!"
Just as she was about to pour out those tangled feelings onto the King of dogs.
...Heavenly Sword Qi.
The space at the end of the corridor rippled, and a wind that shouldn't exist in the bottomless pit blew.
What followed was a sharp killing intent like a blade.
Immediately after, the wind's blade raced through the first-floor corridor. Filling the spacious area, it churned everything in all directions as it headed toward the officer.
Precisely, toward the officer's right arm gripping the chain.
By the time the officer perceived that killing intent, the sword qi had already drawn close. While the officer stood blankly, not fully understanding the situation yet.
"Lieutenant Colonel!"
The Immortal who had urgently rushed over blocked her front.
The wind's blade slashed him. A large wound was carved from his right shoulder to his left flank, and the following shockwave turned his skin to rags. The wind that had lost its edge struck his body fiercely and then ran wild in all directions like a runaway horse.
In less than a second, the Immortal became as if his entire body had been slashed to ribbons by tiny blades.
Even knowing that he was the Immortal, it was not easy to maintain composure seeing a person being torn apart before one's eyes. The officer unconsciously called his name.
"Rash...!"
However, the Immortal Rash was a monster who, even if a bit lacking in power, had been fine even when his arm was severed.
With a thud like a drum bursting, the Immortal's body staggered briefly, but the Immortal soon stomped his right foot and let out a shout of spirit.
"Hah!"
It was still a situation where his vital energy was overflowing. When the Immortal drew up his power, his wounds healed instantly. Torn muscles regained their original form and ragged skin became smooth again.
Having regenerated his body in a single breath, the Immortal clenched his fist and spoke to the existence approaching from beyond.
"Hey, attacking with a blade right off the bat is a bit too much, don't you think, boy?"
The regressor did not answer those words. He didn't even glance at the Immortal.
With both eyes, he only looked at Aji and the chain hanging around his neck.
"Chain."
A voice as cold as if carved from ice carried on the wind.
The voice was neither loud nor was the distance close, but that boyish voice could be heard clearly as if speaking right beside her ear.
"Put it down."
The regressor spoke, exuding restrained killing intent.