WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 171: A Distant Tale: Speaker of All Dogs

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『Military State Communications Officer Yuel addresses all units stationed near Amitenggrad.』

The voice that rang out around Amitenggrad was stiff and dry, much like the military state itself.

One voice, from a single person, was relayed to nearby units through dozens of golems synchronized with her.

The capital defense force, military police, supply units, and guard units alike stopped what they were doing and quietly listened to the voice issuing from the communications golems.

『At present, four Level 5 threats are rapidly approaching the military state's capital. They are advancing in a straight line from the northeast. Estimated time of arrival: approximately two hours.』

Amitenggrad, the military state's capital, had communications facilities. Communications officers were also kept on standby in case those heavy, conspicuous facilities were damaged for some reason. There was certainly at least one, though no one knew how many more there might be. It was classified information.

In any case, this was an order delivered directly from the military state's center, so every unit held its breath and waited for what came next.

『General units below Level 3 cannot stop them. Level 4 units can conduct delaying operations, but are incapable of inflicting meaningful damage. For an efficient suppression operation, at least a Level 5 unit and two of the Six Star Generals are estimated to be necessary.』

The communications officer's calm assessment forced every nearby unit to fall silent.

A Level 5 unit and two of the Six Star Generals. That was a force meant for war. It meant only the finest elite troops, the kind brought out to fight an entire country, could suppress those four efficiently.

And efficient suppression did not necessarily mean friendly casualties would be low.

How many would die in this little war?

『However, their aggression is extremely low. No fatalities have occurred in any engagement so far, and even if we vacate the area, civilian casualties are expected to be minor or nonexistent. For this reason, avoiding engagement is judged reasonable. An order for active avoidance of engagement is hereby issued to all units near Amitenggrad.』

Some sighed in relief upon hearing that civilians would not be harmed. Others frowned.

Relief that they would not have to fight opponents that powerful.

Dissatisfaction that soldiers were expected to surrender even the capital.

Arguments that those powerful figures would not live forever anyway, and would leave if treated reasonably.

Counterarguments that allowing the homeland to be ravaged without resistance was disgraceful.

Shouts telling anyone unhappy with it to disobey orders and go fight.

Self-justification that they were only retreating because of orders, when normally they would lay down their lives to eliminate intruders.

『Guard units expected to fall along their route are to avoid them directly. Take all equipment and proceed to the Third Supply Base. All capital defense forces, excluding the Defense Command, are hereby issued evacuation orders.』

Orders had to be obeyed. Officers immediately hurried their soldiers to pack their belongings and gather their equipment.

To actively avoid engagement.

Yet no one in the military state knew.

The four they intended to avoid had already slipped inside Amitenggrad under cover of night.

High-ranking vampires could control darkness and swim through deep shadows.

Far above even Amitenggrad's tallest building, a pair of blood-red, ominous stars looked down upon the military state's capital.

"...So this is the military state's capital."

Amitenggrad, which Tyrkanzyaka had heard was the military state's capital, looked far different from what she had expected.

There was no grand royal castle built from wealth gathered from every corner of the land. No immense wall stretched around the city, either.

Instead, Amitenggrad seemed ready to crush enemies through sheer mass, like a gigantic dragon curled up in slumber.

The residential districts were built in tightly stacked layers for density and warmth.

Dim streetlights stood in rows between square-cut blocks.

Some places radiated light like lighthouses even through the pitch-black darkness.

Countless people walked the streets at night like corpses.

After the sun had fully set in the west, when twilight had faded and shadows covered the sky, Tyrkanzyaka floated alone in the air and looked out over Amitenggrad.

"...It is immensely large. It feels as though dozens of cities have been joined together. People look as small as ants, yet the city cannot be taken in at a glance. I think I finally understand what it means for there to be countless people."

Shei, floating with wind wrapped around her entire body, answered.

"It's the most populated city in the military state. Its population alone is close to a million..."

"How are we supposed to find Hyu among all those people?"

"So that was what you were wondering. Don't worry. There are ways."

It was impossible even for Shei to pick out one person from the countless people filling the city. But Shei was a regressor, and she had one or two methods prepared for situations like this.

"There are three ways to find someone in the military state."

Shei intended to explain them one by one, but Tyrkanzyaka spoke without hesitation.

"Use all of them."

"No. That's not realistic."

"Writing a letter with one's right hand does not stop the left hand from moving. If there are three methods, why can they not all be used? If a method cannot be used in the first place, why include it among the options?"

Shei had only meant to list the choices and explain a little about the country, but the sudden lecture left her somewhat deflated.

"First, we can tell the military state to find him. They're experts at finding their own citizens. The problem is..."

"Good. Let us go."

As though problems did not matter at all, Tyrkanzyaka readily waved her fingers. The massive coffin floating in midair began moving forward through darkness and shadow.

Shei hurriedly moved Skywarbler to follow after her.

"...No! You need to hear the problems too! The military state won't just listen to us!"

"If we seek him, they will move as well. If they quietly listen to our demands, all the better."

"What if the military state tries to take him hostage?"

"They would?"

Tyrkanzyaka gave a faint smile.

"Would that truly happen? They were too afraid of us to fight. Would they dare keep him while provoking conflict with us? Not unless they wish to see their country burn."

Tyrkanzyaka had grasped the military state's intentions precisely.

Born the daughter of a poor physician, she had become a Progenitor and ruled as an absolute being, leading tens of thousands of troops alone. Even renowned kingdoms had knelt before her and sworn loyalty, and she had found herself involved in politics whether she wanted it or not.

"Active avoidance of engagement. What grand packaging. No matter how they dress it up, they would not want to spend their strength on us when we bear no particular hostility toward them. Then there is no reason not to use them."

As Tyrkanzyaka muttered and looked below, she spotted a figure.

The King of Dogs walked through the military state's streets as though they were her own yard.

Tyrkanzyaka narrowed her eyes.

"Either way, I must settle matters with the military state. Not with the Progenitor, but with the King of Dogs."

District 1, Capital Defense Headquarters.

An intruder appeared at the headquarters where they had been dividing their forces again and again, scattering them across the area.

The guards did not notice the intruder. She entered far too confidently, her clothes were too strange, and she carried no hostility whatsoever.

The intruder walked confidently through the front gate, spotted the first person in her path, and spoke at once.

"Human. Call your king."

Major Liktos of the Capital Defense Headquarters blinked.

The evacuation order had just come down, and everyone was frantic. Liktos was already dissatisfied that the proud rank insignia on his uniform was being used for the work of running away, when a beastkin girl suddenly approached with her tail wagging energetically and made a strange demand.

"What? How did you get in here?"

The beastkin answered.

"Call your king."

"This is a secure facility. Leave immediately."

"Call your king."

"If you don't leave at once, I'll attack!"

"Call your king."

Seeing the beastkin repeat the same words as though she were a parrot, Major Liktos lost all patience. He drew a military saber and aimed it at Azzy.

"That was your last warning! I'll kill you!"

Boom.

Liktos stepped forward and swung the saber. The concrete floor cracked beneath that single step. Using an Earth Qi Art to pull himself across the ground in an instant, he brought the saber down as though splitting firewood. The sound of it cutting through the air was fierce.

Crunch.

The sound of iron being crushed between teeth was many times more chilling.

The impact nearly dislocated Major Liktos's wrist, forcing him to stagger back. After steadying his trembling body, he looked down at his beloved sword.

Half the blade above the handle was gone.

It had not been chipped by teeth. Teeth had bitten through it.

When Major Liktos stared in shock with wide eyes,

"Call your king."

Only then did Major Liktos look at the beastkin girl again.

The girl stood with her ears and tail upright against the backdrop of the dark, full moon. Her gaze was friendly, yet there was an indescribable dignity and authority to it.

Like a kind king who cherished the people...

Major Liktos, who had helped bring down the kingdom and establish the military state, clenched his teeth in revulsion.

"We have no king, beast. Unlike your kind."

It was meant to insult beastkin and provoke her.

Yet the beastkin girl nodded and accepted those words.

"King, mayor, village chief, chairman, ruler, lord, emperor, general. Name doesn't matter. I just need to meet your representative."

The representative of the defense headquarters was Defense Commander Buidun, a general who had earned many achievements across numerous battlefields with formidable martial strength. One of the military state's great stars.

But this was the relatively safe capital. Buidun's qi was formidable even compared to other generals, but it was nowhere near the level of the Six Star Generals.

If that girl harmed the general...

The headquarters would be destroyed.

"You think I'll open the way for an intruder like you?!"

Major Liktos shouted, veins bulging in his neck. It was a cry of desperate resolve, but also a signal to those observing the situation from behind.

Liktos prayed inwardly that someone would understand.

Ironically, the first to understand the meaning behind those words was the beastkin girl.

The girl let her tail droop and answered regretfully.

"You don't like talking to me."

It was an assertion, but also the truth.

Major Liktos hated the monster who had bitten through a flying blade, a blade coated in qi. The fact that it was a beastkin only intensified his fear and disgust.

The girl looked at the one who directed fear and disgust toward her. She felt the fear in his eyes. She also knew that she was the source of it.

It was regrettable, but unavoidable.

That was what humans were.

"Even so, you need to keep your promise."

"I don't know that promise! Stop talking nonsense. If you want to meet someone, follow the proper procedures!"

Of course, Major Liktos had no intention of allowing such a meeting even if she followed the procedures, nor did he have the authority to do so. It was only an excuse to buy time.

And Major Liktos's efforts were rewarded.

"You bought us time well, Major Liktos!"

Another voice rang out. Major Liktos and the beastkin girl looked up at once. A one-star general stood at the front entrance of the headquarters building, twitching his mustache as he raised one arm.

"Your efforts were not meaningless! Thanks to you, we have prepared ourselves!"

At the general's gesture, heavily armed troops came down from every part of the defense headquarters.

That one was a captain, that one a major. Every soldier was at least a company-grade officer, and field-grade officers were common.

They had been about to follow the evacuation order, so all of them had already gathered their gear and weapons.

Even excluding the forces who had already departed, there were two hundred elite officers. Considering that anyone below a certain level would only get in the way, this was the greatest force that could be assembled in the capital at once.

"All forces!"

Click.

The officers inserted their military gear into packets in unison.

Clatter, clatter.

Massive iron plates split apart and rose like scales. Along the Aki Avatar's pattern, blue alchemical light formed between the aligned iron plates and chains. Steel locked together, scales covered their bodies, and the officers transformed into warriors wearing full-body armor.

Swords, spears, guns, axes. Wearing seamless armor and holding weapons suited to their qi, the officers slowly advanced. Cold qi swirled around their blades.

Even as some fastened their gear, they hesitated and asked again.

"Wait! Wasn't an evacuation order issued? We aren't supposed to confront them!"

"Now that they've caught up to us, there is no other way. Are you going to hand over the commander like this?"

The general who barked at them turned back to Azzy.

"Disarm and surrender at once!"

The girl, who had been studying the general closely, said,

"...Not enough."

She shook her head even after seeing the deputy commander of the defense headquarters, a general with one shining star.

Her voice was firm and absolute.

"You aren't qualified. Can't represent. You're not even a fragment of your king."

Who could tell a military-state general that they lacked the qualifications? A Level 4 citizen, commanding countless soldiers and wielding qi that had attained the realm of heaven and earth.

The general bristled at being treated with such contempt.

"We are a military state born from overthrowing the royal family! There is no king! If you seek a king, go to another country!"

At those words, Azzy raised her head.

A gleam shone in her softly curved eyes. It was not the stars in the night sky, but countless sharp weapons. Every sort of weapon, holding savage light and concealing killing intent beneath it.

It was familiar.

They had made promises to the King of Dogs, then used the King of Dogs as payment for promises they never intended to keep. Yet the King of Dogs had always, always been betrayed.

The former king and Azzy were different individuals, but the existence of the king had been inherited. So too had the knowledge of how meaningless promises became in the face of danger.

Even so.

"It doesn't have to be a king. A general is fine, if they are qualified to face me. If they are qualified to represent humans, even in part."

Even so, Azzy had to find a human, or an organization, that would honor the promise.

Because a shepherd was needed to defeat wolves.

"Come before me, and remember the promise."

A black dot appeared on Azzy's forehead.

The general panicked. At first, he thought someone had shot Azzy in the forehead.

Then he noticed that no gunshot had sounded.

Then the dot on Azzy's forehead began to grow.

It was not a bullet wound.

This phenomenon itself was not normal.

Scrape, scrape.

A sound like a sharp carving knife scratching and gouging out space could be heard. As it grew louder, black cracks formed along Azzy's forehead. The cracks warped and joined together before eventually taking shape.

Someone saw it and muttered,

"...A crown?"

Just as they said, a crown that looked woven from plant stems appeared out of empty air.

It began at Azzy's forehead and extended to the back of her head. As though it were growing by encroaching upon space itself, the crown made scraping sounds as it traced half a circle around Azzy's head. Then it stopped.

"I kept promise. I waited in the Abyss."

Azzy raised her head. The crown floating a handspan away from her head moved with her.

Like an angel's halo, supported by nothing and proving status through its existence alone.

Only then did the general remember who stood before them.

"...The Speaker delivered by the King of Dogs?"

The Beast Kings represented all beasts.

They lived ordinary lives, no different from other beasts except for possessing the characteristics of their species.

But.

A Beast King who chose to speak or act in place of all beasts gained the power and qualifications to do so.

With a divided crown woven from stems that did not exist in this world resting upon her head, Azzy stood there as the King of Dogs.

Even if dogs loved humans and gave them absolute loyalty, their hearts and will were not in human hands.

The King of Dogs declared on behalf of every dog.

"Now it's your turn to keep promise."

Footnotes:

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