WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 197: A Dog Waiting for a Promise

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A round, flat disc sailed through the fierce wind.

With the wind blowing hard toward the rear, even a light toss sent it sailing far behind us. It was only a little slower than the meta-conveyor belt.

"Woof woof woof woof!"

Azzy chased after it. Bang, thud, crunch. She raced along the meta-conveyor belt with a tremendous racket, then leaped off and rolled over and over when she couldn't control her speed. She was back on her feet in an instant, running like the wind, and finally caught the disc far in the distance.

Azzy caught it in a pose cool enough to belong in a painting. Then her eyes lit up as she looked at the now-distant meta-conveyor belt. Even the distance she had covered to retrieve the disc was part of the game to her. She flipped through the air, stomped hard on the bare ground, and launched herself forward before the mound of dirt she had kicked up could settle.

Her footprints remained like shell craters. Leaving shattered earth and flying clumps of dirt in her wake, Azzy fiercely pursued the meta-conveyor belt. She leaped onto the flowing ground like it was a river, sprinted ahead, and stopped right in front of me.

Her eyes sparkled, probably because she was happy to get some exercise after so long. Her tail, which plainly showed her emotions, wagged cheerfully. That brown tail swung hard enough to stir the wind, and it was undeniably happy.

"Woof woof woof!"

Azzy handed me the disc clenched in her mouth. My fingertips were cold from all the wind. I still couldn't tell whether the disc was cold or my hand was.

Wow. Frisbee on hard mode. I guess this was possible when you were the King of Dogs.

"Azzy, you're amazing!"

Azzy puffed out her chest.

"Woof! I'm amazing!"

"Truly the king among dogs! You worked hard, so you deserve a reward. Here, have some meat!"

"Woof! It's okay! You eat it!"

The moment I held out a piece of meat, Azzy let me have it without a second thought.

So after Azzy worked hard to catch the disc, she saw a nicely grilled piece of meat and told me to eat it?

Was that right?

This was no ordinary matter. It had to be something far more serious than I could imagine. I wiped the smile off my face and asked more seriously than ever.

"Azzy. Are you sick?"

"Woof? No?"

"Or are you getting your affairs in order?"

"Affairs? I'm not getting anything in order!"

"I wish you'd at least learn to clean up after yourself."

Then what was it?

This wasn't canned meat. It was meat from the regressor's pocket, quickly grilled over high heat while keeping all the juices inside.

She was giving up food that would make even a human drool despite themselves? Giving it to me?

After thinking it over, I asked about the last possibility.

"Don't tell me you're already preparing for a showdown with the King of Wolves?"

Her hair had gone wild from running at full speed. Azzy shook her head hard, as if she were shaking moisture from her fur.

"Not yet! I haven't made a promise with a human king! The military state broke its promise!"

"The military state broke its promise? Those bastards. I knew they'd pull something like that."

"Woof! Right, bad! I need to find a good king!"

Azzy, who was more favorably inclined toward humans than anyone, complained in a rare sulk.

After wholeheartedly agreeing with her, I abruptly changed my tune.

"Still, it was predictable."

Since ancient times, the King of Dogs had formed alliances with humans and fought the King of Wolves.

It was a regular event, occurring once every few decades. In those legendary wars, sometimes the King of Dogs won, and sometimes the King of Wolves did.

The death of one side decided the other's victory. Before the next king could be born and grow up, the victorious king would howl at the round moon in triumph.

The war between dogs and wolves.

That ancient struggle was so famous that it was no secret at all. Ironically, that very fame interfered with the war between dogs and wolves.

"The military state probably had no intention of going out of its way to fight the King of Wolves. Do you know how much a war costs?"

"Woof? Then I was tricked?"

"Why are you surprised? Strong animals getting fooled by lies is common even in fairy tales."

The outcome of that fairy-tale-like, legendary war depended on how strong the human faction supporting the dogs was. It was said that when the Empire supported the dogs, their victory was decided in only half a day.

Still, if a nation's military strength had to be mobilized for a fight between beasts, what country would want that? Nations gradually turned away from the King of Dogs, and from some point on, the dogs suffered nothing but defeat.

A massive brawl held once every few decades. Even if they won, all they gained was a scrap of honor, while either victory or defeat came with enormous sacrifices. The humans living through the flow of history did not want that historic war to take place in their generation or on their land.

Why should they alone have to bear the burden?

While humans avoided the fight, neglected the dogs, abandoned them, and left them behind...

"The wolf packs grew stronger. Strong enough to stand against most countries."

"Woof. Right. I can't win alone. That's why I need a human king."

Azzy readily admitted it, then gestured with her eyes as if telling me to eat.

"So eat lots! You become king!"

"Come on. Do you make someone king just by telling them to be one? If you tell me to do it, am I king from that day on?"

"No, woof! Many humans! Representative! King! Woof woof!"

"I can't tell whether you're barking or talking, so explain it properly."

If I were dealing with another person, I would have already read that person's thoughts and reached a conclusion, but even my mind-reading couldn't read a dog's thoughts. Unless Azzy explained herself clearly, there was no way I could know what she meant.

"Cheer up! King! You can do it! Eat lots! Go for walks too! Get strong!"

"So now you're planning to raise a king yourself?"

"Awooooo! Right! So cheer up!"

"Sorry, but we call a human who eats a lot and gets strong a strongman, not a king."

When I snapped at her, Azzy clamped her mouth shut, then said,

"Fool! I know too! But health is best! You, be healthy!"

"What is this..."

Nothing felt worse than being called a fool by a dog. I knew that for certain because I had just experienced it.

"Aren't you the Speaker representing every dog? Do you think anyone can understand you when you talk like this? Speak properly."

I had to be truly frustrated to expect an answer from a dog. Yet this dog only said what she wanted and never gave me the answer I wanted to hear. Just as I was about to press her further, it happened.

The back of the container we used as lodging rattled open. The huge door fell down with a thud, followed by a cat's drawn-out cry from inside.

"Meeow. The dumb dog is looking for a human king, meow."

The meta-conveyor belt was a torrent of ground rushing forward at incredible speed. With no shade or windbreaks, its surface was directly exposed to sunlight and wind.

Tyrkanzyaka hated sunlight, while Nabi disliked strong winds. Unlike sunlight, which directly harmed Tyrkanzyaka, Nabi disliked strong winds for the trivial reason that dry air made her fur puff up. Still, nothing mattered more to a beast than its own mood.

Maybe that was why Nabi, who usually stayed inside the container whether it was day or night, raining or bullets were pouring down, crawled out after hearing our conversation. She stretched lazily and explained.

"The dog is the King of Dogs, meow. As the King of Dogs, she has to form an alliance with a human king, meow. But humans don't have a king like me, meow. So she's looking for people who have the makings of a king, meow."

"Oh, you're here. The Speaker's speaker."

"I'm not the dog's Speaker, meow. The dog is stupid, so I'm explaining for her, meow."

I held back the question of whether that didn't make her a Speaker. There was no need to persuade a cat.

Nabi had not been outside in a while, and she looked deeply uncomfortable as she licked her front paw.

"She's looking for people like us, people with the power to rule humans and command them, meow. Generals, chieftains, lords, princes... Kings who keep changing their names however they please. Instead of the vanished King of Humanity, the dog wants a king who rules only part of humanity to fulfill the promise, meow."

Hmm. I roughly understood.

The King of Dogs had always sought a nation that would fight beside her. She did not seek out humans as individuals. She fought alongside people who at least had enough members to be called an army. Even if someone was the strongest individual in the world, she did not seek their help.

It seemed she wanted numbers, or perhaps representational authority, more than individual strength.

I nodded, then asked in confusion.

"But why me? I don't have anything."

"Meeow. That's right, meow. You are pathetic, meow."

"These beasts sure have a lot to say now that they can talk."

"Still, barely... If we only consider influence, you might be fairly close to a king, meow. It's strange, meow. Are you an important person, meow?"

"Important, my ass. The most people I've ever commanded was around 160. Even they disappeared beneath the Hamelin River by now."

The idea of a petty back-alley criminal being a king was enough to make a passing dog laugh.

"Azzy, laugh for me."

"Woof! Okay!"

Azzy gave me a bright, innocent grin.

Having put the saying about a passing dog laughing into practice, I tossed out,

"Forget it. Becoming your owner when I'm a fugitive relying on the most vicious criminal in history would be irresponsible. I'm satisfied just being someone who plays with you. Ah, Nabi, do you want to play too?"

"Meeow. No, meow. The wind smells unfamiliar, meow. My fur is standing on end.... It prickles, meow."

Nabi touched her windblown hair in annoyance. She tried to calm her puffed-up fur by licking it down, but soon frowned and headed back into the container.

"Don't call me, meow. I'll sleep in there, meow."

"You have it rough too. You ought to be doing nothing but lazing around in one place."

"Meeow. If you know that, leave me alone, meow."

Nabi ambled away and vanished into an especially cramped box inside, as if she had been sucked into it. Mail that had clearly been inside the box was scattered around it. The things Nabi had pushed out to claim the box surrounded it bleakly like displaced refugees.

Once she slipped into the box, her swaying tail pulled down the lid. Nabi enjoyed the comfort of her mailbox that way.

Anyway, after hearing Nabi's explanation, I understood a little better. In the end, Azzy had been rejected everywhere and was placing the faintest hope in me.

"Sigh. You're pitiful too. Why are you expecting anything from me?"

I couldn't qualify in the first place. What kind of king could a fugitive busy running for his life possibly be?

When I placed my hand on Azzy's head, static crackled through the fur battered by the strong wind. I sighed, brushed her fur with an improvised comb, and said,

"Right, Azzy?"

"Woof! More or less!"

"What do you mean, more or less...? Do you want to hold hands with Mr. Shei and start elementary school together? You need to learn how to talk first."

"What did you just say?"

The timing was perfect. The regressor had arrived just then, her face scrunched up.

Footnotes:

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