WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 22: A Good Dog

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What was sleep?

Why did living things need time to sink into themselves so defenselessly, shutting out all external stimuli?

I didn't know the exact reason. Still, just as you could guess a shape from its shadow, you could roughly infer what sleep did to humans by examining its absence. Without sleep, your mood soured, you became sensitive as a sharp needle, tired easily, and your consciousness flickered dangerously. Even people called saints wore terrible expressions when they had just woken up, so sleep must have been something that replenished the mind.

Yet because we couldn't fully understand the mind, we couldn't understand sleep's purpose either.

All I could do was drift through unconsciousness and wait for something to wake me...

Then something grabbed my leg.

I woke up instantly.

It didn't matter how deeply asleep I had been. The dizzying sensation of my body leaving the ground stripped me of sleep, along with every other kind of comfort. The dreadful feeling that Mother Earth had abandoned me drove my soul into a frenzy.

Mother Earth's curse was nothing special. All she had to do was refuse to support someone, and they would fall into the Abyss.

"Sorry! Please save me! I was wrong!"

I begged desperately as I fell.

Crash!

In an instant, before even half a second had passed, I hit the floor. Without even recovering from the shock, I scrambled to my feet.

"Huff. Huff. Huff."

I took a defensive stance and hurriedly looked around.

I had fallen fifty centimeters from a low military cot. Something had pulled my foot while I slept, waking me when I fell out of bed.

It didn't take long to realize what had pulled me.

"Woof."

Azzy gave a short bark with a cold expression, then opened the door and left. Ever since our fight over her stealing food last time, she had clearly still been dissatisfied with me.

Still, she woke me up despite that, so she must not hate me completely.

No, that was strange to say.

Dogs didn't hate people by nature.

"Azzy."

"Woof."

She only turned her head to look at me. Unlike before, when her whole body would turn toward me whenever I called, she only spared me a glance now.

Well, a dog was still a dog no matter what she did.

"Come to the cafeteria."

Her tail moved. Her ears perked up. I couldn't read her thoughts, but I didn't need to. There probably wasn't another creature that made nonverbal expressions this obvious.

"Woof? Food?"

"Yeah. I've got a very important dish today."

"Woof! Food!"

The word food immediately improved her mood, and she bounced in place.

Haha. There was no need to be that excited.

Today was the day I cooked you.

"I'm going to wash up, so go wait there first."

"You wash too often! Woof! You'll lose all your fur!"

"I'm not balding yet! You're the one who doesn't wash enough! Forget it, hurry downstairs and bring the other one too! Not you and me, the other one!"

"Downstairs? Woof! Got it!"

Azzy smashed the nearby window and jumped down.

No, she didn't need to choose the shortest route just because I told her to go downstairs.

Anyway, Azzy understood me and went to call the regressor. How did she know who I meant without me saying her name? Azzy only had three forms of address for people: me, you, and that one. For reference, the 'that one' slot couldn't hold more than one person. It was the truest meaning of third person.

It was fortunate there were only two living humans in Tantalus. Add just one more person, and things would have become terribly confusing.

"Now then. Shall I get ready?"

Whistling, I washed up with the rationed water. Today, I would finally settle things with the puppy stew thief that had been tormenting me in Tantalus for so long.

After putting on a clothing packet and heading to the cafeteria, I found Azzy had already brought the regressor. The two looked completely opposite. Unlike Azzy, who was excited at the thought of eating, the regressor stared at me with hollow eyes, then seemed to choke up before timidly looking away.

'Why did you call me...'

The regressor remembered last night's humiliation. She had tried to eavesdrop, gotten caught red-handed, then half lost her mind from embarrassment and shut herself in her room. It seemed she had cried a little, too.

Not that she had shed tears and sobbed aloud. She seemed to have cried in her heart, soaked in sorrow and self-loathing. Getting caught using stealth must have shocked her that badly.

I thought she lived somewhat carelessly because she would regress even if she died, but she seemed far more sensitive and perfectionistic than I had expected.

'Damn it, damn it. Damn it! My first attempt was too obvious! Of course he'd become wary after catching me there! Shei, when are you going to stop trying to gain an advantage like that? You need to give it your all every single time!'

No, stop blaming yourself. Had she been thinking about nothing else all night? Without sleeping?

'It was also a mistake to underestimate him too much. Just because he didn't notice my stealth last time, I decided his ability was only that much. There was no guarantee I wouldn't get caught again just because I hadn't been caught once when he was off guard...!'

This was driving me crazy. It had been troublesome enough when she tried to kill me, but it was even more troublesome when she acted like she was trying to kill herself. Perhaps because she was embarrassed, she wouldn't even try to meet my eyes.

Good grief. What pointless nonsense. Should I lighten the mood?

"Trainee Shei, did you not sleep well last night? You look hollow-eyed."

The regressor only mumbled something instead of giving a clear answer. It seemed like a declaration that she didn't want me talking to her, but no chance.

Mind reading.

'Tch, damn it. He kept me from sleeping, and now he's acting innocent...'

That sounded horribly misleading if someone else heard it. Fortunately, no one but me could hear it, so there was no chance of misunderstanding.

She must have been pretty upset, regressor.

"How much did you hear?"

"...W-what?"

"Even after I drove you away, you kept coming back over and over. I thought I was tossing a boomerang. Please don't do that again."

"Ghk...!"

Normally, the regressor would have gotten angry or raised her sword, but her lowered self-esteem had left her defenses inactive. There was also some strange law of conservation in this world. The lower the regressor's self-esteem sank, the more valuable I felt.

Ah, this was bad.

It was too much fun.

"Woof! Food!"

I had been about to tease her more, but that was enough for today. Azzy was pestering me.

"Azzy, wait a moment. I have something to say."

"No! Woof! Say it while we eat!"

"You little..."

Where did you get such unshakable self-esteem? Did dogs never get discouraged?

"Ahem. Anyway, I called you here today because I found a clue about the food thief that has thrown Tantalus into confusion for so long."

"Woof!"

Azzy urged me to serve the food as if she had no interest at all. This shameless little thing. Let's see if she stayed like that even when I put the evidence right in front of her.

I walked to one corner of the cafeteria and picked up the doll-sized golem I had left there. I fiddled with it here and there to check whether it was operating, and in response, its head abruptly turned.

So she was connected.

I placed the golem on the table.

"As the witness, I have invited Captain AB, a military state communications officer and the golem that has been sitting around in the cafeteria. Hello, Captain AB! Say hello!"

『...』

"Yes, nice to meet you!"

Neither the regressor nor Azzy showed much change in attitude upon seeing the golem. The regressor had stopped caring after deciding yesterday to leave it alone, while Azzy did not take much interest in things that were not human.

This wouldn't do for an introduction. Should I show off the puppet-show skills I had used for little children back in the day?

I grabbed the golem under its arms and moved it around like a puppet. As Azzy took interest in its movements, I kept my lips tightly shut and used ventriloquism to speak.

"Hello, Azzy?"

"Woof?"

Azzy tilted her head, looking back and forth between me and the golem. The voice was coming from my direction, but the golem was waving its hand, so she must have been wondering what was going on. I pretended not to notice and shook the golem's limbs around as I continued in a ventriloquized voice.

"Nice to meet you! I'm AB!"

"Woof woof? Human?"

"That's right! I'm human. I'm trapped in here right now, though! You're a puppy, right?"

"Woof! Right! I'm a puppy!"

"You look like such a good puppy!"

"Thanks! You look very hard!"

"Let's be friends! Will you lick me once?"

"Okay!"

『...Please stop.』

The moment Azzy brought her nose close, the golem moved faster than it ever had before. It slapped my hand away, stood on its two feet, and avoided Azzy's face.

A flat voice came from the golem's speaker.

『In the military state, overseers are instructed to avoid directly encountering trainees whenever possible. However, under Special Clause 2, I am disregarding regulations at Security Level 2 and below in the current situation.』

After declaring that, the golem stood upright on both legs. Either it had been made better than I thought, or Captain AB was accustomed to golems. Though it was a small model unlike a human-sized body, she maintained synchronization with it.

『I am Captain AB, a military state communications officer. I am responsible for communications between Tantalus and military state authorities. I warn you in advance that destroying this unit may impede communication and negatively affect your evaluation, Trainee.』

Even without mind reading, it was obvious who she had said that with in mind. There was only one person here who might harbor ill will toward the golem and destroy it.

The regressor stared at the golem standing on the table with an unimpressed expression.

"I don't care about any disadvantages. I made an agreement with that man, so I won't touch you as long as you don't crawl out of the cafeteria and start snooping around."

『Monitoring, supervision, and observation of Tantalus are my duties.』

"Is that so? I can't stand leaving devices that constantly monitor and eavesdrop intact."

『There are occasionally individuals with that type of condition. The kind who are extremely sensitive to eyes turned their way. Military hospitals treat such conditions free of charge, so I recommend you visit one for treatment.』

"...Oh, really."

『But in the present circumstances, you cannot visit a military hospital, Trainee. Your wishes have been confirmed. I will disregard regulations at Security Level 2 and below and temporarily suspend observation duties to ensure this unit's safety.』

They glared at each other for a moment. Then the regressor snorted first and rose from her seat.

"If you're done, I'm leaving."

Huh? Already?

I stopped the departing regressor.

"Ah, wait a moment! You need to be a witness for this matter!"

"I'm not interested. Just take good care of that golem. If it comes out of the cafeteria by itself, I might destroy it without even realizing."

The regressor left the cafeteria without looking back. Even while so dispirited, her hatred for the military state seemed unchanged.

Azzy, who had not understood a word of what they meant, looked at me with clear eyes.

"Woof. What's this one saying?"

She must have meant the golem. Azzy had not understood any of the golem's stiff words. I answered indifferently.

"She says don't hit her. Don't bite her either. It hurts."

"Woof! I don't bite! I'm a good puppy!"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. You're good."

"Awoo! I'm good! Good!"

As I petted Azzy's head, I gripped it tightly and muttered darkly.

"But what kind of bad puppy gobbled up every last bit of meat stew from the pot last night?"

"Wh, woof?"

Footnotes:

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