WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 467: Sheep, Shepherd, Shepherd-Herder

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There was such a thing as a treeline. Not a line someone had deliberately drawn, but a blue boundary formed by the vast laws of nature.

At certain elevations, tall trees found it extremely difficult to survive. Low temperatures, thin air, scarce water. The combined problems of high altitude drastically reduced their chances of survival. Plants were social creatures in their own way too, so if there was no similar vegetation nearby, they would wither away out of embarrassment.

Short grass filled the spaces left by tall trees. The wild grass that had lived crushed beneath trees towering toward the sky stretched itself wide and spread its roots. In a world of their own, they compared heights and flourished together.

That was how the treeline had been carefully drawn over countless years.

If there was such a long line, I wanted to hum as I followed it. Still, I might have kept my childhood innocence, but I wasn't an idiot. A human walking along the treeline on an open plateau where not even a single tree could grow would stand out far too much. Village Chief Biritear must have told me to walk that way because she wanted me to be noticed.

But there was no way I'd do that. Even if I weren't a mind reader, I wouldn't leave the trees behind and walk over the grass. I moved carefully just below the treeline, keeping myself hidden among the trees. If an animal appeared, I was ready to quickly hide underground.

After walking for what felt like forever, I saw a cloud-covered peak in the distance. The clouds seemed to be breathing exhausted sighs, as if they had climbed the slope only to be stopped by the sudden cliff before them and decided to rest there for a while.

Normally, I would have passed by saying, "Wow, look at that view." This time, I hid myself and inspected the peak closely.

"That must be the mountain where Collie is."

Sure enough, I could see faint shapes flickering in the distance. Huge white masses spread as widely as clouds, with human silhouettes rising here and there between them.

It looked like vampires, humans, and the flocks of sheep they tended were staying there.

"If a human-herding dog means it raises people, then there are sheep and shepherds. And apparently someone who tends the shepherds too."

From what I'd read, Collie was Elder Lungken's Ain. She was a dog beastkin of a fairly renowned bloodline, and I had vaguely read that she was also considered unusually intelligent for a beastkin.

I could probably think of her as an upgraded Azzy.

It was hard to learn someone's abilities or weaknesses from the thoughts of others alone, but one thing was certain.

I couldn't beat her.

I had barely defeated a Yeiling, so what was I supposed to do against an Ain? Even the Six Generals would have trouble killing one and could only manage a victory by decision. I'd be lucky if I only lost by decision.

"So I should avoid being noticed if possi..."

At that moment, a chilling feeling ran through me, and I quickly crouched down. A sense of danger, not learned but preserved somewhere at an animal level, took hold of my body.

I dug halfway into the ground with earth arts and looked over with only my head exposed. On the other side of the peak was an open plain. Animals hovering slightly above the ground were wandering there.

I studied them.

"...Wolves."

Not every animal was hostile to humans. Wolves, though, always were. As if their half-brothers, dogs, had taken all the friendliness for themselves.

I held my breath and stayed hidden until the wolves disappeared from sight. The pack that had been wandering around watched the peak for a moment, then headed elsewhere. Once I confirmed that they had gone far enough, I let out a relieved sigh.

"Whew, that was close. What would I have done if I'd run into them on the plain without earth arts?"

I had earth arts now, so as long as I sensed something beforehand, I could hide.

As long as I sensed something beforehand.

The problem was that I couldn't read animals' thoughts. Wolves could ambush me from the brush. They might have the persistence to watch the ground I burrowed into for days. Or they might be agile enough to bite my limbs before I could even use earth arts.

Wolves had been humanity's greatest threat since ancient times. The same held true even for me, the King of Humanity.

"Ugh. Crossing the mountain definitely carries too much risk. The mountain itself is dangerous, and there are vampire guards and wild animals. There isn't just one danger here."

I considered digging through the mountain instead, but that was practically impossible too. Even with earth arts, it would take at least a month, and finding my way underground would be difficult. More importantly, the threats I could face there were no joke either. If I disturbed an underground waterway, I would become a drowned corpse beneath the earth. If the tunnel collapsed, I would leave behind a fossil of the King of Humanity.

"Still, it has to be better than the border guarded by an Elder."

Of course, I hadn't come without any plan at all.

The Duchy wasn't a populous country, it wasn't keen on educating livestock, and humans had little incentive to grow stronger, making it difficult for anyone exceptional to be born. Even so, there were sometimes livestock with abundant vitality and unusual magic who suddenly stood out.

Like Lir Nightingale.

What could a talented human like that do in the Duchy? There were two choices. Become a vampire, or escape.

There had to be people who had tried to escape before. My job was either to follow the paths the old sages had walked or learn from their failures.

"There's a reason an Ain is acting as a shepherd-tender near the border. This place must have been a hotspot for escapees. It'd be hard to pass through openly, but it might be easy if I slip in properly."

Shepherds lived separately, but they didn't live alone. There had to be a village nearby that served as their base. I wasn't as good at it as Hilde, but I was confident in my ability to blend in among humans.

It was an improvised plan, but it wasn't bad. I praised myself and headed for the nearby village.

"Woof! Woof!"

...Of course, I should have been more careful.

A large dog was glaring at me and barking loudly. The only difference between this dog, with its proud brown fur and big bared teeth, and a wolf was that it hadn't bitten me yet.

Damn it. I could read people's thoughts, not dogs' thoughts. Who would have thought such a huge obstacle would be waiting for me right from the start?

"Grrrr."

"Easy, good dog. Do you recognize me? I'm human. A human, your friend."

"Grrrrrr."

"Even if I'm unfamiliar, I'm not your enemy, and I won't hurt you. I'm your friend. There, there. Good dog."

"Grrrr..."

As I relaxed my expression, smiled gently, and continued sending friendly signals, the dog lowered its guard a little and slowly approached me. It sniffed me, checking whether I was dangerous.

It must have been friendly toward humans. Well, otherwise it wouldn't be a dog. Having avoided being bitten to death by a dog for now, I carefully continued trying to bond with it.

"Brownie? Where did you go?"

Naturally. There was no way the dog had come alone.

I heard its owner calling from a short distance away. The dog ran toward its owner without looking back. The sight of it charging over with its tail wagging was that of a loyal dog through and through.

"Why did you suddenly run off? Is someone there?"

So I had run into a person. Meetings I didn't initiate were bad...

Still, it couldn't be helped. This wasn't the time to be picky about that.

I showed myself before the dog's owner. The owner was a boy who looked like a young shepherd. Wearing a large hat and carrying a staff, the boy spotted me and grew wary.

A little kid wouldn't be a problem at all, but... that dog was the problem. I didn't want to find out how vicious dogs raised by shepherds could become. I would be the example.

Perhaps sensing its owner's emotions, the dog's expression turned fierce. Before the boy could say anything, I greeted him.

"Hello, kid. This is..."

I read his mind, then asked with words and actions that would make me seem as natural as possible. Without approaching the boy, I only raised both hands.

"This is where Collie is, right? I came to see Collie about important business. Could you tell me where I should go?"

"Collie? What for?"

Now then. What should I say?

When deceiving someone, it was better to use the truth than lies. It was easier to show them the Two of Hearts twice and make them think they had seen a pair than to make them believe they had seen an Ace of Spades that didn't exist.

I didn't go easy on him just because he was a child. Putting on a grave expression, I whispered to the boy.

"Village Chief Biritear of Black Valley village sent me. An escapee appeared in Black Valley village."

"An escapee?"

"That's right. An escapee. A stranger suddenly came looking for food, and when he was refused, he snuck into the village and stole supplies. Village Chief Biritear sent me to deliver the news. There's no one better than Collie at finding suspicious humans."

To the boy, I was the suspicious person. Black Valley village did not frequently interact with this place, but he had seen some of the people who came and went. I was a completely unfamiliar face.

So I created an imaginary suspicious person and pretended to chase him. I redirected the suspicion aimed at me somewhere else.

The boy thought hard about what I had said, then asked.

"An escapee? When?"

"Not long ago. It happened just last night."

"Really...? That's very strange."

"What's strange?"

My approach of pretending to pursue the escapee had worked for now. I was the escapee, but the question blooming in the boy's mind left him no time to suspect me. Tilting his head, he said,

"The escapee was already caught. Collie took them to the guard post."

"What?"

I was the escapee. I had been caught?

Now it was my turn to tilt my head.

What was the most important ability a shepherd needed?

The ability to communicate with animals? The strength to drive away vicious wolves? The stamina to run through fields with sheep?

All of those were necessary, but they weren't the most important thing. The ability to endure boredom in the middle of a herd of animals, that was what mattered most.

The boy was still an apprentice, but he had enough talent to be a shepherd. He padded out every answer to my questions with all sorts of extra details. At this rate, he would be perfectly fine even if left alone for months.

On the way to the village under the boy's guidance, I learned a rather surprising fact from listening to him and reading his thoughts.

"A wanted order was issued?"

"Yes. They say someone made a miraculous escape right in the middle of the Castle of the Full Moon, where the Progenitor and a whole bunch of Elders had gathered for the Night Ebb. The Duke of Crimson Blood gave a solemn order to capture the criminal alive at all costs, because then they can inflict terrible pain on him!"

This was a lie, right? They weren't actually going to kill me, were they?

"Who brought the news?"

"A messenger from the Duke of Crimson Blood! They were so cool and impressive! They came like the wind and vanished like the wind!"

The Duchy's methods of administration felt a little haphazard, but Valdamir's fists were fast and sharp. I had escaped as best I could, yet a messenger had already come through. Hoping to gather more information, I asked,

"Was the escapee Collie caught the one who came to our village?"

"You said the escapee was spotted last night, right? Then it probably wasn't him. The village was in an uproar the day before yesterday."

"Really? That's strange."

For a moment, I wondered if it might be Hilde, but she had been with me the day before yesterday. Could it have been someone else who had tried to escape while the border was weakened by the Night Ebb?

"What did they look like?"

"I'm not sure... I was herding sheep then, so I didn't get a good look. But Collie rushed off in a hurry, then came back looking exhausted and sent us down, so... I think the escapee must have been quite a formidable opponent."

A formidable opponent for an Ain in the Fog Duchy. Had someone been hiding their strength somewhere? There couldn't be anyone that strong besides Hilde and me.

The boy sighed in disappointment, then asked me a question.

"What about you? What happened in Black Valley village?"

"The escapee hid in the village and stole food. Then Village Chief Biritear caught him, and they had a big fight."

"They fought? With the vampire village chief?"

The story of a fight seemed to light a fire in the boy's heart. He looked at me with shining eyes, and I told him an embellished version of my own heroic tale.

The boy was fascinated by my story, as if he had watched the fight with his own eyes.

"Really?! The village chief lost?"

"Yes. Of course, we thought the village chief would teach him a lesson, but... when we went in afterward, he had tied the village chief up and calmly left."

And that was me. A powerhouse you couldn't even imagine.

The boy muttered, looking shocked.

"So even a vampire village chief can lose in the daytime..."

"The escapee was exceptional. He overpowered the village chief even during the day."

I had become drunk on how much stronger I had grown and spoke proudly, but the boy shouted as if he refused to lose.

"But Collie is the strongest! Village Chief Biritear is a Yeiling, and Collie is an Ain! In front of Collie, the escapee is nothing but a thrown bone!"

"That's the problem."

"Pardon?"

Exactly. I had barely beaten a Yeiling, so how was I supposed to shake off an Ain? I clicked my tongue and urged the confused boy on.

"So. When will we get to the village?"

"It's right over..."

"Woof!"

Brownie, who had been wandering around the boy and me, lifted its head and barked.

"Woof woof! Woof woof woof!"

"Brownie? What's wrong?"

"Woof! Woof woof!"

It was running around as though excited about something. It was completely different from when it had barked at me. The boy was flustered when he saw Brownie going wild as if it couldn't contain its joy.

"What's gotten into it?"

"Woof woof!"

"Woof!"

Before long, I heard quick running footsteps. A dog suddenly leaped out from the distance and stopped in front of Brownie. Brownie, who had barked fiercely at me, immediately folded back its ears and lowered its body in greeting.

Dogs had their own hierarchy. Brownie instinctively accepted the other dog as the leader and lowered itself in submission.

"Brownie? Who is that? Did you make friends while I was gone?"

The boy felt betrayed by Brownie's posture, which was not merely friendly but submissive, but there was no need for that. Unlike humans, it was only natural for dogs to submit to the King of Dogs.

I had a different question.

"Why are you here?"

"Woof? I'm happy! Happy!"

Azzy, receiving Brownie's obedience, wagged her tail and rushed right over. We had been separated for quite some time, but she came to me as if that interval had been cut out and the ends pasted together. Without a moment's hesitation, Azzy rubbed her face against the hem of my pants.

Dogs that hated people and dogs that liked people were both problems. Either way, they ran toward people once they found them. Like it or not, I was bound to be discovered.

"What? Do you know each other?"

"No. Well..."

Dog beastkin looked like dogs, but they weren't dogs. Azzy looked like a dog beastkin, but she was a dog. To me, it was simply a dog joyfully reuniting with me, but to the boy, it looked like some dog beastkin was circling around me.

The boy's eyes went wide, and he pressed me for answers. Before I could make any excuse, another cry came from behind Azzy.

Footnotes:

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