WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 97: Promise and Stubbornness

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As was only to be expected, the immortal and the officer's progress was anything but smooth.

After a brief search, they found Azzy lying on her stomach and dozing in a corner of the first floor. That part had been easy.

The problem was that it was the only easy part.

"Oh! Dog lady!"

Azzy's ears perked up, and her tail swayed. Sensing their presence, she opened her eyes halfway and looked over the humans calling for her.

Then she immediately growled.

"Grrrr."

Her reaction was completely unlike her usual self. It was more than simple unfamiliarity. Even when she had first met the officer, she had been far warmer than this, as though greeting an old friend.

That growl was aimed solely at the immortal. It was the wariness born of instinctive rejection.

Feeling uneasy, the officer looked at him.

"Trainee. Don't tell me..."

"Haha! Now that I think about it, she reacted the same way when I first entered this place! It seems the Beast King does not care much for our race!"

"Grrrr."

Earthfolk.

An immortal race whose entire tribe had been offered to Mother Earth, leaving them with bodies closest to her own.

True to their name, an Earthfolk's flesh and blood resembled soil and lava. Their skin was hard but stiff like packed mud, while their blood flowed hot before hardening inside their bodies once it cooled. Just like Mother Earth, who made the whole world her body.

They might have been less offensive than vampires reeking of blood, but Azzy felt no fondness for them.

"But it is fine! Animals being tamed for the first time always bare their teeth and growl! Overcoming that and bonding with them is the wisdom humanity used to tame beasts in the first place!"

The immortal confidently strode toward Azzy.

"Dog lady! Come, let us build our friendship!"

"Woof."

Bam!

Azzy irritably swatted his right arm. With the sound of a pile of dirt bursting apart, his arm bent at a bizarre angle with a crack.

The immortal, now a man with a backward-bending arm, looked down at his hand. Then he scratched his head with his remaining left hand and stepped back. Only after he retreated did Azzy stop growling.

The officer stared at him with ice-cold eyes after he returned without accomplishing anything.

"...Hey."

"Hahahaha! This beast is exceptionally picky! I regret to say it, friend!"

The immortal raised his dangling right arm.

"I do not think I can do this!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?!"

The lieutenant colonel finally exploded and approached him angrily. The immortal set his dislocated arm back in place and gave an awkward smile.

"Haha. I shall leave this part to the lieutenant colonel, who is undeniably human! Besides, the dog lady is a dog, so she should follow the lieutenant colonel better... Urgh!"

A hard military boot struck his shin. Unable to continue through the pain shooting up his leg, the immortal bent over.

After rebuking the incompetent man, the officer looked away from the groaning immortal.

"I cannot believe I even used a World Tree leaf for this useless man."

"Haha! I have nothing to say! Still, do not worry! Our tribe does not take payment and run, at least!"

"I only wish you would disappear from before my eyes right now."

In the end, this incompetent man had accomplished nothing. All her assistant did was chatter noisily at her side.

As always, the success or failure of the mission now depended entirely on the officer's ability.

She passed him and headed toward Azzy.

"Move aside. I will do it."

"Please! Accomplish what I could not!"

Leaving his words, whether encouragement or mockery, behind her, the officer approached Azzy. Azzy had coldly driven away the immortal, yet she wagged her tail in greeting for the officer.

The officer called out in front of her.

"Azzy, King of Dogs. Get up!"

"Woof!"

Azzy sprang to her feet. Looking at Azzy beaming up at her from slightly below, the officer spoke clearly.

"Listen closely, King of Dogs. This officer is Lieutenant Colonel Callis Kritz of the military state, appointed as Tantalus's overall commander under orders from the military state."

"Woof? This officer? Is that food?"

"...I am Lieutenant Colonel Callis Kritz."

Only after explaining it more simply did Azzy understand that the officer had been introducing herself. Azzy swished her tail and cheerfully replied.

"Woof! Nice to meet you! I'm Azzy!"

"...What was the fool who named the current King of Dogs thinking? Giving her a name that meant 'puppy,' of all things."

Muttering in dissatisfaction, the officer straightened herself again.

"Azzy."

"Woof! My name! Did you call me?"

"As a human, I have a request for you."

"Woof..."

The moment she heard the word request, Azzy's ears and tail drooped.

"I don't like requests. They're bothersome."

"You will have to listen. I am human, and you are the King of Dogs. You must follow my words."

"Woof..."

Azzy stood crookedly, making her annoyance obvious. The officer did not know whether to criticize that insolent attitude or be grateful that Azzy was listening despite it.

Either way, the officer had something to do. After clearing her throat, she spoke in a commanding tone.

"Azzy. This officer, no, I ask this of you. From now on, whenever I call for you, you must come with me immediately."

"Woof. Okay."

She had received a positive answer, but the officer was not satisfied. Azzy had agreed so readily that it felt too casual.

The officer added a condition to make sure.

"...Even if another human calls for you, ignore them and follow my words."

"Woof? I can't do that."

Her refusal came just as quickly, and just as firmly.

The officer gritted her teeth. That meant if that laborer decided to interfere with her, she would never be able to take the King of Dogs out of Tantalus.

Growing impatient, the officer spoke.

"Why not? You must obey human commands! Then you must follow the command I am giving you now! I ordered you not to listen to him, so according to the pact, you must ignore their words!"

"Woof..."

"Answer me properly. Keep your promise!"

"That's not what the promise is..."

"No, you have to follow it!"

People could see themselves reflected in the reactions of those before them.

Azzy looked at the officer as though she were a child throwing a tantrum. Meeting those calm eyes, the officer realized she was being unreasonable.

She had neither strength nor justification. All she had was a single promise humans had made with dogs long ago. She was stubbornly insisting that the King of Dogs follow her command based on something whose nature she did not even know.

The first emotion the officer felt was shame. While she pressed her lips shut, Azzy spoke as though soothing or persuading the tantrum-throwing officer.

"I follow humans. That's not obedience. It's trust. Like the promise we made long ago, it's a hope that if I follow humans, trust them, and entrust myself to them, they'll rely on me just as much."

"Yes! So you should follow my words...!"

"You're human. But you're not the only human. Woof."

Azzy calmly delivered a truth everyone knew but hated to remember: the officer was only one among countless humans. Then she carefully added,

"...And, woof. You're my friend, but I'm not your friend. You... don't like me."

The officer's body jolted.

A mere dog had seen through her true feelings. Worse, the King of Dogs had understood her heart and even tried to be considerate.

She had been defeated in both strength and character.

That fact gnawed at the officer's pride.

The Lords of All Creation were human supremacists. They were a group that considered even beastkin a step beneath humans. At their core, they treated beasts with hatred.

That feeling was born from an unhappy childhood and the viciousness of the beast she had faced that day.

For Callis, who had lost her father, her only family, to a beast, this was the kind of defeat she could not accept.

"Shut up and follow my orders!"

Even when the officer lost control and shouted, Azzy did not bat an eye. She only looked at her with concern and worry filling her large eyes.

That look irritated the officer, and she reacted violently.

"Don't look at me like that! You filthy beast!"

The officer turned her gaze. Tantalus's cells, filled with tools meant to restrain prisoners, still held remnants of their purpose.

What caught the officer's eye was a chain lying on the floor, broken in the middle. She quickly picked it up, pulled it taut threateningly, and walked toward Azzy.

Guessing what the officer meant to do, the immortal tried to stop her.

"Uh, Lieutenant Colonel. Wait. Isn't that a little too much? Perhaps you should reconsider..."

"Shut up, you incompetent fool! If you had done your job properly, I would not be doing this!"

The immortal scratched the back of his head, looking deeply troubled. In the meantime, the officer made a loop from the chain and threw it over Azzy, who still stood there without resisting.

Clank.

The makeshift chain loop settled around Azzy's neck. Though it tightened around her throat, Azzy only frowned and did not resist. Until the chain wrapped twice around her neck, she did nothing but silently look at the officer.

'I do not like this. A dog that cannot even resist humans, acting as though it understands everything...!'

Even after hurling abuse at her and wrapping a chain around her neck, the officer's anger did not subside.

If only Azzy had followed her from the beginning, none of this would have happened. If Azzy had cooperated with the mission, obediently followed her, and helped her carry it through successfully.

The problem was that a mere dog had defied her will.

"Beasts like you are good for nothing but collars and leashes! You may wear a human body and call yourself a king, but you are no more than a beast in the end! Trying to settle this with words was my mistake. I should have done this from the start...!"

Just as she was about to pour all that pent-up resentment onto the King of Dogs.

...Heavenly Sword Technique.

The space at the end of the corridor rippled, and wind that could not exist in the Abyss began to blow.

It was followed by killing intent as sharp as a blade.

A moment later, blades of wind raced through the first-floor corridor. They filled the wide space, tearing through everything around them as they rushed toward the officer.

More precisely, toward the officer's right arm gripping the chain.

By the time the officer noticed the killing intent, the sword energy was already right before her. As she stood there blankly, not yet understanding the situation.

"Lieutenant Colonel!"

The immortal rushed over and stepped in front of her.

The blades of wind tore through him. A massive wound ran from his right shoulder to his left flank, and the shockwave that followed turned his flesh into rags. The wind, having lost its edge, brutally lashed his body before running wild in every direction like an unbridled horse.

In less than a second, the immortal's entire body had been carved apart by countless small blades.

Even knowing he was immortal, it was not easy to remain calm while watching someone be torn to pieces before her eyes. The officer unconsciously called his name.

"Rashy...!"

But Rashy was a monster who had been perfectly fine even after losing an arm, even if he was somewhat less formidable.

With a sound like a drum bursting, his body swayed briefly. Then the immortal stomped his right foot down and shouted.

"Hup!"

He was still brimming with vigor. The moment the immortal drew up his strength, his wounds healed in an instant. Torn muscles returned to their proper shape, and his tattered flesh became smooth again.

Having regenerated his body in one go, the immortal clenched his fist and addressed the figure approaching from beyond.

"Isn't it a bit much to start slashing without warning, boy?"

The regressor did not answer him. She did not even glance at the immortal.

Her eyes were fixed solely on Azzy and the chain around her neck.

"The chain."

Her voice, cold as though carved from ice, carried on the wind.

It was neither loud nor close, yet her clear voice sounded as though she were speaking directly into their ears.

"Put it down."

The regressor spoke with restrained killing intent.

Footnotes:

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