For the sake of his beloved dog, the Archbishop swam with great momentum as if he was splitting the sea into two.
Waiting for him in his destination was Dame-Shiba, who is playing in the palm of his enemies.
A person of unknown age and gender who needs to visit a psychiatrist quickly.
And an old mongrel, whose age is equivalent to a 44-year-old human.
The Purist Sectâs executives posed with their beloved, trying to capture this image deeply in their eyes.
The people of the Kennel Kingdom sent their warm gaze towards the man and the dog.
The bond between the two of them was beautiful to seeâŚor not! This is an emergency situation, you know?!
But then again, my mongrel, your timing was bad! Are you actually trying to get on my nerves?!
I turned toward the Dog-Kin with a plea.
âDashiba and the Archbishop⌠please help them!â
They seemed reluctant to move.
I turned to Darius-sama and Gray-sama who had taken their ikemen and dandy middle-aged man form. They were staring at the sea with a joyful gaze.
The tanksâ turrets were facing the isolated island.
The dandy man who had been silent looked at the island with narrowed eyes before he opened his mouth and said.
âIf we were to wipe out the island off the map now⌠donât you think this world will be much cleaner?â
âBut this is a perfect chance for us, no? We can get rid of everyone whoâs been standing in our way. As long as Kishuu and Akita can escape, we can just do it.â
âNo, no, you canât! This isnât a âchanceâ or whatever for the Dog-Kins! This is more like a crisis for the whole kingdom!â
âBut⌠you knowâŚ?â
Josee-sama and Mars-sama too?!
After some convincing, they agreed that it would be bad if the Archbishop were to die.
But when it came to DashibaâŚ
Everyone really didnât like the concept of a âmongrel.â
Particularly they hate the fact that a âmongrelâ was seen as an ideal âpet dog.â
I stepped hard on the white sand with my boot.
âWhatâs wrong with him being silly? Whatâs wrong with him being cute? While it might be true that his silliness is unmatched, but⌠arenât you guys hating on him too much? You guys are acting similar to the radicals!â
âWe arenât⌠right?â
âI mean, compared to Pochi-sama, as a pet dog, that mongrel got nothing.â
Gray-sama with his arms crossed said with an expression that says he was saying something obvious.
If I recall correctly, his name was in the history I previously learned from my tutor⌠he was the legendary Dog-Kin, no?
âBy Pochi-sama⌠Did you mean the Founder King Ayerâs pet dog?â
âYes. Historically, a pet dog has a unique position. This unworthy Wolfhound had been making bloody efforts to become the pet dog of the previous King Abel since I was a puppy. In the first place, we were taught from an early age to become a pet dog, we need to become a wonderful dog like Pochi-sama.â
A messenger Greyhound came running interrupting Gray-samaâs story.
At the same time, there were explosions in the sky.
[Barbarian-sama and the Pitbulls had brought the terrorists they captured from all over the continent! There is a message from him, which as follows; âOi, Wolfhound, most of them quieten down after I took away their food, but some of them are still yapping their mouths, so Iâm going to throw them to that island, okay?â]
Five tanks appeared in the distance, hovering above the island.
Above the island, there were things that looked like large bags in the air.
Inside those bags were the terrorists right?!
They fell onto the island one after another!
Another messenger Greyhound came to me with his body covered in white sand.
[Another message from Pitbull-sama! âOh great, I guess we canât just kill everyone huh? Well whatever, theyâll probably fight each other for food on that isolated island or maybe theyâll just resort to cannibalism instead, I donât care. But anyway, thereâs no more job suited for us Pitbulls, so Iâm leaving, bye.â]
âWait, tell him to listen to what I have to say first!â
[Thatâs impossible, he said heâll only listen to âthe orders given with the absolute zero smileâ like you previously gave him.]
âWhat? But I gave him a lovely smile!!â
Darius-sama replied to me absent-mindedly.
The way he was making it, it was the face that said that he didnât believe my words at all.
Before I could defend myself, the tanks started to fly away from the place.
I shoulda leashed him with the lead first, now look what he had done!
With a sense of defeat with my heart, I thanked the messenger Greyhounds as I gripped the white handle on my waist in regret.
I couldnât just send the Greyhound to him.
I mean, without a transceiver, how could they deliver my message to Barbarian-sama in the sky?!
âthis was something that happened later.
When I told the head of the Greyhound clan about this issue, he told me âWe canât afford to be defeated by mere radio wave-reliant junks! We can have a certain number of dogs in the tanks and throw them to the ground if necessary!â
Of course, I told him to NOT do that.
After the bag filled with the terrorists fell into the island, a faint voice could be heard.
âO heretics (anti-dashiba fan[1])! Admit to your sins and repent! Else, I will make you repent in your death!â
The voice came from the transceiver that Josee-sama was holding.
It was connected to the transceiver that the two wakens, Kishu-sama and Akita-sama held.
âRight, whatever happened to Kishu-sama and Akita-sama?â
Josee-sama summarized the information she received from the transceiver.
Apparently, the tension inside the island was rising.
âThis transceiver is connected to Kishu-sama. Apparently, the terrorists were chasing them because we cut them off from their food supply. However, the wakens used the ration as a decoy to fend off the terrorists and are currently in hiding. There was a message from Kishu-sama âThe situation is bad. We have our hands full just avoiding being captured by the enemy. Currently, we are hiding under the shade of the jungle trees while watching how the situation unfolds (also hoping that the mongrel will be killed by the terrorists). We will try to protect both the Archbishop and Dashiba-sama to the best of our abilities (I wish we could just abandon them though) and weâll find a way to escape the islandâ.â
âDashiba! EveryoneâŚ!â
âIt seems like there would be a lot of injured people there⌠letting them all die isnât really an option right? It wonât be fun that way either. Wolfhound-sama, Iâll personally go there, is that okay? Iâm also worried about the wakensâ safety.â
Gray-sama raised his hand, calling his second-in-command, Gentleman von Pitbull-sama over.
âFollow me, you are ready right, Gentleman?â
âYes! I will erase the shame that my brother created with my own two hands!â
Gentleman-sama was Barbarian-samaâs younger brother. He was often ashamed of his brotherâs and his private troopsâ disrespectful behavior. In his eyes, the Pitbulls should only act in line with the Mad Dog Knightsâ interests.
Because of his view, the two brothers constantly clashed, proof of it was the scar on the end of his mouth, the result of a fight between the two.
Probably Barbarian-sama also had a scar somewhere in his body.
âThen Iâll leave it to the two of you. When you succeed in securing an escape, give us a smoke signal.â
âYes, sir⌠Itâll probably be hard to hold back since they are even weaker than the Miniature Dachshunds even though they act so pompously, seriously.â
âIs everything settled then? Okay, Liselotte-sama, you should wait for us here, please donât come to the island.â said Josee sama as she followed Gray-sama to the island. The elite of both the Second and Eighth Division followed behind both of them.
There were only two tanks that remained on the beach, The Liselotte and a general-purpose type tank.
Other than that, there were horse-drawn carriages and weird-looking one-man vehicles with two wheels.
All the vehicles that the troops rode were mostly oddly shaped, I didnât understand any of them.
My stepbrother seemed to love them though.
I wish I could ride on one of those vehicles and help them
All I could do on this white beach is to wait.
I was starting to get depressed by my inability to do anything, suddenly Mars-sama came and comforted me.
âWeâll just have to wait for everyone to come back.â
âWe made some meal for the meeting with the Archbishop, but well, that happened, so why donât we eat it now?â
âBut⌠I canât do that when Dashiba, the waken, Jose-sama, and Gray-sama are fighting for me.â
Darius-sama called out to me, his tone was a little bit harsh.
âYour duty as a queen is to grow up healthy and safe. The best thing you could do to fulfill that was to stay in the castle, but since you insisted on coming and participating in the plan, we had to devise this plan to accommodate you. Weâve followed your whim, now what you need to do for us as our master is to stand firm and welcome when we get back to our home, understand?â
Darius-sama gently grasped my hand and kissed the back of it as if he was praying.
Mars-sama, who stood beside me, agreed. While facing the ground, he opened his mouth and saidâŚ
âMy queen, my pleasure. When Abel-sama died, my whole world was plunged into the darkness until we finally found you. Know that my heart is always with you. Please be happy by my side. As long as you are here, no matter what happens to this world or what important thing I lose, Iâm sure I can stand firm and live through my life with you.â
The white rings hanging on my waistâŚ
I felt two of the rings gently swaying there.
âYou havenât eaten much this morning, right? Please at least put something in your stomach first, here, please take it.â
He gave me a special â35kg milk.â
I always felt strange that in reality, the thing wasnât even 35kg heavy.
Anyway, I couldnât refuse him, so I stuck a straw into the tetra pack and drank it.
Mars-sama turned into a white dog and rubbed his head against my feed to comfort me.
[Master, if you donât have an appetite, I can eat together with you.]
âMars, restrain yourselfâŚâ
I wish everyone good luck, please be safe.
As I sucked on the straw, I sent my prayer toward everyone on the island.
White parasol and a table-chair set were built beside the Liselotte.
I sat up facing a propped-up transceiver on the table while listening to the line with Mars-sama in my lap.
Further away in the same location, we set up a table for the higher-ups of the Sect that were praying toward the islandâs direction.
They were mostly indifferent toward the Dog-Kin soldiers, though apparently, they didnât mind eating the food that I specifically prepared for them.
Darius-sama placed some beautiful plates on the table and prepared lunch for me.
He also made sure to leave his deep-dish bowl with the word âDARIUSâ written on it at my feet.
Yoshimune von Kishu-sama was giving his live report from over the transceiver.
[The terrorists who had been deprived of their food were angry and lashed out at Dashiba-sama, who was captured as a hostage. He posed a surrender at the base of a tree, they demanded him to give them more food, but well, of course, the demand wouldnât work.]
[The Archbishop arrived! He went crazy when he saw Dashiba-samaâs now skinny figure.]
[âDashiba-sama, how could you be this skinny? You lot, how dare you make Dashiba-sama like this?!â he said that after he saw Dashiba-sama, then he proceeded to beat the armed terrorists with his bare hands while screaming âRepent!â over and over.]
[Oh, now he is pulling up the ear of a fallen terrorist and whispering something to him. I donât know what he is saying, but the terroristâs face just turned white and began crying because of it.]
[He said something like âWhen a religious figure hits you on the right cheek, itâs your duty as a member of the Sect to offer your left cheek! Thatâs how purists should act!â then he punched the terrorist dead in his face.]
That kind of teaching sounded really nasty.
What did they mean by being a purist anyway?
The sectâs higher up at the other table were listening in with their cheeks flushed.
Their boss was being violent over there, were they okay with that?
âŚprobably itâs okayâŚ
That reminded me of the core teaching of the Purists, everything is allowed as long as itâs humane and reasonable.
What was their standard of being reasonable though?
[St. Bernard-sama is treating a terrorist that was assaulted by the Archbishop. It seems like the Archbishopâs âconfessionâ session is starting to get even more intense⌠A lot of people are crying out âIâm a failure as a puristâ, âIâm sorry, I have failed my beliefsâ, âGoddess of the Dogs, please, save meâ and so on, their hearts are broken now it seems. The Mastiffs that are guarding the area are disgusted by this scene, they are saying things like âI wish they would just turn into martyrs to repent, starting from the Archbishopâ.]
Hearing this, the higher-ups of the sect became angry.
âThey are simply gutless, thatâs why they branched out from us in the first place. They resorted to violence just to get attention.â
âThey arenât even pursuing the path of the purist.â
âI want to make them drink Dashiba-samaâs pee.â
I can understand their feelings, but the last one! Thatâs not how the âdrinking nail stains[2]â thing works!
I was about to drink my soup with a faraway look in my eyes, then it happened.
Suddenly, the sand near me rose and turned into a small white mountain.
âThe terrorists⌠no, is it the empire?!â
Mars-sama, who previously stuck his face in a deep bowl with âMarsâ written on it, took on his human form and held me in a princess carry.
Darius-sama who previously was holding a deep bowl and ladle to serve me quickly stepped in front of me.
The sectâs higher-ups also began to move.
An intruder appeared out of nowhere.
I looked up to see the young man had a grim expression on his face.
âNo, thatâs⌠the excavator we used to make the underground passages⌠it belongs to the Fourth Division.â
âWhy is it here thenâŚ?â
âW-Why are you guys here?!â
The back of Darius-sama in front of me was shaking violently.
It seems like thereâs something fishy going on here.
A tank with a drill attached in front of it appeared from the rising white sand.
When it stopped moving, a Dog-Kin wearing a yellow helmet with the words âSafety First, Food is Importantâ written on it came out from inside the tank.
When he took the helmet off, a head with stiff-looking red hair popped out.
He shook his head a few times before eventually, a satisfied expression appeared on his pretty, freckled face.
âPhew! Finally got to the exit of that tunnel!
âŚOohh? The air smells really good⌠? Oh, itâs my lucky day! Hello, queen!â
[Idiot! Dachshund, the exit is further ahead!!]
A black and brown dog came up from inside the excavator, frantically shaking his droopy ears. He was Peter Beagle, a technician from the Fourth Division.
He climbed up on the excavator with his short, stubby leg while scolding the red-haired man.
[The exit is there! Itâs further inland!!]
[What do you mean? Look at the blueprints!]
âIdiot~ Iâm a craftsman you know? We are following our instinct and our instinct never fails us! It was telling me that the exit is here, so I dug up here, then lo and behold, our queen is here, isnât that good?â
[What good?! You know the queen isnât supposed to find out about this!]
âIâm not supposed to find out about this huhâŚ? And what is âthisâ thing you are talking about, I wonder?â
[Commander Wolfhoundâs plan to plant explosives deep beneath the isolated island and blow everyone up without notifying the queen! âŚ.wait, I just spilled the whole plan myself! Well, it should be fine, right? It was a slip of the tongue, so it should be fine, right?]
âBeagle you are no good as expected. Anyway, I already finished setting up all the explosives, Iâm just that good of a craftsman after all. Hereâs the detonator. All you need to do is to press it from afar and everything will go baaang! Haha!â
The digger dog threw the detonator at Darius-sama while happily talking to him.
I looked over them with a smile on my face. I asked the big man in front of me that had been standing still for a while now.
I tugged the white ring on my waist that had the word âDariusâ written on it.
With a âkyun!â Darius-sama immediately transformed into a huge black dog and got down on the ground with both of his front legs aligned.
I got down to the ground, leaving Mars-sama who had a complicated expression on his face to approach the black dog.
In front of his paws, half-buried in the white sand was a white box.
When I lifted it up, there Is a round red button in the middle of the box.
Underneath the button, there Is a carefully written âPress here, gently.â
Well, this is no good, isnât it?
The commander of the Mad Dog Knights, the leader of the dogs secretly did something stupid behind his ownerâs back.
The two digger dogs turned to me while explaining.
[Queen, if you press that, the island will be blown away cleanly! Be careful of the debris though!]
âCongratulations, queen! They will all be cleaned up! Theyâll disappear without a trace from this world!â
Their voices were filled with joy as if they were trying out a new toy.
I looked down at the huge dog below me, who was shaking heavily and trying to make his presence smaller.
Mars-sama hurriedly took out a transceiver, trying to get in touch with the troops on the island.
âDarius-sama, didnât I tell you not to do this? I told you doing this would lead to a prolonged religious war! Are you disobeying my orders?â
The huge dog was trembling while trying to make his presence even smaller.
I understood his feelings though.
He wanted to get rid of the mongrel, even if it meant disobeying orders.
âThe title of being my pet dog has always been with Dashiba since the beginning.â
âI know that you are just feeling lonely⌠I know that⌠you are the pet dog of my late father⌠King Abel⌠I know that you wish you could be with him foreverâŚâ
Darius-sama looked up at me with sad eyes.
His eyes seemed to be reminiscing sad memories from his past.
âI am not King Abel, Darius-sama hasnât been deprived of the position of his pet dog, do you understand that?â
âNo, you donât. The only royalty youâve ever known was King Abel, thatâs why you confused him with me.â
I sat down and gently stroked Darius-samaâs stiff fur. At this point, he had already turned into a puppy.
He stared at me with wide eyes.
Then I put my forehead against his and told him, âIâm sorry..â
âEveryone is too caught up by your ideal of what a dog is. Know that all of you are my dogs. And you, Darius-sama, is Liselotteâs only Darius⌠I want to be with you too, Darius-sama. While our relationship will be different from yours and the last kingâs, it doesnât matter, we will work out a whole new relationship between us two. You will be the leader of the dogs and I will be the queen. Without both of us keeping the country together, I donât think this country will work properly. Of course, I also love the dogs that work hard. I donât want the dogs starting to lose themselves by holding their emotions back. If any of them are dissatisfied with Dashiba, they can just come to me, Iâll spoil them. Iâll welcome every dog that comes to me!â
âLise is fine, you know?â
Crying his manly tears, Darius-sama in huge dog form suddenly pounced on me.
Heavy! Ouch, it hurts!! Iâll be crushed!
The huge dog was showing his affection by licking all over my face.
[Lise-sama! I love you! I love you so much!!]
âI understand, I understand! Please let me go for a second⌠Ouch, my bones⌠I canât breatheâ!â
âCommander, thatâs unfair!â
Mars-sama, who noticed my situation, threw his transceiver away and pulled me off Darius-sama.
Suddenly thrown onto the sand, I fell on my butt while gasping for air.
The huge dogâs affection was too heavy for my small body to bear. Literally.
The next thing I knew, my hands were empty.
The detonator slipped out of my hands.
âHuh, where did the detonator go..?â
âO future queen, youâve prepared a novel item, let me have it.â
âthe Archbishop who was supposed to go to rescue Dashiba appeared and picked up the detonator.
Behind him, Dashiba, who, for some reason was starting to become fat again was wagging his tail as he bit into sweet bananas (the whole reason why he got obese in the first place) that the sectâs higher-ups gave him.
He suddenly looked up, saw me, and immediately averted his gaze toward the banana.
Iâm just a few meters away.
How dare he ignore his own master!!
ââŚwell, now that weâve successfully rescued Dashiba-samaâŚâ
The Archbishop looked at the detonator with his jet black eyes.
Without hesitation, he pressed the button.
âDead to the anti-Dashiba-fan who disobeyed me even after I offered them a confession!â
âââPraise Dashiba-sama!!âââ
[1] This was in katakana.
[2] çŞăŽĺ˘ăç
ăăŚéŁ˛ă itâs a proverb, it roughly means to follow in someoneâs footsteps. In this context, itâs a pun to the proverb.