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\nThe next day, Kuuga woke up in a strange place.
Although heâd had a bad feeling since last night, he should have gone to bed in his room as usual. He wondered if he was kidnapped while sleeping.
Kuuga was lying down on an altar-like place wholly made of stone.
Shaaa~, when he heard the sound of water and turned his head to the right, he saw water overflow from a flower-like relief at the back, which became a fountain and pooled around the altar where Kuuga had been sleeping on.
When he looked to his left, thereâs a dark wide-open space, which made it hard to see, but he could make out a large door.
Why am I lying in such a place?
There was no one around. Maybe Kuuga had been locked up in here, but first, he wanted to see if that big door could be opened.
Kuuga, who decided so, tried to stand upâŚand was then surprised when his hand came into view.
It wasnât the human hand that Kuuga was used to. It was covered in black fur and looked like a dogâs paw.
[WhaâŚwhat is thisâŚ]
Moreover, he noticed that the words he wanted to say turned into a kyun~ sound.
Kuuga, who had a bad feeling, stood up and looked at the fountain pool. Reflected on the water was the present appearance of Kuuga.
[âŚ]
He was speechless.
Itâs a dog. It had a strangely large body, but it looked like a black dog, and looking at the fluffy mane-like fur, it might also be a wolf. No, itâs something from the canine family that was neither a dog nor a wolf because of its size. The pattern on the forehead and the tip of the ears, mane, and tail were white.
This was now his appearance. âwhat the hell is going on?
Certainly, Kuuga had expected that something would happen, but this was too unexpected that he blanked out.
[Or rather, where is this? And whatâŚam I?]
His words also changed into a gau~ sound. With this, even if he found someone, he wouldnât be able to ask them a question.
Should he just get out of here? But thereâs no guarantee that the outside wasnât dangerous. Thereâs also no guarantee that waiting here would change the situation.
[I wonder if I can even go outâŚ]
When he muttered so and tried to get off the altar, Kuugaâs ears caught something.
He heard something like footsteps and realized that someone was gradually approaching his location from the sound, so Kuuga simply sat down. He waited for now.
He might have waited for about 30 seconds before the footsteps stopped in front of this room, and the door opened with a rusty gyi~i sound. Someone came in and perhaps also brought a lamp as the area around the door brightened flickeringly.
âŚhowever, Kuuga noted that he heard the footsteps from a distance farther than he had imagined. He waited a lot longer than he expected. Was it because his current ears were better than his human ears?
He waited for that someone to approach him, and the moment Kuuga was in the other personâs field of view, that person was so surprised that they dropped the lamp to the floor.
A loud painful sound echoed through Kuugaâs ears, but he didnât mind and just stayed still. Kuuga was observing the situation for the time being. If the other person had bad intentions, he might be attacked suddenly.
âD-divine Beast-sama!?â
[Hah?]
âWahhhh, the oracle 30 years ago came true! W-w-w-what should I do? I have to reportâŚ!â
[O-oi.]
That person started to panic and ran out of the hall with the door banging behind him.
The stunned Kuuga deeply sighed before getting out of the altar. That person said that theyâd make a report, so he wondered if someone would come, but Kuuga had no reason to wait. If they wanted him to stay, they should have explained it first. The person who neglected to do so was the one in the wrong.
From what he had heard and seen from their behavior, his existence seemed to be a surprise. He was called a Divine Beast, but he wondered if they really treated their Divine Beast like this. Considering that he was called such a title, Kuuga shouldnât be hunted wherever he went.
The feeling of his paws touching the floor was entirely new. This body shouldnât be a child in terms of its size, but it still felt like a new one. The feeling of the meat pad was still so soft. Before he got used to it, it might hurt to run around outside, so he should be careful.
Speaking of which, Kuuga remembered something.
For some reason, he naturally understood the words spoken by that person even though itâs not Japanese. However, itâs not English either. Instead, itâs a language heâd never heard before.
So this was not Japan. No, on the contraryâŚitâs just like those fantasy tropes, and the clothes that person wore gave him a bad feeling.
When he was walking toward the door where that person went out, it made a rattling noise. Then two people appeared as the door opened again before he could reach it.
One was the young man who had just left, and the other was a man in his 50s, who was wearing a white robe that looked somewhat expensive. Both of them were surprised that Kuuga was right in front of them.
âWaaa! Divine Beast-sama, itâll be a problem if you move aroundâŚ!â
âCary, please refrain from saying things that blame Divine Beast-sama. Did you just ran out without saying anything?â
âAhâŚ!â
If the other person hadnât chided him, Kuuga would have growled in complaint. The young man, called Cary, stiffened before reluctantly bowing to Kuuga again and again.
Cary had a look that said he thought this was unreasonable, so Kuuga tilted his head as the man seemed to be complaining.
The other man sent an apologetic look to Kuuga and bowed deeply.
âMy name is Ada Reis, the Chief Priest. This person has been rude to you. But until the ritual, can I ask Divine Beast-sama to spend your time here? Although itâs cramped, please be patient.â
What ritual? Kuuga thought so, but thereâs no way to ask it.
However, it turned out that thereâre a purpose and a fixed deadline. Itâs better than spending the time here without knowing anything and relying on no one. For the time being, Kuuga decided to do what Ada said.
Kuuga nodded to show understanding at Adaâs slightly lacking explanation. Itâs inconvenient to not be able to speak words.
But Kuuga became worried when he saw Cary show a surprised expression at his nod. No way, did they thought that he wouldnât understand their language? So that wasnât intentional since Cary believed that itâs useless to explain to a dog in the first place.
Ada seemed to have noticed his misgivings as he lifted a brow and turned to Cary.
âYou are not eligible to be here. Go down. Call Kurone instead.â
ââŚack, I-Iâm very sorry!â
Cary, who quickly became blue in the face, bowed his head vigorously and left with a crying face.
Waiting until the door closed, Ada once again bowed deeply to Kuuga.
âPlease forgive the rudeness of your subordinate. I will never let Cary enter here again.â
[âŚno, itâs okayâŚ]
It was true that Kuuga didnât want to be treated like a dog, but was it enough of a mistake to be punished like that? He didnât want to admit it, but thereâs no doubt that Kuugaâs current appearance was that of a beast. Recalling that face that had turned pale, Kuuga felt a bit guilty.
Judging from Adaâs attitude, he thought that it was known that the beings called Divine Beasts could understand the language. However, Cary seemed suspicious of this.
That meant that this was the first time Cary had seen him. He wasnât even treated as a creature with intelligence.
Kuuga was almost tired of guessing, so could they explain? Moreover, whereâs this place?
While thinking of such things, he returned to the altar as prompted by Ada, and Kuuga laid down there, waiting for the priestâs explanation.
Ada knelt in front of the altar and looked up at him.
âWe will immediately gather the âcandidates,â but they will be too busy⌠please wait for about 10 days before we could conduct the ritual.â
[10 days!? So I canât get out of here for that time!]
Ada might not understand Kuugaâs words, but he could guess by Kuugaâs movements. Ada made an apologetic face then lowered his head.
âI deeply apologize, but please be patient. Meals will be prepared properly.â
[âŚseriouslyâŚ]
Not caring about such things, Kuuga looked around. Although itâs a big place, thereâs only one window at a high position, and it was dimly lit. Sunlight couldnât even get in correctly.
If they couldnât understand his words, then he couldnât even ask for someone to talk to. Of course, thereâs also no TV. At the very least, if he had a book, he could kill time and collect information.
[Hey, do you have a book?]
âKurone will come soon. Please pardon my rudeness.â
He tried asking for it, but it didnât work at all. Ada saw his drooping ears and strange expression but just bowed his head once more and went out.
After all, only human beings could understand spoken words, and communication could only be established within their own species. If they asked Kuuga a question, he could at least nod or shake his head, but they didnât ask him any.
It seemed like Ada knew that Kuuga had some intelligence, but looking at how he didnât give him a detailed explanation, he might have assumed that Kuuga had the knowledge from the very beginning.
What kind of ritual was it? In the first place, judging from their surprise, they werenât the ones who brought Kuuga here. However, though they were surprised, they didnât question it.
Kuuga wondered if he was secretly brought here by someone for that ritual.
[I have no ideaâŚ]
When he groaned and put his chin on his foreleg, Kuuga gazed at the door then smelled a strange odor approach.
After waiting for a while, the door opened again. A young man with a gentle face came in holding something.