Chapter 35: A Dog-Like Day (01)
As soon as Dane left the village, he started telling me the story I had been curious about, the story about the Grandmother.
"Grandmother was not a goat but a sheep beastmen."
I thought she was a goat because she had horns and introduced herself as one, but it turns out she was a sheep...
Well, the horns of a goat are pointy, but Grandmother's horns were curled like those of a sheep.
"That was the root of the ideology Grandmother held, wishing to become more beastmen-like."
To summarize Dane's story briefly, she was a sheep beastmen.
Sheep beastmen are typically fluffy like sheep, but she was almost hairless, which might be normal for other beastmen but is quite unusual for a sheep beastmen.
Feeling complex about her appearance, she wondered why a beastmen didn't look like a beastmen, which led her to form an independence group, demanding independence so that beastmen could truly be beastmen.
"She didn't find herself beautiful, so no sheep beastmen sought her out, and her self-esteem was quite low because of that."
Other beastmen might follow her for her wisdom and charisma, but that was all due to her abilities and her actions.
She didn't think she was sexually attractive, and apparently, no other beastmen saw her in that light either.
Humans treated her like any other beastmen, but her already low self-esteem made her think they only showed interest in her because they were animals in heat, not because of her deformed (in her opinion) beastmen form.
"So I explained to Grandmother how beautiful she was through physical means."
"Grandmother is really pretty, her breasts are no joke, every time I see her I get an erection so hard it's unbearable etc..."
"That's how eloquent you are."
"But it must have come across as sincere, right?"
Honestly, I was impressed.
If I had been asked to play Dane's role, I wouldn't have been able to do it.
I would have approached her in a roundabout way or with some calculation, and then Grandmother would have naturally sensed it and guarded herself, thinking I came to seduce her physically and change her mind.
Even if she had agreed to have sex, it would have been just for hospitality, not with an open heart like now.
But Dane truly admired Grandmother's beauty simply and without calculation, persuaded her, and formed a relationship, thereby breaking her fundamental complexes.
"You're helpful sometimes."
"What? If anything, you were less helpful this time!"
Honestly, it was a valid point, and I couldn't argue.
As for me... Well, I enjoyed the naked beastmen village and helped with Naomi's heat a bit, or served as a toy to the cat beastmen (though I dug my own grave with that), so I hadn't really done much else.
"Alright, I'll report your contribution when we go back."
'Now that I think about it...'
Suddenly, a suspicion sparked in my mind.
'Could it be that the reason the senior knight sent the two of us, trainee knights, was this?'
Why else would he send two trainee knights to such a place, not diplomats or civil servants?
'No, that can't be it. If I predicted that, I'd be not just a knight but a prophet... No wait, maybe since beastmen are crazy about human men...'
I was pondering how far the senior knight had anticipated.
Everything had been settled by last night, and I had sent a message ahead to have a carriage wait at the edge of the forest, but there were unexpected people waiting for us.
More than ten dog beastmen were waiting for us.
Fortunately, unlike in the beastmen village, they were dressed simply, but still, I couldn't guess why they were here.
"We'll follow Master!"
Some dog beastmen were still panting and clinging to the coachman who was familiar with beastmen from the north, and he controlled them well by throwing jerky from his pocket.
I turned to Dane, wondering what had happened.
"Yesterday, the dog beastmen stormed into Grandmother's house saying they couldn't live anymore, that they were going to find human masters, and if not, they wanted death."
"So Grandmother was shocked, but seeing that, she said that being beastmen was already an inseparable part of being human and let them live as they wished."
I had no idea that had happened.
Last evening, after packing up, Dane had solved the situation in an incredible way, and I was exhausted from the continuous depletion of my energy and slept soundly.
Moreover, without Shuru to lick my glans and wake me up, I had an uninterrupted sleep until morning...
"You don't think Grandmother gave up her independence because she liked me, do you?"
"Right? You wouldn't think of Grandmother as a sexually frustrated idiot, would you?"
Damn, honestly, I had thought so.
On the backside of her easy giving up on independence was this event...
That is, the dog beastmen showed their nature... that is, their nature to follow people, so Grandmother acknowledged that the nature of beastmen wasn't as simple as she thought.
"So, are we going to the city together?"
While Dane and I were talking, a female dog beastmen approached me and extended a leash.
"No, I'm gonna follow Master, okay?"
Hearing that, I looked around, and all the dog beastmen were wearing collars and extending their leashes to me.
"There are already too many rivals here, so we want to follow Master!"
"Ah... Wait. So... you want to come along?"
All 18 dog beastmen answered simultaneously.
"That's really... dog-like."
I tried to persuade them otherwise, but these dog beastmen, who would normally obey other commands, blatantly ignored the command not to follow.
They had been freed to find their own freedom, but they chose to seek subjugation again, how dog-like is that?
"We've already sent a message back, so we have to return now."
Since there was a return deadline, we decided to return to the capital where the magic knight brigade was.
At first, I thought if we ran away in the carriage, they'd eventually get tired and scatter...
"Heh heh heh heh......"
'Why... are they following well?'
The dog beastmen were running on all fours and following us, and their stamina was so impressive that the carriage couldn't shake them off.
Of course, horses are faster over a straight distance, but the dog beastmen were shortening the travel distance by running through forests and over rocks.
"What should we do now?"
I thought I had resolved everything, but now 18 dog beastmen were following me.
I even tried passing them off to Dane, but Dane said he talked with Grandmother back then and decided not to take the dog beastmen, so these 18 were definitely following me.
"Maybe just let them go after a while? Pass them off to suitable people..."
Dane didn't seem to think much of it, suggesting to find owners for the dog beastmen somewhere appropriate, but this guy is simple; the world doesn't work that easily.
"What if their owner is human trash?"
I was puzzled why I had become the representative of human trash, but I decided to let it slide.
"Dog beastmen have exceptionally high combat abilities among beastmen."
Cat beastmen are strong in unarmed combat due to their claws, but they're not a threat to knight-level opponents.
However, dog beastmen are fundamentally stronger physically, and the biggest issue is their loyalty.
"So what if their owner is a criminal?"
If the owners of the dog beastmen turned out to be criminals or sold them to the underworld or thieves' guilds to make money...
They might not match knight-level, but as soldiers, they would be formidable weapons.
'It's too risky to let loose 18 dog beastmen'
In northern cities where many citizens are beastmen, it might somehow be manageable, but these were trying to find masters in populated areas.
There, the capabilities of the dog beastmen, who could take on ten soldiers alone, become a real problem, creating a dilemma.
"If there's no solution, shouldn't we send them back?"
"But they don't listen to commands to go back, do they?"
"What if we hand them over to the coachman or some nice person?"
"Hmm... the coachman is a bit different though."
The owners these dog beastmen are looking for aren't ordinary people.
Even in a northern city with few people, isn't there someone who could take in 18 dog beastmen?
Even more so since one person could potentially raise a group of them, but the fact they followed me specifically... suggests a different kind of difference.
These beastmen probably won't listen to my commands unless they meet a suitable owner.
Moreover, these aren't just puppies, and they don't just accept any human as their owner; there must be some conditions.
"We've arrived. You need a pass to enter the capital, so I'll only take you this far."
Without time to ponder, we arrived at the capital, and I had to get off the carriage without having a chance to devise a plan.
And then I was forced to grab the leashes of the panting dog beastmen who rushed at me.
"Yes. There's only one way."
Seeing the dog beastmen panting and clinging to me in anticipation, I boldly entered the capital leading all 18 beastmen.
And of course, shortly after entering, a message was sent to the magic knight brigade, and the senior knights and my peers came out, stunned to see me holding the leashes of the beastmen.
"Arrest for current offenses."
And then I was arrested.
"You've got guts. Sent to resolve a declaration of independence and you come back as a slaver?"
"They call you 'master'."
The senior knight's piercing words left me speechless.
"No excuses. Try explaining that."
"I brought these beastmen to enlist them."
Yes, my plan for safely handling the 18 dog beastmen was this.
To have them processed by the magic knight brigade.