Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint-Chapter 492: Training the Mutt

A regressor is ruled by their mood. I had known that for a while, but never had I felt it as strongly as I did these days.

"Hey! Where are you headed today?"

"Do you need anything? Something to eat, maybe?"

"Do you have a preferred weapon? I could get you a decent one!"

Unlike in the past, when they were constantly snappy, things had been going well lately, so they were in a good mood and kept trying to give me things. You appreciate warmth more after you've felt the cold. The regressor’s generosity felt oddly unfamiliar.

But come on, who am I? I'm a mind reader. If someone offers something without a reason, I take it with gratitude. When else would I get the chance?

So when the regressor asked if I needed anything, I answered boldly.

"Buy me some toys."

"...What?"

What? You just asked if I needed something. Why are you frowning like that?

Lately, I had been tracking down Orcma while exposing both my face and movements. It was a calculated decision—to spread fear quickly while making it clear that I wouldn’t be staying in this city for long.

But now, that meant I could no longer show my face in public. If a Piggy spotted me, the mansion would become their next target.

So I explained that since I had to stay indoors, I needed some toys to pass the time. The regressor seemed unimpressed.

"You're not just making excuses to stay inside, are you?"

"What are you saying? If I didn’t want to go out, I wouldn’t have gone at all. I’ve been sneaking out at night to beat up small-time criminals, and you’re still suspicious? If you doubt me after all that, that’s just unfair."

"Oh—no, no. I was just asking."

Excuses? Please. The only reason I went outside to work in the first place was to avoid nagging! The best way to escape a lecture is to do what they want.

"So, what exactly do you need?"

"A long cloth, rope, a disc, and a scratcher."

"A scratcher?"

"You know, that cork-like thing beastkin use to file their claws."

"I know what it is. But why?"

I had casually said I was going to fight the King of Wolves, and in reality, I’d be little more than dead weight in that battle.

But that didn’t mean I could just go in unprepared. My mind-reading only worked on humans. I couldn’t read how the King of Wolves would move or predict where his fangs would strike. Even the King of Humans wouldn’t be spared from the fear of a wolf.

Still, there was one reason I was confident enough to step forward.

I raised my hand toward Azzy.

"It’s about time I learned to work with Azzy."

"Woof!"

Azzy leaped up and clapped my hand with her paw—without using strength, without exposing her claws. It ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) was a result of her instinct to avoid harming humans.

But when we fight the wolves, there won’t be time for such care.

"Oh, so you’re finally coming up with a strategy against the King of Wolves?"

"It’s not even a strategy. Ende and the wolf pack are fighting—do you think I could come up with a plan they’d actually follow? Even if they did, do you think a battle between humans and wolves would go as planned? I don’t waste time worrying about things I can’t control. I focus on what matters more."

"And what’s that?"

"My survival."

I reached out to Azzy again. She instinctively placed her paw in my hand. This was the level of force she usually used with me. She could get rougher in emergencies, but never to the point where I’d actually get hurt.

However, when fighting the King of Wolves, she needed to be willing to hurt me. That was the only way I’d survive.

"Hand."

"Woof!"

"Foot."

"Woof!"

When I raised my hand, she jumped up to tap it. When I raised my foot, she lifted hers to meet mine. Right now, she treated me like something fragile, but through this training, she’d learn how much force I could handle. She had to, if we were going to survive the coming battle.

"Ah, I see. Can I watch?"

"Aren’t you busy today?"

"Nope. Supplies are taken care of, and there’s nothing urgent until Grull enters Ende. Everything’s going smoothly!"

"...Hearing you say that makes me nervous."

"Why? Things going as planned is normal."

"Depends on the person."

What does that mean? Normally, things go as planned whenever I regress... Wait, are they saying I’m the kind of person whose plans never work out? That only happens because I do things differently in each loop! This is starting to piss me off.

Before the regressor could stew too much in their irritation, I cut in.

"Yeah, sure. Watch. Actually, since we’re on the topic, why don’t you train with Azzy too?"

"Train with Azzy?"

Now that I think about it, this is the first time Azzy is properly fighting after leaving Tantalus. Before, she either vanished without a trace or was used by the so-called ruler of all things. It might be good to gauge her strength now.

"Alright."

"Then go buy the toys I mentioned."

"Alright."

Without hesitation, the regressor headed out to run my errand. Stepping briskly past the mansion gates, they suddenly stopped and glanced back at the tightly shut doors.

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Wait. Why am I out here running errands? I feel like I just got played.

"Hey, sometimes people just go along with things. Cut me some slack."

Well, Hughes has been working hard. I might as well take a walk. Where do I even buy this stuff? Gold coins should do the trick, right?

The regressor was a true creature of whim. Feeling particularly generous today, they set off without complaint.

If the merchants play their cards right, they could probably make enough profit today to last them a whole year.

Reading the regressor’s thoughts as they walked away, I mentally congratulated the merchants of Ende.

Now then. What should I do?

I was still contemplating my next steps when Azzy trotted up beside me and started barking.

"Woof! Woof woof!"

"If you’ve got something to say, use human words. Otherwise, I won’t understand."

She had learned to speak human language for my sake, since I couldn’t read a dog’s thoughts. With an innocent expression tinged with a hint of worry, she asked,

"Not sleeping? Where going?"

"When? At night?"

"Woof."

"For work."

That usually meant beating up violent pig beastmen. There were already rumors spreading in Ende about the arrival of the King of Beasts. Not to mention, Azzy couldn’t attack people anyway, so bringing her along wouldn’t have helped much.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

I could have explained all that, but it felt tedious and pointless. Instead, I gave her a vague answer, and she made a guess.

"Fight? With humans?"

People often call stupid humans "beasts." It’s not exactly wrong—after all, animals generally have lower intelligence than humans.

But intelligence itself is a human-made standard.

What if animals were given human speech? What would humans think then, if they could truly converse with beasts?

For me, the answer was simple: I wouldn’t think anything of it. Because I’m just another beast myself.

Azzy seemed to pick up on my thoughts, but I responded without much emotion.

"Yeah, usually. There’s no one else to fight besides humans."

"Woof woof! Wolves!"

"The King of Wolves won’t be here for a while. And besides, even he has human allies. It’s called a battle between beasts and wolves, but it’s really just a proxy war between two factions."

"Woof..."

Azzy suddenly drooped, ears and tail sagging, before asking,

"Humans... why fight?"

"Why are you suddenly asking philosophical questions? What’s gotten into you? Beasts fight each other all the time, don’t they?"

"Woof! I don’t fight humans!"

"You should. How long are you planning to keep avoiding it?"

Some dogs attack humans. Some wolves accept humans into their packs and get along with them. That’s probably because dogs and wolves share the same roots.

But Azzy refuses to attack humans, while the King of Wolves charges at them on sight. The gap between a beast and its king is oddly wide. Then again, a king represents the will of its kind, so it makes sense.

"I don’t fight! If I don’t fight, I won’t have to!"

"Think so? But beasts forget things pretty easily. You might just forget and end up fighting anyway."

"No fighting! Woof! Forget fights!"

Sure, if you say so. The humans will still keep fighting, but if you personally don’t fight, I guess that means there’s no fighting—at least in your little world.

"But you will fight the King of Wolves, right?"

"Woof! Promise!"

"That’s a promise for you, not for me."

"Woof?"

"It’s your fight, so why are you saying it like a question? Well, whatever. We’ve got the same enemy, so just make sure you protect me."

"Woof!"

She really wasn’t scared, huh?

Then again, neither was I. Not because I was particularly brave, but because fear was useless.

Even though I’d lost all my strength and was just a normal person now, the "promise" of the King of Beasts still remained, compelling me forward.

I guess I really am a beast’s king. Even if that title isn’t much help.

"Still, it’s better to prepare in advance. Even if it only slightly increases our chances of winning."

"Woof woof! Good!"

"But I still don’t know, Azzy. How do we increase those chances?"

"Woof woof. Woof?"

"Exactly. I don’t know either. We’re not prophets."

A prophet might know. But they wouldn’t make the choice for us. They’d just use their knowledge to their own advantage.

Not that I’d ever ask them to choose for me. If they happened to wander near enough for me to read their thoughts, I’d use the information—but otherwise, I wouldn’t go out of my way.

"In that case, doing our best in the moment is probably the best option, don’t you think?"

"...Woof woof. Bad face."

"Me? Where are you gonna find someone with a face as kind as mine?"

Azzy slowly backed away before flopping down at a slight distance. She was surprisingly good at reading emotions—better than most humans. Probably because she wasn’t dumb enough to get tricked by words or circumstances.

She just felt things on an instinctive level.

Still, that didn’t last long.

"I’m back!"

The regressor, having completed their errand, dumped the toys on the ground.

Azzy’s ears perked up, and the moment she saw them, her tail started wagging furiously.

She really did look dumb sometimes.