Chapter 56
“Rrr-rr-rr!”
“Argh!”
“Honey!”
All hell broke loose.
The man who’d been bitten on the leg by Tofu flailed around, shaking his calf. The golden cords on his jacket clattered.
Still, Tofu wouldn’t let go.
Tofu’s tiny body dangled in midair, teeth sunk firmly into the man’s leg.
“Ow!”
Tofu’s front teeth are going to break!
Though they’re basically grains of rice, so there’s not much to break anyway!
“Tofu!”
“Johann Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss the Third!”
Kasian was faster than I was.
As expected of a dog’s owner—while rattling off that absurdly long name, he yanked Tofu off in one smooth motion and hugged the still-growling dog tight.
He patted Tofu’s body, soothing him.
“That level of attack won’t do. It’s winter, so his clothes are thick. Next time, jump higher and go for the hair.”
“…What?”
“Turn him bald. Got it?”
Oh. Wow.
“Hey!”
The man finally came to his senses and tried to protest, but—
“My apologies. Our dog can’t stand nonsense.”
“Eek!”
Kasian was huge, and his face screamed I’m a thug. Faced with him, the man shrank back immediately.
“Ugh. Droplets flying everywhere.”
Kasian wasn’t alone—Arden, standing beside him, pulled out a handkerchief with a visibly disgusted expression.
“Could you speak from farther away?”
“Grrr….”
Tofu was still baring his teeth, clearly not over it.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. You bit him, so your mouth feels gross, right? Let’s brush your teeth when we get home?”
Normally, Kasian barely ever bathed Tofu, but now he was suddenly playing the role of a fastidious dog owner just to provoke the man.
“Ugh.”
Arden gagged at the sight of saliva pooling at both corners of the man’s mouth as he’d struggled to pry Tofu off earlier.
A total mess.
“Ahem.”
The people who’d been watching the whole scene suddenly changed their tune, as if they’d never agreed with the man in the first place.
“Well, he was a bit crude.”
“It’s funny how a commoner who doesn’t know his place barged in, but really, it’s not our concern.”
“Exactly. He’s not even competition.”
“Even if that peasant farmer brought a perfectly healthy puppy, the outcome would be the same. There’s no way he could win.”
“He’d be lucky just to finish.”
…What?
“Why?”
I looked at the woman who’d said that.
“Ah, I suppose you haven’t seen yet?”
She widened her eyes at my gaze.
Folding the fan that had been hiding her face, she gestured toward the arena where officials were busy setting things up.
What? I craned my neck to look.
And immediately understood.
“The obstacles are….”
“Yes. They’re designed for large dogs.”
The height and size of the obstacles—things the dogs had to run, jump over, and press down with their weight—were all calibrated for large breeds.
“Why would they do this?”
The entry requirements hadn’t said only large dogs could participate.
At my stunned question, the woman reopened her fan and covered her mouth as she spoke.
“The deputy minister entrusted by His Highness the Crown Prince to oversee this amusement park opening is my cousin.”
“And?”
“He said that all the nobles participating would bring large breeds of a specific, highly intelligent lineage.”
“……”
I looked around at the Border Collies everywhere.
Dogs that stared blankly at their trainers as if their bitten owners were none of their business—dogs that barely seemed to recognize their own masters.
“So he said there was no need to design the course separately for small dogs. One course would suffice.”
“……”
“That’s unfortunate for you, since you seem to be nobles yourselves.”
“……”
I turned around.
Beyond the fence stood commoner children, unable to enter, watching us.
Only the Nutty-Nerfy sisters had barely crossed that line—but even they were destined to lose.
From the start, the arena itself was rigged against them.
“……”
Am I over-identifying just because I was born a commoner?
At the very front of the fence, a kid even younger than Nerfy tugged at the hand of the teenage girl who’d brought him.
“Sis, can’t we go inside and watch too?”
“Are you crazy? You don’t even have a dog.”
“Then I can’t win a golden ticket?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t even enter the competition—how would you win a ticket?”
“But I want one too….”
“Give up.”
The girl scoffed.
“Give up on this life and aim for the next one. Or I dunno—regress or something.”
“What’s regress?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“……”
Noble kids boasting about how they were obviously going to win, about their dogs’ superior bloodlines and elite training—
And children stuck outside the fence, just watching.
“……”
If you’re born a commoner, you can’t even step inside the fence.
And even if you struggle your way in—
If you don’t have a large dog, it’s useless.
Just like graduating from an academy and landing a good job still won’t let you catch up to those born with status.
Was I thinking too much over a single agility competition?
“The reason Johann Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss the Third keeps bringing up his bloodline is because it’s his weakness.”
While Arden—who couldn’t stand filth—volunteered to scrub Tofu clean, Kasian spoke.
‘The proud divine-beast bloodline, Johann Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss the Third!’
The words Tofu had said when I first met him came back to me.
Kasian continued.
“He’s a purebred divine beast, but unfortunately, he only has three toes.”
“How many toes do dogs usually have?”
“Five on the front paws, four on the back.”
“Huh.”
Tofu does have three jelly pads.
You can’t really tell because of the fur, but when you touch them, it’s obvious.
“But does that really matter? The number of toes?”
Doesn’t that just make nail trimming faster? At my question, Kasian asked instead:
“Do you know about the nine-tailed foxes of the Eastern Empire?”
“The foxes with nine tails that turn into humans?”
“Like them, divine beasts can originally transform into humans.”
“Really?!”
“But only if their toes are normal.”
“…So that means.”
“Exactly. Three-toed Tofu—Johann Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss the Third—is like a fox without a tail.”
Like a raccoon that lost its balance because its tail was damaged while being swept downriver.
“Tofu can’t transform.”
“Ah.”
So that’s why he got so angry at what that man said earlier.
It was something to get angry about. I was angry too.
I only held back because biting a stranger’s leg would get him taken away.
“How did Tofu end up like that?”
“He was born that way.”
“……”
“He’s a rare, pureblood divine beast, but because of the deformity, he was cast out and chased away by his clan.”
On a rainy day, trembling under a temple wall with nothing but a bag, Kasian had taken him in.
“All because he was missing a few toes?”
“All because he was missing a few toes.”
“But.”
Tofu now lived with the High Priest. Kasian finished my thought.
“And he serves the Saint of Magic.”
“So he’s the most successful divine beast of all.”
I bit my lip and scanned the surroundings.
The discomfort I’d felt earlier finally took shape.
I stared at the arena—tilted from the very beginning, built for large dogs.
At this rate, Tofu and the raccoon won’t even finish.
I wasn’t saying they had to win. But shouldn’t they at least get a fair chance?
“Kasian. Do you know what I’m thinking right now?”
“Something about delivering justice?”
“Exactly.”
But first, there was something important we had to do.
At my solemn tone, Kasian leaned closer.
“First.”
“First?”
“We need to ditch Arden for a bit.”
I pointed to Arden approaching us, towel in hand, vigorously rubbing Tofu’s head and paws.
His white shirt was soaked, like he’d just come back from battle—but he looked refreshed after washing the dog.
It didn’t feel great to deceive innocent Arden.
But—
“If we transform in front of Arden, we’ll get arrested.”
“That’s true.”
Kasian nodded.
We shared a moment of pitying eye contact, staring at Arden.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Arden frowned.
I looked up at him and said:
“Arden.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve got an emergency.”
“An emergency?”
“Well—”
I almost said I needed the bathroom, then froze.
I used that excuse at the last ball too.
And disappeared for ages.
If I did that again now—
I’d look like someone with chronic digestive issues….
Of course! Arden and I aren’t dating, he’s not introducing me to his terrifying parents, I’m definitely not secretly in love with him, and he has absolutely no interest in me—and okay, maybe there was one moment my heart raced, but that was just the situation, and my hammer charging up was purely coincidental—
Still! I can’t say it!
Why is my excuse so long?
I don’t know!
So in the end, the excuse I chose was—
“I’m suffering from a pain unique to women.”
“…Ah?”
“So I must… go find a place to soothe that pain.”
As I screamed internally at my own excuse, Kasian shook his head.
“Then we’ll take our leave.”
Clutching my side like I’d been stabbed, I turned away.
“Senior, I’ll take you to the infirm—”
Kasian grabbed Arden before he could move.
“Arden. You’re young—you wouldn’t know. In times like this, it’s polite to leave a lady alone.”
“Oh….”
“It can’t be helped. Until Lady Seraphina returns, the two of us should stay glued together and enjoy the competition. Sounds good?”
“Sounds terrible.”
“Right, right. Don’t go anywhere.”
Leaving behind the worried pair and a freshly washed, dozing Tofu, I went to find a place to transform.
I clasped the necklace and closed my eyes.
“Money, fame, health… puppies, kittens….”
Rabbit, red panda, squirrel, koala, tiger……
