Queen of the Mad Dog Knights - Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – I Offer the Flesh and Blood of My Enemies to My Master (by Pitbull) For the Pitbull family, fighting is in their blood, it’s part of their soul. For them, achieving victory is a certainty. The reason why they fought is a simple one though. It’s to bring victory to their masters. And to once again passionately receive orders from their masters. I figured this out as I wrapped the collar around Barbarian-sama’s neck. He is merely the head of the Pitbull family’s private army, not even a part of the Order of the Mad Dog. That’s the reason why he hasn’t been wearing a collar. He offered me a collar for me to dress him up with. ..the situation is like this, I can only give in, huh… The collar he offered to me was purple colored, the same color as the muzzle I previously tied on him. ‘Actually, there’s one more thing…’ After touching the collar and grinning while doing it, he said it suddenly as he gave me something. A. Red. Spiked. Muzzle. “Well, I don’t want to accidentally bite someone to death when it matters, you see? Oh also, it turns into a red mask when I’m in my human form.” “….those spikes look really sharp don’t they..?” “It’s new after all ~” I let him wear the previous muzzle once, but he looked so evil that I sincerely begged him to never wear it regularly. He took a lock of my silver hair and placed it on his lips. “The Prime Minister offered this country to you while The Commander offered the new continent to you. Since that was the case, then I will offer the lives of all your enemies to you.”  

* * *

 

Well, we’re off!

 

I requested the fastest ride possible to track down the people who kidnapped Dashiba.

 

Barbarian-sama instructed his private army, numbered three hundred people, to  begin their preparations immediately.

 

Well, at least that was the plan until the other Dog-kin fiercely opposed my decision.

 

One of them is Leonhardt-sama who grabbed my shoulders while pleading to me.

 

“Liselotte-sama, you are the only royalty remaining in this kingdom, please do not carelessly venture outside!”

 

“That might be so, but Dashiba is waiting for me, if I don’t go out of my way to get him, I’ll be betraying him as his owner.”

 

“If that’s the case, instead of you personally going, please command me instead! I’m the Head Commander of the Knight Order and your soon-to-be pet–”

 

“Darius-sama, while your suggestion is the correct one, I’m sorry I still can’t allow you to go instead of me.”

 

—-mostly because most of the Dog-Kins, including Darius-sama himself are unbearably jealous toward Dashiba, ‘The Queen’s Beloved Dog.’

 

No matter how much their rational mind convinced them that they were different creatures, their emotions might lead them to inadvertently kill him. Later on, They might just come back to me and say ‘We tried our best, but the mongrel was killed… teehee.’

 

That being said, Barbarian-sama didn’t feel that way toward Dashiba.

 

He didn’t have the slightest feeling of jealousy toward the dog.

 

He’s always picking a fight with him, but the action didn’t stem out of jealousy, he had a different goal in mind.

 

All he wished was an order that would stir the spirit of the Pitbulls.

 

“In any case, the second-in-command for this operation is Barbarian-sama.”

 

“That’s that. Well, Milady, I see you are starting to learn how to handle us better.”

 

“Ugh–”

 

Darius-sama was disappointed.

 

On the surface he agreed with my decision, but his eyes showed jealousy toward Barbarian-sama.

 

Eventually he took a deep breath before saying, ‘I understand…’ that wasn’t all though as he continued to mutter some incomprehensible things “…since you have to degrade yourself to be on the same level as the mongrel to be her pet dog… maybe I should start by quitting my job…”

 

In the end it was decided that I would go alongside The Pitbull’s private army, The Puppy Squad that recently returned from the Humanist Castle alongside The Commander of the First Division, Darius-sama.

 

Vice-Commander Kishu from the First Division would follow Darius-sama meanwhile Vice-Commander Tosa and Akita would safeguard the castle along with Leonhardt-sama.

 

The other Commanders volunteered to accompany me, but the majority of their troops haven’t come back from the Humanist Castle. The reason for this was because to conquer the Humanist Kingdom as soon as possible, they had to send as many troops as they could.

 

Because time is of the essence, we simply couldn’t wait for them.

 

Thus, I decided to head to the Holy City of Lipa, the location where the kidnappers headed to alongside three hundred troops of Pitbull private army led by Barbarian-sama, two hundred troops from First Division led by Darius-sama and ten squads of Puppies, the total number of more than five hundred troops.

 

My step-brother who came to see me off while carrying a stack of post-war paperwork waved to me while saying ‘Get back safely, y’hear me?’

   

* * *

Currently, I’m riding a giant tank through an underground passage It was said that the vehicle conquered through the land, water and air, but apparently the quickest way to travel with it is still by land. More specifically it’s to run straight through the underground passage that the Fourth Division previously dug up. By the way, the tank I’m riding on is a special model called The Liselotte Peter-sama —-a technician beagle—- had to widen the passage to accommodate the tank’s size. The inside of the tank feels very comfortable. There is a dome, a thick, hemispherical window that let you see the outside with binoculars. I’m sitting behind the cockpit, there is a sofa with snacks, juice and magazines within my arm’s reach. For some reason there’s only the back issues of ‘Inudo’ available, monthly magazine series catered to young girls and the like. Behind The Liselotte, a large number of troops are coming out from the underground passage, including The Puppy Squad. They rode four-wheeled vehicles, another means of transportation that existed other than tanks. From time to time, I could see a Dog-Kin running beside my tank with a determined expression as if they were saying ‘There’s no way a mere tank could beat my running speed!’ Eventually they’d get tired and picked up by the others though. I could feel Darius-sama’s intense gaze over the steel plate ‘Master is taking care of another dog…’ is what he was probably thinking about. I ignored him and called out Barbarian-sama who sat in the driver’s seat. “Barbarian-sama, there’s something that I failed to understand.” “What is it?” “I’m glad that you are fighting for my honor and the country, but aren’t you acting too quickly after making your decision? Also, previously, why weren’t you asking for my permission before starting a war?” “Because Milady’s orders are absolute” He chuckled at how obvious the answer to my question was. ‘If The Queen said ‘no’, then I can’t disobey her’, he continued. “We, who are more than happy to be commanded under your thumb, will endure even the most hateful of opponents with a single command. Sadly, your predecessors were mostly pacifists, so the Pitbull family had a hard time restraining their urge for a while now. That’s why before you, a recently arrived ten years old with royal blood could grasp the situation around you, I was thinking of creating a country where those of the royal blood could live peacefully, well ‘peacefully’ from the Dog-kin’s perspective, of course.” ‘As you can see, the Dog-Kins will crush everything they consider to be an enemy of The Queen for her sake’, he added. “There has never been a better time to be a Pitbull than now!” “And that’s the reason why the fanatics of the Humanist Kingdom started to act! How do you plan to prevent further terrorism from them?!” “Easy, just kill them one by one.” He replied with a quiet voice. “Kill anyone who is an enemy of my country and my queen. What do you think the Pitbulls and the Mad Dog Knights are for? The dogs always want to do what is best for you. The enemy’s blood that will flow this time, as well as our blood, everything is yours.” The number one mad dog, Barbarian-sama, is loyal to the ideals of the Dog-Kin above all else. ‘The mad dog is the most loyal dog.’ Such is the ideal of the Country of the Mad Dogs. …at this rate, wouldn’t I be called The Bloody Queen before long? I’ve always been called ‘Lize the Big Head’, ‘Skinny Kid’ or ‘Expressionless Little Girl’, but I never imagined that the day would come when I’d be called ‘The Bloody Queen Who Fell Down After Being Pushed Around by Her Mad Dog During A Walk.’ Something is still bugging me though. “But still, the timing of this invasion is really quick isn’t it? It feels more like an impulsive invasion rather than a carefully prepared one… other than their insults toward me, was there anything else that triggered this?” He answered my question with a faraway look in his eyes. —-Incidentally, when I asked the same question to Leonhardt-sama, he just averted my gaze altogether. “Ah… there’s that matter too…” “What is it?” “I can’t tell you right now, well, I will after we get the mongrel back home.” “I see… that’s unfortunate. Anyway, have we reached our destination yet?” I glanced at the partially lit passage through the small window The walls of the lighted passageway are covered with large drawings of bones as distance markers and occasionally advertisements for above-ground restaurants. The person who dug this place must have been very hungry. In addition to the distance markers and advertisements, the walls are painted with pictures of various dog people’s favorite dishes: meat, fish, dog food, cracked bird bones, cracked pig bones, cracked cow bones, hotdogs, and soba. If you look at it closely, you could occasionally see the words ‘Made by Beagle.’ “No, not yet. We’ll be there in the morning. Well, we are with the vanguards, the forefront, so don’t be in such a rush.” “Alright.. ah, what happened to the two men of the Fourth Division who lost their tanks? Are they okay?” “Ahh, the one you were pleading with Wolfhound for. With how big a mistake they made, it wouldn’t be strange if they were executed, but since the one that was kidnapped was only the mongrel and how strongly you pleaded for their life, their punishment ended with hanging.” Apparently, it was a traditional punishment unique to the Fourth Division, in which the dog would be hung from the branch of the Tree of Remorse, a huge tree. In rare cases, the rope might break and the hanging dog might fall and crash into the passerby below. For this reason, when the punishment is being carried out, a sign is said to be hung on the trunk of the tree that reads ‘A dog is being hanged.’ Suddenly, a voice came from the top of the tank. [Urgent message!] I moved my gaze towards the transparent window above and saw a messenger from the Greyhound family. He was able to match the speed of this tank, as expected of a Greyhound. [At the Humanist Castle, some fanatics are carrying out suicide bombings with gunpowder that they stole from a Shih Tzu soldier in the Puppy Squad after baiting him with salami! They shouted “Hurray for the Purebloods!!” But the gunpowder was damp from the juice spilled by the Shih Tzu and it exploded halfway through their march!] “Oh my God!! I hope the damage wouldn’t spread too much… Also hasn’t the Puppy Squad been robbed plenty of times already?!” “Do you want me to execute them?” “…just hang them for now, please…” A while later, another greyhound jumped on the tank with the ‘Urgent message!’ [Near the border, the fanatics have set fire to a neighboring village! The Frontier Knights retaliated but Commander Bulldog’s old body couldn’t keep up with the heat and collapsed!] “Please prevent the damage from spreading and protect the elderly from heat stroke!” My fear became reality. The fanatics had started terrorism in the Kennel Kingdom! As more and more reports came in, my anxiety grew. But still, Greyhounds, use the walkie-talkies! —-When I inquired this to their leader later, he told me, ‘We will never be defeated by mere transceivers. This is a matter of honor to the Greyhound!’ And then the worst information of all arrived. [The head of the Humanist Sect, Archbishop Gorton, has escaped from Second Division’s imprisonment! He gathered the fanatics within the former Humanist Kingdom and had begun preparations for a full-scale war! He proclaimed ‘I’m not going to let the holy land of the Humanist sect fall under the control of impure dogs!’] “Currently, where is he at?” [Holy City of Lipa, the same destination where Your Highness Liselotte is currently marching to, apparently he used the stolen tank as a means of transportation.] “This… is going to be a lot of fun…” [In response to this, Darius-sama has asked for the Queen to return–] “Well, well, Milady, it seems like something interesting has happened.” Barbarian-sama blocked out the sounds from outside the tank as he narrowed his eyes to crescent moons shaped and smiled. “Does this mean that Dashiba has been taken to the stronghold of the fanatics?” “Mhm, it seems that both the garrison and the vanguard have been captured by the enemy. This means we Pitbulls have to go out our way to rescue them” “…you look really happy.” He turned around and stared at me in the eyes, but unlike his usual violent aura, he exuded a noble one instead. His eyes seemed calm. “Yes, I am very happy. I’m very happy to be able to offer you the flesh and blood of your enemies.”  

* * *

After getting off the tank and walking for a little while, we saw the Holy City of Lipa in the distance. The morning sun made it look like the city was glowing. I wonder how many fanatics were hiding there in this country? Probably tens of thousands of people are gathered on the hill of the holy ground. At the top of the hill was the Archbishop Gorton. He is currently the head of the Humanist Sect’s leaders and priests, while also the ruler behind the scenes of the Humanist Kingdom. Although the law of the Humanist Kingdom was made by the royal family, the final decisions have always been made by the Archbishop. The priests would preach that ‘anything impure is evil.’ Though in the end, that’s just a way for them to discriminate against the shape shifting race, the Alters. Hence, in the past they had taken the lives of many people and have repeatedly committed terrorism towards other countries. The current Archbishop, Gorton, is said to be particularly fanatical about this act. His uncompromising outburst is now about to drive the Kennel Kingdom into crisis. I took out a pair of binoculars from my pochette hanging on my military uniform. The Archbishop is surprisingly young. His long black hair covered one of his eyes and he wore what looked like a pitch-black priest’s attire over his well-trained body. The depths of his jet-black eyes were deep and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The messenger Greyhound shouted. [The enemies are gathering one after another! Ten thousand.. two thousand.. the number of enemies has exceeded one hundred thousand!] “It can’t be, so many of them in this place..?” “Immediately evacuate Liselotte-sama!” Darius-sama deployed a wide array of puppies to contest against the group of fanatics gathering on the hill while Barbarian-sama took the lead with a private pit bull squad in the middle. “Master! Please go back into the tank!” Each of the enemies held their own weapons. I didn’t see anything like the portable turrets that were being developed in the Kennel Kingdom, but I’m confident that if even one stone that they threw hit me, I’ll be dead in no time. Darius-sama in his dog form came from behind, picked me up on his back and carried me to the tank. I clung to his back and looked behind me to see the fanatics staring at me with straight faces. Even when the Puppy Squad pointed their turrets at them, The Pitbull Squad bared their fangs at them, their expressions didn’t change in the slightest. I was so horrified by the scene that I unconsciously gripped Darius-sama’s fur tightly. Dashiba is in the middle of THAT..? The vanguard was captured and gathered in one place. In the past when something like this happened they would have been killed as an example to raise the morale of the fanatics. [Reporting! In response to the Archbishop’s declaration, fanatics from all over the Kingdom and other countries are also flocking to this hill! Some of the fanatics infiltrated the Kennel Kingdom from the borders of other countries aiming for the center of the Kingdom to commit their terrorist attacks! According to our intel, they were calling this a ‘crusade’ against us!] “Such a thing..” I was carried by Darius-sama in his human form and was placed in The Liselotte, which had its top open. “Liselotte-sama, the assaults on the Kennel Kingdom are being handled by Mastiff, Borzoi, Mars and the others. Leonhardt is also taking measures to prevent neighboring countries from invading so please rest easy and prioritize your own safety.” Darius-sama squinted his beautiful light blue eyes and stared at me without a speck of fear in his face. He hugged me tightly and kissed the nape of my neck. ‘Liselotte-sama, know that I am your dog and I will protect you with all my being’ he whispered in my ear. I heard the other dogs start shouting ‘Protect Liselotte-sama!’, ‘This life only belongs to Liselotte-sama!’, ‘Long live the Kennel Kingdom!’ Barbarian-sama, overjoyed by this atmosphere, ordered the three hundred men he had brought with him. “Pitbull, this is the best situation! The enemy numbered one hundred thousand! We are three hundred men strong! Let us offer the flesh and blood of our enemies to the Queen!” “””For the Queen! My pleasure!””” A tense atmosphere enveloped the holy land as the reddish sky was filled with a deadly atmosphere. Will Dashiba be okay? I took out my binoculars and looked over the hill from the hemispherical window of the tank. Not long after that, I found him. What a surprise. There was a familiar fat Shiba-Inu eating a snack at the feet of the Archbishop. The thing he ate was bone gum, the newest and the most fashionable snack for Dog-kins on the continent! He was wagging his tail, oblivious to me, and was absorbed in eating the gum! “Dashiba is there! Everyone, please rescue him!” I opened the window and shouted towards the people outside. But no one actually responded to me. “…fine then, I’ll do it myself…” “””No! We’ll do it!!””” “…Barbarian-sama, please…” “Yes, yes, I got it, I got it…” A hundred thousand fanatics who would never accept us and our five hundred or so troops were locked in a standoff in the Holy Land of the Humanist.