Queen of the Mad Dog Knights - Chapter 14
Chapter 14 – Master, I Love You! Give Me Socks, Please! (by Greyhound)
Currently, I’m visiting the eastern coast of the Kennel Kingdom.
The beach looks stunning with the combination of white sand and blue sea, especially on the coastline. The water is so clear and beautiful.
There is a large ship floating in the sea.
It is one of the fastest ships in the country.
There are three tanks on top of it.
I am on the beach with Darius-sama behind me, sending off two Wakens[1].
The one with a fresh smile plastered on his face, Yoshimune von Kishu-sama.
The other one with his crisp, manly eyebrows, Hachi von Akita-sama..
Hachi-sama is a taciturn man, a man of few words.
Yoshimune-sama is holding Dashiba, who turned even fatter than he was before and said, ‘Well, Liselotte-sama. I will take Dashiba-sama with me’ as he smiled.
“I’ll leave him in your care.”
“Within the guidance of High Priest Apo, I would do everything I can.”
“Everything is for the sake of Dashiba-sama’s health, I hope you can bear a short farewell.”
“Good luck, Dashiba.”
“Kyun!”
Dashiba looked at me and flapped his legs in a desperate attempt to resist, but Yoshimune-sama would not let him go.
Everything started because Dashiba’s body turned all wobbly and flabby.
I was told by the dog’s doctor ‘No matter how you look at it, he’s obese, please make him lose a little bit of his weight.’
And so, I tried to get him to exercise, but he slacked off on the dog run court whenever I took my eyes off him. To make things worse, Archbishop Gorton kept giving him expensive snacks whenever he came over, resulting in him gaining more weight instead of losing it.
In the end I had to consult Leonhardt-sama who happily suggested that I entrust him to the Wakens.
I hesitated hearing his suggestion, but the Prime Minister went ahead and said..
“You can safely leave him in the hands of Kishu-sama, everything will be alright.
That’s right, Kishu-sama is capable in everything he did and he never called Dashiba a mongrel or anything similar.
I’m sure he will treat Dashiba sincerely and lead him to a healthy life.
Finally, I made up my mind to entrust my dog to the Dog-Kins.
As expected, they replied ‘Leave Dashiba-sama to us.’
“We Wakens have always been concerned about Dashiba-sama’s well being (his shameful conduct). We will train him (with course enough to make a real knight cry) to the best of our abilities, fufu..”
Yoshimune-sama’s white teeth sparkled as he laughed in a truly refreshing manner.
He seemed to be in a good mood, as he patted the black collar around his neck.
Apparently, there is an island where the Knight Order trained their new recruits, the island is isolated to make sure the trainee couldn’t escape from the exercise routine that the doctors gave them.
Hachi-sama nodded deeply as he touched his black collar and said ‘You can leave it to me, I will make sure he will be presentable at the day of the coronation (I’ll drive him half-dead if I need to), I will make him to at least be able to obey the word ‘sit’ from you (if he can’t even do that, he deserves death).’
Darius-sama nodded his head and said, ‘I have high hopes for you both (in a lot of ways).’
They seem to be hiding something in that conversation…. I hope it’s just my imagination…..
While thinking that, I waved my white handkerchief in the air toward the ship carrying Dashiba who kept crying “Kyuun! Kyuun!.”
I thought I heard someone muttering behind me, ‘So we can use the fake sincerity of the Wakens… this will be useful in the future…’ but I’m sure it was just my imagination… Right?
[1] ??, literally means Japanese Dogs, like Shiba, Akita etc., I just keep it at this because calling them “Japanese Dogs” in the story where Japanese doesn’t exist feels really weird, but if you want me to change it, I’ll change it. [2] ??????, I assume his name is based on this [3] It’s a plant that cats love.
* * *
The Kingdom of the Mad Dogs annexed the Humanist Kingdom. Following the recent uproar, words spread across the continent in a short time. The Empire was especially upset at this and sent the Duke of Hainuwele[2] to seek an audience with me. The Duke came in with his cloak flipped up, surrounded by the large dogs of the Second Division. Inside the throne room, he bowed to pay his respects toward me. “Your Highness, I heard that you have annexed the Humanist Kingdom.” “I apologize for our lateness in informing you, but indeed, that’s true.” When I stated my answer clearly, the Duke’s gentle face turned serious and his pupils narrowed vertically, it reminded me of my late father. “I assumed that you were a pacifist… But, it seems I underestimated you just because of your age.” “I’ll take that as a compliment.” “But still, our country embraces many races and religions and there are followers of the humanist religion, so we weren’t unfamiliar with them… I’m genuinely surprised you weren’t only able to survive their assault, but you went as far as to make peace with the Archbishop? How did you manage to do that?” “Well, that’s…” Dame-Shiba’s face appeared in my mind. Since it took me a while to reply, the duke eventually sighed in resignation as he muttered, ‘It’s a secret, huh…’ The duke shrugged his shoulders and decided to not pursue the matter any further. But he asked me another question out of nowhere. “That aside, the blitzkrieg operation was splendid, also I heard you managed to seize a lot of socks?” “Umm.. socks?” “Yes… the royal family’s worn-out socks… Wait, pardon me, haven’t you read the official letter from the Humanist Kingdom?” “Ah… I haven’t…” I turned my gaze toward Leonhardt-sama who was standing beside me. He immediately averted his eyes. I turned my gaze toward Darius-sama who was standing below me. He immediately averted his eyes. I turned my gaze toward the other Commanders in the room They immediately averted their eyes I know this reaction… this is the infamous ‘I know I’m guilty but no, I won’t admit it’ reaction!* * *
I gathered the Commanders of the Knight Order to my room after the audience with Duke Hainuwele was over. I asked them to prepare a large table in the parlor and asked Theresa-san to make some tea. In the meantime, I looked at the faces of the Prime Minister and all the Commanders. Firstly, the Prime Minister, Leonhard von Golden Retriever-sama. The Commander of the Royal Guards, The First Division, Darius von Wolfhound-sama. The Commander of the Combatants, The Second Division, Grey von Mastiff-sama. The Commander of… also the combatants, but I didn’t know the details of which part of combat they partook in, The Third Division, Apollo von Great Dane-sama. The Commander of the Technological Development and Sponsorship Division, The Fourth Division, Rascal von Malamute-sama. The Commander of the Covert Operator and Torture Specialists, The Fifth Division, Lyric von Corgi-sama. The Commander of the division specialized in sabotage, The Sixth Division, Mazo von Borzoi-sama—-. Jeez… In his dog form, he crawled on his belly under my chair while waiting for me to lift my legs. My personal guard dog, Mars von Maltese-sama, tugged and pulled his tail while saying ‘Don’t inconvenience the master!’ but he refused to come out. He was being hard-headed. The one who was giving me a confused look was Josee von St. Bernard-sama of the Eighth Division, a division of medic. She is the only female commander. She has a tall and nice body. Her auburn hair is tied up loosely, and her lean eyes are sexy and beautiful. She had been dealing with an urgent patient until I called her here. She tapped the desk with her red fingernails and asked me ‘Do you want me to go there and stop them?’ I managed to turn her down, saying that Mars-sama is enough to help me here. [Sorry for being late! There was a wonderful affair and I had to get a scoop out of it!] The person who hurriedly came in his dog form was Yoch von Greyhound, the commander of the Seventh Division, the division focused on communication. He was the second son of the head of the Greyhound family. Turning into his human form, he dodged the accusing stares of those around him with a bright, refreshing smile. His dark brown hair was tousled upside down, and he had leaves and branches stuck all over his clothes. He is the kind of person who said something like ‘I’m the best journalist in the world!’ or ‘No one can beat me when it comes to running away!’ and he has the tendency to disappear to God-knows-where and because of that, I rarely see him outside of meetings like this. He is a nosy person and he loves scoops so much, on one occasion he told me ‘Affair is good civilization! Paparazzi is an even better civilization with a rich and proper history behind it!’ …in other words, he really isn’t someone that should be in a governmental body like this. He was about to sit down in his chair before he suddenly stopped. He sniffed something and suddenly hugged me. “Hey!” “Oh yes! I knew it! You really smelled great! A heavenly smell! Liselotte-sama is a walking air freshener! Even flowers couldn’t compare to your scent! It’s the smell that would drive anyone crazy!” Who did you call an air freshener!? I’m not some decoration that you put in the corner and then forget about it existing ever again. When Darius-sama grabbed him by the collar and peeled him off me, he said, ‘Anyway, it’s best to have freshly removed socks rather than the used ones we got from this war! Oh, also I need some shoes if possible!’ His nickname is ‘The Paparazzi Dog.’ As if that isn’t enough, he has another nickname, ‘The Sock Dog.’ He is particularly fond of the royal family’s used clothes. Well, actually every dog loves the smell of the royal family. The number of dogs who wished to receive my clothes were higher than the number of the stars. Leonhardt-sama especially often came to sniff my clothes, the other dogs knew this and ransacked his closet during the previous war. However, the only one who would openly say ‘Give me!’ to me was Yoch-sama. The first time I met him he went ahead and said. “Queen, let me say this directly. Please take off your socks and give them to me!” Well, he is the same as ever, but I noticed some unintelligible words from his ramblings just now. Something along the lines of ‘Used socks from the last war?’ When everyone was finally seated and Theresa-san had finished serving the tea to everyone, I started by asking everyone in the room. “…show me the official letter we received from the Humanist Kingdom.” (Liselotte) “Yes…” (Reinhardt) Leonhardt-sama held the documents with a sulky expression. His eyebrows were lowered and his face seemed like he was begging me to not get mad at him. I read the letter. “In order to rebuild and stabilize our economy, we are going to start selling the content of our treasury. We don’t need any of them, especially if they are coveted by The Alters. The rest of them will be burned by next week. However, if you ever covet them, please we ask you to be reasonable with your prices.” At the bottom was a list, with all the loot The Kingdom had previously taken from various countries, and all the treasures they had exchanged with each other in international exchanges when their religious leaders were more moderate. For the empire, it was a set of shiny objects (jewelry and stuff). For the Cat-Kin Kingdom, there were products made from the silver vine wood.[3] And for our country, it was —–. The Kennel Kingdom: Used socks and shoes from generations of the royal family (a lot). Socks of the future queen that were acquired as spoils during the war [footprint pattern]. “T-This is…” “It’s unacceptable, right? I mean, socks and shoes?! Burning something that smells amazing is not something a proper human being would do, that’s just evil, pure evil!” “…yes, I agree, it’s unacceptable. Mazo-sama casually stated his agreement towards the exasperated Yoch-sama as he drank his tea elegantly. His clothes fluttered as he did it. I looked around at everyone’s faces. They kept their silence, but their faces unanimously said “agree”. “Leonhardt-sama!” “Every relic of the Kingdom’s royal family had historical value, so we had no choice but to take them back for the prestige of our country.” “Isn’t it more about the smell than the historical value ?” Noticing me starting to get angry, Gray-sama, the oldest out of everyone, replied. “Of course yes, it’s obvious, we are Dog-Kins after all. There’s a famous saying in this country, ‘Memories come with smells. Smells come with memories’ it means that when your life starts to get lonely, you should smell something to bring out the memories within it.” (Grey) I can’t believe these guys! They asked permission for war over something like this?! I glared at Darius-sama. He instantly transformed into his dog form and hung his head in shame. That won’t work on me! The socks and shoes of the successive generations of the Humanist Kingdom’s Royalty were distributed as rewards by the Mad Dog Knights. No wonder the amount of the bounty that was listed was so small. Because everyone was hoarding the ‘treasures’! Leonhardt-sama asked with a sad tone “Do we need to put them back into the treasury?” Of course not! I don’t need those things! When I said that, everyone patted their chest in relief. They were worried that the ‘treasures’ would be confiscated after the war ended if I found out about it. That’s why they hadn’t reported it. Darius-sama reasserted himself. “With this, we protected the Kingdom’s honor.” Rascal-sama added. “Some of them were dug up because they were buried deep underground, five hundred meters deep! If they weren’t treasure, then what were?” The one who’ve been hiding and erasing his presence, Lyric von Corgi-sama, spoke out with a reluctant tone. “Um… I… haven’t been able to do much work to retrieve the treasure…assassinating ten people was the only thing I did… sorry to dump everything to you, Mars-sama…” The beautiful looking Josee von St. Bernard-sama shrugged her shoulders and said. “Don’t mind the men, my queen, for us women, beautiful objects such as the royal family’s socks should be beautifully arranged with flowers to decorate our mansion.” I couldn’t help but look back at Theresa-san, who was on standby. She looked disappointed and shook her head quietly. …It seems like Josee-sama is more of a Mad Dog Knight than she is a woman… Wan Wan Wan, everyone had a lot of different things to say. Nevertheless… The reason why I’m getting angry with all of you and the things you’re concerned about is not the same! We aren’t on the same page at all! When I was thinking about that, Leonhardt-sama spoke to me. “I’ve distributed Liselotte-sama’s socks to Kishu-sama and Akita-sama who did a really good job the other day. Is that alright with you?” “Yes, sure…” “Akita-sama turned them into a talisman and wore it around his neck while Kishu-sama wore them on his collar to show them off.” “…” The Wakens are also… Something like ‘I like that idea!’, ‘I want to try it too!’, ‘I want to do it too!’ could be heard from across the table, but no, I wasn’t listening, nope, my ears were closed. “I want the one you just took off!” “Well then, Greyhound-sama, let’s do this, I’ll let her step on me and I’ll leave it to you to get them off, what do you think?” “Brilliant!” I. Can’t. Hear. Anything. I was utterly and completely defeated by them. In the end, I gave up and moved on the most pressing matter at hand, the coronation. As Leonhardt-sama handed out the documents related to the coronation, Yoch-sama suddenly raised his hand with a “Yes!” “When I was busy being a paparazzi earlier, I heard something! Is it true that Lieselotte-sama’s future husband candidate would be from the Empire?” “””?!?!””” Tension ran through the room. I just looked at the distance while maintaining my silence. Leonhardt-sama denied it, but his eyes were filled with curiosity. “I have received such inquiries from many countries. However, currently, the only member of the royal family is Liselotte-sama, therefore I refused all of them with Liselotte-sama’s health and growth as a reason.” “I see…” When Yoch-sama sat down, all the commanders in the room began to mutter to themselves. Originally, the royal family had more members than this, back then some of them married off or surrendered themselves to other countries so their bloodline actually was everywhere, but for some reason those people with the royal blood had ‘lost their scent’ according to the Dog-Kin. They could no longer be recognized as a part of the royal family. How could that be the case? I wouldn’t know. Probably it’s the curse of the Dog-Kin? Well, in any case, for now, I need to focus on my growth “For now, I want to focus on growing up. I know political marriage will come sooner or later and I’m fine with it, but first, let me get to know this country, let me get to know you, and let me understand what it means to be a Dog-Kin. Please.” I bowed my head. Everyone hurriedly stood up.* * *
When the meeting was over, we decided to have a delicious lunch on the veranda. With blue sky as our roof. Everyone was in their dog form, sitting at my feet, joyfully eating their food. Their tails, varied in size, were moving around, following their good mood. Short tails. Big tails. Long, fluffy tails. —–but why didn’t they eat their meal with a knife and fork?[1] ??, literally means Japanese Dogs, like Shiba, Akita etc., I just keep it at this because calling them “Japanese Dogs” in the story where Japanese doesn’t exist feels really weird, but if you want me to change it, I’ll change it. [2] ??????, I assume his name is based on this [3] It’s a plant that cats love.