A leather ball flies through the air. Joyful howls mingle with the sound of running feet.

TAP-TAP.

Clawed feet kick off the hard concrete in powerful, syncopated pairs of beats. Unlike earth, concrete cannot absorb the vibrations, so the impacts turn entirely into sound and reach my ears.

"Woof! Woof!"

My brief respite is drawing to an end. Azi is already running back with the ball in her mouth. With unfocused eyes, I stare at the little disaster approaching me.

My rest time is proportional to how far the ball travels.

The higher I throw it, the longer Azi takes to catch it.

The farther I throw it, the longer she takes to return.

So, at first, I threw it as far as I could without overdoing it. That way, I could rest while Azi ran all the way out, picked up the ball, and ran back.

But nothing in this world lasts forever. Except Azi's stamina.

Throwing the ball taught me that.

With each repetition, my throws grew shorter. The leather ball that had once soared high into the air now barely cleared my head before dropping to the ground. By this point, it rolled farther than it flew.

Azi no longer even prepared to run. She simply crouched at my feet, picked up the ball when it rolled away, and came back to my side. Then I would lift it again and give it a little toss using only my wrist, which was still holding up.

Until, at last, the moment came.

"Wait."

Humans are animals by nature, too, and animal instinct can strike without warning. For the first time in ages, the beast within me was whispering a warning.

Throw it one more time, and your shoulder is toast.

"Woof?"

I stopped mid-throw and raised my hand. There was a strange, creaking sensation in my shoulder. It felt like turning a pencil sharpener with a misaligned shaft, its handle wobbling every which way. Somehow familiar, but absolutely not something I should be feeling in my arm.

I stopped throwing and let my hand drop. Azi approached me with a puzzled expression.

With my arm hanging limp, I declared,

"That's enough fetch for today."

"Woof, woof! More! More!"

"I could throw it some more. But..."

I deactivated the clothing packet I was wearing. My sweat-soaked, standard-issue shirt dispersed into pieces, exposing the pathetic body hidden beneath it.

A lean, nimble body specialized for escape and survival. I'd never had much trouble with it before, but now that its durability was being tested, I regretted all the time I'd spent being lazy. If I'd known I'd be trapped in Tantalus as a ball-throwing machine, I would have exercised when someone suggested it...

However soon regret comes, it always comes too late. All I could do was give each moment my best, hoping my future self wouldn't regret today.

Setting my regrets aside, I sank to the ground and showed Azi my red, overheated shoulder.

"But then my shoulder will break down. Are you okay with that?"

"Woof!"

"You wanna die?"

"Whine..."

Still, Azi seemed deeply dissatisfied that playtime was over. Wearing a sulky expression, she began circling me and shooting me sidelong looks.

Hmph. Not a chance.

"What are you going to do about it? Just watch what happens if you make me throw that ball now. I'll never be able to lift my arm again. I'll spend my days languishing from the aftereffects until, one day, I suddenly drop dead."

"Woof!"

"What? Losing an arm won't kill me? What are you talking about? I could trip on the stairs and die because I can't raise my arm to grab the railing. Or terrorists could storm in and order me to put my hands up, then shoot me because I can't! Having even one part of your body out of commission is an incredibly serious threat in itself!"

"Woof, woof..."

"Think about what happens if I die. Someone who obediently throws balls for you down in this bottomless pit will disappear from the world! Are you really going to ruin the goose that lays the golden eggs—no, the ball-throwing machine—for a little short-term gain?"

"Woof... Don't want that."

"Haha! Get it now? If you don't want me breaking down, guarantee me some time off!"

It was time to teach this intellectually challenged beast the basic concepts of labor efficiency, fatigue limits, and rest. Azi pondered something intently, then wrapped both arms around mine and brought her mouth toward it.

What? Is she going to eat me? Since I can't lay golden eggs anymore, am I supposed to become goose meat instead? Surely she can't be that stupid.

Oh, right. A dog would value goose meat more than inedible golden eggs, wouldn't she?

Uh-oh. Hold on.

"I'm sorry, boss! I'll throw the ball, so please spare my life!"

I tried to pull my arm away, but Azi's muzzle reached it first. Anticipating excruciating pain, I squeezed my eyes shut. Then, with a licking sound, something soft and wet brushed across my shoulder.

I opened my eyes a crack to find Azi diligently licking my reddened shoulder.

"What? I tell you it hurts, and you decide to oil it?"

"Woof."

Of course. The King of Dogs would never eat a living human.

Look, it's just... When I can't read someone's thoughts, I flinch without meaning to. I can't help it. It's self-preservation, all right?

Feeling sheepish, I scratched my head and stared at Azi as she diligently licked me.

She treats me just like an exploitative boss. The machinery stops running smoothly, so the first thing she does is oil it.

"Hey. Even if a Beast King's licking can heal wounds, how's it supposed to fix this? This isn't a wound. My body's worn out from overuse..."

As I muttered, I felt a curious coolness around my shoulder. It was as though someone had opened a window in my body and let a breeze through. Refreshing rather than chilly, it was a welcome sensation.

Could it be the saliva? No, this was too different from that wetness. On the off chance, I raised my arm.

It was a little stiff, but it moved far more easily than before. No, perhaps even more smoothly than before we'd started playing fetch.

"That actually works?"

I'd heard that a Beast King's lick was on par with holy water, but it was this effective? Or was Azi special?

As I tilted my head, Azi inspected my shoulder from every angle, then barked as if to announce she was finished.

"Woof! All better!"

"You certainly provide reliable maintenance. Guess my arm won't give out. Still, it only just healed, so let's rest a little before we start again."

"Woof, woof!"

Azi promptly flopped down with her upper body resting across my thighs. Running my fingers through her hair, I looked around.

According to the golem, the supplies should be arriving soon. How exactly were they going to get here?

Common sense said they'd be dropped in. But could anything reach the bottom of the bottomless pit by ordinary means? If it could, how was I supposed to receive it? Surely they didn't expect me to catch it with my body. All that would do was turn me into a hamburger patty and make the vampire happy.

Oh, come to think of it, there was the vampire, too. I turned to look at the underground armory in the distance. Its ominous entrance, like a gateway into the abyss, remained firmly shut today as well.

"She hasn't been able to get up at all lately."

They say people sleep more as they grow older. If the correlation between age and hours of sleep was even a tenth of what people claimed, it was hardly surprising that the vampire's average daily sleep approached twenty-four hours.

And with her orthostatic hypotension, she couldn't readily get out of her wheelchair—no, her coffin, either. Yet she'd overexerted herself and generously donated precious true blood, all because she'd taken on a disciple. Even though she had no way to replenish her blood now.

I clicked my tongue in pity, then suddenly remembered something. Blood. Supplies.

"Wait. If the vampire runs short of blood, doesn't that put me in danger?"

If the vampire forgot I was human because of dementia, or got peckish in her sleep and absentmindedly reached for a snack, wouldn't I be the first to die? I had no way to resist, so taking my blood would feel no different to her from tearing open a bag and eating what was inside.

"There wouldn't be blood on the supply list... would there?"

A chill ran through me. Didn't I need to do something about this?

Blood bags... weren't the sort of thing you could deliver this way. Couldn't they send down a death-row prisoner instead?

"No, that would be a problem too. There's no guarantee I could beat a death-row prisoner."

I should be safe for the time being. If three days' worth of food now amounted to ninety days for the four of us here, that meant there had originally been at least a hundred people living here. Even excluding those who'd escaped, quite a few must have died.

Yet when I arrived, I hadn't seen any corpses or bloodstains. There was no way the Military State had dispatched a cleanup squad, which left only one possibility. The vampire had eaten it all.

That seemed rather filthy, when I thought about it. She wasn't a human sewer...

At any rate, if she'd sucked up that much blood, she wouldn't crave any more for a while. But who knew? Once an engine starts running, it needs a continuous supply of fuel. The vampire might keep needing blood from now on.

To stay alive, I needed a source of blood... Wasn't there some sort of livestock I could keep squeezing blood out of?

Wait. There was.

Hadn't I just found one?

"The immortal race. Right. They said he was from an immortal race."

At the brilliant idea that sprang to mind, I couldn't help praising my own brain. They said self-praise was ugly and shameful, but this time, calling myself a genius would be no exaggeration.

Members of the immortal race didn't die when their arms were cut off. Likewise, drawing a little blood shouldn't kill one. And he'd keep eating and regenerating, so as long as the supplies held out, he could provide a nearly infinite amount of blood.

"Hehehe. Good. Perfect. There's always a way out, after all."

"Woof?"

"Azi. I just had a fucking awesome idea. Want to hear it?"

"Woof, woof?"

"I know. You're too dumb to understand. That's why I'm telling you, so just listen. I just came up with an idea that would make even history's greatest genius slap their forehead."

"Woof? Dumb? Me?"

"Hehehe. Originally, I was going to use you to dispose of leftovers, but why should we do that to each other? Let's keep the good food for ourselves and live well. The leftover food, burnt food, and spoiled food can go to the immortal."

"Woof! Me not dumb!"

"Spoiled food ought to go to someone who's in pieces. Besides, even if the food disagrees with him, it won't kill an immortal, right? He'll detoxify it himself and turn it into blood. Then, you see, I'll squeeze that blood out and sell it to the vampire. The vampire's broke, but that self-proclaimed disciple of hers is rich and will pay for her. So..."

TAP.

Azi's forepaw swiped across my cheek. My head jerked sideways at the unexpected impact.

It didn't hurt, but I was stunned. No way. Feeling a little incensed, I glared at Azi, who stared right back at me with her head still resting on my legs. She was using my legs as a pillow even now? Did she have no idea what she'd done?

A mere beast dared slap a human across the face?

She'd crossed the line. I really hadn't wanted to do this, but it was time to start preparing the Slather-Her-in-Soybean-Paste Protocol.

Having made up my mind, I sprang to my feet to shake Azi off.

I'd expected her to slide off my thighs, but she jumped up first and looked overhead.

What? Was there something up there? I looked up too, but saw nothing except the same pitch-black darkness as always.

What? Had she tricked me?

No, Azi wasn't smart enough for that.

I looked up again, screwing up my face and staring hard. Then, far away in the blackness, I saw something shining. Was it the sky visible through the opening? But the light was growing steadily larger, as though it were approaching us.

Merciful Mother Earth occasionally comes to us, but the lofty Sky God does not readily draw near. When humans climb high in hopes of approaching that god, the Sky God punishes them with wind and lightning.

So whatever was approaching wasn't the sky. Probably.

"Must be the supplies the golem mentioned."

A moment later, I heard flapping. An enormous presence loomed in the darkness. The bottomless pit was silent, with no wind to stir it. Now the air here grew heavy.

It would arrive whether I grew impatient or not. I waited calmly. The rippling darkness and the light flashing at regular intervals drew steadily closer.

Once they reached the illuminated area, I could see them much more clearly.

A square crate wrapped in tarpaulin was descending beneath a large parachute. A small indicator light blinked on its side, a precaution to keep anyone from overlooking it in the darkness and getting crushed. The promise of ninety days' worth of food seemed genuine: the crate was big enough to fit a person inside. It was probably packed with food.

Perhaps because there was no wind, the supply crate settled squarely onto the concrete without so much as a wobble.

THUD.

A heavy vibration traveled through the concrete.

"Woof!"

Azi bounded over. I followed her toward the landing point.

So they attached parachutes and dropped supplies in because this was a bottomless pit. They'd probably dropped me the same way. Those Military State bastards at least used parachutes to keep things from breaking. It was only common sense, but honestly, I was a little touched that the Military State had shown any.

As I approached, I heard fabric furling, and the parachute was sucked into a small packet. The parachute was made from a clothing packet, too. Used that way, it spared them the trouble of rolling it back up. They really did find ingenious uses for those things.

Grinning, I was about to open the crate's lid when...

Huh?

Why was the tamper-evident seal broken? Had someone opened it for a bite on the way here?

'Infiltration successful. It has been a long wait, comrades. Now, let us move in.'

Just then, a strand of thought reached me from inside.

Comrades? Move in?

Those weren't thoughts I should be hearing from a food supply crate.

While I stood there blankly, I heard hurried movement inside. The supply crate rattled ominously, and something that had been crouching began to stretch.

'Let us spend our lives, comrades! To defeat the tyrannical Military State!'

Goddamn Military State. What the hell had they sent us?

Before I had time to prepare for anything, the side of the supply crate burst open.