Humans are tool-using animals, born with the dexterity and ability to turn raw materials into the things they need.

Before going to Azi, I had found some shredded clothing and roughly sewn it into a ball. It was far too crude for any proper game, but more than good enough for playing with a mere dog. I walked along tossing and catching it, while Azi followed, orbiting around me.

Every toss made her body twitch. Her sparkling eyes refused to leave the ball. Keeping her attention fixed on it, I headed toward the spacious yard.

And...

'Hidden beneath this Veil of Darkness, I'll get a good look at exactly what you're up to.'

Something strange was following behind us. Resisting the urge to glance back, I slowly made my way to the yard.

This was awkward. Why was she following me instead of minding her own business? What had I ever done?

All I wanted was to train the King of Dogs with a ball and treats. With a few gentle lashes of the whip along the way.

They always said animal training required a carrot and a stick. I could look up at the heavens without a shred of shame over my actions. But with the Regressor following me, my options were limited.

'The King of Dogs is one of the few Beast Kings on humanity's side. If even she turns against humans like she did in the last run, we'll be at a serious disadvantage in the battles to come. If this man tries anything funny with Azi... I'll have to fight him to the death. I don't know how strong he is, but I'll have to face him.'

After reading her thoughts, I pushed the Military State's standard-issue whip, which I had picked up somewhere in the prison, deep into my pocket. Whipping probably fell under the category of trying something funny.

The key to training was alternating positive and negative responses. The proverbial carrot and stick. Obey me or do something commendable, and that was +1. Get stubborn or do something I disliked, and that was −1. By providing feedback for specific actions, I needed to gradually teach her to behave in ways that benefited me.

I had intended to use fetch and pieces of meat as the carrot, and this as the stick, but...

'If he bullies her, hits her, or even puts a collar on her... that's it. I'll go all out.'

I felt a chilling murderous intent.

It seemed I would have to put the whip away for today. Without negative feedback, training would be less than half as effective, but that beat losing my head. Just carrots for today, then.

At last, I reached the yard, raised the ball high, and shouted.

"Ready!"

"Woof!"

The moment I made as if to throw the ball, Azi planted her hands and feet firmly on the ground and crouched low. Even then, her tail kept spinning like a propeller.

An easy one to start. I rolled the leather ball along the ground. Azi shot after it, scooped it up on the run, then swept around in a smooth curve and raced straight back to me. Her limbs were human, but she ran on all fours as well as any animal.

As she returned in a flash, I made a big fuss over her.

"Good girl! Azi, shake!"

"Woof!"

"Good. Left hand!"

"Woof?"

Okay. She hadn't learned that one yet. That was fine. Don't let the disappointment show. A dog didn't particularly need to tell left from right, anyway.

I pulled out a piece of meat I had cut up earlier and exclaimed,

"Nice! You can even tell hands from feet. You're the best, Azi!"

"Woof! I'm the best! Woof, woof!"

"The best puppy deserves a reward. Here's a treat!"

I hid the piece of meat in my fist and held it out. Azi pressed her nose against my hand and frantically dug at it. As though mining for treasure, she poked her tongue toward the meat hidden between my fingers.

I opened and closed my fingers, teasing her by keeping it just barely out of reach. Just as she began to get annoyed and tried to push my fingers aside, I opened my hand wide and revealed the meat. Seizing her chance, Azi snatched it up.

A proper obstacle and a clear reward. She apparently took this as another game, for she rumbled contentedly and rubbed her chin against my hand.

'From the looks of it, he does seem to be playing with her normally for now...'

The scene was like a painting. Perhaps the word pastoral existed for this very moment.

A bond between human and animal. A Beast King, a symbol of nature, was interacting with a human from civilization.

How about it, Regressor? A perfect scene, nothing to criticize, right?

'Something about this... It feels like he's training an actual dog, and it puts me off...'

Oh, come on. What was I supposed to do if even this put her off?

'She may be the King of Dogs, but she looks like a cute dog beastkin. She looks human, yet he treats her entirely like a dog... He's definitely not normal. I'd better be careful.'

Never had reading someone's thoughts left me feeling so wronged. She complained even when I did things properly.

Treating a dog like a dog was normal. Treating a dog like a human was abnormal, and treating a human like a dog made you a pervert.

And if you treated people like people, they looked down on you. I spoke from experience.

Therefore, the only universal truth was that treating a dog like a dog was right. I was simply doing the right thing.

I threw the ball and tossed her pieces of meat several more times. Throughout it all, the Regressor quietly watched everything I did.

Repetition bred complacency. Azi was focusing more on retrieving the ball than on training, too. It was about time to use the whip, but the Regressor showed no sign of leaving.

How long was she going to keep watching? If she'd seen enough, I wished she'd just go back already. If all I gave her was positive reinforcement, even the King of Dogs might forget her place and get uppity.

No. I changed my mind.

You always had to forge your own destiny. Waiting indefinitely for her to leave was far too passive. I would drive the Regressor away myself.

Of course, I couldn't force her out, so I would have to use another method.

I waved the ball again. Apparently still not bored, Azi recognized my signal, flipped herself over with a spring, and readied herself to dash off at any moment.

"Let's go!"

"Woof!"

Azi answered excitedly and bounded backward. After tossing and catching the ball a few times, I hurled it in a particular direction.

Toward where the Regressor stood.

'Gah?!'

I couldn't even see her position. What kind of stealth technique was this? Even though I could read that she was somewhere over there, all my eyes could see was the prison standing desolately beyond her.

But my mind reading told me that the Regressor was somewhere in that spot.

So, well, if I just aimed roughly in her direction and threw...

"Fetch!"

"Woof, woof!"

'No... no need to dodge. It missed. But...'

I could put her on edge.

Anyone who used cheap tricks like stealth techniques was a voyeur. And what voyeurs feared most was having their presence exposed.

You thought you could watch in comfort from behind that veil? Not a chance. You could do with a little tension yourself.

"Azi! Fetch!"

"Woof!"

"Good girl. Again!"

"Woof, woof!"

"Woohoo!"

"Awoooo!"

Every time I threw the ball, Azi raced after it with a happy howl. Every time she did, the Regressor flinched anxiously.

As she bounded noisily this way and that, Azi was quite literally an animal running wild, utterly unpredictable. Each time she dashed off, the Regressor shrank back to avoid a collision. Watching Azi and me had become an afterthought.

As always, there was nothing quite as enjoyable as making trouble for someone who thought they were being clever.

"Let's gooooo!"

"Woof!"

This time, the ball flew straight toward the Regressor. Her eyes widened as she saw it heading right at her.

'No! If I make a sudden move now, the Veil of Darkness will come undone!'

Vigorous movement broke her concealment. Gritting her teeth, the Regressor curled up and quickly rolled across the ground. The ball skimmed just overhead, followed by Azi leaping after it. The Regressor slowly rose and sighed with relief.

'That took ten years off my life... But staying any longer is dangerous.'

Good. Mission accomplished. The Regressor was slowly backing away.

'Tch. I'd better retreat for now. If he catches me here, he might become wary of me instead...'

She was still invisible, but her thoughts were beginning to grow faint. That meant she had put enough distance between us.

Whew. At last, I could train Azi properly without interference.

'It's a shame, but that's fine. Better than getting caught. As long as I'm not discovered, I'll have another chance to observe him later.'

Strange thoughts reached me from the retreating Regressor. That sounded an awful lot like a promise to come peep again later. Had voyeurism been her only lesson through all those regressions?

I wanted to chase after her right then and bellow that I had seen through her stealth technique. But I would hold back for now. There was no need to reveal my ability.

And so the Regressor vanished from our awareness. She had her own business to attend to, so she wouldn't be coming back.

The only one who returned to me was Azi, with the ball in her mouth.

"Woof! Woof!"

When I didn't throw the ball, Azi impatiently rolled it to my feet. She was urging me to stop resting and throw it. Bending down to pick it up, I looked down at her with a colder gaze and asked,

"Enjoying having me play with you?"

"Woof! Woof! Yes! Yes!"

Really? My shoulder was starting to ache. So you were just enjoying all the pleasure with none of the responsibility?

There was no invisible watcher now. All that remained between us were the merciless laws of nature.

I was human, and Azi was a dog. A perfect hierarchy existed between us. Like oil floating on water, like smoke rising into the sky. Without some force stirring things up, we would separate clearly into top and bottom.

That was called the pecking order.

I roughly pulled the whip from my pocket and said,

"Playtime's over, mutt."

"Woof?"

I put the ball in my pocket. Azi's eyes widened in disbelief, as though she'd just been swindled before her very eyes.

Having cut her fun short, I declared coldly,

"The party's over. I've got no more meat for you, either. Back to your kennel before I slather you in soybean paste."

"Arf! Arf! Arf!"

She barked complaints and pestered me to stop joking and keep playing. I didn't miss the faint irritation in those cries.

I knew it. Dogs had no sense of moderation. They wanted whatever they enjoyed to go on forever. Words wouldn't persuade them.

That was why humans had taken to using whips. I flicked mine through the air. The air burst with a menacing sound.

CRACK!

"Tsk. Behave. Am I supposed to play with you all day?"

"Yes!"

"Well, well. You talk like you're entitled to it."

I raised the whip high. It was time to give the King of Dogs some proper training.

"You'd better change that attitude."

With that, I swung the whip at Azi's back.

This whip, at least, wasn't something I'd made. It was standard issue, produced under the supervision of the Military State's Ministry of Defense.

The Military State was famous for making nasty things, which was precisely why its whips were second to none. Crafted from treated leather reinforced with meticulously alchemized iron pieces, this was a premium product fit for use as a real weapon.

The sound of it cutting through the air inspired fear, and the impact of the iron pieces inflicted pain. In skilled hands, it could even cause pain without internal injury, making it perfect for handling animals.

Let the greatness of humanity be etched into your body along with the wounds...

"Ruff!"

Then Azi moved.

Her head turned at roughly the same speed as the tip of the whip. To my eyes, her movements looked choppy, like a film with frames cut out. Tracking the flying iron perfectly, she bit down just as the whip was about to strike her. Then she severed it with her teeth.

CRUNCH!

A Military State weapon made of treated leather reinforced with meticulously alchemized iron, capable of lethal use.

Azi chewed it like gum, then spat it out.

"Grrr. Tastes bad."

I stared at the whip with its tip bitten off.

You weren't supposed to block a whip with your body. The snapping tip could break the sound barrier. Try to catch it without knowing what you were doing, and it would strip your skin off.

And yet.

The King of Dogs had bitten down on precisely the tip aimed at her back and torn it right off.

If she could sever treated leather reinforced with iron... with a mere twist of her head...

"Grrrrrr."

Ah, right.

She was a dog, yes, but she was the King of Dogs, wasn't she?

Hmm.

I carefully put away the whip and took out the ball again.

"... Normally, we'd stop here, but since it's our first day and all... how about we play a little longer?"

"Grrr..."

"Here, fetch!"

"... Rrr. Woof! Woof!"

Delighted once again, Azi dashed after the ball.

Good. Establishing the pecking order could wait until later. For now, I would just play with Azi until she was satisfied.

I hadn't lost. I was simply enjoying my time with a dog so much that I had decided to extend it a little. I was still a human playing with a dog. Nothing more.

Ahh. Such fun. I was happy.