Editor: Areth Kyntaul
The queen took me to another huge tent.
I’ve never dressed up like this. You could say that I’ve changed clothes. I changed into a robe that can’t really be considered a formal robe. It slightly resembled a tuxedo, but I had a collar around my neck while Queen Sisi held the rope in her hand.
The queen wore a narrow purple formal dress, but the cut looks a little high. The cut showed off the entirety of her white and ample thighs, which she arrogantly flaunted as she walked. Her small ivory-like round shoulders, perfect clavicles, and the tops of her breasts underneath her shoulders were also revealed. One of her breasts had a mesmerising mole.
Queen Sisi is probably as beautiful as Veirya I reckon. However, the queen flaunted her beauty a lot more arrogantly. She had absolute confidence in her beauty, which added to her beauty. She flaunted her perfect body and face to the world with absolute confidence, which also indicated that she could indeed captivate and mesmerise everyone.
It must be a very beautiful thing to be able to stay by her side as a normal person, I imagine. But I’m being treated as nothing but a dog and led around right now. The queen led me in a pleased fashion.
The soldiers by the side looked at me with a strange gaze, but they weren’t all shocked. Some of them were sympathetic. It looks like I’m not the first person the queen treated like this.
From first impressions, it looks like this queen is an extreme sadist, possessing sadistic tendencies towards everyone. And I just happened to be unfortunate enough to get tossed to her by Veirya, thus becoming this queen’s dog.
But this isn’t a bad thing entirely. I did manage to live after seeing Veirya’s blade drawn on me after all. She didn’t cut me down after I had refused. Instead, she tied me up and then dragged me along, making me her spoil of war.
Though this is humiliating, I do get to continue living in this world. Honestly, this situation feels foreign to me. Surreal. Despite me heading toward this army tent right now, despite me having a collar around my neck and being dragged along, it still feels unreal.
If I can live on in this world, how am I going to survive? I’d die if I was alone in this world, wouldn’t I? I definitely need someone to lead me in this world, so that I can live on. As for whether that person is the warrior Veirya or this sadistic queen, I don’t care either way. I just want to live. While I won’t be scared to die when the time calls for it, I want to live if I can live. And if possible, I want to live with dignity.
Now that’s not the most urgent matter at hand. Right now, I just need to get through this banquet. Will I be able to live an ordinary life if I can make the queen happy at this banquet? I initially worked as a secretary so I believe I can make the queen happy…
I think…
But I need to get through this banquet first, right?
Veirya should be the star of this banquet, or maybe the queen in front, or maybe the entire human race. I presume that because, based on the conversation before, the human warrior had personally slain the Demon King without assistance from the elves. Consequently, they should be able to take the leader position in the alliance since a human personally took the Demon King’s head.
I believe that, even if Veirya’s team members were to ignore the different bloody battles the races fought, the people in the rear are definitely planning things. The elves and gnomes are definitely thinking the same thing, and that is to claim that their warrior took the Demon King’s head.
In the eyes of the warrior and her small team, the members of the team are comrades, while the Demon King’s was the enemy. However, in the eyes of the people in the rear, they were enemies and the Demon King as just a trophy to prove their victory.
Maybe those people had already decided how to divide the world after the Demon King died. That’s what the people in the rear are like. Before the front lines even declare victory, the rear has already begun to discuss ‘afterwards.’ But to be fair, that is their job, so I can’t complain.
I followed the queen’s footsteps, without daring to say anything, until we arrived at the banquet location.
This was a huge tent. In the centre of the tent was a long table. On the two sides and inner-most area of this square tent was three more tables. There was a huge open space in the centre. The tables on the two sides were now full of people.
I looked over. On one side were human-looking creatures who were very short. They were about as tall as human children. On the other side were people dressed in extremely extravagant clothing and maybe a little taller than humans. However, they looked evidently thin. I guess these are the so-called elves and dwarfs?
As soon as the queen entered, the seated people on both sides stood up and applauded. They applauded loudly to welcome this world’s hero. The queen revealed a very pleased smile. She raised her hands up high to receive the respect and blessings of her allies. Opposite of us right now was Veirya who was standing at humanity’s table. She faced the queen and saluted her as you do in the army… uhh… it is the army salute, right…?
Immediately after, the queen dragged me over to that side. She then stroked my head and pointed to a spot on the ground.
I looked at her feeling somewhat awkward.
The queen smiled and then indicated for me to sit on the ground next to her. I’m being treated exactly like a dog! Is it a good idea to be doing this in front of the elves and dwarfs?
But I know that the queen isn’t patient so I simply closed my eyes and sat my ass down on the carpet next to the queen.
She smiled and then reached her hand out to stroke my head. She grabbed a piece of meat from the table and put it into my mouth. She then immediately picked up a red-wine in front of her that looked like blood and stood up. She scanned her allies next to her with a strange gaze like that of a fox.
She laughed and said, “Now then. As you are all here, I shall have the first drink. This is for all of us. We all suffered harassment at the hands of the demon race. Countless brothers and sisters of ours were preyed upon by demonic creatures, wounded, killed. But from today onward, there will be no demonic creatures who will harm us. We slew the Demon King together and scorched their land. We skewered their Demon King’s head on our flag and declared our victory! This wine is for our efforts and for us winning the glory of victory as well as all those who were sacrificed in this battle. Those who have left us have left us for good, but we need to continue to forge forth! Come! A toast to the victors and a toast to those who are gone!”
“A toast to the victors and a toast to those who are gone!”
Everyone (of course other than me, since I was just a dog, now) on both sides stood up and raised their cup up high when the queen raised hers. The two other races definitely aren’t speaking humanity’s language, but strangely, I can understand them.
After she had offered the first drink, as the leader of humanity, the banquet officially started.
The queen didn’t offer Veirya, who was next to her, a drink but that’s normal. Even if Veirya is a war-heroine, the queen is still her queen and hence won’t take the initiative to offer her a drink.
Veirya was dressed in a white and blue army uniform. She sat up straight next to the queen in a most well-mannered fashion. Her gaze was calmly trained forward. She was completely serious, like a statue. Though a war had ended, or we could even say an era had ended, Veirya didn’t relax. She was still incomparably serious as she looked forwards even though nothing was in front. She didn’t even eat. She just sat in place like that.
Honestly, she has a really nice body. Her boobs looked like they were going to burst out of her clothes, and her face was really pretty despite her not wearing any expression.
A fair few elves and dwarfs approached her to offer her a drink. She didn’t reject any of them and drank cup after cup. Once she was done drinking, she would return her cup to the table and sit there to wait for the next person.
The queen laughed while speaking to people while putting food into my mouth once in a while. She didn’t stop stroking my head. She was basically treating me like a pet. That said, I don’t think that’d make the queen happy. I feel that there’s something wrong with the way she looks at me.
The next dish was served up, and it was a huge steak. The queen looked at the steak. She then quickly snatched it up and tossed it into the centre of the tent, in other words, in the middle of the three tables.
The tent fell into complete silence as everyone turned to look at where it landed. I suddenly had an ominous feeling.
The queen scrubbed my head, pointed at the steak and commanded with a smile, “Go, Doggy.”
You want me to go and pick up a piece of steak in front of the three races?
I looked at her astonished. Her smile was so naive and pure like she was passing down an extremely normal order like my user interface was designed for me to do that.
Veirya looked at me but didn’t say anything, instead, turning her head away.
I looked at the queen with despair, not willing to go towards it. Was I going to have to eat the steak the queen threw, like a dog in front of the most esteemed individuals of the three races?
The queen stroked my face. She leaned in toward my ear, giggled softly and said, “Go, my dear Doggy. Or are you telling me you can’t even be a dog? If you can’t even be a dog, what am I going to need to keep you around for? Go. Go and be a good Doggy. Hurry… But remember, dogs don’t stand up and they don’t have arms. Be a good dog and entertain me.”
She reached her hand out and patted me on my neck again. She had sealed off my last retreat route.
I looked in the direction of the steak hopelessly. I looked at the people on both sides.
The gnomes and elves didn’t say a word, instead waiting in silence. They waited for me to crawl over there like a dog and pick the steak up with my mouth.
I looked at my surroundings in despair. Not one person was willing to step out and speak out for me. Not one person cared about me, even though I had thrown my life away to save a young girl just before. Now that my dignity was shattered, everybody wanted to kick me while I was down.
“Go, Doggy. Otherwise… I’ll be put in an awkward spot…”
I quivered as I extended my hand out and crawled like a dog.
They burst out in laughter, and I could feel all of my blood rush to my head. The humiliation and torment made me wish I could just die. That piece of steak wasn’t even five steps away from me but it felt like it was at the ends of the world.
I don’t know if I have the courage to take the second step. My rationality told me to stop. If we were to continue breaking down my dignity, I really would become a dog, wouldn’t I?
A dinner knife flew over and stabbed into that piece of meat.
All the laughter immediately halted.
Stunned, I looked up at the elves.
A young girl stood there. She looked at Queen Sisi, whose smile was slowly fading, without any fear. She sternly asked, “Toying with a comrade is not what a queen should do. On one hand, you offer a toast to those who lost their lives, while you toy with your comrade on the other. What has this man done to deserve such humiliation? Veirya, can you just sit there and watch this, as a soldier and a heroine?!”
“Sorry, I’m a soldier.”
Veirya looked at her nonchalantly and sternly added, “I follow the queen’s orders.”
“You…”
The elf placed her cup of wine down. She looked at her comrades by her side, who were feeling awkward, and then at Queen Sisi. She sternly said, “If I must watch such an unfair scene at this celebration, then I cannot accept it. Please allow me to leave first.”
Queen Sisi watched the elf in front of her, who turned around to leave, and giggled softly.
“Don’t do that. I was just joking. You’re the elves’ heroine, too. You accompanied Veirya here. It’s just that… this man protected the Demon King’s daughter, you know? Do you think he is our comrade when he, a human, threw his life away to protect a daughter from the demon race?”
“Throwing yourself at a blade to save a young girl… In my eyes, he is no different to a hero.”
I’m guessing this elf is a team member of the warrior’s team? She wasn’t afraid of Queen Sisi in the least.
She nonchalantly continued with her response, “Veirya, can you stand that? Can you stand your queen being so tyrannical, rude, and boorish?”
“I’m a soldier.”
“You’re a human too!”
“All right, all right.”
Someone from the elven side stepped forth and said something in the ear of the enraged elf. However, the elf angrily knocked their hand away and then turned around to leave, nonetheless.
Queen Sisi then stood up. She looked at Veirya and the elves who stood up with a smile. She smiled and passed the rope in her hand to Veirya.
“All right, all right,” she said, “I admit that I shouldn’t have done this sort of thing that, indeed, nobody can accept, in the presence of Miss Lucia. She has always hated evil as one does one’s enemy. Since that is how it is, I will not make such over-the-top jokes in future. So, I shall return this dog, I mean, this person back to Veirya who owns his rights. Henceforth, this man’s fate shall be in her hands. Miss Lucia is a very important individual in this celebration, so I hope that you will not ruin the atmosphere.”
The elf watched as Veirya stood up. She took the ropes tied to my collar, which Queen Sisi had handed her. She then looked at the elf and the elf sighed hopelessly.
Given what Queen Sisi, as well as her comrades, had said, she sat back down in her seat.
I sat on the carpet next to Veirya until the banquet ended. Queen Sisi actually didn’t do anything to me again. However, Veirya didn’t spare me a single glance despite me looking at her more than once… If this continues… will that girl and I… become Veirya’s spoils of war and slaves?
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