Miss Zashiki

blood.

As far as the eye could see, the entire square open space surrounded by thick wooden stakes and iron chains was almost completely soaked in bloodstains.

On the high platforms of the surrounding pavilions, the spectators crowded around all the seats, with veins on their necks, roaring and competing, their eyes reddened, and they stared at the venue below, all of them looked crazy.

The girl by the pavilion window looked at these people either throwing fists, glaring, or swearing, and there was a bit of surprise and inexplicable doubt on the delicate brows.When he cast his eyes down again, the corners of his lips were unspeakably tightly pursed, and a little unbearable expression appeared on his immature and slender face.

What is going on below is some kind of activity similar to bullfighting, except that the two animals that are confronting each other in the arena are not cows—to be precise, not all cows—one side is a cow and the other is a dog.

She didn't know much about this kind of event, but she had only heard that there would be similar animal fighting events in the customs of some places, but she really didn't expect the situation to be so... tragic.

The difference in strength between the two parties is too great.

The bull on one side looks like a breed used for professional bullfighting. Its entire body is a bit taller than that of an average adult man. Its back is strong and muscular. The flick of the tail in the air can make people feel the strength of regret, not as good as the brainless madness of ordinary crazy beasts, it looks like they have received long-term professional training.

But the black dog in front of it was only the size of an ordinary earthen dog. It seemed that blood was dripping from every pore of its body. The hair was soaked and tangled together, and the original color of the coat could hardly be seen.

The outcome of the field was already decided, as if the only suspense was whether the black dog would live or die in the end.

The heat on the surrounding high platforms did not decrease, but there were boos gradually, and occasionally there were a few curse words mixed in.

Living in the center of the high platform facing the venue, there are four or five young people sitting around a table, all of whom are dressed in splendid and embroidered clothes.At this moment, looking at the scene in the field, someone laughed and opened his mouth——

"I said, Tsukada, did the beast you brought have not been fed for three days or something? Just call it an 'inugami', rather than a 'coward'! Haha!"

One person started, and the rest of them took advantage of the wine and shouted:

"Hey! It's a shame that I bet all-in with Tsukada, thinking that he really had some great trump card. This is a big loss!"

"Takata, you're not kind, you're not here to cheat the brothers? You actually send such a waste to the field, and you are not afraid of being said that you are playing tricks with your opponent?!"

The man named Tsukada was sitting on the main seat, listening to the half-truth and half-fake teasing of his companions, his eyes rolled with anger, but he was silent, just staring gloomyly at the bewildered black man in the arena. Dog, his expression is full of vicious irritability.

After a while, a bell announcing the end of the field came from the edge of the field. At the same time, warriors holding snares and knots stepped forward and tightly bound the horns and limbs of the bloody and bloody bull in the field. The unsuspecting results were announced on the spot.

Since then, the surrounding crowd gradually dispersed, either happily or regretfully. The bullfighting bull was dragged out by several people, but the black dog was tied around the neck with a noose and left on the periphery of the venue, bleeding all over its body.

Tsukada took a solid wooden stick as thick as an arm from the samurai guard beside him, got up and went down the stairs, and walked straight there.

Seeing this, the girl suddenly had some bad premonitions in her heart, and before she had time to ask the woman beside her for confirmation, Tsukada over there had already walked in front of the black dog.

The bloodied body of the black dog seemed to flinch slightly, but he didn't move back and escape, but bowed his head silently and respectfully towards the man in front of him.Immediately afterwards, with the whistling sound of the wind, the wooden stick slammed down on the back that was already covered with scars.

The man's movements were merciless, every time he swung the club, he would gnash his teeth and slash down with the curses on his lips: "Bastard! I raised you so big, I didn't want you to go up and get beaten! It's shameful to lose money!" What the fuck! Why don't you just die on stage?!"

After the first few sticks, the black dog let out a few mournful howls, and then it shrank back in the corner without any movement.

The rest of the companions who were sitting at Tsukada's table saw that he was angry, and they all stepped forward to persuade him: "Okay, it's not worth getting angry over such an animal. I'll give it to you to live again. As for this trash, why don't you just chop it up right now?"

The black dog, which was already covered in blood, was beaten again, and now it is dying, making people suspect that it will die at any time.

Panting heavily, Tsukada stopped his hands, and spat at it with disgust: "If you want to chop this thing, I'm afraid I'll get my hands dirty. I've lost all my interest, so go play on your own!"

As he spoke, he threw the stick, led the following warrior guards, and left the scene cursing.

The girl looked at the scene below holding her breath, and her small fists were clenched until her fingertips turned white. At this moment, she turned her head and widened her eyes: "What does this mean? He doesn't want this dog anymore?"

"Why not."

The woman who also silently watched the whole scene evoked a lazy smile on the corners of her gorgeous lips: "As we all know, Master Tsukada likes to use fighting dogs, and he doesn't like other fighting animals at all. This 'dog god' has been with him since he was a child." After raising it for more than ten years, it is not so easy to find a suitable replacement."

Ten years……

The girl opened her mouth slightly, but she didn't say anything after all, her slender eyelashes drooped, and her expression was inexplicably depressed.

The glamorous woman didn't notice the strangeness of the girl beside her, but she just waved her fan lightly to the servant who looked up to ask for instructions as a signal.

After watching several people drag the dying black dog out of the venue, she leaned back into the reclining chair lazily again, took a sip of warm wine with her beautiful lips, and then said with emotion like some memories: " What's more, how many fighting dogs can be found in the world that are worthy of the title of 'Inu God'?"

The girl's eyelashes trembled, and she looked up at her with hesitation: "'Inugami'...isn't that the dog's name?"

"Yes and no."

The woman shook the wine glass between her fingers, with a mocking look on the corners of her eyes and brows: "How can a dog be born with such a name? The name 'Inugami' was brought into the Colosseum by Tsukada a few years ago." At that time, the guests who watched the show picked it up for it. Tsukada was satisfied with it, so he simply derived it as its name. As for its original name, how can anyone care?"

The girl was a little dazed: "So, is it very powerful?"

"It's hard to say how powerful it is, but it's not big, but it's extremely fierce. I was sent by Tsukada to fight with bulls and boars before, and there was a [-]% winning rate. You can imagine that this beast went crazy. How desperate it is to come. The guests of this show like to watch these beasts' desperate efforts, and the title of "Inugami" has just fallen on it. It's just that in recent years, it should be getting older. Considering the age, there are only a few days to live, and after all, you will lose a lot in the game."

"Now that I think about it, Tsukada raised him as a fighting dog at the beginning, wasn't it because of his ruthlessness."

After a few cups of warm wine down her throat, the woman closed her eyes as if she was overwhelmed by alcohol, and her voice became a little floaty: "Back then, the mayor's house was attacked by bandits, and the samurai raised by the house were all useless embroidered fists. Relying on a dog, he saved the only son of Mr. Tsukada's family from the bandit leader. I heard that this beast killed more than a dozen bandits that day. Isn't this bloodthirsty energy the fate of entering the Colosseum? ?”

"Then... since it saved him, why do you still want to beat it like this?" The girl thought of the picture of the black dog silently lowering its head in front of the stick just now, and her throat felt tight and dry.

The woman who closed her eyes and meditated did not take it seriously, and smiled lightly: "So what if you have made meritorious deeds? After all, it is nothing more than a shameless beast. Do you still want to treat it as a living person? You only see it like this I was beaten by Tsukada once, but I have seen it thousands of times, but don’t you see that it still honestly gave its life to Tsukada? The master gave the order, so even at the risk of losing his life, he had to drag his assistant half-mutilated body, playing recklessly on the field—this is a beast.”

A scorching emotion rose up in her chest, and the girl squeezed her fingers tightly to control her voice from trembling: "So, now, where is it being dragged?"

"It is kept in the firewood room in the back hall according to the usual practice. If Mr. Tsukada remembers one day, maybe he will call a doctor to come over and have a look, otherwise it will depend on whether it is hard enough for its own life. But this beast show is every day. One match in half a month, I remember that Tsukada also signed up for the next match, if he can't find a replacement fighting dog before then, he probably won't let this animal die."

"...can you let me go and see it?" The small chest heaved deeply, and the thin voice rang in the quiet room.

The closed eyelashes trembled slightly, and when they opened, the woman's eyes immediately became suspicious: "Huh? I haven't asked you yet, Fu Xiaoyue—I remember that's the name, right?" ? You little brat, you suddenly wanted to see this 'inugami', what kind of idea are you holding in your head? Huh?"

What are you thinking?

——She wants to steal a dog, will she say...

Trying hard to match the black dog just now with a certain Shiba Inu in my memory, the girl——Fu Xiaoyue lamented helplessly for a second in her heart, lowered her eyes to avoid the suspicious gaze of the other party, and faced The pressure silently "asked":

"Mr. Yue, is this 'Inugami', the 'Inugami' I'm looking for?"

After waiting for a few seconds, she heard a deep voice in her mind—the voice seemed to come from some vast and distant place, and it was somewhat ethereal and distorted—

"I don't know the answer either. It's all up to you to judge."