Dogfight

Dog beastkin. They had characteristics similar to dogs.

In other words, hierarchy was extremely important to their nature, and naturally, they had to establish a clear relationship between seniors and juniors when a newcomer joined. This was even more so when it came to other dog beastkin joining.

By the way, let me describe their appearances. Niku was wearing the cosplay maid outfit that was also the inn's uniform. Toy was wearing a standard maid outfit for this world, the same one she had been wearing when she was disguised as Niku.

The two dog-eared, brown-skinned, loli maids walked side by side. Niku was famous in this village and Toy looked exactly like her. A villager who happened to pass by the village chief's residence did a double take and exclaimed [Am I tired or something? Oyasumi Nasai] before heading to the church to offer prayers.

"Let's settle this in the inn's courtyard—no, in the arena. I'll give it my all."

"Oh my, are you delusional enough to think you, a mere mongrel, could beat me? How nice. Are you able at least guide me? No detours, okay? Teehee."

"… So this is what being annoyed feels like?"

And so Niku led Toy into the dungeon. Although there was a guild receptionist present, Niku was able to simply pass by on her face alone, and Toy, having the same face as Niku, also passed by.

"Huh? Why are there two of Puppy-chan?"

The guild receptionist was dumbfounded as they slipped through.

The two of them raced through the dungeon, all the way from the entrance to the arena.

Along the way, Niku, who was walking ahead, deliberately activated an arrow trap to attack Toy. However, Toy didn't give in to such obvious provocation. She easily brushed it off and followed Niku with a smile on her face. In fact, there was even a scene where she threw a passing golem at Niku from behind, forcing her to dodge.

The two of them arrived at the arena unscathed and without losing their breath espite engaging in such skirmishing along the way.

Illuminated by magical light tools, the battlefield was watched by an audience of golems. In the center, the two brown-skinned, dog-eared loli maids faced each other.

Finally, their ranked match was about to begin.

"Once again, I am Toy. I am your elder sister."

"I am Niku. Niku Kuroinu. I am Goshujin-sama's hug pillow, so I am the elder sister."

With a snort, Niku puffed out her chest, insisting that she was superior.

By the way, the hierarchy in the dungeon [Cave of Desire] was as follows: Kehma at the top, followed by Rokuko, then Niku, Ichika, Rokuko's pets, Rei and the other executives, and finally the other subordinates (as far as Niku understood it).

Where should a newcomer be placed in that hierarchy?

Of course, at the very bottom! They would be among the "other subordinates" and below Rei and the other executives.

If they were to crawl up from there using their own strength, it wouldn't be unreasonable to allow them to become an executive or something similar.

"Hug pillow. Oh my, that's quite a position! Will I also be given that task? Ufufu, there's nothing a failure like you can do that I cannot. Rather, should I make it so that only I can satisfy and ease the burden of the failed dog's job?"

Toy placed a hand on her mouth and chuckled.

From Toy's point of view view, Leona reigned supreme and she was joining Kehma's group as something separate from that. She had no complaints as long as her position was at least at the same level as an executive, considering her abilities.

However, such a modest thought was like dust before the wind in the face of the current situation, where a [Failure] was ranked third.

That's because Toy was competent and her stomach was boiling with rage at the idea of being ranked lower than an incompetent failure, even if it wasn't by Leona's command.

Toy, who had manipulated a country, recognized her own competence and believed that any dissenters could only be given a platform after toppling a country. Naturally, she couldn't accept an inferior being standing above her.

At this point, she felt that she would be able to either accept taking third place or teach the failure her actual place, lowering her rank and claiming a higher position.

"By the way, failure, just to confirm, how far are we allowed to go? I'd feel bad disposing of Kehma's hug pillow without permission."

"Let's keep it to a level that won't bother Goshujin-sama."

Niku took out her wooden practice knives from her [Storage].

Toy pulled a wooden staff from her [Storage].

"Yes, that sounds good, doesn't it? Alright then."

"Alright."

With their agreement, the mounting battle between the brown dog-eared loli maids began.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Niku was the first to make a move. She stepped into Toy's personal space with a single stride and swung her wooden knives in a crossing motion. Toy, however, avoided the attack by using her staff to vault high into the air.

Toy then tried to stomp on Niku's head with a kick, but Niku countered by doing a backward roll and catching the kick with her foot. They both tried to step on each other, but Toy skillfully grabbed her staff and created some distance.

"Hehe, you'll dirty the back of the clothes your Goshujin-sama gave you, won't you? Is that okay?"

"This much can be handled with [Purify]. It's not a problem."

"Oh, really?"

Toy smirked, and a magic circle appeared around her.

"■■, ■■■■■■■■■, ■――[Fireball]"

"—"

Niku rolled to the side to dodge the incoming fireball. It would be troublesome if her clothes caught fire.

"Oh my, if your clothes are going to burn, shouldn't you just take them off?"

"You're joking, right? As long as I don't get hit, there's no problem."

"Is that so? You're both foolish and naive, aren't you? Hehe."

Toy snapped her fingers. This time, a fireball flew towards Niku without any incantation.

"Wha—, kuh—"

"Oh my. It's just a simple combination of a double incantation and a delayed incantation. Is this your first time seeing such a reaction?"

Niku deflected the fireball with one of her wooden knives.

"How about this one? ■■, ■■■■■■■■■, ■■――[Fireball]"

"…—"

Five fireballs appeared and flew towards Niku one after another.

Rolling and deflecting, Niku managed to handle them without even letting the hem of her skirt get singed. However, Toy chuckled while looking at Niku's dirty clothes.

"That was a quintuple incantation. You got to see something nice, didn't you? Can a failure of a dog like you do this? Don't you understand now that I'm superior?"

"… ■■, ■■■■■■■■■■■■—[Fireball]"

But at that point, Niku also sent five fireballs flying towards Toy. Toy looked down on her and smiled, saying [Oh, not bad at all] as the fireballs flew simultaneously toward her.

"■■■■, ■■■■, ■■――[Ice Bolt]"

The five ice bolts that Toy launched intercepted the fireballs and neutralized them.

"For a failure, you're not bad at all. Hahaha! Now, as the perfect creation that I, Toy, am… I shall perform a more thorough quality test for you!"

"I'll make it crystal clear that I am superior."

Niku readied her wooden knives once more and glared at Toy.