Chapter 4. New House

The moment I accepted the little girl's offer, things went surprisingly smoothly.

“I’ll take you home!”

“Ah, alright….”

This whole incident was entirely the Colosseum's fault, their mismanagement plain to see.

And the victim? A Noble’s daughter, judging by her appearance – someone high up, too.

The Colosseum staff, previously so forceful, were now bowing and scraping, practically throwing me at her.

…They must be fuming inside about the match turning into a shit show, but they’re biting back their anger pretty damn well.

The Ogre had been subdued with some specialized magic tool, but the excited spectators had gotten their fun ruined and their lives threatened.

Would they come back after this?

I don’t know, but my aggro probably won't work as well anymore.

Anyway.

Just like that, I was sold off like a chick in a market. Ownership transferred in a blink.

And now…

“Come on in!”

I’m speechless, staring at my new digs.

***

A little girl with shining golden hair, catching the sunlight, and sparkling red eyes.

The young lady, who called herself ‘Aria,’ brought me to her home.

Mansion, rather.

A huge, extravagant-looking mansion, at that.

*‘To think they’d raise…this.’*

‘I like him!’

I was certain I was dead, but it seems she’s higher up than I thought. The young lady's single word was enough to silence the imposing bodyguard and the old man.

Well….

In the end, I was practically dragged here, to this mansion.

Afterward, they washed me like a stray dog, dressed me in luxurious clothes I’d never seen before, and brought me here…

“Doggy, aren’t you coming in?”

…the courtyard.

A courtyard with a massive doghouse.

“This is…”

“Your house! I had them build it!”

They built this in the meantime?

No, wait. *This* is a house…?

It looked exactly like a stereotypical doghouse. The only difference was its size; it was large, just big enough for me to lie down in.

“Yes…”

I had no intention of arguing, so I just went inside.

Thinking about it, I basically saved the little brat who was holding me hostage.

And hey, between dying and living, I chose living. I’m not complaining.

“Young Lady, I brought the collar.”

“Oh! Good!”

Just as I was marveling at the surprisingly spacious interior…

The frail old man, probably the young lady’s butler, who'd sent me flying earlier, brought a dog collar and fastened it around my neck.

But….

“Hmm.”

Cold and hard.

And…

“Please refrain from any unruly thoughts.”

…Putting on the collar made my aura feel stifled, constricted.

Ah, so it's not a dog collar, but a shackle. Similar to what Alden was wearing?

I could probably force my aura to work, but it wouldn't function properly.

“So, you’ll stay here and be good?”

More importantly, what does this young lady think I’ll do? Why keep me in the courtyard like this?

I may look like this, but I became the youngest Champion without aura.

Come to think of it, she was strangely calm when I took her hostage.

Does she have something else up her sleeve besides that old man?

Well… it's pointless to worry about it now. I have no intention of hurting her.

I wasn’t actually going to stab her even when I took her hostage. And besides, if I try anything funny here, I’ll end up on the executioner’s block, right?

She's practically my savior, in a way.

I guess I'll just quietly play the dog.

Let’s be positive.

It’s better than that stuffy, underground cell at the Colosseum, right?

The doghouse floor is a little hard, but the garden I can see is well-maintained, and the sun feels good.

My biggest worry was that they’d feed me dog food…

“Eat this!”

“Ah, yes… Thank you.”

There's a reason they say even a Servant should serve a Daegam.

I stared at the glistening steak, my eyes wide with disbelief.

“You have to eat a lot, okay?”

And it wasn’t just one; she gave me four!

It was an insult to even compare it to the slop they fed me at the Colosseum.

“…Thank you for the meal.”

This… isn’t so bad.

***

And so, I became this Noble young lady’s pet human.

But I didn’t really *do* anything.

I just spent all day sprawled out in the doghouse or courtyard, basking in the sun.

“Let’s go for a walk!”

And when the young lady came, I’d put on the leash like a dog and walk around the garden.

The little lady called me a 'dog,' but thankfully, no crawling on all fours was required. Just a collar and leash. It's basically like a normal walk.

“That flower is a dandelion!”

“Ah, I see… It's pretty.”

“And that's a rose! My favorite flower.”

All I have to do is listen to the young lady chatter beside me. Not exactly hard work.

…Is this a fucking dream job?

Well….

“Young Lady, how much longer is… that human going to…?”

“I'll handle it!”

The stares from the others aren't exactly friendly, though.

Given my track record of taking the young lady hostage, and my origins as a slave gladiator… it's not surprising the other servants in this house don't like me.

Plus, the young lady's two bodyguards glare at me like they want me dead every time I see them.

Thankfully, the young lady's influence is nothing to scoff at.

“He's *my* dog! Be nice to him!”

That single sentence kept everyone who disliked me from laying a finger on me, or giving me any trouble.

Meals were served on time, I got to shower regularly, and they even gave me clothes made of a material I'd never seen before. Good shit.

…This is kinda like living the high life.

Except for sleeping and eating in the garden where all the servants pass by, it's way better than my gladiator days. I even get to use the servants' bathroom, the one the gardeners use.

Anyway.

I adapted to this fucked-up life pretty quickly.

One day, two days.

A week passed.

As they say, once you stand, you want to sit, and once you sit, you want to lie down?

I was bored as fuck.

I sometimes trained in the courtyard, but obviously, I wasn't given any tools, so it was all bodyweight stuff.

Plus, the collar around my neck made aura training impossible.

But as a pet, I couldn't exactly demand anything.

“Walkies!”

The young lady, strangely fond of me, would occasionally take me for walks. That was the least boring part of my day.

“Today I learned magic from my tutor…”

And during these walks, she would tell me all sorts of things.

When we first met, she was calm and a little creepy. But during these walks, she was just a normal kid her age.

“I want to play more, but they keep making me study! I think it's because of the Family…”

And because she really did treat me like an animal, she'd tell me things I wasn't sure I should be hearing.

Thanks to that, I gradually started gathering information.

Firstly, the Family was the Void Frontier Count.

…Surprisingly, they were considered the most powerful nobles in the Adel Kingdom.

I really poked the bear, didn't I?

I almost got myself killed.

Apparently, this place is like… a villa in the Metropolitan Area? Something they set up for the young lady because she wanted to stay in the Capital.

Also, that monstrous old man was indeed the butler.

And the two bodyguard knights I took down were supposedly promising talents.

Taken down in an instant, though.

According to the young lady, they were severely reprimanded and even punished.

My bad, guys.

I was just a force of nature.

Anyway.

That's how I gathered information and adjusted to life in this mansion.

It was a bit too peaceful for me, considering I used to train, cultivate my aura, and fight every single day.

Still, it was a nice change of pace.

It had been ages since I’d had it this easy since my reincarnation.

Hell, maybe it was the first time ever.

My childhood was all poverty and starvation, and my adulthood was filled with pain and struggle.

So, that day, like any other day, I spent the whole time photosynthesizing, went into the doghouse, and fell asleep.

Flash.

Early morning. My eyes opened on their own.

‘…Who is it?’

It was nothing else but…

A bad feeling, something I hadn’t felt in a long time.

…It’s been a while since I felt this way while sleeping.

Back then…

A few months after I arrived at the Colosseum…

The Colosseum staff gave me some experimental drug from the Magic Tower, disguised as medicine.

After I almost died from that, my senses became extremely sharp under certain circumstances.

Deep sleep was one of those circumstances.

In the life of a Champion, or a Champion candidate, fellow gladiators were no longer comrades.

So.

I carefully sat up, making sure not to make a sound.

And as if to prove my intuition right…

Rustling—Rustling—

A faint rustling sound came from outside.

Yes, very faint.

The kind of clumsy stealth used by amateurs trying to sneak in.

I carefully hid myself inside the doghouse and observed the situation.

What the hell?

Sneaking around like this in the early morning?

I wondered if someone who disliked me was trying to kill me…

“Find the Young Lady.”

“Don't kill her.”

Looks like their target is someone else.

“Wait, there's a doghouse here.”

“…I didn't hear anything about them having a dog.”

Well, well.

I was just getting bored.

Time to play the role of the guard dog.