Chapter 5 - Hell Hound Cerberus

Translator: Roshi

What appeared on the CCTV was some large dog.

"...Why is there a dog in there?"

The dog seemed to be looking around, searching for something.

Then it drooped its ears and settled down forlornly, plopping onto the floor.

Wait, why are you sitting down there?

More importantly, how on earth did it get in?

'Did I accidentally forget to lock the door?'

There was no way.

The windows were all shut tight, so it didn't seem like it had broken through anything to get in.

'No, that's not what matters right now.'

I quickly zoomed in on the screen and examined the surroundings closely.

'The stuff inside looks fine, at least. In that case...'

I shot to my feet.

Then I immediately threw on a tracksuit and a windbreaker, slipping into my sandals.

Whether I'd left the door unlocked, or the dog had slid the window open, climbed in, shut it behind itself, and sat down like a good boy.

Either way, what's done was done.

If that big dog suddenly got in a bad mood and went on a rampage, smashing everything inside...

'How much money is all that worth?'

The computer, especially, was just recently replaced!

I'd swapped out the monitor too, getting one of those latest widescreen ones that stretched out to both sides.

The wider view made it nice for pulling up charts, and for playing cute animal videos on the side... Ahem.

Anyway.

Before the hospital's precious assets suffered any damage.

I had to calm it down and quietly get it out, no matter what.

Normally I'd have been too scared to act this boldly!

But right now, the mark the Black Flame Dragon... had given me lay dormant on my left arm.

Nothing to be afraid of!

No matter how sharp a big dog's teeth were, they'd be useless against the Absolute Shield.

Tap tap tap.

I dashed toward the Animal Hospital, checking the CCTV whenever I could.

Thankfully, the dog sat still in that same spot until I arrived.

"Huff, haah."

When I reached the Animal Hospital and flung the door open, the dog opened its eyes.

But something was off.

The moment it opened its eyes, some kind of fire erupted from its neck.

"...?"

What? Did I see that wrong?

I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

Like a small lion's mane, flames were blazing around the dog's neck.

The situation wasn't computing, and I just stood there staring blankly at the thing.

Ding.

A notification appeared before my eyes.

[Hell Hound Cerberus]

"Huh?"

Hell Hound...?

If it was Cerberus, wasn't that the three-headed dog from the legends?

But this one looked just like an ordinary dog?

If I had to pin down a breed, it felt like something between a German Shepherd and a Doberman.

'No, more importantly. This means it's not just a dog, it's a Monster?'

Monster.

Just thinking the word made my heart pound.

I forced myself to take a deep breath.

'No. Stay calm. I have the Absolute Shield, don't I?'

It was a shield that had blocked even a Dragon's Death Fire.

No matter what this thing was, there was no way it could break through easily.

'First, let me quietly report to the Bureau that a Monster has appeared...'

And then.

Ding!

[This is a treatable subject.]

[A large amount of EXP can be obtained.]

I froze.

'What's this now?'

I'd seen plenty of patients up to this point, but I'd never gotten a notification telling me something was treatable like this.

Had this kind of function been added when the skill changed to Growth-type?

But even the patients I'd seen today hadn't triggered any notification like this.

'A large amount of EXP... Is it because of that thing?'

The EXP I'd earned from treating animals so far was a measly 1 per session.

I didn't know what the maximum was, but I could tell it had been a pittance.

And now the Status Window was telling me I could obtain a large amount of EXP.

Whimper.

That was when Cerberus let out a small sound.

'A whimper...?'

Hearing that mournful cry, the tension began to melt away.

I looked at Cerberus more carefully.

Maybe it was because I'd calmed myself down first, but I could see things I hadn't noticed before.

'This guy actually does look like he's in pain.'

On top of that, there was no hostility either.

No, how to put it. Rather than hostility, it was more like.

'Fear?'

I may not look it, but I've got years of experience as a veterinarian under my belt.

When you observe animals long enough, you can generally tell what emotion they're looking at you with.

Cerberus was feeling anxiety and fear right now.

'Looking more closely at his body, patches of fur are missing here and there... There are wounds too. His breathing seems a bit irregular as well.'

And though I only noticed it now, the fire blazing around his neck like a mane also looked precarious, like a candle flickering in the wind.

Parts of it had already sputtered out, only to reignite into tiny flames again and again.

He certainly looked intimidating on the outside.

But right now, for some reason, the creature just looked pitiful to me.

"Hey, boy. If I treat you, can you stay still?"

As if reacting to the word "treat," Cerberus's ears perked up.

Kking...!

As though answering yes, his tail gave a gentle wag.

'Oh, nice. I was hoping, and sure enough, it seems like he understands me to some degree?'

If it were an ordinary Monster, it would've charged at me the moment I walked in, no questions asked.

No, before that, it would've already wrecked the inside of the hospital.

Maybe it couldn't hold a full conversation like the Dragon, but I'd said it on the off chance that some basic communication might be possible.

Seemed like this one could understand, fortunately.

'If I contact the Bureau now and call in the Hunters... this guy will be slaughtered on the spot.'

But if we could communicate.

Wherever it came from, if I could just soothe it and send it back like I did with the Dragon.

Situation cleared, once again.

A world where no one gets hurt, complete.

Heh heh.

"Alright. Then, want to come over here?"

When I crouched down, Cerberus cautiously walked toward me.

"Um, the fire on your neck, can you turn it off again like before?"

Kking...!!

Cerberus flinched in surprise, then quickly put the fire out.

Just as I thought, he could control it.

I carefully placed my hand on Cerberus's body.

"Restoration."

The moment I activated the skill, a bright light burst from my hand.

Fwoooosh!

'Ohh.'

Maybe it was because I was healing something seriously injured again.

It wasn't quite on the level of the Dragon, but brilliant light continued pouring out, seeping into Cerberus's body.

'Good lord.'

As the Restoration progressed, information about where he'd been injured flooded into my mind.

'There's barely a single part that wasn't damaged.'

His legs and ribs had fractures.

His entire body was riddled with bruises that weren't immediately visible.

His respiratory system had sustained damage too.

It was a wonder he could walk around at all in that condition.

'And then there's this organ that ordinary dogs don't have.'

An organ located slightly above the heart.

It was probably the organ that allowed fire to erupt from his neck.

It, too, was severely damaged.

But my heal was EX-grade.

The same skill that had restored a Dragon Heart, mind you.

Whoosh!

Every last wound on Cerberus was healed, and the light soon faded.

And then.

Ding!

[You have treated Hell Hound Cerberus.]

[EXP has increased by 2,897.]

'Whoa, what?'

The EXP that had only ever gone up by 1 had just jumped by nearly 3,000.

When it said a large amount, I'd figured maybe 100 or so at once.

[Skill level-up successful.]

[Restoration Lv.2 → Lv.3]

[The effectiveness of skill 'Restoration' increases slightly.]

[The proficiency of skill 'Restoration' increases slightly.]

A level-up on top of that!

I had no idea how noticeable the increase in effectiveness and proficiency would be.

But it felt good, at least.

From what I'd heard, Growth-type Skills sometimes grant bonus effects at certain level thresholds. Now that mine had changed to Growth-type, maybe that applied to me too?

Anyway.

"How's that, all better now?"

Kking!!

Cerberus lifted each paw one at a time, then stared at me with disbelieving eyes.

Then, as if overjoyed, he spun around in circles on the spot before lunging at me.

Lick!

"Hahaha, you little rascal. You act exactly like a puppy."

Making a mockery of the title Hell Hound, Cerberus licked my face and nuzzled his cheek against mine like a gentle puppy, showering me with affection.

Whiiimper!

"Yeah, yeah. You were hurting a lot, huh."

The creature that had been trembling with anxiety and fear just moments ago had bounced back this quickly.

A warm sense of pride welled up inside me.

I stroked Cerberus, whose tail was spinning like a propeller, as if to comfort him.

This felt like petting a dog I'd raised for years.

'...Wait. Now that I think about it, this isn't the time for this.'

I quickly snapped out of it.

At the end of the day, this Cerberus was a Monster.

Something that shouldn't be here.

And from his perspective too, he'd ended up in a strange world he knew nothing about.

A world crawling with Hunters who would try to kill him, no less.

Sending him back to where he came from would be better for both sides, for us and for Cerberus.

"Hey, boy."

Kking?

Cerberus looked up at me with bright, sparkling eyes.

"Now that you're all healed up, will you go back home?"

At that, Cerberus suddenly recoiled in shock, stumbling backward.

Whiiimper...!

He pressed himself flat against the floor, trembling violently, his terror-stricken eyes hidden behind his front paws.

The unexpected reaction caught me completely off guard.

"Uh... boy?"

Did I say something wrong?

*

Every now and then as a veterinarian, I'd encounter some truly awful owners.

People whose pets clearly showed signs of abuse, but who'd claim the animal got hurt by accident, or got in a fight with another animal, and ask me to treat it.

With no evidence, I had no intention of picking a fight with the owner, and saying anything would only invite complaints or reports, so I'd reluctantly send them home...

'Now that I look closely, this is exactly how those animals used to react.'

The moment you heal the wounds and try to send them back to their owner, the hindquarters that instinctively pull backward.

The tail curled tight.

The eyes trembling like an earthquake, full of anxiety.

Cerberus's reaction right now was exactly that.

'So the wounds on his body... weren't from fighting other enemies after all.'

Come to think of it, when I'd first touched him, he hadn't resisted, but he had been trembling in a strange way.

It seemed the abuse was already deeply ingrained.

'So in the Dimension where this one came from, someone was keeping a Hell Hound locked up and raising it?'

It was called a Hell Hound, so maybe... hell?

I didn't know.

How could I, when I'd only been inside a Gate once?

So I asked Cerberus directly.

"You don't want to go home?"

Kking.

Cerberus gave a small nod.

"So the people back home were hitting you and stuff, huh?"

Whiiimper...

Another affirmative.

'He really is smart.'

A dog that could understand speech and even nod.

A thought suddenly crossed my mind.

'Aside from the fire coming out of his neck, isn't he the perfect dog to keep?'

He was muscular, and he had the kind of face that would look scary when angry, sure.

But he listened well, and it seemed like he could control the fire on his neck by himself.

If he just sat there quietly, he had the kind of look that could pass for an ordinary large dog...

'Plus, since he's a Hell Hound, wouldn't he live way longer than a normal dog?'

Maybe even longer than a human.

Gulp.

'I know it's insane.'

A single Monster escaping from a Gate was enough to cause mass panic.

And I was going to take one in, feed it, and raise it?

Absolutely ridiculous.

There'd be no way to deal with the consequences.

'But if I just kick him out...'

I stole a glance at Cerberus's eyes. They were glistening.

Kking...

'Ugh. What do I do.'

A heart swaying like a reed.

In my head, the voices of a devil and an angel were battling it out.

-Be honest, you want to keep him, don't you? This is your chance to get what you wanted so badly you were rambling about it drunk! As long as no one finds out, it's fine! Just brazen it out and keep him!

-You're gonna heal a kid who ran away from being beaten half to death, milk him for EXP, and then send him back to get beaten to death? You call yourself a human? Just keep him!

Wait, why do they both reach the same conclusion?

'From what I can tell, he is smart and well-behaved. But...'

What if, on the off chance, he suddenly went berserk and caused an accident?

What if people got hurt?

Could I really take responsibility for that?

I'd be fine with the Absolute Shield, sure.

But that was for defense, not offense.

It meant I'd have no way to control things if something went wrong.

Just as I was deep in deliberation.

Ding!

'Hm?'

A new message appeared before my eyes.

[Hell Hound Cerberus wishes to become your Contract Beast.]

[Do you accept?]