Kazal

[Flashback]

A loud THUD was heard when that unknown figure fell down in front of Kazal. Once again, the dog merchant fell into a trance when he was served with another unexpected scenario coming his way.

What should he do in this situation?

Kazal paced in a circular motion as he pondered. He might as well ran away after finding out that the being who had fallen unconscious wasn’t his enemy, but it would leave a bad taste in his mouth if he just leave that person as it be while the person bled to death.

The sound of people talking to each other at a distance snapped Kazal out of his pondering. He had to make a quick choice whether to run now or to bring that unknown person with him. Should he or should he not-

“I think he’s here.” A voice approached nearer. When the group halted right in front of the entrance of the alleyway, they scanned the hallway as if looking for someone.

“…You said that he’s here.” A man, one of his eyes was blind from a single huge scar across it, angled his head to one of the men behind him, presumably his underlings.

“I-I’m sure he’s here, boss! I saw him limping his way into this place.” One of the men stuttered, sounding fearful. The man with the scar narrowed his as he stared at his men long, before facing forward into the darkness of the alleyway.

“Find him, and find him quick.” His menacing aura engulfed the surroundings, instilling fear into his underlings to do their job quick. Meanwhile, Kazal swallowed his saliva nervously.

In the middle of the scouring people, Kazal was there all along. He cast an invisibility spell on himself and the unconscious man and erased the trace of blood on the road around the perimeter as to hide any cause of suspicion. Judging from the behaviour of those men plus the unconscious man’s desperate endeavours of running away, Kazal assumed that these two parties were related. Perhaps they were actually looking for him.

Those men continued to search the entire place, and when no evidence was found, they left the premise, probably continuing their search.

Kazal heaved a deep, relieved sigh when their presence was completely gone from his radar. He had been holding in his breath nervously the entire time they walked past the barrier he created, worrying if they noticed the difference in the matrix and began suspecting him casting a spell.

After breaking off the spell, Kazal turned to the injured man and inspected his injuries. His wounds were severe, severe enough to predict that he wouldn’t survive the next day. That being said, Kazal didn’t have enough power to heal all his injuries, so with a bit of hesitation, the dog merchant used some of his Mana to heal the worst of his injuries.

The bleeding of the unconscious man finally stopped. Kazal heaved another sigh of relief after seeing the colour on that man’s face returned, before rolling the man’s body so he could lay down on his back. As Kazal did, he noticed the thick dark blue fur on the man’s body gradually shrank, revealing the smooth skin of a human. His wolf head also retracted and changed into a form of a human. The dog merchant couldn’t help but stare at the man’s metamorphosis in awe.

He had heard of some race being able to morph into anything they wanted, but to see one right in front of his eyes was pretty amazing in a sense. Kazal then sat down beside the unconscious man, while pondering his next step. Now that he had avoided the worst of situations, what should he do now?

Investigating the surrounding area might be a good start. However, it was too risky for Kazal to leave an injured, unconscious man alone out in the streets. It’s either he died from his injuries or got killed before getting mugged of his belongings.

The dog merchant raised one of his ears upon eyeing the bag that the unconscious man brought with him.

There might be something useful inside that bag, but how in the human world should he open the zipper? Kazal was rueful enough that his hands had turned into paws. It was a plausible reason as to why his ancestors decide to evolve.

Suddenly he heard a ringing nearby. Kazal darted his eyes around to seek for the source of the sound, when it happened to come from inside the bag.

The dog grumbled. If he couldn’t use his hands, at the very least, he had his mouth. Kazal pulled the zipper open, revealing the inside of the backpack. There were folded clothes inside, as well as some notebooks and a pencil case. The pencil case vibrated slowly, followed by a ring. Kazal pushed his head in to pull out the source of the ringing, only to find a small, thin, and triangular plate with something flashing out of one of its wide surfaces.

“What in the world?” Kazal’s eyes widened. What kind of sorcery is this to be able to make a smooth plate to be like this? Somehow, the idea that he might not be in a faraway continent back in his original world came to mind. As a merchant of an esteemed company, Kazal has a lot of experience in handling magical device, and a thin slate like this had never appeared in the directory of traded items. Was the plate the result of a scientific creation? Or was he actually thrown into a world different from his own?

Out of curiosity, Kazal placed his paws on the flashing surface.

“Hello? Shawn?” A voice came out of the plate. Kazal took a few seconds to decided whether he should answer the voice or not. It might be a curse or a spell being inflicted on the plate. But for some reason, this plate reminded him of the communication sphere he had back in Hazaris. Kazal decided to reply back to the voice.

“Greetings.” Kazal stammered a bit. Did he sound too formal just now?

“Ah, greetings. I am the owner of this phone’s uncle. This might sound sudden, but do you happen to know where he is?” The tone of the voice sounded anxious, yet still managed to maintain its composure.

Kazal glanced down at the unconscious man. Was his name Shawn then?

“Yes, I believe he’s is here. He seemed to have passed out because of something, but I don’t know the reason. He seemed beaten up, though.”

“What?” The voice wavered. “T-Then, can you tell me where he is at, right now?”

Kazal paused a bit. He glanced at his surroundings to search for some sort of landmark, before telling the voice.

“Sure, his location is at…”

“So, you’re saying that you are a dog but you can talk, and that you saved me last night?” Shawn repeated what Kazal just said.

“I just avoided the worst situation. Your uncle is the one who hauled you back home.” Kazal swayed his tails. “I followed you guys back because your uncle invited me.”

Shawn rubbed his head. There was a complicated expression written all over his face as he stared down on the floor, pondering about something.

“Then… Do you want something from me?” Shawn finally spoke after his contemplation.

The dog merchant shook his head. “I saved you so you could serve as a place for me to gain information about this world. As you can see, I am not someone from this world.”

“What?” Shawn widened his eyes in disbelief. “C-Can you repeat your words just now?”

Kazal pursed his lips. Just which part of his explanation that he couldn’t understand?

"...I am a person from another world.”

“Are you serious?”

Kazal blinked his eyes. What he said might actually be a huge thing for Shawn. He tried to make sure that everything he said didn’t sound too outlandish, but he didn’t think that magical topic like transmigration could be that much of a bombshell. Even more so when he knew that Shawn could morph into a wolf beastmen.

“…I am not a person who would joke in this situation.” Kazal replied.

“Whoa…” Shawn exclaimed weakly. “Damn, what a situation.” His expression changed from looking conflicted, to looking regretful. “Alright, I’ll help you then. But someone’s on my tail so I might not be able to help much.” He then added.

The dog merchant’s eyes glinted upon hearing Shawn’s statement.