Inside the massive courtyard of the Kamisato Estate, Thoma was leaning against a wall, panting heavily. Not far in front of him, the Shiba Inu Taroumaru was hopping in place, provoking him. Meanwhile, Kageroumaru's little gang of dogs were staring intently at Thoma, seemingly mocking him for not being able to catch a single dog.
This pissed Thoma off to no end. Damn it, if he caught him, Taroumaru was going to pay. Thinking about how he would punish Taroumaru once caught, Thoma looked at Kageroumaru, who was lounging lazily not far away, and felt a toothache from the sheer frustration. This mutt did not even care that he was going to snitch to Su Bai.
Come to think of it, when did Kageroumaru and Taroumaru get so close? He remembered that Taroumaru used to hate Kageroumaru.
Thoma looked at Kageroumaru, then at Taroumaru. These two dogs used to fight every single time they met. What on earth had happened to make their relationship so good?
"Well, well, it seems I missed a good show. Thoma, your relationship with Taroumaru is as good as ever, I see."
"Woof, woof, woof!"
Hearing this familiar voice, Kageroumaru, who had been lazily sunbathing on the grass, suddenly jumped up and sprinted on all fours toward the gate of the Kamisato Estate. Seeing their boss suddenly run outside, Kageroumaru's little gang did not react to what was happening right away.
As a dog capable of manipulating Electro energy, Kageroumaru's actual combat strength was not weak, and his running speed was extremely fast. Completely unprepared, Su Bai nearly fell flat on his butt after taking a headbutt from Kageroumaru.
"Little guy, have you gained weight? It seems Thoma has been making you plenty of good food. But you need to watch your weight, or you might get stuck in a hole and not be able to get out, just like Taroumaru used to."
"Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof."
Bouncing Kageroumaru in his arms, Su Bai could guarantee the dog had gained at least a few pounds. Feeling Su Bai's warm embrace, Kageroumaru excitedly licked Su Bai's face with his tongue.
Kageroumaru had missed Su Bai every single moment over the past two years. Previously, because his training was not finished, he could not go to Liyue with Su Bai. Now, he did not want to be separated from Su Bai anymore. According to the contract they signed, having completed his training, he could now roam around with Su Bai.
Meanwhile, Kageroumaru's little gang was completely dumbfounded. What was wrong with their boss? Why did he throw himself into a human's arms? Could this be the "old boss" their leader had mentioned before?
Seeing Su Bai hug Kageroumaru, Taroumaru could not help but let out a couple of grunts. He would never forget this detestable fox-human for as long as he lived. It was this detestable fox-human who took him to eat delicious food for several days, causing the perfect dog, Taroumaru, to lose control of his weight.
Thinking back to that embarrassing scene years ago when he chased a thief and got stuck in a small hole in front of a bunch of ninja hounds, Taroumaru wanted to slap himself. It was simply too humiliating. This was also one of the reasons he retired from the Shuumatsuban and went to become the boss of the Komore Teahouse.
"Su Bai, you are finally here. This pack of dogs is really going to be the death of me."
Seeing that Su Bai had arrived, Thoma glared at Taroumaru before going to prepare tea and snacks. Although neither Ayato nor Ayaka was currently in the Kamisato Estate, Thoma still needed to handle hospitality duties when guests visited.
"Alright, alright, Kageroumaru, is your ninja hound training finished?"
"Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof."
"That is good. Then when I return to Liyue, I will bring you along. I will let you establish a little dog squad in Liyue."
Su Bai scratched Kageroumaru's chin, and Kageroumaru squinted his eyes in comfort. After resting for a while, Taroumaru also greeted Su Bai and lay down right next to Kageroumaru.
Seeing Taroumaru suddenly lie down next to Kageroumaru, Su Bai subconsciously hugged Kageroumaru a little tighter. He did not want Kageroumaru to suddenly launch a sneak attack on Taroumaru. However, after holding him for a while, Su Bai realized that Kageroumaru did not seem interested in Taroumaru at all, showing absolutely no intention of attacking.
What was going on? In the past, whenever Taroumaru and Kageroumaru met, they wanted to beat each other up. Su Bai reached out and patted Taroumaru's head. Back when Taroumaru was still a ninja hound, Kageroumaru was just a pup who had just started ninja hound training.
Because Kageroumaru was naturally free-spirited and had a rather fierce personality, he just could not stand Taroumaru, who was in charge of managing the new ninja hounds. Taroumaru, in turn, was thoroughly annoyed by this ill-tempered mutt named Kageroumaru because of his irritable nature.
The reason Kageroumaru was able to participate in ninja hound training without having to join the Shuumatsuban was largely due to Su Bai mentioning it to Ayato. Ayato naturally gave Su Bai this courtesy; after all, they had been friends for a long time. It was just a dog that Su Bai liked, so Ayato did not take it to heart.
Although Kamisato Ayato later regretted not giving Kageroumaru an official ninja hound position after witnessing his strength, by that time, Kageroumaru had already completed his training, and Ayato had no way to recruit him into his ranks.
...
"Su Bai, stop sitting on the grass. Come over and have a cup of tea. I need to tell you all about this mutt Taroumaru's heinous crimes."
Taroumaru poked his head out, looked at Thoma, and immediately rolled his eyes at him. This behavior instantly ignited the anger in Thoma's heart. However, with Su Bai present, Thoma had to suppress his anger. After all, it was highly improper to display such rudeness in front of a guest.
Taroumaru knew exactly how to exploit this psychology of Thoma's. He simply lay down next to Su Bai, pointed his butt directly at Thoma, and did not move a muscle. Watching the sporadic sparks of Pyro energy bursting from Thoma, Su Bai was quite curious about how Taroumaru managed to piss off the usually good-natured Thoma to this extent.
"Alright, alright, Thoma, calm down. Let us have some tea while you tell me about it."
Sitting on the stone bench inside the gazebo, with Kageroumaru and Taroumaru lying beside him, Su Bai listened. Originally, Taroumaru only wanted to sunbathe and did not want to join the fuss, but to prevent Thoma from deliberately badmouthing him, he followed along anyway. After downing several gulps of tea, Thoma finally explained the sequence of events.
It turned out that after Thoma returned to the Kamisato Estate, he happened to see Kageroumaru and Taroumaru huddled together, seemingly communicating about something. Seeing this, Thoma immediately slapped the talisman Su Bai had given him onto his forehead.
Then, he heard them. Taroumaru was actually conversing with Kageroumaru. Kageroumaru had given all the Mora he earned from helping the Tenryou Commission with their work to Taroumaru, and in return, Taroumaru was in charge of feeding Kageroumaru and his whole pack of dogs.
Hearing this, Thoma was not actually that angry yet. It was not until later, when he heard Kageroumaru say that the food Thoma made was not good, and could not even compare to the meals at the Tenryou Commission, that Thoma truly got angry.
Damn it, it was not like Thoma had never eaten the work meals at the Tenryou Commission. Was that even fit for human consumption? If the Tenryou Commission's work meals were actually tastier than the food he, Thoma, made, he would resign on the spot.