"Yae Miko! Klee!"
After pushing open the door and seeing Yae Miko and Klee sitting there looking perfectly innocent, clearly unharmed, Su Bai breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, as long as the two of them were okay.
But since they were fine, it was time to have a serious talk with these two troublemakers. Su Bai arranged his expression into that of the head of the household, the same stern face he used when debating Sangonomiya Kokomi.
"You two..."
"Waaaaah! Xiao Feng, I thought I'd never see you again!"
Su Bai hadn't expected Yae Miko to play dirty. Before he could finish speaking, she threw herself into his arms, fake-crying. Between sobs, she peeked up to gauge his expression.
Seeing that his sternness seemed to soften slightly, Yae Miko smirked beneath her mask, though her tone remained pitiful.
"Klee, go get the washboard. This is all big sister's fault. I must punish myself—I'll kneel on it all night!"
Yae Miko's grand, self-sacrificing act deeply moved Klee. The little girl looked at Su Bai with tearful eyes.
"Brother Su Bai, can you please not punish Sister Miko? It was Klee's fault for being careless and letting the bomb fly away. If you have to punish someone, punish Klee instead!"
"No, Klee! It was my fault—I didn't watch you carefully enough. Punish me instead!"
Watching the two of them hugging each other, Su Bai felt confused. He had been the righteous prosecutor moments ago. How, in just a few seconds, did he suddenly feel like the villain?
Su Bai sighed, shaking his head to dispel these strange thoughts. He knew Yae Miko was putting on an act, but Klee would never believe him.
'Truly a fox who's lived for centuries. I'm nowhere near her level.' He grumbled inwardly but decided to forgive them. It wasn't like he could punish Klee alone, right?
"Alright, alright. I'll let you off this time. Both of you need to be more careful. Luckily, this exploded outside the city. If it had been inside, Jean wouldn't have gone easy on either of you."
Su Bai rubbed his forehead, suddenly feeling sympathetic toward Jean. Mondstadt already had enough problems without having to worry about what chaos Klee and Yae Miko might cook up next.
'When I go to Inazuma later, maybe I should ask Ayaka if she knows any remedies for hair loss and regrowth. Bring some back for Jean. With her workload, she's bound to go bald eventually. I just hope her hair lasts until then.'
Wait, if alchemy could fix teeth, could it also regrow hair? He'd have to ask Miss Sucrose about that.
Knock knock knock~
Someone knocked at the door. Su Bai looked around at the current state of his home—all of Yae Miko's Omamori had been burned up in the earlier fire.
"We're sold out of Omamori for today. Come back tomorrow."
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK~
Another round of knocking, more insistent this time. Louder, too. The visitor seemed impatient, clearly unsatisfied with Su Bai's response.
Su Bai had no choice but to get up and open the door. A customer was a customer—he couldn't just shoo them away. Still, he mentally noted his annoyance and decided to double the price of the Omamori for this annoying person.
When he opened the door, however, the person standing there wasn't some rough, impatient adventurer. Instead, it was a dark-faced girl with light blue hair. Hmm, nice figure, but her clothes seemed covered in dust—like a girl fresh from the countryside. For some reason, though, Su Bai felt this country girl looked oddly familiar.
No matter how hard he racked his brain, Su Bai couldn't place who this rustic young woman was. Finally, he ventured a hesitant guess.
"Um... Miss, are you Kaeya's country relative? Kaeya is usually in the Knights of Favonius headquarters. Just go straight ahead from here."
"Ha! Not only do you bomb me, but you refuse to admit it and call me Kaeya's country relative? I'll remember this grudge!"
Hearing that familiar catchphrase, Su Bai looked the dusty girl up and down. If not for Eula's signature hand-on-hip pose and her uncommon blue hair—and if he hadn't used his adeptal energy to sense her—he might never have recognized her.
"Eula?! Did... did that bomb hit you?"
"You have the nerve to ask?! If I hadn't reacted quickly, I'd be with Barbara right now!"
Hearing this, Su Bai finally understood why Eula looked like a country girl. Good grief—that bomb that landed outside the city had hit poor, unlucky Eula!
Realizing what had happened, Su Bai gave an awkward chuckle. Not keeping a closer eye on Klee really was his fault. Sensing that Su Bai now understood, Eula didn't stand on ceremony. She pushed past him and headed inside. Seeing this, Su Bai quickly stepped forward to block her.
"Hey, hey, hey! Klee is still little—you can't hit her!"
"Hmph! To think you'd see me as someone who hits children. I'll remember this grudge, too. Where's your bathroom? I need to clean up."
Hearing that she wasn't here to cause trouble for little Klee, Su Bai relaxed. Just then, Klee poked her head out from inside.
"I thought I heard Sister Eula's voice! Sister Eula, did you come to see me?"
"That's right, little Klee. I came to see you."
Watching Klee throw herself into Eula's arms, Su Bai was a bit surprised. He didn't know Klee and Eula were so close.
"Come on, you can show Sister Eula to the bathroom. I'll give you a bath too, little Klee."
"Yay! Bath time! I'll go get Sister Miko, too!"
Watching the three women giggling as they headed to the bathroom, Su Bai felt something was off. This was his house, wasn't it? Why was Eula treating it like her own? From the looks of it, she didn't consider herself an outsider at all.
'Oh well. With Miko there, maybe Eula can make a friend. I'll include her in dinner plans, too—otherwise she'll just keep adding to that grudge list.'
What Su Bai didn't know was that a few days ago, when Yae Miko took Klee to Good Hunter for snacks, the place was packed. No empty tables, and no one wanted to share with Eula.
Klee was too busy eating her treats to notice Eula, and Eula couldn't see Klee behind Yae Miko. So Eula had stood there awkwardly for a long time.
Yae Miko, the centuries-old fox, keenly sensed that this young girl seemed to be isolated by the crowd. Ignoring the whispers around her, she insisted that Eula join their table.
With Yae Miko deliberately drawing her out, the innocent young Eula not only spilled her entire life story but also unilaterally decided that Yae Miko was now her best friend.