Chapter 263: Sayu's Arrival
For the few days after returning from the Arataki Gang's base, Su Bai had a rather relaxing time. Every day, he either went to the Grand Narukami Shrine to eat and drink, or stayed at home, pondering how to let people without a Vision use a phone.
However, Su Bai was ultimately an amateur when it came to alchemy. After failing countless times, he finally gave up.
As expected, professional problems still need to be handed over to professionals. Once the thunderstorm in Inazuma disappears, I will just ask Albedo to figure it out.
After putting the pile of parts in his hand back into his small pocket dimension, Su Bai originally wanted to take out the Serenitea Pot that Madame Ping had given him before he left Liyue to study it. However, the arrival of a certain little cutie made Su Bai temporarily postpone this idea.
"Sayu, stop hiding. I already found you~"
"Eh~ So it was you who came back, Su Bai. I thought a thief broke into the house and I was getting ready to catch them."
Seeing that it was Su Bai sitting in the chair, Sayu chuckled and immediately pounced at him. Su Bai did not expect Sayu to be so excited. Before he could even summon his tails, she had already lunged. As a result, instead of a fluffy tail, Sayu was greeted by his stiff spine.
"Ouch, Su Bai, where are your tails? Why did they disappear?"
"Sigh, it is a long story."
Intending to tease Sayu, Su Bai deliberately sighed and put on a troubled expression. Sayu rubbed her little face, which ached from bumping into his spine. She widened her eyes and looked at Su Bai. Could it be that Su Bai, just like that terrifying Guuji, no longer needed his tails? Did that big, fluffy, and incredibly comfortable tail to hug just disappear?
Seeing Sayu's cute little face scrunch up, Su Bai laughed and summoned all four of his tails. Seeing the fluffy tails suddenly appear, Sayu's eyes lit up with delight.
"Wow, you actually have four tails now! That means when I sleep, I can hold one in each hand. But what should I do with the remaining two tails?"
Sayu looked down at her short little arms and felt a bit distressed.
Damn it, I really want to grow taller soon. If I grow taller, I should be able to hold two tails in one hand.
"What has little Sayu been busy with these past few days? I have been back for several days and have not seen you at all."
Su Bai patted Sayu's little head. The soft feeling made him忍不住 gently pat it a few more times. If it were anyone else, Sayu would have probably jumped up and used her Muji-Muji Kondou to smash their knees. But Su Bai was different. In Sayu's words, Su Bai was a fox immortal, and with the fox immortal's blessing, Sayu could grow taller faster.
Even though Su Bai had patted Sayu's head countless times over the years, he really had not noticed her growing any taller. As for the blessing part, Su Bai was also quite clueless. However, from the information Kano Nana had mentioned, Su Bai could roughly guess that this was probably Miko's doing, likely to make Sayu stop resisting when the Guuji Yae patted her head.
"Eh? Me? Although it is a mission, it should be fine to tell you, Su Bai."
Sayu thought about her mission. It did not seem to be anything that required strict secrecy. Besides, Su Bai had a very good relationship with the Kamisato Clan, so telling him should not be a problem.
"It is like this. Today there is a large festival that the Yashiro Commission needs to host, so a few days ago, I was sent to be in charge of maintaining order at the festival."
"Not only that, but even Shrine Maiden Kano Nana was sent to keep a close eye on me. I have not successfully slacked off at all these past few days. Ugh, I probably missed a lot of opportunities to grow taller."
Speaking of not successfully slacking off even once, Sayu immediately became depressed. She really did not know how Shrine Maiden Kano Nana could spot her every single time. Could this be a hereditary talent of the Shikanoin family? She remembered that the Tenryou Commission had a very famous detective who could also find many clues.
Whatever, the mission is over now. I can finally come to Su Bai's place and sleep in.
Thinking that Su Bai was already back, Sayu's depressed little face immediately broke into a smile. Because of Su Bai's special status, no one dared to trespass into his house. Thanks to this, Sayu could always sleep very peacefully whenever she slept here.
"Su Bai, if there is nothing else, I am going to go sleep for a bit. If anyone looks for me, just tell them I am not here."
"Hey, hey, hey, Sayu, do not rush to sleep just yet. Here, take this phone. With this phone, you can check messages when you have nothing else to do."
Phone? What is that? Is it some new breed of chicken?
Sayu looked at the metal box Su Bai handed her. This thing did not look like a chicken at all.
After Su Bai explained how to use the phone to Sayu, her first reaction was that it was impossible. But as the phone booted up and various messages flooded the screen, Sayu was completely dumbfounded.
"With this thing, how am I supposed to slack off in the future? Su Bai, take this thing back. I do not want it."
Sayu's face full of resistance made the corner of Su Bai's mouth twitch. This kid's train of thought was indeed a bit strange. To be able to slack off and sleep, she actually did not even want a phone. She needed to know that this was something even the Anemo Archon Barbatos wanted.
After some persuasion from Su Bai and a promise not to tell anyone that Sayu had a phone, Sayu reluctantly accepted it. Looking at Sayu, who was hugging his two tails and had already fallen into a deep sleep, Su Bai wiped the sweat from his forehead. Kids these days were getting harder and harder to coax. If only all children had Paimon's level of intelligence.
Come to think of it, since there was a festival today, he could go stroll around it tonight. It had been a long time since he had been to an Inazuman festival. He wondered if anyone in the group chat was going. Su Bai opened his phone and surprisingly discovered that he seemed to be the last person in the group to know about the festival tonight.
...
[Yae Miko, Embodiment of Wisdom and Beauty: Little Shinobu, do not forget our agreement~ I will be waiting for you at the Grand Narukami Shrine tonight.]
[Kuki Shinobu: Do not worry, Guuji Yae. Leave the task of maintaining order to us, the Arataki Gang.]
[Kujou Sara: Shinobu, I think if you can just keep Arataki Itto in check, you are already halfway to success. After all, most of the trouble is caused by your boss.]
[Kuki Shinobu: ... General Kujou, the boss is sitting right next to me. He is currently shouting that he wants to challenge you to a one-on-one duel.]
[Kujou Sara: Oh? Even with a Vision, he is no match for me. Against him without a Vision, I do not want to waste my time.]
[Paimon: Is anyone going to the festival tonight? Maybe we can all go together and have fun. If we buy a lot of food, maybe we can even get a discount.]
[Su Bai: Me, me, me! I want to go! Are you treating, little Paimon?]
[Paimon: That is not entirely impossible. Lumine has earned a lot of Mora recently, so treating you to some food should not be a problem.]
[Lumine: Paimon is right. Su Bai, eat as much as you want today. I will pay the Mora.]
[Kamisato Ayaka: If the Traveler is interested, then I will go with the Traveler as well.]
[Lumine: Then shall we meet at the Komore Teahouse?]
[Kamisato Ayaka: No, no, no. It is better to meet at the Uyuu Restaurant. Taroumaru's secret stash of Mora seems to have been stolen recently, and he is very irritable right now. It is best not to disturb him.]