Dispute

Night deepened.

The two members of the Heavenly Host-Prison Flame Maru and Instant Thunder Raiga-had been running with their orders since afternoon. Late that night, they found somewhere to rest.

Prison Flame Maru was gathering firewood, planning to warm himself with a hot meal and rest for a while, when Instant Thunder Raiga stopped him.

"You dare forget our lord's words?"

"When the Heavenly Host is out on a mission, completing it takes priority. Everything else must be cast aside!"

Prison Flame Maru's hands froze over the firewood, and shame crossed his honest, guileless face.

He dropped the wood and slapped his cheeks hard with both hands. His newly alert mind took command of his body.

"There's a forest ahead. There should be wild fruit there. We'll keep traveling tonight."

"Let's go. We still have a long way to go."

Two figures darted through the forest beneath the moonlight.

They inevitably encountered the trash yokai that were everywhere along the way. As long as it did not delay their journey, the two members of the Heavenly Host avoided them whenever possible, heading straight for the Dog Tribe's homeland.

As time passed, the sun rose in the east, its golden radiance instantly illuminating the entire sky.

Atop the mountain at the Dog Tribe Fortress, Zi Yan, the Dog Tribe's Third Elder, had been resting with her eyes closed during her watch. Her nostrils twitched, and she suddenly opened her eyes.

"This presence... there's no mistaking it. It's Oyakata's son, White Bone Maru!"

Zi Yan rose and gazed into the distance. The tail swaying leisurely behind her went still and instinctively wound around her slender waist. Her face grew grave and bewildered.

Most of the middle-aged and older dog yokai had seen White Bone Maru rampaging across the battlefield. Naturally, Zi Yan was no stranger to him.

She also knew that he intended to make a push into the realm of great yokai. Among the high-level yokai of the Western Country, this was practically public knowledge, a testament to the Leopard Cat's formidable strength.

After learning of it, the Dog Tribe's king and Great Elder had worn grave expressions for days on end.

The leadership meetings back then had all revolved around how to kill White Bone Maru.

At the time, the Great Elder had even been willing to use himself as bait to lure White Bone Maru out.

Only after several years passed without news of White Bone Maru did the Dog Tribe's leaders relax somewhat.

But White Bone Maru had remained a thorn in the Dog Tribe's side.

"So why has White Bone Maru left the Panther Cat Homeland and come to the front line?"

Before Zi Yan could come up with a reasonable explanation, the Great Elder and Second Elder arrived together.

"Let's dispense with the unnecessary talk and discuss how to deal with White Bone Maru."

As the three exchanged glances, the Great Elder spoke first, his words carrying a rarely heard note of imperiousness.

"This time, we must do everything possible to bury him beneath our tribe's soil!"

"Great Elder, we haven't even established whether this is really White Bone Maru. All we've detected is his presence."

The Second Elder looked at the somewhat agitated Great Elder and spoke gravely.

"That butcher, the Panther Cat Fourth Elder, can even imitate members of our tribe. Faking White Bone Maru would be child's play!"

"I know that."

The Great Elder closed his eyes, then opened them again, calming the impatience in his chest before speaking slowly.

"Real or fake, White Bone Maru's presence has appeared nearby. Even if it's a trap, we have to investigate."

"If our Lady Ringetsu appeared near the Panther Cat, wouldn't they have to send people to investigate as well?"

The Great Elder's question silenced the Second Elder.

He frowned slightly, gazing intently toward the source of the presence, as though trying to see through the mountain ranges and uncover the Panther Cat's intentions.

"That's true enough."

"But whatever the case, White Bone Maru has spent decades consolidating his strength. His arrival at the front line now is hard to see as anything but a Leopard Cat plot."

Instead of breaking through to become a great yokai, White Bone Maru had chosen to come to the front line, where the Dog Tribe was certain to target him. In Tōga's words-

It was like a graduate whose parents were both civil servants, and who could pass the civil service exam himself.

Then, after seeing someone online claim that the Pirate King's treasure was buried beneath a construction site, he lost his mind and went there to pour concrete.

Anyone with eyes could tell something was wrong.

But his long-standing fear of White Bone Maru had almost become an obsession for the Great Elder. How could a few words from the Second Elder persuade him otherwise?

He turned to Zi Yan, the Third Elder. "Third Elder, what do you think?"

"Great Elder, I agree with the Second Elder. I believe the Panther Cat are plotting something."

Having listened for some time, Zi Yan also sided with the Second Elder.

She had neither far-reaching vision nor exceptional wisdom.

All she had was a desire to live well in the present and the awareness that she was merely an ordinary dog yokai.

Her greatest ambition in life was to have someone above her holding up the Dog Tribe's sky and someone below her standing on its ground, while she enjoyed her own carefree little life.

So she said, "We don't need to concern ourselves with what the Panther Cat are doing. Without sufficient strength, they can't break our barrier."

"I believe the ultimate aim of everything the Panther Cat are doing now is to lure us out of the fortress."

"White Bone Maru's sudden appearance must be a dirty trick they've devised to exploit our fear of him!"

Zi Yan's clear, orderly explanation helped the Second Elder organize his thoughts.

He continued, "The Third Elder is right. As long as we stay put, every Panther Cat scheme amounts to nothing."

"...I admit you have a point. But for a scheme to work, they must have the strength to keep us from leaving."

Zi Yan's reasoning had also helped the Great Elder sort out his own thoughts.

"There are only three Panther Cat Elders at the Panther Cat Front Line. Even if we include White Bone Maru, who may or may not be there, that makes only four. The three of us..."

Remembering that an elder had to remain at the fortress to activate the barrier, the Great Elder corrected himself.

"If two of us go, even an ambush wouldn't make retreat particularly difficult."

"But Great Elder, don't forget the Panther Cat Third Elder and the others..."

Watching the Second Elder trail off, unable to sustain his own argument, the Great Elder smiled.

"It seems you understand too, Second Elder. If the Panther Cat Third Elder and the others were in their camp, they would have launched a frontal attack long ago, given their temperaments."

The Great Elder snorted softly. "Plots and schemes? Those are underhanded tricks used only by those who lack strength."

Given how well the Dog Tribe's elders knew the Panther Cat Elders, there was indeed nothing wrong with the Great Elder's argument.

Over the years, there had been instances of the Panther Cat outnumbering them in battle and forcing the Dog Tribe's elders into a wretched retreat.

With the current balance of strength, the Second Elder was also reluctant to remain inside the fortress.

Before, there had been too many Panther Cat, and the Dog Tribe had been beaten into submission. They had had no choice.

Now that they were being mocked as turtles hiding in their shells, the Second Elder had privately begun entertaining ideas of his own.

Seeing the Second Elder begin to waver, Zi Yan felt the corner of her eye twitch and had no choice but to speak.

"Great Elder, that's only your interpretation. What if the Panther Cat have changed their ways this time? Are we supposed to walk straight into their trap?"