As it turned out, Xu Ran had been overthinking things.
Back at the Boarding Shop, he saw the three beasts who came for free meals. Fang Yuling had not stopped boarding her Contract Beasts at his shop just because he had taken her first-place spot.
That put Xu Ran at ease.
"Mealtime!"
As the clanging of an iron spoon against an iron pot rang throughout the Boarding Area, Xu Ran, who had just taken the Three Little Ones to the top of all three Commander Level Beast Tamer rankings, returned to his role as a Boarding Shop owner, serving nutritious, delicious food to the Contract Beasts lined up obediently.
With a smile in his eyes, he checked each boarding resident's mental and physical condition, his gaze finally settling on an empty patch of ground.
For the past half month, that patch had belonged to a rather special Contract Beast. Filled with guilt, it had done its utmost to restrain its nature, and had ultimately found an opportunity of its own here.
"The Fighting Hairball has left." Xu Ran sighed softly.
Barring anything unexpected, its Beast Tamer would not board it here again.
With help from the Beast Tamer Association and the Transcendent Evolution Department, they would no longer face people making things difficult for them.
He wondered whether he would ever have a chance to see it again.
"Come on, let's head upstairs." After collecting the boarding residents' food bowls with help from the Three Little Ones, Xu Ran spoke softly.
Worn out from the day, the man and his three beasts went from the basement to the ground-floor shop. Just as they were about to take the stairs to the second floor, a clear, pleasant sound rang out.
"Ring, ring~"
"Whose phone is that?" Xu Ran instinctively took out