Chapter 18: The "New Teammate" Tai Ritian

The restaurant stables... The scene was lurid and violent, indescribably indecent.
“Make that mad dog stop!”
A young noble cried out in anguish,
“That’s a purebred Alabasta warhorse I bought for an outrageous sum from the Grand Line!”
“I’m so sorry!”
A restaurant security guard bowed helplessly,
“There’s really nothing we can do.”
In full-on mounting mode, Tai Ritian unleashed a terrifying display of power.
The security guards who had easily subdued him before now not only failed to stop the rampaging beast, but almost lost more than their dignity in the process.
The young noble was inconsolable, feeling as if the noble bloodline of his beloved horse had been utterly sullied by that mad dog.
Even if his beloved horse was, in fact, a stallion.
And the purebred Alabasta warhorse was not the only victim...
All the other unfortunate creatures had long since collapsed in exhaustion after their ordeal, lying limply in the haystacks.
“This...”
Nami, her cheeks flushed, pointed at the huge poodle atop the magnificent stallion and asked Garen,
“Is that your mount?!”
No matter how much she’d seen in her days as a cat burglar, Nami was unprepared for such a shocking spectacle.
Wallace, meanwhile, quietly snapped a photo for posterity, then remarked with a strange expression,
“Lord Garen truly has a unique way about him!”
Garen could only cover his face in exasperation, muttering dejectedly,
“That’s really not my mount!”
“I thought it had run back to the mountains by now...”
“Sir Knight!”
The restaurant manager clearly didn’t believe Garen, impatiently urging him,
“Please, you must make it stop!”
“Er...”
Garen hesitated, “I’ll try...”
So, from dozens of meters away, he bellowed furiously at Tai Ritian, who was still galloping wildly,
“Beast, cease this at once!”
The poodle paid no heed to its “master”...
It was far too busy.
The thrill of riding a thousand-li steed had made it forget all about the terror Garen’s broadsword had once inspired.
“Surrender at once! Or I’ll...”
But Garen’s voice faltered:
He could charge down murderous pirates without fear, but he truly didn’t dare approach a giant poodle in the middle of such an unspeakable act.
A single misstep, and he’d be ruined for life.
Should he use his “Hundred-Pace Flying Sword” for a ranged attack?
The idea flashed through Garen’s mind, but he immediately banished it.
That broadsword was his trusty weapon, the very blade he used to cut down foes—how could he bear to let it be sullied in this mess?
“Sir Knight?”

The restaurant manager couldn’t help but prod him again.
“Well...”
“The beast is at its peak right now, not easy to handle.”
Garen hesitated a moment, then shamelessly declared,
“Best to let it expend its ammunition first—then I’ll take care of it.”
The restaurant manager looked troubled.
“To destroy a man, first drive him mad.”
Garen spouted another pithy saying, which Wallace promptly jotted into his notebook, leaving the manager speechless.
After some time...
“How much longer until it’s done being mad?”
The noble owner of the warhorse asked tearfully.
“Just a bit longer...”
Garen turned away, somewhat embarrassed,
“Let the bullets fly a while longer...”
....................................
The farce finally ended, but the damage was irreparable.
All the horses that had suffered at the poodle’s paws were rare and noble beasts, painstakingly raised by wealthy merchants and aristocrats; and their owners had suffered no less from the emotional trauma.
In the end, amid the tearful complaints of the restaurant’s patrons, Garen paid fifty thousand Berries in compensation for Tai Ritian’s “services.”
That was already a friendly price, given in recognition of Garen’s defeat of the invading pirates and his role in safeguarding the peace.
He borrowed the money from Nami.
And Nami’s funds had, not long ago, been stolen from the Steel Blade Pirates.
She had only managed to keep the loot thanks to Garen’s chivalry.
Garen, whose survival skills were nonexistent, had only managed not to starve or get lost in the dense forest thanks to Tai Ritian’s guidance.
In that sense, the poodle’s luck today seemed almost fated.
“Woof, woof...”
Tai Ritian was quite satisfied with his good fortune today.
After his smooth conquests, the big poodle even wagged his tail happily at Garen.
“Out of my sight!”
Garen waved his sword threateningly.
“Woof!”
But Tai Ritian stood his ground:
He had no intention of leaving.
Though a dog, Tai Ritian possessed intelligence on par with the magical beasts of the Pirate World.
He understood well how dull his former life had been.
He’d grown up in remote, isolated mountains, where, aside from his long-deceased parents, there were no other large animals.
So, Tai Ritian had practiced his breed’s dragon-slaying techniques alone in the wild.
Yet to slay dragons, one must first find a dragon;
And in those woods, there were only trees and rocks.
Tai Ritian was unwilling, but too timid to leave his familiar home.
Until today, when fate intervened—
A burly, muscular “handsome creature” entered his life, whisking him away into the bustling world beyond the mountains.

As the saying goes, “A golden carp is never content in a pond; when the winds rise, it will become a dragon.”
After years of solitary training, Tai Ritian had finally found a stage worthy of his talents the moment he descended the mountain—
The restaurant’s stables, home to privileged and pampered noble steeds.
They were all strong and elegant, each radiating a noble air.
At first, these fine horses looked down on the strange new animal that had barged into their midst.
But they soon learned how wrong they were.
Tai Ritian, fresh from the mountains, made a stunning debut, sweeping all before him with overwhelming force.
This triumph awakened even greater ambitions in the poodle:
There were countless “handsome creatures” beyond the mountains—far more than he had ever imagined.
Tai Ritian wanted to follow Garen, his guide to the outside world, in search of more stages to showcase his prowess.
“Woof, woof, woof, woof!”
Tai Ritian howled toward the sky, full of ambition.
“Garen, are you really taking that dog with you?”
Nami’s voice, thick with resistance, sounded beside him.
“Woof!”
Before Garen could answer, Tai Ritian barked fiercely at Nami.
She instinctively crossed her arms over her chest and shrank back several steps, her eyes filled with both fear and wariness.
As a pure-hearted maiden, she was genuinely terrified of this curly-haired hound with its penchant for cross-species antics.
“Woof, woof, woof...”
But Tai Ritian merely shot Nami a look of utter disdain, almost human in its expressiveness:
He had absolutely no interest in her.
With her frail, petite form, she was less tempting than the burly Garen, and compared to those athletic stallions, Nami was utterly unappealing.
“Pervert dog!”
Being scorned by a dog, Nami felt a surge of indignation and clenched her fists,
“What’s with that look?!”
Tai Ritian stood proud and silent, his eyes dripping with contempt.
High intelligence, unbending will, decisive in conquest, fathering offspring far and wide...
With a protagonist’s template even more perfect than Garen’s, how could Tai Ritian let himself be outdone by an NPC as trivial as Nami?
“All right, Nami...”
Garen thought for a long while before finally making up his mind:
“It seems harmless enough, so let’s just take it with us!”
“Besides, I do need a mount...”
The brilliant poodle immediately barked with excitement:
“Woof, woof, woof!”
Garen added earnestly,
“And you never know what the sea might bring—long voyages are risky.”
“If we ever run out of food on the ship...”
“Bringing it along means we can look out for each other on the road.”