Chapter 71

Bungo Hound Dogs, Part 1 (文豪ハウンドドッグス 其の壱,) is the 71st chapter of the Bungo Stray Dogs manga.

Summary
Tachihara returns to the Hunting Dogs' headquarters, where he rejoins with his teammates Tetchō, whom he finds out has been observing an ant colony for eight hours since his arrival; Teruko, who cries after making a criminal confess within such a short period of time; and Jōno, who congratulates Tachihara's successful mafia infiltration and hands him back the disciplinarian task on their two rather unconventional teammates.

The four Hunting Dogs convene to discuss the Decay of the Angel and their identity that has been revealed to be the Armed Detective Agency. Tachihara states that the Agency has been last sighted two days ago at the bank, after which eyewitness reports have stopped coming. He conjectures whether the suspects have already went overseas, but Teruko thinks otherwise, saying that they may have conveniently found two things important to escaping fugitives, namely a base and a leader.

In a back alley, Ango plans an infiltration mission with Atsushi, Kyōka, and Lucy, which is to halt the enemy's third stage and to retrieve the page from the enemy. Ango deems Lucy to be the heart of their strategy, with her ability vital in infiltrating the enemy without being noticed. Atsushi apologizes to Lucy for getting her involved, but Lucy shrugs it off. Upon Ango's order, she transports Atsushi and Kyōka to Anne's Chamber and heads to the airport bus terminal.

Fukuchi visits his childhood friend, Fukuzawa, in the interrogation room and drinks with him. After exchanging pleasantries with each other, Fukuchi urges Fukuzawa to confess and make his comrades surrender to at least avert the Hunting Dogs' attention away from the Agency. Fukuzawa declines his offer, so Fukuchi makes a deal with him: if he confesses, Fukuchi shall tell him about Kunikida's condition following his sacrifice. Fukuzawa rejects him a second time, asserting that he knows Kunikida is still alive as he senses him through his own ability. Moreover, he knows that his comrades shall never give up the fight as long as even one member remains standing. Fukuchi then chides his decision, with the two leaders confident in their respective comrades achieving victory.

Tetchō and Jōno arrive at Café Uzumaki, bickering with each other over the title of the "strongest Hunting Dog". As the title currently belongs to Tetchō, Jōno believes that such title should belong to someone with impressive investigation and capturing skills, unlike Tetchō's physical strength that earned him such feat. Jōno then challenges him that whichever of them can find the Agency first shall grab hold of the coveted moniker. Jōno begins questioning the café manager about their waitress Lucy, whom the manager dismisses as a negligible employee, possibly quite insignificant to their investigation on the wanted Agency fugitives. Jōno then lauds the manager's coffee and holds him in admiration, though Jōno confesses that he can see through his lie.