Time flies like an arrow.
In the blink of an eye, several days had passed. Today, Penguin Logistics' dorm received a Lungmen Guard Department uniform jacket along with a temporary work ID.
"So how did they figure out my size without even measuring me?"
Looking at the jacket, Shirou could tell it fit him.
It was slightly small, on the tighter side similar to the jacket he usually wore.
He could not help but complain a little. Penguin Logistics seemed to be the same, they had also somehow produced clothes that fit him quite well out of nowhere.
So how exactly did all of you know his size?
"Did you forget? When you were unconscious, we called a doctor. They did a basic physical checkup back then."
Nearby, Exusiai had one leg casually draped over Croissant's leg, scrolling through her phone as she spoke.
At the time, they had done standard examinations and confirmed that Shirou had simply fainted from a heavy shock. He was expected to wake up after some time.
And indeed, he woke up the very same day. Not only that, he even had enough energy to clean up the place, after which the Boss took a liking to him and brought him in as a housekeeper.
Honestly, in Exusiai's opinion now, that decision by the Boss was an absolutely perfect investment.
"Oh… I see. Still, it is a bit small. I should probably change it."
Taking off the jacket after trying it on, Shirou had no intention of keeping it as is.
After all, it was a bit tight.
Unlike Penguin Logistics' jackets, which were comfortable even if slightly small, the Lungmen Guard Department jacket seemed to be made of poorer material. Even being just a little tight made movement feel restricted.
So Shirou planned to exchange it for a larger size later.
"Small?"
Hearing him say that, Texas who was sitting across from him reading while eating dessert looked puzzled.
She remembered Shirou previously saying that the Penguin Logistics jacket fit him well and he even found it a bit loose. So why was the Lungmen Guard Department jacket small?
Could it be differences between manufacturers causing slight variations in sizing?
"Yeah, my clothes have all gone down a size lately. I will need to find time to buy some new ones."
Shirou changed back into his usual clothes and spoke helplessly.
He had already expected this since he was still growing but he just did not expect it to happen this quickly.
"Got more muscular? No… Shirou, did you get taller?"
Croissant's first thought was that Shirou had bulked up, making the clothes tighter.
But after stepping closer and taking a careful look, she realized that was not the case.
Looking more closely, she noticed that Shirou seemed slightly taller.
The change in his height was not huge, it was just a few centimeters but without careful comparison it would have been hard to notice.
"Seriously? You got taller?"
Hearing this, Exusiai immediately sprang up from the sofa and rushed over to Shirou.
After comparing heights she found that it was indeed true, he had grown a bit taller.
"Shirou, teach me how to grow taller! Do you have some secret method!"
Now fully convinced, Exusiai became extremely excited and hurriedly asked him.
"No matter how you think about it, that is impossible. It is probably just Shirou's unique constitution. You should give up."
Watching Exusiai pester Shirou for tips, Texas felt speechless.
At the same time, she realized her partner not only wanted to remove the halo above her head but also wanted to grow taller.
Unfortunately, neither was realistic. She had never heard of anyone removing a halo, and as for height…
Most people stop growing after about eighteen, though there are exceptions where some continue to grow a bit afterward.
Shirou might be one of those exceptions.
Or perhaps… Shirou was not actually twenty?
Very quickly, Texas pushed that thought out of her mind.
The idea of having her daily life taken care of by a minor felt a bit strange. It was better not to think too much and she would just assume Shirou was a bit younger than them.
"Tch, how boring."
Hearing that it was just a special case, Exusiai could only give up on the idea.
Generally speaking, no one would mind being a bit taller. Of course, being too tall was not ideal either but Exusiai felt she could still grow another ten centimeters.
Heh, then she would have long legs too…
Unfortunately, that dream shattered quickly.
How boring.
"Was I just rejected?"
Seeing Exusiai suddenly lose interest and slump back onto the sofa looking disappointed, Shirou felt a bit speechless.
She had rushed over on her own and now she was the one acting uninterested.
Hah, Exusiai.
He had originally planned to pick up some desserts on the way back later, but now it seemed unnecessary.
"Just get used to it. Exusiai ran into a group carrying shields today. Her rubber rounds could not do anything to them, so she ended up getting chased around. She is probably still annoyed from that."
Croissant gave a brief explanation. Sora had gone back for rehearsals, so lately she would sometimes act together with Exusiai and Texas.
Exusiai had it pretty rough today. Not only did she run into shield users, she even got hit by ricocheting rubber bullets.
If she had not been worried about getting arrested for using explosives, she might have already given them a firsthand experience of "peace" on this land with a single blast.
In the end, Texas had to drive them away.
"But taking it out on others is not a good habit."
Texas added from the side.
Normally, Exusiai should be quite good at managing her emotions when dealing with others… it seemed that recent events had been bothering her.
And her changing attitude toward Shirou was also part of it. Exusiai seemed to be trying to genuinely trust him.
Was that why she was showing a more willful side?
In the end, it was a good thing. Shirou himself just did not know it. A bit of subtle clarification from the side was enough so that he would not take it too seriously.
"I do not really mind, but it is not a good habit."
Shirou nodded in agreement with Texas.
As for not buying desserts?
It was definitely not because of himself. It was to let Exusiai understand that this kind of behavior was not good, it was absolutely not for his own reasons.
The three of them spoke in low voices, so Exusiai, who had already gone back to the sofa, did not hear anything. She had not even realized her earlier behavior.
She was still in a state of shattered dreams.
"By the way, you do not have any more movies for me to watch, right?"
After confirming the sizing issue, Shirou packed the Lungmen Guard Department jacket back up and returned to his seat.
The phone on the table was paused, showing a frame of someone wearing a Lungmen Guard Department uniform.
The content had been a bit heavy, which was why Shirou had pretended to try on clothes earlier to shift his mood.
He really did not understand why they were pushing him to watch these movies and dramas.
Was it to help him get familiar with how the Lungmen Guard Department operated?
But in all the videos they recommended, the people from the Lungmen Guard Department all seemed… a bit off.
Maybe they just wanted him to better understand their working style?
After all, even Sora and Texas were strongly recommending these.
"That is all of them. It is pretty good, right?"
Hearing Shirou's question, Croissant gave a thumbs-up.
After that day, they had spent quite a while discussing things while working.
Ideas ranged from taking turns accompanying Shirou to the Lungmen Guard Department every day… to blowing up the department's restroom so it could not function properly for a few days…
In short, there were all kinds of outrageous suggestions. Thankfully, Sora still had a conscience and stopped the impending restroom disaster.
It felt like if they gave Exusiai a legitimate excuse, she would happily blow up the entire Lungmen Guard Department.
So after calming down, they all agreed to take a different approach.
For example, making Shirou think the Lungmen Guard Department was not a good place.
So they gathered a large number of films, including some very old ones and showed them to him.
Regardless of quality, as long as it portrayed the Lungmen Guard Department negatively, they used it.
This left Shirou feeling a bit doubtful about everything.
"Is it just me… or does the content feel a bit strange?"
With some suspicion, Shirou voiced his thoughts.
A few movies alone could not possibly influence him that much.
He was not a child, how could a few films affect him?
He had personally experienced four different sets of memories centered around himself. Compared to that, these films were nothing worth mentioning.
Still, the recurring themes in them made him a bit suspicious.
"It is just your imagination. You do not usually watch these so they feel strange."
Exusiai quickly joined the conversation and said.
"Yeah, exactly."
Croissant chimed in.
"Do not overthink it."
Texas added at the end.
"…Alright. Do you have anything else to recommend? Other genres are fine too."
Looking at the three of them, Shirou knew something was definitely off.
Their reactions were far too exaggerated and they were likely trying too hard to cover something up.
What he did not expect was that even Texas and Sora were in on it.
Had they really been led astray too?
Still, these movies and dramas had piqued Shirou's interest. If he had time later he would not mind watching more.
He had not watched them before because he had been too busy. Now, however, he had been influenced by the others, which sparked his interest.
Moreover, there was no need to follow TV schedules anymore. Everything could be watched online at any time and he could pause whenever he wanted to rest. For Shirou, this was extremely convenient.
A sentiment born from the era of slide phones.
"Oh? Shirou, you are finally interested in this kind of stuff? I highly recommend these!"
Hearing Shirou's question, Croissant immediately rushed back to the sofa, grabbed her phone and opened a page to show him.
There were quite a lot of action-type shows. Although Shirou was not particularly interested, he still took note of some of them.
"And these too."
Exusiai also pulled out some of the ones she had watched.
Compared to Croissant, Exusiai's list was much more diverse, she seemed to watch a bit of everything.
"I do not have any. I do not use those."
Texas did not join in. Compared to watching on a phone, she preferred the experience of a big screen.
Especially when watching together with everyone.
So Shirou accepted the recommendations from Exusiai and Croissant. Of course, he did not take all of them, he just selected a small portion.
Besides, he might not even have the time to go through them all. For now, he just made a note of them.
As for the Lungmen Guard Department…
Shirou did not really know what things were like over there.
It probably would not be as exaggerated as in the movies but he was still a bit worried that he might cause trouble for them.
Even without researching much, he knew that a job like that had high requirements. There would definitely be written tests.
And Shirou himself had no idea what exactly the Lungmen Guard Department was supposed to do.
He had asked Yith and the Boss about this before and the answer he got was that someone would guide him when the time came so he did not need to worry.
But that was exactly why he was worried. He was the type who did not like causing trouble for others.
On top of that, he felt that if he did not perform well, it might even trigger another round of "Penguin versus Lungmen" conflict.
As for Fuyuki Shop, Shirou was not worried. Since he would not be able to go there for a while, he had already taken care of everything that needed to be arranged.
It was just that Jaye, Phal, and Rope all had somewhat… delighted expressions when they heard the news about him going to the Guard Department.
Were all people in Lungmen like this? Each and every one of them seemed to enjoy chaos, rushing toward any excitement they could find.
He would also have to pause his nighttime patrols for a while. He did not know how intense the work at the Lungmen Guard Department would be and if fatigue affected his daytime performance, that would be bad.
Over the past few days, things had been relatively calm. There were more Lungmen Guard Department officers patrolling the streets so Shirou mostly just observed from high places.
After all, Yith had told him to take a short break for now. The Guard Department had taken over and they already had some intelligence.
Plus, he really did need some rest. So for the time being, Shirou was only keeping an eye out for suspicious individuals.
Although he had not spotted anything major, he had still stepped in several times to drive off groups of hooligans.
The slums were truly chaotic and this was Shirou's conclusion after observing them at night for over half a month.
He had also gained a new nickname there: the Red Devil of Lungmen.
It seemed to be inspired by the "Red Devil of the Ursus" and the name came from a small group of Ursus-infected individuals.
Shirou had once passed by and driven away some thugs who were harassing them.
He did not expect that to earn him such a title. Still, compared to something like "Muscle Lupo," "Red Devil" was not bad at all.
At least it rolled off the tongue.
For those Ursus infected, the "Red Devil" meant more of a protector of the infected. They had never seen him directly, only knowing that a red figure would appear to protect them.
Shirou himself had no particular opinion about it. After all, it was a hidden identity.
Once everything was over, he likely would not wear that coat anymore.
This identity had accumulated far too many strange rumors and nicknames, there were so many that Shirou could hear people discussing them as he walked down the street.
All those titles and whispers made his skin crawl.
People of Lungmen really were all thrill-seekers, were they not?