After a few days of observation, Shirou realized that within the entire Guard Department, the squad led by Chen was probably the most well-rounded.
Hoshiguma for the most part also followed Chen's command and arrangements, of course only during missions.
When there was no mission, the relationship between Hoshiguma and Chen felt more like… Exusiai and Texas.
Like partners they would tease each other, complain, and even show different sides of themselves.
Shirou thought that kind of dynamic was quite nice.
Letting his mind wander like that, he reflected on the past few days. It was only when the Guard Department member who had gone to adjust the air conditioning returned that Shirou resumed pointing out issues in the man's shooting.
He had originally thought things would continue until lunchtime, but before the lunch bell rang, the communicator at his waist rang first.
Pointing to the communicator on his chest, Shirou paused his instruction.
Everyone here was from the Guard Department, so this kind of situation was common. The other person nodded in understanding.
Walking outside past the glass window, where the constant sounds of target practice could no longer be heard Shirou answered the call.
"This is Shirou. How can I help?"
Only a few people could contact him through this communicator during his newbie work namely Chen and Hoshiguma.
Swire had also wanted access, but Chen had rejected her.
And Chen's reason was simply that she was too annoying.
"This is Chen. Are you free right now?"
Chen's voice came through the communicator. Shirou felt that her tone… was not very friendly.
She had seemed perfectly normal just before he came down. Did something happen?
Did Swire go argue with Chen again?
Truly a case of "dragons and tigers clashing, ghosts fleeing in fear."
"I am free. What is it?"
Glancing back at the sniper team still practicing, Shirou replied.
It was not that he was trying to avoid teaching them.
Rather, teaching only came after other duties. If Chen had work for him, that naturally took priority.
This had already been agreed upon between Chen and the sniper team members who "borrowed" him.
"The Chief wants to talk to you."
Hearing that, Shirou immediately understood why Chen sounded so unfriendly.
He had vaguely heard from Hoshiguma that the relationship between the two was not great.
But Wei Yenwu wanting to talk to him…
Was it still possible to say he was busy?
Shirou really did not want to "have a talk" with someone like Wei Yenwu.
Calling it a conversation would be generous, to him it was more like a verbal battle. One misstep, and he might get dragged even deeper into something troublesome.
Was that not exactly what had happened to his boss? Ended up getting maneuvered into sending him to work at the Guard Department.
"Understood. I will wrap things up here and head over."
At this point, there was no avoiding it. If someone that high up wanted to see him, even if he were on break, he had to go.
After briefly handing things over, Shirou left the shooting range.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but when he said he was leaving, it seemed like most of the people inside put down their crossbows?
For a moment, Shirou felt like a teacher and these people were students who immediately relaxed the moment the teacher left.
Shaking his head to clear away the strange thought, he took the elevator back to the office.
"Here."
Inside the office, Hoshiguma waved at him.
"Yeah. Do you know what Chief Wei wants with me?"
After greeting her, Shirou turned to Chen.
"No idea. He suddenly called just now and said he wanted to see you. Judging from his tone, it is probably not anything good."
Chen rubbed her temples lightly as she spoke.
The situation was not looking great. Wei Yenwu's tone earlier had definitely not been pleasant.
"…I have not done anything recently, right?"
Hearing that, Shirou felt a bad premonition. Since coming to the Guard Department, he had not caused any trouble, had he?
"Do not overthink it. His temper has never been good."
Chen slapped the table lightly and stood up.
"Although it is a bit rude to say, Chen is absolutely right."
Hoshiguma chimed in.
She could not directly criticize her superior, but agreeing was still fine.
"…Is it really okay to speak badly about him like that?"
Seeing the two of them like this, Shirou felt his earlier tension ease considerably.
What replaced it was a deep sense of helplessness.
Lungmen people…
Well, forget it. Compared to a lifeless, oppressive atmosphere, he actually felt more accustomed to this kind of environment now.
Thanks to everyone at Penguin Logistics for that.
"There is nothing wrong with it. He cannot hear us anyway. I complain about him all the time in private."
As she spoke, Chen began tidying her things. Although Wei Yenwu had not called for her, she planned to go take a look.
After all, Shirou was now under her command. If Wei Yenwu intended to make things difficult for him, she would have to step in.
"…Alright."
Seeing how natural she sounded, Shirou did not say much more.
His gaze briefly shifted upward. If he remembered correctly, the person up there had only appeared after his last meeting with Wei Yenwu.
He had noticed something unusual long ago. In the end, after analyzing the building he was in, he discovered that someone was hiding above.
They were well concealed, but they could not escape the feedback from his magecraft. Shirou had simply greeted them once, then became more mindful of his daily behavior.
He had no interest in being watched by someone whose identity…male or female, he did not even know.
Fortunately, that person did not follow him into the dorms, so at least that remained his last private sanctuary.
Although… it was a rather noisy sanctuary.
After that, every day at breakfast and lunch, Shirou would prepare extra rice balls, bento, and tea, leaving them in less frequented corners.
Then, after some time, the cleaned utensils would quietly reappear on his desk.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but Shirou felt like… he had been cooking even more ever since joining the Guard Department?
It had to be his imagination, right?
Looking at the enlarged, multi-layered stack of bento boxes beside his desk, Shirou tried to convince himself.
It definitely was not because he had been stress-cooking and ended up making too much.
Also, he felt like everyone at Penguin Logistics had become a bit more… polished.
"Stop chatting. If we take too long, Wei Yenwu might use it against us."
Seeing the two still casually talking, Hoshiguma reminded them.
Unlike Chen, she had not finished all her work, but she still had to go along this time.
Handling Chen and Swire's constant arguments was already troublesome enough and now she also had to worry about whether Chen might actually lash out at Wei Yenwu.
For Chen's sake, she was really putting in a lot of effort.
No, now she had to include Shirou as well. This guy had absolutely no sense of management, he just handed everything off to Phal and the others.
If she did not drop by after work to check on things, those kids might end up picking up the wrong habits.
After all, being guided by a former street thug, a former pickpocket, and the famous underground "boss" of underworld made it easy for children to be influenced.
Still, since Shirou had contacted that "island" organization's office and arranged for doctors and staff to come take care of things, she chose not to say much.
As for that organization secretly practicing medicine, Hoshiguma turned a blind eye.
After all, it was the slums. As long as nothing major happened, the Guard Department would not intervene.
There were far worse illegal medical practices out there anyway.
"I should change my jacket."
Hearing Hoshiguma, Shirou realized he ought to change clothes.
He was currently wearing a tactical jacket which was thicker and heavier. The sniper team wore it during missions, and somehow he had been made to wear it as well.
Apparently, one was not allowed into the shooting range without wearing it.
After quickly wrapping up their remaining tasks and changing clothes, the three left the Guard Department.
Hoshiguma drove, Chen sat in the passenger seat, and her two swords rested in the back seat beside Shirou.
This was the first time Shirou had seen Chen's two swords up close.
Normally, she wore them at her waist. No matter how curious he was, Shirou would never stare directly at someone's waist just to look at their weapons.
If he did, Chen would definitely "deal with" him.
Not physically but through work.
For example, assigning him piles of paperwork or making him organize stacks of documents.
All of this came from little bits of gossip he had heard from others.
"Are you curious about Chen's swords?"
Through the rearview mirror, Hoshiguma noticed Shirou's gaze lingering on the two swords beside him.
"A little bit."
Caught in the act, Shirou answered awkwardly.
It was not a big deal, but being noticed still felt embarrassing.
At a glance, he could already tell that one of the swords was just a standard Guard Department-issued blade, slightly customized for Chen's personal use.
What he was curious about was the other one, the red sword.
According to some unofficial gossip, although Chen always carried two swords, she usually only used one.
Now that he finally had a close look, the thought came back to him.
"There is nothing that interesting about them. Compared to my swords, I would rather ask about your weapons."
Chen did not think there was anything about her dual swords worth being curious about. After all, one was a standard-issue blade, and although the other, Chixiao, was somewhat special, compared to Shirou's weapons it was nothing remarkable.
Now that there were only the three of them in the car, Chen relaxed a little and finally asked the question she had always been curious about.
She would not dare ask this outside. Having such a weakness exposed would not be good for either herself or Shirou.
Unless Shirou showed hostility toward Lungmen, Chen still maintained a friendly attitude toward him.
"Hm? My weapons?"
Shirou had originally thought they already knew, since they could obtain information about his abilities from Yith.
But now it seemed that they did not know about his weapons?
"Do not mind it, do not mind it, Chen is just a bit tired and is talking nonsense!"
From the front seat, Hoshiguma elbowed Chen in the arm. This overly straightforward woman, was that kind of question something you could just ask directly?
At the very least, you should get him drunk and ask when he is not fully conscious.
"Cough… I zoned out a little just now. Do not mind it."
After being nudged by Hoshiguma, Chen realized that her question had been somewhat impolite.
Asking about someone else's Originium Arts was considered rude, that was common knowledge. Even Chen only roughly knew what types of Originium Arts her subordinates could use.
"It is not really a problem. You can just think of it as me taking weapons out from somewhere else."
Although it was not something that needed to be hidden, Shirou remembered Yith's advice and slightly rephrased his Projection Magecraft in another way.
What he said was not wrong either. The projection process was essentially taking weapons out from Unlimited Blade Works.
To prove his point, Shirou projected a small dagger into his hand, gave it a slight wave, and then immediately withdrew the magical energy, causing the dagger to disperse into mana.
"That is more or less the same as what you said last time."
Having heard his explanation once before, Hoshiguma compared the two statements and found them consistent.
She felt a bit envious of this ability. After all, her shield, Hannya, was both large and heavy, making it inconvenient to carry.
In fact, it was not just her. Anyone who did not fight barehanded would find such an Originium Art extremely convenient.
"The origins of your weapons are probably not simple either, right?"
Chen recalled some of the weapons she had seen Shirou use.
A sword, dual blades, a longbow, arrows, and a rather peculiar arrow.
If she had to pick the most impressive one, it would definitely be that arrow that destroyed a large number of drones in one go.
Next would be the longbow, the sword, and the dual blades.
Especially the sword and the dual blades. Having come into close contact with them, she could clearly sense that those three weapons were anything but ordinary.
How should she put it… perhaps a swordsman's intuition?
"…No, they are just ordinary weapons. Very ordinary swords and blades."
Hearing Chen's words, Shirou paused for a moment, inwardly remarking on how sharp her perception was.
However, explaining the concept of Noble Phantasms would be complicated, so he simply glossed over it.
He even emphasized it twice.
"They are quite ordinary, indeed."
From the passenger seat, Chen clearly did not believe his claim.
What kind of ordinary weapon could set off fireworks?
What kind of ordinary weapon came with special effects?
"Then… does that mean your combat style mainly revolves around the bow?"
Unlike Chen's skepticism, Hoshiguma was thinking further ahead, considering the tactical value of Shirou's ability.
"I would not say it revolves around the bow… if I had to say, I am probably more inclined toward swordsmanship."
After thinking for a moment, Shirou answered honestly.
To be honest, after spending the past few days constantly at the shooting range, he had grown somewhat irritated.
It was not that the people in the sniper team were unpleasant, but focusing on the same thing all day long was simply… frustrating.
Because of that, he had been spending more time in the kitchen after work.
However, for the members of Penguin Logistics, these days were probably the happiest of their lives.
Being stuffed full by Shirou's cooking every single day… that was simply amazing.
Exusiai even said that it would be even better if Shirou could make apple pie.