For Shirou this whole incident was nothing more than a small accidental slice of daily life, the only real trouble was that every few days Texas would use her tail to bother him.
Exusiai still fearlessly teased Texas every single time, only to get countered right back. It was just like how she would always jump out to provoke Shirou despite being threatened with salty meat pies every time.
That said, the new "weapon" green apple pie was still effective. At the very least, Exusiai was wary of it. She had once considered that a sweet-and-sour flavor might be acceptable, but after Shirou mentioned he would use especially sour green apples, she gave up entirely.
Other than that, nothing in Shirou's daily life had really changed.
However, today Shirou seemed unusually busy.
He carried over a stack of documents along with coffee and set them down on the table. At that moment, he felt like he had returned to his days working at the Lungmen Guard Department.
…Wait, he was currently working for them. Never mind then.
"Sorry to trouble you two with this."
Chen took a sip of coffee while looking at the documents, then spoke to Shirou and Hoshiguma beside him, rubbing her slightly aching head.
She had been busy all day. Even after finally getting off work, she was still working. Even for her, that was exhausting.
But it could not be helped. Within the Guard Department, hardly anyone wanted to touch matters related to the slums.
Without proper justification or authorization from above, Chen could only investigate slum affairs by working overtime herself.
Just like last time.
However, bringing in outside help was still an option. After weighing things, Chen called in Hoshiguma, who was familiar with gang structures, and Shirou, who had prior cooperation experience.
As for Swire that "char siu cat"?
Well… she would say they were not close.
But in reality, it was because Swire's abilities would not be of much help in this situation. It was better to let her rest properly so she could handle more work tomorrow and ease the burden on Chen and Hoshiguma.
The reason both Hoshiguma and Shirou were brought in this time was that the target was much clearer. Unlike last time, where they only knew that a serious incident had occurred, they now had confirmed information about the perpetrators' activities.
With that, there was no need to spend large amounts of time on investigation. They only needed to determine the time and place and then plan an ambush.
After all, arrests required evidence. Ideally, they could use this ambush to capture everyone in one go.
The real issue was manpower. Without having enough people everything from planning to execution had to be done personally.
Fortunately, Hoshiguma and Shirou had been roped in to help. Otherwise, Chen would have been even more overwhelmed.
And besides, if she were working alone, who would bring handmade snacks and freshly brewed coffee?
"No problem. We already agreed on this beforehand."
Shirou gave a wry smile as he handed a cup of coffee to Hoshiguma.
It was not that he disliked being dragged in as extra labor. It was just that the reason he ended up here was…
"As expected, Chief Wei Yenwu is impressive, calculating everything from the smallest details."
Hoshiguma recalled what happened that morning as she accepted the coffee.
In simple terms…
A certain penguin had once again realized he had been tricked by a certain old dragon, and so a certain red-haired "gentleman" had been forced to go out and work.
"I would rather he just said things plainly. I am worried the boss might actually get mad enough to die one day."
Shirou sighed as he sat down, organizing the documents he needed to review.
"Hah, your boss almost swallowed the contract he signed last time in anger but that was just a copy Chief Wei made."
Hoshiguma added more details, triggering everyone's memory of the scene.
"The fact that the Penguin Logistics boss did not challenge Chief Wei to a one-on-one fight is already surprising."
Chen continued reviewing documents as she chatted.
Normally, she would have stopped such off-topic talk immediately. But right now, without some conversation, she felt like she might fall asleep.
"Please, stop… By the way, I do not recognize these gang names. Are they newly formed?"
As one of the victims caught between "that penguin" and "that dragon," Shirou quickly tried to change the subject, pointing at unfamiliar gang names in the files.
"Hmm… probably. The well-known ones are only those few."
Hoshiguma glanced at the names and shook her head.
Gangs came and went quickly and some were formed and wiped out within days.
Rather than remembering gang names, it was easier to remember the people themselves.
"I see. So what we know now is that these groups are secretly selling unregulated inhibitors, right? The kind that actually worsens the condition after infected people use them."
Shirou summarized the situation while looking at the documents.
Shirou's question was really just meant to change the subject. The names of the gangs themselves did not matter much to him.
In fact, he barely recognized any of them at all.
After all, he had no dealings with gangs in his daily life.
The reason he was here now was mainly because of Chen's request and because he simply could not ignore what was happening.
He already knew that there were low-quality inhibitors circulating in the slums. But those were usually just diluted and while their effectiveness was reduced they still worked to some extent, and they were sold at a much lower price.
This time, however, things were different.
These were being sold under the name of treating Oripathy.
Preliminary judgment suggested that the culprits were people who harbored hatred toward the infected.
Such things were not uncommon. Most people would simply express their disgust openly. Those who went so far as to tamper with life-saving inhibitors did exist, but they were relatively rare.
After all, openly disliking the infected was not illegal.
Tampering with inhibitors was.
Shirou found it hard to accept those sabotaging something meant to save lives.
They were complete strangers, yet simply because someone was infected, they were treated as targets to be eliminated.
Looking at the files which were filled with objective analysis and deductions compiled by Chen and Hoshiguma Shirou fell into thought.
He recalled the "spring theory" Chen had mentioned before.
If a spring was pressed down to its limit, it would either lose elasticity completely… slowly return to its original shape… or suddenly snap back violently.
"Are they doing this because of that infected riot some time ago?"
Given the timing, Shirou could only think that the recent actions of those calling themselves Reunion Movement had hurt these people, pushing them toward retaliation.
"You could say that," Hoshiguma replied after some thought, "but the inhibitor problem in the slums has existed for a long time. It has just become more serious recently."
These issues had always been there, these were hidden dangers lurking beneath the surface but they were simply too concealed for anyone to invest the effort into investigating.
But as certain events unfolded, those hidden dangers grew larger and finally came into the open.
They were not enough to draw full attention from Lungmen or the Guard Department but they were enough for Chen to begin dealing with it.
As far as Hoshiguma knew, Chen had quite a few informants planted in the slums.
Sometimes, she even received information faster than Hoshiguma herself, despite Hoshiguma's past as part of that very underworld.
"I see… I understand."
After hearing that, Shirou placed the documents flat on the table.
He had always known about the conflict between ordinary people and the infected.
But reality was far more brutal than any description.
According to the files in his hands, dozens of infected had already died due to these faulty inhibitors.
The youngest victim was only in their early teens.
"Do not think too much about it, catching these criminals is what matters. Do not let your emotions affect you."
Noticing Shirou's state, Hoshiguma offered some guidance.
She was used to this.
Chen had been the same before where she would suddenly start radiating a heavy, oppressive mood.
Actually, Chen still had moments like that. The last time Shirou got blown up, Chen's pressure had been so intense that even Missy had been affected.
It was anger at others' actions, or guilt over not doing enough.
Those feelings were not wrong.
But letting them spiral during work was dangerous.
Especially for someone like Chen, who wielded the blade Chixiao and could level an entire underground parking lot.
And Shirou… was essentially a walking tactical weapon.
If he lost control in anger, the consequences would be far worse.
Chen might destroy a basement.
Shirou could endanger everything within kilometers of radius.
Thinking about that, Hoshiguma felt a headache coming on.
It was bad enough managing Chen, Missy and now she had to keep an eye on Shirou too.
"Hoshiguma is right," Chen added. "Do not dwell on it, we should catch them first to prevent any more victims. Personal emotions should come last."
"…I am fine. Do not worry."
Hearing their words, Shirou realized his expression must have concerned them.
He did feel a bit of guilt.
He had heard from Lappland about issues with inhibitors before but later he learned that such things were "normal" in the slums. Since they only reduced effectiveness and were cheaper so he had not paid much attention.
Just now, he was thinking…
If he had continued investigating back then, would these people still be alive?
But there was no "what if."
He had to accept reality.
The only thing he could do now was help Chen and Hoshiguma capture those responsible and hand them over to the Guard Department so they could face the punishment they deserved.
"…Good. As long as you are fine."
Hoshiguma glanced at her old partner.
"…"
Chen met her gaze.
In that brief moment, without exchanging a single word, the two reached the same understanding.
They needed to keep an eye on Shirou and make sure he did not end up turning Lungmen upside down… or blowing it up.
Unlike Hoshiguma, Chen knew very well that Shirou had a far more ruthless side.
And for the foreseeable future, Lungmen really did not want to witness another "grand fireworks display."
"…Mm."
In contrast to the two who were quietly worried, Shirou simply took a sip of hot tea and continued reading through the documents.
They were not particularly complicated. Compared to the materials he had handled during his newbie work, these were much easier to go through.
At least there were not nearly as many technical terms and most of the pages were filled with annotations personally added by Chen and Hoshiguma to make things easier for him to follow.
Since this was a small-team operation, Shirou could not just follow orders like before. He needed to understand the information himself so he could make decisions if something unexpected happened.
He first focused on the individuals currently identified as the masterminds.
There was no confirmation yet whether there were more people behind them, but for now, these were the ones giving orders.
Including those assisting from the sidelines, their races ranged from Feline to Perro to Lupo. common races found throughout Lungmen.
Different races… yet united on the same side when it came to opposing the infected.
Although similar thoughts kept surfacing in his mind, Shirou remained outwardly calm.
The concerns Chen and Hoshiguma had… were things he would never allow himself to do.
Losing control out of anger?
That would never happen and he would not allow such a mistake.
Every time he acted, he made sure to minimize collateral impact as much as possible.
For example, he had refrained from using a large-scale blast Broken Phatasm detonation in the snowfields, fearing the shockwave might trigger an avalanche and cause a far greater disaster.
Or how, unless absolutely necessary, he avoided using anything other than arrows as projectiles.
All of these choices were deliberate.
Yes, the more factors he considered, the more restricted his actions became.
But he would not change that principle.
Of course, if a situation truly left him no choice, he would abandon it.
After all, sticking rigidly to principles at the cost of something greater would be a mistake.
These tactical guidelines were something Shirou had developed by combining his own memories and experience, along with advice and insights from others forming what he considered the most suitable combat approach for himself at present.
There were simply too many things on Terra that he had never encountered before.
Being cautious was the safest approach.
His advantage lay in his ability to deploy a wide variety of Noble Phantasms, shifting the pace and style of combat at will.
However, considering how quickly information spread in this world, Yith and others had advised him to keep most of his abilities hidden whenever possible.
Only when absolutely necessary would he reveal them as a trump card and deliver a decisive, fatal blow.