"Sorry… I got carried away."
Only after Swire and Hoshiguma tried to calm him down did Shirou's emotions settle slightly.
After all, Hoshiguma was right. Behind her, Chen was fiercely arguing with those higher-ups, to the point where she was practically about to start cursing in Lungmen slang.
"It is fine. I can understand how you feel. If I did not still need to stay on those people's good side afterward, I might have smashed something myself."
Swire could understand Shirou's anger extremely well.
Unfortunately, she could not simply act on impulse… at least not yet.
Those people's concerns were not entirely wrong either. The Lungmen Guard Department was already short on manpower, and such a massive city as Lungmen required them to maintain public order. Letting them run wild like last night had already been the greatest concession possible.
And besides… there was probably someone involved who knew internal information.
Too much of their mission data had been leaked this time.
If things had gone according to the original plan, and Chen, Hoshiguma, and Shirou had assaulted the place by themselves, those explosives definitely would have forced the three of them to take several days off.
Or rather, maybe only two people.
After watching the replay footage, Swire had clearly seen that the explosion happened almost immediately after Shirou rushed inside.
In other words, Shirou had practically taken the blast point-blank to the face, yet afterward he still looked completely fine.
His physical condition was already more ridiculous than even Hoshiguma's!
This time they had simply been lucky, but what about next time?
Would Shirou still be this lucky next time? Would they?
You had to remember that not long ago Shirou had also taken an Originium explosive head-on!
Being this lucky twice in a row was already a miracle!
And within the slums, the Guard Department had never been completely united.
Swire understood that very well, but that was exactly why she felt so frustrated.
This was also going to make it difficult to explain things to that pineapple rat…
"Argh! The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Later I am dragging Chen and Hoshiguma out drinking!"
"The kind where we drink until we are completely satisfied!"
"In every possible sense, Swire, you are the most dangerous one here."
Hearing Swire's resentment-filled complaints, along with the expression on her face and her position…
Shirou reasonably suspected that if she ever got the chance, Swire would absolutely act without hesitation.
That resentment had clearly built up for a very long time.
After all, the most he had thought about was using Broken Phantasm.
"I agree with that…"
As someone who often mediated these sorts of issues, Hoshiguma nodded in agreement.
"It sounds like everyone in the Guard Department has it rough too…"
Listening to the conversation between the three of them, Amiya's image of the Guard Department became far more vivid.
Originally, she had imagined them as simply a group of people protecting Lungmen's everyday safety. She had not expected them to have this sort of side as well.
It was rather interesting. It almost felt like being back at Rhodes Island.
"Hey, char siu cat ate your slacking off again? Hurry up and come help already!"
Just as Swire was about to continue speaking, Chen, who had finally finished her heated discussion with the higher-ups, noticed that Swire had slipped away to relax.
And Hoshiguma too!
Did those two really feel no guilt leaving her alone to work?
"Yes, yes, the halftime break is over? Time to begin the second half of the meeting?"
Looking around at the people remaining in the conference room which included the three of them, Shirou, and the Rhodes Island group , Swire understood that the second half of the meeting was about to begin.
If the first half of the meeting had merely been about informing the Guard Department leadership of the situation and organizing the information…
Then the second half would be the review session.
And naturally, the target of that review was… Rhodes Island.
A civilian organization had acted freely within Lungmen. Although they had acted out of goodwill, cooperated fully after being caught by Shirou, and had afterward been thoroughly scolded by Chen…
The formal procedures still had to be followed.
Even if they were now partners, the rules were still the rules.
Of course, Mister Shirou would not escape criticism either.
Was he not supposed to be brave?
Getting blown up by the trap earlier could be forgiven, since nobody had expected that.
But what exactly was with dragging every single person down from above when blocking the suspects later?
There had been safer methods available!
Well, apparently the other side had thrown smoke bombs first, and Shirou had only acted directly out of concern.
That black skintight outfit with the asymmetrical red sleeve already looked extremely unconventional, but its defensive capabilities were undeniably impressive.
What the three women were especially curious about, however, was why even the areas not covered by the clothing still seemed protected.
What kind of Originium Arts was that?
Unfortunately, nobody could figure out exactly how it worked, because even Shirou himself did not really understand it.
According to his own explanation, it was basically: "It just suddenly clicked with a bang," and even he did not understand the principles behind it.
It was practically on the same level as Sankta firearm instruction.
"Tsk tsk… Good thing we came. Otherwise we never would have known that when Shirou gets serious, he does not even care about himself anymore."
Once the second half of the meeting began, the people waiting outside were finally allowed to come in as well.
Penguin Logistics, led by Texas, sat directly behind Shirou. Every time Chen, Swire, Hoshiguma, or the Rhodes Island side pointed out Shirou's mistakes, they would stare at his back with disturbingly "kind" expressions.
Beside them, Exusiai even added extra comments to finish him off.
"..."
Experiencing what felt like a public execution, Shirou felt that his luck today was probably terrible.
It had to be because of that nightmare!
Starting the morning with such an awful dream, how could the day possibly turn out well!?
"Um… is Shirou always like this?"
After finishing what she needed to say, Amiya quietly moved closer to Penguin Logistics and asked.
This was Penguin Logistics after all! In Lungmen, their fame was practically on the same level as the Guard Department. At least, according to the intelligence Rhodes Island had gathered.
This was a logistics company with a one hundred percent mission completion rate!
Although the fate of employers whose jobs "failed" was admittedly rather suspicious.
Still, that did not stop Amiya from wanting to gather information from Penguin Logistics… ahem, from asking questions.
Even without using her abilities, Amiya could tell that Shirou felt extremely awkward right now.
After all, anyone would feel embarrassed being surrounded and scolded by a whole group of people.
…Though perhaps there were exceptions among certain kinds of individuals.
Amiya had met people before who showed absolutely no remorse, saying "I will not do it next time," while clearly planning to do exactly the same thing again later.
Seeing the three members of the Guard Department going all out in criticizing him made Amiya curious, so she decided to ask the Penguin Logistics squad Shirou belonged to.
After all, there were very few records about Shirou's past.
Based on the information Rhodes Island had gathered so far, all they knew was that Shirou belonged to Texas's Penguin Logistics team as their caretaker. Later, he founded the Fuyuki Store and took in infected people from the slums. He then came into contact with the Rhodes Island Lungmen branch after finding the lost Rosmontis.
Afterward, he seemed to have gotten involved in an incident targeting infected people in the slums, which later led to him establishing ties with the Guard Department and eventually becoming a newbie there.
Then came the recent attack incident involving Reunion Movement, the infected militant group. That was the event for which they possessed the most detailed information, mainly because everyone from Blacksteel Worldwide had been present at the scene.
The people from Blacksteel had all formed quite a favorable first impression of Shirou. They thought he would fit Rhodes Island very well.
If cooperation could be established, he would definitely make an excellent partner.
Combined with a tiny bit of her own personal interest, Amiya had become very diligent about collecting information related to Shirou.
"Hmm… we do not really know about that specifically, but a long time ago, Shirou apparently rushed into a burning building to save people? Thinking about it now, it seems like he has had this problem since very early on."
Faced with Amiya's question, Sora enthusiastically answered.
The fire incident had happened quite a long time ago. At the time, she only learned about it because she happened to return to the dormitory early and saw that the coat Shirou always wore had been badly damaged. Although she only learned the truth afterward, since Shirou had casually brushed it off at the time.
And judging from how carefully he stored away that coat afterward, it was clearly something precious to him.
Accidentally damaging a treasured coat while saving someone else…
Other people might see it as a trivial matter, but Sora did not think so.
After all, Shirou had knowingly rushed into a dangerous fire after hearing someone calling for help.
Risking his own safety to save others sounded like something a hero would do, but for the people who knew him personally, it mostly just made them worry.
That was how Penguin Logistics felt, and the Guard Department felt the same way.
For once, both sides shared exactly the same opinion.
"I see…"
Having obtained new information, Amiya nodded thoughtfully.
"Little rabbit, are you very curious about Shirou?"
Noticing how interested Amiya seemed in Shirou's affairs, Exusiai suddenly asked.
She had already noticed it earlier, Amiya seemed unusually concerned about Shirou.
Still, Exusiai had not thought too deeply about it.
After all, Amiya was still a child!
It was only natural for children to become curious about someone with cool abilities like Shirou's. In fact, Exusiai herself had initially been the same.
"Ah… yes. Everyone at the branch office speaks very highly of Shirou, and Shirou… reminds me a little of someone I knew before."
Caught off guard by Exusiai's sudden question, Amiya froze briefly before quickly answering.
As she spoke, her eyes drifted toward the back of her gloved right hand.
At the connection between the glove and her sleeve, faint traces of Originium crystals could be seen. Someone unfamiliar with the situation might assume she wore the gloves to conceal the crystals.
But that was not actually the case.
The gloves were meant to hide something else entirely, and she only wore them when going outside, since the red markings were rather conspicuous.
Besides, she did not want the thing on her right hand to get damaged, and the gloves offered a certain degree of protection.
"I see? Come here, come here. I have some really good stuff to share with you."
The moment Exusiai heard Amiya's answer, countless ideas flashed through her mind.
For example, telling Shirou about this and watching his reaction.
Or reporting it to Chen for her to handle.
Or…
Sharing the "excellent pictures" she had collected and recruiting Amiya into the Shirou fan club!
As long as you acknowledge the "Mama Emiya" theory, then you are one of us!
Welcome aboard, comrade!
"You better not corrupt children."
Beside her, Texas glanced at Exusiai's obviously suspicious expression and gave a warning.
That Feline girl next to her did not look easy to deal with. If they actually angered her…
All they could do was pray Exusiai survived.
"Hey, relax. When I do things, you can trust me. I am just letting the little rabbit admire the carefully curated Shirou gallery I put together!"
Faced with her partner's reminder, Exusiai gave a thumbs-up to show that everything was completely fine.
The photos she had were guaranteed to be perfectly wholesome!
There would absolutely be no negative influence on children!
"If Exusiai's actions are discovered by Shirou, we are probably going to be eating salty meat pies for the next few years."
Hearing Exusiai's words, Croissant truly could not hold back anymore.
All she could say was that thankfully it was not her both from the victim's perspective and the perpetrator's perspective.
If she were the victim, she would chase Exusiai across the entire street and smash her phone to pieces.
As for being the perpetrator…
She could already imagine Shirou's extremely "kind" smile and how merciless he would be.
Wait, there seemed to be photos of her in there too?
Maybe she should take this chance to eliminate the evidence directly?
After an intense internal struggle inside Croissant's mind, she ultimately chose to give up.
Destroying Exusiai's phone would be useless anyway, since the files were safely backed up elsewhere.
Meanwhile, under Exusiai's temptation, Amiya found herself exposed to a whole new worldview.
Aprons, cooking, Lupo ear accessories, napping, helping groom fur, Shirou seriously studying…
Shirou's life looked surprisingly colorful.
Looking through these ordinary daily moments left Amiya feeling somewhat envious, and even a little guilty.
Because this represented how peaceful Shirou's life currently was.
So should she really try to recruit him and persuade him to cooperate with Rhodes Island?
Would it not be better to simply let him continue living peacefully like this?
After all, Shirou was not even infected…
Although he did shelter infected children, that came purely from kindness.
Even though it might sound inappropriate to say so, if he became involved with Rhodes Island…
What awaited Shirou afterward might only be more malice directed toward infected people.
After all, Lungmen was already considered relatively friendly toward the infected.
Compared to places like Ursus, the difference in treatment toward the infected was practically heaven and earth.
If possible, Amiya hoped Shirou would never have to come in contact with those things…
For someone like Shirou, dealing with such things would definitely be painful.
"What is wrong?"
Noticing the change in Amiya's expression, Sora stepped forward with concern.
She was worried that there might have been something strange on Exusiai's phone that had frightened the girl.
After all, this was Exusiai they were talking about.
Nothing outrageous coming from her would be surprising.
"It is nothing. I just think Shirou seems to get along really well with everyone at Penguin Logistics!"
Quickly replacing the expression on her face with a smile, Amiya replied.
"Right? Shirou is really easy to get along with!"
Not noticing anything unusual about Amiya, Exusiai replied cheerfully.
None of the members of Penguin Logistics noticed Amiya's strange mood.
Only Doctor Kal'tsit, who had listened to the entire conversation from beginning to end, noticed it.
And she could more or less guess what Amiya was thinking at that moment.