Anyone with eyes could tell that Blaze was simply trying to tease him. Her expression was obviously fake, and she was not even acting very convincingly.
If Shirou really wanted to see her despair, all he had to do after returning to Rhodes Island was organize a list of the locations where she hid her alcohol and hand it to Kal'tsit.
As for how he knew?
Back then, Blaze and Rosmontis had practically dragged him all over Rhodes Island, including the places where Blaze secretly stashed her drinks.
Shirou felt absolutely no guilt about betraying her.
People should drink less alcohol anyway.
Especially Blaze, who was already under treatment and had restrictions placed on her drinking.
So he was not harming her.
He was helping her!
...All right, even Shirou himself thought that line of reasoning was somewhat cruel.
Still, he felt relieved that the events of the Holy Grail War he had experienced had not brought unnecessary troubles to the others.
Compared to the Holy Grail Wars he remembered, the ending of his own had been a bad end.
There was no need to dump the burdens of his past onto others and make everyone suffer alongside him.
He preferred that they treat the whole thing like a movie that was not particularly pleasant to watch.
Watch it, finish it, and move on.
After all, those events belonged to the past.
To the current Shirou, they were merely memories belonging to Emiya Shirou.
Compared to the past, what concerned him more was the present and the future.
From his recovered memories, he knew that he had arrived here together with the Holy Grail.
That meant Kal'tsit's concerns were very likely to become reality someday.
Putting aside whether any remnants of Angra Mainyu's corruption still remained, if someone with malicious intentions accidentally activated it...
Even Shirou would have no answer for that.
After all, magical energy and Originium interacted in strange and unpredictable ways.
He had done some research into the matter.
The Chixiao sword resting in his tent was proof enough.
But that was a problem for his future self.
Right now, the crisis facing Rhodes Island and Reunion had not yet passed.
The shadow of Ursus still loomed overhead.
And even without Ursus, there were still countless people in the camp who needed help.
Just as Shirou was thinking about these things, a powerful gust of wind swept through the area, causing one of the less stable tents nearby to collapse.
Everyone could clearly hear the screams of the people trapped inside.
"Uh...can you lend a hand?"
Looking at the fallen tent, Shirou glanced up at the sky.
Dark clouds were gathering overhead.
It was not a Catastrophe but just ordinary storm clouds.
Judging from Ursus's current weather, Shirou guessed that snow was coming.
It sounded far less dangerous than a Catastrophe.
However, for Reunion's poorly reinforced camp, the coming snowfall posed a threat no less severe.
They needed to strengthen the tents before the heavy snow arrived.
Otherwise, things would become troublesome.
"Sure. But afterward, when you have time, you are going to explain everything properly."
A tent had collapsed right in front of them, and people inside were crying out.
No normal person could simply ignore that.
Besides, they all belonged to the... friendly faction, more or less.
Setting Shirou and Rhodes Island aside, Penguin Logistics might spend their days street racing, fighting, and causing disturbances, but they still considered themselves good people.
At least, they did.
If the Lungmen Guard Department heard that, they would probably be covered in question marks.
Besides, they all needed some time to process what they had just witnessed.
Exusiai and Croissant both claimed that their heads felt itchy.
Their brains were protesting.
Thus, thanks to the conversation going off the rails and a collapsing tent caused by the strong winds, Shirou escaped his crisis.
By the time Amiya and the others arrived, what they saw was everyone cleaning up the collapsed tent and rebuilding it together.
Shirou's changed appearance left them thoroughly confused.
This was not science.
Nor was it Originium Arts.
"Oh, it is magecraft?"
"Then never mind."
"...Are you really all right?"
On the road back, Amiya looked at Shirou and asked again.
With the return of Talulah and the other two, Reunion's camp no longer felt lifeless.
Under their leadership, everyone had begun preparing for the incoming snowstorm.
Originally, Talulah had said she wanted to talk with Shirou, but only after finishing Reunion's affairs.
Meanwhile, Shirou and the others were returning to Rhodes Island's side under Amiya's guidance for another examination.
Even if they were fairly certain that nothing was wrong, it was safer to follow proper procedures.
Those were Amiya's exact words.
Besides, the people who were not members of Reunion stood out rather awkwardly in Reunion's camp.
"I am fine. You already checked me earlier, did you not?"
Walking in front, Shirou had lost count of how many times he had answered that question.
Still, there was no trace of impatience in his voice.
At the same time, he reached up and gently adjusted Rosmontis's hand, which was covering his eyes while she sat on his shoulders.
According to Rosmontis herself, resting her hands over his eyes felt rather comfortable.
For Shirou, the person involved, it was somewhat less pleasant.
Still, she was not applying much force.
Aside from obstructing his vision slightly, it was not really a problem.
So he simply let her continue.
It was kind of amusing, was it not?
If it had been Exusiai or Croissant doing the same thing, Shirou would probably have greeted them with a German suplex on the spot.
Those two were far too troublesome. He simply could not deal with them.
"That is not what I meant..."
Compared to his physical condition, Amiya was far more worried about Shirou's mental state.
Those scenes had been extremely shocking even for her.
For Shirou, the person who had actually lived through them, it had to be much more painful.
They could very well become shadows that haunted him for the rest of his life.
Perhaps because she had gone so long without using her Originium Arts in such a way, Amiya felt that Shirou's heart was not nearly as calm as he appeared on the surface.
It was as though something heavy was pressing down upon him.
Yet he avoided talking about it...
No, perhaps Shirou himself had not even realized it.
At the very least, Amiya did not sense any intention on his part to hide something.
Mental problems were much harder to detect than physical ones.
The latter could be diagnosed through physical examinations and sophisticated instruments.
The former could only be discovered by the person themselves.
Or, after they had become severe enough, by the people around them.
And that was assuming the symptoms were obvious.
People like Shirou, who showed absolutely nothing on the surface, were the most worrying of all.
If not for her Originium Arts...
"Shirou is in your care, little rabbit."
Those were the words Illya had spoken to her before she left that dark world.
Those words had been meant for her alone.
Perhaps it was because her Originium Arts were special.
It felt like quite a heavy responsibility.
But compared to everything Nameless and Shirou had done for Rhodes Island, such a burden was nothing.
Since she had promised Illya, she would honor that promise.
"Hm? Amiya, did you say something?"
Busy dealing with Rosmontis's restless little hands, Shirou had not heard her.
She had spoken too softly.
Besides, the members of Penguin Logistics and Blaze were already chatting noisily beside them, completely drowning out her voice.
"Nothing."
Amiya glanced at Shirou, then at Rosmontis sitting on his shoulders.
Suddenly, she accelerated and dashed forward.
Shirou and Rosmontis tilted their heads simultaneously.
"Hm?"
"...What is with Amiya?"
Shirou asked Rosmontis.
"I do not know. But she looks a little angry."
Rosmontis answered.
"...Anyway, let's catch up."
After a brief silence, Shirou spoke.
Then he tilted his head in confusion to the opposite side.
Rosmontis, perched on his shoulders, imitated him and tilted her own head the same way.
Shirou bounced lightly in place to make sure she had a secure grip and would not fall if he sped up.
Satisfied, he increased his pace and chased after Amiya.
As a result, when Penguin Logistics and Blaze finally noticed, all they could see were the backs of three figures in the distance.
The five of them stared blankly.
"?"
Wait.
Where did they go?
They had been right here a second ago.
How had the three of them gotten so far away just because they turned around to listen to one of Croissant's terrible jokes?
Realizing something was wrong, the five immediately stopped chatting and broke into a run.
They were already inside Rhodes Island's camp, and with Amiya, Blaze, and Rosmontis present, their sprinting attracted plenty of attention.
Most people simply assumed there was some emergency and thought nothing more of it.
What should have been several minutes of walking took less than half the time thanks to Amiya's pace.
Soon, everyone arrived at Doctor's tent.
Pushing open the entrance, they found the thoroughly burnt-out Doctor lying peacefully in a chair.
The instant Doctor saw Amiya, they sprang to their feet with startling enthusiasm.
"Amiya! You are finally awake! I cannot handle these things! They are all yours!"
With great excitement, Doctor shoved a small stack of paperwork toward her.
"Huh? Let me see..."
Amiya, who had still been sulking moments ago, stared blankly at the documents.
Who am I?
Where am I?
Where did all these files come from?
After a brief moment of confusion, Amiya quickly entered work mode and began skimming through the papers.
Meanwhile, Shirou stood behind her, using his superhuman eyesight to scan the contents.
Ordinarily, he would not have bothered.
However, during that quick glance, something caught his attention.
For example, the current state of Chernobog.
And what the infected rioters remaining there were doing at this very moment.
"The situation is somewhat worse than we expected... How many operators capable of combat does Rhodes Island still have right now?"
After reading through the documents, Amiya immediately understood why Doctor had handed everything over to her.
Doctor had only recently awakened, and most of their authority had yet to be restored. Even if Doctor wanted to, it would be difficult to properly mobilize Rhodes Island's operators.
Still, with Ace and Scout around, Amiya was more inclined to believe that it was not a matter of lacking authority, but rather lacking the energy to make use of it.
After all, Doctor had only emerged from the Sarcophagus two days ago. The fact that they had managed to keep Rhodes Island's camp functioning with everyone else's assistance was already impressive.
It was time for Doctor to get some proper rest.
Even without using her Originium Arts, Amiya could feel the exhaustion radiating from behind Doctor's mask.
After a brief handover of responsibilities, Doctor immediately laid down on the nearby bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
"Is it really that bad?"
After tucking Doctor in and leaving Rosmontis to watch over them, Shirou walked over and stood before Amiya.
The only reason he had not left was because Rosmontis had stubbornly held onto him.
As for Blaze, Ace and Scout had already assigned work to her because of her status as an Elite Operator.
Seeing this, the members of Penguin Logistics volunteered to accompany her, they hated sitting around doing nothing, and because Shirou was probably about to undergo another physical examination, following him around would not really be appropriate.
Normally, they would definitely have tagged along.
But manpower was desperately needed right now.
There was no room for selfishness.
They understood which matters took priority.
"It is worse than we anticipated. According to some witnesses, Chernobog's current situation is quite dangerous... That is also what Miss Talulah has been worrying about."
The expression on Amiya's face was unusually serious.
It was not the kind of expression someone her age should have had.
"Is it the Ursus military?"
Watching Amiya sink into thought, Shirou moistened his dry lips and spoke.
He knew how difficult things were for her.
Becoming the leader of Rhodes Island at such a young age meant that the pressure upon her would only continue to increase.
And the people she could rely on were limited to Doctor Kal'tsit, Doctor currently sleeping nearby, and a handful of dependable Elite Operators.
But this topic was not something suitable to discuss with everyone.
At least, not right now.
It would only burden them with unnecessary worries.
Shirou understood very well that the reason Rhodes Island had remained safe here was because they had come under the banner of providing disaster relief to the victims of Chernobog.
The moment they came into conflict with the Ursus military, everything would change.
There was a very real possibility that the operators stationed here would be forced into direct hostilities with Ursus.
"Ah... yes. That is right."
Amiya was initially surprised by Shirou's words.
But when she met his gaze, she seemed to realize that he had probably glimpsed part of the documents earlier.
When she had accepted the files, she had not thought much about it.
Still, since it was Shirou, it did not really matter.
He was bound to learn the truth sooner or later.
After all, Shirou was currently Rhodes Island's strongest combat asset.
Whether they needed to fight the Ursus military or safely evacuate everyone from the area, there was no avoiding his involvement.
But she had only just promised Illya that she would take good care of him.
And now, not long afterward, she might have to ask him to throw himself into yet another difficult battle...