"Do not worry so much. My condition is fine. I could even project Noble Phantasms and blast away a Catastrophe if I had to."
Seeing how conflicted Amiya seemed, Shirou mistakenly assumed that she was worried he would be unable to participate in battle.
He understood the current situation well.
If Rhodes Island relied solely on its own strength, the price they would have to pay would be enormous.
Ursus and Rhodes Island were simply not on the same level.
One was a legendary war machine with a fearsome reputation across Terra.
The other was, fundamentally, a pharmaceutical company with a bit of military capability.
There was no reason for Shirou to help Amiya and the people of Rhodes Island.
His thinking was simple.
Help those he knew.
Help people who shared the same goals.
"That is not what I am worried about. But I appreciate your feelings, Shirou... If we need help, I will ask Penguin Logistics for assistance."
Amiya let out a helpless sigh.
Notably, she emphasized that she would seek help from Penguin Logistics, not from Shirou alone.
It was her way of reminding him to pay more attention to the people around him.
The emotions they had shown while inside his memories had all been genuine.
Compared with herself, Shirou was simply too lonely.
If things continued like this, he would gradually sink into isolation.
He had become so accustomed to Penguin Logistics that he mostly treated them as people under his care.
Only when they got upset would he truly face them as equals.
That sort of relationship was unhealthy.
Shirou needed to realize that he was not alone.
Humans were social creatures.
For someone like Shirou, who had crossed over from another world, having people who acknowledged his existence was necessary.
Among everyone, the four members of Penguin Logistics had spent the longest time with him.
After them came the people of Lungmen.
Only after that came the others of Rhodes Island.
So using Penguin Logistics as the starting point was the best approach.
"Yeah. We will definitely help."
Unfortunately, Shirou had not thought nearly that far ahead.
Seeing that Amiya did not reject the idea, he nodded in relief.
He was capable of reading expressions and moods.
But it was not something he excelled at.
And if he was not good at something, there was no need to force himself.
Amiya: "..."
Well, at least when he said "we," he included Penguin Logistics.
That counted as progress.
At the very least, on a subconscious level, he considered himself one of them.
"I will go get some food. You have not eaten since waking up, right?"
After getting a rough understanding of the problems facing Amiya and determining that there was nothing he could help with at the moment, Shirou decided to find something to eat.
Since waking up, he had consumed nothing except water.
For him, going without food for a day was not a serious issue.
The reason he had asked Amiya was because he had just heard a faint growling sound.
He knew that sound well.
Exusiai and Croissant made similar noises when they got hungry.
Though those two had long reached the level where their stomachs rumbled like thunder.
Compared to that, the sound he had just heard was incredibly quiet.
So quiet that he had nearly missed it.
Had he not suddenly remembered that Amiya and the others had only just awakened, he would never have connected the dots.
If Amiya had not eaten yet, then Rosmontis had not either.
And letting children go hungry was unacceptable.
That was one thing Shirou could not tolerate.
"Then I will trouble you. If possible, could you also bring back some hot water?"
Still unaware that her stomach had betrayed her, Amiya nodded and requested some hot water as well.
In weather like this, having a kettle of hot water made everything more comfortable.
Even if there was nothing to brew, simply drinking warm water helped warm the body.
"No problem. Rosmontis, stay here with Amiya and Doctor. I will be back soon."
Shirou answered and gently pushed Rosmontis back into her chair with his right hand when she immediately tried to stand and follow him.
It was not that he did not want to bring her.
Snow had already begun to fall outside.
He could project a coat for her if necessary, but avoiding the cold wind altogether was better.
Under Amiya's helpless smile and Rosmontis's slightly resentful gaze, Shirou left the tent alone, carrying the large kettle that had already been inside.
"Hm... So it is snowing after all."
The moment he stepped outside, a cold wind greeted him.
The temperature had clearly dropped since earlier.
Tiny snowflakes drifted lazily through the sky.
Walking through the snow, Shirou tightened the Rhodes Island coat around himself.
The weather itself meant little to him.
But if snow slipped inside and soaked his clothes, it would still be unpleasant.
By now, however, he had already removed the cap and mask.
Within Rhodes Island, he no longer felt those strange looks.
Perhaps it was because Nameless rarely appeared before ordinary operators.
Or perhaps for some other reason.
Since it was not mealtime, there was no hot food available.
He only received some emergency rations.
Still, in the current circumstances, even those dry provisions were valuable food.
Before support from Rhodes Island arrived, food on their side was an extremely scarce resource.
After all, there were countless refugees who needed food as well. Fortunately, some of the people still inside Chernobog were willing to provide supplies, preventing the shortage from becoming severe enough to require strict rationing.
While it had not reached the point of rationing, basic control over distribution was still necessary. Under normal circumstances, the current food supply could sustain everyone in the camp for at least another three days.
Of course, that was assuming normal consumption. If they tightened their belts, it could probably last a few more days.
If the Ursus forces really decided to attack, however, these supplies would become dangerously insufficient.
The amount of food needed merely to maintain bodily functions and the amount required to support intensive combat were worlds apart...
"No, wait. Why am I even thinking about this?"
The sound of children playing in the snow nearby finally pulled Shirou out of his tangled thoughts.
Sometimes, knowing too much was not necessarily a good thing. It only made him worry about matters that he should not be worrying about.
These issues were not completely unrelated to him, but neither were they his responsibility. They were things Doctor and Amiya should be concerned about.
As for him...
He only needed to do his part when he was needed.
Picking up his pace, Shirou carried a bag of rations and a bucket of water back to the tent. He distributed the food to the two girls and set aside a portion for Doctor as well.
Even if Doctor did not currently need it, preparations still had to be made.
"As expected, it is rations..."
Looking at the ration pack in front of her, Amiya revealed an expression fitting for a child her age.
The expression of a picky eater.
"Just fill your stomach for now. There should be hot soup later. Endure it for a couple of days."
There was not much Shirou could do about it. Even if he wanted to cook, he needed ingredients.
It was not as if he could use Projection for that.
"That is not what I meant. Can I trade with yours? This one is a bit saltier, and I cannot really handle it."
Amiya was not being picky about rations themselves. She simply did not like the flavor of the one she had received.
She understood very well that conditions were difficult right now. It was not as if she had never eaten rations during operations before. Still, when circumstances allowed, she preferred eating flavors she actually liked.
"I see. That is fine with me."
Shirou did not particularly care. To him, all the ration packs looked more or less the same.
Their packaging was practically identical, after all.
Though they looked alike on the outside, their contents varied slightly.
These rations were also somewhat different from what Shirou was familiar with. They included a main dish, dessert, and a drink. There were even loose candies and chocolate energy bars that could be used to replenish energy between meals.
Overall...
They were actually fairly luxurious.
The item Amiya wanted to exchange was the main dish. Shirou also handed over his desserts and drinks to Amiya and Rosmontis.
He kept only the main course and a chocolate energy bar for himself, then poured a cup of tea and prepared to make do with that.
The main dish looked quite decent.
It even smelled rather appetizing.
"Hm? Uh..."
Using the included fork, Shirou speared a piece of meat and put it into his mouth.
He fell silent for a moment.
Then he closed his eyes and forcefully shoveled the rest of the meal into his mouth in one go.
Watching the entire scene unfold, Amiya and Rosmontis exchanged glances.
Both saw the same confusion on the other's face.
Was it really that bad?
If they remembered correctly, Shirou was capable of eating an entire serving of nutritional paste without even changing his expression.
Could it be—
"Shirou, do you not like this flavor either?"
As if she had found a kindred spirit, Amiya stared at him with eyes practically sparkling.
She genuinely disliked this flavor of ration pack. It tasted somewhat bitter, yet it was supposedly extremely nutritious and quite popular among the operators.
She simply could not understand the appeal.
"...It is fine. I think it is just because I have not eaten in too long. My stomach feels a little unsettled."
Faced with the question, Shirou paused to organize his thoughts while swallowing the food in his mouth.
"I see. Then please get some proper rest. The tent next door should be empty. If you need to, you can go lie down for a while."
Amiya did not think much of it. Cases like this were not unheard of. Normally, however, people simply chose not to finish their meal. Shirou was the first person she had seen who forced himself to eat everything in one sitting.
"For now, there is no need. Go eat with Rosmontis. I will clean up here."
Setting down the now-empty meal package, Shirou unwrapped the energy bar and took a bite.
This time he did not wolf it down. Instead, he chewed slowly while helping Amiya clear the table.
It was a skill he had somehow picked up during his long time at the Lungmen Guard Department.
Not because the Guard Department had a messy work environment.
Rather, once things became busy, mountains of paperwork would pile up across every desk, forming literal hills of documents and leaving barely enough room to write, let alone work comfortably.
If someone spilled coffee or a drink at a time like that...
Then congratulations, they had just earned themselves a ticket to overtime.
The biggest concern when tidying up a desk was accidentally throwing away something important. However, Shirou generally focused on reorganizing things rather than discarding them, and he would never casually throw away someone else's belongings.
Besides, Amiya herself was right there, so there was even less reason to worry about important documents being lost.
Shirou worked quickly. In no time at all, he had cleaned up the entire tent. While he was at it, he also draped an extra blanket over Doctor, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed despite shivering continuously from the cold.
Outside, the snowstorm was steadily growing stronger.
Even from within the tent, Shirou could clearly hear the fierce wind battering against the canvas.
At times like this, unless something extremely urgent came up, people generally stayed inside their own tents.
That meant Amiya had a brief opportunity to rest.
At the moment, she and Rosmontis were squeezed together on a single bed, taking a short nap. Once the storm passed, she would have an enormous amount of work waiting for her. Any extra rest she could get now was valuable.
As for Shirou, he sat alone on a nearby chair, holding the golden Archer card and staring at it for a long time.
"The past... huh?"
Placing the card on the table, Shirou leaned back and let his entire body sink into the chair as he gazed up at the ceiling of the tent.
The light above was somewhat glaring, yet he neither closed his eyes nor looked away.
He simply continued staring at it.
That past was certainly painful for him, but after nearly a year had passed, much of that pain had faded.
It also explained why his earlier self had harbored doubts about the ideal of becoming a Ally of Justice and why he had shown no desire to return.
After all, he had personally experienced that ending once already.
Now, after facing those memories directly and accepting them, Shirou did not feel relieved.
Instead, he felt as though even more burdens had been placed upon his shoulders.
Illya's wish.
And the Holy Grail that might have followed him here.
Most importantly, the power of the Holy Grail alone should not have been capable of crossing time or worlds.
A miracle?
Perhaps it was possible.
But Shirou knew very well that miracles were never obtained so easily.
The gifts bestowed by fate always came with a price already attached.
Perhaps...
From this point onward, he would no longer be able to live as carefree a life in Lungmen as he had before.
The more one knew, the more things there were to worry about.