In the corridors of Rhodes Island, Shirou and Kal'tsit walked one after the other, drawing the attention of most of the people they passed.
Most of those glances were directed toward Kal'tsit.
"..."
Kal'tsit remained silent the entire way, making Shirou feel an immense amount of pressure.
Mainly because her gaze had been fixed on him the whole time, leaving him rather uncomfortable.
But no matter how hard he thought about it, he could not figure out what he had done wrong recently.
He had been behaving himself.
Forget the training grounds, even his daily exercise routine had been reduced in intensity.
He had even been faithfully eating one serving of Hibiscus's nutritional meals every day.
After going that far, what else could possibly be wrong!?
"How long have these symptoms been going on?"
After they reached a relatively quiet section of the corridor, Kal'tsit suddenly spoke.
"What symptoms?"
The question came so abruptly that Shirou did not immediately understand what she meant.
"The memory-related ones. With your personality, forgetting a cooking step is not something that should happen."
Unlike when she spoke to Doctor, Kal'tsit's words were concise and direct, like a physician speaking to a patient.
From a certain perspective, Shirou really was a potential patient, and his routine medical examinations were supervised by her.
"...?"
Stopping in his tracks, Shirou turned around and stared at her with a very complicated expression.
His memory was having problems?
How did he not know about that?
Then again, if his memory really was failing, how would he know he had forgotten something?
The question was becoming oddly philosophical, so Shirou decided not to think about it.
Instead, he answered directly.
"I think you have misunderstood, Dr. Kal'tsit. Desserts were never my specialty to begin with. On top of that, I gathered the ingredients on short notice, so naturally I overlooked a few steps."
Nobody could do everything perfectly.
Even he had spent a great deal of time improving his dessert-making skills before reaching his current level.
Besides, cooking was fundamentally just a framework.
Everything beyond that depended on the cook's own judgment.
Forgetting a step here and there was actually quite common.
"...Very well. I will put that under observation for now. Then what about your sense of taste?"
After hearing Shirou's explanation, Kal'tsit concluded that she might have been overthinking things.
However, there was another issue she had been observing for quite some time.
Previously, it had only been a suspicion.
But after seeing Shirou express uncertainty regarding the taste of the dessert Exusiai had prepared and then failing to taste it himself to verify it, Kal'tsit was now certain.
There was something wrong with his sense of taste.
And unlike memory issues, this was not something he could hide from her.
Testing it would be simple.
A few samples and a basic examination would be enough.
"...Since the Chernobog operation, I suppose. But it should just be temporary damage, like what happened to my hair and the other changes to my body. It will recover eventually."
At this point, Shirou saw little reason to continue hiding it.
"At the same time as the changes to your hair and body? Then why did you not mention it during your examinations? There should be trust between a doctor and a patient. Only then can a physician..."
Kal'tsit clearly had little faith in Shirou's claim that it would recover.
In fact, she immediately began lecturing him.
"Wait! I just... did not want everyone else to worry."
Seeing no sign that Kal'tsit intended to stop anytime soon, Shirou hurriedly interrupted her.
"If other people found out, then whenever food or cooking came up, they would start avoiding the topic around me without even realizing it, wouldn't they?"
That was his reasoning.
Even so, he knew he was in the wrong.
Simply hiding his condition had already been unfair to Kal'tsit as his attending physician.
So he continued.
"And besides, it is only temporary. I know that sounds difficult to accept from a medical perspective, but I trust that Illya would never lie to me."
"There will not be a next time."
Kal'tsit's tone became firm.
"Everything you have told me today will be added to a long-term observation list. If there are signs of improvement, then this matter will never be known by a third person."
"But if there are no signs of improvement..."
She did not finish the sentence.
She did not need to.
Although her understanding of the Illya Shirou mentioned was limited, Kal'tsit knew enough about their relationship to understand why he trusted her so completely.
Because once upon a time, she had trusted someone just as deeply.
Understanding, however, did not mean agreeing.
As a doctor, Kal'tsit had her own responsibilities.
She could keep Shirou's condition secret for now.
But if things failed to improve, she would have no choice but to inform his legal guardian, Emperor.
After all, allowing someone without a sense of taste to continue cooking posed risks both to the cook and to those eating the food.
And for Shirou, the greater danger was not incorrect seasoning.
Too much salt or too little sugar would be minor issues.
The real concern was the effect on his mental health.
When someone was deeply passionate about something, but lost the very ability that allowed them to enjoy or improve at it, forcing themselves to continue anyway would only lead to increasing psychological strain.
Eventually, that pressure could crush them.
Based on what she knew of Shirou, Kal'tsit was confident he would not break down in the short term.
But over a longer period?
She could not guarantee anything.
For the sake of Shirou's mental well-being, this was one issue on which she absolutely refused to compromise.
"I understand... But there is something I want to know."
Shirou accepted the outcome.
As long as things improved, everything would eventually be fine.
As for Illya's words?
He trusted them one thousand percent.
Still, there was one thing he was curious about.
"How did you figure it out, Dr. Kal'tsit?"
After all, problems with taste were notoriously difficult for others to notice.
If the person affected chose not to say anything, most people would never discover it at all.
"Your eating habits have changed far too much lately. Back when you were eating nutritional meals, you would still pair them with other meat dishes to some extent. But these past few days, you have basically been eating nothing but nutritional meals. Because of that, Hibiscus even thought her cooking had improved and started promoting her nutritional meals to the other operators."
Hearing Shirou's question, Kal'tsit answered honestly.
The main reason was that even she found the process of discovering it rather bizarre. If Hibiscus had not become overly confident because Shirou kept eating her nutritional meals every day and then gone around promoting them to others, causing the unfortunate operators she targeted to come and complain to Kal'tsit, she never would have realized that something seemed to be wrong with Shirou.
Another important point was that there had already been the case of Nameless before this, so Kal'tsit was able to infer Shirou's symptoms by comparing them with the problems that had appeared in Nameless.
Under normal circumstances, when used occasionally, magecraft was indeed more convenient and safer than Originium Arts.
However, once it was used too frequently, or beyond the user's limits, the danger it posed to the human body was no less severe than that of Originium Arts.
"...So it was because of the nutritional meals? Did it never occur to you that I might simply be following medical advice and eating healthily?"
Shirou found the reason rather absurd as well, but after thinking about it carefully, it almost sounded reasonable... almost.
As they walked, Shirou could not help but complain about Kal'tsit's habit of being suspicious of nearly everything.
It was not that there was anything wrong with it.
It just felt unpleasant when he himself was the one being suspected.
"Of course I considered that possibility. That is why I only became certain after you refused the taste test just now."
Although Shirou complained about her, Kal'tsit did not seem bothered.
After being teased regularly by Doctor lately, she could completely ignore something at Shirou's level.
"I surrender."
Since she had verified so many things before moving from suspicion to certainty, Shirou naturally had nothing left to say.
All he could do was acknowledge that she truly was the head of Rhodes Island's medical department. No wonder she could keep all those uniquely talented individuals in the department under control.
While chatting about these matters, the two soon arrived at Closure's shop.
There had originally been several people waiting outside to go in and buy things, but the moment they saw Shirou and the Kal'tsit walking behind him, every one of them fled at top speed, leaving the corridor completely deserted.
"Ahaha... it looks like they must have had something urgent to do."
Having already figured out why they had run away, Shirou laughed awkwardly and tried to cover for them.
"There is no need to make excuses for them. People do not react like that unless they are feeling guilty. Most of the people who come to Closure's place are here because she can obtain supplies that Rhodes Island has difficulty acquiring through normal channels. I imagine those people came for exactly that reason."
Standing behind Shirou, Kal'tsit glanced at him as she spoke. Unlike her concise and efficient manner from earlier, her sentences had started growing longer again.
The familiar feeling made Shirou feel as though he had returned to his high school days. He immediately pushed open the door to Closure's shop, eager to escape this dangerous topic.
"Eh!? Where did everyone go? Seriously, just looking around without buying anything is too much! You get someone's hopes up and then crush them... Hm? Shirou, why are you here again? Wait! Kal'tsit!?"
The moment he opened the door, Shirou could clearly hear Closure complaining.
The door was semi-transparent, so Closure had been able to see potential customers outside. For some reason, though, they had all vanished the instant she looked away.
That kind of situation was painful for Closure. She had even been wondering whether she could have sold something if she had gone outside to promote her goods personally.
However, that thought disappeared completely when Shirou pushed open the door, and she instantly understood why everyone had vanished.
Her gloomy mood improved a little when she saw Shirou, since he had just been a customer not long ago.
But the slight improvement vanished the moment she noticed Kal'tsit.
Could it be that Kal'tsit had caught Shirou buying sugar and milk here, and Shirou had immediately sold her out?
Surely selling a little sugar and milk was not that serious, right!?
In that instant, Closure's mind began racing like an engine at full throttle as she frantically reviewed whether she had recently stocked something she should not have, or whether she had made some sort of mistake.
"I came to buy some milk, give me four bottles."
Seeing how anxious Closure became after spotting Kal'tsit, Shirou felt she was probably overthinking things.
Still, he had just been on the receiving end of Kal'tsit's scrutiny himself. Watching Closure panic so much immediately restored his sense of balance.
"Right away! I will pack them up for you!"
The moment she heard Shirou's purchase request, Closure stopped worrying about what she might have done wrong and skillfully grabbed some bags before packing the milk.
Four large bottles of milk required two separate bags. Otherwise, the bottoms of the bags would tear too easily.
"Ahem. Kal'tsit, is there anything you need?"
After dealing with Shirou's purchase, Closure bravely faced reality and greeted Kal'tsit first.
After her frantic mental review just now, she concluded that she had been behaving herself lately, so Kal'tsit definitely was not here to reprimand her.
In that case, she had nothing to fear.
At worst, she would just have to work overtime.
"I came with Shirou. I needed to discuss something with him earlier."
Seeing how straightforward Closure was acting, Kal'tsit concluded that she probably had not done anything guilty, or at least had not crossed any of the lines Kal'tsit had set. Otherwise, she could not have remained this calm.
"I see... that is good."
Hearing that Kal'tsit had come because of Shirou, Closure finally relaxed. However, she immediately shot Shirou a resentful look, and by the time she spoke those last few words, she was practically grinding her teeth.
It was all his fault for scaring her and frightening away a whole group of customers.
"Uh... I wish you good business!"
Under Closure's resentful gaze, even Shirou found it difficult to endure. He tossed out a casual farewell and fled in embarrassment.
This was definitely not his fault.
He was not taking the blame for this one.
"The price of the milk seems a little excessive."
Since Shirou had already left, Kal'tsit naturally had no reason to remain either. After all, Amiya and Doctor were still waiting, and once this small gathering ended she still had plenty of work to deal with.
However, just before leaving, Kal'tsit recalled that when Shirou had paid earlier, the denomination of the bill seemed fairly large, yet Closure had only returned a small amount of change. That prompted her to remind Closure.
Strictly speaking, products like milk, which could not be stored for long and were consumed by most people, should not have been priced that high. Most likely, Closure had seen that the customer was Shirou and decided to charge him a premium.
"Do not say that. I repaired Penguin Logistics' vehicle and equipment at an extremely low price. Earning a little extra from this side to recover my losses is perfectly reasonable, right?"
Hearing Kal'tsit's remark, Closure shrugged and replied.
She loved money, but not to the point of exploiting her friends.
Especially when there were still many things she wanted to learn from Shirou. Maintaining a good relationship with him was essential.
Putting Projection Magecraft aside for the moment, that Analysis Magecraft of his was practically made for the Engineering Department. A simple touch and inspection could reveal exactly where a problem was, dramatically increasing work efficiency.
There was no way she would make an enemy of Shirou.
After all, there would be many, many occasions in the future where she would need his help.
"As long as you know what you are doing. And stop abandoning important work to run your side business. Focus on finishing this equipment properly."
Since Closure clearly knew where the line was, Kal'tsit saw no reason to continue pressing the issue.
After reminding her once again not to become too absorbed in her hobbies and side interests, and to properly handle her responsibilities first when it was time to work, Kal'tsit left Closure's shop.
That left Closure alone with a table covered in scattered components.
"Sigh... she is finally gone."
Watching Kal'tsit leave, Closure finally let out a sigh of relief and slumped completely into her chair.
After exhaling deeply, she looked at the piece of equipment that was only half repaired on the table.
After hesitating for a while, she ultimately chose to lock the shop door and flip the sign to "Closed for Break."
After all, Kal'tsit had already scared away all the customers.
Rather than waiting around, she might as well put in some effort and see whether she could finish repairing the equipment today.