"It definitely does not look dyed, and these changes are honestly a bit outrageous."
Inside the Guard Department office, Shirou was surrounded by a crowd, looking very much like an exhibit in a zoo.
Leading the crowd were none other than Officer Chen, Swire, and Hoshiguma.
By the time Shirou had more or less finished explaining things to Swire, everyone had returned from the meeting. Chen had immediately recognized Swire among the people in her office.
At first, she had thought Swire had brought someone into her office, which was why she had questioned her earlier.
As it turned out...
It had all been a misunderstanding.
Compared to Swire's tendency to dig into every detail, Chen and Hoshiguma were not particularly interested in why Shirou had become like this. Instead, they were more concerned about his current condition.
It was somewhat like seeing a familiar classmate after summer vacation and discovering they had changed so much that they almost seemed like a different person. Anyone would be curious.
"Indeed. Shirou already had a solid foundation before, but this is clearly ridiculous. A normal person cannot train themselves into this in just one month."
Unlike Chen, Hoshiguma was far more interested in Shirou's physical transformation.
"That is enough! Do none of you have work to do?"
After being stared at for quite a while, Shirou finally lost his patience. He slapped away a hand that had been trying to sneakily touch his hair and complained.
Most of the Guard Department members, hearing Shirou's words and feeling the death stares from their superiors, quickly returned to work, leaving only the trio behind to continue spectating.
Besides pressure from their bosses, another reason everyone dispersed was the authority Shirou had built up during his time in the department.
He was usually friendly and helpful, but when he got serious, he could be pretty intimidating.
Of course, he was still nowhere near Officer Chen's level.
But he had some presence.
"Come on, it has been so long. We are just concerned about your health."
Although Shirou had smacked away her hand, Hoshiguma still smiled warmly.
"I think you are just satisfying your curiosity."
With fewer people surrounding him, Shirou finally relaxed a little. The crowd earlier had made him genuinely tense.
"Ahem... What are you talking about? Do we look like that kind of people?"
Hearing his accusation, Officer Chen coughed awkwardly.
Her guilty expression earned amused smiles from both Hoshiguma and Shirou, as well as a mocking burst of laughter from Swire.
"Barbecue Cat, what is that supposed to mean?"
Seeing Swire clutching her stomach with laughter, Chen immediately shifted her attention away from Shirou.
"Meeeh!"
Swire retaliated after suddenly being shouted at.
"Meeeh!"
Chen immediately answered back without backing down.
"Sigh..."
Seeing the two of them bleating like sheep at each other, Hoshiguma could only sigh helplessly.
"Can you two stop baa-ing for a moment? I brought souvenirs from Ursus! Swire already has hers. Hoshiguma and Officer Chen, yours are over here."
Seeing the bizarre situation unfolding, Shirou quickly stepped in to stop the two from fully transforming into sheep and redirected everyone's attention to the gifts on the desk.
"Oh? Ursus liquor? This is nice!"
Hoshiguma instantly understood what Shirou was trying to do. She hurried over, picked up the bottle of Water of Life, and loudly announced her discovery.
The action immediately extinguished the war between the two women, drawing them both over.
"And these are... letters?"
Swire's present was already in her hands, and Hoshiguma had claimed hers. The only things remaining on the table were several envelopes.
Looking at them, Chen felt rather... strange.
Shirou did not really seem like the sort of person who wrote letters.
Besides, physical letters had practically become obsolete in Lungmen. With phones and the internet so widespread, there was almost no occasion to use paper correspondence.
"Hold on. A few of those are not yours. I was still sorting things out."
Remembering that he still had not borrowed something from Swire's souvenir pile to supplement Chen's gift, Shirou felt rather awkward.
But at this point, he could only bite the bullet.
Stepping forward, he extracted one particular envelope and handed it to Chen. Then he gathered up the remaining letters and, as an afterthought, handed over his phone as well.
"Huh?"
Completely caught off guard, Officer Chen accepted both the letter and the phone, though she still had no idea what was going on.
So somebody had written her a letter?
And apparently there were other recipients besides herself?
Then what was the phone for?
Not only Chen, but Hoshiguma and Swire were equally puzzled by Shirou's intentions.
"Why not open the letter first? If I remember correctly, she put a photograph inside."
Regarding the news about Talulah, Shirou intended to keep it a surprise.
It was definitely not because he wanted to see how Officer Chen would react upon learning that all those letters had been written by Talulah.
"A photograph?"
With a mixture of doubt and curiosity, Chen carefully opened the envelope in her hands and pulled out its contents.
There was a letter and several photographs.
Randomly selecting one, she looked at it.
It was a group photo with a vast snowfield in the background.
There was a frightening-looking Sarkaz, a white-haired Cautus, a very gentle-looking Elafia, and many others.
But Chen's gaze focused only on the person standing in the middle.
The white-haired Vouivre—no, Draco—wearing a military uniform.
"Ta... Talulah?"
Staring at the woman in the photograph, Chen found it difficult to believe.
It had been a very, very long time since she had received any news about her.
Ever since that rainy night, Talulah had vanished from her life.
The only photograph they had together was still displayed in what used to be her room.
"This is a photo of Reunion, the infected organization founded by Talulah. The people around her are her companions."
Seeing Chen frozen in place, Shirou gave a brief explanation.
"Wait! Did you just say Talulah?!"
Chen's voice had been quiet, so Swire had not heard it clearly. However, after seeing Chen's reaction and hearing Shirou's explanation, she finally realized.
She did not remember much about Talulah.
Only that, when they were children, she, Lin, that damned dragon, and Talulah had all played together.
But after Talulah disappeared, Chen rarely showed herself. Then Swire skipped out on attending the same school as Lin, and their group of four became a memory of the past.
"You met Talulah during your trip to Ursus?"
Recovering herself, Chen flipped through the photographs.
Most were pictures of Talulah with various companions, though the people beside her changed from one photo to the next.
There were some solo shots too, but in those Talulah wore a serious expression that felt somewhat out of place compared to the others.
The last photograph was a group picture of Talulah with members of Rhodes Island and Penguin Logistics.
"That is right. This letter is from her. There are also videos she recorded on the phone."
Seeing Chen's excitement, Shirou did not hide anything and honestly explained what the gift contained.
"...Thanks. I will return your phone soon. Give me a moment."
Holding the letters and photographs, Chen revealed an expression that was...
Happy?
Excited?
Whatever it was, it was something Shirou rarely saw.
Not only him, even Hoshiguma looked surprised.
Only Swire remained relatively calm. Yet instead of loudly mocking Chen as she normally would, she simply stood there quietly watching.
"Uh... take your time. I am not in a hurry. I still have plenty of time before my appointment with Chief Wei."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Chen disappeared with a whoosh.
In an instant, she had already rushed back to her desk with Shirou's phone.
After all, it was Shirou's phone. She could hardly keep it forever, so naturally she intended to copy the files onto her computer.
"You really outdid yourself. I never expected you to run into Talulah. It has been ages since I saw that damned dragon make an expression like that."
Swire walked over and lightly punched Shirou's arm with a clenched fist.
Though they bickered constantly, their relationship was not actually bad.
After all, they were childhood friends.
"It was just a coincidence. Looks like the two of them really care about each other. Talulah kept pulling me aside and asking all sorts of questions about Officer Chen."
Faced with Swire's punch, Shirou merely raised his other arm to block it out of courtesy.
"That sounds exactly like her. I am very satisfied with this gift, so I will let your prank from earlier slide."
Learning that Talulah felt much the same way, Swire wore an expression that said just as I expected. She picked up her souvenir, waved goodbye to the two of them, and left the office.
She had already heard too much good news today.
Her mood was better than it had ever been.
She had no intention of staying around and getting into another argument with Chen Huiling, ruining everyone's good mood.
Besides, she had rested long enough.
It was time to get back to work.
"What was that about?"
Not understanding Swire's sudden change in attitude, Shirou turned to Hoshiguma after watching her leave.
"Missy's in a good mood, it seems. Looks like the big gift you brought back was very well received."
Having spent so much time beside both women and being skilled at reading people, Hoshiguma understood their current state immediately.
All in all, they were good things.
That was nice.
Weighing the bottle of Water of Life in her hand, Hoshiguma continued:
"Still, such good liquor is no fun to drink alone. How about we drink together later?"
"If you want to kill me, you do not have to go about it so indirectly."
Faced with Hoshiguma's invitation, Shirou replied with dead fish eyes.
She knew perfectly well that he hardly touched alcohol outside of cooking.
And she was inviting him to drink something like Water of Life?
That stuff evaporated rapidly even when left open, and you could light it with a match!
Making him drink it was practically attempted murder.
"Hahaha! Though your appearance has changed, you are still the same old Shirou inside."
Seeing his reaction, Hoshiguma burst into laughter.
"So I should thank you for verifying that I am really me?"
Though he knew she was joking, Shirou was certain that if he agreed, he would be carried home tonight.
He was not the sort who got drunk after a single cup, but he knew full well that he could never outdrink Hoshiguma.
Forget Hoshiguma, he might not even beat Swire.
Even if he brought all four members of Penguin Logistics, they still would not win against those three in a drinking contest.
"You are welcome. Just bring more next time, preferably some snacks to go with the drinks."
After saying that, Hoshiguma patted Shirou's back and returned to work.
There was plenty to do after a meeting and with Old Chen clearly not in the mood for work, someone had to pick up the slack.
Just as Missy was happy for Old Chen, Hoshiguma was happy for her as well.
"Seriously... good thing my body's tougher now. If this had happened before, she probably would have flattened me."
Hoshiguma had not held back when she patted him.
To Shirou, it felt like being hit by two powerful Arts projectiles.
Fortunately his body had strengthened considerably, Otherwise, he would probably have needed a while to recover.
"Looks like both Hoshiguma and Swire care a lot about Officer Chen."
After Hoshiguma's reminder, Shirou finally understood why their moods had improved so suddenly.
Hoshiguma was easy to understand.
As for Swire...
Perhaps it was precisely because they were so close that they argued so fiercely.
Officer Chen herself clearly treasured Talulah deeply.
Even while copying the files, she was already eagerly reading through the letters, and her expression was noticeably gentler than usual.
And it was not just Shirou who noticed.
Everyone in the office did.
Several people had already taken out leave request forms and were furiously filling them in, clearly planning to take advantage of their superior's good mood.
To be fair, their strategy was sound.
Asking for leave when the boss was happy certainly increased the odds.
Though only slightly.
From what Shirou had learned from the Penguin Logistics crew, although most people in Lungmen received time off during New Year, exceptions always existed.
Penguin Logistics was one of the few logistics companies that still worked during the holidays.
As for the Guard Department and Fire Department?
There was no way they could simply shut down.
So those leave requests were almost certainly doomed, no matter how good Officer Chen's mood was.
"Thanks, Shirou. I never imagined I would hear from her again after all this time... By the way, those remaining letters are for Wei Yenwu and Aunt, right? Need me to help?"
After quite some time, Chen finally returned the phone.
In the past few minutes, her excitement had settled down, and she had returned to something closer to her usual self.
Still, she remembered seeing Shirou pull aside several letters.
Based on her impression of Talulah, they were undoubtedly intended for Wei Yenwu and his wife.
"That's right, I will deliver them when I head over later. No need to worry. Besides, I have to tell Chief Wei about what happened this time and pass on some messages from my boss."
Taking back his phone, Shirou nodded.
Emperor knew he had privately taken a job involving Wei Yenwu, so he had deliberately arranged things so that Shirou would "casually" mention the Black Snake.
And also mention that all the information and materials were safely stored at Penguin Logistics.
In short, Emperor was trying to fleece Wei Yenwu.
As for this battle of wits between dragon and penguin, Shirou wanted no part of it.
He just needed to deliver the message.
"I see... I just finished a meeting and have too much work. I cannot go with you. But... if possible, could you pay attention to how Wei Yenwu reacts when he hears about Talulah?"
Hearing his answer, Chen glanced at the mountain of documents on her desk and reluctantly gave up on accompanying him.
Personal matters could not interfere with official duties.
"I will try. Though you know how it is. Even if Chief Wei's face changes expression, I probably would not be able to tell."
Shirou did not refuse the request despite the difficulty.
After all, the hardest part was understanding the expressions on Wei Yenwu's dragon face.
And besides, the man might not show his feelings at all.
"Haha, you are right. There are very few people who can read Wei Yenwu's face and among the people I know, his wife is probably the only one."
After hearing Shirou, Chen found his reasoning hard to dispute.
Sometimes even she could not tell what Wei Yenwu was thinking.
How could she expect Shirou to?
Though it was a little regrettable that she would not know Wei Yenwu's thoughts regarding Talulah, things were already good enough.
At least she knew Talulah was safe.
More importantly, she had probably established ties with Rhodes Island and was still moving forward toward her ideals.
And while reading the letter, she had discovered that Talulah mentioned maintaining correspondence through Rhodes Island or Penguin Logistics in the future.
That alone was enough.
Far better than knowing nothing at all.
Until today, Chen had not even dared imagine she would ever hear from Talulah again.
"Anyway, I will try to observe Chief Wei's reaction for you and if I hear anything about Talulah later, I will let you know. For now, I only know that they recently left Rhodes Island. As for where they are headed afterward, I have no idea."
After gathering his things, Shirou did not join in on criticizing Wei Yenwu.
People naturally had varying degrees of closeness, and his relationship with Wei Yenwu was nowhere near that level. Besides, speaking ill of someone in front of their niece did not sit well with him.
Though Shirou had a feeling that Chen would not mind and in fact she might even enjoy hearing others complain about Wei Yenwu. He simply had no desire to do so himself.
Now, if it were complaining about their own boss, that would definitely be another matter entirely.
"Then I will leave it to you. Be careful on the way."
Seeing that Shirou had packed up and was preparing to leave, Chen did not try to keep him any longer.
After all, Wei Yenwu was not someone whose schedule was easy to secure. It would be troublesome if he missed the appointed time.
"Right. You all too, do not overwork yourselves."
After offering a few simple words of concern, Shirou left the office under Chen's watchful gaze.