After leaving the Guard Department, Shirou headed directly to Wei Yenwu.
Much like the previous times he had visited, the man was still leisurely swinging his pipe in his hand, looking thoroughly at ease.
So at ease that Shirou began to wonder whether the man had too much free time. Every time he came, Wei Yenwu always seemed to be like this.
"Have a seat. I just brewed some tea."
At this moment, Wei Yenwu had no idea what Shirou was thinking. He set down the pipe in his hand and pointed at the chair in front of him.
On the table between them sat two cups of tea, still steaming.
"Uh, alright."
Faced with Wei Yenwu's invitation, Shirou felt somewhat uncomfortable.
He still found it difficult to deal with situations like this.
"I already know the general situation. Aside from the matter of the Black Snake, I also heard that several Emperor Blades appeared in Chernobog. All I can say is that you really have terrible luck."
After Shirou sat down, Wei Yenwu spoke first.
After all, Chernobog was not far from Lungmen, so naturally people had been sent to monitor the city. However, due to the limitations of their strength, they only knew the rough outline of what had happened.
But that was enough for him. Most of the matter had already been resolved, so there was no need to worry about whether it would affect him or Lungmen.
It could be said that without Shirou this time, all of Lungmen might have been in danger.
"Hahaha..."
Being teased about his luck once again, Shirou laughed awkwardly and picked up the hot tea on the table, taking a sip in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.
Why did everyone always have to bring that up? It was not as though he wanted to run into those people. If he had a choice, he would also prefer to finish his missions peacefully.
Just based on those words, Shirou abandoned his naive thoughts from earlier and decided to help his boss earn a bit more.
Hopefully Wei Yenwu's private coffers could withstand it.
"Hm... Did the air conditioner get turned down?"
Sitting opposite him, Wei Yenwu was still immersed in the joy of teasing Shirou when he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Looking around, he blamed the air conditioning.
However, he quickly stopped caring, because someone pushed open the office door and said,
"Do not bully him too much. No matter what, Shirou helped you eliminate an enemy that had troubled you for a very long time, did he not?"
The newcomer was Madam Fumizuki.
"Good day, Madam Fumizuki."
Seeing who had entered, Shirou greeted her politely, and she nodded in response.
"You are right, that was my fault. Also, Shirou, there is no need to be so nervous, this is not an official meeting. I invited you here as a guest, so relax a little."
Hearing Fumizuki's words, Wei Yenwu immediately suppressed the smile on his lips and quickly changed the subject.
"That is right. Just relax and do not be so restrained."
Seeing that Wei Yenwu had listened to her, Fumizuki's expression softened somewhat.
"Alright... So where should I start?"
With Fumizuki beside him, Shirou immediately felt much less pressure, but he still did not know what exactly he should talk about.
Starting from the very beginning felt troublesome, and he had no idea how much the other party already knew, so he simply asked.
"Let me think... Start with Koschei."
Although he already knew some things about what happened afterward, that did not stop Wei Yenwu from wanting to hear the story directly from Shirou.
As long as he could hear about Koschei's misfortune, it would be wonderful news to him.
"Sure. In that case, I should begin with what happened in Lungmen before."
Shirou was not surprised by Wei Yenwu's choice. In fact, he was more thoroughly prepared in that regard.
To make things easier for Wei Yenwu, he began with the series of incidents that had plagued Lungmen recently.
After all, the Black Snake had been behind them, so it was not a bad place to start.
From the disturbances and hidden dangers that had appeared in Lungmen, to the Black Snake manipulating the infected members of Reunion, and finally to his attempt to use the Ursus mobile city of Chernobog to ram into Lungmen as a declaration of war, Shirou told everything to Wei Yenwu and Madam Fumizuki.
At first, the two listened with relaxed expressions, but as the story progressed, their faces became increasingly grave.
Although the Black Snake's scheme had been thwarted, the fact that he could orchestrate something on such a scale meant that there were others within Ursus secretly assisting him.
Those Emperor Blades were only part of those helpers.
If they considered the matter from that angle, then Lungmen was still not truly safe. Perhaps they needed to start thinking about moving farther away from Chernobog.
"As for the Black Snake... although I have dealt with him twice, he might still have other incarnations elsewhere. Please be especially careful."
After confirming that he had not missed anything, Shirou specifically reminded Wei Yenwu about the Black Snake's other bodies.
"...I will keep that in mind. However, now that Koschei's schemes have failed, they will probably lie low for a long time. In any case, you should also be careful."
After listening to Shirou's words, Wei Yenwu continuously tapped the armrest with his index finger, looking somewhat agitated. But after Fumizuki placed her hand over his, the expression on his face relaxed considerably, and he offered Shirou a reminder.
"Of course."
Seeing the scene before him, the corner of Shirou's eye twitched slightly.
Although there were many things he wanted to comment on, he held himself back and simply replied.
He did not know whether it was just his imagination, but he felt somewhat full, and his eyes even felt sore, as though they had been overworked.
The former could at least be explained by having drunk too much tea. As for the soreness in his eyes... he had no explanation.
He did not want to think about it either. Casually picking up the tea on the table that had long since gone cold, he closed his eyes and slowly savored it.
"So, how did you deal with the Black Snake?"
After quite some time, Wei Yenwu still had not noticed that something was off with Shirou and instead asked the question that concerned him the most.
There was nothing complicated about it. He simply wanted to know how the fellow had died so that he could imagine the scene and enjoy himself.
"The first time, I pierced through his chest. The second time... I detonated my weapon and sealed him inside a Originium crystal."
Since the conversation had reached this point, Shirou did not hide anything and told him what Emperor and Yith had instructed him to say.
"Oh!?"
Learning Koschei's final fate from Shirou himself left Wei Yenwu genuinely surprised.
There was no need to mention the first method. He had dreamed several times in the past of accomplishing such a thing himself, though those had only been dreams.
As for the second method... Wei Yenwu had some understanding of Shirou's abilities. Producing weapons and blowing them up were basic techniques for him. After all the fireworks Shirou had set off in Lungmen, he had already grown used to it.
However, sealing someone inside Originium crystals was difficult to understand. As far as he knew, Shirou did not possess that kind of ability.
But that did not matter.
If the man had been sealed inside Originium crystals, then did that not mean he might be able to witness it with his own eyes?
Thinking of that, Wei Yenwu said,
"Ahem, so where exactly is that Originium crystal? That Black Snake fellow is extremely cunning and very difficult to kill. Just to be safe, I should send someone to have a look."
His words sounded perfectly reasonable. Had Shirou not known that Wei Yenwu wanted nothing more than to dance on the Black Snake's grave, he might actually have believed him.
"I blew it up. The body the Black Snake possessed at the time had already died, but I could still sense that he seemed to be alive. So I chose to destroy both him and the Originium crystal together."
The moment Shirou uttered those first four words, the smile on Wei Yenwu's face vanished without a trace.
Still, he did not feel regretful.
If things were as Shirou had said, then eliminating everything on the spot had indeed been the best option.
Compared to satisfying his curiosity, permanently getting rid of the enemy was far more important.
However, Shirou's next sentence brought the smile back to his face.
"Still, both times I dealt with him using a projected Chi Xiao sword."
Learning that Koschei had been defeated with Chi Xiao immediately put Wei Yenwu in a much better mood.
The image formed itself instantly in his mind, and most importantly, Koschei had been dealt with twice using Chi Xiao.
His happiness was truly that simple.
Then Shirou continued,
"The first time was too urgent, so I did not leave any records. But the second time, when he was sealed inside the Originium crystal, I took quite a few photographs as documentation."
After laying the groundwork for so long, Shirou finally revealed the fangs entrusted to him by his boss.
It was obvious that Wei Yenwu had taken the bait. Upon hearing that there were photographs, even Shirou could tell how delighted he was.
He had just discussed this topic with Officer Chen earlier and had thought that he could never see through Wei Yenwu.
Who would have thought that there was actually a weakness?
Perhaps there was a chance of completing Officer Chen's request after all.
But before that, he had to settle his own boss's business.
"Heh... let me guess. That penguin is holding onto them, right? You have been saying all this just to set things up, have you not?"
Since Shirou had still not produced the goods, Wei Yenwu immediately understood everything.
He was not stupid. Given how long he had known Emperor, it was not difficult to guess the other's intentions.
Nothing more than using those items to make a deal with him, probably in exchange for money or assistance in certain areas.
As long as he could obtain those photographs, none of that mattered.
"It was the boss's instructions. I could not do anything about it."
Seeing that Emperor's intentions had been exposed, Shirou made no effort to hide them.
Clumsy lies were useless in front of Wei Yenwu, and his reaction had already been anticipated by Emperor, so Shirou was not nervous.
"It does not matter. In fact, you have already shown mercy. If that penguin knew that Koschei had been dealt with using Chi Xiao, he would definitely package that information together and sell it to me."
Rather than being angry at Shirou's actions, Wei Yenwu was actually grateful, since it meant he had been skinned a little less thoroughly.
Unfortunately, Wei Yenwu had no idea that because of his careless remarks earlier, Shirou had already quietly raised the price proposed by Emperor.
Not by much, only about double.
After some bargaining, the final price was settled at one point three times the original amount.
Although it did not seem like much, that was already around twice the minimum amount that both Emperor and Yith had expected.
The two of them would certainly be very satisfied when they saw those numbers.
The original price could probably have been even higher, but the pressure Madam Fumizuki was putting on Wei Yenwu was simply too great, forcing him to find ways to drive the price down.
So Shirou felt absolutely no guilt about taking advantage of him.
After all, this was a transaction. Both sides agreed to it willingly, especially when it involved something that only the other party would want.
"Oh, right. Someone from Ursus asked me to deliver some letters to you."
With his boss's business taken care of, it was time to handle other matters.
As he spoke, Shirou took several letters out of his backpack and placed them in front of Wei Yenwu and Madam Fumizuki.
"Ursus? Letters? Wait... is it from Little Talulah?"
Hearing that they came from Ursus, Fumizuki froze for a moment before thinking of that small figure with white hair.
For many reasons, she and Wei Yenwu had never had children of their own, so she had always treated Wei Yenwu's two nieces, Chen Hui-chieh and Talulah, as though they were her own daughters.
The only person she could think of who was in Ursus and would write to her was Talulah.
Fumizuki was not the only one surprised. Wei Yenwu was equally stunned, to the point that the pipe in his hand fell to the floor without him noticing.
"It is indeed from Talulah. I have already delivered Officer Chen's portion to her. These are yours and Chief Wei's."
Their reactions were even stronger than Shirou had expected. It seemed they truly cared about her.
Wei Yenwu quickly picked up the letters from the table. With a swipe of two fingers, he opened both envelopes in one motion and handed Madam Fumizuki her letter.
"..."
Seeing how serious they were, Shirou did not disturb them. Instead, he quietly stood up and walked outside.
Mainly because he felt the two of them probably needed some private space.
After leaving Wei Yenwu's office, Shirou leaned against a window and looked outside.
The floor was high, and the location was excellent, so the view was beautiful.
He could clearly see people leaving work and moving about under the setting sun. Perhaps the end of the year was approaching, or perhaps they were simply happy to be done with work.
Whichever it was, it did not matter to Shirou.
What he cared about was only the smiles on their faces.
Whether they were complete strangers, or Wei Yenwu and Madam Fumizuki with whom he had some acquaintance, or Officer Chen, Hoshiguma, Swire, and the people of the Guard Department whom he had spent a long time with, or Rope, Phal and the children who watched over the shop.
Today, Shirou felt that there were far more smiles on people's faces than usual, although even he did not understand why.
Still, he thought it was wonderful. If possible, he hoped days like these could last even longer.
Hm? Penguin Logistics?
He had never seen anyone there, aside from Texas, go a single day without a smile on their face.
That was one of the reasons why living at Penguin Logistics felt so comfortable.
Honk! Honk! Honk! Honk! Honk!
Before Shirou could continue thinking, a rapid series of horns drew his attention.
Looking down, he saw a vehicle bearing the Penguin Logistics logo racing through the streets, with a Guard Department car chasing after it.
It was obvious that Texas was driving. She was the only one in Penguin Logistics with such wild driving skills.
"..."
He took back his previous thoughts.
Although the atmosphere at Penguin Logistics was indeed comfortable, every single person there was a character. Even Sora, who appeared to be the most normal, occasionally enjoyed playing pranks.
As for Exusiai and Croissant?
Forget it.
Shirou was afraid that if he kept thinking about them, he would not be able to resist punching both of them in the head when he saw them tonight.