"Shirou, do not be afraid, we are here to save you!"
Croissant burst open the door to Swire's office and shouted.
Then she was immediately met with everyone's gaze inside and the rich unmistakable aroma of fried fowl.
She also spotted Shirou standing there, and beside him was Swire, looking utterly blissful, clearly chewing something.
The scene left her completely unsure of what to do next and her brain froze on the spot.
"Hm? Croissant, you guys done over there?"
Shirou, standing inside, turned toward the door when he heard her voice. He saw Croissant still holding the door open, with Texas and Sora stuck behind her.
For some reason, though, Croissant just stood there blankly, not reacting even when he greeted her.
"Croissant? Croissant! Move already!"
Sora, stuck behind her, called out a few times before trying to push her forward.
Only to find she could not budge her so she turned to look at Texas.
"Honestly…"
Texas stepped in and chopped Croissant on the head, snapping her out of it.
"Ow!"
Clutching her head, Croissant stumbled forward into the room, finally letting Texas, Sora, and Exusiai who came in last, enter as well.
And then they saw… a rather strange scene.
The Guard Department staff glanced at them briefly, then immediately lost interest, turning all their attention back to Swire.
And under everyone's watchful eyes, Miss Swire picked up another piece of fried meat and popped it into her mouth, her face practically radiating happiness.
She was enjoying herself but everyone else in the office had some very choice Lungmen words they were holding back.
They had all been working all day without a proper meal so why did she get to eat first? And so loudly? And so deliciously?!
Oh… right. It was Officer Swire.
Never mind.
While they could not curse out their superior, they could at least punish her with resentful stares.
"…What exactly is going on here?"
Standing outside the office with the Penguin Logistics crew, Hoshiguma and Chen watched the bizarre scene. Chen spoke up.
"Missy ordered takeout and is hogging it? That will not do."
Being taller, Hoshiguma immediately spotted the box of fried meat in Swire's hands. Combined with the aroma filling the room and today's workload, she quickly concluded Swire had ordered takeout and was eating alone.
"Hm? Hm! I did not order takeout, Shirou brought this!"
Hearing Hoshiguma, Swire snapped back to reality, swallowed her food, and protested.
Unfortunately… she argued the wrong point.
"It is still work hours! And you are eating on duty, you char siu cat!"
Chen immediately stepped forward and voiced what everyone in the room was thinking.
"Cough… I am just tasting it a little."
Knowing she was in the wrong, Swire quietly shifted the lunchbox aside.
More importantly, Shirou was right there so she could not ruin her image.
If she got labeled with something weird now, recruiting him later would become much harder. Especially after tasting that fried meat he made, she felt her recruitment plan should be accelerated.
With such simple ingredients, he had made something of this level, she could not even imagine what he could do with premium ingredients.
Just thinking about it made her mouth water… she needed to find a way to get him to make char siu rice.
At this point, Swire's reason for recruiting Shirou had shifted from seeing him as a promising officer candidate… to an excellent chef.
Ahem… if Shirou became her subordinate, she could eat his cooking every day. It was perfect.
"Lungmen profanity…as a superior you should set an example! And here you are leading by eating on duty?!"
Even though it was rare to see Swire admit fault, Chen still instinctively pressed the attack.
After all, a mistake was a mistake and she had to be reprimanded.
"Hey! I have been working nonstop since morning and just wrapped things up, what is wrong with grabbing a bite?!"
Finally snapping, Swire slammed the table and pointed back at Chen.
"What do you mean 'hey'?!"
"What do you mean 'hey'?!"
Watching the two argue while pointing at each other, the surrounding staff calmly put in earplugs and continued working.
"???"
Seeing this, Shirou was utterly confused.
"You will get used to it. Work is basically done anyway—let them argue."
Hoshiguma walked over and casually sat in Swire's seat, speaking to Shirou when she saw his confusion.
Normally, she would step in to mediate, but since both sides had just finished their work she let them be, as long as it did not turn physical.
"Yeah, yeah, this is normal. Chen and Swire argue like this all the time."
Exusiai leaned over and explained.
As frequent visitors, this kind of scene was nothing new to them.
"…Alright then."
Shirou had nothing to say.
It was very Lungmen and perfectly normal.
He could feel his thinking gradually being assimilated… though no matter how long he stayed, he doubted he would ever fully get used to this.
"By the way, why are you the one picking us up?"
Uninterested in the spectacle, Texas turned to Shirou and asked.
Normally it would be the Yith coming so why Shirou this time?
"Yith is busy, so he asked me to come."
Shirou took out his phone and showed them the message.
With those two still arguing loudly nearby, it was easier to just show it than explain.
"Hmm…he is probably investigating what just happened?"
Sora guessed after reading it.
"Or maybe he is just too lazy to come out."
Exusiai sighed, thinking of Yith's usual behavior.
"Hm? This fried meat… the taste feels unfamiliar. Is this from a new shop in Lungmen?"
Croissant, being simple-minded as ever, was focused on the food.
Having tried most fried food places in Lungmen, she was now curious where this came from and the smell alone was incredible. She had to ask Swire later and add it to her list.
"I made it. Originally, it was meant for you guys."
Seeing her reaction, Shirou explained.
And internally he was quite satisfied, Croissant was clearly showing great interest, which meant his cooking was a success.
"Oh? You made this, Shirou?"
Curious, Hoshiguma opened the box for a closer look.
The wooden skewer Swire had used was still stuck in it. The golden, crispy coating and the slight juices seeping out instantly assaulted her empty stomach after a long day's work.
Croissant, beside her, was practically overwhelmed by the aroma.
"Whoa… wait! Shirou, you said this was originally for us?"
Exusiai, who had leaned in, suddenly caught something important.
If it was originally for them… then that meant…
…it was not anymore, right?
"After all, right when I finished cooking, I got the message to come to the Guard Department to bail you guys out, what do you think?"
Shirou said with a slight smile. There was still a whole batch left in the kitchen, but he felt like teasing Penguin Logistics a bit.
After all, they were always messing with him so getting a little payback once in a while was only fair, right?
"Y-you… what did you just say?"
But in Croissant and Exusiai's eyes, Shirou's smile was even more terrifying than Hoshiguma's earlier.
Heartbreak!
What had they just missed?!
"I should have just blown up the driver's seat…"
Exusiai muttered in regret. If it were not for those guys, they might be back at the dorm happily eating this fried food right now.
It was all those idiots' fault!
"No, no, no…if you had blown up the driver's seat, that would have been a whole different situation. You would probably be locked up for a few days until your boss came to negotiate."
Hoshiguma waved her hand as she spoke.
Attempted murder in Lungmen was not something to joke about. Still, from her perspective, Penguin Logistics had been the victims. Even if they had blown those guys up, it probably would not have escalated too far maybe just a few days of detention following procedure.
That said, the incident had still increased the Guard Department's workload quite a bit. Even now, they did have the chance to properly rest or eat.
Thinking about how she had not eaten lunch, Hoshiguma glanced at the fried food in the lunchbox on Swire's desk.
She had tried to ignore it, after all it was Swire's but the image from earlier and the lingering aroma were making her crave it more and more.
"…Missy, mind if I have one?"
Out of courtesy, Hoshiguma asked.
"You can only have one… no, two! Just two!"
Swire responded while arguing, originally intending to allow only one, but considering their friendship, she generously increased it to two.
"Alright, two it is."
With permission granted, Hoshiguma picked up a piece and popped it into her mouth.
She immediately understood why Swire had looked so blissful earlier.
After a whole day of hunger, good food alone was enough to bring happiness and this fried food… was on another level.
Licking the remaining oil from her fingers, she reached for the second piece.
"Man… this would be perfect with some alcohol."
This time, she savored it slowly, thinking how well it would pair with beer , especially with a live "dragon vs. tiger" showdown happening right in front of her.
"Ahem… Officer Hoshiguma, maybe keep it down, we are hungry too."
A nearby Guard Department staff member finally spoke up.
They did not dare say anything when Swire was eating but Hoshiguma was much easier to approach.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. By the way, you made this, Shirou?"
Sensing the resentment, Hoshiguma quickly closed the lid to stop the aroma from spreading further.
She stood up and turned to Shirou, trying to distract herself before she grabbed more.
"Yeah. Is something wrong?"
Shirou replied while simultaneously fending off Exusiai and Croissant, who were trying to latch onto his legs and beg for food.
Texas and Sora were also holding the two back, those two might have no shame, but they still did.
"You want to exchange contact info? I often get ingredients from old friends and I do not really know how to cook them. Next time I get some, I will just pass them to you."
Patting Shirou's shoulder, Hoshiguma spoke seriously.
She really did receive all kinds of unusual ingredients, but since she was not good at cooking, they often went unused or were given away.
Some even came from her homeland Higashi, like special seasonings or sauces.
Those were especially troublesome. The people she knew could not cook them properly and even when she tried following recipes online, the results were not great.
But Shirou seemed to be from the same place.
That meant she would never have to worry about those ingredients going to waste again!
If she was lucky, she might even get to taste some flavors from home.
"Huh? Oh… sure, that is fine."
Shirou had expected something more…but it was just this?
Still, he agreed. Building good relations with the Guard Department was not a bad thing.
"Shirou, you are pretty popular, huh?"
Exusiai teased after seeing them exchange contact info.
From what she remembered, besides Penguin Logistics, Shirou seemed to get along well with quite a few people like Alina in Ursus, Swire here, and now Hoshiguma.
"…Am I?"
Shirou thought about it for a moment.
Most of those were just normal interactions, were they not? That did not really count as being popular.
In his mind, someone like Rin would count as truly popular.
"…Shirou, that mindset is not going to work."
Seeing how clueless he was, even Croissant felt the need to speak up.
Out of the three people approaching him recently, two clearly had ulterior motives!
If he stayed this oblivious, he might actually get "poached" one day!
And if that happened she would have to do her own laundry, clean up and order takeout herself.
Unacceptable!
"…Yeah, I agree."
Sora nodded.
Even Texas silently agreed.
"Hm?"
Shirou had no idea what they were talking about.
"It is fine, you will understand eventually."
Hoshiguma patted his back with a grin.
Watching the interaction between Shirou and Penguin Logistics was surprisingly entertaining.
To her right, Swire and Chen were still arguing non-stop.
To her left, the Penguin Logistics crew had gathered around Shirou, chatting animatedly.
Standing in the middle, she casually grabbed another piece of fried food and popped it into her mouth, enjoying the lively scene unfolding on both sides.
Days like this… were not so bad, were they?