Croissant was kneeling on the ground, while the other three from Penguin Logistics stood in front of her, staring her down like predators.
Meanwhile, Shirou sat by the dining table, holding the Lupo headphones and thinking seriously.
Why make them in the shape of Lupo ears…?
Most residents of Lungmen were Feline, followed by Ursus and other races. While Lupo seemed quite popular here, Shirou could not help but wonder, would those extra "ears" not get in the way?
As for the whole "beast ears + human ears" thing, he did not think too much about it. He was not familiar with demi-human biology anyway and he just thought having four-channel hearing was kind of impressive.
"If you do not like them, just say it! We will properly deal with Croissant."
Exusiai, seeing Shirou staring at the headphones, assumed he could not accept such a bold design.
After all, Feline, Lupo, and Vulpo were popular, so products mimicking their features were made to attract attention. But designs like this were probably more suited for people without actual animal ears.
In Penguin Logistics, only Croissant and Shirou could realistically wear them.
As for Exusiai… anything between her head and halo felt uncomfortable, so she passed.
"No, it is fine. I think it is pretty interesting."
Shirou snapped out of his thoughts and replied.
It was not that he disliked them, he actually found the design amusing. And since everyone here had animal ears anyway, it did not feel that out of place.
More importantly, this was a gift everyone had pooled money for. There was no way he would say he did not like it in front of them.
Besides, he would only use them in the dorm anyway so there was no problem.
"As long as you are okay with it."
Since the recipient had no issue, Texas dropped the matter and went to lie down comfortably on the sofa.
"Then I—"
Still kneeling, Croissant tried to get up, her legs already numb.
"Whether Shirou likes it is one thing. But you causing trouble is another. So stay kneeling."
Sora gently pressed her shoulder, forcing her back down.
After all, she had paid for those headphones. Croissant had hyped them up so much that she handed over the money, only to find out it was just Croissant's weird taste.
That was basically deception!
…Though, admittedly, she was now a bit curious about how Shirou would look wearing them.
"Then… Shirou, want to try them on? To see if they fit?"
Seeing no resistance, Exusiai had a very healthy idea.
Lighting in the room? Perfect.
Shirou's position? Perfect.
Angle? Perfect.
Her phone was ready with the camera set to silent mode.
Now all she needed was for Shirou to put them on and she would get a new photo!
Just thinking about it made her happy. The Penguin Logistics photo album on her computer barely had any pictures of Shirou and it was time to fix that.
"…Hmm?"
Seeing Exusiai like that, Shirou felt something was off.
This felt just like when Taiga swapped out his soy sauce and waited to see him embarrass himself…
…It was Probably just his imagination.
"Alright, I will try them on."
Not thinking too much, Shirou put on the headphones and adjusted them.
"How is it?" Sora asked, a bit worried he might find them uncomfortable.
"It is not bad."
After adjusting, Shirou shook his head slightly.
It was a bit heavy and a bit tight but it was within acceptable limits. Compared to headphones he had used before, these were actually quite comfortable.
Which made sense, Lungmen's tech was more advanced and these were clearly high-end.
"Do you want to test them?"
Texas handed him her music player.
He could have used a phone, but the sound quality would not be as good. Also… it was full of Sora's albums. Since Shirou was just getting into headphones, this was the perfect chance to recruit him.
"Alright!"
Shirou connected the headphones and instantly heard the music.
The experience was excellent. It felt like someone was singing right next to his ears.
Immersed in the music, he did not notice Exusiai silently snapping photos beside him.
Focused expression.
Soft red glow from the headphones.
Lupo ears on his head.
It all fit perfectly.
Croissant had chosen well.
"There is a kind of contrast," Sora commented after thinking for a moment.
Yes—contrast!
The person who gently takes care of you every day suddenly has a pair of animal ears and they happen to be Lupo ears, right in your strike zone.
That double impact was incredible.
At this moment, Sora did not even find Croissant that annoying anymore.
"Yeah."
Texas agreed. Seeing Shirou nodding along to the rhythm with Lupo ears made it hard to connect him with his usual image.
It felt… fresh.
If Shirou had looked up now, he would have seen the strange expressions on everyone's faces.
Unfortunately, he was fully focused on the music.
When the first song ended, Shirou finally took off the headphones, he could not talk while music was still playing.
Mainly because… he did not know how to pause it.
"Hmm? What is with you guys?"
Noticing their odd behavior, he asked.
But the moment he removed the headphones, the three of them instantly returned to normal so he only caught a glimpse of something strange.
"Nothing. The headphones suit you."
Croissant, finally allowed to stand up, gave a thumbs-up.
It was not quite the reaction she had imagined but judging from her teammates' expressions, they were clearly satisfied.
Originally, she just wanted to see Shirou's reaction to such a unique design.
Turns out… it worked pretty well.
The main reason she bought these headphones was that the ears were removable so even people who already had animal ears could use them.
But seeing that Shirou had no issues…
She decided not to mention it.
Because right now, bringing that up would probably get her beaten up by all four of them.
"Hmm… is that so?"
Looking at the still-glowing Lupo earphones in his hand, Shirou reluctantly chose to believe Croissant's explanation.
Maybe having a pair of beast ears on your head was actually pretty normal in Lungmen.
"Exusiai, send me some later."
Coming back to his senses, Sora realized she had not taken any photos, how could she forget to take pictures at a moment this interesting?!
"Sure thing, no problem. Texas, do you want some too?"
Exusiai naturally had no issue with it. The photos in Penguin Logistics' album were taken by her to share with everyone, though most people could not quite accept what was in them.
After all, most of what Exusiai captured were embarrassing "black history" moments.
"Mm."
Texas nodded. She also had her own album dedicated to storing these kinds of mischievous photos.
It could be said that, aside from Shirou, everyone in Penguin Logistics kept some embarrassing photos of others, partly to use for pranks when needed and partly because having the photos meant preserving those amusing moments.
In the end, through the quiet coordination of Texas, Sora, and Exusiai, this gift exchange turned out to be a win for everyone.
Shirou received a pretty nice gift, Croissant satisfied her mischievous streak, and the other three all gained something as well.
Only the person involved, Shirou felt like something was a bit off, though he could not quite put his finger on it.
After thinking about it for a long time, he gave up. Since he could not figure it out anyway, he might as well pretend nothing was wrong.
Once it got late and the four members of Penguin Logistics went upstairs to sleep, Shirou finally had some time to himself.
"I will check my messages and then do some training."
Holding his phone, Shirou returned to his room. Today he had contacted Swire and Snowsant and also added Hoshiguma as a friend, so he figured there would be quite a few messages.
Well… for him, messages from three people already counted as "a lot."
Opening his messages, the first one was from Snowsant, saying she had received the lunchbox and that the food was delicious and thanking him very much.
Shirou gave a simple reply, saying he would pick up the lunchbox later when he had time.
What he did not mention was that he planned to bring another lunchbox in exchange. Occasionally bringing her food every few days did not seem like a problem to him.
After all, Snowsant was half a teacher to him now, whenever he had questions he could not figure out from books, he could ask her, and she usually gave great answers.
The second and third messages were from Swire and Hoshiguma.
Swire said she had been busy today and could not properly host him, hoping he would visit again next time.
Overall, it sounded very much like something a refined young lady would say.
If Shirou had not seen Swire and Chen bickering earlier, he might have believed it. At this point, the image of the Guard Department's "big three" had pretty much collapsed in his mind.
Hoshiguma's message was even simpler—a "Hello" image. Since they had just added each other, there was not much to talk about yet.
After replying to both of them, Shirou put his phone away.
He still needed to train his magecraft. It was already late and if he delayed any longer, he might as well not sleep at all.
Training magecraft had already become part of his daily life. If he did not practice before bed, it felt like something was missing.
Sitting down on the mat he had laid out, Shirou extended his hand and focused his attention on it.
"Trace, on—
Analyze the concept of creation,
Hypothesize the basic structure,
Duplicate the material composition,
Imitate the crafting technique,
Sympathize with the growth experience,
Reproduce the accumulated years,
Surpass and complete countless processes—"
As the chant finished, a sword appeared in Shirou's hand, it was slender like the arrow Caladbolg, but with a slightly different appearance.
"Hrunting… once fired, it will keep chasing the target as long as the user does not fall? What a terrifying Noble Phantasm…"
Looking at the barbed, slender weapon in his hand, Shirou felt it was practically a bug-level weapon.
That said, the projection time and mana consumption were high. From the memories he had gained, Before use Archer could pour in a large amount of mana and spend more time charging it with mana for greater effect.
Even so, it did not change the fact that Hrunting was a very powerful Noble Phantasm.
Once fired, it turns into a magical bullet enveloped in a red light that reaches speeds of Mach 10 on the most direct path to its target and it will continue to pursue the target, even if is parried, repulsed, or avoided, for as long as the shooter keeps aiming at them, making it a perfect weapon for homing attacks or long-range sniping of a single target.
"Still… two or three shots and I would probably be out of mana…"
After evaluating the cost, Shirou concluded that Hrunting could only be used as a trump card. With his current mana reserves, the consumption was simply too great.
For normal sniping, ordinary arrows were more than enough. Hrunting was only really suitable for homing shots and using it at the start of a battle would be far too costly.
In the end, it all came down to mana! His reserves were just too poor. He needed to think carefully about his tactics.
"Seriously…"
After finishing his assessment, Shirou decided to lower Hrunting's priority.
In most situations, normal arrows would suffice and at most a single Broken Phantasm shot could finish things. Hrunting was not needed that often.
After dismissing the weapon, Shirou continued projecting other commonly used Noble Phantasms.
Over the past few days, he had frequently projected known Noble Phantasms and recorded their applications. Aside from the two divine constructs that might get him arrested if he projected them, he had basically memorized everything else.
The ones he used most often were Kanshou and Bakuya, bows, arrows, Caladbolg and Rho Aias, these were all highly versatile.
"…Yeah, let's not think about this anymore."
After reaching a stopping point, Shirou dispelled all his projections and lay flat on the mat.
Normally, after training, he would go straight to bed but thinking about the earphones he received today, he found himself unable to sleep.
"These past couple of days…"
He muttered softly while staring at the ceiling.
He had not expected that his small worries would attract so much attention from everyone at Penguin Logistics, to the point that they even gave him a gift.
Calling it a "worry" was… in truth, he had just been thinking about whether he could help the children in the slums, kids like Rope who were infected and helpless.
But he did not really have a good solution. Even if he wanted to help, he did not know where to start.
However, after today, Shirou did come up with an idea.
The only prerequisite… was that he needed money.