"Oh, that was fast. As expected of the Guard Department."
Inside the shop, while tidying up, Shirou watched as the people he had just knocked out were carried away one after another, and could not help but marvel at the Guard Department's efficiency.
"…Yeah, right. As expected of the Guard Department."
Phal, who knew the truth, had a slightly strange expression when he heard Shirou's comment, but after thinking for a moment, he went along with it.
After all, Sis Hoshiguma worked in the Guard Department so praising the Guard Department was basically praising her. There was nothing wrong with that.
"There will not be any retaliation later, right?"
Rope stuffed the Lungmen coins she had retrieved from Shirou back into the cash register. Two thousand was half a month's profit for this shop.
What worried her more now was whether those people would come back for revenge. They did not look like local slum gang members and that was precisely why she was concerned.
If the other side really decided to retaliate ruthlessly, it would become a big problem.
"Do not worry. With me around, they would not dare. They just happened to exploit a gap this time."
Phal yawned as he spoke. Although he did not know who that man was just now, if Sister Hoshiguma said it was fine then it definitely was.
"I did not think of that… I have been too busy lately. My mind has not been working clearly."
After being reminded by Rope, Shirou felt a bit regretful about his earlier impulsiveness.
"I told you it is fine. Do not worry too much. Officer Hoshiguma will handle it."
Phal patted Shirou on the back as he spoke.
The main issue was that this could not be explained directly. That would make things troublesome. If everything could just be said clearly, there would not be so many problems. No one wants to speak in riddles for no reason.
"Alright, then I will leave it to you for now. I will get going first."
Shirou naturally trusted Phal. He had always been someone who trusted others easily. Since Phal mentioned that Hoshiguma would handle it, Shirou felt relieved. After checking the time on his phone, he hurried to leave.
He could not stay here for long. There were still four mouths waiting to be fed back at the dormitory.
"Be careful on the way."
Seeing how rushed Shirou was, the two of them did not try to keep him. They both knew how busy he was.
After Shirou got on his bicycle and rode past the usual stalls he frequented, the man who had just spoken with Phal stepped out of the alley holding his phone.
"The target has left. Should we continue following?"
Watching Shirou disappear into the distance, the man spoke into his phone.
"There is no need to follow him. How is the situation at the shop? Were they frightened?"
"It seems they were well protected."
"Good. Very good. Then how do you think these children are living?"
When asked this question, the man's usually calm face showed a somewhat helpless expression.
"…They are probably living quite well. I cannot guarantee anything else but at least when it comes to food, they are doing well."
"Haha, that must have been difficult for you. Take a good rest for a while. You have worked hard."
"Understood. But I need to deal with these stray wolves first."
"Alright. Remember to submit the information you gathered."
On the other end of the call, an elderly Zalak man, dressed in a black suit, put down his phone.
"The Penguin picked up quite an interesting fellow. An altruist… would he not be more suitable for the Guard Department?"
The old man flipped through the documents on his desk. Although there were many files, the one he was reading was Shirou's.
Compared to the thick dossiers of ordinary Lungmen citizens, Shirou's file was extremely thin, it only had a few pages.
On one hand, it was impossible to trace his past. On the other hand, the Emperor and Yith had deliberately concealed his information.
However, obtaining that hidden information would be very easy for the old man before him.
"Shirou Shirou. Race: Aegir. Age: 20… probably false. Currently employed at Penguin Logistics as a housekeeper…"
Looking at the file, the old man distinguished which parts were true and which were false.
Since he was operating in the slums, he needed to understand the other party's background clearly.
"There does not seem to be any major issue… at least it does not differ much from the collected intelligence. I should go take a look."
He placed the file back on the desk, picked up a cane engraved with a dragon's head, stood up, put on a white coat and walked out of the room.
After hearing his subordinate's report and reading the file, the old man decided to see the shop personally.
Some things must be seen with one's own eyes to determine whether they are good or bad.
Meanwhile, Shirou was pedaling at full speed, rushing back to the Penguin Logistics dormitory.
"If I do not hurry, dinner is going to turn into a late-night meal."
He pushed hard on the pedals and the basket in front of the bicycle was filled to the brim.
He sped past car after car and motorcycle after motorcycle, leaving onlookers staring in astonishment.
Soon, he rushed back to the dormitory, grabbed two large bags and ran upstairs.
As he opened the dormitory door, he was met with four pairs of unfriendly eyes staring at him.
"Ahem… I can explain."
Holding the two large bags, Shirou looked awkwardly at everyone in the room as he tried to defend himself.
"It is fine, take your time."
Seeing Shirou's hair blown into a messy state by the wind, Sora spoke first to break the awkward atmosphere.
Hearing Sora's words, Shirou immediately slipped into the kitchen and shut the door behind him.
Fortunately, he had known he would be going to the training ground today, so he had already prepared the main dishes at noon. Now he only needed to cook the side dishes.
"You all saw it just now, right?"
Watching Shirou rush into the kitchen and close the door, Exusiai put down the controller in her hand and spoke to her teammates.
"Saw it."
Croissant beside her also set down her controller.
"Yeah."
Texas nodded.
"Saw what?"
Sora was completely out of the loop and had no idea what her teammates were talking about.
She was finding it harder and harder to understand how their minds worked.
"His hair, his hair. Has Shirou not had a haircut for a while?"
Exusiai lifted her own hair, mimicking how Shirou looked just now.
"Huh? That is what you meant?"
Croissant turned to look at her teammates, questioning reality. Should it not be that Shirou himself seemed a bit strange?
Coming back this late and acting so rushed, no matter how you look at it, it felt suspicious.
"Hm?"
Hearing Exusiai's words, Texas tilted her head in confusion.
Confused about what Exusiai said and also about what exactly filled her teammates' brains.
"His hair? I think he cut it about two months ago."
Sora went along with Exusiai's topic, trying to catch up with the conversation.
"It got this long in just two months? With how hot the weather is, he should cut it. Otherwise, if you just put a halo on him, he could replace me at work… huh? That actually does not sound bad?"
Exusiai continued chatting with Sora. Shirou was great at taking care of everyone else, but not so attentive to himself.
If they did not bring up things like his hair, he would probably only notice when it crossed his mind or someone reminded him.
On top of that, both he and Exusiai had red hair and he was technically competing with her for a sniper position at Penguin Logistics.
If he grew his hair long and added a halo, would he not basically become her?
Thinking about it, Exusiai felt it might actually work. If that happened, could she make Shirou take her shifts?
"Exusiai, snap out of it. Shirou does not even use a gun."
Seeing Exusiai planning something strange, Croissant reminded her.
"Be realistic."
Texas rolled her eyes helplessly at Exusiai's comment.
"I think the height does not match either. Shirou is much taller than you."
Sora compared Exusiai's height with her memory of Shirou's.
"So what if I am shorter? I am only shorter when standing. Lying down, I might not lose to Shirou!"
Hearing Sora's comment, Exusiai puffed out her chest and declared confidently.
"Cough… I think Shirou would not necessarily lose."
Croissant seemed to think of something, coughed awkwardly and after speaking, picked up the controller to continue playing.
"A perverted angel and a cream puff."
Texas shifted slightly, looking at her teammates with disdain.
"???"
Sora looked completely confused and then she was pulled aside by Texas to continue reading her magazine.
Naturally, Shirou, who was busy in the kitchen, did not hear any of Penguin Logistics' conversation.
By the time he finished preparing dinner and brought it out, everyone from Penguin Logistics was already seated at the table. Especially Exusiai and Croissant, whose eyes were practically burning as they stared at the food in his hands.
"Sorry for being a bit late. Hurry and eat."
Shirou was holding Sora's portion. Compared to the others, Sora ate more gracefully and more slowly so Shirou usually served her first.
"I will help."
Exusiai dashed into the kitchen and casually brought out two portions.
Croissant's and Texas's were easy to identify. The ones with more meat belonged to them. Exusiai's portion was more balanced.
"Is today's menu a bit too healthy?"
Looking at the dishes in front of her, Croissant recalled a "healthy meal" that a certain angel once bought when she said she wanted to lose weight.
The kind that looked extremely healthy at first glance and made it hard to feel any appetite. Though Shirou's version only showed a hint of that if you looked closely.
She picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks. It was marinated very thoroughly.
"Last time after exercise, the food was too greasy and you all did not have much appetite. So this time I made it lighter."
Shirou pulled out a chair and sat at the table as he explained. He always paid close attention to everyone's eating habits.
After the last training session, the dishes Shirou made were quite heavily seasoned.
As a result, everyone seemed to struggle a bit while eating, though they still forced themselves to finish.
So this time, Shirou deliberately made the food lighter in flavor.
"Oh, right, something like that did happen."
Exusiai picked up some food with her chopsticks and took a bite.
It tasted pretty good. No issues at all.
"Lighter is nice too."
Sora usually preferred lighter flavors anyway so this meal suited her perfectly.
"Mm."
Texas did not mind much. As long as the food was not too strange, she would eat it.
"Mom, I will make sure to finish everything. Do not worry."
Hearing Shirou's explanation, Croissant looked deeply moved.
"No dessert for you. Sora, Texas, do you want an extra serving of dessert?"
In response to Croissant's words, Shirou calmly announced the fate of tonight's dessert.
Sora and Texas nodded, indicating they had no problem with that.
"Hmph, I noticed earlier. Shirou, you did not buy any dessert today!"
Croissant said, pushing up imaginary glasses as she spoke.
"I made various flavors of ice cream before going to bed yesterday. What a pity, there is none for you."
Shirou gave Croissant a subtle smile.
He had quite a bit of leftover cream and milk from previous dessert experiments. Then he remembered a method he saw in a video: you could make ice cream using a large bowl and a smaller bowl.
Put ice and salt into the large bowl, place the smaller bowl inside, pour in two cups of cream and one cup of condensed milk, then keep stirring until it thickens slightly before putting it into the freezer.
You could also add fruit purée to create different flavors.
Shirou only made condensed milk flavor and dark chocolate flavor, mainly because the freezer was not big enough to hold more.
"I was wrong, I truly was wrong. Please, Shirou, have mercy and forgive my ignorance."
Hearing there was ice cream, Croissant immediately lowered her head and apologized sincerely.
Dignity? Pride? What were those?
Were they tastier than ice cream?
In this kind of weather, ice cream was the best thing ever.
"Croissant, you…"
Watching everything unfold, Sora sounded a bit helpless.
This kind of scene played out almost every day and Shirou was becoming more and more cunning.
At first, his sharp side was subtle, like quietly stabbing you when you least expected it.
Now, he would openly show the knife, stab you twice and you would still have to thank him afterward.
When exactly did he become like this? It must have been Exusiai and Croissant's influence.
Thinking of that, Sora sighed.
The old Shirou was gone for good.
"Wait, Shirou, why did you not ask me just now?"
Exusiai watched the whole scene while eating, finding it oddly entertaining, like it made the meal taste even better.
Then she realized something was off. Why did Shirou only ask Sora and Texas, but not her?
In response, Shirou gave her a look, telling her to figure it out herself.
"Is there chocolate?"
Texas was more concerned about the ice cream flavors, whether there was chocolate or coffee. Anything too sweet was not her preference.
"Yes, I made it with dark chocolate."
Shirou knew Texas's preferences well, so he specifically made a dark chocolate ice cream for her.
Since condensed milk and cream were already somewhat sweet, pairing them with dark chocolate balanced the sweetness nicely. At least, Shirou found it perfectly fine.
After hearing that, Texas nodded and began eating faster.
She was really looking forward to Shirou's ice cream.