Afternoon, Lungmen streets.
"Hmm… you said the person you came with is a black-haired Feline. Aside from that, are there any other distinguishing features?"
Shirou walked through the streets of Lungmen, carrying his backpack in one hand and holding Rosmontis's hand with the other.
Mainly because he felt this child was a bit mischievous, if he did not hold her hand, she might disappear again in the blink of an eye.
It was true that he could see far but Rosmontis was too small and easily blocked from view by other people.
Based on her description, her companion was a black-haired Feline with blue eyes and a relatively tall figure.
The problem was that more than sixty percent of the people in Lungmen were Felines.
If he knew what the person looked like, he could just climb to a high place and search directly. But like this, it was difficult.
"Very big?"
Hearing Shirou's question, Rosmontis tapped a few times on the device in her hand, then tilted her head.
"Do not answer with a question… and what exactly is 'very big' supposed to mean?"
At this moment, Shirou felt a headache coming on. Still, he reminded himself to stay calm and help properly.
"It does not say."
Rosmontis looked at her terminal. The description of Blaze's appearance only included: black-haired Feline, blue eyes, very big, very warm, a bit reckless, but very reliable when serious…
As for physical traits, only the first few points counted. The rest were more like personal impressions.
"Alright then. You said you got separated around here, right?"
Seeing how absent-minded Rosmontis seemed, Shirou decided he had to take the initiative. Otherwise, he would have no choice but to take her to the Guard Department, which was still some distance away.
Holding her left hand, Shirou walked on the side closer to the road.
"Mm. I sensed something familiar, so I ran out."
Rosmontis nodded while hugging her terminal with her right hand.
"…And did you find it?"
Shirou originally wanted to scold her for that but in the end, he could not bring himself to.
She was just a child. Being playful was normal.
Besides, to Rosmontis, he was just a stranger.
Though, it was still a bit strange to ask someone you barely knew to help find another person.
"I found it… but also did not find it…"
As she said this, Shirou felt her grip on his hand tighten.
He could tell that Rosmontis was feeling uneasy.
He needed to change the topic.
"Hmm… Rosmontis, do you really like the word 'Rhodes Island'?"
Shirou pointed at the large English words on her clothing.
He could not think of a better topic and he had just noticed the bold "RHODES ISLAND" printed on her outfit.
Translated, it seemed to mean "Rhodes… Island?"
It sounded familiar, like he had heard it somewhere before.
"Mm, I like it a lot. Everyone at Rhodes Island is very nice to me."
Hearing this, Rosmontis's mood shifted away from her earlier gloom.
"Everyone at Rhodes Island? Is Rhodes Island a company name?"
Shirou felt like something was not quite right.
If Rhodes Island was a company, and Rosmontis was part of it…
Child labor?
No, no. He could not jump to conclusions. This land was complicated and things like that were not unheard of.
"Mm, Rhodes Island is… is… a hiring company?"
Rosmontis once again answered with a question, tilting her head.
"There are too many things to complain about… so what you are wearing is a uniform? Is the person you are looking for dressed the same?"
At this point, Shirou had developed resistance to her way of speaking and could not be bothered to comment anymore.
The priority was to find her companion. With new clues, he decided to work from there.
"I remember she was wearing white."
Rosmontis tried hard to recall.
"Then that helps. Let us keep that in mind, your companion is a black-haired Feline wearing a white coat, with 'Rhodes Island' written on it."
Seeing how hard she was trying, Shirou could only piece together the information.
Compared to the initial clue of just "a black Feline" this was already much better.
They wandered around the area for quite a while. Every time they saw a black-haired Feline in a white coat, Shirou would take Rosmontis over to check.
But the efficiency was not great.
After checking three or four people, none of them were the person they were looking for.
Even though it was not noon yet, the weather in Lungmen was still quite warm after walking around for so long.
Rosmontis would pull her hand away every so often, wipe off the sweat, and then hold Shirou's hand again.
She was wearing a large black coat, and Shirou was starting to worry whether she might get heatstroke. As they walked, he tried to stay in shaded areas as much as possible.
In the end, perhaps finding it too troublesome, Rosmontis simply wrapped her tail around Shirou's hand.
"…You can use your tail like that?"
Looking at the Feline tail wrapped around his right wrist, Shirou asked.
If he remembered correctly, most people with tails were quite sensitive about them being touched.
Take Texas for example, within Penguin Logistics probably only Sora could touch her tail.
Exusiai could sometimes do it too but only when Texas was in a good mood.
As for Croissant, she did not seem interested in that sort of thing.
As for him… he was a little curious but for various reasons he had never said it out loud.
After all, tails were considered very private. You could not just go around asking to touch someone's tail, that would be rude.
So Rosmontis's behavior left Shirou completely at a loss.
"Mm, this is more convenient."
Rosmontis answered calmly, using both hands to operate her terminal.
Her logic was simple: hands would get sweaty and make the other person uncomfortable but since Shirou seemed worried she might get lost and wanted to hold her hand, she replaced it with her tail.
As long as it was not pulled, she would not feel much.
This also freed both her hands to record what happened today on her terminal.
"…Well, as long as you are happy."
Seeing how unconcerned she was, Shirou decided to let her be.
Using reinforcement magecraft on his eyes, he carefully scanned the crowd filled with people of all sorts of colorful hair, searching for someone with black hair.
"Hmm?"
He did not find a black-haired Feline, but he did spot a drink shop with a black sign.
They had walked quite a long distance. Shirou himself was fine but he had to consider that Rosmontis was still a child.
"Rosmontis, are you thirsty? There is a drink shop over there. Do you want to drink something?"
Shirou turned around and tapped her shoulder with his left hand.
Ever since Rosmontis wrapped her tail around his right hand, he had not moved it at all.
"I am a little thirsty."
Rosmontis blinked as she answered.
She could endure this level of discomfort but the money for outings was with Blaze, and once she returned to Rhodes Island, her diet would be controlled again.
Even though she knew it was for her own good, she still wanted to eat.
Even if she would not remember it later, it did not matter.
"Then let us go."
Shirou could clearly see her genuine craving for sweets.
As for why he could tell?
When someone orders food from you every day, you naturally learn to read it.
Shirou ordered a cup of tea, while Rosmontis ordered a fruit juice.
She carefully took a sip, then scrunched up her face. After relaxing, she took another sip and scrunched up again.
If Shirou remembered correctly, the juice she ordered was the kind that was both very sour and sweet.
It was a unique taste, to say the least.
"Let us sit here and finish our drinks. We can rest a bit too."
Shirou found a seat inside the shop. Compared to outside, the air conditioning inside was pleasantly cool.
At least Rosmontis seemed to enjoy it. She held her juice with both hands, sitting on the chair while her feet dangled and swung in the air.
Seeing how much she was enjoying herself, Shirou ordered a small cake for her as well.
"Is this really okay?"
Rosmontis's eyes lit up when she saw the cake.
"Go ahead and eat. You need energy to keep walking, right?"
Shirou pushed the cake toward her.
"Thank you."
Rosmontis thanked him, then placed the juice and cake together and took a photo with her terminal to record the moment.
She was so focused on the cake that she did not notice she had accidentally captured Shirou in the photo as well.
After all, being shorter meant the camera angle was lower.
"You did not frame that very well, did you?"
After spending so much time with Penguin Logistics, Shirou had learned that there were people in Lungmen who liked to start their meals by taking photos before eating.
Among them, Sora did it the most, she said it was to show her fans. She often asked the others from Penguin Logistics to help take photos too.
He had even once been entrusted with taking a photo.
It was a picture of Sora together with a dessert he made himself.
"It is fine. I mainly just want to record that I have eaten dessert."
Rosmontis put down her terminal and said to Shirou.
"I noticed you have been using that the whole time. Do you really like recording things around you?"
Shirou finally asked what he had been wondering since earlier.
Ever since they met, Rosmontis had been operating that device every now and then.
"No… I… often forget things, so I have to record them. That way, even if I forget, I can still see what I have done before."
After hesitating for a moment, Rosmontis opened her terminal and showed Shirou part of it.
"April 20th. Amiya seemed very busy today. Blaze, Ace, and Scout all had their own missions, so I stayed in the therapy garden. Miss Lena introduced me to many flowers…"
Below that were several photos of flowers along with simple descriptions.
"…Sorry."
After taking a brief look, Shirou stopped.
This was Rosmontis's diary. Reading someone else's diary was not appropriate.
Even if the owner allowed it, it still felt wrong.
Besides, what he was doing felt like rubbing salt into someone's wound.
"It is okay. The cake is very delicious."
While Shirou had been looking at the terminal, Rosmontis had already taken a bite of the cake.
It was sweet and soft.
The fruit inside was delicious as well.
"Haha…"
Hearing her response, Shirou let out a small laugh.
He had been thinking so much, while the person involved did not care at all, she only cared about the cake in front of her.
"?"
Rosmontis tilted her head in confusion.
"It is nothing. Let me take a picture for you. Open the camera for me."
Shirou waved his hand.
"Mm."
Hearing that Shirou would help take a photo, Rosmontis happily agreed. People at Rhodes Island often helped her take pictures.
Compared to her own photos, theirs always looked much better.
Though she also felt that her own photos were gradually improving.
Still, she preferred others taking them because it felt like everyone was helping her preserve these memories together.
"Alright, I am taking it."
Holding Rosmontis's terminal, Shirou adjusted the angle to clearly capture her face along with the cake and juice on the table and then took the picture.
He glanced at it briefly.
In the photo, Rosmontis held a fork in her right hand, about to eat the cake, her expression extremely focused. There was even a bit of cream at the corner of her mouth.
…Somehow, it felt a little amusing.
Shirou silently commented in his mind, then returned the terminal to her.
"Thank you."
After wiping her hands, Rosmontis tapped a few times on the terminal, added a small note to the corner of the photo and saved it.
"Take your time eating. There is no need to rush."
Shirou gestured for her to enjoy the cake slowly.
He had something to take care of as well, he had forgotten to check whether the inhibitor injections he bought earlier were intact.
If they were damaged, that would be bad. They were expensive and if he did not confirm on the spot, he would have to accept the loss.
He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, then took out the inhibitors and opened them to check.
He could have used magecraft, but that would be too conspicuous. If someone mistook it for using Originium Arts in the city, he might get taken in by the Guard Department.
After quickly confirming that all three were intact, Shirou let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you an Infected too, Amiya?"
Rosmontis, still chewing on cake, suddenly asked.
"I am not Infected and it is Emiya, not Amiya. Amiya is your friend, right? Do not put your friend's name on a stranger!"
After putting away the three injections, Shirou replied.
He had only just learned who Amiya was from the diary earlier. If she was recorded there, she must be someone close to Rosmontis.
"It sounds similar, so I remembered it wrong."
The little cat girl tilted her head and blinked, looking completely innocent as she said it.