After eating their fill, it was time for Penguin Logistics to "bond."
In other words, they gathered in Shirou's living room each doing their own thing.
Sometimes they would maintain their weapons or just relax and loaf around.
About eighty percent of the time was spent lazing around. After all, they had been busy working all day and needed time to relieve stress.
Croissant and Exusiai occupied the sofa area while Shirou, Sora, and Texas sat at the cleaned table reading.
Shirou wore his Lupo-ear headphones, reading the book in his hands while marking key points.
Just like usual.
The difference this time was that Shirou was not fully focused on the book right now. Instead he was thinking about what happened today.
Rhodes Island… this pharmaceutical company…Shirou had already looked into it a bit. There was not much information but it was indeed a registered company.
Although the fact that they employed child workers made him question their reliability, they had said they were willing to help treat Rope.
Shirou planned to bring Rope there first to take a look. If there were no problems he would try to explain their situation afterward.
It was not that he doubted them. From his conversations today with Rosmontis, Blaze, he could roughly piece together what kind of place Rhodes Island was.
Of course, most of that impression came from Rosmontis.
So Shirou was not worried that Rhodes Island would harm the infected. What he cared about was the medical resources at their Lungmen branch.
If it was not up to standard, he would probably consider talking to Aak again.
"Hmm…"
Thinking this far, Shirou stretched his body, feeling his back and waist crack slightly.
He had been thinking too long and his body had stiffened.
"Water."
Sora poured a glass of water and placed it in front of him. Whenever Shirou got focused, he often forgot about his surroundings.
Concentration was a good thing but ignoring everything else was not.
So Sora would pour him a cup whenever he finished a section.
"Thanks."
Taking the cup, Shirou drank it in one go.
"Did you run into a difficult problem? You have been staring at that page for a long time."
Texas set down her phone and asked.
If she remembered correctly, Shirou had been on that page for over an hour.
If he had not turned the page for that long, he must have encountered some difficulty.
Even if she could not help, a bit of casual conversation might help him relax.
"It is fine. I was just thinking about something."
Shirou took off his headphones as he replied.
"Something on your mind?"
Texas recalled their earlier discussion and asked with a bit of concern.
"It is nothing. I just ran into a lost kid today."
After thinking it over, Shirou decided that Rosmontis's matter could be mentioned. As for Rhodes Island and the Fuyuki shop, he would talk about those another time.
At least not now, especially the matter of the Fuyuki shop.
"So you helped that kid find their family? Is that why you came back late today?"
Hearing this, Sora immediately filled in the gaps.
"More or less. I mainly wandered around with her for quite a while."
Shirou thought about it and found that it was indeed accurate.
"I see."
Sora looked enlightened.
"That really sounds like something you would do."
From the sofa, Exusiai turned around and leaned over the backrest as she spoke.
"Even if you praise me, I am not giving you anything."
Facing Exusiai's sudden compliment, Shirou felt she definitely had some ulterior motive.
"That is harsh. Do I really look like that kind of person?"
Exusiai hopped over the sofa and walked toward Shirou.
If he gave an answer she did not like, she was ready to strike him with a chop.
"Not really."
Shirou shook his head, tidied up the things on the table slightly, and continued, "Because you simply are."
"Hey!"
Exusiai launched her attack, stretching out her right hand as she charged toward Shirou.
"Honestly…"
Seeing the scene, Sora wore a helpless expression.
Meanwhile, Texas quietly took a sip of tea. She was going to sleep soon so she did not drink coffee this time.
"…got it."
"Wait, wait, hold on. Shirou, did you just say you helped a lost child?"
Croissant suddenly jumped up from the sofa and asked, looking at Shirou whose cheek was currently being pinched by Exusiai.
"Yeah, what about it?"
With one side of his face being tugged even though it did not hurt, Shirou's speech came out a bit distorted.
"Was it a white-haired Feline?"
Croissant continued.
"Croissant, did you find something?"
Hearing that, Sora felt Croissant must have come across something, which was why she was asking.
"It is in Lungmen's top ten trending topics. The title is 'Cute Little Feline and Fierce Big Brother.'"
Croissant turned her phone around to show everyone the photo on it.
It clearly showed a red-haired man carrying a white-haired Feline on his back.
There was no need to say more , it was a photo of Shirou carrying Rosmontis. No one knew when it had been taken.
The angle was from the side, so unless you looked carefully, it was hard to recognize him. As for why he was labeled "fierce"… it was probably the hairstyle.
Shirou felt tired just thinking about it and decided not to comment.
"Tsk tsk, you really are popular with kids."
Croissant took her phone back and saved the picture.
It was pretty interesting, was it not?
"There are a lot more if you scroll down. Shirou, where did you even find such a cute little Feline? Why did you not bring her back?"
After hearing about this, Exusiai immediately let go of Shirou, grabbed her own phone and started scrolling. As she swiped down, she found that many people had uploaded their own photos.
The quality and angles varied but there were a few really good shots.
"She has a home to go back to, you know."
Shirou replied irritably.
"That one where she used her tail instead of her hand to hold yours is way too cute! I am dying from the cuteness!"
Exusiai did not even respond to Shirou. She was busy scrolling through the comments and photos.
People simply could not resist cute things. And since it involved someone they knew, it was even harder to resist.
Just look at it, such a sweet and juicy piece of gossip. How could anyone not indulge?
"There is a contrast to it. No wonder everyone is so into it."
As an idol, Sora could more or less understand why people were so interested.
Putting contrasting elements together made things more appealing. And since both people in the photo looked good, some people had already started shipping them. Many of the comments reflected that.
"The maximum sentence is the death penalty. Shirou, you should be careful."
Exusiai clearly saw those comments too. With a subtle smile, she warned him.
"Before I die, I will take the two of you down with me. Do not worry."
Shirou replied.
Then he could not help but feel that the people here were strange.
No, more specifically, the people of Lungmen were strange. He had no idea if other places were like this too.
"Hey… don't. When you say that, it sounds way too convincing. Please do not joke like that."
Hearing Shirou's words, Exusiai felt a chill down her spine.
This was no joke. Shirou definitely had enough firepower. With long-range sniping and explosives, he could make her die without even knowing what happened and there would be no evidence.
After all, his weapons were created out of thin air and disappeared after use.
"Yeah, yeah. Do not joke like that."
Croissant hid behind Exusiai and poked her head out in protest.
"Now you are scared? You looked pretty brave just now. Why not keep going?"
Seeing their worried expressions, Texas commented.
This was how it should be. Look at how well-behaved they are now.
"Relax, I was just saying it."
Seeing the two hiding behind the sofa, Shirou sighed.
He was telling the truth, he was only saying it.
If he really intended to act, he would have done so long ago. After all, Exusiai and Croissant were always causing a ruckus.
Besides, he could tell that they were more restrained around Texas and Sora but much more daring around him.
They were simply taking advantage of the fact that he would not get angry.
"Really?"
Exusiai poked her head out from behind the sofa to ask.
Her head might have been hidden, but her halo was completely exposed.
The same went for Croissant with part of her horns sticking out. It was a good thing Texas handled infiltration missions. If it were these two, the mission would probably fail instantly.
"Really. But you two should restrain yourselves a bit. Otherwise, I am afraid one day I might not be able to hold back."
Seeing that Exusiai and Croissant did not seem that scared, Shirou added another line.
The two immediately shrank back again. This time, even their halo and horns were nowhere to be seen, they had probably flattened themselves against the sofa.
"Wow… is it really that scary?"
As a well-behaved girl, Sora did not quite realize how dark that last line from Shirou had been.
"Sora, think about Shirou's fighting style and you will understand why they are so scared."
Seeing that Sora did not quite get it, Texas gave her a small reminder.
With that hint, Sora immediately understood.
"Do not worry, I was just scaring them. It is fine if they joke about me but involving other people is not good."
Shirou sat back down and said calmly.
He did not mind being joked about himself. But once it involved others, the nature of it changed.
He could not guess what others were thinking, so how could he know whether they would be okay with such jokes?
"So that is what you were worried about?"
Hearing this, Texas felt that Shirou… did not value himself very highly.
Compared to himself, he seemed to care more about how others felt.
She wondered where he placed himself in his own priorities.
"That does make sense. The other party is still a child. Jokes like that really do go too far."
Sora, on the other hand, strongly agreed with Shirou.
Because of her work, she often interacted with child performers.
Those children were easily influenced by the outside world, especially in such a high-pressure environment.
"I understand now."
On the other side, Exusiai sat up and spoke with a sincere expression.
As for how much of that sincerity could be trusted… Shirou decided to believe it for now.
"I will not do it again next time."
Croissant said from beside her.
"I think it is more like you will definitely do it again next time."
Shirou chuckled.
After all, every time Croissant got caught for street vending, she would say the same thing—"I will not do it again." The people at the Guard Department had heard it so often their ears were practically calloused.
As for how Shirou knew?
Miss Swire had mentioned that the Lungmen-style dishes in her lunchboxes had been getting better and better lately and wondered when Shirou would pack up and come work at the Guard Department.
Hoshiguma next door strongly agreed with her.
"Hehe, do not expose me like that. We can still be friends."
Exposed, Croissant scratched her head awkwardly.
"In that case, you can order takeout yourself."
As soon as Shirou said that, Croissant instantly jumped up.
Then she bent ninety degrees in a deep bow and said sincerely, "I was really wrong. Please do not touch this one thing."
It was not a joke, over the past three months, her wallet had finally started to grow fat. Give her a little more time, and she would definitely expand her street business!
If Shirou stopped cooking, her business dream would be over. Not just that, she might even lose all the money she had saved!
"This scene feels like something I have seen many times."
Watching the interaction between Shirou, Exusiai, and Croissant, Texas felt a sense of déjà vu. It seemed like she saw this exact situation every so often.
It probably was not her imagination.
"It has happened quite a lot. And the pattern is always the same. Those two provoke Shirou and then Shirou counterattacks and defeats them."
Sora whispered to Texas.
Right now, she was not sure whether Shirou was actually angry so she kept her voice low.
"No wonder."
Now that she knew it was not her imagination, Texas did not bother commenting further.
As long as Shirou could handle it himself, that was enough. The most she could do was stay out of it and not add to his burden.
About half an hour later, after making sure the two had learned their lesson, Shirou sent all four of them upstairs.
Mainly because he did not want to be interrogated.
By tomorrow, they would probably forget about it anyway.
After all, it was just a small piece of gossip. And they already knew most of the story, anything they wanted to ask would just be minor details.
He had heard their earlier discussion. While they would not pry into things he had not mentioned, once something was widely known and confirmed to be harmless, they would definitely dig into it.
He did not want to be surrounded and questioned so he simply sent them upstairs.
Besides… he still had some things to arrange.
It was about the upcoming treatment.
Right now, Shirou could only hope that Rhodes Island would come through.
That would save him a lot of trouble.