On the other side, after buying rice and heading back, Shirou saw an elderly woman on the road who had dropped her things because they were too heavy and could not pick them up so he went over and helped her carry them.
Right after that, he suddenly felt a strong wave of malice directed at him, making his whole body feel cold.
Looking around, Shirou did not spot anyone suspicious.
However, he did catch sight of Chen walking away in the distance.
"…It cannot be that Officer Chen is cursing me behind my back, right?"
Dismissing the thought, Shirou hoisted the old woman's belongings onto his shoulder and helped carry them to her destination.
Since he happened to run into her, he just helped out.
The items were not heavy and the distance was short. After finishing, Shirou quickly returned to the shop.
"You are back?"
The first to greet him was Phal, who was standing by the cashier, supervising Rope as she did her homework.
"Shirou, please save me…"
Rope looked up with teary eyes as if she were about to cry.
That guy Phal had somehow pulled out a test paper from who-knows-where and made her do it and he was even sitting beside her to supervise.
Too cruel!
How could he bring out something as evil as an exam paper?!
"Do not mind her. She was playing on her phone just now so I gave her the test. I will keep an eye on her. You go do your thing."
Phal waved his hand, telling Shirou to go about his business.
Looking at Rope, whose face clearly said "I do not want to do this," and Phal, who seemed to be enjoying it, Shirou decided to pretend he saw nothing and carried the rice into the kitchen.
Only after Shirou went inside did the two outside finally relax.
Then Phal spoke:
"Same as usual, do not bring this up in front of him."
"…Sigh, we have really done a lot for Shirou."
As he spoke, Phal suddenly sighed.
For Shirou, for this shop, they had done so much, himself, Rope, Jaye, Hoshiguma and even some unnamed people were protecting this place.
Was Shirou some kind of magnet for benefactors? Why were so many people willing to help him?
Or were they all hooked by his cooking?
Well… just joking.
More likely, it was because of Shirou's character. At least from what he knew, Hoshiguma helped because she thought Shirou was reliable.
As for those unnamed people?
If Hoshiguma said they were fine, then they were fine. There was no need for him to think too much about it.
Anyway, he himself, Rope and Jaye were definitely hooked by the food.
"Yeah, yeah."
For once, Rope agreed with Phal.
Though, could he stop making her do homework? This was going to ruin their friendship.
"What are you two talking about?"
After putting things away, Shirou walked out of the kitchen.
Unless there was something special, he usually did not stay in the kitchen for long anymore.
Otherwise, people would keep coming in asking if food was for sale.
"It is nothing, I was just teaching her how to solve problems."
Phal tapped the test paper in front of Rope.
Seeing Rope reluctantly working on her homework, Shirou did not ask further.
Right now, he just wanted to rest properly.
Rest was so he could go further. Only by resting well could he have enough energy at night to continue searching for clues.
He wondered how things were going on Yith's side.
"Hmm? Shirou, you are going to rest again?"
Seeing Shirou about to lie down on a small table nearby, Rope asked.
He had seemed very tired these past few days and it made her a bit worried.
She did not know what he had been busy with.
She did know that Shirou had another job. She had heard of Penguin Logistics.
There was even a saying in Lungmen:
If you hear gunfire, explosions or racing sounds on the street and you see a Penguin Logistics vehicle, that is normal. But if you do not see one then you should report it to the Guard Department.
From that, you could tell what kind of "impact" Penguin Logistics had on Lungmen, people had practically stopped reporting them.
"Yeah, I have been busy lately."
Shirou rubbed his shoulders and neck to relax, in case he woke up later with sore muscles.
"Is it work from Penguin Logistics? Do you need help?"
Rope put down the worksheet in her hands and asked:
"If the job is simple, I can help too… as long as it's not something important."
"Hmm… you could say it is Penguin Logistics work, I guess. But there is also a bit of my own personal matter mixed in. You do not need to worry about it, it is just something for this period of time."
Hearing Rope's concern, Shirou gave a brief explanation.
After all, he had been catching up on sleep here these past few days so it was only natural for her to worry.
As for letting Rope help?
He had no such plans for now.
After all, the target involved Infected individuals.
Even though he had not faced them directly, Shirou felt the opponent definitely had some combat ability.
And if the enemy had combat ability, that meant danger.
All he wanted was for everyone to have a peaceful and happy childhood. It was better for them to stay away from dangerous matters like this.
"Oh… alright."
Seeing that Shirou had already said this much, Rope did not press further.
She had seen her fair share of ups and downs and she understood this kind of social boundary.
"Why not buy a reclining chair? Can you even sleep properly like that?"
Phal suggested from the side.
Originally, they had planned to let Shirou sleep upstairs or in the room across from him but Shirou insisted this was fine.
Just watching him sleep like that made Phal feel like his own aging neck and shoulders were starting to ache.
"It is too expensive. No."
Lying on the table, Shirou turned his head to look at Phal.
He did not even know how much a reclining chair cost but he would rather use that money to buy more ingredients or support the shop's operations.
"It is not just for you! Me, Rope and Jaye can use it too. When we are tired, we can lie down and nap, it is pure bliss!"
Facing Shirou's miserly attitude, Phal tried to persuade him.
"Hmm… if you guys want to use it, then go ahead and buy one."
After thinking for a moment, Shirou relented.
"…Is it that easy?"
Phal had already prepared a whole speech to convince him but he succeeded in just one sentence?
At least resist a little!
This way he felt no sense of accomplishment at all.
Well whatever, the goal was achieved.
"If you need it, then buy it. I do not mind."
Shirou was simply reluctant to spend money on himself. But if it was for others, then it did not matter.
He still had some savings and an ordinary reclining chair was definitely affordable.
"Say, Shirou… do you even know how to enjoy life?"
Hearing that, Phal suddenly realized something.
Shirou hardly spent money on himself.
Not basic necessities but things for personal enjoyment.
Food, clothes, entertainment.
Food did not count, Shirou could handle that himself.
As for clothes, Phal remembered Shirou only had two outfits that he rotated between.
And entertainment? Everyone else in Lungmen practically glued their eyes to their phones, while Shirou only checked his occasionally.
So… was Shirou some kind of monk seeking enlightenment? Living such an ascetic life?
Thinking about it carefully he really was like that and he was pouring all his earnings into this place.
Phal knew he could not do the same. If he had money, he would first improve his own life and only then think about helping others.
People always secure themselves first before thinking of others.
"Enjoy life?"
Shirou repeated the phrase in confusion, then said:
"Things being like this are already pretty good are they not?"
"What he means is that you should think a bit more about yourself."
Rope, with her deadpan eyes, looked at Shirou and explained.
So the two of them were chatting happily, while she was stuck here doing homework?
Still… Phal had a point.
Before doing anything, Shirou never thought about himself and he always prioritized others' feelings too much.
To outsiders, he might seem like an incredibly kind person.
But to those who knew him, it felt a bit excessive.
Once or twice was fine but Shirou practically never refused anyone's requests.
Not just her, even some of the more sensible kids had noticed this and they deliberately told the others not to ask Shirou for too much.
He had already done so much for them and they should not add more burden to him.
"…Alright, I get it. I am going to take a nap first."
Shirou had heard this kind of thing many times before.
Issei Ryuudou, Rin Tohsaka and others had all said similar things to him at one point or another.
But he genuinely liked helping people.
He liked seeing the smiles on others' faces after they had been helped.
He did not think there was anything wrong with that.
"Rope, keep working on it yourself. I will go talk to a furniture dealer I know."
Seeing Shirou avoid the topic, Phal felt that changing his mindset would be a long-term effort.
Convincing someone to do something or buy something is easy.
But convincing someone to change their long-held beliefs or habits is much harder.
So there was no need to rush. He could also bring it up with Sis Hoshiguma later.
Maybe someone like her would actually appreciate a person like Shirou, at least to outsiders he seemed well-suited for the Guard Department.
But after spending quite some time with Shirou, Phal did not think so.
If Shirou joined the Guard Department, he might end up dying even faster.
Even though he supported Sis Hoshiguma, if she ever seriously intended to recruit Shirou he might step in to stop it.
At least… the current Shirou was not suited for it.
As for the future? Who knew.
"Tch, why did he run off so fast?"
Watching Phal disappear in a flash, Rope muttered to herself.
Then she adjusted the fan slightly so that the sleeping Shirou would not feel too stuffy.
"The weather is getting hotter… maybe we should install an air conditioner?"
Looking around at the place aside from the front door there was barely any ventilation.
Then she lowered her head and went back to her homework.
It was not that she hated it, but it was just that Phal always used this as an excuse to bring her exercises and if she did not do well, he would go tell Shirou.
She hated that kind of "telling the parents" behavior the most!
Too bad she had not caught any dirt on Phal, or she would find a way to get back at him.
Though… Phal seemed quite familiar with Officer Hoshiguma and she had heard that Hoshiguma used to stay in the slums and was quite famous there.
Could Phal have been one of Hoshiguma's underlings before?
"No, no, no… I just cannot picture that."
Rope shook her head.
She simply could not imagine someone as steady and big-sister-like as Hoshiguma having such a mischievous subordinate.
The vibe just did not match at all!
Better to focus on studying instead of thinking about random things.
Shirou was eventually woken up by the voices of Phal and Rope during lunchtime.
As the founder of this place, Shirou was highly respected by everyone here.
To them, he was almost like a mother… no, more like a father figure.
It made Shirou a bit uncomfortable, since he was not actually that much older than them.
But over time, he got used to it.
Before eating, Shirou noticed a message on his phone.
It was from Yith.
"Did he get a lead?"
Thinking they finally had made progress, Shirou opened it.
The message read:
"Sorry, the lead has been cut off. The target seemed to have some kind of device on them and they died right after 6 a.m. It is likely something that activates if they do not return in time."
"I have confirmed their identity, they were a missing person. Not sure why they ended up assisting in the kidnapping. The Guard Department could not get any useful information either."
"There is probably a large organization behind this. This mission is not as simple as we thought. Shirou, do you still want to continue investigating?"
Reading the message, Shirou's expression turned serious.
The others nearby noticed and instinctively did not disturb him.
They only saw his fingers moving quickly across the screen as he typed a reply:
"I will continue the investigation."
After sending it, Shirou put his phone away.
"What happened? Is it something from Penguin Logistics?"
Rope asked with concern.
"It is nothing, it is just a work issue."
Seeing everyone worried, Shirou quickly changed his expression and brushed it off.
The others believed him.
But Phal did not.
He knew exactly what kind of work Shirou was involved in.
Why would a housekeeper's job cause Shirou so much worry?
Or was he taking care of some incredibly unruly kids and the message he just received on his phone was about them causing trouble?
But that does not make sense! He knows the people Shirou takes care of, it is the Texas team from Penguin Logistics. Everyone in that team is unique but surely not to this extent?
Phal frowned, sensing that the whole situation was not simple.
So Phal started thinking.
Then Phal gave up thinking.
He would just tell Sis Hoshiguma directly, he would not get involved.
Thinking was too troublesome! He preferred to make his opponent think about surrendering with his fists.
One punch and everything was solved, how convenient!