"You really are… just watching the scenery here?"
After thinking it over, Chen felt she had to ask.
"Pfft—"
The moment Yith heard Chen's question, he burst out laughing, though he quickly suppressed it.
Even so, Shirou still caught that brief slip and combined with the strange question, the tense atmosphere instantly lightened.
"Yes. I am watching the scenery."
Shirou nodded.
As for the barely suppressed laughter coming through the earpiece, he chose to ignore it.
"I will take that as it is for now. What happened yesterday was you, right?"
Seeing Shirou's perfunctory response, Chen knew he was not telling the truth.
But it did not matter. Aside from settling a bit of score from being verbally mocked before, she had come up here mainly to exchange information.
What she did not know was that someone on Shirou's side had already hacked into the Guard Department and obtained their data. If she had known, she probably would not have held back that earlier strike.
She might even pay a visit to the department handling their files afterward.
"If you mean the arrows, then yes, that was me."
Seeing Chen sit down on the ground, Shirou finally confirmed she was not here to arrest him and relaxed a bit.
As long as she was not here to arrest him, that was fine. These past few days of being chased had nearly left him traumatized.
As for her question, she was clearly referring to his intervention yesterday.
There was no need to hide that.
"Do you have no accomplices?"
Seeing that Shirou did not seem to be lying, Chen pressed further.
She clearly remembered that dozens of arrows had fallen in an instant like meteors, surrounding the suspect. She had seen skilled archers before but firing over a dozen shots instantly with such precision was something she had never witnessed anything before.
"Hmm… no."
Shirou hesitated for a moment about whether to mention Yith but ultimately decided against dragging him into this.
Although it was technically an information-gathering job assigned by his boss, if not for Shirou's own request, Yith probably would not have gotten involved in this mess.
Shirou could not bring himself to betray someone who had helped him.
"I see. Then your archery is truly impressive. Among everyone I know, no one can release that many arrows in a single instant like you."
Noticing Shirou's hesitation, Chen suspected he did have an accomplice, but he chose not to reveal them.
Of course, it could also be an act. The information she was trying to extract was coming a bit too easily.
From Hoshiguma, she knew this guy was supposedly simple and straightforward but Chen had not forgotten how sharp his words were that day.
Simple? Do not make her laugh.
"I only know a little about archery. You did not come all this way just to praise my skills did you?"
Shirou had no intention of elaborating further. They were not familiar with each other and casually revealing his own information was not a good idea.
If it were the old him, he probably would not have thought this much. In the end, he had been influenced by Yith and the others.
"…Of course not. I just wanted to ask why you are investigating this matter and to exchange some information."
When Shirou said he "only knew a little," Chen had the urge to hit someone.
If that level was considered "just a little" then what would true mastery even look like?
Wiping everything out with a single shot?
The image was too absurd for her to even imagine.
Putting the matter of archery aside, Chen's main purpose here was to confirm Shirou's motives and see what information he had.
The useful information they obtained from the suspect was minimal and was practically nonexistent.
Aside from muttering some meaningless phrase, the suspect died before they could extract anything else.
Death by poison. He failed to take the antidote in time.
That fact rang alarm bells for Chen. This case might be far more than just a simple missing persons incident.
If it were merely kidnapping, what would be the point of abducting the Infected?
Rather than a kidnapping, it felt more like an operation specifically targeting the Infected.
If that were true, it would be troublesome. Motives for targeting the Infected were too numerous and too complex, making the case extremely difficult to investigate.
"Why am I investigating? That is a bit complicated… if I really have to say, I guess I just cannot stand it."
Hearing Chen's question, Shirou thought for a moment.
Was it because he was worried about the children, or simply because he could not tolerate such things happening?
It seemed to be both.
"Cannot stand it, huh?"
Chen repeated his words.
Considering that Shirou had taken in many Infected, that answer was probably sincere.
No wonder Hoshiguma and Swire had given him such high praise.
Although Chen wanted to say that it was wrong and dangerous for an ordinary person to get involved in something like this…she did not really have the standing to say so. After all, she herself was acting alone without the support of the Guard Department.
Meanwhile, he belonged to Penguin Logistics and had teammates assisting him.
Penguin Logistics might be known for reckless driving, fighting and causing trouble but when it came to actually getting things done, they were quite reliable.
Of course, for Guard Department officers on duty, they were more like a disaster.
"Shirou, when it comes to intel, just say there has been no progress. Do not share the information we got from the Guard Department."
While Chen was thinking, Yith quietly reminded Shirou.
If that stubborn woman over there, arguably even more stubborn than Shirou found out they had obtained intel through back channels, Shirou's life would become very difficult.
Yith himself did not care. The only one whose face had been seen was Shirou and Penguin Logistics was big enough not to worry about harassment from the Guard Department.
But if Shirou accidentally let it slip, then it would become a world where only Shirou suffered.
Thinking about it… that scenario was oddly appealing. He almost regretted reminding him.
"Mm, I understand."
After a brief moment of thought, Shirou grasped what Yith meant.
"!?"
Hearing Shirou suddenly say that, Chen immediately became alert and scanned her surroundings.
When she spotted the drone nearby, she more or less understood who he had been talking to.
"What is it?"
Seeing her sudden reaction, Shirou asked.
"Nothing. Do you have any leads or thoughts about this case?"
Chen tugged her hood slightly to hide her awkwardness and smoothly changed the subject.
"I do not have many leads. Every time I come here, I just end up getting chased around."
After thinking for a moment, Shirou answered, while also venting a bit.
"Ahem… then what are your thoughts on this case?"
Sensing the strong resentment in Shirou's tone, Chen coughed awkwardly and continued.
"My thoughts… hmm…"
Shirou paused to think.
Sitting beside him on the rooftop, Chen did not rush him. As she asked him, she was also reflecting on her own understanding of the situation.
Taking advantage of the moment, she organized the clues she had.
At first, it was all based on information from informants. She only got involved after Shirou had followed those informants for quite some time.
Her initial target had been this suspicious individual, but later she discovered he had disappeared and at the same time, the informants identified a new suspect.
Unfortunately, things did not go well. Although they caught the person, he died before they could obtain any useful information.
Now, she could only speculate that there was a group behind all this, specifically targeting the Infected.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain where all those missing people had gone.
But this was only her personal theory. That was why she sought out the person in front of her, someone also investigating the case hoping to gain a different perspective.
She just had not expected that after chasing him all this time, he had nothing to show for it. That made things a bit awkward.
At this point, Chen could only hope Shirou had his own line of thinking. Otherwise, they would not be able to break the current deadlock.
"I suggest you start from the victims. Based on the data on my side, most of the victims are Infected who live alone and do not have stable jobs."
Seeing Shirou take too long to respond, Yith finally spoke up and pointed out a direction.
"Start from the victims?"
Having wracked his brain without results, Shirou felt like he was hearing divine guidance when Yith spoke.
"The victims? That has already been investigated. Most of them do live alone. The culprit is probably targeting that."
Chen had already gathered all the basic leads, so this angle had naturally been considered.
But aside from living alone, most of the Infected did not share any other clear common traits.
"Uh…"
Being countered like that, Shirou found himself with nothing useful to add.
This was not his strong suit. It really was putting him on the spot.
After all these days, what he had been doing was less investigation and more like patrolling.
The real investigator was Yith. Shirou was basically just a nominal enforcer, something like a hired muscle.
"Tch, this will not do. I will explain."
Seeing Shirou struggle, Yith decided not to make things harder for him and directly spoke through the drone's microphone.
Of course, his voice had been altered. Even though they already knew he was from Penguin Logistics, disguising his voice was practically an instinct at this point.
In that regard, Shirou was still inexperienced but that actually reassured Yith.
After all, someone too perfect was hard to approach, especially someone as genuinely good-hearted as Shirou.
Adjusting the drone's position, Yith began exchanging information with Chen and explaining their observations and conclusions about the case over the past few days.
The conclusions from both sides were largely the same. They both pointed to a group operating behind the scenes, orchestrating everything and it could be clearly determined that this was an operation targeting the Infected.
The only difference was that Chen had not noticed that all the missing Infected had unstable employment.
After all, unstable work among the Infected was nothing unusual. But when the numbers grew large and the pattern still held, that became a problem.
That in itself, was a very good point of entry.
Unstable work meant financial instability. And with financial problems, it became possible to use money as bait.
While Yith and Chen were exchanging views, Shirou continued… scanning the area for anything suspicious.
He could handle simple reasoning, but anything this in-depth was beyond him.
He was still just a high school student. No need to make things this difficult for him.
Yith was smart and that hooded woman also seemed smart. When the two of them talked, Shirou could not really follow but he could understand the conclusions they arrived at.
As expected, the world would be better off with fewer riddles and more straightforward honesty.
Just as Shirou was thinking that, a distant explosion suddenly rang out.
Boom—
Along with the blast came blazing flames and thick smoke.
Although it was some distance away, the explosion was clearly visible even without enhanced vision.
"Use this to contact me later. I am heading over first."
Seeing the thick smoke rising, Chen frowned slightly and then tossed the communicator at her waist toward Shirou.
The explosion was significant. As a member of the Guard Department, she had to respond.
"Alright."
Shirou caught the communicator and slipped it into his coat pocket.
He also intended to head over and check the situation. If he was not mistaken, the explosion had occurred in a residential apartment building.
The heavy smoke made it hard to confirm.
If it really was an apartment… then the situation was bad.
"You are going over there?"
Through the drone's feed, Yith could clearly see Shirou's expression.
This guy really had no sense of self-preservation. Faced with something like this, his first instinct was not to leave but to rush toward it.
Yith was starting to wonder if Shirou was the kind of protagonist from web novels who had some kind of "save people" system.
If not, then this was a problem and something that needed fixing.
"Yes. I have to go."
After glancing at the residents evacuating nearby, Shirou nodded.
"…Sigh. Remember, your safety comes first."
At this point, Yith felt like an old man worrying endlessly about his children.
No, that was not quite right. Shirou was like the "mother" of the Penguin Logistics crew and Yith felt more like Shirou's overly concerned father.
At this rate, all that was left was arranging a partner for him. Even working overtime for the Boss was not this exhausting.
"I will."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shirou jumped.
"Lungmen profanity You just said that and then jumped?!"
The very next second after promising to prioritize his safety, Shirou leapt straight down from the seven-story building.
Watching through the drone, Yith nearly smashed the screen in shock.
"What the—?"
On the other side, Chen, who was heading down the stairs, also caught a glimpse of a red figure flashing past outside.
She was currently on the fifth floor. Looking out the stairwell window, she saw Shirou land steadily on the ground, then leap again onto a lower rooftop, rapidly heading toward the explosion.
"?????"
The scene was so surreal that Chen briefly wondered if she had imagined it.
But seeing the figure quickly disappearing into the distance, she snapped back to reality and rushed downstairs.
She had not forgotten what she was supposed to do.
If even someone from Penguin Logistics was going all out like this, then as a member of the Guard Department, she had to push herself even harder.
That was her duty as the leader of the Guard Department.