This time, Shirou slept exceptionally well. It was one of the rare occasions since coming here that he had such deep, restful sleep.
Waking up naturally after a long time, he felt completely refreshed.
And there were no strange dreams or bizarre riddles either.
"It is great not having weird dreams…"
Lying on the sofa and staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, Shirou first sighed at how unusually good this sleep had been.
As he sat up, the coat draped over him slid off.
Judging by the style, it was not his, it looked more like Texas's coat.
His own coat was hanging on a nearby chair and he was still wearing yesterday's clothes.
On the table sat a simple breakfast and a note. The breakfast was egg toast.
Tearing off the plastic wrap, Shirou took a bite.
The toast was slightly overdone and the egg had barely any seasoning.
There was not even any lettuce.
Still, it was edible. Holding the sandwich in one hand Shirou turned his attention to the note pressed under the plate.
"Breakfast is on the table. Croissant made it. There is no chili sauce inside, so you can eat it with peace of mind."
"There is also a cup of Exusiai's special milk tea in the fridge. It might be very sweet, so be careful when drinking it."
"We have already contacted Yith. For the next two days, we will be keeping an eye on you to make sure you rest properly."
Reading the note, Shirou felt a little unaccustomed to being taken care of like this.
"So this is what it feels like to go from caretaker to being cared for?"
Seeing how they were treating him, Shirou felt a bit conflicted.
It had been a long time since he experienced something like this. Because of his Kiritsugu he had handled most things on his own.
Of course, when something was beyond him, he would still rely on Fujimura.
"…Is it already this late?"
Not dwelling too long on old memories, Shirou noticed the time was already getting late.
Normally by now, he would have finished his tasks and gone out.
After thinking for a moment he sent a message to Rope, saying he would arrive in the afternoon.
"I will just take it easy this morning."
With that thought, Shirou stood up from the sofa.
His body no longer felt like it was about to fall apart like yesterday but there was still some lingering soreness.
In a way, it felt like revisiting the early days when he had just joined Penguin Logistics.
He stretched a bit, cleaned up the mess left from breakfast, freshened up and changed into a new set of clothes.
After tossing his clothes into the washing machine, he took Exusiai's special milk tea from the fridge, sat down on the sofa and began reflecting on the past few days.
The kidnapping case, the hooded figure, the conversations with Yith, the apartment explosion…
Having regained parts of his memories, Shirou was no longer as naive as before. He could now discern certain things.
Nothing was as simple as he initially thought and just catching the kidnapper would not solve everything.
There were other people behind the scenes, controlling it all.
Faced with something this vast, Shirou could truly feel his own helplessness.
The Boss had said his combat ability was quite strong across the land.
Yet he could not even handle something like this properly.
Helplessness, powerlessness, confusion, that was how Shirou felt now.
"If it were Kiritsugu… what would he do?"
At this moment, Shirou wondered how Kiritsugu would handle this situation.
In his memories, Kiritsugu was an extraordinary person.
If it were him, what would he do?
Shirou recalled another version of Kiritsugu from a different set of memories, completely different from the one he knew.
Perhaps… he would use some of the Infected as bait to lure out the mastermind.
But if he did that, those people would definitely…
"Haha… I cannot do that."
He did not continue the thought, instead letting out a bitter laugh.
He could not sacrifice a few to save the many.
He wanted to save everyone.
Maybe he was just too greedy.
With that thought, Shirou took a sip of Exusiai's special milk tea.
This time, it was not as overwhelmingly sweet as he had expected. Exusiai had probably adjusted it to his taste.
At that moment, his phone buzzed.
Setting aside his thoughts he checked it and it was a message from Texas.
"Sora is worried about you but she cannot come here. So tomorrow, we will go visit her together."
A short message which was very much in Texas's style.
"…Why am I thinking so much? Kiritsugu is not even here. …"
Looking at the specially made milk tea in his hand and then at the messages on his phone, Shirou himself could not quite understand why his mood was no longer as gloomy.
The one here was not Emiya Kiritsugu, but Emiya Shirou. He only needed to act according to his own thoughts.
Besides, there was no way he could come up with a meticulous plan like his old man.
Anyone could talk big but when it came to actually making a plan, it only felt overwhelmingly difficult.
He really was not good at that sort of thing.
Fighting or handling housework was fine for him but anything else was honestly beyond him.
Was it not obvious from how he had been reading those books about Oripathy for so long and still barely absorbed anything?
Shirou sincerely hoped that one day he might see a blade or sword that could physically eliminate Oripathy, so he would not have to think so much.
"All right, I have rested long enough. It is time to head out, I need to prepare a proper extra meal for everyone today and tomorrow I have to make a delicious lunchbox for Sora as well."
Pushing aside those trivial thoughts, Shirou began planning what to do next.
He had teammates. He only needed to do his part and trust the rest to them.
As long as Yith worked a few more extra days that would be enough.
That said, Shirou did not actually want to trouble others.
But given the current situation, he could only hope that the information exchange between Yith and the hooded person would be effective.
"Wallet, shopping bag, backpack, coat, keys… I did not forget anything, right?"
Before heading out, Shirou checked his belongings. When he came back earlier, his mental state had not been great and he was not sure if he had dropped anything along the road.
If he tried to recall yesterday, the last clear memory he had was standing at the door, questioning his life.
Everything after that was somewhat blurry. Shirou only hoped he had not said anything strange at the time.
Though he vaguely remembered that he had been extremely honest with his feelings.
If he did not remember it, then it did not count. It was a small psychological victory.
"The bicycle… I will skip it today."
After assessing his condition, Shirou decided to walk instead of riding.
It had been a while since he walked like this. He would treat it as rehabilitation.
Along the way, the people in Lungmen were still smiling, the atmosphere was full of cheer as if nothing had happened last night.
Then again, since it had not happened near them, it was normal that most people would not pay much attention.
Only a small number of people who were sensitive to such matters would rush to follow up immediately.
"This is not bad."
Shirou thought this kind of place was quite nice.
He liked seeing others living happily with smiles on their faces.
After walking for quite a while, it was already past lunchtime when he arrived at the Fuyuki Shop.
Pushing open the door, Shirou saw that besides Rope, there was also a pink-haired Zalak in the store.
The other person was currently looking at the items on the shelves.
"This seems to be the second Zalak I have seen here."
Looking at those round ears, Shirou thought to himself.
The last one was an Old man who he called Mr. Lin and he had been quite a nice person. He had even come by a few times afterward.
"Shirou, you are quite late today."
Seeing that it was Shirou who entered rather than a customer, Rope shifted on the table and slumped forward, pressing most of her body against it.
If there had not been other people in the shop she probably would have completely lazed around.
"I woke up late today. Have you eaten?"
Shirou skillfully moved behind the counter, shoved his backpack underneath and greeted her.
"I have. But if I said I had not, would you have something tasty for me?"
Seeing that Shirou's hands were empty, Rope asked.
"No. Eat a bit less. You have gained quite a bit of weight lately."
Shirou opened his hands to show he had brought no food, then pinched her cheek.
Compared to when they first met, she had noticeably more flesh.
"How can you call that fat? This is a sign of good health. It means I have a balanced diet."
Being called fat made Rope unhappy. She immediately leaned back to avoid his hand.
"Yes, yes, your diet is very healthy."
Shirou said with a light laugh.
Of course, he knew that she looked fuller now because she had not lived well before and had lacked proper nutrition.
He just felt she was lacking exercise. Under that extra softness, there was probably…
Maybe he should come up with some kind of workout plan.
"I feel like you are thinking something very rude."
Rope shivered slightly, feeling a chill down her back, certain that someone was plotting against her.
Seeing Shirou's somewhat unfriendly gaze, Rope had every reason to suspect that he was thinking something unpleasant.
"I was thinking about the last time you exercised."
Shirou showed no concern for Rope's feelings and said it directly.
"Ugh… l-last week, I guess?"
Being asked that, Rope immediately felt guilty.
Ever since coming here, she had basically spent her days either eating or sitting around, occasionally moving some goods or tidying the shelves.
Exercise… it felt like something she had not touched in a very, very long time.
"Really?"
Shirou narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at Rope with clear disbelief.
"Really. You have to trust me. Just look at how sincere my eyes are."
Rope put on her sparkling-eyes act.
"…"
Shirou continued to squint at her.
"You have to trust me, just like I trust you."
Rope kept her eyes wide open as she spoke.
Though they were starting to feel a bit dry.
"Fine. But from now on, you need to exercise regularly. You do not want to get so out of shape that you cannot even walk, right?"
Looking at her, Shirou could more or less tell she was trying to brush it off.
For some reason, women seemed to care a lot about this kind of thing. Not just Rope, but even the people at Penguin Logistics were like this.
He really did not get it.
"You are the one who would not be able to walk!"
Rope originally wanted to retort like that, but remembering how healthy Shirou was, even visibly muscular, she gave up on the idea.
With how seriously he approached everything, if even he got fat, then there probably would not be any slim people left in the world.
"Ahem… sorry to interrupt."
The pink-haired Zalak woman at the side stepped forward and spoke with a calm expression.
"Is there something you need help with?"
Glancing at Rope, who had completely given up on being productive, Shirou had no choice but to handle it himself.
"I have something I would like to talk to you about."
The pink-haired Zalak pointed at Shirou.
"…Me?"
Seeing her pointing at him, Shirou looked confused and slowly shifted to the side, only to find her finger still following him.
"Yes, you. Stop trying to dodge."
The pink-haired Zalak said firmly.
"Do we know each other?"
Shirou could swear he definitely did not know her. He probably had not even seen her before.
The features of the Zalak were too distinctive and he was especially sensitive to that race.
After all, back in Fuyuki, when he used to clean the house, he would occasionally see them.
"No, but I have a few things I want to ask you."
As she spoke, the pink-haired Zalak took out several photos and placed them in front of Shirou.
In the photos, Shirou was in an alley, removing the projected coat he had created.
"…That is quite a good angle."
Seeing how clearly he was captured in the photos, Shirou's eyelids twitched slightly.
"They were taken by a professional. He originally wanted to sell them to someone else, but I stopped him. Let me introduce myself, my name is Lin Yuhsia."
Lin Yuhsia put the photos away again, making sure Rope at the side did not see them.
After all, she was here to ask for something. She could not afford to upset him. It was obvious he was trying to hide his identity and exposing him on purpose would ruin any chance of cooperation.
"You can call me Shirou. What did you want to talk about?"
Looking at her, Shirou decided to first hear what she had to say.
So this was what it felt like to have leverage in someone else's hands. It really did not feel good.
Still, he had to thank her for intercepting those photos. If they had been spread around, it would have been troublesome.
He did not like the idea of being pointed at and talked about whenever he went out.
"Hmm… let us talk about what you have been doing here and also about what has been happening in the slums recently."
Lin Yuhsia did not waste time and went straight to the point.
She had come here to figure out what happened last night and why Shirou had been wandering around the slums while hiding his appearance.
As for whether Shirou might act against her…
If he really did, then she would just consider it her own misjudgment.
She did not believe that someone who risked his own safety to save others would be a dangerous person.
Besides, she had some means of self-defense. The sand at her waist would be enough to hold out for a while until the people outside rushed in.