As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, everyone present turned to look at him in unison.
"Boss… what exactly do you mean?"
As the person involved, Shirou swallowed the bun in his mouth and asked.
Thanks, but he was a bit panicked right now. What did it mean that there were others eyeing him?
No, more importantly since when had Swire been eyeing him?
"It means exactly what it sounds like. Kid, you had better be careful."
Seeing the troubled look on Shirou's face, the Emperor finally felt a bit better after being played earlier.
Who told Shirou to dump the blame on him just now? Now he could go think about how to deal with what came next.
Hmm, this red wine was really sweet.
"No, no, no this is not the time for riddles, boss!"
Shirou had been waiting for his boss to explain things, only to see him drop a vague line, give a disdainful smile and go back to drinking wine.
Do not just stop halfway! Is this how all of you talk around here?
Shirou complained fiercely in his heart but on the surface, he quietly picked up some good dishes and placed them in front of his boss.
He had learned this from Exusiai and Croissant, only the target of the "feeding" had changed from himself to his boss.
"Whoa… what a strong survival instinct."
Watching Shirou smoothly and skillfully flatter the boss, Croissant commented.
"Exactly. I wonder where he learned that from."
Exusiai nodded in agreement.
Then both of them received somewhat strange looks from Sora and Texas.
"Hm?"
Not understanding why they were suddenly being looked at like that, Exusiai and Croissant both let out confused sounds.
"Enough with the act. No matter how much you try, I am not telling you."
On the other side, even under Shirou's relentless "food offering," Emperor still had no intention of speaking.
He felt that Shirou's personality needed some tempering.
Being warm to a few people made you a kind person.
Being warm to everyone made you a walking air conditioner.
Right now, Shirou was basically a mobile central air conditioner…wherever there was fire, he would go help.
And now, as expected, a bunch of people had started coming after him.
The Emperor seriously suspected that if Shirou kept developing like this, sooner or later the entirety of Lungmen would come knocking on his door.
Actually… that already seemed to be the case.
Both Wei Yenwu and the Rat King had already made contact with him and those two basically represented the whole of Lungmen.
The Rat King seemed quite satisfied with Shirou and he was letting him do what he wanted within his territory and he even helped in blocking people who tried to cause trouble for that relief station.
Sigh… why could he not also block that old dragon?
Now there were even more unpleasant memories in his mind, which should have been used for artistic creation.
Maybe he should get a dragon-headed cane like that guy and casually stroke it when bored. It looked oddly stress-relieving.
"Alright… can you at least tell me what they are after, boss?"
Seeing that Exusiai and Croissant's methods were not working, Shirou decided to try his own approach.
He did not need to know who it was but at least knowing what they wanted from him would let him prepare mentally.
He did not want to go to the Guard Department for a few days only to reflexively counterattack someone and end up getting arrested.
To Shirou, the phrase "being targeted" basically meant he had been marked as a priority attack target.
As for any other meaning… he simply did not get it.
"Hm? For something like that… you should think about it yourself."
Hearing Shirou's question, the Emperor almost dropped his wine.
He could not tell whether Shirou was truly dense or just pretending but based on what he knew, it was definitely the former.
This guy really was that simple-minded. As far as he knew, Swire had already extended invitations several times for Shirou to join the Guard Department and yet this guy had still not realized it?
Still, since Shirou had consistently refused quite decisively without hesitation, Emperor decided to give him some reassurance.
"Do not worry. As long as I am here, even if Wei Yenwu personally tries to poach you, it will not happen. Just focus on doing what you are supposed to do."
"…Alright."
Shirou could only accept it.
After all, he was at fault first. Going to the Guard Department for a few days to work it off sounded reasonable enough.
It was just that what the boss said still bothered him a little… although the boss himself guaranteed it would be fine.
It should be fine… right?
It still felt a bit unreliable.
"So it is not just Officer Swire… this feels pretty dangerous."
Exusiai thought for a moment and quietly spoke to her teammates.
There was no way they were getting answers from the boss now. Judging from earlier, they would probably have to wait until Shirou was gone before they could ask.
"Who do you think the others might be?"
Croissant racked her brain but still could not figure out who else in the Guard Department Shirou had interacted with.
She only knew that Shirou seemed to have a decent relationship with Swire. As for others, she had no idea.
Back then, the explanation was that they would likely have frequent dealings in the future, so more interaction would not be a problem.
"I have no idea."
Facing Croissant's question, Texas shook her head.
She was not the type to pry into other people's privacy. Compared to Croissant who at least knew Shirou had been in contact with Swire, Texas truly knew nothing.
Her knowledge of Shirou's interactions with the Guard Department was stuck at the time of the "eating fried meat chunks" incident.
Since they were caught by the Guard Department back then and lost more than half of their food, they had since behaved like model citizens just to avoid having their meals confiscated again.
"Could it be those other two?"
Sora's thinking was more straightforward. She felt it was quite possible that it was Chen and Hoshiguma.
"That seems a bit much, right? If it is the 'big three'… then that is kind of terrifying."
Exusiai immediately understood who Sora was referring to.
Calling them the "big three" was usually just a joke but it also reflected recognition of their status.
If it really was as Sora said and that all three of them had their eyes on Shirou and wanted to recruit him then that was genuinely dangerous.
Exusiai had already started considering the feasibility of blowing up the Guard Department building.
Directly attacking the building would not be ideal, that would be too obvious. Maybe blowing up the underground pipelines would be better. Preferably including the toilets, so no one in the Guard Department could use them.
Though… that would be a bit disgusting.
"Exusiai, calm down."
Texas noticed her partner's expression gradually turning a bit too "Sarkaz-like" and quickly snapped her back to her usual Sankta self.
"We need to think of something."
Croissant's suggestion was quickly met with unanimous agreement.
They had to come up with a way to prevent Shirou from being swayed by those people in the Guard Department.
Although it was frustrating to admit, after spending so much time together they could tell that Shirou's way of doing things was indeed closer to that of the Guard Department.
If this continued they might lose "Mama Emiya." They needed to find a way to keep him.
At that moment, Croissant's thoughts raced rapidly, scenes of her time with Shirou flashing through her mind.
There was no hope, just electrocute her already.
With how mischievous she and Exusiai were, the fact that Shirou had not beaten them to death already was proof of how good his temper was.
Sigh… life was not easy.
Why was it so hard just to live a life of eating after waking and sleeping after eating?
"…What if we just hug Shirou's leg and beg him not to leave?"
After thinking for a moment, Exusiai voiced her idea, earning looks of concern from the other three.
"Do not look at me like I am an idiot! If you have something better then tell me if you have a good idea."
Seeing their reactions, Exusiai raised her voice.
"What idea?"
Shirou, who had been playing a "riddle game" with his boss, turned his head toward them after hearing the commotion.
"Nothing, nothing! You guys keep talking, we are heading out first!"
Panicking, Croissant hurriedly grabbed the other three and prepared to leave.
As a Forte and a Defender, Croissant possessed considerable strength. Combined with her natural brute force, dragging the other three away took no effort at all.
Under Shirou's confused gaze, the four of them left just like that.
"They left in such a hurry, I remember they did not eat that much, right?"
Looking toward the door, then back at the table where quite a bit of food was still left, Shirou felt puzzled.
That should not be the case. Although the boss had ordered a lot, there should not be this much left over.
Or had he misjudged their appetites? Had they been forcing themselves to eat all along?
If that were true, that would not be good.
Or maybe the food here just did not suit their taste?
Faced with their sudden departure, Shirou's first concern was their unusual eating habits.
"Idiot."
Hearing that Shirou was worrying about food instead of anything else, Emperor cursed.
This did not even require his great and brilliant mind and anyone could guess that they were thinking about the Guard Department.
"Hm?"
Snapped out of his thoughts after being scolded again for no clear reason, Shirou looked confused.
Although he did not know why but he had heard from others that his boss was the type who was especially sharp-tongued.
He had already realized this from the earlier exchange between his boss and Mr. Wei, his boss insulted people with remarkable flair even rhyming like a rap battle, making Shirou realize that there was such a way to curse someone.
It really was quite an eye-opening experience.
However, when it came to him personally, it was not nearly as pleasant, though still within Shirou's acceptable range.
So he only showed a puzzled expression and looked toward his boss.
"Heh, kid, you should figure it out yourself. Your days ahead are not going to be easy."
Facing Shirou's confused gaze, the Boss grabbed a bottle of red wine, jumped down from his chair and prepared to leave.
"Ah, as for the Guard Department side, I will figure it out myself."
Since Shirou had just been discussing matters related to the Guard Department with his boss, he assumed the boss was referring to difficulties in life at the Guard Department.
"…Pack up the food on the table yourself. Throw it away or take it to someone to eat, whatever you want. I am leaving."
Hearing Shirou's words, the Emperor's mouth twitched slightly. He told Shirou to deal with the remaining food on the table himself.
Even though he said it casually, the meaning was already very clear, so clear that Shirou could tell his boss meant for him to take the food to the children.
As for Emperor himself, he had been irritated by Wei Yanwu and Shirou and he was already too full to eat.
"Thank you, Boss."
Shirou called out loudly as he watched his boss walk away.
Then he began cleaning up the food on the table in front of him.
Although he had nothing to pack it in, that was not a problem for Shirou, who possessed Projection Magecraft.
He projected several large lunch boxes and carefully placed the dishes inside.
As for matters regarding the Guard Department or anything else, Shirou did not pay much attention.
After all, that was something for later. Moreover, since he had just resolved a major incident, he did not want to spend extra effort thinking about other things.
For now, he only needed to focus on what was in front of him.
"Haa… there is quite a lot."
After packing for a while, Shirou finally organized everything neatly into lunch boxes.
He ended up filling four large lunch boxes which was roughly the amount he would cook for the five members of Penguin Logistics over two meals.
Although it looked like a lot, if taken to Fuyuki shop it would only be enough for everyone to taste a few bites.
Still, that was enough.
The biggest problem Shirou now faced was how to carry it all over.
"Hmm… neither carrying it nor riding a bike would be convenient. Should I just make a cart?"
Based on his usual methods of transport, Shirou felt none of them were suitable. These four lunch boxes were indeed quite large.
Just as he was considering borrowing a cart, the door to the room opened.
"It looks like you are already done."
Yith's tone was very flat as though he had been worked to exhaustion.
"Ah? Yith?"
Shirou, who had been thinking, turned around and saw Yith in a black suit.
At first, he did not recognize him. Shirou was used to hearing his voice through the earpiece and Yith currently sounded especially drained, which made it understandable.
"Of course it is me. I will drive you there. I also happen to have something I need to personally handle in the slums."
Yith was not sure why Shirou was so surprised and he did not bother thinking about it further.
He had slept a total of fifteen minutes over the past two days, spending the rest of the time working.
He felt fine but if he kept this up, he would likely die of overwork.
This endless overtime was also coming to an end; the night investigation had made a huge breakthrough.
At least they had finally identified who was behind it. He no longer needed to blindly search like before and could shift his focus elsewhere.
As for Shirou, he could continue doing his own things. What Shirou did at night was less investigation and more like patrol duty.
"That is great news. Thank you for the trouble."
Hearing that he had a ride, Shirou immediately gave up all his previous options.
"It is nothing. By the way, what was the result of your discussion? If it is inconvenient to say, that is fine. I am just used to gathering information."
Yith asked while picking up two of the lunch boxes for Shirou.
Although he sometimes thought about installing a bug to eavesdrop on Shirou and Wei Yanwu's conversations, Wei Yanwu was still a ruler of Lungmen. Yith only thought about it and never actually dared to do it.
"It was nothing much. I was just told to stay at the Guard Department for a few days. But the boss said there are many people there thinking about me… I do not really understand what that means."
Shirou and Yith walked into the elevator together.
For Shirou, Yith was someone he could trust. Since he was also a colleague or superior within Penguin Logistics, there was no problem sharing this much information.
He would eventually be known by the Guard Department anyway.
"Stay at the Guard Department for a few days?"
Upon hearing this, Yith immediately became alert and energized.
As the Emperor's information source, he naturally knew exactly how many people at the Guard Department were interested in Shirou and there were at least three.
Namely: Swire, Hoshiguma, and Chen.
Why "at least," you ask?
Because every time Shirou delivered lunch boxes, the nearby Guard officers would practically cry from envy.
They would always say that if they ever met the person who made those lunch boxes, they would definitely build a friendly relationship and then try to "share" a meal or preferably an entire table if possible.
Do not ask where the information came from. The answer is that the Guard Department's surveillance system was too weak to stop him.
After all, he was someone capable of hacking into Guard Department computers to obtain data.
"Yes, it is just for a few days but everyone's reaction was quite strong when they heard about it."
Shirou nodded and continued speaking.
Even though he knew Penguin Logistics and the Guard Department were not exactly on good terms, it should not be this exaggerated, right?
"Heh."
Right now, Yith only wanted to fast-forward to a few days later and watch this unfolding "grand show."