Although they successfully persuaded Amiya, there was currently no suitable equipment available to assist with the research. In addition, Shirou had been fasting the entire morning for his medical checkup, so Kal'tsit and Amiya decided to carry out the related research in a couple of days instead.
Kal'tsit also needed to make some arrangements for the necessary equipment and machinery. If possible, it would be best to assign a few assistants…
Otherwise, handling everything alone would likely be troublesome.
There are people on Rhodes Island whom she can trust, but considering that the research involves Shirou's blood… perhaps it is better for her to handle it personally, even if it is more tiring.
She also needs to arrange her work schedule, and so does Amiya.
Both of them are extremely busy on Rhodes Island. Just persuading Amiya earlier had already delayed quite a bit of their work and if they delay any further, they will probably have to stay up late working tonight.
That leaves only Shirou, who currently has nothing to do.
After confirming the upcoming schedule and reminding Shirou to keep his terminal connected at all times, the two of them left to handle their work.
As for Shirou, who suddenly found himself idle, he felt that being like this was somewhat degenerating. So he first went to the cafeteria to have a full meal, then headed to the training room on Rhodes Island to exercise.
After all, before the checkup he had to fast and avoid intense activity, so he had not eaten in the morning. Even his usual morning training routine and his projection training before bed had been skipped.
Now that the checkup was finally over, he wanted to run a bit and loosen up.
"Shirou, you came to train as well?"
Seeing that eye-catching red hair running on the treadmill, Franka hopped over and greeted him.
"Yeah. You do not have a mission today?"
Shirou slowed down slightly on the treadmill and chatted with her.
Judging from her still slightly uneven breathing and the amount of sweat, he guessed she had just finished a round of training and was resting.
And since she happened to spot him running on the treadmill, she came over to talk.
He had nothing to do anyway, so chatting a bit was no problem.
"How could we possibly have missions every day? Even if we did, we would not go out every single day! I want to earn money, sure, but not at the cost of my life!"
Franka's eyebrow twitched before she replied.
"That makes sense. Staying on high alert all the time is exhausting."
After hearing her explanation, Shirou found it reasonable.
He had seen Blacksteel International's missions a few times—they always operate under high alert, so it is unlikely they would take on another mission immediately after finishing one.
Perhaps only someone like Yith would do that, but their work is not really comparable.
"Exactly!"
Seeing Shirou agree, Franka nodded meaningfully. Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she widened her eyes and asked:
"By the way, yesterday Liskarm and Jessica went back to their room looking like they had just had a great time. What did you do?"
Shirou: "?"
Hearing Franka's question, Shirou fell into confusion.
Is there something wrong with his thinking, or with what Franka just said?
After sorting out the logic a bit, he finally replied:
"I am not too sure… maybe because I taught them well?"
Originally, Shirou wanted to say that they had probably used his projected firearms and nearly drained his mana dry. But remembering Liskarm's warning not to tell anyone about it, he quickly changed his words into praising himself instead.
Even so, praising himself like that felt a bit embarrassing.
"I have never seen someone so shameless."
Franka looked at him with disdain. It was her first time hearing someone say they taught well about themselves.
Still… this did not feel like Shirou. He probably just could not think of a better explanation.
That only made it more suspicious…
"Believe it or not. By the way, are you the only one training here?"
Shirou did not intend to linger on that topic. The more he said, the more likely he would slip up, so avoiding it was the best option.
So he shifted the conversation to the others from Blacksteel International.
"Liskarm is over there lifting weights! Jessica and Vanilla finished their basic training and went to class, they still have a lot to learn."
Following the direction Franka pointed, Shirou saw Liskarm lifting weights.
That weight looked quite heavy… truly fitting for a Defender.
Those who can carry heavy shields and withstand attacks need a solid build.
Among the Defenders Shirou knows, Croissant has monstrous strength, she was able to carry a shield in one hand and a hammer in the other while Hoshiguma once nearly knocked him out with a single slap.
So Shirou's conclusion: do not mess with shield users.
"Class, huh…"
Hearing that familiar word, Shirou was reminded of his high school days.
"Yeah. Rhodes Island offers a lot of classes, from subjects you would learn in school to things used on the battlefield. If you want to study medicine, there are courses for that too."
Franka was a bit surprised that "class" was what caught Shirou's attention.
She had thought he might be interested in Jessica and was asking about her.
But now it seemed that was not the case, he was more interested in the idea of classes.
Well, she had originally thought that if Shirou was interested, she could help a bit. After all, he seemed like a good young man, quite capable, and most importantly he was an excellent cook.
She had already resigned herself to never setting foot in Lungmen again after offending both Penguin Logistics and the Lungmen Guard Department, yet this was all that happened?
Well, she really should not have expected anything else.
Putting aside her other thoughts, Franka briefly gave Shirou an introduction to the kinds of courses Rhodes Island offered.
"If you are interested, you can go listen in."
After talking for quite a while, Franka felt like she could just take him there to have a look.
Learning more things was definitely not a bad thing, and besides, she was not the one who had to study.
She loved pushing people into the abyss of learning the most.
Was that honor student over there lifting weights not the perfect example? Every single time, she got provoked by Franka's words into studying seriously.
"That works, I guess. It will not disturb the others, right?"
Having been successfully persuaded by Franka, Shirou was now more worried about whether casually entering a classroom would affect the other students.
"It is fine. People sit in on classes all the time, so do not worry about it!"
Seeing that she had successfully dragged yet another person into the abyss of learning, Franka smiled so hard that her eyes narrowed into slits.
"..."
Shirou felt like he had somehow been tricked by her, but he had no evidence.
Still, he really did not have anything else to do. Lappland's medical examination was following the normal procedure, which meant it would take a long time, and there was no point in him going there anyway since outsiders were not allowed inside.
Originally, he had planned to head over to the training room after finishing his workout here, but Franka had just given him an even better option.
Classes...
It had been a very long time since he last heard that word.
If the Holy Grail War had never happened, perhaps he would have obediently continued through school and eventually entered university to study law-related subjects.
Though his grades were not particularly good.
Now that he thought about it, his academic performance really was not all that impressive, so why exactly had he agreed to sit in on a class?
After finishing his target distance, Shirou went to clean himself up and changed into a fresh set of clothes.
After all, he was about to sit in on a class. Entering a classroom drenched in sweat would be a bit...
He did not like disturbing other people, so naturally he paid attention to details like this.
"...At first I thought I was seeing things wrong, but it turns out Franka really did go bother you and even tried to drag you into class."
Watching the freshly cleaned-up Shirou walk out, Liskarm fell silent for a moment before speaking.
At first, she had simply assumed Franka had wandered off to slack around somewhere nearby, so she did not pay much attention. Later, however, she realized that Franka seemed to have gone to chat with someone.
That was actually quite unusual, because there were very few people who could make Franka actively approach them.
Still, Liskarm had not yet finished a set of her training at the time, so after taking a quick glance, she continued exercising.
Then, after finishing washing up, she got dragged away by Franka, who claimed she was bringing someone to class.
The moment she saw the red hair, she had already suspected who it was. She just had not expected Franka to actually make her move.
"Hehe, learning more things is good! When necessary, that knowledge can save your life!"
Hearing Liskarm's words, Franka showed absolutely no remorse whatsoever. Instead, she grinned cheerfully as she spoke.
"...Even though what you are saying makes perfect sense, I still feel like something is not quite right."
Shirou expressed his honest thoughts on the matter.
He truly felt like he had been tricked this time, and now he even had evidence.
"You will get used to it! Come on, let us go already! If we do not hurry, class will be over!"
Facing Shirou's doubts, Franka simply laughed it off. The moment she finished speaking, she dragged Liskarm away without giving her any chance to respond.
After finally managing to catch someone, it would be bad if Liskarm managed to talk him out of it in just a few sentences.
Behind them, Shirou rubbed the space between his brows.
Even though everyone from Penguin Logistics was still back in Lungmen, why did he still feel so mentally exhausted?
That probably was not just his imagination, right?
Even so, Shirou still stepped forward and followed after them.
He would just treat it as a way to pass the time.
As the two women entered the classroom together, Shirou noticed that there were a few children sitting in the front row, though not many.
Everyone else were adults, including Jessica and Vanilla.
If Shirou remembered correctly, this class should have been related to combat operations.
So why were there children here?
"Those are children who want to become operators. As long as they have the ability, Rhodes Island will provide them with resources and education. But if they want to participate in missions, they must be accompanied by other operators, and usually they are not assigned anything too difficult."
Noticing Shirou's gaze lingering on the children in the front row, Liskarm explained.
"So that is how it is?"
At that moment, Shirou suddenly remembered the impression he originally had of Rhodes Island.
Calm down. Stay composed.
At the very least, their wishes were respected. Judging from how serious those children looked, they truly did long to become Rhodes Island operators.
As for what they would have to face in the future...
No, they were already Infected. Perhaps they had long since witnessed the ugliest side of human nature already.
All he could say was that the children of this land matured unexpectedly early.
Though, of course, that was only because the environment had forced them to mature.
Compared to those serious children, the adults sitting in the back were far less attentive.
Aside from Jessica, Vanilla, and a few others who were still taking notes, the rest were either spacing out or busy with their own things.
Even more outrageous, Shirou actually spotted someone sleeping.
And it was someone he knew.
Noticing Shirou's gaze, Fang revealed an awkward smile and waved at him in greeting.
"Should you not wake her up?"
Fang and the others were sitting fairly far back, and there happened to be empty seats nearby, so Shirou and the other two simply sat down beside them.
Franka was here purely to enjoy the spectacle, while Liskarm wanted to check whether Jessica and Vanilla were slacking off. At the moment, however, both of them seemed extremely serious.
As for Shirou, the moment he sat down, he immediately questioned Fang and Beagle beside him.
"She is always like this. The instructors are already used to it. Only Instructor Dobermann can do anything about her."
Fang gave a brief explanation.
After hearing that, Shirou merely twitched at the corner of his mouth and decided not to interfere any further.
Seeing Fang taking notes for two people at once, it was obvious this was a repeat offense. He had no intention of sticking his nose in that far.
Still, during a mission before this, Kroos seemed to have joked about him before, had she not?
In any case, he would remember this for now. Later, he could mention it to Instructor Dobermann.
Sleeping during class was a bad civilization and needed correcting.
After letting his thoughts wander for a bit, Shirou focused his attention back on the lesson.
The lecture was entirely about tactical instruction, specifically tactics related to teamwork.
He could make a few notes and bring them back to share with Texas later... though Penguin Logistics did not really seem to have a caster.
Well, with his own firepower, he could probably fill the role of a caster himself. The biggest issue was just that his firepower might be a little excessive.
Thinking about it that way, he really did not seem suited for team combat...
Every time he went on missions with others, he always felt constrained.
Most of the time, the issue was not whether he could defeat the enemy, but whether he might accidentally injure his allies while doing so.
Back when he investigated the slums alone, things had actually gone much more smoothly. Whenever he saw criminals, he could simply pin them down with a few arrows and then have Yith notify someone to come arrest them.
When acting alongside everyone from Penguin Logistics, however, the others already had long-established teamwork, so he could only adapt on his own.
As for when he worked with the Lungmen Guard Department...
He was basically just a pure tool. Chief Chen and Swire pointed, and he attacked wherever they directed.
Now that he thought about it, his teamwork abilities really did seem somewhat lacking.
Maybe he should discuss this a bit with Yith later?
Just as Shirou was wondering whether he should improve his teamwork skills, a shrill noise suddenly echoed through the classroom.
The alarms from the Rhodes Island operators' terminals had gone off.