After quite a bit of back-and-forth with Lappland, Shirou had managed to pass some time.
Later, Ace who had parts of his head bandaged and Scout, who was completely clean from head to toe, also came in to check on Rosmontis.
The already small room became even more crowded.
After confirming that Rosmontis was fine, both of them finally sighed in relief, and then immediately started another round of recruitment attempts on Shirou.
Ace did not have many ulterior motives. He simply hoped Shirou would interact more with Rhodes Island, believing his abilities could help more people.
He also had no intention of moral coercion; it was just a straightforward invitation.
Scout, on the other hand, was more enthusiastic. Ever since he learned that Shirou had excellent eyesight, he had wanted to recruit him, and now he was simply taking advantage of the opportunity.
"Hah?"
Lappland, sitting nearby with her legs crossed and wearing a rather unsettling smile, stared at the two of them. After being watched like that for a while, their voices gradually lowered.
This also made Lappland decide something: next time she would absolutely not take a similar job. It was too exhausting.
"…Cough, cough. It is fine, it is fine. Let us talk about something else."
The pressure coming from Lappland was now somewhat intimidating, and Scout said he no longer wanted to fight.
He had just finished one battle, and immediately jumping into a third round was far too much.
Besides, even if he won, he would not get Shirou anyway. A meaningless fight like that was not worth it.
So the topic shifted, and everyone began discussing what had just happened.
However, for Lappland who had not been present earlier, the conversation sounded almost surreal.
Her original imagination was that Shirou had jumped down from a transport vehicle with a giant sword and blocked the infected creatures' advance.
She did not know how high it was or what equipment he had used, but it certainly sounded both cool and dangerous.
But what were the actual participants saying?
That Shirou had jumped from a height of over a hundred meters without equipment, wielded a giant sword as large as a building, and crushed an entire wave of infected creatures in the front line.
If she removed a few details, it sounded exactly like her imagination.
Except it did not.
"A giant sword the size of a building?"
Lappland looked at Shirou with a very skeptical expression.
At this point, she looked completely stunned, as if a small circle was spinning above her head.
"…It is not as exaggerated as they say. I only used it for blocking."
Shirou coughed slightly under her doubtful gaze.
The three people earlier had clearly been embellishing things heavily. They made it sound like he had descended from the sky with a giant sword and cut down the infected creatures, and even single-handedly wiped out most of the enemy forces.
Wake up. Under normal circumstances, he could not even properly swing that "Mountain Cleaving Sword."
"Be confident! You are a great hero! That Originium Arts where you shoot swords is also super cool! Your Arts is honestly maxed out in both style and practicality!"
Before Shirou could properly explain, Blaze immediately threw an arm around him and began praising him enthusiastically.
Even without alcohol, she was completely hyped up. Since everyone here except Lappland was basically "one of their own," she did not feel the need to restrain herself.
"Get off!"
Shirou, who had only just begun explaining, was suddenly grabbed and pulled over. His eyes immediately turned a bit sharp.
He casually produced another suction-cup arrow and poked it toward her forehead, kindly placing it in the same spot as before so there would not be a second red mark.
How considerate.
Well, the suction part might have been made a little larger, so the mark might be bigger this time.
Surely the big cat would not mind. After all, she was the one who grabbed him first.
The patient on the bed still had her tail wrapped around his hand, tugging him like that. How was he supposed to deal with that?
So careless.
"Victoria profanity Not this thing again! Wait! Why did it get bigger? This is practically the size used for unclogging toilets!"
Feeling the familiar sensation on her forehead, Blaze immediately let go of Shirou and once again began battling the object on her head.
"Hahaha! So this is what the others were talking about!"
Ace and Scout, watching Blaze struggle, showed no intention of helping. Instead, they took out their phones and recorded this memorable moment.
At most, it was a little embarrassing, but they had no intention of blaming Shirou.
After all, he had turned around and helped straighten Rosmontis's blanket after Blaze had messed it up earlier. His intentions were clear enough.
There was really nothing to criticize, Blaze had simply stepped on Shirou's trigger point and ended up getting blown up by it.
However, she did not care at all and did not ask anyone for help, continuing to struggle with the object on her head alone.
Although they did not understand how Shirou managed to attach it so tightly, it did not stop them from recording it as material for jokes.
Unfortunately, neither of them got to enjoy it for long, as they were soon taken away by Amiya, who had been called over by the medical staff.
They had seriously disturbed the other patients' rest. Even though Rosmontis's area was separated, their laughter was loud enough to carry out.
Shirou, very considerate, had already removed the magic from Blaze's device before she left, so Amiya would not have to pull her away in the same manner again.
Amiya had come mainly because all three of them were slacking off. She was there to send them back to their duties.
Especially Blaze, this operation had originally been assigned to her and Rosmontis. Due to unexpected incidents, they requested backup from Rhodes Island, which led to Ace and Scout being deployed.
This meant Blaze would now be facing a large amount of post-operation reporting: she would have to personally write a detailed account of the entire mission from her elite operator perspective and submit it to Amiya.
So once again, only Shirou and Lappland remained by Rosmontis's bedside, staring at each other.
"My head feels a bit dizzy… I will head out first. Do you want me to bring dinner for you?"
At this moment, the "little circle" above Lappland's head was still spinning. She had more or less understood what Shirou had just done.
But understanding something and actually being able to process it were two different things.
She still could not imagine Shirou swinging a giant sword the size of a building.
That thing was not meant to be used by humans, right?
The more she thought about it, the more her head hurt, so Lappland simply gave up thinking altogether.
She packed up her things and prepared to leave. After all, the one being forcibly "held hostage" by the patient was Shirou, not her.
If it were her, she would have already rubbed all the fur off that tail.
But… looking closely, that little cat was actually quite cute. Being restrained like that did not seem like a loss either.
Well, that was just talk. Given her personality, aside from Shirou, not many people would dare to interact with her directly anyway.
Thinking about it that way, Shirou was actually quite bold.
Or maybe he simply did not worry about her at all.
She did not know. In any case, things were fine as they were.
"If I need anything, I will contact you through the terminal. Also, you do not have a meal card, right? Use this one for now."
Seeing that Lappland was about to leave, Shirou did not try to stop her.
She had just finished a physical examination, so being tired was normal.
And she did not seem to have eaten lunch yet, so Shirou rummaged through his pocket with his free hand, found his meal card, and handed it over.
"Alright. See you later."
Without hesitation, Lappland took the meal card and left, leaving Shirou alone with the unconscious Rosmontis.
"Honestly… I wonder if Rhodes Island's network has videos of Caprine cuisine or Sora's concert…"
Once everything became quiet, Shirou felt a bit bored.
However, after being influenced by Penguin Logistics for so long, he had also learned how to pass time using his phone and the internet.
He was not as crazy as the others, though. Mostly he just watched Lungmen news and cooking videos.
For entertainment, he would occasionally watch Sora's concerts… and last time, Exusiai even brought him a recipe she found online and asked him to recreate it.
It was called "apple baked bread," if he remembered correctly. It was clearly Exusiai's evil scheme, and he had rejected it without hesitation.
The main problem was that even Exusiai herself did not know how to make it and still came to him.
Of course he ignored that.
If she had brought an actual proper recipe, he might have at least considered it.
But she had brought nothing.
That was very Exusiai.
His fingers tapped on the phone as Shirou completely immersed himself in it.
By the time Lappland returned in the evening with a nutritious meal prepared by Hibiscus, Shirou finally snapped back to reality.
The internet really was dangerous. He had unknowingly wasted several hours.
But Lappland was also dangerous in her own way, showing up with nothing but a set of "nutritious meals."
"Is this all?"
Shirou looked at the meal in Lappland's hand, narrowing his eyes slightly at her.
His gaze was extremely "kind" at this moment, something he had learned from someone else.
"…There is more. This set of nutritious meals was strongly requested by that little Sarkaz girl for me to deliver. It is not something I chose."
Seeing this, Lappland immediately lost any intention of teasing him and quickly brought out another set of food, fearing that Shirou might make her eat the meal herself on the spot.
She had tried her best. This was already a normal nutritious meal.
Originally, what she had been given was closer to experimental dark cuisine. Only after her efforts did it become something normal.
Of course, she did not mention that part, or it would sound like she was bullying someone.
"Then thank her for me."
Shirou took both meals, gritted his teeth slightly, and said with a troubled expression.
"I will, I will. Then I will head off!"
Seeing Shirou's reaction, Lappland's mood improved considerably.
Other people's suffering was her happiness, especially when it was people she knew.
If she were not worried that Shirou might share that suffering with her, she would have definitely stayed to watch him finish the meal.
"…"
Fine. At least he did not have to eat plain grass, and there were other things to go with it.
In that regard, Shirou was still quite optimistic. He alternated between the two meals and quickly finished them both.
After eating his fill, he did not go back to his phone. Instead, he checked on Rosmontis.
Aside from kicking the blanket off again, she seemed to be fine.
The only issue was that she was still holding onto her tablet terminal tightly, and Shirou was slightly worried she might accidentally crush it.
However, he could not really pull his hand away, so he simply left it as it was.
Not touching his phone was also because he was worried that time would slip away again… and he was indeed feeling somewhat exhausted.
He had woken up early in the morning for a physical examination, spent a great deal of effort persuading Amiya, and then heavily used his magical energy afterward.
Although his magical energy had mostly recovered, he could still feel a thick wave of drowsiness constantly rising.
Looking at his left hand, still tightly bound, Shirou simply leaned against the edge of the bed and lay down.
He was still very patient with Rosmontis.
Not because she was a child, and not because of her past.
He simply saw a resemblance to someone familiar within her, just like with Rope.
He was very clear about that.
It was not about "replacing" anyone. Even without that resemblance, he would have made the same choice.
Lying beside the bed, the overwhelming fatigue immediately engulfed Shirou, pulling him into sleep.
"..."
After quite some time, Rosmontis on the hospital bed kicked the blanket off and slowly struggled before opening her eyes.
The medical wing at night only kept a few lights on, making the room feel dim and slightly eerie.
But Rosmontis did not pay much attention to that. Her focus was instead on the red-haired man beside the bed.
She did not know who he was, but he felt familiar… and reassuring.
She also noticed that her tail seemed to be tightly wrapped around his hand, and after loosening it, she saw faint red marks left behind.
"…Ah. This is Shirou?"
After staring for a while, Rosmontis finally found the answer through the terminal in her arms.
She checked the records again, and decided that letting him sleep like this was not very appropriate. So she tried to use her Arts to lift him onto the bed so he could lie properly.
The moment her Originium Arts touched Shirou, he suddenly sat up, his golden eyes scanning the surroundings as if searching for something.
After confirming that there was no one around, Shirou simply lay back down again, as if nothing had happened.
"Is this sleepwalking?"
Rosmontis muttered to herself after recalling her memories.
In that case, moving him onto the bed might not work… Shirou reacted quite strongly to her Arts, and she might accidentally injure him.
After thinking for a moment, Rosmontis placed her terminal aside, then curled up beside Shirou's head, holding his left hand that had just been wrapped by her tail.
It felt warm, and very reassuring.
A strong sense of safety made Rosmontis fall asleep again.