Late at night, inside one of Rhodes Island's dormitories.
"I feel like something about this is not quite right..."
Shirou lay on his bed with an expression that looked like he was questioning his entire life.
If he remembered correctly... when he first came here, he had intended to relax, had he not?
So why did it somehow feel even more exhausting than being in Lungmen?
Putting aside the emergency assembly incident, Rosmontis had been coming to find him every day lately.
If it were only Rosmontis, it actually would not have been a problem. Most of the time she simply stayed nearby while holding her terminal.
The main issue was that Blaze would follow behind her.
And that one was on an entirely different level. She had become one of the few sources of irritation Shirou had these past few days.
Things over at Blacksteel Worldwide were relatively fine. After pointing out the problems with Jessica, Liskarm would continue instructing her afterward, so Shirou did not need to constantly supervise them himself.
Still, Shirou had taken some time yesterday to visit them, and while there he handed over the cookies he had baked the previous day to Liskarm, asking her to distribute them according to Jessica's learning progress.
Then that same evening, he thought that since Kal'tsit had already arranged a training room for him, it would be a waste not to use it, so he went there.
As a result, he was immediately caught by Lappland and dragged into several sparring matches.
Naturally, they were not using practice weapons, but real weapons.
The pair in Lappland's hands had even been projected by Shirou himself.
However, through sparring with Lappland, Shirou had to keep fighting her.
After all, she was a battle maniac. Once she started fighting, she resembled a berserker.
Although she claimed she could not fight at full strength because of the weapons, Lappland seemed exceptionally skilled at identifying weaknesses and exploiting them as openings for attack.
As for the "full strength" she referred to, Shirou guessed it was because the weapons he projected were not particularly compatible with Originium Arts. Unless he used Originium as a medium to project Lappland's swords, the blades in her hands were merely sharp weapons.
If there was one real problem, it was probably that the more they fought, the happier she became, and the more unrestrained the grin on her face grew.
Last night, Shirou had fallen asleep with aching muscles all over his body.
As for today, early in the morning he noticed that the medical operators had apparently stayed up all night caring for patients again, so he prepared a large pot of soup.
However, he seemed to have underestimated those medical operators.
The huge pot of soup did not even survive half an hour before being completely emptied.
Several people who only managed to drink a little even rushed over and clung to his legs while desperately begging him to make another pot. Unfortunately, because Rhodes Island's food supplies had already been heavily consumed by him recently, he could only politely refuse their requests.
After all, food supplies could not be wasted casually when they had to feed everyone aboard an entire landship. Shirou had already consumed quite a lot over the past few days. If this continued, Rhodes Island would end up eating dirt.
Of course, Shirou was exaggerating a bit there. Things were not so bad that they would actually eat dirt. Rhodes Island had already arranged for more food supplies, though it would still take some time before they arrived.
If there was truly one thing giving him a headache, it was probably the fact that Lappland had simply stood there watching him make a fool of himself without any intention of helping at all. She had even taken out her phone and snapped several pictures for fun.
Just thinking about it made Shirou grind his teeth in irritation.
Still, this kind of life was actually not bad. Compared to Lungmen, the atmosphere aboard Rhodes Island made him feel more at ease.
It was not that Lungmen was bad. This was simply the impression he had formed after spending several days here.
Perhaps it was because Rosmontis kept coming to play with him, making him feel like he had things to do.
Though, back in Lungmen, he had hardly been idle either...
He had almost lost count of how many messes he had helped Exusiai and Croissant clean up.
"What a headache."
Turning over, Shirou rolled off the bed and sat directly on the floor beside it.
Originally, he had only intended to relax a little after taking a shower, but he ended up thinking about all sorts of things again. At that point, he figured he might as well practice his magecraft instead.
Unlike before, when he would simply project random things to improve his proficiency, this time Shirou had a very clear goal.
His hand reached toward the short table nearby.
Toward that bullet.
Its casing was pitch black, covered with red patterns, and magical energy flowed within it.
This should have been something Nameless created from his remaining magical energy, and his intention was simple.
He wanted Shirou to understand how to use his Noble Phantasm through this bullet.
At its core, Shirou's magecraft relied on his Reality Marble Unlimited Blade Works.
Whether it was projecting Noble Phantasms or unfolding the Reality Marble to engulf enemies, all of it came from the experience he inherited from Archer.
But the bullet in his hand...
It condensed his Reality Marble into a single point, then detonated it.
One could say this method was rather insane, because creating a bullet like this required sacrificing more than magical energy alone.
It consumed one's own heart.
It consumed one's own mind.
Until eventually nothing remained except an empty shell.
"Mm... troublesome."
After understanding the true nature of the thing, Shirou felt another headache coming on.
"If it is only once or twice, it probably will not cause any major problems, right?"
In the end, Shirou still convinced himself.
After all, having more skills was never a bad thing, and this technique was perfectly suited for Shirou.
Among the memories he absorbed from the magical energy crystals before, there had not been anything related to Noble Phantasms. The only time he had ever used one was the example Emiya Kuro had given him, and he had activated it immediately upon receiving it.
So this was his first attempt at actually projecting one himself.
Though with a reference object available, it was not especially difficult.
Still, this was only practice. Shirou had no intention of fully projecting it. Simulating the rough concept was enough.
Outside of emergencies, forcing oneself to do something that harmed the body was honestly quite terrifying.
After sensing the magical energy inside it for a moment, Shirou returned the bullet to its original place and began today's magecraft training.
Until late into the night.
The next morning, in Rhodes Island's cafeteria.
"Haah…"
Sitting beside Lappland, Shirou let out a huge yawn. Last night, he had accidentally stayed up too late and ended up not sleeping well.
"Do not yawn next to me. It is contagious."
Hearing the yawn from beside her, Lappland spoke with a look of disgust while eating breakfast.
Of course, she was merely using it as an excuse. She was simply trying to start a conversation with him.
Earlier, Shirou had looked completely drained. No matter what she said, his responses were limited to things like "Mm," "Ah," or "Oh." Only now, after eating and drinking properly, did he seem to have recovered a bit of energy.
"Is that really a thing?"
Shirou froze for a moment, looking completely bewildered.
How did he not know about something like that? What kind of obscure knowledge was this?
"Just search for a picture of someone yawning online and look at it yourself. Anyway, leaving that aside, are you heading back together with those people from Blacksteel today?"
Seeing Shirou eagerly pull out his phone to search it up, Lappland quickly asked the question she actually wanted answered.
"Yeah, I am going back together with everyone from Blacksteel again. We will probably leave after breakfast, and we should arrive back in Lungmen tonight. Why?"
"Nothing. I was just asking."
After confirming the schedule, Lappland finally looked away.
This trip had made her a bit too lazy...
Once she returned to Lungmen, she needed to quickly find some blind gang foolish enough to provoke her. Her hands were itching for a fight.
Oh right, there was also the report Texas asked her to make regarding Shirou's activities at Rhodes Island.
Thinking of that, Lappland hurriedly pulled out her phone and began recalling everything she had observed over the past few days.
Now that she thought about it carefully, this guy really was quite popular.
As far as she remembered, at least three different factions were already trying to recruit Shirou.
Penguin Logistics, the Lungmen Guard Department, and Rhodes Island.
It was not hard to understand why.
After all, his combat ability spoke for itself, and unlike her, Shirou was not difficult to get along with at all. On the contrary, he was extremely approachable.
If the situation were not already chaotic enough, even she might have wanted to try recruiting him herself.
As long as Shirou was around, she could just grab a gun and spray bullets at people to her heart's content. No matter how she thought about it, that sounded fun.
Thinking this, Lappland suddenly turned to look at Shirou.
Shirou: "?"
For some reason, Shirou suddenly felt a chill run down his spine from the gaze coming from beside him.
What exactly was with that look that seemed to say she wanted to drag him off to work as free labor?
Fortunately, Lappland's gaze did not linger for long and was quickly withdrawn.
"Phew..."
Only after feeling that piercing stare disappear did Shirou finally sigh in relief. At the same time, he secretly glanced sideways to see what Lappland was actually doing.
His instincts told him that whatever Lappland was doing right now definitely was not beneficial for him.
"..."
At the moment, Lappland was busy recalling things and did not notice Shirou's gaze from beside her.
Or rather, Shirou was forcefully relying on his exceptional eyesight to peek using movements impossible for ordinary people. A normal person would never notice.
Watching her continuously typing on her phone, the expression on Shirou's face gradually became uglier.
Lappland... was recording his activities over the past few days?
No, wait. Although he already knew she had specifically been assigned to keep an eye on him, was it really necessary to the point of documenting his schedule?
And judging by the profile picture, she seemed to be talking to Texas.
Oh, it was Texas?
Then that explained why Lappland was being so diligent.
Yeah right.
"What exactly are you doing?"
Shirou reached out and placed a hand on Lappland's shoulder, slowly increasing the pressure while asking the question.
"Chatting! What else?"
Feeling the soreness coming from her shoulder, Lappland tapped her phone screen as she answered. She was not worried about Shirou seeing what she wrote anyway. Her font size was usually tiny, and at this distance there was no way he could read it.
However, Lappland had forgotten one thing.
Shirou's eyesight was far beyond that of a normal person.
"Oh? Chatting with Texas? Talking about how the medical department clung to my legs yesterday?"
With a gentle smile on his face, Shirou spoke.
"..."
Looking at that smile, Lappland understood immediately.
She had been caught.
"Ahem... I was just talking about some amusing things from the past few days. I was only sharing stories. Look, there are even photos."
Faced with Shirou's terrifyingly friendly smile, Lappland attempted to change the subject through sheer rhetoric.
As long as Shirou believed she was merely sharing funny stories from the trip, everything would be fine!
"Oh? Then what about the entries from the second and third day?"
Seeing that she still wanted to struggle a little, Shirou directly exposed what he had just seen.
Funny stories?
From the first day all the way to yesterday, the sixth day, nearly everything written there was about what he had been doing recently!
Was she trying to get him killed?
Return to Lungmen and immediately contact the funeral home, was that it?
And on top of that, the descriptions were all incredibly subjective, making it sound like he was absurdly popular...
Also, what exactly was with the nickname "little donkey"?
"Ahahaha... Shirou, you know how it is. I cannot refuse Texas' requests. She offered too much."
Seeing that the matter had already been exposed, Lappland decisively sold Texas out.
Anyway, it was not a huge issue. Surely Texas would not blame her.
After all, if they needed to come to Rhodes Island again in the future, only she or Rope could really help. And Rope absolutely would not betray Shirou, even if their goals happened to align.
So if Texas wanted someone to help her, Lappland was basically her only option.
Naturally, Lappland was not worried at all.
"Ten lunch boxes. You can choose the dishes yourself. The kind that can be claimed separately."
Actually, Shirou did not care that much about Lappland reporting his schedule.
After all, they were all familiar faces.
It would just be better if she toned down the wording a little...
Thinking about the phrases Lappland had used, Shirou felt extremely grateful that he had discovered this now. Otherwise, things would have become troublesome once he returned.
Now it depended on whether Lappland was willing to make a deal.
"Deal. I will edit it right now."
Faced with Shirou's offer, Lappland immediately agreed.
Sorry, Texas.
Shirou offered more.
Still, I will not treat you badly either. We are old acquaintances, after all.
Only after Lappland nodded in agreement did Shirou release his grip.
He felt like he was straying further and further down the path of threatening people.
This definitely was the fault of certain two individuals.
Watching Lappland busily working on her phone, Shirou had no intention of supervising her.
He trusted Lappland's character.
However, Shirou forgot one extremely important detail.
That was Lappland's obsession with Texas.
And so, Shirou used his phone to send farewell messages to the acquaintances he had made at Rhodes Island before boarding the Blacksteel vehicle together with Lappland and beginning the journey back to Lungmen.
To be honest, this vacation had not relaxed Shirou very much.
Instead, it had only added even more things for him to deal with.
Amiya's request...
The end of December, huh?
Heading into Ursus territory, and even carrying out a rescue mission inside a mobile city...
No matter how he thought about it, the danger level sounded incredibly high.
However, Amiya had also said at the time that inviting him was only meant to provide an extra layer of security. The main force would still be the rescue squad from Rhodes Island.
And that Doctor… seemed to be truly important to Amiya. Judging from Kal'tsit's attitude though, she was clearly against that Doctor returning.
The whole situation felt rather complicated. No wonder Kal'tsit had told him to make the decision himself instead of asking for her opinion.
Because she would definitely oppose it.
Looking at it that way, although Kal'tsit opposed the idea, she still could not stop Amiya from wanting it to happen. In the end, she could only take a step back behind the scenes.
As Shirou wondered what kind of love-hate entanglement existed between them, he gradually fell asleep again without realizing it.
After all, he had been sleeping in unfamiliar beds these past few days, so it inevitably affected him somewhat.
Only after the vehicle entered Lungmen's signal range did Shirou suddenly feel a chill run down his spine.
It felt as though… someone was watching him.
It was probably just his imagination, right?
After glancing at the members of Blacksteel Worldwide who were vigilantly watching their surroundings inside the vehicle, and then at Lappland sleeping beside him with drool practically coming out of her mouth, Shirou came to that conclusion.