After seeing Chen fall into a dazed trance, Shirou immediately pulled his hand back and wiped it clean with a tissue.
It just... honestly looked rather indecent.
Silently complaining to himself, Shirou checked Chen's condition while adjusting his posture and waiting to be dragged into whatever strange experience might follow.
Chen currently looked exactly like Lappland and Amiya before her. Her eyes were open, but there was no light in them at all, simply staring blankly ahead.
It really was a rather frightening sight.
Still, after experiencing it once and then twice, by the third time Shirou was already unfazed.
Things like this became manageable once you got used to them, even if he personally had no desire to grow accustomed to it.
"..."
Several minutes passed, yet Shirou still felt nothing unusual.
If he really had to mention something, the cut on his finger had stopped bleeding, though the bite marks still hurt a little.
Aside from that, nothing happened.
Which left Shirou rather confused.
Back during Amiya's case, he had clearly been dragged into something afterward. So why had nothing happened this time?
Come to think of it, Lappland's case seemed similar. She had even made some terrifying declaration about his blood tasting delicious.
Thinking it through... Amiya's situation seemed to have spiraled because of emotional instability at the time.
So perhaps there were not actually many side effects for him personally?
As long as the patient had decent luck, there probably would not be any issues.
Hm... though he himself might still suffer social death afterward.
In any case, he could note all of this down and tell Kal'tsit and the others later. Whether he got scolded afterward was another matter entirely.
After realizing there likely would not be any follow-up complications, Shirou finally relaxed and looked back toward the building.
The people on the rooftop had quieted down. They no longer lingered near the edge and had instead gathered in the center.
"From this angle... I should be able to shoot them."
After briefly evaluating the distance and trajectory, Shirou felt he could probably disable those people from here.
"No... maybe I should just snipe them outright...?"
The thought suddenly surfaced in Shirou's mind, as though someone were whispering directly into his ear.
The sudden explosive spread of Originium crystals among the unconscious people on the tenth floor definitely had a cause.
He knew someone had tampered with those people somehow. Perhaps Originium wedges had been implanted into them, perhaps they had been drugged, or perhaps they were being manipulated through Originium Arts.
If that was truly the case, then any arrest operation by the Guard Department would become meaningless.
Worse, it would only place the Guard Department officers themselves in danger.
Thinking this, the way Shirou looked toward the rooftop gradually turned dangerous.
"Cough... cough... Shirou?"
After recovering from her dazed state, Chen's first action was immediately choking on her own saliva.
Once she recovered slightly, she noticed that something seemed off about Shirou.
He looked positively murderous.
"Officer Chen, you are awake? Is your body alright?"
After hearing Chen's voice, Shirou finally pulled his gaze away and immediately checked on her condition.
Judging from her current state, she probably had not seen any overly strange memories or visions, right?
"...I feel a bit better now. Also, what exactly did you do just now? That was your blood, was it not?"
After Shirou asked, Chen truly did realize her condition had improved significantly. At the very least, the sense of weakness had faded considerably.
At that moment, there were only two things she was curious about: why Shirou had fed her his blood, and the things she had just seen.
She could roughly guess the answer to the first question. It was probably meant to treat the weakness in her body.
As for the second, she had listened to Shirou's warning and did not dwell too much on those scenes, treating them like a movie instead.
Though a movie starring someone she knew personally made the experience rather strange.
"Yeah. You were out for nearly ten minutes."
Shirou nodded while carefully observing Chen's condition.
She looked far better than before. At least her face was no longer deathly pale, and some color had returned.
As for checking her temperature or anything like that, Shirou did not touch her again.
Earlier contact had been unavoidable due to the circumstances. Now there was no emergency.
His eyes alone could already tell him plenty. There was no need to overdo it.
"Ten minutes? That is shorter than I expected. I thought I had been asleep for at least an hour or two. How is the situation outside?"
Seeing that Shirou clearly did not intend to continue discussing the topic, Chen also chose not to press further.
Perhaps it was some racial trait, or perhaps it was Shirou's own secret.
As for Originium Arts?
No, no, no.
She had seen it clearly.
That so-called magecraft.
Although she did not understand it, among those fragmented scenes she had definitely seen Shirou training in magecraft. The details all matched perfectly with the abilities he displayed in reality.
Especially the phrases he recited every time he used his abilities.
Originally, she thought he simply liked shouting dramatic lines before fighting to motivate himself.
Now it seemed that was not the case at all.
Although the memories were fragmented and incomplete, Chen had still managed to understand, from another perspective, why Shirou had become the person he was now.
From the childhood promise to become a champion of justice, to the endless days of training magecraft and constantly helping others, it oddly felt like watching one's own child grow up.
Though the feeling itself was rather strange.
Still, this was obviously not the right situation to ask about those things. She could only wait until later, when things calmed down.
Compared to satisfying her curiosity, Chen cared far more about work.
"Swire's group seems ready to come out. What should we do about the infected on the rooftop?"
During this time, Shirou had not only been monitoring the rooftop, but also listening in on Swire's side through the communicator.
Granted, most of the time consisted of hearing her muttering complaints about "sausage dragon," "damned dragon," and "scheming brat," but not long ago he heard her ordering everyone to prepare to move downstairs.
At the moment, the rooftop infected seemed to be the most pressing issue.
Since Officer Chen was awake now, Shirou no longer needed to overthink things himself.
Perhaps she had a better solution.
Surely it would be better than his own idea of simply killing them all outright.
"The infected on the rooftop..."
Picking up the binoculars nearby, Chen observed the rooftop carefully.
When she mentioned the infected, her tone became noticeably heavier.
The problem Shirou had realized was naturally something she already understood as well. It was not even the first time she had seen this sort of suicidal detonation tactic.
One could only say that they had the will, but not the capability.
Thinking this, Chen suddenly realized Shirou had probably already understood that earlier as well. No wonder his expression had seemed so dangerous.
"Swire will handle it properly."
At that moment, Chen decided to simply dump the entire problem onto that char siu cat.
After all, Swire had far more drones available, making such tasks easier for her.
Entrusting the matter to Shirou would certainly resolve things faster, but Chen simply did not want him doing that sort of work.
Those ugly matters could be handled by them instead.
Shirou did not need to face such decisions or bear the consequences of making them.
After all, he was only working part-time for the Guard Department.
And after seeing those memories earlier, Chen did not want to watch someone chasing such an ideal sink into the mud.
Someone pursuing a dream like that surely would not grow twisted.
Besides, he was still young...
Wait.
In those visions earlier, she seemed to have seen Shirou during his high school years, and he looked almost exactly the same height and appearance as when she first met him.
No wonder Shirou was still growing taller.
Did Penguin Logistics hire a minor?
No, that could not be right. Shirou's registered age was twenty...
After deciding to throw the troublesome work onto Swire, Chen finally had the mental room to think about these strange questions.
First, Shirou's registered age was probably fake, likely arranged through Penguin Logistics. Then Penguin Logistics had possibly hired an underage Shirou.
And by extension, the Guard Department had also hired a minor.
The moment she reached that conclusion, Chen immediately discarded the thought entirely.
She had never thought about it.
She knew absolutely nothing.
After turning on the communicator and giving Swire instructions for handling the aftermath, Chen prepared to lead her squad back to the Guard Department.
Although Hoshiguma and the others had not contacted her, Chen knew the Guard Department was undoubtedly overwhelmed right now.
After all, this was the Remembrance day.
And this time, it had very clearly been targeted deliberately.
She knew very well that all of this was, at best, merely the appetizer.
The real operation was definitely still to come. The only unknown was what exactly the enemy's objective was.
Still, treating the infected as expendable consumables was deeply disturbing.
"..."
After receiving Officer Chen's answer, Shirou did not continue pressing the issue.
Since she said Swire would handle it properly, that was enough. As for what happened afterward, it was no longer his concern.
After all, he did not really have a better solution himself.
Due to Chen's deliberate arrangements, only she and Shirou were inside the vehicle.
The reason for that arrangement was simple: the two of them had directly come into contact with substances capable of stimulating Originium activity.
Even though everyone knew that would not immediately infect them, maintaining some distance for appearances still felt appropriate. In any case, there were plenty of vehicles available.
The two sat in silence for a long while before Shirou finally spoke first.
"Um... what exactly did you see earlier, Officer Chen?"
Shirou really wanted to know which parts of his black history had been witnessed so he could mentally prepare himself.
Otherwise, if those things got brought up later, he might die from embarrassment.
"Hm? How should I put it... the story of a child chasing his dream, perhaps?"
Chen briefly summarized what she had seen.
A child who inherited his adoptive father's ideal and continuously worked hard so that one day he might help others.
So simple.
So naive.
If there was one issue, however, it was that she still did not quite understand the relationship between Shirou and his adoptive father.
She had seen Shirou and witnessed his efforts from middle school into high school, but she still did not know what happened before that.
Still, since Shirou himself called the man his adoptive father, the memories before that probably were not pleasant ones, so Chen wisely chose not to pry further.
"Tch."
On the other side, after hearing Chen's description, Shirou clicked his tongue softly.
This truly was pure black history.
"Hehe. A champion of justice. Honestly, that sounds rather nice, does it not?"
Seeing Shirou's reaction, Chen could more or less guess what he was thinking, so she lightly teased him while chuckling.
Shirou: "..."
"It is pretty nice."
After remaining silent for a moment, Shirou turned his gaze toward the window and answered quietly.
He did not deny it.
Because denying that would essentially mean denying the very reason Emiya Shirou existed at all.
He could deny himself if necessary, but he could not deny the others.
Especially those two.
"Oh? Then that ideal probably came from your adoptive father, right? Can you tell me what kind of person he was?"
Hearing Shirou's response, Chen became genuinely curious.
She wanted to know more about this adoptive father of his.
Compared to the one on her side, she found that man far more likable.
If Shirou knew what Chen was thinking, he would probably only respond with an awkward but polite smile.
"Kiritsugu, huh... he is complicated. But to me, the old man really was a champion of justice. My own ideals were influenced by him."
Half-closing his eyes, Shirou honestly described his personal view of Kiritsugu.
Only his own thoughts, without mixing in the perspectives of the other Emiya Shirous.
If Kiritsugu had not found him, he would have died in that sea of flames long ago. Emiya Shirouwould never have existed.
In the end, it all came down to the smile Kiritsugu showed him back then.
It left such a deep impression on him that he wanted to become someone like that too.
"I see..."
Listening to Shirou's explanation, Chen could practically visualize the scenes in her mind.
After all, she had just witnessed fragments of those memories herself.
One could only say that Shirou's adoptive father had influenced him profoundly.
"Yeah. That is basically it."
"Come to think of it... why exactly did I see your memories? You did not see mine too, did you?"
Mid-conversation, Chen suddenly realized the issue.
Why had she seen Shirou's memories in the first place?
"Well... that is a long story. Magic is mysterious, right?"
Caught off guard by the sudden topic shift, Shirou froze briefly before casually inventing an explanation.
There was almost nothing magic could not explain away.
And technically, this really was the strange chemical reaction between mana and Originium.
"So that is why you shoved your finger into my mouth?"
Seeing that Shirou clearly had no intention of giving a proper explanation, Chen decided to continue digging up old grievances instead.
"Ahem. Blood is a very convenient medium."
"...I will let you off this time. But if you ever do that again, warn me first. Also, I did not bite you too badly earlier, did I?"
"It is fine."
Rubbing the finger covered in bite marks, Shirou answered with an awkward smile.