In the end, the matter still reached Kal'tsit. The entire incident ultimately concluded with Warfarin being hung from the deck alone as punishment.
After all, a group of people in white lab coats carrying someone while running across Rhodes Island was simply too eye-catching. Quite a few people had even started worrying whether another major incident had occurred.
Of course, those people were only a minority. After all, all sorts of strange things happened on Rhodes Island every day. A group of doctors carrying someone while running around was honestly nothing remarkable.
"I already dealt with that situation. In the future, stop indulging them. Otherwise, next time they will carry you away while you are asleep."
Inside the office, Kal'tsit spoke while sipping hot coffee.
On the other side of the desk sat Shirou along with the four members of Penguin Logistics.
Compared to Shirou's relatively calm expression, the four members of Penguin Logistics looked visibly uneasy.
They seemed somewhat afraid of Kal'tsit, resembling children reacting to the sight of a doctor.
"I was not indulging them. By the time I realized what was happening, I was already being carried away..."
Hearing Kal'tsit's words, Shirou quietly muttered a complaint.
Immediately afterward, he received a silent stare from Kal'tsit, causing his voice to grow softer and softer until it vanished entirely.
"Ahem... next time I will definitely run."
Feeling her gaze upon him, Shirou coughed awkwardly before speaking.
"That is exactly what indulging them means. You are making them think everyone else is easy to talk to as well."
After staring at Shirou for quite a while, Kal'tsit finally let out a sigh.
They were already a group of troublesome people to begin with, and now there was one more person spoiling those troublesome individuals, doubling the severity of her headaches.
The worst part was that the person in question did not even realize it himself, which made the situation even more troublesome.
"Understood."
Shirou immediately straightened his posture and repeatedly nodded to show that he understood what Kal'tsit meant.
"I hope so. In any case, I will block them for you over the next few days. After the operation is over, you can handle things however you want. They do know their limits, so it will not become excessively outrageous."
Kal'tsit remained skeptical regarding Shirou's claim that he understood.
Still, this was about all she could do. After all, Shirou himself seemed to genuinely enjoy the situation.
It was not that Shirou enjoyed being researched or carried around everywhere. Rather, he genuinely enjoyed the idea that his blood could help other people.
Warfarin had mentioned this point earlier.
At the moment, it was not causing any major problems, but based on the psychological evaluation conducted on Shirou previously, this aspect of his personality was indeed somewhat severe.
Here on Rhodes Island, there was still her and several other people with proper moral boundaries keeping watch over things.
But if Shirou behaved this way elsewhere, then the situation could become very dangerous.
Though she herself was not exactly a good person either. After all, morality alone could not solve the crises plaguing this land.
Still, since Shirou himself had already made corresponding promises, then at the very least, she would do everything within her power to properly handle matters on this front as well.
"Definitely, I will definitely prioritize this operation first. Do not worry!"
After hearing Kal'tsit's words, Shirou nodded and responded.
He simply assumed that Kal'tsit placed great importance on this operation and did not want him making mistakes over small matters like these.
"...Fine. Let us leave this matter here for now. Handle the rest yourself later. I did not call all of you here just to discuss this."
Feeling that successfully convincing Shirou would require an enormous amount of time and effort, Kal'tsit decisively chose to skip the topic altogether.
Just as she said, the original reason for summoning Shirou and the Penguin Logistics group was not to discuss such matters.
Kal'tsit stood up and walked over to a nearby cabinet, taking out a briefcase. She then placed it in front of Shirou and the others before opening it.
Inside were five black rings.
"What are these?"
Shirou felt as though he had seen them somewhere before, but he could not remember where.
"Infection monitoring devices. Every Rhodes Island operator wears one regardless of whether they are infected with Oripathy or not. They can effectively monitor the wearer's physical condition."
As she explained, Kal'tsit picked up one of the infection monitoring devices and activated it.
A cyan-blue light briefly flashed from the device, causing Shirou to finally remember where he had seen them before.
Many Rhodes Island operators wore these devices around their necks, wrists, or legs.
He had originally assumed they were simply part of Rhodes Island's fashion style. He never expected them to actually be infection monitoring devices.
From the way Kal'tsit described them, they sounded extremely practical... at least for people like Penguin Logistics.
Simply being able to monitor the Originium condition inside one's body in real time was already more than enough value.
After all, Penguin Logistics frequently transported cargo related to Originium, and they occasionally encountered attacks involving Originium Arts as well.
If there were any abnormalities in their bodily data, treatment could begin immediately to prevent the worst possible outcome.
"These four are for all of you. And this one is for Shirou."
After briefly explaining the function of the infection monitoring devices, Kal'tsit took out one that looked slightly more specialized before pushing the briefcase toward the four members of Penguin Logistics.
"What is different about it?"
Seeing that Shirou's device looked somewhat special, the four members of Penguin Logistics immediately ignored the devices in front of them and questioned Kal'tsit instead.
Part of it was simple curiosity. The other part was concern that Shirou might have some unique physical condition, which was why he had been given a different model.
"This version was adjusted specifically for Shirou's unique condition. You should already know about that condition from what he told you before. Although the data differences are not especially large, there are still some subtle distinctions. This modified monitoring device can better reflect Shirou's physical condition and provide us with more accurate information."
Without trying to keep it mysterious, Kal'tsit simply explained the purpose of the specially customized infection monitoring device in her hand.
Overall, everything she said was true. This particular model had been designed specifically for Shirou alone.
What Kal'tsit did not mention, however, was that this device could monitor the degree of cellular fusion between Shirou's body and Originium in real time.
Shirou's physical condition was somewhat complicated. Originium could not directly infect his body, but if magecraft, or rather magical energy, was used as a medium, then Shirou could still become infected.
The symptoms of his infection differed from ordinary infected individuals. Instead, they manifested in the form of red patterns, and they would gradually disappear over time.
Rather than calling it Oripathy infection, it was more accurate to say that the magical energy within Shirou's body had become contaminated.
All of these conclusions were results Kal'tsit had personally analyzed from the previous research reports. At present, she was the only one who knew about them.
The adjustment process itself had not been difficult. It was mainly based on the infection monitoring device previously designed for Nameless.
Although it could not monitor the so-called magical energy directly, whenever the red patterns appeared, Shirou's physical data would also undergo noticeable changes. Those changes could be used as baseline values for judgment.
This was also the primary reason why Shirou's medical examination reports differed somewhat from everyone else's.
At present, aside from Kal'tsit herself, nobody else knew about these matters.
There were simply too many things involved, and Shirou's identity as someone from another world was also extremely unique. The fewer people who knew, the better.
"Ooh, that sounds amazing! Shirou really needs something like this!"
After hearing Kal'tsit's explanation, Exusiai let out an impressed exclamation.
"It really does suit Shirou perfectly!"
Nearby, Croissant crossed her arms and nodded with a serious expression.
"Mm."
Texas did not say much, but from the way she nodded, it was obvious that she agreed as well.
Shirou: "?"
Why had everyone suddenly become so enthusiastic?
And what did they mean by saying he really needed this thing?
Why was everyone unusually united at a time like this?
At least Sora was better. She had not joined in with the others.
"Shirou, where are you going to wear it? Left hand? Right hand? Or around your ankle?"
Just as Shirou was thinking that, Sora had already taken the infection monitoring device from Kal'tsit's hand and was looking eager to try it on him herself.
"...I will put it on myself."
Seeing her expression, Shirou silently abandoned the thoughts in his mind and directly took the infection monitoring device from Sora's hands.
Under Kal'tsit's gaze as she calmly sipped her coffee, together with the attentive stares of the four Penguin Logistics members, the problem Shirou was currently pondering was...
Where should he wear it?
Around his neck? On his wrist? Around his ankle?
The first option could be eliminated immediately. With this size, wearing it around his neck might actually strangle him.
As for the ankle... it still seemed slightly too small there, which meant the wrist was probably the best option.
"Can this thing be removed whenever I want?"
To be safe, Shirou asked first.
If it could not be removed freely, then where he wore it would become extremely important.
This thing was ultimately an external object. If worn in a poor position, it could interfere with combat.
"It can, but it is not recommended. Otherwise, the monitoring results will become inaccurate."
The moment she heard Shirou's question, Kal'tsit immediately understood what he was thinking.
"Alright then... left hand it is."
After hearing that switching positions was not recommended, Shirou decided to wear the infection monitoring device on his left hand.
The main reason was naturally because it was his non-dominant hand. Secondly, he simply felt that wearing something on his left hand might feel more appropriate somehow.
He did not know the reason himself, but things like this were usually fine as long as he followed his instincts.
"The left hand, huh? Then I will wear mine on the left hand too."
After seeing Shirou place the infection monitoring device onto his left wrist and activate it, the others immediately followed suit and also wore theirs on their left hands.
Because this was Penguin Logistics. Everything had to match neatly together.
"It is going to take some time getting used to this."
Shirou did not think too much about everyone else wearing theirs on the left hand as well. Right now, he simply found the foreign sensation on his wrist rather noticeable.
He probably needed some time to adapt, though one or two days should be enough.
"It definitely has a bit of weight to it."
Compared to Shirou, the others seemed even less accustomed to the extra object on their wrists, especially Texas.
Still, just as Shirou had said, they would get used to it after some time.
Compared to a slight difference in feeling, being able to monitor their physical conditions at all times was far more important.
"Now that you have decided, sit down. Once I finish teaching you how to use them, I still have work to do."
Seeing how curious everyone was about the devices, Kal'tsit gestured for them to sit down.
What Kal'tsit taught them was fairly simple. She merely explained how to connect the devices to their terminals so they could monitor a few important data readings.
As for more detailed examinations, those would have to be conducted aboard Rhodes Island's landship itself, so there was no need to explain that part to them in detail.
Everything was quite straightforward. The members of Penguin Logistics understood it almost immediately, and Kal'tsit promptly sent them outside afterward.
She still needed to explain the hidden functions of Shirou's device to him.
"Your device is somewhat special. These are some theories I have come up with myself, so take a look when you have time. I also installed a special function into your device. Specifically, the device will gradually turn red as your infection level rises."
Once only Kal'tsit and Shirou remained in the office, Kal'tsit immediately got to the main topic.
"Turn red?"
Hearing that, Shirou first looked confused before his expression turned somewhat subtle.
After all, hearing about things on his body turning red reminded him of a certain red individual.
Still, red was a warning color by nature, so there was nothing strange about that.
"Yes. It will gradually shift from cyan-blue to red according to the level of infection. That was originally part of the design, but it created too many problems, which is why the current versions no longer use it."
"Under normal circumstances, your body will not become infected. However, if magical energy is used as a medium, Originium residue will still remain behind. Therefore, the primary purpose of this device is to monitor how much Originium residue exists inside your body."
"Ten percent. That is the safety threshold I have established for you. Once you exceed that limit, you will become infected as well, and it will not be the kind that naturally recovers over time. This conclusion is based on the condition of Operator Nameless, so you absolutely must not exceed this percentage. Ideally, you should remain below five percent."
As she spoke, Kal'tsit picked up the monitoring terminal meant for Shirou and opened a rather hidden window, causing a string of data to appear on the screen.
Although Shirou could not fully understand the information displayed, he could at least recognize the "1%" shown on it.
In simple terms, it was a very useful device. However, regarding that so-called safety threshold... he felt that Doctor Kal'tsit had definitely reported a lower number than the true limit.
As for what the actual limit was, he had no idea.
"Has anyone ever told you that your facial expressions are very easy to read?"
While Shirou was still thinking about the actual limit, Kal'tsit tapped the desk in front of her and stared at him with an unfriendly look.
"Are you currently thinking that I intentionally gave you a lower number? I can responsibly tell you that your thought process is correct. Ten percent is not the absolute limit. It is a safety threshold. You do understand the meaning of the words 'safety threshold,' correct?"
"All data is recorded and preserved. If I discover your readings have exceeded seven percent, then you can go hang beside Warfarin for a few days as well."
Kal'tsit spoke to Shirou with a completely serious expression.
Shirou: "..."
Was he really that kind of person?
Yes. Yes, he was.
"Understood. I will keep it in mind."
With an awkward yet still polite smile, Shirou accepted Kal'tsit's warning.