After enduring Kal'tsit's stern warnings, Shirou and the members of Penguin Logistics were finally allowed to leave the medical department.
"Phew... Doctor Kal'tsit is so scary! When she stares at you, it feels like you cannot even breathe properly!"
Only after they had walked quite a distance away from the office did Exusiai finally relax her tense body. She grabbed Texas by the shoulder while speaking.
"Seriously. I really do not understand how you stay so calm around her, Shirou."
Croissant immediately agreed.
"Is it really that exaggerated?"
After hearing the two of them speak, Shirou noticed that aside from Exusiai and Croissant, the other two also seemed to feel the same way.
Once he confirmed that fact, the corners of Shirou's mouth twitched slightly before he responded with a complaint.
"It is! It really is! The moment her eyes sweep over you, it feels like some terrifying creature has locked onto you!"
While talking, Exusiai even gestured wildly with her hands, trying to make Shirou understand what she had just experienced.
"Pfft..."
Between her incredibly abstract gestures and what was probably a failing level of descriptive ability, not only did Shirou fail to understand the fear Exusiai was trying to describe, he instead found the whole thing hilarious.
Mainly because her performance was simply far too ridiculous.
Not only did Shirou burst out laughing, the others also started laughing because of Exusiai's antics, making her so angry that she started stomping her feet.
"I honestly do not think Doctor Kal'tsit is that frightening. She just does not show many expressions, that is all. Compared to her, I actually think Chen Sir looks much scarier during operations."
After laughing for a while, Shirou spoke up slightly in Kal'tsit's defense.
For him, neither Chen nor Kal'tsit created that much pressure.
How should he put it... after seeing Berserker before, Shirou felt it was very difficult for other people to make him feel intimidated anymore.
"Oh! I heard that! Shirou, you are actually talking bad about Chen Sir behind her back! I am going to report this to her when we get back!"
After hearing Shirou's words, Croissant instantly shifted the topic from "Kal'tsit looks terrifying" to "reporting Shirou."
Her speed at changing topics was even faster than Exusiai eating apple pie.
"Are you sure Chen Sir would not chop you down first?"
Texas suddenly spoke from the side.
The moment she heard Texas's words, Croissant visibly wilted.
Indeed, considering the relationship between Shirou and Chen, if she actually went to complain directly, she would probably be the one chased down instead.
After all, her credibility over at the Guard Department was tragically low.
"It was just a figure of speech, alright?"
Faced with Croissant's idea of reporting him, Shirou could only smile helplessly.
Still, he knew she was probably just joking around, so he did not care too much about it.
"Speaking of which, what did Doctor Kal'tsit say when she kept you behind alone earlier?"
As they continued walking, Sora suddenly thought of that question.
The reason they had felt so pressured earlier was precisely because Kal'tsit had kicked them out at the very end.
Although they understood that she wanted to speak privately with Shirou, the pressure they felt had still been overwhelming.
Besides, Doctor Kal'tsit really seemed perfectly suited to playing the role of some secret final boss.
"It was nothing special. She just told me that my device has more unique features than usual and if the data becomes too abnormal, she will personally deal with me."
After thinking about it briefly, Shirou selectively omitted the rest of the details.
After all, having Doctor Kal'tsit watching over him was already stressful enough. There was no need to add four more people constantly monitoring him as well.
"I see. Rhodes Island really cares a lot about you, Shirou."
After understanding the situation, Sora nodded in realization.
Creating a specially customized infection monitoring device specifically for Shirou was certainly very considerate.
"So what should we do now? At this hour, the Rhodes Island cafeteria is probably already closing. Should we head to the convenience store and find something to eat?"
After the casual chatting naturally came the most important issue for anyone alive: dinner.
After arriving at Rhodes Island and watching Shirou get carried away, they had helped unload all the supplies from the truck alongside the bread person who had slept the entire journey.
Aside from their luggage and weapons, the cargo also included various supplies and intelligence materials being delivered from Lungmen to Rhodes Island.
Once they finished all that work, they came directly to find Shirou, only to be invited by Kal'tsit for what essentially became a tea session.
As a result, they still had not eaten a single bite of food until now.
But at this hour, the cafeteria was already starting to close, so their only option seemed to be the convenience store.
"That? Just give me a second."
Hearing their question, Shirou took out the terminal provided by Rhodes Island, opened the contact list, and made a call.
The terminal rang a few times before someone answered.
"Hello hello hello! Shirou, are you are finally done? Little Kitty and I are starving to death over here!"
The moment the call connected, Blaze's voice exploded from the other side. She spoke so quickly and loudly that Shirou had no choice but to move the terminal farther away.
"Sorry, sorry. Doctor Kal'tsit needed to discuss something with us earlier. Where are you two right now? The cafeteria?"
After Blaze finished complaining, Shirou hurriedly apologized before she could continue.
Otherwise, with her personality, she would probably keep complaining for quite a while longer.
And before that ended, the four people beside him would probably starve to death first.
"Yeah, we are at the usual spot in the cafeteria. I already had someone keep the food warm, so you can eat immediately once you get here."
After receiving Shirou's apology, Blaze immediately tossed the matter aside and directly told him their location.
Eating was only secondary. Keeping Rosmontis company was the truly important part. Sometimes, when she had nothing to do, Rosmontis could sit quietly in one spot and stare blankly into space for several hours, and Blaze would simply stay beside her the whole time.
Shirou had only been delayed by about an hour, and it was because Doctor Kal'tsit had called him away, so there was naturally nothing that could be done about it.
"Got it. We will be there shortly."
After confirming their location, Shirou hung up the call.
Then, with the four members of Penguin Logistics charging ahead like an assault squad, the group hurried toward the cafeteria at a speed fast enough to satisfy them without disturbing the other people around them.
When it came to eating, nobody could stop them.
Nobody at all.
"Over here! Over here!"
The moment the group entered the cafeteria, they saw a large black feline waving and hopping around while shouting toward them.
Fortunately, there were not many people in the cafeteria at this hour. Most of the ones remaining were Rhodes Island operators who had been busy until late, so they were already familiar with Blaze's personality and did not pay much attention to the noise she was making.
"Stop jumping around. You are going to trip and fall."
Watching Blaze bounce around energetically, Shirou helplessly turned his gaze away.
The direction he looked toward instead was Rosmontis.
At that moment, she was quietly sitting beside the table, staring at the food in front of her.
She looked genuinely hungry.
Compared to Exusiai and Croissant loudly shouting about starvation, Shirou felt that Rosmontis's appearance was what real hunger actually looked like.
As a result, he skipped the greeting stage entirely and directly had everyone sit down and start eating.
The speed of the transition was so fast that even the Penguin Logistics members failed to react immediately.
It was only after they saw Shirou helping Rosmontis pick vegetables and meat onto her plate that they finally understood what had happened.
"Waaah, Shirou, if you keep acting like this, you are going to lose us someday!"
After realizing that Shirou had hurried everyone to the table not because he cared about their hunger, but because of Rosmontis, Exusiai wiped away nonexistent tears and spoke to Shirou with a grief-stricken expression.
"Exactly! You are never this nice to us normally!"
After noticing Exusiai's behavior, Croissant immediately joined in as well.
It looked rather entertaining.
"Since when did you two start competing with children?"
Looking at the pair causing trouble together, Shirou suppressed the urge to project suction-cup arrows at them, mainly because they were currently eating.
"Who says we are not children too? We are not asking for much! Just help us pick up some food too!"
After hearing Shirou's response, the two not only failed to calm down, but instead widened their eyes and put on pitiful expressions while speaking to him.
"Here they go again."
Nearby, Texas and Sora were already completely used to this sort of thing. After pouring themselves drinks and picking out some meat and vegetables, they calmly sat back and watched the show unfold.
This had already become a traditional Penguin Logistics event.
The two of them had even given it a name.
"The Two Penguin Heroes Versus the Great Demon King Shirou."
Of course, that was only something they said privately. If Shirou ever found out that they secretly called him the Demon King, then he might genuinely turn into one.
When Shirou was kind, he was genuinely very kind. But when he became "nuclear-kind," he was genuinely terrifying as well.
Honest people like him were actually rather difficult to provoke. Most of the time, Exusiai and Croissant were merely teasing him for fun.
However, in an even more private setting, namely between Sora and Texas, they had actually renamed the event.
They called it:
"The Daily Life of the Two Penguin Idiots Versus Mama Shirou."
It was especially enjoyable to watch while eating, particularly whenever Shirou started disciplining the two troublemakers.
Shirou: "..."
Watching the two of them widen their eyes and wait for him to feed them felt extremely strange.
"Heh. Children older than me, huh?"
Faced with their relentless assault, Shirou immediately unleashed his ultimate move.
It was not that he thought their behavior was inappropriate. He simply felt that competing with children was somewhat ridiculous.
"Cough... I cannot believe you would use that as an attack! That is so underhanded! We are only a few years older than you! Besides, you are way older than Rosmontis too!"
Faced with Shirou's devastating counterattack, not only did Exusiai and Croissant feel as though they had taken critical damage, even the three spectators nearby developed rather subtle expressions.
"If we are talking about age, then I think I am actually closer to Rosmontis."
After hearing Exusiai's rebuttal, Shirou paused to calculate things briefly.
Although he did not know everyone's exact ages, if he estimated based on people having graduated university one or two years earlier, then he really was closer in age to Rosmontis.
Rosmontis was fourteen. She had personally mentioned it before.
Meanwhile, he himself was eighteen, meaning the difference was only four years.
Now that he thought about it that way...
Among everyone present, he actually did seem relatively young.
Quite obviously, Shirou had absolutely no idea just how massive a critical hit he had unintentionally dealt to the others.
"Uwaah..."
After Shirou followed up with that critical strike, Exusiai and Croissant suffered another complete defeat, while Blaze, Sora, and Texas, who had merely been watching from the sidelines, also took collateral damage.
Still, jokes aside, Shirou did end up helping the two of them pick quite a bit of meat and vegetables.
The portions were just slightly more balanced. Compared to the seven-parts-meat one-part-vegetable arrangement sitting in front of Rosmontis, Exusiai and Croissant's plates were more like an even split, perhaps even with slightly more vegetables than meat.
The other three received portions as well, all chosen based on the dishes Shirou had noticed they personally liked.
Children who made noise would indeed get candy, but that candy was not necessarily what they actually wanted.
Meanwhile, obedient and well-behaved children would definitely receive exactly what they wanted.
The only issue was that these "children" were slightly older than usual.
After receiving the food Shirou picked for them, the two troublemakers finally stopped fooling around, afraid that Shirou might land another devastating blow afterward.
They could not beat him in a fight, nor could they outtalk him, so naturally the only option left was avoiding further damage.
"Shirou, what is that?"
After Rosmontis finished all the food in front of her, she finally put down her chopsticks and began sipping water in small mouthfuls.
At the same time, she noticed the infection monitoring device on Shirou's left hand. Out of curiosity, she directly asked him about it.
"Doctor Kal'tsit gave it to me earlier. Everyone has one."
After lightly waving his left hand, Shirou pointed toward the members of Penguin Logistics nearby, who were quietly eating. They all wore identical devices on their left hands as well.
"Then we are the same."
Rosmontis looked at the device on Shirou's hand before glancing toward the direction he pointed. She then raised her own left hand, revealing the matching device she wore herself.
A faint smile rested on her face, and she genuinely seemed happy about it.
"Hey hey hey! I have one too! Mine is on my left hand as well! Why are you only saying that to Shirou?!"
The moment she saw this scene, Blaze could no longer endure it.
The difference in treatment was far too obvious, was it not?
She was clearly the one who stayed beside Little Kitty all the time, so why did Little Kitty seem much closer to Shirou instead?
Even if he was kind, cooked delicious food, and respected Little Kitty's wishes...
Alright. She probably understood why Rosmontis liked staying close to Shirou more.
"Hmm... but Blaze, you are already a Rhodes Island operator, though?"
Hearing Blaze's complaint, Rosmontis tilted her head and thought for a moment before answering.
In her view, all Rhodes Island operators wore these devices. Although they could be somewhat inconvenient, they existed in order to take better care of everyone, so she properly wore hers at all times.
But Shirou and the four members of Penguin Logistics were not Rhodes Island operators. They belonged more to the category of cooperative partners. If they had also been issued these devices, then that meant future cooperation between both sides would probably become even more frequent.
Amiya had explained all of this to her before, and she had remembered it carefully.
"Ah... when you put it that way, I guess that makes sense. Still, Shirou, your model looks a little different, It seems much thicker somehow. Is it specially customized?"
After hearing Rosmontis's explanation, Blaze also felt that it made sense and could only sit back down disappointedly.
Then she took a closer look at the devices everyone was wearing and noticed that Shirou's seemed distinctly more unique.
It was noticeably thicker. Rather than resembling a bracelet or accessory, it almost looked more like a handcuff.
Normally, equipment like that was specially customized according to the wearer's medical condition and combat style.
Shirou's clearly fell into the former category. After all, anyone using dual blades in close combat would naturally prefer compact equipment that interfered as little as possible, so who would intentionally choose something this large?
Well... actually, there really was someone like that, and that person was even absurdly skilled while wielding dual blades and dual guns at the same time.
But that was an exception.