Clang clang clang clang clang
The sound of metal striking metal never stopped.
"Shirou… it's time to wake up."
A familiar voice echoed in his mind.
A girl in knight's armor, with golden hair, appeared before him. Seeing that he had awakened, she gave him a gentle smile, then turned and walked away.
"Sa…"
Watching her leave, he reached out, trying to call her name but he couldn't say it.
Just as she was about to step out of the room, he finally remembered.
"Saber!"
Shirou Emiya sat up abruptly, reaching out with his right hand.
But when he opened his eyes, what he saw wasn't Saber.
Instead, there was a red-haired angel with a halo above her head, and a black-haired woman with animal ears.
Both of them were startled by his sudden shout and movement. After freezing for a moment, the angel finally swallowed the apple pie in her mouth. Fortunately, she hadn't choked, or it would've sprayed everywhere.
"Texas, looks like he's awake?"
"I can see that."
The ears on Texas's head twitched slightly, her tail swaying a bit stiffly.
Shirou paused, realizing he had startled them, and quickly apologized:
"Sorry… I scared you… cough…"
His body ached all over, his head throbbed, and his throat felt painfully dry. He didn't even have the energy to question their unusual appearances.
"No rush, no rush, drink some water first. You've been unconscious for almost a day."
The angel handed him a bottle of water. After drinking, Shirou felt much better.
Seeing his condition improve, she introduced herself:
"You can call me Exusiai. And this is Texas. What about you?"
"My name is Shirou Emiya. Just call me Emiya."
"Shirou Emiya? From Higashi?" Texas asked, placing the empty bottle on the table.
"Higashi? Where's that?" Shirou looked confused.
Exusiai and Texas exchanged glances, something felt off.
"Then… do you know Lungmen?"
Shirou shook his head.
"Yan? Ursus? Columbia? Siracusa? Laterano?"
Exusiai rattled off names like reading a menu.
"What are you talking about?" Shirou tilted his head, completely puzzled.
"…One last question. Do you know what Originium is?"
Texas stared at him seriously.
"Uh… some kind of stone?"
Seeing her expression, Shirou could only guess.
"Oh? Looks like we picked up an amnesiac. Guess we won't get any answers anytime soon," Exusiai shrugged and leaned back.
"…Don't worry. Get some rest. You can use anything on this floor, just don't leave it."
Texas dragged Exusiai out of the room.
"???" Shirou was left utterly confused.
Thinking back on the conversation, it seemed they had mistaken him for someone with amnesia.
Lungmen, Yan, Ursus… and something called Originium these all sounded important.
The growing sense of inconsistency made him uneasy.
He stood up, walked to the window, and opened it. Sunlight poured into the room. Shielding his eyes, he looked outside
It looked like a normal bustling city except everyone had various animal ears and tails.
"Is today some kind of festival…?"
Rubbing his aching head, Shirou felt like everything was heading in a very strange direction.
He lay back down and tried to recall what happened before he lost consciousness.
"…Something's wrong. I'm missing something."
He remembered being asked to clean something but everything after that was blank.
He tried harder.
No he could remember what he did and what he said, but not who those people were.
"Come on… remember…"
He struck his head lightly then noticed something strange about his hand.
"Huh… this cloth…?"
He froze.
How did he know what it was?
Irritated, he tore off the cloth and tossed it aside. Maybe a cold shower would help him calm down.
When he stepped out, he saw a living room, a kitchen, and several doors.
Everything was dusty. Clearly unused for a long time.
Feeling even more restless, he found cleaning tools and got to work.
Walls, tables, chairs, floors, kitchen, even his room and the others.
Since there wasn't much furniture, he finished everything in under two hours.
Though now he was covered in dust.
Luckily, he found a change of clothes near the bed.
After showering, he came out and looked at the spotless living room and kitchen with great satisfaction.
Checking the clock, it was already evening.
He hadn't eaten all day.
"…No idea how long I was unconscious…"
Only now did the hunger hit him.
The fridge was empty and unplugged. Cabinets only had dishes and cookware.
"No choice… guess I'll wait for them."
He sat down calmly.
He had organized his thoughts:
First his memory. He couldn't recall many people's names or faces, he remembered Exusia and Texes who he met after waking up.
So something must have happened before or after he fainted.
Second, where was this place?
After seeing outside, he was certain: people in his memories didn't have ears and tails.
He even checked himself in the mirror.
Conclusion: those two questions mattered most.
The rest like different races could wait.
Just then, voices came from outside.
"You picked someone up and just left him with water? Is he a person or a fish?"
A man's voice rang out.
"Uh we kind of forgot. But he seemed fine earlier?"
That was Exusiai and her words made Shirou… want to hit someone.
Bang!
The door burst open.
Shirou saw
A penguin kicking the door open.
Behind it stood Exusiai.
Both of them froze.
"Exusiai… did we get the wrong room?" the penguin asked.
"No, this is the one. That's the guy we picked up. He just woke up this afternoon."
"This afternoon?! It's only six and the whole place looks like this?!"
The penguin pointed at the spotless room in disbelief.
"Boss… is it possible he's a professional?"
"…You're telling me you picked up a housekeeper that fell from the sky?!"
"…Probably?"
"..."
Watching them argue, Shirou was now certain:
He was definitely not in his original world.
At least, there were no foul-mouthed penguins wearing sunglasses and gold chains in his memory.
Finally, the penguin sighed.
"Whatever. Tell Croissant to bring food here. This place is cleaner than your office anyway."
Exusiai made a face and left.
The penguin walked over, climbed onto a chair, and stared at Shirou.
"Hm… nothing special. Though with a halo and wings, you'd look like Exusiai. Are you her relative?"
Shirou twitched and shook his head.
"Probably not. I don't have a halo and I don't know any angels."
"…Yeah, definitely amnesia. Doesn't even know what a Sankta is."
Leaning back, the penguin looked disappointed.
He had been curious about someone who survived a massive fall but now?
Just a normal guy. And amnesiac.
Boring.
Though… his cleaning skills were impressive.
"Anyway. I'm Emperor, boss of Penguin Logistics. Kid, what about you?"
"Uh… Shirou Emiya. I'm… a student?"
"A student? A university student? Do you remember where you studied?"
Shirou thought about it. Even if he said the name of the school, they probably would not recognize it anyway so he might as well treat it as forgotten.
"I don't know."
"Then you're not a student. Right now, you're just an undocumented drifter."
The Emperor was clearly trying to make Shirou understand his situation first.
"Huh? Oh… okay."
Shirou had a vague feeling the other party was about to propose something… suspicious.
"Well then Emiya, I'll call you that. I've got a job for you. It comes with a salary, a legal identity to stay in Lungmen, and even a chance at treatment. The work itself is very simple, are you interested?"
The Emperor clapped his flippers together and got straight to the point.
He planned to hire a caretaker for the Penguin Logistics crew and at the same time keep this guy around for observation.
Even without his memories, he was still someone who survived a fall from a great height unscathed.
And honestly… he just wanted to keep an eye on him.
As for Shirou, the offer sounded acceptable.
But he needed to confirm the job details first, signing some weird contract by accident would be a disaster.
"Can I ask what the job involves?"
The Emperor jumped off the chair and casually opened a nearby room.
"It's simple. Basically what you've been doing."
Seeing how spotless the room was only strengthened his desire to hire Shirou.
Those girls had pretty terrible living habits, everything was kept at the bare minimum. As long as there was space to sit, it was fine.
As long as there was a spot on the bed to lie down, it was fine. Even though "Yis" occasionally cleaned, he was busy!
He had long wanted someone to take care of those troublemakers.
But ordinary people couldn't handle Penguin Logistics chaotic nature and dangerous work and hiring professionals was too expensive.
But Shirou?
First, he needed help with his identity.
Second, he had been rescued by them.
Third, he clearly had the skills.
And most importantly he looked easy to deal with.
Still, better to start him off with basic tasks. Anything else could wait until after an observation period.
"So… basically a housekeeper?"
After thinking for a moment, Shirou summarized the job.
"Exactly. As for cooking, no need to worry, they usually order takeout. But if you can cook, even better."
"I'll… give it a try?"
Even though cooking was actually one of Shirou's strengths, he was not sure whether the ingredients here would be familiar so he did not confidently say he could cook.
"Great. Then welcome to Penguin Logistics. Exusiai will bring the others up later you can get to know them then.
This place will be your room and workspace. Feel free to use it. Your usual responsibilities are this floor and the one above. If there's anything else, I'll let you know."
The Emperor very casually handed over the entire place for Shirou to manage.
…Honestly, something about this hiring process felt way too casual.
Did he just join some kind of shady company?
"Alright. Understood. I'll do my best."
For now, he did need their help and after all, they had saved him.
They should be… good people, right?
Glancing at the Emperor's sunglasses and gold chain, Shirou silently placed a big question mark on that assumption.
"Good, good. Don't worry we won't shortchange your pay."
Clearly pleased with how smoothly things had gone, the Emperor dragged over a chair, hopped onto it, and settled into a comfortable position waiting for Exusiai and the others to bring the food.