Buildings, crowds, adults, children, men, women.
People lay collapsed on the ground, blood spreading everywhere.
Looking toward the glass window nearby, aside from the setting sun outside, he could vaguely see in the reflection the figure of an adult man with red hair standing there.
But the face was blurry, impossible to make out clearly.
Even so, he could clearly see the black coat the man wore, the red scarf around his neck, and the bloodstained blades in his hands.
He could even feel the panic in his heart through the constant trembling of those hands.
Yet the man's face alone remained impossible to see clearly.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again.
The reinforced concrete buildings and glass windows disappeared.
In their place was yellow sand, an empty desert, and hanging in the sky was not a sunset, but a thin crescent moon and endless night.
The only thing unchanged was the people lying on the ground, along with the bloodstains.
Lowering his head to look at his own hands, although they were covered in blood, they no longer trembled.
He did not want to look, nor did he dare think.
Once more, he closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, this time he was standing on a high platform. It was night, yet there was neither moon nor stars in sight, only a pitch-black sky.
The ground was no longer littered with bodies. Instead, there was a woman with long black hair collapsed below in a pool of blood.
And in his hand was a... handgun?
Before he could even think, he was tackled to the ground.
There was not much struggle. He merely continued staring at the woman lying below.
Even though he already knew her heartbeat had stopped, the corners of her lips were still faintly raised, as though she were smiling.
Something seemed to be rolling in his throat, as though he were screaming something.
But he could not hear it, nor could he see clearly anymore.
He opened his eyes once more. This time, there were no fallen people and no blood.
Countless people surrounded him.
Judging from their furious expressions, their emotions seemed extremely agitated.
But he paid them little attention. Instead, he looked at the gallows in front of him, then at the silver handcuffs on his wrists.
Finally, he looked at the crowd gathered around him.
Through the blurry reflection on the silver handcuffs, although it was still indistinct, one thing was certain: the man wore an extremely contemptuous smile.
Then, a sense of loss washed over him.
"Haah—"
Inside the dormitory, Shirou suddenly opened his eyes wide while lying on the sofa.
"Mm? You are awake? Shirou, are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?"
At the side, Sora was holding a small fan and fanning Shirou. Seeing that he still looked somewhat shaken, she voiced her concern.
"...Sora?"
Looking at Sora beside him, Shirou remained speechless for quite a while before finally managing to speak.
This was reality. What he had just experienced was only a nightmare.
Compared to seeing himself bathed in black mud, this nightmare actually felt more like an ordinary dream.
Though the contents were simply suffocating.
"Yeah. Are you alright?"
Seeing Shirou acting so unusually, Sora felt that he had probably overworked himself yesterday.
After all, he had not even returned to his room and had simply fallen asleep on the dormitory floor.
Meanwhile, the four girls had been lined up neatly on the sofa, sleeping comfortably, and even had blankets over them.
"I am fine. What time is it now?"
Wiping his face, Shirou gradually calmed down a little.
It was probably because of everything Yith had said to him that he had been overthinking, which led to this nightmare.
Blaming all of this on Yith definitely was not a problem.
"It is seven in the morning. Texas and the others are in the kitchen making breakfast right now."
Even though Shirou said he was fine, Sora did not believe him at all.
The condition Shirou had been in earlier was clearly abnormal. She had never seen someone emit constant low groans while having a nightmare before.
And earlier, she had vaguely heard crackling electrical sounds continuously coming from his body...
Although they had wanted to wake him up immediately, unfortunately, even with both Exusiai and Croissant going all out beside him, they still could not wake Shirou.
After trying for nearly an hour, once Shirou's condition improved slightly, the group finally gave up on waking him. They sent Sora to stay by his side and take care of him, while the others moved to the kitchen.
With Shirou in that condition, there was no way they would dare let him into the kitchen.
"...Them? Breakfast?"
After hearing Sora's words, Shirou thought of many things.
The refrigerator was packed full of apples that others had gifted them, and with Exusiai around...
Today's breakfast was probably going to be quite torturous.
Hopefully Texas and Croissant would be able to stop that person who looked like an angel on the outside but was actually an apple pie demon on the inside.
After being startled awake like this, Shirou finally noticed that he was currently lying on the sofa.
If he remembered correctly... when he returned to the dormitory yesterday, he had simply tossed the girls onto the sofa, right?
After all, he did not have the courage to carry them back to their individual rooms, so in the end he chose this compromise instead.
In any case, it was not as if they had never slept on the sofa before.
Only, after that, it seemed he had kicked someone's foot and then fallen face-first onto the floor?
And then he had simply fallen asleep like that?
Recalling the final fragment of memory before he slept, although it sounded a little bizarre, at least he had figured out the current situation.
Most likely, the others who woke up earlier had carried him onto the sofa.
"It will probably still take a while. How about you go wash up first, Shirou?"
Listening to the sounds coming from the kitchen, she could vaguely hear Texas driving the other two around, along with the sound of a kitchen knife hitting the cutting board. It would probably still take some time before breakfast was ready to be served.
Taking advantage of that time to let Shirou wash up and calm down a little was not a bad idea.
It also seemed like he had not showered after coming back yesterday, so feeling sticky all over probably was not comfortable either.
"That works... and thanks for taking care of me."
After Sora reminded him, Shirou finally noticed that he was still wearing his Lungmen Guard Department coat, so he accepted her suggestion.
The main issue was that he had stayed in the sewers for quite a while, and he did not know whether any unpleasant smell had rubbed off onto him.
The sofa and blankets probably needed to be washed as well.
Hopefully the others had not smelled anything unpleasant, especially Sora and Texas, whose senses of smell were particularly sharp.
Standing up and walking back toward his room, before closing the door Shirou specifically spoke to Sora.
"It is fine. Usually, you take care of us far more often, do you not?"
Sora replied while tidying up her small fan.
"I guess that is true. Go check on them for me. If possible, stop Exusiai. I think I smell apple pie."
After hearing Sora's words, Shirou nodded.
Then he pointed toward the kitchen.
"Ah! Now that you mention it, I smell it too!"
Only after Shirou pointed it out did Sora notice the scent of apple pie in the air. She hurriedly rushed into the kitchen.
It was not only Shirou. She also did not want to eat apple pie as breakfast first thing in the morning.
"Good grief..."
Listening to the noisy commotion coming from the kitchen, Shirou slowly closed the door.
By the time he finished washing up and changed into a set of loose clothes before coming back out, the dining table was already completely filled with food, and everyone was seated around it enjoying breakfast.
The meal itself was very simple: fried eggs, fried meat, and a glass of iced tea.
Only the plate in front of Exusiai had an extra apple pie on it.
"Ah! Morning, Shirou. Thanks for your hard work last night."
Seeing Shirou walk out in a different set of clothes, Exusiai waved toward him.
"In more ways than one, it really was exhausting. If you all had not gotten completely drunk yesterday, things probably would have been much easier for me."
Walking over to his seat, Shirou complained about their behavior from yesterday while first taking a sip of ice tea.
It was made by Exusiai.
Extra sweet.
"Well, whose fault was it for not bringing us with you yesterday? We had no choice but to go by ourselves!"
Croissant said from the side, finding an excuse for getting herself completely drunk.
"Sora and I were dragged into drinking by them."
Texas directly pulled herself and Sora out of the battlefield, mercilessly abandoning Exusiai and Croissant to face the final boss, Shirou.
"Texas!?"
Seeing her most trusted teammate instantly abandon her, Exusiai revealed an expression of utter disbelief. The half-eaten apple pie in her hand even fell back onto the plate.
"Exactly, exactly. It was all because Exusiai and the others dragged Texas and me out drinking. And Croissant even tried to trick me into talking. That was way too mean."
Sora added another stab from the side.
"Sora!?"
Seeing that even one of the only two consciences of Penguin Logistics had betrayed them at this moment, Croissant suddenly felt that things were going very badly.
As for the other conscience, he was currently building up his emotions. What if he chopped them up later?
"I will settle things with you later. Eat first."
Shirou also did not intend to dwell too much on this matter anyway.
After all, the one who suffered was Is.
Watching Exusiai and Croissant obediently quiet down and continue eating breakfast, Shirou casually checked whether there were any messages while he had been asleep.
Normally, checking messages would have been the first thing he did after waking up, but today was a little special, so he checked while eating instead.
"Mm..."
Looking at the top message, which was from Amiya, Shirou could not help but sigh at how Rhodes Island was truly exploiting child labor.
What time even was it?
Amiya was already awake and working?
Judging from her appearance, she was only around fourteen years old, right?
Oh, although he was only a few years older than her himself, so he was not exactly qualified to say that.
Shaking his head and throwing those strange thoughts out of his mind, Shirou opened Amiya's message:
"Thank you for your hard work last night, Shirou. I hope you are resting properly today. In addition, the Lungmen Guard Department seems to have already made progress on their side. Rhodes Island will also send people to negotiate with the Guard Department. When the time comes, the Guard Department will probably contact you to be present as well. After that, I hope you can spare some time to have a talk with us."
After reading Amiya's message, Shirou replied with a "no problem" sticker before scrolling down further.
A task progress notification from Officer Chen's side...
Amiya had just mentioned that, but this message was asking Shirou to come to the Guard Department sometime in the afternoon.
That was surprisingly fast.
He thought those people would stubbornly resist for quite a while longer.
Yet only a few hours had passed, and they had already confessed everything?
Further down was another message telling Shirou to submit his medical examination report within the week, otherwise they would resort to forcefully sending him to the hospital for a checkup.
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
Even though he knew Officer Chen was concerned about his health, somehow it sounded more like a threat.
It was probably just his imagination...
Better not think too much about it.
There were no more important messages after that, so Shirou put away his phone.
Thinking about the physical examination, as well as Amiya and the others inviting him to visit Rhodes Island, Shirou spoke up.
"Come to think of it, the people at Rhodes Island seem interested in inviting me over to take a look around."
"Rhodes Island?"
Texas's ears twitched slightly atop her head.
"An invitation?"
Sora blinked.
"To go over there and take a look?"
Exusiai frowned, sensing that something was not simple here.
"Could it be some kind of scam? Like tricking you into going there and then abducting you or something?"
Croissant put down the chunk of meat in her hand and seriously considered the possibility.
"You are overthinking it. They are a... they are a pharmaceutical company, you know? How could they possibly do something like that?"
Hearing Croissant's speculation, Shirou immediately complained.
"Why did you use two question marks in a row?"
Noticing the flaw in Shirou's wording, Exusiai felt that her instincts had been correct.
There definitely was something suspicious going on here!
"That is just your imagination. I do not mean anything else by it. I am only asking for your opinions. If we decide to go, then we can apply to the boss for some leave and head over there. I heard the medical facilities there are quite good, and they are even willing to give us free physical examinations."
Naturally, Shirou was not going to mention that Rhodes Island had a bunch of mercenaries, or that they employed child labor.
That would only create unnecessary misunderstandings for the others.
So instead, he used the free health checkup as the reason.
"If I remember correctly, Shirou, you have always had contact with Rhodes Island, right? Last time, you also stayed hospitalized there for a few days, did you not?"
After thinking for a while, Texas finally remembered where she had heard the name Rhodes Island before.
The last time Shirou had been forcibly hospitalized by them for several days, it seemed to have been there.
They were partners of those people from Blacksteel Worldwide, and the people there had all seemed quite decent, so there probably would not be too much of a problem...?
Still, why a physical examination?
Rhodes Island's medical facilities in Lungmen were already quite impressive. Could it be that the facilities on their main landship were even better?
If so, then it really was worth visiting.
After all, Shirou's condition this morning definitely had not been normal.
Although he looked fine now, that was only for the moment.
"Oh, that place."
After Texas reminded them, the others also remembered where they had seen the name Rhodes Island before.
"Yeah. You all saw their facilities before, right? The people there told me that those facilities were completely incomparable to the ones aboard Rhodes Island's main ship."
Hearing Texas bring up Rhodes Island's Lungmen branch office, Shirou decided to use that as his opening.
Mainly because Rhodes Island's offer to provide physical examinations really was a good proposal.
Everyone at Penguin Logistics frequently entered dangerous areas and transported cargo related to Originium. Getting a proper medical checkup definitely was not a bad thing.
It was not that he distrusted Penguin Logistics' medical procedures.
Having one more option simply meant having one more layer of security.
"We should tell the boss about this first. And we should also have Yith gather some intelligence. At the very least, we should confirm that the danger level is not too high before making a decision."
Seeing that Shirou seemed eager to go, Texas felt that going along with his wishes was not really a problem.
After all, Shirou rarely made requests like this.
"Of course."
Hearing Texas's response, Shirou nodded.
Better safe than sorry.
That much was understandable.
"Mm... speaking of which, those people yesterday were from Rhodes Island too, right? Shirou, how exactly did you suddenly end up joining their dinner gathering?"
Seeing that Texas agreed with Shirou's proposal, the others naturally had no objections either.
It was just that Exusiai remembered the insignia on the uniforms of those people yesterday. It seemed to be the same symbol as the one at the Lungmen branch office.
Some kind of strange tower? Or maybe a chess piece?
Whatever. That was not important.
What mattered was why Shirou had somehow ended up mixed into their dinner gathering.
"Oh, that? Rhodes Island sent people to assist with this operation. Although it made Officer Chen very unhappy. I also ran into Rhodes Island's people during the operation."
Shirou did not intend to hide that either, so he honestly explained everything.
There was nothing worth hiding in the first place.
That was simply the truth.
"Made Officer Chen unhappy... those people are still alive, right?"
Hearing that Rhodes Island's people had angered Officer Chen, Croissant immediately expressed concern about whether they had survived.
"If Officer Chen heard you say that, you would probably be the next victim."
Seeing Croissant abruptly drag the conversation off topic, Shirou replied helplessly.
"Ahaha... I was just joking. Shirou, you would not tell Officer Chen about this, right?"
Croissant laughed awkwardly.
But as she laughed, the awkwardness on her face gradually turned into fear.
Because Shirou's expression never changed.
He simply kept smiling at her.
The kind of smile that made chills run down her spine.
"Please do not tell Officer Chen about this, Mr. Shirou. I am begging you."
Faced with the silent intimidation of the evil Demon King Shirou, Croissant chose to surrender immediately.
"Just watch what you say. As long as you do not bring it up in front of the person involved, it will be fine."
In truth, Shirou never planned to do something like that anyway.
He was merely teasing her a little.
"So when are we going to that Rhodes Island place?"
After watching Shirou effortlessly defeat Croissant, Sora finally asked her question.
"We probably will not know until this afternoon. They said someone would come negotiate with the Guard Department regarding yesterday's incident, and afterward they wanted to talk with me as well."
Shirou was not entirely sure about the details either.
However, Amiya had mentioned that after Rhodes Island finished handling matters with the Guard Department, they would also come talk to him.
So he would probably meet them this afternoon.
At that point, he could simply ask directly.
"I see. So Shirou, you still have to go to the Guard Department this afternoon?"
After getting her answer, Sora immediately had another question.
"Yeah. It is just a simple post-operation review meeting. Since I am technically an outside participant, they are summoning me separately."
Shirou answered honestly.
"Then can we come too?"
Sora continued.
Since everything had conveniently ended up happening today anyway, they might as well use today to figure out exactly what Rhodes Island was plotting.
"Of course there is no prob—... huh? Sora, you mean all of you are coming too?"
Shirou reflexively agreed to Sora's request.
Only after his brain caught up did he realize something was wrong.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
Every member of Penguin Logistics had already begun eagerly preparing themselves.
This made Shirou seriously wonder whether these people were going there to fight the Guard Department...
Or fight Rhodes Island.
Or perhaps both.