"The information we have is very appealing to you, right? Then can we proceed to discuss further cooperation?"
After asking Amiya to calm the others, Kal'tsit turned to Shirou and asked.
"About that… I would need to ask my boss."
Although Shirou wanted to agree immediately, remembering that he still had a boss above him, he did not dare to make promises on his own.
"The boss of Penguin Logistics, Emperor? There is no need to worry about that. I have already communicated with him beforehand. He said as long as you have no objections, it is fine."
Hearing Shirou's response, Kal'tsit replied.
Unlike Amiya, she had already considered many things in advance.
"…That really does sound like something the boss would do, but I would still like to confirm with him first."
Shirou paused for a moment, then smiled helplessly.
In truth, whether toward others or toward him, the boss had always been generous with benefits and treatment.
After all, Shirou, who was nominally Penguin Logistics' final combat force but in reality worked as a housekeeper, earned several times more than the others.
There was truly nothing to criticize about the boss in this regard. As long as one did not cross his bottom line, one could do whatever they wanted.
Perhaps that was one of the reasons Penguin Logistics was always so lively.
Even though the boss had already negotiated with Rhodes Island and left the decision to him… Shirou still wanted to inform him first.
Since the boss gave him the greatest level of trust and freedom, he would naturally return that respect.
"Well said!"
As if responding to Shirou's words, the Emperor's voice suddenly rang out.
Shirou seemed to hear that deep voice encouraging him…
No, that was literally the boss's voice!
Realizing this, Shirou turned toward the source of the sound, it was the phone in Exusiai's hand.
"Um… things did not look right just now, so I called the boss for help."
Holding the phone still on the call, Exusiai looked a bit embarrassed.
She should not have turned on speaker mode.
"Kid, you should know this is your own matter. You need to make your own decision. I am not your father who manages everything for you. Just go ahead and do it. The rest will be handled by Yith."
Without giving Exusiai time to feel awkward, the Emperor spoke directly.
Exusiai calling him was something he and Yith had arranged with the others beforehand and only Shirou, the person involved, did not know.
After all, they did not know what intentions Rhodes Island had in approaching their employee, so as the boss, he naturally had to keep an eye on things.
However, the conditions offered were genuinely good, and he had no reason to refuse.
Nor did he have the standing to refuse.
After all, those matters all concerned Shirou himself.
So these decisions could only be judged and made by Shirou. What would happen afterward was unknown.
The only thing he could do was provide Penguin Logistics as a place that could shelter him in the end.
In any case, Yith would handle things later, so it was not much trouble for him.
"…Thank you."
After thinking for a long time, Shirou could not come up with any other words besides these two.
He had received far too much kindness from the boss, who had always tolerated his willfulness and allowed him to do what he wanted.
Letting him take in infected children, secretly investigate the slums, even sending Yith to assist him.
Although the boss always said it was for gathering intelligence and helping him was just incidental, Shirou knew Penguin Logistics did not need to extend its reach that far just for information.
"Tch, how sentimental. Yith is actually very curious about those matters. Kid, take care of yourself."
With a snort from the phone Emperor hung up after speaking.
Everything that needed to be said had been said. The rest depended on how this foolish kid would choose.
To choose to learn the truth he wanted, or to choose his current peaceful life.
After all, the more one knows, the more concerns one has.
Not many people could let things go as he did.
In any case, he had already arranged everything that would follow. The details would be handled by Yith.
Too bad some of the orders in Lungmen would have to be shared out now.
"..."
In an instant, the respect Shirou had just built up for the Emperor completely vanished.
Sigh, he should have known. How could Penguin Logistics ever have such a touching moment?
Thinking about how Yith had previously pestered him about those Noble Phantasms, Shirou felt a headache coming on.
And now, with Kal'tsit throwing out a pile of heavy revelations… Shirou felt like he was doomed.
"You have a good boss."
Watching the conversation between Shirou and the Emperor through the phone, Kal'tsit offered a rare compliment.
"Setting aside the fact that he is never without alcohol, he really is a good boss. Also, I accept the cooperation with Rhodes Island but let me make this clear first: if it is something bad, I will not do it."
Putting aside the troubles he would have to face later, Shirou gave his answer.
What the other party offered were exactly the things he wanted to know, and also what he needed.
The children needed better treatment… Lappland could barely be counted as someone who needed treatment as well, and the Command Spells on Amiya's hand also concerned him greatly.
If there was no Holy Grail War, then where did the Command Spells come from?
There were far too many suspicious points.
At least for now, accepting their request for cooperation brought Shirou only benefits and no drawbacks.
However, considering that the other party seemed to be interested in his combat ability, Shirou gave them a reminder first.
He would not do anything that was evil or bad. Since arriving here, although he had injured or killed quite a few people, those were all individuals acting with strong malicious intent.
If he were asked to harm innocent people, he would absolutely refuse.
"Of course. Rhodes Island never forces its operators to do things they do not want to do."
Seeing that the cooperation had been established, Kal'tsit extended her right hand toward Shirou.
"Then… happy cooperation."
Looking at her, Shirou also extended his hand and gave a simple handshake before letting go.
The agreement was settled.
"Hey, Shirou, do you not think that you agreed a bit too quickly? You do not even know the details of the cooperation, right?"
Croissant complained from the side.
"…The conditions they offered are just too hard to refuse!"
Hearing her words, Shirou defended himself.
He knew that agreeing so quickly was somewhat rash, but Rhodes Island's ideals and direction largely overlapped with his own. The details of cooperation should not differ too much.
"Tsk tsk… the way you are, we really cannot feel at ease. Good thing the boss already said beforehand that if you agreed to Rhodes Island's request, we could all go along too."
Watching Shirou explain himself, Exusiai clicked her tongue and said.
"What do you mean?"
For a moment, Shirou could not understand what she meant.
Go along together?
Go where?
Rhodes Island?
Wait, are you not continuing your work in Lungmen?
Thinking this, Shirou decided to seek answers from the two most reliable members of Penguin Logistics.
"The boss did say that. In addition to your personal contract, there will also be a cooperation agreement between Penguin Logistics and Rhodes Island."
Seeing that Exusiai had turned this "surprise" into a shock, Texas sighed and explained.
"We are all members of Penguin Logistics, you know? Do not think you can run off alone."
Sora added, a playful smile on her face.
"Hahaha…"
At that, Shirou burst out laughing.
After thinking so much and hesitating for so long, it ended up like this anyway.
The boss really had everything arranged perfectly.
But honestly, Shirou thought this outcome was pretty good.
Rather, there could not be a better development than this.
Thus, the cooperation between Kal'tsit and Shirou or rather, between Rhodes Island and Penguin Logistics was finalized.
Rhodes Island provided intelligence and better medical treatment, while Penguin Logistics contributed combat power and part of the transportation work.
Penguin Logistics was so well known that practically everyone in Lungmen had heard of them, so Rhodes Island had effectively gained a powerful partner.
As for Shirou… he was merely a trump card reserved for the future.
After all, the best way to deal with magecraft is to counter it with magecraft.
"By the way… you know Nameless, right? What kind of person was he before?"
After Shirou finished talking with the others from Penguin Logistics, Blaze, the ever-curious "big cat," stepped forward and asked.
Mainly because Shirou had made quite a mess of the meeting room earlier, everyone was now busy restoring the place.
Penguin Logistics and Rhodes Island handled the cleanup, while the three members of the LGD were responsible for supervising and directing the restoration.
Chatting a bit while tidying up was not too much, right?
"Well… how should I put it? Actually, I am not that familiar with him either. I cannot really figure out what he is thinking."
Moving a table together with Blaze, Shirou replied.
It was not that he wanted to deliberately hide anything but explaining it would just be too troublesome.
The whole idea of one's future self wanting to kill one's past self sounded like something straight out of a game or a novel.
"Oh… I see. He really is hard to understand. And he is also extremely sharp-tongued. Quite a few people in Rhodes Island have been scolded to tears by him!"
Thinking of this, Blaze stuck out her tongue as she spoke.
After all, she was also one of those who had been scolded by him to the point of nearly developing psychological trauma.
"Scolded to tears? That should not be the case, right? That guy is usually quite gentle toward outsiders, is he not?"
Shirou thought for a moment. Although Archer's words were indeed sharp and cutting, they were just harsh at most.
And that was only directed at him. When dealing with others, the man did not show that level of aggression.
That was, of course, assuming they were not enemies.
"Meow meow meow? Gentle? You call pointing a gun at someone 'gentle'?"
Hearing Shirou's words, Blaze began to seriously question the meaning of the word "gentle."
It simply did not match that guy at all.
Even though she was badmouthing him behind his back now, back when she received training from him at Rhodes Island, he had given her a very harsh lesson.
To this day, she still had not forgotten the moment when that gun directly shattered the chainsaw in her hands.
At that time, it was just a single bang, and her chainsaw was instantly blown apart!
It seemed like he did that to show her just how fragile the weapon in her hands was, and to stop her from always charging recklessly to the front.
Even though there were clearly better ways to demonstrate it, he simply raised his hand and fired a shot!
And you call that gentle?
Yeah, right. As if I would believe that!
"Blaze!"
Noticing Blaze speaking ill of one of their own, Amiya spoke up to stop her.
"A gun? That guy does not use guns, does he? Is it not bows or swords?"
Meanwhile, Shirou caught the inconsistency in her words.
When had Archer ever used a gun?
How could a gun compare to something like a spiral sword?
"Huh?"
Hearing Shirou's words, the Rhodes Island members who were cleaning up all turned to look at him.
Question marks practically appeared over their heads.
"Um… Mr. Shirou, the Nameless you know—he has short silver-white hair, black clothing, and dark skin, right?"
After thinking for a moment, Amiya suddenly felt that something was not quite right, so she asked.
"Silver-white hair, black tight-fitting clothes and pants, and more of a wheat-colored complexion, right?"
Not only Amiya even Shirou himself realized something was off.
Could it be that from the very beginning… the two sides had been talking about completely different people?
"…Ah."
Hearing Shirou's description, Blaze realized the situation had gone from bad to utterly confusing.
So they had not even been on the same page from the start!
"Um… wait a moment! Rosmontis! Do you have any stored photos on your terminal?"
Amiya set down what she had been tidying and jogged over toward Rosmontis.
"…So does this cooperation still count?"
Watching the commotion unfold, Exusiai quietly asked Texas beside her.
"Who knows?"
Ignoring her teammate, Texas silently continued picking up the scattered documents on the floor.
In any case, the agreement had already been reached, and the information provided was what Shirou wanted. Whether they actually knew the same person was not that important.
Besides, explaining it to Exusiai would be too troublesome and unless you gave her a Pocky stick, she would not bother listening.
Sensing that Texas was currently irritated due to a lack of Pocky energy, Exusiai obediently fell silent.
"Honestly… this is way too sloppy right?"
Looking at the chaotic scene, Chen said helplessly.
They had only stepped out for a short while, and things had gone from mild confrontation to a finalized cooperation in one leap.
And now they were saying they had even mistaken the person?
That was just ridiculous.
"…Here is Mr. Nameless's photo. Please be careful holding the terminal…this is something very precious to Rosmontis."
After obtaining the photo from Rosmontis, Amiya carefully held the terminal and ran back to Shirou.
"…Huh?"
Looking at the man on the screen with silver-white hair, black clothes, and dark skin, Shirou's mind completely froze at that moment.