In the end, even after finishing the shopping and paying, Shirou still could not figure it out.
However, the amount of LMD in his wallet had been reduced by more than half.
The convenience store really was a money-eating monster. Ace had not lied to him.
But then again, it was mainly because everyone had picked out several pieces of clothing. Even Shirou himself had been forced to buy a coat.
It seemed to have been chosen by Sora and it was a black-and-white one, somewhat similar to the one he had burned before.
Originally, Shirou had no intention of taking it, but the looks from the others were rather terrifying, so in the end he could only accept their goodwill with a faint smile.
In any case, compared to what the others picked, this coat was indeed much cheaper.
And besides, the Penguin Logistics jacket was a bit small on him. Wearing a slightly larger coat during his time at Rhodes Island was not a bad idea.
"Shirou, do you have any plans this afternoon?"
Noticing that Shirou kept checking the time and seemed to be in a hurry, Texas asked him.
"Hmm… because of a small accident, Amiya arranged for me to use an empty kitchen this afternoon to make dinner."
Unlike the others, who immediately put on their new clothes, Shirou carefully packed his away, planning to wash and dry them before wearing them.
It was just a hard to change personal habit.
While packing, he answered Texas's question.
"…Dinner? Today?"
Hearing this, Exusiai glanced at the desserts in her hand from the cafeteria, the ones she had just bought, and the one in her mouth. She began calculating how much "combat power" she would have by evening if she stopped eating from now on.
Meanwhile, Croissant had already started asking Shirou about the dinner menu.
"Is your body really okay?"
Compared to the other two, who only cared about food, Sora was more concerned about whether Shirou was actually fit to cook.
Texas, standing beside her, shared the same concern and looked at Shirou with a scrutinizing gaze.
"There has never really been a problem. It is just cooking a simple meal, nothing difficult."
Knowing what they were worried about, Shirou waved his hand, indicating everything was fine.
He understood his own condition very well. Even if he had to spar with Officer Chen several times right now, it would not be an issue.
If anything, the problem might be his mental state but as long as he did not mention it, no one could tell.
He just needed a bit more time to get used to things here.
"Then we will look forward to dinner."
Hearing his answer, Sora did not doubt him. In fact, she was already starting to look forward to it.
From what Shirou had mentioned earlier, he planned to simmer a pot of feathered beast soup all afternoon, then check what ingredients were available and prepare roughly five dishes and one soup.
Recently, Shirou had still cooked for them at dinner, but those were relatively simple meals.
But now, a long-awaited feast was on the way.
The only issue was that there seemed to be quite a few people to share it with.
That made them feel, at least a little, that their small personal enjoyment was being taken away.
But it did not matter. Once they returned to Lungmen, they could use Shirou's physical condition as an excuse to have him refuse work from the Lungnem Guard Department, and then life could go back to eating, sleeping, and repeating.
"Sigh… I wonder if the ingredients will be enough."
Although he had already expected Penguin Logistics to come and share the meal, hearing it confirmed still made Shirou worry about the ingredients.
He had heard that it was not easy for Rhodes Island to replenish supplies. Would they end up eating everything?
Very soon, that concern disappeared.
After confirming that Shirou had plans for the afternoon, the Penguin Logistics group quickly let him go, while they went to discuss cooperation details with Rhodes Island.
"These ingredients are really abundant…"
Squatting in front of the refrigerator, Shirou recalled what he had just seen.
It was packed full of fresh ingredients, all stored and frozen and that was only the meat section.
According to the chef who brought him in, another refrigerator contained vegetables and other chilled ingredients.
The kitchen equipment was also far better than what they had in Lungmen.
This made Shirou feel a bit excited. But before that… he needed to ask how to operate everything.
After all, it involved fire. Accidentally blowing up the kitchen would not be good.
He himself would be fine thanks to his magecraft, but the kitchen and the cafeteria outside might not be.
"Hello, hello, Mr. Shirou! I am Hibiscus, here to assist you this time!"
However, the one assigned to help him was Hibiscus, famously known as Rhodes Island's "nutritional meal champion," which immediately gave Shirou a headache.
He could only hope he would not be forced to include any "nutritional meals."
"Just call me Shirou. Could you explain how to use these things?"
Setting aside his thoughts, Shirou pointed at several parts of the kitchen and asked.
"No problem, that is exactly why I am here."
Hibiscus patted her chest confidently and began explaining. After one round of instructions, once Shirou had a general understanding of how everything worked, she very naturally took out an apron and put it on.
"…Um, Miss Hibiscus, I am not actually making that much food, so I do not really need help. Maybe you could go assist others next door?"
At this moment, Shirou spoke extremely fast, almost like Aak possessed him.
The "legends" surrounding her were far too many, so many that they made him uneasy.
Although most of them were probably exaggerated by Blaze, Shirou really did not need anyone assisting him.
He was not making that large a portion either, it was only about seven, eight, nine… maybe around ten servings?
At least Amiya had said she would invite Doctor Kal'tsit and some operators he knew, as a way to strengthen their relationships.
Part of it was because Amiya herself wanted to try Shirou's cooking, but the main purpose was, of course, to maintain good relations among the operators.
It was difficult to get along with everyone, but since Shirou was already on good terms with Blaze, Ace, Scout, and a few others, it was fine to start from there.
There was still plenty of time, after all.
After spending some effort convincing Hibiscus to go next door and prepare her nutritional meals, Shirou finally organized the ingredients he would be using.
Some Yan medicinal herbs, feathered beast meat, and wine.
There were so many herbs that without the notes saved on his phone, he might not have remembered them all.
The answer was simple: it was a dish from Caprinae cuisine.
The process itself was relatively simple. Once the preparation was done, it could just be left to simmer.
The most important part was to bring it to a strong boil to evaporate the bitterness of the alcohol.
As for the jar of wine Blaze had given him… it was still sitting to the side. Shirou had no intention of using it. He would find a chance to return it later.
After setting the feathered beast soup to simmer, Shirou began looking through the other ingredients, thinking about what dishes would pair well.
Looking at the refrigerator filled with lumps of meat, beast meat, and feathered beast meat, he really wanted to show off his skills.
But considering that these ingredients might be meant to last Rhodes Island for several days or even weeks, he gave up on that idea.
Although the operator who brought him here had said he could use anything freely, Shirou had no intention of wasting supplies.
It was a pity there were no curry spices… otherwise, with so much deboned feathered beast meat, along with potatoes and carrots, making a big pot of curry would have been great.
"Hm… adding a few Lungmen-style home dishes to make a full table should work, right? But considering there will be many people, and most are not that familiar… maybe making smaller set portions would be better?"
After careful consideration, Shirou stepped outside briefly, then quickly decided on his approach.
Since this was Rhodes Island's cafeteria, he would follow the cafeteria style.
After greeting the chefs next door, Shirou rolled up his sleeves and prepared to get to work.
Now that the soup was taken care of, and staples like rice and noodles were already provided by the cafeteria, he only needed to focus on what dishes to cook.
Enough to make sure everyone would be full.
That afternoon, the aroma drifting out from one of Rhodes Island's kitchens caused every passing operator to look forward to dinner.
According to one operator who had failed to get proper food at lunch and had tearfully eaten a nutritional meal instead, the smell alone was enough to make him finish a portion and even want a second.
And so, amidst the anticipation of many operators, dinner time finally arrived.
"Whoa… what is going on today? And what is that smell? Such a rich aroma of wine!"
Looking at the crowded cafeteria, Blaze, who had come with Rosmontis, felt that there were unusually many people today.
Fortunately, Amiya had reserved a large table in advance, so they did not have to stand around awkwardly.
"Hmm… everyone seems to be looking at that kitchen?"
Following behind, Rosmontis carefully hugged her terminal and quickly noticed that everyone's attention was focused on a nearby kitchen.
"Indeed… who is the chef today? There are not many in Rhodes Island who cook with alcohol. Most consider that there are underage operators."
Being a person of action, Blaze immediately sneaked over to the kitchen, quietly opened the door, and peeked inside.
And then she saw a red figure busy at work.
Red hair, a black short-sleeved shirt and pants, a white apron, and a large ladle in hand as he stirred a huge pot in front of him.
It was Shirou cooking in the cafeteria.
Blaze was certain that the fragrance filling the entire cafeteria came from that pot of soup. After all, the moment she opened the door, she could hear people behind her swallowing.
She had heard that he could cook… but this was on another level.
Did the people of Penguin Logistics eat food like this every day? That was way too enviable.
While Blaze was busy envying their meals, Shirou, who was focused on cooking, sensed a slight draft and noticed someone sneaking around at the kitchen door.
"Blaze? Perfect timing. Help me carry these dishes out."
Shirou pointed at the plates of food arranged on large cafeteria trays.
"These?"
Now that she had a legitimate reason, Blaze slipped straight into the kitchen and took a closer look at the dishes.
The first three were a bit disappointing, they were just ordinary stir-fried vegetables.
The fourth was also common: braised potatoes with meat… though it did smell quite good.
The fifth was another meat dish, stir-fried beast meat with scallions.
They were all typical cafeteria dishes. At first glance, Blaze felt slightly disappointed, but upon closer inspection, everything Shirou made smelled incredibly good.
With her impressive strength, carrying several dishes at once was no problem.
But right now, all her attention was focused on that pot of soup. Based on her instincts, the five dishes were just side items and the true highlight was the feathered beast soup rich with the aroma of wine.
"They are all out. Should we bring this soup out too?"
At this moment, Blaze's eyes were fixed entirely on that pot of soup.
There was no helping it, the aroma of alcohol drifting through the air was simply too enticing. It reminded her of the liquor she had brought back yesterday, only to lose track of it after having too much fun.
It was probably confiscated by the storage staff. It felt like Amiya confronting her about it was only a matter of time.
"Let it simmer a bit longer. More importantly, go hide your stuff first. I will not cover for you next time."
After visually checking the soup, Shirou decided it just needed to sit and simmer.
Mainly because the pot was large and heavy, when it came time to serve, using smaller pots would be more practical.
"My stuff? My treasure! How did you end up here!?"
Following the direction Shirou pointed, Blaze spotted the jar of liquor she had been thinking about all night. She immediately lunged forward and hugged it tightly.
"I told Amiya I would use it for cooking, but she turned around and arranged for me to cook here instead. You really got me into trouble!"
Seeing her carefully clutch the jar, Shirou added that remark to make sure she would not repeat this mistake.
"Sorry! I will treat you to a drink next time! I will hide this here first and figure out how to take it back later after dinner!"
Hearing Shirou's words, Blaze showed a hint of guilt.
Watching her sneak around, Shirou let out a sigh.
Just to cover this one lie, he had dragged himself into trouble. But considering that Rhodes Island's kitchen equipment was quite good and the cooking experience had been enjoyable, he decided to let it go.
Still, he was not going to lie like this again next time.
After covering the pot and letting the soup continue to simmer, Shirou and Blaze headed out, as the agreed time was about right.
However…
"Blaze, where did you put the dishes just now?"
Looking at the empty plates in front of him, Shirou turned and asked Blaze, who had just carried them out.
"I put them here like you said! Huh!? Where are the dishes!?"
Hearing his question, Blaze walked forward in confusion and pointed at the now-empty trays.
She had clearly placed the dishes there… wait! Where did they go!?
They could not have all been taken already, right? It had only been a few minutes!
Very quickly, Blaze realized her suspicion was correct.
After all, the food on the plates of nearby operators looked very familiar—it was exactly what she had just carried out.
"…Is competition in Rhodes Island's cafeteria always this intense?"
Shirou noticed as well, though his thoughts differed slightly from Blaze's.
"Normally, it is not this intense… it is probably because what you cooked smells too good. Do not worry, Scout and I managed to save about half of it. We moved it to the table."
The one who answered was not Blaze, but Ace and the others, who had come over at some point.
When they arrived, they had already smelled the rich aroma. They also saw Blaze carrying out the fifth dish, along with other operators eagerly preparing to grab food.
If Rosmontis had not mentioned that those dishes were meant for their dinner, they would not have stepped in to hold back half of it.
Unlike Blaze, who did not care as long as there was food, they understood what Amiya was trying to do this time.
If everything had been taken, Amiya would definitely have been upset.
It was by using Amiya and Doctor Kal'tsit as justification that they managed to keep a good portion of the dishes.
"Thanks for your effort…"
Looking at the dishes now portioned onto smaller plates on the table, Shirou rubbed his forehead.
Fortunately, he had cooked enough. There was still enough for everyone to taste.
That day, the operators who managed to get some of the dishes were completely satisfied.
Those who did not could only hope that the red-haired young man would one day return to the cafeteria kitchen.
As for the feathered beast soup's aroma still lingering in the air?
That was reserved for Amiya and Doctor Kal'tsit.
Anyone who dared to take it would be dealt with immediately.