With Lin Yuhsia's commissioned job concluded, Shirou saw on his phone the next day that the factory had apparently caught fire. Many people had failed to escape.
The blaze destroyed everything there including the machines that Shirou and Lin Yuhsia had sabotaged.
In simple terms, if they had acted just one day later, the mission would likely have completed itself.
Still, it was not without gain. The data in that terminal proved useful to Lin Yuhsia. For quite some time afterward, the news in Lungmen frequently reported various "fires" and "gas explosions" occurring in the slums.
This way of explaining things to the public felt strangely familiar to Shirou.
Even when he went out to buy ingredients, the usual groups of chatting women had shifted their conversations to these incidents. Knowing roughly what had really happened, Shirou kept quiet and always found an excuse to slip away.
The more one says, the more mistakes one makes.
It was also worth mentioning that after that incident, Lin Yuhsia would often take an hour in the mornings to teach the children how to read and write.
She said she had not yet found someone trustworthy who could teach, so she would handle it herself for the time being.
At first, Shirou was skeptical. But the children seemed to enjoy it, and she was apparently a guest lecturer at a university, her teaching ability was certainly reliable.
At the very least it was far better than their own background: a high school dropout, former gang errand boy, and fish seller.
This incident also confirmed some of Shirou's earlier suspicions.
After explaining everything to Yith, he received this response:
"Believe half of it at most. It might just be a ploy to lower your guard. Those materials from Mr. Wei earlier might have been provided by them as well, to make him distrust you."
"But you proved your value through your actions, so Mr. Wei did not pursue it further."
After hearing that, Shirou could only feel that the adult world was far too complicated.
Just a few months ago, he had still been a high school student… what a hassle.
But now, he had another kind of trouble to deal with.
"Shirou! Shirou! Here…apple pie!"
Exusiai walked over, placing a freshly baked apple pie in front of him, proudly explaining how she made it.
"Let me say this first, I am not making apple pie and I am not going to use projection."
Closing the book he had been reading, Shirou replied.
Since finishing those strange jobs, his daily life had gradually stabilized.
Every morning, he reported to the Guard Department, did some running and routine training. In the afternoon, he would visit the children in the slums or help out at the office, sometimes even giving blood.
On the way back, he bought ingredients to prepare dinner, as well as breakfast and lunch for the next day.
After dinner, the time was his own. Usually, he spent it in the dorm with the people from Penguin Logistics, occasionally being dragged out to parties or meals.
Then came washing up, practicing magecraft, and sleeping only to wake up and repeat the routine the next day.
It was a steady and fulfilling life.
Even though he rarely had days off, it did not bother him.
At least he did not have to stay up late working overtime, and he slept well every night.
Having experienced something worse before, Shirou found his current life quite good.
As for Exusiai… Shirou understood her intentions.
Their ongoing "apple pie battle" was still in progress. To avoid becoming a heartless apple pie production machine, he had been dodging her requests.
Whenever Exusiai baked apple pie like this, it was simply to curry favor so that he would project firearms for her to see. If he could even provide ammunition, that would be even better.
"Ah… how boring."
Having been rejected who knew how many times, Exusiai suddenly deflated. She took off her oven mitts, set them aside, and casually grabbed a slice of apple pie to eat.
The aroma of cooked sugar and apples instantly filled the dorm, drawing the attention of everyone nearby, some were even tempted to reach out for a piece.
The apple pies Exusiai used to buy were already delicious, but compared to the ones she made herself her specialty they were on a completely different level.
Of course, they would be even better with less sugar. A certain idol, who needed to control her diet, wanted to eat more but dreaded seeing the numbers on the scale rise.
"With that attitude, there is no way Shirou will agree. At least bake another one!"
Seeing Exusiai switch from trying to please him to completely giving up, Croissant complained.
"I know the chances are slim, but I just want to try! What if one day Shirou is suddenly moved and agrees?"
Hearing the complaint, Exusiai swallowed her bite of pie and responded confidently.
Then she flopped back down and continued eating.
"I am right here, you know…"
Watching her say all that right in front of him, Shirou replied helplessly.
Was it really appropriate to say that in front of the person involved?
As for the apple pie, Shirou had no intention of reaching for it. He had eaten too much of it lately and he was starting to get tired of sweets.
The others, however, had no such issue. Each of them grabbed a piece and started eating.
"It is fine, it is fine, I was saying it for you to hear anyway."
Exusiai looked completely unfazed, as if there was nothing wrong with what she had just said.
"… "
Shirou knew that Exusiai's love for firearms was no less than her love for apple pie. She had even said that if she had enough money, she would buy a whole collection of guardian guns.
The problem was, she spent her entire paycheck every time she got it. In all the time he had known her, Shirou had never seen her savings reach five digits.
Croissant, the street vendor, had the same problem.
Which was honestly kind of tragic.
By comparison, the wealthiest person in all of Penguin Logistics was probably Sora, followed by Shirou, and then Texas.
The former was a well-known idol in Lungmen, while the latter… spent a large amount every month buying Pocky.
After doing the math, Shirou reasonably suspected that Texas alone was supporting Lungmen's entire Pocky industry.
That aside, Exusiai's request was actually quite simple, she just wanted to take a look. She was merely curious how the bullets from that gun could produce so many swords.
And also… that gun just looked really cool.
The reason Shirou refused was simply because he was worried she might hurt herself. Given her usual behavior… it was not exactly reassuring.
That was a gunblade. If Exusiai absentmindedly rested her hand on the blade like she often did, Penguin Logistics would soon be looking for a new sniper.
He could dull the blade somewhat, but if she pulled the trigger, the outcome would not be much better.
The main issue was that Exusiai only wanted to play around with the gunblade. If she had asked for a more ordinary firearm, Shirou could have projected one.
But he had not brought that up himself and he had a feeling it would become troublesome if she found out.
"By the way, the boss mentioned this morning that Mr. Wei Yenwu placed an order yesterday under the name of the Lungmen Guard Department. It sounds like we are supposed to cooperate in some kind of training… I wonder if the boss got tricked again."
After some playful banter, Sora brought up the message they had all received that morning.
Their boss had never once clearly won against Wei Yenwu in negotiations.
The reason Shirou had been living so peacefully lately was largely thanks to the four of them keeping an eye on him.
His condition had improved a lot, and that strange aura he used to have was gone.
"I more or less know about it. It seems we are assisting the Guard Department in a drill. We are supposed to act as the 'bad guys' attacking Lungmen."
Shirou had already asked about this in the morning. With recent instability in Lungmen, Wei Yenwu had arranged this exercise.
After considering various options, Penguin Logistics had been chosen to play the opposing force.
After all, they needed people familiar with Lungmen's layout, capable of high-speed driving, and possessing combat ability… Penguin Logistics fit the criteria perfectly.
Even though they had calmed down recently, in the past they had frequently shown up at the Guard Department to pay fines.
Shirou still remembered how Swire had looked when mentioning this, her face practically spelled out "thank you."
Why had Penguin Logistics stopped reckless driving, fighting, and blowing things up?
Obviously, because Shirou had properly disciplined them.
Thanks to his efforts, they could now focus on other matters.
"Oh! We are good at that!"
Hearing this, Exusiai immediately stood up.
Then she caught Shirou's unfriendly gaze and quickly sat back down, avoiding eye contact.
"Sounds like a hassle…"
Texas simply felt it would be troublesome. Still, this time it was a full team operation… though it was unclear whether Shirou would be included.
If he was included, Texas figured the Guard Department might as well just give up.
Unless they deployed a large portion of their forces.
Or restricted Shirou through the rules.
The former seemed unlikely, it was just a drill, after all. The latter was much more probable.
Of course, all of this assumed Shirou would participate.
"But it sounds kind of fun, does it not? Driving wildly through Lungmen and attacking the Guard Department legally!"
After hearing Shirou's explanation, Sora seemed genuinely intrigued.
After all, being able to cause chaos in Lungmen legally was rare especially when the target was the Guard Department.
Who knew how long they had been waiting for this!
Shirou: "?"
One of the two "normal" members of Penguin Logistics Miss Sora, what happened to you?
Pull yourself together. Do not get excited just because you can attack the Guard Department.
At this moment, Shirou felt a bit worried. If Sora was like this… the others would likely be even worse.
As it turned out, his guess was completely correct.
After Sora's reminder, the others suddenly realized this might be the most enjoyable job they had had in a long time.
"Oh! Time to let the Guard Department taste my rain of bullets!"
Exusiai looked completely fired up.
"Snap out of it Exusiai. A lot of them carry shields and you can only use rubber rounds."
Croissant immediately shot her down, and Exusiai sat back down again.
"…Do you all have a bit too much hostility toward the Guard Department?"
Seeing how excited they were, Shirou felt a headache coming on.
It felt like someone enthusiastically explaining how they were going to beat up the police right in front of him.
They were citizens of Lungmen, were they not? Was this really okay?
"That is our biggest enemy in Lungmen, you know? Back then, whenever they saw a Penguin Logistics vehicle, they would chase us down!"
Croissant replied as matter of fact.
"… "
Alright then. It seemed the Guard Department's attitude toward Penguin Logistics was not great either. It was just that the group had been unusually law-abiding recently, so Shirou had almost forgotten about it.
At this moment, Shirou tried to convince himself that this was just a drill. It should not turn into anything too serious.
Watching the group already getting excited about an exercise that had not even been scheduled yet, Shirou could only silently pray for Chen, Hoshiguma, and Swire.
With Penguin Logistics' restraints effectively removed… he just hoped those three would not get driven mad by them. It felt entirely possible.
Without their boss pulling strings behind the scenes and without Wei Yenwu silently approving it, Shirou would never believe this arrangement had come together.
Those two were seriously devious.
Seeing how enthusiastically everyone was discussing things, Shirou did not interrupt. After saying a quick word, he put his book back on the shelf and returned to his room.
Once inside, he looked over the densely packed projection items on his desk.
Most of them were swords, with the rest being everyday objects and decorative pieces.
These were all products of his daily training. Due to limited space, he only kept the ones he liked or those with some sentimental value.
For example, the sword Chi Xiao was hung on a rack on the wall. Beneath it were several Noble Phantasms he had projected and found satisfactory.
Whenever his magecraft improved, he would rotate the displayed weapons.
Only Chixiao had remained untouched since the day he placed it there. It had been an accidental projection, an Originium-based construct and so far, it was the only one of its kind.
He remembered that Wei Yenwu had borrowed it for a time, but it had soon been returned.
Running his fingers lightly across these weapons, Shirou reflected on how rapidly his training had progressed lately.
He did not quite understand why. Perhaps it had something to do with the magical crystal left by Nameless.
Still, progress was progress. It was not affecting him negatively, so there was no need to worry.
If he kept improving at this rate, he believed he would one day catch up to that person.
No… catching up might not be enough. He would have to surpass them.
After all, this land was filled with far too many dangers.
And he also needed to prepare for the concerns that Doctor Kal'tsit had raised.
"If I do not want to regret it again… I need to push myself harder."
His hand continued moving as he narrowed his eyes and spoke softly.
Then he paused.
"…Regret?"
Frowning, Shirou did not understand why that word had suddenly come to mind.
But he quickly stopped thinking about it, dismissing it as a momentary bout of melodrama.
There was no other explanation.