Shirou Emiya Stands Upon Terra - Chapter 10

Considering they would be out for a long time, Shirou decided to use the Winged Beast meat he had prepared yesterday to make sandwiches. A quick pan-fry was all it needed before it could be put inside. Winged Beast meat was similar to chicken; if handled properly, it wouldn't lose much flavor even when cold, as long as it was preserved correctly.

After finishing, Shirou cut all four sandwiches in half and packed them into bags before placing them all into a thermal bag.

"Here, this is for you to eat on the go. It's Winged Beast meat. You guys will be back tonight, right?"

Shirou carried the thermal bag out of the kitchen and handed it to Sora.

"Texas, if we leave now, will we have enough time to come back by noon?" Exusiai asked, turning her head with a serious expression.

"There's no way that's possible, is there? We might not even make it back for dinner," Texas replied without a second thought. She had delivered this cargo many times before. Even if the trip there and back went perfectly smoothly, they might be back before dusk.

That was, if everything went perfectly smoothly.

When had Penguin Logistics ever had a long-distance delivery go smoothly from start to finish?

"No, that can't be!" Exusiai wailed.

"Don't worry, Exusiai! If we quickly take down the enemy, we can come back earlier!" Croissant offered her solution.

"You're right, Croissant! I'll go restock my ammo!" Exusiai exclaimed, finding Croissant's suggestion reasonable. She prepared to expand her arsenal, intending to show them the blessings of an "Exusiai."

"Um... can't we just ask Shirou to prepare dinner a little later?" Sora slowly raised her hand and offered her opinion, listening to their conversation.

"..."

Croissant and Exusiai exchanged glances before looking at Shirou.

"Alright, just give me a call when you get back to Longmen. That should be enough time for you to return and get cleaned up," Shirou said after a moment's thought. He figured it shouldn't be a problem; at worst, it could be a late-night snack.

"Sob sob... Can I request an apple pie? The one from the shopping district is fine." Seeing Shirou agree without hesitation, Exusiai immediately added her request for an apple pie.

"I want the candied sweet potato," Croissant joined the ordering spree.

"Then I'll..."

Watching everyone else order, Sora decided to place her order as well.

Although Texas didn't say anything, her ears and expression suggested she was also very interested.

"Alright, alright, I'll prepare them. And remember, you promised to tidy up your rooms today, right? Have you put away all your personal belongings?" Shirou noted down everyone's requests one by one. He had noticed they had all been eating quite a lot lately, so he figured he should also pay attention to some basic nutrition.

Furthermore, the decision to tidy up the upstairs was made on the condition that no one would be home today. This applied only to the kitchen and living room areas.

"Everything's been tidied up, don't worry. Shirou, you won't find our underwear," Exusiai said, striking a pose.

"I hope so," Shirou replied. He hoped he wouldn't stumble upon anything strange today. When he had gone up yesterday to check what needed tidying, he had already seen plenty of things he shouldn't have.

"Don't worry, I made sure they put their things away. It's mostly just communal items, dust, and some old stubborn grime left," Sora said, patting her chest confidently. She had personally supervised them putting away their personal belongings yesterday!

"Shirou, it's okay. You'll get used to it if you see it more often," Croissant said earnestly, patting Shirou's shoulder.

"I hope I never get used to this," Shirou said, ruthlessly swatting away Croissant's hand. Glancing at the time, he continued, "Alright, hurry up and get going. It'll be too late if you don't."

Only then did the others notice that it was getting a bit late. If they didn't leave soon, they might miss their delivery deadline.

They quickly gathered their things and rushed out the door. Naturally, Texas was carrying the important sandwiches.

Watching the Penguin Logistics crew hurry away, Shirou waved his hand and said, "Be careful on the road."

11 A Hero of Justice?

About half an hour had passed since Penguin Logistics set out.

During this time, Shirou had finished his breakfast and cleaned up the mess left behind.

After everything was tidied up, Shirou went upstairs.

"Let me see... it really has been tidied up a bit."

Shirou first carefully looked inside, and only after confirming there was nothing unpleasant did he open the door with relief.

Overall, it was a bit cleaner than yesterday, but it was still very messy.

Shirou looked around and roughly decided how to organize it.

The main enemies were dust and years of stubborn grime, and the kitchen was a disaster zone waiting to happen.

Shirou efficiently cleaned with various tools, and suddenly noticed something placed next to a few packs of Pocky.

"Huh? Are these earphones?"

Shirou stopped what he was doing and looked closely. It seemed the wire part was broken.

He thought back to the first time he was brought to the shopping district a few days ago; Texas and Exusiai seemed to be discussing this. Texas apparently really liked these earphones, but they had stopped production, and repairs were very expensive, so she had been putting it off.

Shirou had repaired earphones and various other things before, so he was somewhat knowledgeable in this area.

But it was better to check just in case.

Shirou reached out, and his magic circuits appeared.

"Hmm... the structure is pretty much the same. The main body of the earphones has no problem; it's a bit old but still usable. The main issue is the wire between the main body and the connector."

Solving this problem wouldn't be difficult. He just needed to cut off the broken part and then solder the intact parts together.

After checking, Shirou didn't take the earphones directly but put them back in their original place.

After all, they were still Texas's belongings. It wouldn't be good to just take them for repair. At most, he could mention that they could be fixed, and it would depend on her wishes.

Another reason was that he still needed to buy some equipment: soldering equipment, insulating tape, and heat shrink tubing.

"Hmm... maybe I should buy a tool set? It feels empty without a tool set on hand."

Shirou thought as he tidied up. He used to have a full set of tools and a soldering kit in the warehouse, and he would use them whenever needed. He was quite skilled in this area himself.

He had often helped the student council president, Ichijou, repair old appliances at the school, and sometimes Taiga would bring home appliances that she thought could be fixed.

"I'll leave it at this for now. I originally planned to tidy up the kitchen as well, but it seems I was too ambitious."

Shirou finished the work at hand and looked at the time; it was already past noon.

Except for places where more important items were stored, the rest of the areas were quite clean.

It took Shirou half a day to tidy up the living room, mainly because there were too many miscellaneous items.

After putting away the cleaning supplies, Shirou went downstairs to wash up, then made a simple lunch to enjoy before heading out.

Shirou first went to the shopping district and bought the tool set and Exusiai's apple pie, then went to the supermarket to buy ingredients for dinner that day.

Returning to the dormitory, Shirou put the apple pie in the refrigerator; he could just reheat it when he wanted to enjoy it. He then went back to his room and placed the tool set on the large desk that had arrived a few days prior.

On the large desk were several projected items. He had tried projecting various things over the past few days, but most of them were still empty shells. Only when projecting swords was there a more noticeable difference.

He took out the tool set and arranged it on the small table according to his habits, then checked for any defects.

"En, good, no problems at all."

Shirou unplugged the soldering iron in his hand, looking at the tool set on the small table with satisfaction.

This was the first money he had spent on his hobbies since arriving here. Cooking didn't count; all the cooking expenses were covered by everyone at Penguin Logistics, so it was considered communal money. Shirou kept the receipts for this so he could apply for funds from the Emperor.

The matter of applying for funds was reminded by Croissant.

Shirou sat on a chair to rest, as he had been busy from the moment he woke up until now. When people have nothing to do, they tend to overthink.

"Speaking of which, it's been almost a week since I arrived in this world."

What he was thinking about was that it had been nearly a week, and the remaining three doors were still locked shut by golden chains, preventing him from entering.

His intuition told him that the doors behind would bring him more knowledge about magecraft.

And more growth experiences.

His studies over the past few days had also allowed him to roughly understand this world, or perhaps, this continent.

Originium, which the Emperor had mentioned, was a very important thing here.

Energy, abilities, weapons, all were born from Originium.

A small Originium could provide a large amount of energy, and it could be used to drive something called Originium Arts.

Shirou's understanding was that as long as one possessed Originium, they could use abilities similar to magecraft.

As for weapons... in this world, some were called staves, but they weren't the kind of staves Shirou understood. Staves were just a general term; anything that could cast Originium Arts seemed to be a staff.

Incidentally, the firearms used by Exusiai were also a type of staff.

Shirou was also confused when he understood this.

Ordinary people must use staves to use Originium Arts, but there was one type of person who didn't.

That was the Infected.

Because the Infected had Originium within their bodies, they could directly use Originium Arts with themselves as the medium, but this would also increase the Originium within their bodies.

It sounds convenient, but in reality, once someone becomes Infected, there's no way to recover. Their life immediately enters a countdown.

Thinking this, Shirou rubbed his brow.

"What a chaotic world."

At least in his original world, the struggles of mages and others happened in the shadows, and people lived normal lives on the surface.

Hmm... at least when something happened, they had the excuse of a gas explosion to cover it up?

But here, people have become numb to this kind of life. After all, the barrier to entry for using special abilities like Originium Arts isn't too high; as long as one has the will, they can definitely obtain and even use them.

This land is chaotic, so what should he... do?

He didn't know, or at least, he didn't know now.

Shirou looked at the Holy Shroud wrapped around his right arm.

The ideal of being a "Hero of Justice"... he didn't seem as attached to it as before?

"Was it the Holy Grail War I experienced?"

Shirou believed that his experiences participating in the Holy Grail War had changed him. Although he didn't remember it, his soul did.

But now, he couldn't be as self-indulgent as before, only thinking about his ideals. At least not for now.

He needed to understand this land and how to help those who needed help.

Most importantly, he had to continue his current job – the housekeeper for Penguin Logistics.

After all, he was saved by them. His current impression of the Emperor and the others wasn't too bad. Naturally, he had to repay their kindness.

Until Penguin Logistics no longer needs him, he will keep this in his heart.