Shirou Emiya Stands on Terra Chapter 13

15 Lower District

Shirou Emiya felt refreshed after successfully requesting funds from the Emperor and having his debts instantly disappear.

"I didn't expect the new boss to be so easy to talk to!"

Shirou had only intended to request funds, but he didn't expect the boss to waive his debts as well. This was different from what he had previously understood.

He thought that based on what he'd seen on TV, the boss would be difficult and only grudgingly approve the funds. Why was it so smooth this time?

Shirou gave up after thinking for a few seconds. As long as things went smoothly, there was no need to overthink it.

"Everyone's here tonight, let's cook something good! Mrs. Bai introduced a street last time that seemed to have fresh meat and vegetables to choose from. Let's go check it out this time."

When Shirou the chef is in a good mood, Penguin Logistics' stomachs are full.

After tidying up the living room, Shirou went out with his shopping bag. The shopping bag was a gift from a supermarket promotion. Shirou thought it was quite sturdy, so he brought it along. It looked very plain.

Shirou turned on the navigation and headed towards the market street.

"This is the first time my destination isn't a shopping district or a supermarket."

Shirou muttered to himself as he looked at the buildings, which were different from what he was used to.

If the roads leading to the supermarket or the Dagu Shopping District were lined with tall skyscrapers, the current road was mostly filled with slightly shorter buildings, with only one or two particularly prominent structures occasionally appearing.

Shirou felt a sense of familiarity with this.

The only difference was that a few people were looking at him with unfriendly eyes.

"I remember Exusiai mentioning that the Infected in Lungmen tend to gather in one area, so they're usually not seen around. But this isn't the area Exusiai mentioned... No, it seems to be nearby."

Shirou glanced at his phone and realized that his current location was close to the area Exusiai had mentioned.

"The middle ground?"

Discovering that his destination was nearby, Shirou began to recall what Exusiai had said.

Lungmen had an Upper District, a Middle District, and a Lower District. The Infected were generally concentrated in the Lower District.

Because of the large number of Infected and the prevalence of gangs in the Lower District, the Knights of the Round Table couldn't spare enough personnel to manage it, resulting in general chaos and poor public order. Thus, it was also known as the slums.

In the slums, due to the chaotic public order, Exusiai's advice was for Shirou not to go near it without her, Texas, or Croissant accompanying him.

However, Shirou had already reached the market, so it was too late to say anything.

"Let's buy what I need quickly and leave..."

Shirou assessed the situation and decided to buy what he needed and leave quickly. After all, he was already here.

"Freshly caught fish, meat, and vegetables... Oh? They really are quite cheap, but I'll have to prepare them myself when I get back."

Walking along the road, Shirou quickly identified a few stalls.

Shirou carefully placed his bag in front of his chest and then carefully selected a few vegetables.

"It's been chaotic lately, always gunshots and explosions."

Shirou overheard the conversation of a few elderly women nearby.

It wasn't that he was intentionally eavesdropping, but rather... elderly women really do talk loudly.

Shirou occasionally encountered them at the supermarket, but they mostly talked about their own affairs or trivial matters. Here, however, their conversations were quite sensational.

"Exactly! Yesterday, I saw a bunch of people walking down the street with knives and crossbows from my window. It was so scary."

Another elderly woman said.

"Not only that, but a few days ago, there was a car chase on the road."

"..."

Shirou didn't listen further. After picking out his vegetables, he left immediately.

After all, eavesdropping is not good, even if they were talking too loudly.

Besides, he needed to finish picking his items and leave quickly. He felt like someone was constantly watching him from the shadows.

"But carrying knives and crossbows on the street? And gunshots and explosions? Even Lungmen, with its good public order, seems quite chaotic."

Shirou mused as he walked.

Based on the information he had gathered from books and the internet, Lungmen should be considered a region with good public order.

However, no matter how good the public order was, it was relative to the land itself.

It was said that Ursus directly arrested the Infected. Lungmen was already one of the few places that were friendly to the Infected.

If he were in Ursus...

"Thinking about this is useless."

Shirou shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

"Focus on what's in front of you, don't overthink it, Shirou Emiya."

Shirou whispered to himself, reminding himself.

Here, anyone could use mysteries—that is, Originium Arts.

He was a Magus, or rather, a Magus, but being able to use magic didn't make him invincible.

A single person's combat power had its limits here.

Shirou constantly reminded himself not to act impulsively.

He didn't know why, but he just felt he shouldn't repeat the same mistakes.

Perhaps Archer had said something to him during the Holy Grail War?

Or perhaps... he had been entrusted with something.

Thinking of this, Shirou touched his right arm. Ever since that day he was almost consumed by his memories, he had been wearing the Holy Shroud.

He usually kept it on him, and when he went out, he would wrap it around his right hand.

Although he couldn't remember, this seemed to be something very important.

"Yo, guest, what can I get for you?"

Shirou's thoughts were interrupted by a somewhat lazy voice. When he came to his senses, he realized he had been standing in front of the fish stall for quite some time.

"Sorry, I was just spacing out."

Shirou quickly apologized, and at the same time looked at the owner of the stall.

Hmm... he looked a bit fierce and intimidating, but more lazy?

A purely fierce appearance wouldn't scare him, after all, it couldn't compare to Berserker.

"It's fine, there are no other customers at this time anyway, so take your time picking."

The other party seemed to notice that Shirou wasn't very scared of him, so he said a few more words.

Seeing this, Shirou nodded and then carefully looked at the fish available.

Hmm... he didn't seem to recognize any of them, except for the obvious ones like shrimp and crab, he wasn't very familiar with the rest.

However, judging by the marbling, there was one that looked very similar to salmon.

"I'll buy some to pan-fry and try the taste..."

Shirou even bought some that looked more familiar. After all, after zoning out in front of someone's stall for so long, it would be a bit awkward not to buy anything or to buy very little.

"Do you want the bones removed?"

"Can you? Then I'll trouble you."

After Shirou finished speaking, he saw the boss pull out a knife and with a few quick slashes, he finished removing the bones.

"Wow, that's skilled."

Shirou couldn't help but exclaim. He had never seen anyone remove bones with just a few quick cuts, and with almost no meat lost.

"Thanks for the compliment. I've been doing this for quite a while, so I'll give you a good price."

The boss packed the fish and handed it to Shirou.

"Huh? Really?"

Shirou was stunned. He didn't know why he suddenly got a discount.

"Well, it's rare for someone to talk to me nicely on our first meeting. It feels quite refreshing."

"...Thank you?"

Shirou had a questioning look on his face, but he still thanked the boss for the discount.

Getting a discount without even having to haggle, that's awesome!

"You're welcome. Just come back and patronize me more often in the future."

The boss yawned and sent Shirou off, then continued to mind his stall, waiting for the next customer.

16 Fire

Shirou ended up picking enough ingredients for nearly three days, his shopping bag was almost overflowing.

Normally, Shirou wouldn't buy so much, as it wouldn't fit in his refrigerator. However, he had planned to make a more elaborate meal today, and could probably consume more than half of it at once.

"I hope the fish I bought doesn't taste too different..."

Shirou lifted his shopping bag, thinking about how to prepare tonight's dinner.

He had tried most of the common meats and vegetables, and except for a few with more unique flavors, most were pretty much the same.

Fish was a bit trickier, as he had only ever prepared salmon, tuna, and mackerel before, and most of them were already pre-processed by the stores.

Now, he could only judge what kind of fish it was based on its processed appearance. As for the taste, he would just have to try it.

"The boss was nice too. I should bring Exusiai and the others here to shop next time."

Shirou remembered Exusiai's words about needing to find someone to accompany him if he went to the lower city.

This time was an accident, but it made Shirou realize that Exusiai's words weren't just casual talk. He had genuinely felt quite a few malicious gazes along the way.

But that malice was only directed at Shirou, and such malice didn't really affect him.

It was just better to avoid trouble if possible.

After all, he was living under someone else's roof right now.

Only after Shirou Emiya moved away did he feel the malicious gaze disappear.

For some reason, he suddenly seemed to be particularly sensitive to this kind of malice.

After checking his belongings and confirming nothing was missing, Shirou Emiya prepared to return to his dormitory.

As he walked, Shirou Emiya jotted down the shops he had just bought. If they turned out to be good after he returned, he would buy them again.

However, he would have to wait until he had surveyed the entire market and made comparisons first.

Shirou Emiya turned at the next intersection and found a crowd gathered at the street ahead. The building there also seemed to be emitting smoke.

"A fire?"

Shirou Emiya's brow furrowed slightly.

The fire didn't seem to be very large. The building that had caught fire appeared to be a restaurant, likely due to a gas explosion.

The thought of a gas explosion made Shirou Emiya wonder if there was some conspiracy behind it.

"No, no, this isn't a world where mystery needs to be hidden."

Shirou Emiya chided himself.

However, the location of the fire was directly on Shirou Emiya's route back to his dormitory.

But Shirou Emiya assessed that the fire was not large and likely wouldn't obstruct the firefighters' path, so he didn't plan to take a detour.

"Don't worry, boss, I've already contacted the fire department."

A young Perro in a work uniform reported to a gray-clad, older-looking Felin.

"The customers should all be out, right?"

The middle-aged Felin asked the people around him. Some of them were customers who had been inside the shop just moments ago. Suddenly, there was a "Boom," and it exploded. Fortunately, it was just a normal natural gas explosion. If it had been an Originium explosion, it would have been truly disastrous.