Chapter 149

After finishing talking about what happened at the Knights of the Round Table today, Shirou remembered that the refrigerator in his dormitory seemed to be running low on supplies, and he would have to go and restock it today.

Tonight's dinner, tomorrow's breakfast, and lunchbox all need to be prepared.

In particular, his lunchbox needs to be made bigger tomorrow.

He heard a lot of rumors about his lunchbox in one afternoon.

Based on his experience, he expects quite a few people to come up and try to get one during lunch tomorrow.

He was familiar with this person; he had encountered him back in his student days.

So after that, he would always go to other places to eat bento boxes, because his finances at that time did not allow him to make more bento boxes.

But things are different now!

We have to thank the owner of Penguin Logistics for all of this!

The boss is generous!

No... Of course, we can't just spend the boss's money for no reason. I had already discussed this with Isv during lunch break and received a positive response from him.

Although he always says the boss will pay, he will still ask.

After all, if this source of funding is cut off, he'll probably have to pay for it himself.

The expenses for the staff at Penguin Logistics each month are quite substantial.

Although he was consciously trying to control it, it still cost less than eating out, and it was also much healthier.

Accompanied by Texas and Exusiai, Shirou quickly finished sweeping up everything he needed over the past few days.

"Wow, it's so heavy!"

"Exusiai, with a hunched back and carrying a large bag of ingredients, said..."

Although she offered to help carry it herself, the bag was really heavy.

However, it wasn't so heavy that she couldn't lift it; it was just an exaggerated way of expressing herself.

"Well enough?"

Holding two large bags of ingredients of roughly the same weight, Shirou looked puzzled.

It shouldn't be too heavy, right? But judging from Exusiai's appearance, it does seem rather heavy?

He only bought a little bit too much... well, Shirou admits he bought a lot.

I usually buy enough for one or two days, but this time I bought enough for about three or four days at once.

"Now you know how hard Shirou works all the time, so stop complaining."

Texas, who was standing next to her, was also carrying a bag. Compared to Exusiai's strained expression, she looked much more relaxed.

This suggests that Exusiai has been neglecting her training.

"What you said makes sense..."

Texas's reminder made Exusiai realize that Shirou usually carried even heavier ingredients back and forth, mostly on foot or by bicycle.

In comparison, they are already quite fortunate to have a car to ride in.

But what's it like to help mom with housework and experience what it's like to work hard every day...?

At that moment, Exusiai thought about many things.

With these questions in mind, the group quickly returned to their dormitory.

Croissant had been sitting on the sofa for a long time, waiting for Qian and the others to return. When she saw the huge pile of ingredients, she even went over to help carry them to the kitchen table.

Shirou made a simple dinner, and after eating and drinking his fill, he started preparing breakfast and bento boxes for tomorrow.

After all, everyone has to get up early to go to work tomorrow, so if you want a more substantial meal, you have to prepare it a day in advance.

The so-called preparation is really just cutting and packaging some vegetables and meat first.

"Hmm... it should be about time."

After putting all the pre-portioned ingredients into the refrigerator, Shirou checked the quantity and found it to be sufficient.

His own extra-large portion, and everyone's from Penguin Logistics.

Although Kong is rehearsing, we can make an extra one and have Texas send it over, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

After wiping his hands briefly, Shirou returned to the living room.

He hadn't forgotten the homework Chen and Hoshiguma had assigned him; that thick stack of materials would probably take quite a while to read.

"Shirou, what were you busy with just now?"

Exusiai, half-reclining on the sofa, looked up at Shirou and asked him a question as she left the kitchen.

She thought Shirou had gone to make desserts, but all she heard was the sound of water and a knife cutting.

It was all for nothing, but luckily she bought Apple Pie while waiting for Shirou to get off work.

"Prepare the ingredients for tomorrow. If you cut them up first, you won't be so busy tomorrow."

After sitting down in his usual spot, Shirou took out his headphones and documents, ready to work hard, and also answered Exusiai's question.

"Oh... If you're too tired, take a few days off. We won't say anything. Shirou, you seem to be very busy lately. Don't overwork yourself."

After Exusiai finished speaking, the living room was very quiet for a moment.

Good heavens! How Exusiai say something like that!

"Didn't you have enough Apple Pie today?"

Texas, forgetting the Pocky in her mouth, hurriedly asked Exusiai a question.

"Yeah, yeah, just say so if you're not full! I can order takeout!"

Croissant put down the joystick, picked up her phone, and prepared to order an Apple Pie.

"Have you caught a cold?"

As for Shirou, he put down what he was doing and went to get a thermometer to Exusiai's temperature.

"Hey! Is it really that much of a fuss if I'm just showing concern for someone?"

Seeing everyone's reaction, Exusiai complained.

She's not living her life without a care in the world; what's wrong with her caring about her teammate's health?

Watch out, she might throw Apple Pie at your face!

"It's mainly because of how you usually are, Exusiai..."

On this point, Shirou felt he was qualified to comment.

Although he hasn't known Exusiai long as others, he can't help but Exusiai that Exusiai is always messing with him.

Inside Penguin Logistics, Exusiai and Croissant like to tease him.

It's not that he can't accept it; it's just a minor issue for him.

It's just that he suddenly changed from a position of liking to tease to one of caring about people... This change in attitude is a bit too big, and he's a little worried.

"I'm on Shirou's side on this point."

Croissant nodded and said.

"..."

Texas declined to comment. Having been partners for so long, she still knew that Exusiai could have this side "occasionally."

But to be honest, she herself hadn't seen it in a long time.

I had just wondered Exusiai was sick, until the other party refuted me and I realized it was true.

"You guys are so mean! I never expected you to think of me like this!"

Upon learning that her three teammates were looking at her that way, Exusiai n't hold back anymore.

She, Exusiai, may be a bit mischievous, but she's actually a caring person, okay!?

149 Relax, I'm not going to eat you.

The Exusiai incident brought a lot of joy to everyone at Penguin Logistics.

Even after a night, when Shirou was helping organize data at the Knights of the Round Table, he would suddenly think of what happened last night and burst out laughing.

"Hmm? Did you see something?"

Hoshiguma, who had grabbed Shirou to help organize the documents, stopped what she was doing when she saw Shirou burst out laughing and asked him a question.

As we all know, organizing files is a simple task, but it can also be quite tedious.

If it weren't for the fact that I had to handle these documents myself, Hoshiguma would really have preferred to just ask someone to distribute them.

Even if we call on Shirou now, we can only give him some simple assignments and tasks; we still need to review them ourselves before putting them into storage.

If it were a group of interns, they could just be sent to provide field guidance. Unfortunately, there's only Shirou here, so we can only try to assign him simple tasks for now.

However, Shirou learns very quickly, Hoshiguma estimates that if there are any field missions in the future, she can take Shirou with her.

Shirou seemed to have already read through the entire stack of documents. He had asked a few questions when distributing the files, and Shirou was able to answer almost all of them.

Sigh... Although Old Chen said to go back and finish reading it, he didn't tell you to finish reading and memorizing it right away.

That's too honest!

And if she wasn't mistaken, the bento box that Shirou brought today seemed to be much larger than yesterday's.

It's enough for at least three to four people.

Having Shirou as a colleague is such a blessing!

No, I should say Penguin Logistics is incredibly lucky to have hired someone like Shirou!

Forget it, let's put this aside for now. Hoshiguma felt that if she kept thinking about it, she might fall into the same cycle of being poached as Missy.

It's fine as it is now.

"Nothing, I just suddenly thought of something."

Shirou, realizing he had laughed out loud, quickly composed himself and replied.

Getting distracted while working is a big no-no!

He actually made such a mistake, and his boss caught him.

"Relax, I'm not going to eat you."

Seeing that Shirou seemed very afraid of her, Hoshiguma wondered if it was because of the rumors about her being Oni, or if Shirou was simply afraid of her as his superior.

Or perhaps both?

"Ah?"

Hoshiguma's sudden change of heart made Shirou wonder why she would say such a thing.

When Shirou caught a glimpse of Hoshiguma out of the corner of his eye, he realized that Hoshiguma's words were a joke at his expense.

You can't laugh, or you might really get beaten up.

Humans are such strange creatures; they can make fun of themselves, but they get upset if others do.

Shirou had no idea which type Hoshiguma was, but he was sure he wouldn't laugh out loud.

"Laugh if you want, it's just you and me here."

Seeing Shirou trying to laugh but not daring to, Hoshiguma thought Shirou was really too reserved.

Although she had encountered this type of person before, Old Chen was initially similar to Shirou.

Compared to Shirou, Old Chen was a bit more serious back then.

After all, no one had high hopes for her at first, but she repeatedly defied those expectations and joined the Special Inspectorate through her own efforts.

As for Shirou... his current situation seems to be similar. As a member of Penguin Logistics, he is not well-regarded by some people.

After all, it's Penguin Logistics... those who know, know.

In some ways, Shirou and Old Chen seem quite similar.

They all like to shoulder things that don't belong to them.