Chapter 166

"Hahaha... How polite! Not bad!"

Upon receiving Shirou's thanks, Lappland suddenly burst into laughter.

Compared to the previous laughs, this one seemed more genuine.

"Um?"

Seeing Lappland laughing, Shirou tilted his head slightly in confusion.

Please allow him to apologize. Did he genuinely not understand what the other person was laughing at, or was what the other person just said implying something bad about him?

Didn't he realize?

"No, it's nothing, you don't need to worry about it. I'll go now, I hope we'll have a chance to meet again in the future."

After laughing for a while, Lappland wiped away the tears that welled up from laughing too hard and said.

"...etc."

Just as Lappland turned to leave, Shirou suddenly called out to her.

"What's wrong? Have you decided to talk to me about Texas? I don't mind having another cup of coffee."

Hearing Shirou call her name, Lappland stopped and turned to look at him.

"No, but this is for you."

Shirou shook his head and said, while taking out the Pocky that Texas had just given him from his backpack.

Although he didn't know the relationship between the two, Shirou felt a little bad that the other party had given extra food to everyone in Texas and Penguin Logistics, so he didn't give them anything in return.

Pocky holds a very special meaning for Texas, so it must hold the same meaning for Lappland, right?

With this in mind, Shirou took out the Pocky from his backpack and handed it to the other person.

"This is... from Texas?"

Looking at the Pocky in Shirou's hand, Lappland caught a whiff of that familiar scent.

She knew Texas loved this kind of food; after all, she was the one who gave it to Texas in the first place.

I never imagined she'd be fed one day!

"... I just bought it from a roadside vendor."

When he saw the other person call out Texas's name to Pocky, Shirou felt a chill run down his spine.

That's a bit much! While it was indeed from Texas, does seeing a Pocky immediately remind you of Texas?

Has Pocky become associated with Texas!?

Okay, now when Pocky is mentioned, the first thing Shirou thinks of is Texas. She packs at least three packs a day. If she didn't have such a high intensity of training, Texas would probably have trouble even walking.

"I can smell it, but your lying skills have improved. It would be even better if you didn't hesitate for so long when you spoke. As for the things... I'll take them."

Lappland scoffed at Shirou's lie and put Pocky into her pocket.

Then he turned around and left without looking back.

"Is Lupo's nose really that sensitive... or is it actually like that?"

Watching the other person leave, Shirou secretly said a few bad things about Lappland in his heart.

Although he always appeared amiable, he was still somewhat angry from being verbally attacked like that, but he hid it well and vented his anger through other channels.

Often it's not that people don't have tempers, but rather that they have other channels to vent these negative emotions.

Shirou, for example, would accomplish this task through verbal witty remarks.

But that was all he did; in addition, Shirou would numb himself through exercise and physical activity, something he did during the period after Kiritsugu's death.

Carrying a large bag of food, Shirou walked out of the store and looked around.

Lappland was nowhere to be seen, and the streets of the Slums were as bustling as usual.

Before leaving the Slums, Shirou made a special detour to the spot where those who had surrounded them had fallen, only to find that the people were gone, leaving behind a patch of cleaned-up bloodstains.

If Shirou hadn't looked closely, he might not have even noticed the bloodstains.

These people have done a pretty good job in this regard.

After confirming that these people were no longer lying in place, Shirou decided not to linger outside and instead headed straight back to his dormitory.

It's so hot right now, the food I have will spoil quickly if I don't put it in the refrigerator soon.

Also, he really has nothing else to do right now, so he might as well go back to his dorm and read some books.

On the way back to the dormitory, Shirou encountered no problems and the journey was very smooth.

After putting his things into the refrigerator, Shirou quickly checked the contents. Combined with what he had brought back that day, there was more than enough for dinner.

"Hmm... around two o'clock? They should be back in about an hour, right?"

Shirou glanced at the time as he left the kitchen, estimating that Exusiai and the others would begin to return in about an hour.

The group usually returned to the dormitory between three and five o'clock, so he had always returned before that time.

Having obtained the Oripathy book from Snow Pheasant and put on the Lupo headphones gifted to him by everyone at Penguin Logistics, Shirou began reading for the first time in a long time.

Because of the Knights of the Round Table's affairs lately, he hasn't been able to devote much attention to these books, and he's only taking a few moments to look at them now.

He doesn't expect to be able to cure Oripathy, but he at least wants to have some understanding of it.

His past experience and knowledge came in handy today, and he quickly discovered that Lappland's Oripathy had flared up.

He could recognize all those symptoms, which was a good start.

This gave Shirou a little confidence, allowing him to continue studying these books.

The progress... well, it's hard to describe. He's still stuck about halfway through the first book.

Looking at the book in his hands, Shirou didn't know how much time had passed until he heard the living room door open, at which point he stopped what he was doing.

"You're back?"

I took off the headphones and rubbed my ears a little. The headphones were convenient, but they also pinched my ears quite a bit.

However, this minor issue is still within Shirou's acceptable range. As long as he doesn't wear it for too long, there shouldn't be any problems.

"Tsk, Shirou, why are you back so early? And you're reading a book."

Croissant her tongue in amazement as she looked at Shirou in the living room and the thick book in his hand.

I'm telling you to take a vacation! Don't you understand what a vacation is?

If she got this vacation, she would definitely just lie down and enjoy the wonderful day.

Shirou only felt like he was on vacation when they forced him to.

Where did this workaholic come from?!

"I came back because there wasn't much to do. Isn't the point of a vacation to do things you don't usually have time for?"

Looking at the time, Shirou realized he had been reading for almost two hours. No wonder his head was throbbing. So he closed the book and responded to Croissant's words.

"Seriously... can't you just take it easy?"

Seeing Shirou's appearance, Croissant.

"It's much easier than the work at the Knights of the Round Table."

Shirou replied, taking the Penguin Logistics jacket that the other person had taken off and putting it into the laundry basket.

The coats that the others took off need to be washed first, and then the clothes he bought today need to be washed.

Although the others didn't mind much, Shirou still washed his clothes separately from theirs.

Apart from his underwear, Shirou made everyone take it up to wash themselves.

However, a few people would occasionally become lazy, and Shirou couldn't just leave them like that, so he could only help clean them.

Whether they did it on purpose or not, Shirou felt that the frequency of these occurrences had been gradually increasing recently.

"There's nothing wrong with what you're saying... but haven't you tried spending a day just relaxing and clearing your head?"

Thinking back to how overwhelmed everyone looked each time she went to the Knights of the Round Table, Croissant realized that Shirou was right.

However, the three members of the Knights of the Round Table still felt that Shirou should have a good day off, the kind of holiday where he doesn't have to think about anything.

"Let's just relax? Forget it. I'm used to this pace now, and I'd feel uncomfortable if I suddenly changed it."

Upon hearing Croissant's words, Shirou shook his head and said...

He understood what the others were thinking, but he tended to think about many things when he had free time.

Therefore, he cannot and does not want to be idle; he needs to try his best not to think so much.

He was ultimately not a resident of this land.

Who knows, one day it might just disappear like Servant, turning into magical particles.

Every time he thinks about this, he feels a little scared.

"Hmm... never mind, as long as you feel okay with it, just don't ruin your health. Health is the most important thing!"

Croissant tried to put herself in Shirou's shoes for a moment, and then... she realized that she had no idea what Shirou was thinking and couldn't relate to him at all.

So she decided to give up and added some chicken soup to Shirou before taking a shower.

"..."

Seeing Croissant's face go through a series of emotions—thought, doubt, gritted teeth, and finally, a look of resignation after a moment of realization— Shirou had already seen through her mental journey.

"Now that Croissant is back, Exusiai and Texas should be almost back too, right? I wonder how Sora's rehearsal progress is."

After putting away the book and headphones, Shirou felt it was time to heat things up.

If it goes any later, it will be past the time when everyone is resting at night.

"Oh... eating out today?"

Croissant, having just rinsed herself quickly, came out with her still slightly damp hair and was immediately greeted by the aroma of Lungmen cuisine.

Shirou's Lungmen cuisine doesn't taste like this, which is why she guessed it was food from outside.

When Croissant took a closer look at the kitchen, she knew she had guessed right.

"Someone paid for this. You don't mind the food made by an infected person, do you?"

Seeing Croissant peeking in, Shirou gave a brief explanation and then asked a question.

163 Has her past already caught up with us?

Penguin Logistics, on the dormitory dining table.

Texas, still wearing her work clothes, along with Exusiai and Croissant, Croissant had already changed out of her clothes, devoured the food in front of them at the dining table.

"It tastes pretty good."

Exusiai casually picked up a few dishes, and it felt quite novel to have takeout after so long.

"It's good, but something just feels off."

Texas, who was standing next to her, also took some, but for some reason, she felt that there was a smell and feeling in the room that made her uncomfortable.

It must be her imagination, right?

"Is everything alright? Didn't Shirou say the store's protective measures were quite good?"

Compared to Texas's serious expression, Croissant didn't think much of it, simply assuming that Texas hadn't gotten over it psychologically.

"No, not that, how should I put it... it's a familiar scent?"

Texas wasn't bothered by this at all, since Shirou had said that the shop had been open for a long time without any problems, and the owner had handled things quite well.

The smell in the air made her feel physically uncomfortable, like she couldn't breathe properly.

"The smell? You haven't showered, have you?"

Upon hearing Texas's words, Croissant looked at the two of them with disdain.

When these two guys came back from work and saw the table full of food, they immediately chose to cook the rice instead of washing it!

You see, these two have run into some minor trouble today. Shirou is currently in the bathroom running water, preparing to soak their uniforms first!

The main problem is that there's too much mud on it; if you just throw it in the washing machine, it might not get clean.