Exusiai dragged Shirou away from the fixed-target shooting range.
Texas, Sora, and Croissant looked at one another, the same thought in their minds.
This angel is genuinely a jerk.
"Is this the moving-target range?"
Shirou was pulled by Exusiai to a place that looked a bit livelier.
Compared to the fixed-target area where mostly young people were messing around, the people at the moving-target range clearly all looked like veterans.
And the number of people using bows and arrows was also somewhat higher.
Compared to crossbows, bows and arrows were harder to use. After all, the principle of a crossbow was just like a pistol—you loaded it and pulled the trigger.
But a bow required steady arm strength and a good shooting posture, needing a certain level of training before someone could get the hang of it.
Over here, a small portion of the people used bows and arrows to shoot targets.
The mechanism of the moving target randomly popped a small target up from the ground, letting patrons aim and shoot during the time it took to fly and land.
With a time limit and moving targets, the difficulty instantly shot up a lot.
Yet most people here could hit them solidly.
"Heh-heh, moving targets are actually my forte, you know?"
Exusiai led Shirou to a shooting area that nobody was using.
It was roughly no different from the spot just now. Exusiai picked out a crossbow that looked pleasing to the eye.
"Shirou, watch me operate it once first!"
Exusiai loaded the bolt, pressed the button in front, and began to aim.
After a few seconds, Shirou heard the sound of compressed air, a white target flew out, and then it was blown to pieces by Exusiai.
"Just do it like this! It's very simple, right?"
Exusiai made an honor-student remark, making the faces of the three people who had followed behind darken.
They had also asked Exusiai for pointers on shooting essentials, but always got answers like "just do this and that."
In summary, Exusiai basically never offered decent shooting advice. To her, the act of shooting was just like an instinct—she mastered it the moment she picked it up.
"＼Shirou／＼Go for it／,＼Beat Exusiai／."
Croissant raised her hands high to cheer Shirou on.
Aside her, Sora and Texas didn't make a sound, but Shirou could feel that the two of them were cheering him on in their eyes too.
"So, Exusiai, is your popularity perhaps a bit poor?"
Shirou took the crossbow from Exusiai's hands and said unconsciously.
"Gwuh... T... Too much! That's too much!"
Shirou pierced Exusiai right through the heart with this blade, and she grabbed his collar, shaking him continuously.
"Stop shaking, stop shaking, it's very dangerous! Hey!"
Shirou was shaken incessantly, and the crossbow in his hand almost dropped to the ground.
The other three also hurriedly stepped forward to pull Exusiai away.
"Alright, alright."
Texas used both hands to support Exusiai while comforting her.
Shirou's verbal thrust was a bit savage, but mostly Exusiai had brought it upon herself.
"Alright, Shirou, give it a try first. Moving targets are harder; don't get discouraged if you miss."
Sora cheered Shirou on.
"Mn."
Shirou stepped onto the shooting zone, adjusted the crossbow, loaded a bolt, and pressed the button.
Taking a slight deep breath, Shirou focused his attention forward.
Following the sound of compressed air, Shirou saw the target fly out.
Anticipate the position, aim, pull the trigger.
The crossbow bolt accurately shattered the target flying in midair.
"Shirou, you're playing the pig to eat the tiger, right? Right!"
Seeing Shirou accurately smash the target to pieces, Croissant came up, grabbed Shirou's collar, and shook him continuously.
Seeing Shirou easily blast the moving target to bits, Croissant figured Shirou was acting.
Clearly he was an expert, so why pretend to be a beginner!
"Calm down, calm down."
Sora imitated the way Texas restrained Exusiai and pinned Croissant down too.
"Cough cough... Aren't you a bit too excited?"
Shirou had to recover slightly. Compared to Exusiai, Croissant possessed much greater strength, and he felt a bit dizzy from being shaken.
"Normal. Shirou, is this really your first time touching a crossbow?"
Texas asked. As for Exusiai? She had already stopped making a fuss the moment Shirou hit the moving target on his first shot; she could tell that Shirou wasn't relying on luck, but was genuinely aiming at the target.
"It's my first time with a crossbow, but I've studied the bow before."
Shirou honestly answered Texas's question.
31 A Hated Fellow
Shirou finally picked up a bow under everyone's strong demands.
However, hampered by the fact that drawing a bow required a certain amount of arm strength, Penguin Logistics let Shirou pull it once or twice just so they could see.
Shirou briefly observed the bow body—it was a recurve bow with a very simple structure.
The tail end of the arrow also had three feathers, mainly used to keep the flight stable and balanced.
The methods of drawing a bow were generally split into two types, and Shirou and Archer happened to use those two methods respectively.
Pressing the button, Shirou chose his usual method to nock the arrow to the bow and drew the string.
"Seems like he knows his stuff."
Texas looked at Shirou's posture and gave her own evaluation.
The aura Shirou gave off when drawing the bow was plenty strong enough.
"No wonder his crossbow accuracy was so spot on."
Croissant and Exusiai dropped the subject in this regard; anyway, it was good if Shirou could have a little self-preservation ability—who knew, maybe their dorm would get blown up one day.
Though the probability of that was very low.
Following the sound of compressed air, Shirou also released his hand.
Using a bow, Shirou could guarantee accuracy.
—As long as he wanted to hit the bullseye, he could hit it.
He had always been like this ever since he started using bows. Before releasing the shot, it was as if he had already foreseen the result of hitting the target in advance.
The arrow smoothly shattered the target flying in midair.
"Whew... That'll do, right?"
Shirou lowered the bow in his hand and asked the four of them.
Suddenly and inexplicably pushed up to test the bow, Shirou could be considered to have satisfied the four's curiosity.
"It'll do. Shirou, do you not like using a bow?"
Exusiai looked at Shirou, who seemed somewhat resistant to using the bow; he had also worn a deeply gloomy expression when he was pushed up just now.
"It hasn't reached the point of being hated, but it makes me think of a certain annoying guy."
Shirou wore a look of disgust.
"Shirou, you have people you hate too?"
Sora expressed that seeing a new expression on Shirou made her feel it was very fresh.
"Of course people have them, right? Well, it doesn't quite count as hate; it'd probably be more appropriate to say we don't get along."
"Mn... Someone who doesn't get along with you, Shirou? I can't really imagine it."
Exusiai imagined Shirou's usual demeanor. Although he sometimes looked a bit black-bellied and serious, overall he was still the sort who was very easy to get along with—provided you didn't mess with him.
"I can't imagine it either. After all, he manages to mix so well with us."
As soon as Croissant finished speaking, she was knocked flat to the ground by a punch each from Exusiai and Texas.
"Forget it if you don't like it. Forcing things you dislike is no good. If there's nothing else, let's leave; if it gets any later, the shops will close."
Texas ended the topic. In her view, everyone had their own privacy and things they didn't want to speak of, but people also possessed a certain degree of curiosity, so stopping right there was best.
"Ah! It's already this time!"
Hearing Texas's words, Exusiai took out her phone and took a look, discovering that the time was already very late.
Accustomed as she usually was to having meals ready as soon as she returned to the dorm, Exusiai's biological clock for ordering food had long since been thrown who-knows-where.
"At this hour... Shall we hit up a fast-food joint?"
Croissant thought for a moment and proposed the idea of going to a fast-food place. After all, they had eaten very healthily for this past month; rewarding themselves with some fried food and cola was totally reasonable, right?
"I'm down."
Exusiai raised her right hand high to agree with Croissant's proposal.
"Fine."
Texas had no objections. As long as it could fill her stomach, it was fine—current her looked down upon those small petty scraps outside.
"Fast food... That should be okay, I guess."
Sora wore a troubled expression, but ultimately agreed to the proposal.
"Fast food, huh? It's a bit unhealthy... But it should be fine once in a while."
Shirou evaluated it and accepted the proposal.
He wasn't a staunch anti-fast-food faction member; occasionally indulging a little was also good.
"Then it's settled! Get in the van, get in the van! I'll call and order two family meals first, to bring back to the dorm and eat!"
Croissant, having secured the chef's affirmation, shouldered the job of ordering the food.
As for why they were bringing it back to the dorm to eat?
Only in the dorm could they watch TV while eating, without caring about the gazes of outsiders. Anyway, everyone was heading back to the dorms, so naturally they'd bring it back to eat.
Packing up the things they had just used, Penguin Logistics set off on the road of buying dinner to take back to the dorm.
"So, Isv, you also think there's no problem with that kid Shirou?"
Emperor sat in front of the bar counter, holding a glass of red wine and swaying it, his other hand holding a phone.
"Yes. Up until today, his actions basically haven't had any major suspicious points. The only time it was slightly suspicious was when he went to a city street not far from the slums, but that also seemed to be because he went on the recommendation of an auntie at a supermarket. He bought quite a bit of seafood, meat, and vegetables. Additionally, I have two videos here."
Isv's voice drifted out from the phone.
"Mn... Although I felt early on that he was quite a fool, I didn't expect him to be able to be foolish to this extent. Isv, what's your take?"
Emperor pulled up the two videos Isv had shown him. The first one was the sight of Shirou rushing into the fire and leaping out of it, and the second one was the sight of Shirou facing the Infected in Dagu Mall.
Both videos were obtained by Isv hacking into the surveillance cameras.
Before you continue