Chapter 242

"You're really popular! Want some?"

Lappland, who had been quietly watching the whole thing, smiled and handed a bag of Pocky to Shirou.

"I think they're overthinking it... Also, I'd like one, thanks."

With a worried Shirou accepted the Pocky with nuts on it that Lappland offered him.

While being cared for by so many people should be a happy thing, isn't this a bit too much?

Following Texas's example of holding Pocky in his mouth, Shirou decided to take this opportunity to check the status of his Magic Circuits.

As for mobile phones?

It wasn't that Shirou forgot, but rather that the network here wasn't very good. Before coming here, he simply informed the people in his contacts and then put the phone away. Now, the only function of the phone in his hand is as a flashlight.

"Hmph~ It's a good thing that someone cares, right? At least it's much better than being turned away directly, isn't it?"

Lappland responded to Shirou's words.

She originally intended to mention those who were homeless, but considering that Shirou seemed to be in a bad state, she deliberately lowered the intensity of her dark joke.

Look how considerate she is!

"... I think you're going too far with that harassment."

Recalling Lappland's recent interaction with Texas, Shirou offered his own perspective.

However, he couldn't comment too much, since Shirou didn't know what kind of relationship the two had before.

Interpersonal relationships can be very complicated... But Shirou can confirm is that Lappland does care a lot about Texas. She only ever tests the limits of the other party's boundaries, never crossing them.

The other party seems to treat others the same way, except for enemies.

When she gets into a fight, she really doesn't care about anything else; she's definitely a berserker.

"Tsk, do you even know how to have a conversation? You'll never have any friends like this! And what are you doing?"

Lappland, who had been directly hit in the heart by Shirou, launched a small counterattack, but her offensiveness remained low.

After all, she often talks like that herself, but she's happy to do it.

Anyway, she's just chatting with the other person casually, and that's fine.

At the same time, she noticed that Shirou seemed to be focusing most of his attention on his hands, watching with a hint of curiosity as he looked at what he was planning to do.

"Test this stuff... give me another Pocky."

Ignoring Lappland's earlier words, Shirou reached out and asked for another Pocky.

The main issue was that he couldn't really respond to what the other person was saying, and the other person's attention had shifted to what he was doing, so he simply went along with the topic.

"Give."

She pulled out another Pocky stick and gave it to Shirou, while Lappland began to watch his actions.

Then she saw Pocky radiating light.

What's this? A homemade glow stick?

"Hmm... it feels a bit stiff, I need some time to get used to it."

With a flick of his finger, he produced a metallic sound, and Shirou quickly assessed the current state of his Magic Circuits.

If you were riding a regular bicycle before, then it's like you've suddenly switched to a more advanced one?

It has become more easy to handle, and both comfort and speed have been improved.

However, Shirou still needs a little time to adjust to this sudden change.

Just as Shirou was about to further assess the limits of strength, Lappland, standing to the side, opened her mouth and bit into the Pocky stick.

"Hiss... it's really hard?"

As Lappland took a bite and felt the feedback from her teeth, her first thought was that this thing had really hardened.

She had been paying attention when Shirou made that metallic sound; she hadn't expected Shirou Originium Arts to be so interesting!

It would be fun to give this Pocky stick to Texas, wouldn't it?

"Be careful not to break your teeth."

Shirou, realizing what was happening, quickly released his grip, and the Reinforcement Magic disappeared at the same time.

Without his Reinforcement Magic, Pocky was bitten in half by Lappland.

Putting aside whether Lappland's sudden bite was unseemly, wasn't the other person afraid of breaking their teeth?

Fortunately, he stopped in time, otherwise Lappland would probably have had to undergo one more treatment at Rhodes Island.

"My teeth are very strong, don't worry."

After realizing that Pocky had been bitten off by her, Lappland only felt a little regretful.

She had already planned to make a special large Pocky stick, and then have Shirou modify it to use as a stick. Now it seems that it would only be useful in the hands of the other party.

"Don't do anything reckless."

After Lappland's disruption, Shirou dared not continue testing the Reinforcement Magic, lest the other party, out of curiosity, bite him.

Shirou really didn't understand how Lappland's thought process worked; it was even more unpredictable than that of Exusiai and Croissant.

Next, he'd test his Projection Magic. Surely Lappland wouldn't just bite into a sword, would she?

Just to be on the safe side, Shirou still reminded the other party.

"Okay, okay, I'll speak first next time before I have to."

Lappland didn't seem to care, and even deliberately made a biting motion.

"..."

Looking at the other person's expression, Shirou began to think that just letting them space out and be sent directly to Rhodes Island might not be so bad?

However, after Lappland's repeated assurances, Shirou continued his testing.

After that, Shirou simply Projection his usual Gan Jiang Mo Ye. Overall, there weren't many changes, but he unconsciously Projection the connection point at the bottom of the hilt.

In other words, Gan Jiang Mo Ye have gained a new attack mode.

As for the gunblade... although it's very attractive, he doesn't have the mind to test it right now.

He was afraid that if he held the gun, he would lose his way.

Whether the Holy Shroud can suppress it again is unknown, and he doesn't want to gamble.

"Wow, this ability is really convenient."

Watching Shirou repeatedly create and disappear weapons in his hands, Lappland's first thought was that this ability was really convenient.

Enter empty-handed, stab someone, and walk out empty-handed—the kind of person who guarantees no suspicion.

After all, the murder weapon is gone, and there's no evidence to prove anything!

However, considering Shirou's single-minded focus on helping others, Lappland felt that having this ability in his hands wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

She just had a bit of an itch to do it.

Wait a minute, the way these weapons disappeared seems familiar...

"You still say that person wasn't you last time! Isn't this the exact same way you disappeared?"

After watching the black and white swords disappear from the opponent's hands as blue light spots, Lappland stood up and pointed at Shirou.

Last time she clashed with the gang, someone came to her aid with bows and arrows! She was originally planning to give chase, but the other side stopped her instead!

The way the arrows disappeared back then was exactly the same as the way the weapons in Shirou's hand just disappeared!

Originally, there was only a 90% chance that the other party was the culprit, but now there's a 100% chance!

The evidence is conclusive!

"..."

Shirou simply shifted his gaze silently; if Lappland hadn't brought it up, he would have truly forgotten about it.

He was really stupid to start testing in front of the other party like that.

Well, now they've caught them red-handed!

223 Amiya

Until the Bad Guy started up, Shirou was being watched by Lappland with a rather subtle gaze.

The other person seemed to have taken the phrase "seeing you makes my heart tremble" to its extreme.

Shirou deliberately sat down next to Texas, asking her to share the view.

"I'll make you a chocolate cake later."

Shirou promised to treat Texas to a special treat, like the chocolate cake from last time.

Normally, he only makes these kinds of desserts to control the diet of a few people, but now that he needs something from them, Shirou can only offer this as compensation.

"... I want two."

Looking at Shirou, he didn't know why Lappland was bothering him, or even why she had asked him to share the spotlight.

But the other party was very sincere, and Shirou rarely asked her for favors, so she agreed.

One serving was enough for her alone, but Texas remembered her teammates and asked for two more.

"OK."

Shirou, having found his savior, readily agreed.

However, it wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't contacted Texas, since after the Bad Guy took off, everyone's attention was almost entirely focused on the outside.

The people from Rhodes Island seemed to be quite used to this, and were currently sitting in their seats dealing with their own affairs.

For example, Ace and Scout were both cleaning their weapons, while Amiya and Rosemary were using terminals to arrange the work ahead.

Huang...she was fast asleep, and there was even drool at the corner of her mouth.

As for the side that was taking the ride for the first time, they kept squeezing in through the small window to look at the scenery outside.

"So that's what it looks like from above! It looks completely empty!"

Exusiai was speaking with almost her entire face pressed against the small window.

"And you don't have to worry about encountering infected creatures!"

On the other side, Croissant, like Exusiai, was pressed against the window. Unlike Exusiai was appreciating the view, Croissant was only concerned about whether they would encounter infected creatures and start a fight.

Who made her stand in the front row carrying the shield? It's exhausting after a match, you know.

"Don't get their windows dirty..."

Shirou was standing nearby, noticed that the two people's faces were pressed against the window and were somewhat distorted, so he gave them a slight reminder.

Unfortunately, since it was their first time riding in a flying vehicle, they were so excited that they couldn't listen to Shirou's advice.

But this is good, now Shirou has some time to rest properly.

At first, he was quite interested, but all the windows were occupied, and he didn't want to squeeze in with the others, so he consciously moved to a spot on the side to rest.

It's just taking a plane... I remember he and Kiritsugu often did it.

As a flying vehicle, the Bad Guy is naturally much faster than ordinary ground vehicles. What would normally take Texas about half a day by car, the Bad Guy can do in less than half the time.

Soon everyone saw Rhodes Island in the distance.

Even the Penguin Logistics team, who weren't particularly interested in this kind of thing, found the super-large land-based ship somewhat novel, let alone Shirou, who was quite interested in this type of thing.

He's currently squeezed into that small window with Exusiai, looking out at Rhodes Island in the distance.

Unlike the others, he could see many details.

This is the advantage of having good eyesight!

As for Croissant? Because the horns on her head would prick people, she could only squeeze onto Shirou's head.

It's nice to have a place to lean against, but the halo lighting effect next to it is a bit too strong and dazzling.

"..."

Kal'tsit, who had been keeping an eye on Shirou the whole way, was also reassessing the danger level of the other party.