Chapter 248

To change his mood, Shirou took the chocolate that Lappland had insisted on giving him on the Bad Guy and asked Rosemary about it.

Of course, Amiya wasn't neglected either.

Anyway, he doesn't really like eating this kind of food, and he'll just hand it over to Texas anyway, so he might as well leave it to the two younger-looking people here.

"Thanks."

Gently putting away the terminal and taking the chocolate from Shirou's hand, Rosemary nodded obediently.

"Hmm... one piece should be fine."

On the other side, Amiya watched as Chocolate struggled for a long time, but in the end, reason was defeated by Chocolate.

The main reason was that the Rosemary looked so delicious that it made her drool.

"This seems to be a very popular brand in Lungmen. If you like it, I'll bring more next time I come."

Seeing that the two seemed to like it, Shirou simply divided the chocolate equally between them.

Amiya only kept some, and gave most of the rest to Rosemary.

"Um... I can't eat too much, I have to control my diet."

Seemingly noticing Shirou's somewhat puzzled look, Amiya offered a brief explanation.

"I see... Then I'll bring the less sweet ones next time? Both are quite popular in Lungmen, and Texas love them too, especially the chocolate cakes made with chocolate."

As he spoke, Shirou could vaguely see the little rabbit seem to slurp up some saliva.

It feels a little guilty to bring this up in front of someone who's controlling their diet...

Realizing that he might have done something wrong, Shirou felt a slight pang of guilt.

"No, no need. You should be more careful about your dessert intake. But Shirou, weren't you planning to cook at Rhodes Island? I've already booked the kitchen for you. We'll have some space available tomorrow afternoon. Is there anything you need in terms of ingredients?"

In the end Amiya used her rationality to overcome Shirou's rather tempting suggestion. Eating a little would be fine, but if she ate too much, she would definitely be discovered.

Moreover, she herself is quite disciplined in this regard, and it's only natural for a leader to set an example, right?

Since she's been so restrained, it wouldn't be a problem for her to use the kitchen as the leader of Rhodes Island, right?

"... What would you like to eat?"

Upon hearing the first half, Shirou inwardly marveled at Amiya's remarkable self-control, but upon hearing the latter part, he realized that Amiya had unknowingly arranged for him to cook.

He had only mentioned it casually, but he didn't expect the other party to take it so seriously and even arrange it in such a short time.

It seems Huang's bottles of wine are really going to be gone!

Thinking of Huang's arrogant appearance just now, Shirou began to think about dishes that required the use of alcohol. However, he only thought about it, since not all alcohol can be used in dishes. Forcing it into dishes would only waste the ingredients and alcohol.

Amiya, at least, wasn't aware of the situation, which is why she kept it a secret.

"There are plenty of ingredients on Rhodes Island, so it depends on what the chef wants to make! But if possible, it would be better if it looked healthier, so I can give instructions more easily."

After thinking it over, Amiya handed this important responsibility back to Shirou.

After all, she didn't know what dishes Shirou could cook, so it was best to give him the choice.

"I see... Then let's make Earth Fowlbeast Soup? I remember having it in Lungmen. It was made by stewing some medicinal herbs from Yan with Earth Fowlbeast pieces. It seemed to be very nourishing."

After listening to Amiya's needs, Shirou's first thought was still the Fowlbeast Soup.

In Lungmen, the Fowlbeast Soup seems to have a nourishing effect. Many Lungmen people will have a bowl when they have a cold or are sick, and of course, they will also have a bowl when they have nothing to do.

And importantly, some cooking methods allow for the addition of a little alcohol during stewing, so to some extent it wouldn't be considered deceiving Amiya, right?

Thinking about this, Shirou couldn't help but want to complain about Huang. If Huang hadn't forgotten to take that bottle of wine, there would have been no need to think so much.

Huang, you are truly guilty of heinous crimes!

Leave of Absence Requested on February 18

As the title suggests

I feel like I didn't write this chapter well on February 18th, and I probably won't have enough time to finish it. I haven't taken any leave in February, so I might as well take a day off.

Terribly sorry!

And today, February 19th, this chapter will be updated! Please don't worry!

The main problem was that after writing over three thousand words for this chapter, I realized some plot points were too far ahead of schedule. Plus, my computer speakers were malfunctioning and there was no sound. It was a bit scary to be typing without any sound.

RNM My speaker, which I bought less than a few months ago, suddenly stopped working!

To add to that, the speakers were working fine after restarting, but the monitor colors started flickering again.

228 Familiar Voice

After Amiya confirmed that Rhodes Island had all the ingredients Shirou needed, Shirou's schedule for tomorrow afternoon was tentatively set.

At least it will take at least an afternoon to deal with Shirou's situation.

After all, it needs to be stewed most of the time.

Having lost the point of connection with chocolate, Shirou was at a loss for words.

The main issue is that there's a slight generation gap between the two sides.

It's inappropriate to treat the other person like an ordinary child. Both of them are Rhodes Island operators who have experienced many missions and have matured a lot in terms of thinking and logic.

But asking Shirou to treat the other person as an adult... that doesn't seem quite right either. For a moment, Shirou was having trouble finding the right balance.

Anyway, there's no rush, so Shirou took a short nap to rest.

Having just used a lot of magic in the testing ground, coupled with the many things that had happened before, he was still a little tired.

"..."

After a while, Rosemary noticed that Shirou was asleep with his head down.

After thinking for a moment, Rosemary put away the terminal, then leaned closer to Shirou, gently resting her head on his body and squinting her eyes.

"Huh? Seriously... Rosemary is so unguarded!"

After a while, after finishing her work, Amiya found that Rosemary had fallen asleep, nestled against Shirou's lap.

Thinking back, it seems that's how it was during dinner last night, although it was mainly because Huang's side was very noisy, which forced Rosemary to go to Shirou's side.

I glanced at the time; according to the normal procedure, it would take about ten more minutes for the physical examination to finish.

Rosemary seems to be sleeping quite well, perhaps she should...

"Well..."

Just as Amiya was thinking, Shirou suddenly frowned.

Upon seeing Shirou's appearance, Amiya immediately used Originium Arts and discovered that Shirou's emotions were fluctuating quite a bit.

"Shirou? Are you alright?"

Seeing that Shirou was having a nightmare, Amiya gently nudged him to try and wake him up.

With Amiya's gentle nudge, Shirou's complexion quickly improved, and he opened his eyes.

Because the other person was looking down, the first thing they saw was the white creature lying on their lap.

"... Illya?"

She called out softly, then saw a pair of cat ears on the white creature's head, and remembered its name.

It should be Rosemary.

"Are you alright? You didn't look too well, so I woke you up."

Seeing that Shirou still seemed a little confused, Amiya carefully used her Originium Arts to sense his current emotions.

Although it's a bit messy, it's still within the normal range.

"It's nothing, I just dreamt about some bad things."

Shirou gently rubbed his brow with his right hand and let out a soft sigh.

I just dreamt about that guy again.

Looks like I need to prepare myself for nightmares for the next while.

I wasn't sleeping well to begin with, and now a whole new nightmare has started. If this continues, I'll probably end up Isv Is.

He doesn't want to experience what sleep deprivation feels like again.

"I see... Is it because of that Magic Crystallization?"

Upon hearing Shirou's words, Amiya gently grasped her left coat, where the Magic Crystallization was currently located in her inner pocket.

The stone in her arms didn't react at all, just like usual.

"It has nothing to do with that. I already had this problem, so there's no need to worry about it too much."

Noticing Amiya's somewhat conflicted expression, Shirou cautiously waved his hand and said...

Of course, it was only his right hand; Rosemary was sleeping on his left side, and he moved around rather cautiously.

"Hmm... okay, be sure to tell me if you have any problems, so as not to delay your treatment."

Seeing Shirou's current state and noting his remarkably calm emotional state, Amiya finally believed him.

But if you already frequently have nightmares... that doesn't seem like a good thing, does it?

We need to report this to Dr. Kal'tsit soon; having frequent nightmares suggests that Shirou's mental state may not be very good.

"I will, don't worry."

Shirou replied after hearing Amiya's words.

As for whether or not I'll talk about it... we'll see. Some things can't be solved just by talking about them.

"Hmm... Shirou, you're clearly not planning to say anything, are you?"

Amiya, sensing that something was off about Shirou's emotions, pointed directly at Shirou and said...

She understood that everyone had their own secrets they didn't want others to know, but wasn't it a bit too much for Shirou to lie to her so blatantly?

"..."

Remembering that Amiya's Originium Arts seemed to be able to sense emotions, Shirou awkwardly turned his face away.

This Originium Arts is a bit too overpowered, isn't it?

Just as the situation became awkwardly tense, Amiya sighed helplessly and said:

"I know this request might be a little difficult for you, but it would be better if the doctor could understand your condition as much as possible, so that Rhodes Island can better arrange your treatment."

Accusing someone will not earn their trust.

To win someone's trust, she must appeal to their emotions and reason with them, using gentle language.

"I will try my best."

Faced with this gentle approach, Shirou couldn't directly refuse, so he could only respond in a slightly more tactful way.

"Alright, let's leave this topic here! Also, Shirou, who is this Illya you just mentioned? Is she someone you know?"

Amiya didn't dwell on this kind of topic, knowing that continuing the conversation would only make the situation more awkward.

Why not change the topic? For example, we could use the unfamiliar name that Shirou called out after waking up as a topic.

For some reason, Amiya felt like she had seen or heard this name somewhere before.

I don't remember much about it.

Out of curiosity, Amiya asked Shirou.

"Illya? How should I put it... is she my older sister?"

When Amiya changed the subject, Shirou immediately took over and answered.

It wasn't just the other person who didn't want the situation to be awkward; he felt the same way.

Especially when someone like Amiya is doing it for his own good, he can't simply refuse.