"Neither time looked much like an act, and his physique also seems extremely robust. He should still be harboring quite a few secrets."
"Then it really sounds interesting and harmless. They actually managed to pick up an interesting person."
Emperor placed his red wine on the table, tapping it gently as he thought about something.
"Speaking of which, didn't the Knights of the Round Table bring him in? Where did they take him afterward?"
Emperor suddenly remembered that the reason he was discussing Shirou with Isv was because he had received a phone call notification from the Knights of the Round Table, telling him to go and fetch Penguin Logistics' people back.
He had initially thought the quartet had caused trouble again, but he hadn't expected Shirou to be accidentally dragged into a strange incident.
"It seems they went to the shooting range."
A clatter of keyboard sounds came from Isv's end, followed by a reply.
"A shooting range? They ran off to play?"
"Yes, though it mostly seems to be Shirou using it."
"You hacked in just like that? But truly, how could they take someone who doesn't know the ropes to play there? How boring."
Emperor let out a sigh, seemingly feeling that his quartet had taken Shirou to the shooting range just to show off and bully someone who didn't know how to use bows and crossbows.
"No, boss, Shirou actually won against Exusiai in crossbow shooting."
Isv's casual remark made Emperor almost fall out of his chair.
"Won against Exusiai? Him?"
After regaining his balance, Emperor grabbed his phone and asked.
What answered him was a new video.
It was when Shirou and the others were shooting at fixed targets. Although it couldn't be seen on screen, Exusiai's desolate expression made it clear that she had indeed lost to Shirou at target shooting.
*Unnamable screaming penguin noises* Could this guy not have been a mercenary from somewhere before? I actually let talent like this be a househusband?
Recalling the previous few videos, Emperor felt that Shirou's physical abilities and use of the crossbow made being a househusband far too much of a waste.
Yet, thinking back, Shirou seemed quite satisfied with his current life, and the four members of Penguin Logistics seemed to have already been spoiled rotten. Making Shirou change jobs now would very likely draw a chorus of panicked screams from the four of them.
"Sigh, whatever. For now, let's stick to the original plan. Just let the kid slowly get used to the other work at Penguin Logistics, and we'll talk about later things later."
Emperor thought about it and realized that kicking back and letting things happen was actually quite pleasant. He decided to forget about Shirou's combat capability and just let him continue acting as a househusband.
In Emperor's original plan, Shirou was supposed to slowly take over a portion of Isv's logistical work so that Isv could focus on other tasks. However, the value Shirou displayed made Emperor intend to change the plan; he planned to assign Shirou to the quartet's squad.
That way, Shirou's abilities could be squeezed for all they were worth—killing many birds with one stone!
32 Jacket
Several days had already passed since Shirou entered the station, and everyday life continued as before.
That afternoon, Shirou received a call from Emperor.
"Mm... so the boss means I have to take action with everyone at Penguin Logistics? Isn't that a bit bad?"
Holding his phone, Shirou engaged in friendly communication with his boss.
He actually had no complaints about extra work, but having to act long-term with the Penguin Logistics quartet was rather awkward.
No matter how he looked at it, he was a seventeen-year-old (twenty-year-old on paper) young male, working and even staying long-term with a group of girls... Especially since the work at Penguin Logistics basically involved cramming into vehicles, Shirou felt it was somewhat inappropriate.
"Aren't they practically nesting at your place whenever they have free time now? Aren't you used to it yet?"
Emperor couldn't imagine Shirou's predicament at all; he simply felt Shirou was making a fuss over nothing.
Still, one couldn't quite blame Emperor for not being on the same wavelength as Shirou. As a worldly person, Emperor naturally felt such minor trifles didn't matter.
Taking a step back, he was the boss—what did it matter to him if an employee felt it was inappropriate?
However, he wasn't the kind of trashy boss who ignored his employees' wishes either. Since Shirou couldn't cross that mental hurdle, he wouldn't force the guy; he would just have him start with simple logistical work.
"Then let's start with some simple tasks first to get familiar with things, and we'll discuss the rest later."
"Alright."
Shirou thought it over and didn't refuse. At least they weren't making him start working immediately, and there was plenty of time.
As for Emperor, he had a set of plans of his own, though Shirou was unaware of them.
"You received the card and the jacket, right? Isv will contact you later. Do a good job, kid!"
With that, Emperor hung up the phone.
"..."
Shirou stared at his phone for a long time before putting it down and letting out a long sigh.
"Looks like I'll just have to get used to it."
A working stiff naturally understood his own situation, and he couldn't just throw up his hands and quit.
Being entrusted with heavy responsibilities must be the boss's trust in his employee, right?
With a self-hypnotic mindset, Shirou put down the task at hand.
As for the card and jacket Emperor mentioned, they had already arrived a few days ago. The card was the one Emperor had promised when he applied for funds, and the jacket fit him very well.
"How did they know my size?"
Shirou inwardly muttered. The appearance of the jacket was similar to his previous one, predominantly black and white—a color scheme that seemed to be a favorite of Penguin Logistics.
The cut of his jacket was closer to those of Exusiai and Texas, while Croissant's and Sora's were slightly more special, but the overall color scheme remained black and white.
Did this count as him blending into Penguin Logistics just a little bit?
Thinking this, Shirou laid the jacket aside without any intention of wearing it straight out the door. After all, new clothes had to be washed once before wearing them.
Even jackets were no exception.
Shirou stretched his body slightly. He had spent the whole afternoon sitting in the living room reading books, and checking the time, the others would be back soon.
As for dinner, there was no need to rack his brain over what to eat. Croissant had mentioned wanting to eat fried rice before going out, which had received everyone's unanimous agreement. Therefore, Shirou had spent the entire morning researching how to make fried rice, and in the evening he would simply follow what he had made at noon.
The ingredients used were quite simple, mainly eggs, refrigerated cooked rice, chopped green onions, and seasonings like salt, soy sauce, and pepper to whip up a plate of egg fried rice.
However, Shirou had added yesterday's leftover cabbage and some beast meat. This part was quite flexible, with no rigid rules on what had to be added.
The cabbage and beast meat had already been shredded and stored in the refrigerator at noon. Considering the large number of people, Shirou made portions for three at a time; any more and the pan wouldn't be big enough, as it was just a household pan rather than a commercial-sized wok.
"I remember not beating the eggs fully makes for a better texture."
Recalling the steps, Shirou first cracked all the eggs into a bowl, then added oil to heat the wok and poured all the eggs in at once.
Once the egg whites at the bottom had slightly set and solidified, he could break up the egg yolks on top. As long as they were cooked to a medium-rare state, he could remove them first and set them aside in a bowl.
Since the beast meat was raw, it had to be stir-fried first. After stir-frying it until slightly cooked, he added the shredded cabbage. If the meat had been cooked in advance, he could have continued stir-frying right after the eggs without needing to scoop the eggs out.
After stir-frying until fragrant, he sprinkled a little salt, poured in the rice that had been chilled since morning, and added the eggs at the same time. While stir-frying, he lightly pressed down to scatter the rice grains and eggs.
Once the rice grains were all separated, he turned the heat to maximum and stir-fried to dry out the moisture. Afterward, he turned it to medium-low heat, added pepper to mix evenly, added soy sauce for color and seasoning, and finally sprinkled chopped green onions to toss it together.
A simple plate of fried rice was finished.
The methods for fried rice varied, and Shirou had spent quite a bit of time researching before integrating this particular routine.
It smelled fragrant and tasted good, though the frequent flipping of the wok tested his technique a bit. He had spilled quite a bit of rice outside at noon, which made cleaning up a bit troublesome, but thankfully Shirou quickly got the hang of it, and this time no ingredients escaped the wok.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Shirou, are you really making fried rice? It looks great! You said you didn't know how this morning!"
Exusiai could smell the fragrance of fried rice from outside the dormitory, and the moment Texas parked the car, she bolted straight over.
"Exusiai, you're too impatient. Dinner isn't going to run away."
Croissant followed right behind, though her slightly panting state already betrayed her inner feelings.
"Wash your hands first before coming over to take it out. This batch just came out of the wok."
Shirou swatted away Exusiai's reaching, grubby hand as he spoke, while starting to stir-fry the second batch.
"Is there anything that needs help?"
While the two of them squeezed by the sink to wash their hands, Texas and Sora returned as well. Sora poked her head into the kitchen and asked.
Sora occasionally helped Shirou handle some minor tasks, like fetching plates or washing vegetables. In return, Shirou occasionally cooked special meals for Sora. Although most of them ended up being shared away, Sora never looked unhappy; instead, she would giggle and share with everyone.
"Help me drag those two troublemakers outside."
Shirou motioned with his head toward the two battling each other nearby.
"You two, the kitchen isn't a place for playing, you know?"
Sora said gently.
It was gentle enough to send a chill down Exusiai's and Croissant's spines. They immediately stopped fighting and obediently carried the plate of already-cooked fried rice outside.
"So scary. What on earth is going on with Sora lately?"
Exusiai, having left the kitchen with lingering fear, felt that Sora had been acting increasingly strange lately.
"I feel like Sora is getting more and more dark-bellied, just like Shirou."
Croissant calmly deduced that Sora's change might be related to Shirou, and then a hand grabbed her shoulder.
"What are you saying, Croissant? Can I join in?"
Sora's hand on Croissant's shoulder tightened gradually.
33 The Ravaged Shirou
"What is this?"
Carrying another plate of fried rice out of the kitchen, Shirou saw two lumps of white mochi vomiting fluff from their mouths on the sofa—the fluorescent lamp and the croissant.
"They deserved it. Pay no mind."
Texas and Sora were sharing the fried rice on the table. Regarding the fate of Exusiai and Croissant, they could only say that they had brought it upon themselves.
Gossiping behind people's backs was not a good virtue, after all.
"Hurry up and get up to eat. It won't taste good if it gets cold."
After thinking about it, Shirou hoisted the two of them up and placed them on chairs, casually serving each of them a portion right in front of them.
Upon seeing the dinner before their eyes, both of them instantly revived with full health on the spot.
"Ooh! Shirou, didn't you say this morning that you didn't know how? Doesn't this taste pretty good?"
Croissant took a bite and gave the fried rice before her a score well above average.
"After all, I spent a lot of time researching and failed several times before making it. I'm just glad you like it."
Shirou humbly accepted Croissant's praise. Having the dishes he painstakingly researched affirmed by others was a joyous thing.
"So... about that apple pie..."
"Some other time. Besides, isn't this your specialty dish, Exusiai?"
Shirou brushed off Exusiai's craving for apple pie. He had a strong feeling that if he managed to make apple pie, this angel would make him bake apple pie every single day.
Therefore, he would stall as long as he could! Stall until Exusiai gave up hope or he gave up struggling.
"How can you do this?"
Exusiai revealed a depressed expression.
"Exusiai, think about it another way. If Shirou learns to make apple pie, you won't have any unique traits left."
Croissant patted Exusiai's shoulder to cheer her up.
"What are you saying! I still have plenty of unique traits, alright!"
Exusiai swatted away Croissant's hand resting on her shoulder and retorted.
"Oh? Let's hear them."
"I... I'm really good with firearms!"
Exusiai originally wanted to say her marksmanship was strong, but remembering the shooting range competition results from a few days ago, she immediately changed her tune to say she was very good at using guns.
"Isn't that a basic skill for a Sarkaz? Anything else?"
Before you continue