Shirou Emiya Stands Upon Terra Chapter 31

Shirou didn't give the others a chance to breathe. He landed a side kick to another person's jaw, instantly sending them flying.

In a single exchange, Shirou shattered most of their weapons and incapacitated three of them.

He took a few steps back to regain his stance, preparing to attack again.

"Damn it, what kind of Originium Arts is that?"

The leader of the thugs stared at the iron pipe, which hadn't even lasted one blow, and couldn't help but curse.

This was too ridiculous. Whose blade could shatter an iron pipe like it was made of wood?

In just a few seconds, not only were all their weapons gone, but three of them were directly incapacitated.

What was the point of fighting this?

"Wait, we surrender."

The leader immediately dropped the half-broken iron pipe in his hand and raised his hands in surrender.

Seeing this, the others also threw down their weapons.

As seasoned street thugs, they could tell that Shirou was on a completely different level from their usual opponents.

Since they couldn't afford to offend him, they surrendered.

Seeing them all throw down their weapons and raise their hands in surrender, Shirou was a bit bewildered.

Weren't they just full of fighting spirit and seeking revenge a moment ago? Why did they surrender so suddenly?

Beside him, Swire's mouth twitched a few times. At the same time, she mentally elevated Shirou's strength to a very high level.

She hadn't even figured out where those two black and white dual swords came from, and could only attribute it to Originium Arts.

When encountering something difficult to understand, it was best to just attribute it to Originium Arts.

"Speak, why did you attack us?"

Shirou didn't put Gan Jiang Mo Ye away. Instead, he spun the two swords in his hands a few times before gripping them in reverse.

This was not only to prevent them from faking their surrender and counter-attacking later, but also to guard against the person watching them from a distance. That person had just arrived and appeared to be carrying a large shield.

"Because... because we wanted to avenge Big Brother."

The leader of the thugs saw how skillfully Shirou wielded the swords and naturally didn't dare to act rashly. He answered obediently, afraid that Shirou would stab him in the next second.

They were just thugs, after all. They bullied the weak and feared the strong.

"Big Brother?"

Shirou pondered for a moment. He hadn't had any conflicts with anyone since arriving here.

"You must mean that Infected person from the mall?"

Swire walked over, carrying the shopping bags Shirou had placed on the ground earlier.

Having overheard their conversation, Swire quickly recalled that criminal. After all, it was a case she had handled, so she understood a lot about it.

The people in front of them were likely the subordinates mentioned in the file.

"Ah... so it was him? Then the person over there who's been watching us is probably their accomplice?"

Understanding why they had attacked, Shirou pointed into the distance.

"Where?"

Following Shirou's direction, Swire saw a figure in the distance. When the person noticed them looking, they pointed to the phone in their hand.

"Let's begin, the best..."

Swire's phone rang, and she immediately answered it.

The ringtone was one she had been forced to use for a month after losing a bet with Long Chen.

It made her answer her phone as quickly as possible every time it rang that month, just to avoid being recognized and suffering social death on the spot.

42 Hoshiguma

"Missy, are you done over there?"

A voice that sounded incredibly reassuring came from Swire's phone.

"Hoshiguma? What are you doing here?"

Listening to the voice on the phone and seeing the green-haired woman with the large shield in the distance, Swire naturally recognized her old colleague.

"Jie just called and said you were in trouble, Missy, so I came. If you're done there, I'll head over. I just caught someone watching you with binoculars."

"You can come over now."

Swire glanced at Shirou beside her, and then at the thugs who had already put their hands on their heads and were crouching on the ground in surrender in front of Shirou, before speaking.

"Someone you know?"

Seeing Swire hang up the phone, Shirou, knowing it might be someone Swire knew, finally let down his guard.

"Yes, a colleague. Thank you for your help this time."

Gently rubbing her forehead, Swire thanked Shirou.

If it hadn't been for her, Shirou wouldn't have come here at all, and naturally wouldn't have encountered this attack. In fact, if it hadn't been for her, Shirou might not have even needed to escape; he might have been able to take care of these people by himself.

It was her mistake for being too eager to find clues and coming here without even bringing her weapon.

"No, after all, these people were chasing me, so it should be my problem."

Shirou took the blame. If it weren't for him, Swire wouldn't have encountered these troubles.

"...Stop arguing. Let's have them help the injured stop the bleeding first."

Seeing Shirou's reaction, Swire had no intention of arguing with him. The most pressing matter now was to treat the injuries of those who had just been hurt.

Although they had held back, there was still a risk to life if the bleeding wasn't stopped in time.

"En... That's true."

After thinking about it, Shirou felt that what Swire said made sense. He stepped forward to help bandage the two people he had injured earlier.

The materials for bandaging were the opponents' shirts, tied around the injured areas to apply pressure and minimize blood loss.

"Are we taking all of them back? Missy."

Hoshiguma walked over, carrying someone with a large shield.

"En, they're related to the person caught at the mall a few days ago. Let's see if we can get some useful clues."

"You took such a risk for such a flimsy guess?"

Hoshiguma naturally knew Swire's guess about the entire case, but she didn't expect her to be so reckless, coming to find clues herself.

One had to know that the people in the slums were quite unwelcoming to members of the Knights of the Round Table. Swire's actions were undoubtedly like jumping into a fire pit.

"...It's true that I was impulsive. I can't refute that."

Facing Hoshiguma's accusation, Swire had nothing to say. Basically, the entire incident happened because she impulsively wanted to find clues.

No matter what, she could firmly take the blame.

She didn't carry a weapon, didn't report in, and the only person she brought, she hadn't even confirmed their strength before assuming they were reliable, only to almost fail.

If Shirou hadn't been so capable, she would have regretted it for the rest of her life.

Moreover, throughout this entire incident, she had basically been the one dragging them down.

That's why, when Shirou wanted to take responsibility for the problem, she didn't know what to say and chose to change the subject.

"Having drive is a good thing, but I at least hope you can guarantee your own safety. You're not as capable as Chen."

Seeing Swire's apologetic look, Hoshiguma didn't want to lecture her further. Although they were somewhat familiar with each other, if they were to really talk about it, Swire was technically her superior.

"En, I'll be more careful from now on."

Listening to Hoshiguma's words, Swire accepted her suggestion. She definitely wouldn't make similar mistakes in the future.

"Everything's handled over there..."

After finishing bandaging the two, Shirou stepped forward to report to Swire. Upon seeing Hoshiguma beside her, he froze.

First, she was tall, at least a head taller than Shirou.

Then there were the horns on her head.

Shirou remembered this clearly. Before coming here, he had often read about similar legends in books, and in the Terra continent, this race truly existed.

That was the Oni tribe from the East.

This was Shirou's first time seeing a real Oni. He had to admit, she had quite an imposing presence.

"Startled?"

Hoshiguma chuckled. This situation was nothing new. People were often intimidated by her height and her Oni identity.

However, compared to a certain seafood stall owner who had already been rumored to be the boss behind all the underground forces in Longmen, her situation was much better.

"Uh... a little."

Facing Hoshiguma's words, Shirou felt a bit awkward.

"Don't overthink it, I don't mind. Are you the one from Penguin Logistics that Swire mentioned? Your combat awareness was quite good just now."

Facing Shirou's awkwardness, Hoshiguma generously patted his back to ease his embarrassment.

She had an impression of Shirou's words. After all, she had heard quite a bit from Swire when they were having a late-night snack a few days ago.

En, how could a late-night snack not be accompanied by alcohol? She had listened to Swire complain that day about an excellent talent being from Penguin Logistics. She had to say, it really went well with the drinks.

"I suppose so?"

After being patted a few times by Hoshiguma, Shirou felt a pain in his back as if he had been hit by a car, feeling like his whole body was about to fall apart.

However, this simple gesture and the casual conversation did reduce Shirou's tension considerably.

"When did I tell you about that?"

Swire looked confused. She didn't recall telling anyone.

"Missy, you shouldn't drink so casually when you're out."

Hoshiguma teased Swire about her alcohol tolerance, making Swire realize that the culprit was those few cups of wine from the late-night snack a few days ago.

"Ugh... honestly, I need to cut back next time. I just called Swire and had her arrange for someone to follow the car."

Covering her slightly flushed face, Swire said to Hoshiguma. Every time she drank, Hoshiguma learned some new embarrassing story about her. She was grateful Hoshiguma wasn't the gossipy type.

"Understood. And this gentleman... what should I call you? You can call me Hoshiguma."

Hoshiguma, having received Swire's message, turned her head and asked Shirou. She had originally intended to ask if he wanted a ride, but then realized she didn't even know his name.

"Just call me Emiya."

"Emiya? Shirou? Is that a code name?"

As someone from Higashi, Hoshiguma understood Shirou's name.

"It's my real name. My full name is Shirou Emiya."

Shirou had told the Penguin Logistics members about it, and later, to avoid trouble, he decided to use Emiya as his public name.

Since many people used code names, using this name didn't seem particularly conspicuous.

"Oh? A fellow countryman? Want to grab a drink later?"

Hoshiguma was very curious about the person Swire had taken a liking to, and she hadn't expected him to be from the same region!

"No, thank you. I don't really drink."

Shirou declined Hoshiguma's invitation. He genuinely didn't drink, and he was also underage.

The minimum drinking age in Lungmen seemed to be eighteen. If she calculated it precisely, he still had two to three months before he was considered an adult.

"Is that so? What a shame. Well, do you want to catch a ride then?"

Hoshiguma had no intention of persuading him. After all, they weren't close, and it was mostly just social interaction. However, if Shirou actually dared to accept, she would be willing to have a few drinks with him.

43 You got caught too?