Shirou Emiya Stands Upon Terra: Chapter 33

"No, the identity I'm using in Lungmen was given to me by the boss. You're overthinking it."

To put them at ease, Shirou especially emphasized that he was only able to live in Lungmen because of Emperor, so naturally, he would not be leaving.

Besides, if he joined the Knights of the Round Table and they found out, he might just end up straight in prison.

They would not even need to arrest him—they could simply hand him over as a performance bonus.

"Mm, that's true."

After calming down, the girls considered what Shirou had said.

There really was nothing wrong with it. The main issue was that the Knights of the Round Table's thieving cat had provoked them.

Besides, from their usual interactions, Shirou had always seemed rather serious. If they had to put it into words, Shirou's usual style was probably closer to that of the Knights of the Round Table.

That was why they had erupted like that.

This was the Knights of the Round Table provoking Penguin Logistics!

They could not lose Mama Emiya! That would be taking away the root of their lives!

How wonderful were these days, where they did not need to think about what to eat every day and someone cooked for them! There were even snacks and late-night meals from time to time!

No matter what, they had to persuade Shirou to stay properly at Penguin Logistics.

"But how did you end up with Sir Swire and Hoshiguma?"

Having calmed down, Sora suddenly remembered that Shirou seemed to have entered with Swire and Hoshiguma.

"Oh, that. I happened to run into Swire while exercising this morning, and she asked me to take her there..."

Shirou briefly recounted what had happened that day, including the incident at Dagu Mall a few days earlier.

"...So you've run into that many things lately, Shirou?"

After hearing him out, Exusiai sighed.

If Shirou had not mentioned it, she really would not have known that he had run into trouble at the mall not long ago.

Incidents rarely happened at Dagu Mall. All she could say was that Shirou had happened to catch one.

"I remember you ran into a fire not long ago too, Shirou?"

Sora added another detail to Shirou's streak of bad luck. She still remembered that one of his coats had been completely burned away.

"Isn't that pretty normal?"

Since she had to deal with street fights every few days, Croissant did not think there was anything strange about it.

"Idiot, Shirou isn't like us. He doesn't go into dangerous areas or deliver dangerous things."

Watching Croissant act foolishly, Texas added helplessly.

Only after Texas explained it did Croissant understand. And this was not even counting the fact that Shirou had been picked up by them!

It had only been a month! For any other Lungmen resident, the things Shirou had gone through this month would probably only happen once every year or two.

"Shirou, do you want to go get some bad luck cleansed?"

Croissant asked Shirou with a completely serious expression.

"No."

Shirou chopped Croissant on the head with a hand strike.

Still, he really had run into a lot of things lately. Hopefully, things would be safe and smooth from now on.

Apple-Flavored Pizza

By the time they returned to the Penguin Logistics dormitory, it was already afternoon. The first thing Shirou did after getting back was put the items that needed refrigeration into the fridge. If he delayed any longer, they would spoil.

"Shirou, should we order takeout for lunch?"

Seeing Shirou busy at work, the Penguin Logistics girls felt too embarrassed to make him conjure lunch on the spot, so Exusiai suggested ordering takeout.

"Sure. Take a look at what you want to eat. I still need to sort this out and see what we're missing."

Shirou did not object to the suggestion. Takeout was something people ordered when they did not have enough time, and he was not so stubborn that he insisted on eating only food he cooked himself. Convenience came first.

He simply had a greater interest in cooking.

"Alright! First, let's get an Apple Pie!"

Seeing Shirou agree, Exusiai immediately took out her phone and ordered an Apple Pie before starting to search for their lunch.

"How about that place we talked about before?"

Croissant sprawled on the sofa and spoke in a lazy voice.

They had finished their deliveries early that day. Since the client had requested the goods at a rather unusual time, they had deliberately left earlier as well.

Praise the morning sandwich!

The person who invented a food that could be held and eaten at the same time was truly a genius.

"You mean that Siracusan restaurant?"

Sora remembered the Siracusan restaurant they had been thinking about for around a month. But after they picked up Shirou, they had forgotten all about it. She did not know whether the place was still packed with people; before, there had always been so many customers that everything sold out before they could try it.

"That place? I heard its reputation got pretty bad afterward. Apparently, they introduced a bunch of weirdly flavored pizzas and sparked public outrage."

As a former Siracusan, Texas had always kept an eye on related shops, witnessing one after another rise and fall.

"...How weird could they possibly be?"

Exusiai did not understand. What exactly would it take to provoke public outrage?

"Apple-flavored pizza."

Seeing Exusiai wearing an expression that said she could eat anything, Texas casually named one. Apple-flavored was not even that bad compared to the others, but it would definitely get a reaction out of this Apple Pie lover.

"...Blacklist it. No, I need to figure out a way to blow that place up."

Having heard of such a deranged creation, Exusiai was already considering demolishing the restaurant.

"Calm down, Exusiai, calm down! This isn't Laterano! Blowing things up will get you arrested!"

Seeing Exusiai make a criminal declaration, Croissant hurriedly tried to stop her.

"It sounds strange, sure, but it doesn't seem bad enough to warrant blowing it up, does it?"

Shirou, who was tidying up in the kitchen, naturally heard the conversation in the living room. He felt that Exusiai and Texas were overreacting a little. Creative cuisine was something he had seen plenty of during his time in Lungmen.

"You don't understand, Shirou."

Exusiai regretfully gave up on her plan to blow up the place. Aside from Texas, the victim, no one else here could understand how torturous it was to see a food they loved turned into something strange.

"At most, you just don't go there again. Blowing it up is still going too far."

Since the refrigerator had been emptied that morning and had only just been restocked with vegetables and fish, Shirou could only take out a pitcher of water and set it on the table.

He was mostly done with his work here. He would take another trip to the supermarket later, and then dinner would be manageable.

"Boo hoo, Shirou, I want to eat the apple pie you make! To mend my wounded heart!"

Feigning sadness, Exusiai once again demanded that Shirou make apple pie.

"Next time, definitely."

After fobbing Exusiai off, Shirou casually grabbed a book and sat down.

Since they had ordered takeout for lunch and were all lounging around here, there was naturally nothing much for him to do.

Everything that needed cleaning and organizing had been taken care of in the past few days. Today had originally been meant as a day to relax a little, so he would just stay here and keep everyone company.

However, although he held a book in his hands, Shirou's thoughts were immersed in his earlier fight with the thugs.

It was not as though there had been anything particularly memorable about it. After all, the other side had backed down almost immediately. Still, it had been the first battle he could remember fighting himself while wielding Gan Jiang Mo Ye.

When he held Gan Jiang Mo Ye, he knew how to use them. He could feel the vast majority of the battles they had gone through with Archer.

It felt different from training. In battle, he could see more, and farther.

When he projected something, he also projected the original owner's skill along with it. That was precisely why he had the strength to fight.

Without using Projection, if someone handed him two swords and told him to fight, he could do little more than swing them a few times. It was not like wielding Gan Jiang Mo Ye, where he could immediately judge how to attack and how to swing the blades in his hands, as though they were extensions of his arms.

Gan Jiang Mo Ye were Archer's favored weapons, and the ones he had used most often.

On top of that, he had witnessed the battles between his past self and Archer in those memories. It could be said that Gan Jiang Mo Ye were currently the weapons that felt most natural in his hands.

Both their precision and projection speed were the best.

"Shirou? Shirou!"

A hand waved back and forth in front of Shirou's face, pulling his thoughts back to the present.

"What is it?"

Coming back to himself, Shirou looked at Sora, who was holding the takeout.

"The delivery's here. Eat while it's hot."

Sora set a portion of takeout in front of Shirou. She had noticed long ago that he had been lost in thought the whole time, since he had not turned a single page of that book.

"Okay, thanks for the trouble."

Shirou opened the takeout. It was a kind of food he often saw on the streets of Lungmen.

"It's one we used to order a lot. It's pretty tasty, especially the char siu."

Worried that Shirou might not have tried it before, Sora gave him a brief introduction.

Shirou nodded at Sora's introduction, then picked up his chopsticks.

"It really is good."

Just as Sora had said, it was indeed quite tasty.

"Right? So if you're tired, Shirou, it's fine to order takeout once in a while. You don't need to push yourself so hard."

Sora took her own portion and sat down across from Shirou as she spoke.

Sora had watched Shirou's thoughtful expression just now, and she was a little worried about him.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."

Shirou waved a hand to show that he was all right.

He knew his own condition; he was merely thinking about a few things.

"That's good, but don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

Seeing that he himself said he was fine, Sora found it hard to persuade him any further. At most, she could offer a reminder.

If things really got serious, there would be no need for persuasion—they could just have everyone at Penguin Logistics tie him up.

"Yeah, thanks for worrying about me."

Shirou felt a hint of warmth at Sora's concern.

If he knew Sora was thinking about tying him up and making him rest properly, he would probably want to run away immediately.

Comprehensive Physical Examination Test

Ring, ring... Ring, ring...

After dinner, Shirou's phone rang. When he checked it, he found it was an unfamiliar number.

"Hello."

Shirou walked over to the balcony and answered the call.

"Hello, this is Isv. The boss should have mentioned me to you."

A voice came through the phone, and Shirou paused to think about who Isv was.

"Isv... the one the boss said would contact me?"

After thinking for a moment, he seemed to recall that Isv was the person the boss had said would get in touch with him, apparently to teach him what he was supposed to do at Penguin Logistics.

"I'm glad you still remember me. Let me introduce myself again—you can call me Isv. At Penguin Logistics, I'm responsible for logistics, weapon maintenance, data collection, and information processing."

Isv rattled off a long list over the phone, leaving Shirou a little slow to react.