Seeing Shirou shift his attention to Exusiai, Croissant at the side gnawed on a chicken wing and spoke.
"I think you just narrowly escaped disaster, Croissant."
Watching Croissant treat Exusiai and Shirou as dinner-table entertainment, Sora could pretty much foresee Shirou's future way of cooking this bread man.
The only ones in Penguin Logistics who would butt heads with Shirou were Exusiai and Croissant. As for Texas, she probably didn't know what to do, and Sora herself simply couldn't be like Exusiai and the others.
To be honest, she was a bit envious of this kind of interaction. She could interact like that when facing other members of Penguin Logistics, but she just couldn't do it when facing Shirou.
Could it be because Shirou usually interacted with them in the capacity of a caregiver, or perhaps because the other party was male that she found it awkward to get along?
"By the way, Shirou, that ability Isv mentioned... what is it?"
Texas at the side recalled the evaluation she had just seen and asked.
Aside from curiosity, she also needed to know what capabilities their team's new combat strength would possess going forward.
She knew Shirou could use those patterns to make objects hard, but she didn't understand why this ability could be used for both close combat and ranged attacks. Shouldn't it be a defensive path like Croissant's?
"That thing? Oh right, I suppose I need to explain it to you guys."
Shirou let go of the hand resting on Exusiai's head, then distanced himself a little from the group.
"Trace on."
It was the same phrase as last time, but the difference was that this time Shirou didn't have a tissue in his hand; he was empty-handed.
As the words fell, Gan Jiang Mo Ye appeared in Shirou's hands.
"Praise Laterano."
"A refined Longmen curse."
"Graceful Siracusan."
"???"
Exusiai and Croissant burst out cursing in an instant.
Texas bristled slightly.
Sora... Sora wore a blank look.
"Why are you guys overreacting?"
Shirou was also startled by the group's reactions.
The other party hadn't reacted nearly this much when he used it in front of Isv back then, had she?
"Cough cough... mainly just startled. This contrast is a bit too intense."
Exusiai, having recovered, rubbed the spot where she had just been sanctioned by Shirou's fist, feeling that life had become all sorts of colorful ever since they picked up Shirou.
"Agreed."
Texas smoothed down her bristled tail, her gaze fixed on the twin blades in Shirou's hands.
The instant she saw those two blades, she sensed an aura of danger. If the other party weren't Shirou, Texas might have already drawn her lightsaber and prepared for combat.
"This is the first time I agree with Sister Exu so much."
Croissant patted her chest and said.
"Isn't the problem where the blades came from?"
Sora had just been startled by the others, but as for Shirou pulling off a magic trick with twin blades out of nowhere, she found it quite amusing.
The group stepped forward to look closely at the blades in Shirou's hands, studying them carefully and even reaching out to touch them.
Shirou felt like this scene had just been played out over at Isv's place.
"Can I hold them and take a look?"
Texas touched the black blade and asked.
"Sure, but be a little careful when you hold them."
Shirou handed the blade to Texas. Because they were Noble Phantasms, Shirou specifically reminded Texas to use them with care.
It probably wouldn't go as far as her hurting herself, but Shirou was more worried that Texas might carelessly destroy the furniture in the room...
If Texas was interested, there were still some hollow outer shells he had stored away previously in his room. Although they couldn't be used as weapons, they were plenty sufficient as ornamental objects.
"Oh..."
Texas took the blade and swung it a few times. The feel was great, but she didn't know how to use this kind of blade, so at most she was just swinging it around a bit.
And the blade was indeed as Shirou said, extremely sharp. Even though she only swung it a few times, she could still sense that this was an exceptionally good weapon.
"Oh my god, this is too magical."
Exusiai remained shocked by the scene just now. Shirou had suddenly pulled two blades out of virtually nothing, practically violating her past understanding.
Everything on that table in your room... are those the results of your ability, Shirou?
Thinking of Shirou's ability, Croissant's eyes lit up as she recalled the various blade tools on Shirou's table.
She had already seen the path to striking it rich!
"Just for practice, why?"
Shirou dismissed the remaining blades as well, answering Croissant.
"Croissant, you couldn't possibly..."
Looking at the glowing look in Croissant's eyes, Sora roughly guessed what the other party wanted to do.
"I've got a big business venture I'd like to talk to you about, Shirou. Let's do a seventy-thirty split, I take seventy and you—wait! Let go of the horns on my head! Don't pull them outward! It hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts!"
Before Croissant could finish speaking, Shirou directly reached out and grabbed the horns on her head. He honestly hadn't expected this bread man to scheme a business venture onto his projection magic.
"Even though they can be stored for a long time, they'll disappear as soon as they suffer damage, so they can't be sold!"
Shirou relaxed the force in his hand slightly, but continued to grip Croissant's horns as he spoke to her.
"Understood, understood! Let go quickly! My horns are about to snap!"
Croissant perfectly illustrated to Sora the meaning of the saying that retribution never arrives late; it only ever arrives fashionably late.
53 Adjusting Work
In the morning, Shirou packed up all the garbage generated by yesterday's party and set it aside, intending to take the trash out to dump together when he headed out later.
Yesterday, the group had simply gained a basic understanding of Gan Jiang Mo Ye without pursuing it relentlessly—completely unlike Isv's spirit of tracking every single detail to the end, where even the reason why Shirou's bow and arrow could turn corners had been meticulously recorded by Isv.
In contrast, the Penguin Logistics crew wasn't nearly as curious. Aside from being startled at first, they simply touched them, asked a few simple questions, and then scattered.
Still, that was for the best. If everyone questioned things to the bitter end like Isv, Shirou would find it rather troublesome instead.
It was very difficult to accurately describe functions and effects using only words. Isv had even wanted Shirou to perform a large-scale Imaginary Break on the spot right then and there. For the sake of his own little life, Shirou rejected Isv's request.
Jingle bell...
Shirou's phone rang once more. He felt that the frequency of his phone's usage had increased quite a bit lately.
Glancing at the phone number, it was Isv.
"Shirou here."
Putting down the work in his hands, Shirou answered the call.
"Is that Shirou? Your test results and evaluation have both been handed over to the boss for review. The boss is quite satisfied, and I've also come to terms with—cough, I mean the boss is very satisfied and intends to adjust your work model a bit."
Isv said over the phone, though Shirou seemed to have just heard Isv say he came to terms with it happily?
"Adjust the work model? Adjust it to what?"
Shirou pondered for a moment. He was originally a housekeeper with the added job of running long-distance hauls; what else could possibly be adjusted now?
To directly make him the same as the rest of Penguin Logistics?
"First is the logistics matter mentioned before. Future logistics will still be handled by me. You can choose to be like the others—taking flexible orders and running deliveries every day, occasionally taking on a single-person long-distance haul."
Isv detailed the message on behalf of the boss; these were all decisions made by the boss, and he was just a working stiff helping to pass along words.
"Mhm... if it's a choice, does that mean there's another option?"
Regarding Isv's suggestion, Shirou felt it might not quite suit him. After all, he was still trying to figure out how to absorb the knowledge and common sense of this vast land, and a mere month had only brought his store of common sense up to at least look like an ordinary person.
"The other option is to continue maintaining the current model—continuing to care for the other Penguin Logistics members every day, but when they have long-distance orders, you'll be arranged to accompany them. However, it won't be in the capacity of logistics personnel, but rather as armed personnel. Of course, the pay will also be calculated separately."
Isv seemed to have anticipated Shirou's reaction long ago, so he had already brought up related opinions when discussing it with the boss, saving him from having to pass messages back and forth again.
Facts proved that Isv's read on Shirou was correct; the other party was indeed somewhat hesitant about the first choice.
"Let's go with this one. Maintaining the status quo is fine."
Hearing this option, Shirou felt it was just like the current setup, which was quite good. The schedule was very flexible and ample, and he didn't require a large amount of wealth to begin with.
Moreover, it aligned roughly with what he had originally envisioned: having some free time usually to read books, while also being able to venture far from home to experience the outside world.
"Understood, I'll report this back to the boss. Your end will remain just like before, and the salary will be adjusted accordingly. Also, while you're in Lungmen, absolutely do not use your ability casually; it's easy to attract the attention of people harboring malicious intentions, especially that method of yours that can cause explosions."
Isv offered Shirou a slight reminder. He had questioned things in great detail yesterday, so he had a certain degree of understanding regarding Shirou's ability—more specifically, the black and white twin blades Shirou used during testing, Gan Jiang Mo Ye, along with that ability to detonate things.
The threat of an ability that could pull out powerful weapons at a moment's notice was something many people would fear.
Just like infected individuals, you never knew if the other party would suddenly erupt and use Originium Arts to attack you the next second.
If they were merely ordinary swords, that would be one thing, but Shirou could also use them as bombs and detonate them, and the destructive power was not small either. It was precisely because of this that Isv had recommended Shirou for a Caster position.
"Of course I won't use it if there's no trouble."
At Isv's reminder, Shirou recalled that he had indeed used it previously when dealing with petty thugs; naturally, that counted as an exception.
Now with Isv's warning, Shirou would pay even closer attention to the timing of using his magecraft while in Lungmen.
As for outside... outside meant being on missions. Encountering danger and using magecraft for self-defense was entirely reasonable.
"Then that couldn't be better. The other Penguin Logistics members will explain some of the matters regarding long-distance orders to you. However, as personal advice from me, I'd suggest asking Texas or Sora; as for Exusiai and Croissant..."
When it came to Exusiai and Croissant, Isv fell silent.
"Alright, I'll ask the others then."
Shirou could roughly guess why Isv had fallen silent, but Exusiai and Croissant were mostly just a bit high-spirited—they shouldn't mess around when it came to serious business.
They wouldn't mess around, right?
Recalling the usual antics of the two, Shirou himself felt a bit doubtful.
"We'll leave it at that for now then. The main purpose of this call was just to notify you of these matters; the boss thinks quite highly of you."
"Got it, please say hello to the boss for me."
"No problem at all. But I do have a personal question I'd like to ask, just not sure if it's convenient?"
Isv had originally intended to hang up directly, but suddenly thought of a question, so he spoke up.
"What question?"
Shirou had already witnessed Isv's thirst for knowledge yesterday, so he wasn't surprised by the other party's persistent questioning.
"If we assumed yesterday's testing environment was an advantageous environment for you, about how much time would it take you to clear out all the machinery?"
While selecting the clips to show the boss yesterday, Isv had noticed that Shirou seemed hard-pressed to stretch his limbs in that kind of setting, yet he still achieved quite good results.
Therefore, he was extremely curious about how fast Shirou could resolve it if he were in an advantageous environment.
"Let me think... under the most advantageous conditions, within a minute?"
Shirou considered the most perfect scenario: standing at a long distance and resolving the situation with a blast combining a Pseudo-Spiral Sword and Imaginary Break. That would take about thirty seconds or so, but just to be safe, Shirou still said one minute.
Though such a situation was truly rare, seeing as aside from specific circumstances, it was mostly difficult to handpick the battlefield.
"Within a minute...? I understand. Thank you for clearing up my doubt; I'll go report to the boss now."
Having obtained his answer, Isv hung up the phone with satisfaction.
"..."
Shirou felt that Isv seemed somewhat fanatical when it came to the pursuit of knowledge.
54 Cold Jelly
Before you continue