Shirou felt no pity for Bread Man, reaching out directly to push the other's head away.
"I protest! Shirou is being too biased towards Sora!"
Exusiai pointed at Shirou, accusing him of favoritism.
On this outing, Shirou had been far too attentive to Sora! He gave her his jacket, his scarf, and spoke to her very gently. Exusiai felt indignant!
Exusiai was currently acting like a neglected child throwing a tantrum.
"Exusiai, why don't you think about your usual behavior?"
Shirou said, chopping Exusiai on the head with his hand.
Normally, Croissant and Exusiai were a veritable Chaos Duo, or you could call them the Trouble Duo. Some of the trouble Shirou got into was caused by these two.
They usually wore revealing clothes and loved playing pranks and causing mischief. If it weren't for Texas and Sora stopping them, Shirou figured he'd be cleaning up their messes every day.
Not to mention, Texas and Sora didn't cause trouble. Instead, they helped Shirou, so it was natural for him to treat them better.
Texas's special Pocky was already in the research phase.
As for Sora, Shirou noticed she seemed concerned about calories, so he was researching low-calorie desserts.
Bread Man and Fluorescent Lamp?
Shirou would be thankful if those two didn't cause him any trouble.
"Texas!"
The hand-chopped Exusiai turned her head, looking to her friend for help.
All she got was Texas looking away.
"Texas, ahhhh!"
Seeing her plea for help go unanswered, Exusiai let out a wail.
"I'll give it back when we get back. This must be important to you, Shirou, right? It would be bad if it got dirty or lost."
After Shirou shooed Exusiai and Croissant away, Sora stepped forward and tugged at the hem of Shirou's jacket, saying softly.
After putting on the scarf, Sora felt much warmer. But thinking that it seemed to be something very important to Shirou, she didn't dare to hold onto it, worrying she might accidentally dirty or lose it.
"You can just return it to me when we get back to Longmen."
Seeing Sora's expression improve, Shirou guessed the Holy Shroud had helped a bit with the cold. So, he let Sora keep wearing it and even tucked the part of the Holy Shroud that was hanging out back into her jacket.
As for Sora's worry about losing or dirtying it, Shirou didn't care at all. He trusted that Sora would take good care of it.
"Mhm… I'll return it to you when we get back."
Sora's face had a slight flush, but Shirou didn't pay it much mind, attributing it to normal phenomena from Sora's body temperature returning to normal.
However, the three people beside them didn't think so.
Shirou took the pot of soup from Croissant's hands. After all, Faust and Mephisto only recognized him, and the Penguin Logistics members had already worked diligently when distributing soup to the villagers. Now, they were only responsible for supervising Shirou's contact with the Reunion Movement.
When Sora returned to the other three, she saw Exusiai and Croissant wearing ??? expressions.
"Oh my, I never expected to see Sora make that kind of expression."
Exusiai patted Sora's back with a ??? expression.
"Exactly, exactly! Sora, you look so cute right now!"
Croissant wished she had brought her phone or camera. Otherwise, a picture of Sora's flushed face would fetch a good price.
Even if she did take a picture, Croissant wouldn't sell it. At most, she'd keep it as a prop to tease Sora later.
"Go for it."
Texas said, biting on a Pocky.
"No! You guys listen to me, let me explain!"
Seeing the three of them, Sora quickly waved her hands, trying to explain something.
"I get it, I get it. No need to say more."
Seeing Sora trying to explain, Croissant's face showed a proud aunt smile.
Ah, seeing Sora wearing a thick jacket and a scarf lent to her by someone else, with a flushed face and earnestly trying to explain something, Croissant felt like she had hit the jackpot.
"Yeah, Sora dear, fly high! We're your strongest support!"
Exusiai on the side had the same thought. The sugar she hadn't gotten all day was now replenished.
As for Texas, she didn't have much of a thought. Just watching the others interact like this made her feel very content.
"Hey! If you guys don't hurry up, I'm going ahead without you!"
Shirou, who was in front, turned his head and saw the group who had insisted on following him still standing there, so he shouted loudly.
"Ah! We can't do that, we're coming right now!"
Exusiai and Croissant each grabbed one of Sora's hands and ran towards Shirou. Texas took out another Pocky, popped it in her mouth, and followed.
Bounty issued!
Some people say that not everyone will subscribe to chapters, so I'll open another chapter to explain the bounty.
So, I'm specifically opening this chapter. JPG
The bounty is here!
Monthly votes 300+1
Reward 10000+1
Golden Treasure Chest +16
Silver Treasure Chest +5
Blade 150+1
Recommendation votes 25,000+1
Starting from the release! Settlement until Friday 23:59!
Recommendation votes count too!
You can use what you have to buy the author's life. JPG
Also, my brother will probably come home to sleep in my room and use the air conditioning this weekend, so I'll release 4000+ ahead of time these few days and squeeze out three days' worth of saved manuscripts from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so I don't have to worry about not being able to write. I plan to slowly repay the bounty starting next week.
If my brother comes back on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, I won't be idle either. I'll properly research and arrange the plot. JPG
Please forgive me, dear readers!
(?o?o)??
71 Alina
After arriving at the Reunion Movement's encampment, Shirou took a moment to observe his surroundings.
Many people were busy coming and going. Shirou could see Originium crystals on some of the faces and hands he glimpsed. Despite becoming Infected, most of them still had smiles on their faces.
Then there were the armed personnel. They wore slightly thicker gear, but it was evident that the equipment had seen a lot of use. In Shirou's opinion, much of it had lost its protective function.
"Are you... messengers staying at Dalia's house? Is there something you need?"
Someone nearby noticed Shirou and his companions and approached them, asking.
He recognized the villagers and his own people. Furthermore, the clothes Shirou and the four members of Penguin Logistics were wearing clearly indicated they were from out of town.
He remembered Alina mentioning that messengers had arrived at the village that morning and that they should prepare more meat to entertain them.
He hadn't expected them to show up now?
He glanced at the leftover broth in the pot. Although it had cooled due to the weather, he could still smell the aroma, which made him involuntarily swallow.
"I'm here to see Faust and Mephisto."
Shirou lifted the large soup pot he was carrying, indicating his purpose.
"Oh, you're looking for them? I'll go call them out for you."
The person didn't suspect Shirou, as he was someone Alina knew. However, he still asked Shirou to wait in place while he went to fetch the two.
Although there wasn't anything particularly valuable in the camp, outsiders weren't allowed to enter freely. Rules couldn't be broken.
"Then I'll trouble you."
Shirou waited with the pot for the person to bring the two out.
The Penguin Logistics members behind him stood in a line behind Shirou.
Glancing back, Shirou felt they were being a bit overly dramatic. Was it necessary to make such a fuss?
He wasn't going to run away, so what were they worried about? Were they afraid he'd be kidnapped?
"I'm telling you, don't be like this. It'll be bad if you scare someone."
After thinking about it, Shirou felt it was necessary to remind them, at least so they wouldn't scare the children.
The four people behind him exchanged glances and then took a step back.
"Is this better?"
Exusiai said.
"...Fine."
Seeing their determined expressions, Shirou couldn't say anything more.
After all, even Texas and Sora were participating, so he couldn't do anything about them in this situation.
Since they were just watching from behind, it shouldn't be a big problem.
With that thought, Shirou let them be.
As long as nothing like what happened that morning occurred.
Soon, Shirou saw Faust approaching with Mephisto, who was holding a cane.
"What's the matter?"
Faust asked Shirou, who was standing in front of him holding the soup pot.
"I turned the meat I prepared for Mrs. Dalia this morning into soup. There was some left after I gave it to the villagers, so I brought it for you two. Remember to heat it up first."
Shirou handed the soup in his hands to Faust. Faust took it, looking a bit awkward, as he was still quite short.
"Is that all?"
Faust, holding the soup pot, narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Shirou.
"That's all. Say hello to Alina for me."
Shirou then handed the remaining candies over to Mephisto, who was standing nearby.
"Hmm... you can ask her yourself."
After Faust said that, Shirou was taken aback for a moment before seeing Alina walking towards them.
"I didn't expect to see you again so soon, Shirou. Have you considered what I asked you this morning?"
Alina said with a light laugh. Unlike her invitation this morning, this time it was more of a tease.
After all, the four people standing behind Shirou were not to be trifled with.
Hearing Alina's words, the four indeed prepared to escort Shirou away.
"Wait, wait, wait! She's just joking, right?"
Shirou quickly turned to stop them, and at the same time, turned his head to plead for help from Alina, the instigator and amusement-seeker.
"Hmm... fifty-fifty, perhaps?"
Alina replied after lightly tapping her cheek with her right index finger as if in thought.
"Ugh... Shirou, hurry up and finish what you have to say, and then we're leaving!"
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