Chapter 77

It must be my imagination, right?

"Let's give it a try then."

Shirou didn't think too much about it; since everyone told him to try it on first, he did.

After all, it was everyone's good intention, and even knowing that there might be some pitfalls waiting for him, he would still step into them.

Shirou simply put the headphones on his head and adjusted them slightly.

"How?"

Sora, watching Shirou constantly adjust the position of his headphones, was a little worried that Shirou wouldn't be used to wearing them.

"Not bad."

After adjusting, Shirou shook his head while wearing headphones.

It feels a bit heavy and tight, but it's still within acceptable limits. Compared to the headphones Shirou has worn before, it's very comfortable.

This is to be expected, given that Lungmen's overall technology is more advanced, and these headphones seem to be targeting the high-end market, so their comfort level is naturally quite good.

"Want to try a lesson?"

Texas handed Shirou a device that she usually used to listen to music.

Although you can use a mobile phone, the sound quality isn't very good. Also, her devices are all empty albums. Since Shirou has just entered the world of headphones, I should quickly recruit someone to join him.

This way, I'll have one more person to talk to from now on.

"Whoa whoa!"

After receiving the Texas device, Shirou connected the headphones and heard sound. Overall, the experience was excellent, feeling like someone was singing right next to his ear.

At this moment, Shirou was immersed in the sea of music and did not notice that Exusiai was taking pictures with her silent phone.

Shirou listening intently to the music, coupled with the faint red glow emanating from the headphones after they were turned on, made for a very fitting scene.

Croissant!

"There's a sense of contrast."

Sora, standing to the side, looked at Shirou and thought for a moment before finding a suitable explanation.

It's all about the contrast!

The person who takes such good care of you every day suddenly has a pair of animal ears, and they just happen to be Lupo's ears, which are the very ears that have been poked by your good ball!

This double whammy is absolutely amazing!

Sora suddenly felt that Croissant wasn't so bad after all.

"Um."

Texas strongly agreed with Sora's words. The way Shirou was now wearing Lupo headphones and nodding along with the music was hard to reconcile with the Shirou of the past.

This feeling is quite novel.

If Shirou were to look up now, he would probably see the strange looks on the faces of the Penguin Logistics.

Unfortunately, he was currently focused on thoroughly testing the headphones and the music and didn't notice anything unusual about the other people.

After the first song ended, Shirou took off his headphones, since it was impossible to have a conversation while the music was still playing.

The main problem is that he won't stop playing.

"Huh? What's wrong with you guys?"

Seeing that everyone looked a little strange, Shirou asked.

The three of them immediately returned to normal when he took off his headphones, so Shirou only noticed that their movements were a little strange.

"It's nothing, it suits you quite well."

Croissant, who had finally stood up, gave a thumbs up and said...

Although it's a little different from what she initially envisioned, her teammates seem quite satisfied now.

I was just curious to see how Shirou would react to receiving these uniquely designed headphones, but they seem to be quite nice.

The main reason she bought these headphones was because the earpieces are detachable, allowing people with ears on their heads to use them as well.

Seeing that Shirou seemed to be doing well, she decided not to bring it up again.

I feel like bringing this up now might get me beaten up by the four of them.

"Hmm... is that so?"

Looking at the Lupo earphones still glowing in his hand, Shirou reluctantly believed Croissant's words.

Perhaps it would be more normal for someone like Lungmen to have a pair of animal ears on their head.

"Exusiai, send me some later."

Coming to her senses, Kong realized she hadn't taken any photos; she'd completely forgotten to take pictures during such a fun moment!

"Okay, no problem. Do you want Texas?"

Exusiai's side is naturally fine; the photos in the Penguin Logistics album are what she took to share with everyone, but most people just can't accept the photos in them.

After Exusiai mostly takes photos from her embarrassing past.

"Um."

Texas nodded; she herself had an album dedicated to photos with a twisted sense of humor.

It should be said that, apart from Shirou, everyone at Penguin Logistics keeps a collection of other people's quirky photos. On the one hand, they can use them when they need to prank someone, and on the other hand, as long as they have the photos, they can record these amusing things.

Finally, through a secret exchange between Texas, Sora, and Exusiai, the gift-giving ended happily for everyone.

Shirou received a nice gift, Croissant satisfied his wicked sense of humor, and the other three also received something.

It seems that Shirou, the person in question, felt something was amiss, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

After thinking for a long time, Shirou decided to give up. Since he couldn't figure it out anyway, he might as well pretend it didn't exist.

When it was almost time, all four members of Penguin Logistics went upstairs to sleep, and Shirou finally had some space to himself.

"After confirming the message, go and exercise."

Shirou took his phone and went back to his room. He had contacted Swire and Snow Pheasant today, and added Hoshiguma as a friend, so Shirou thought there would be a lot of messages today.

Well, for him, there's a lot of information about just three people.

I opened the messages, and the first one was from Snow Pheasant saying that she had received the bento box, that it was delicious, and that she was very grateful for it.

Shirou gave a brief reply, saying he would pick up the bento box when he had time later.

However, what he didn't say was that he would bring another bento to exchange for it, and he would bring the other person a bento every few days. Shirou didn't think there was any problem with that.

After all, Snow Pheasant is now considered half a teacher to him. If he has any questions about something in the book and can't find it, he can ask Snow Pheasant, and he can usually get a very good answer.

The second and third messages were from Swire and Hoshiguma, respectively.

Swire's message said that he was too busy today and couldn't properly entertain him, and hoped that Shirou would come again next time.

Overall, she has the air of a young lady from a wealthy family.

If Shirou hadn't seen Swire and Chin bleating back and forth today, he might have believed it. It just goes to show that the image of the Knights of the Round Table's three leaders has almost completely collapsed in Shirou.

Hoshiguma's message was even simpler: a "Hello" picture. After all, the two had just added each other as friends and hadn't started a conversation yet, so there wasn't much to talk about.

After briefly replying to their messages, Shirou put his phone away.

He still needs to practice Magecraft, and it's already very late. If he drags this out any longer, he won't get any sleep.

Magecraft training has become an integral part of Shirou's life; if he doesn't practice Magecraft before bed, he feels like something is missing.

After sitting down on the carpet, Shirou stretched out his hand and focused his attention on it.

Trace on─

Identify and create concepts.

Define the basic framework.

Replicating the material composition,

Imitation manufacturing techniques,

Empathy for growth experiences

Recreating the years

"Overcoming, completing numerous projects—"

As the chanting ended, a sword, as slender as the pseudo- Spiral Sword but with a slightly different appearance, appeared in Shirou's hand.

"The Blood-red Hound, once fired, will relentlessly pursue its target as long as the archer doesn't fall? What a terrifying Noble Phantasms..."

Looking at the slender, barbed Blood-red Hound in his hand, and considering its purpose, Shirou felt that this weapon was simply a bug.

That's what they say, but the time it takes to Projection and the amount of magic power it consumes are both enormous. Judging from the memories they've obtained, even Archer himself needs to inject a lot of magic power to fill it up for about forty seconds before he can use it.

Even with this premise, it cannot hide the fact that the Blood-red Hound is a very powerful Noble Phantasms, which is very useful for chasing or sniping single targets from a distance.

"So, after two or three shots, the magic might run out..."

After assessing the mana consumption, Shirou felt that the Blood-red Hound should only be used as a last resort, as it would consume too much of his own mana.

In addition to regular sniping, ordinary arrows are sufficient, and they are only suitable for use when chasing. Using the Blood-red Hound at the start is too mana-intensive.

It all comes down to magic! His magic is too scarce! He needs to think carefully about his tactics!

"Really."

After assessing the situation, Shirou decided to lower the priority of using the Blood-red Hound.

In most cases, ordinary arrows are sufficient; at most, a single shot from Imaginary Break will take it down. The demand for Blood-red Hound is relatively low.

After scattering the Blood-red Hound, Shirou then Projection his commonly used Noble Phantasms.

In the past few days, he has often Projection some Noble Phantasms with known uses and recorded the occasions in which they would be used. Apart from the two divine weapons that might be captured if Projection, he has basically remembered them all.

The most commonly used items are probably Gan Jiang Mo Ye, bows, arrows, pseudo- Spiral Swords, and the Seven Circles of the Burning Sky. These are all relatively versatile.

"Hmm... I don't want to think about these things anymore."

After Projection to a certain point, Shirou removed all the Projection images and lay down directly on the mat.

After exercising, Shirou should have gone to bed, but the thought of the headphones he received today kept him awake.

"These past few days have been weighing on my mind..."

Shirou stared at the ceiling and muttered to himself.

He never expected that his little troubles would attract so much attention from everyone at Penguin Logistics, who even sent him a gift.

If you call it a worry... it's really just that he's thinking about whether he can help the children in the Slums, and help those helpless infected children like Ansuo.

But he himself didn't have any good solutions, and even if he offered to help, he didn't know where to start.

However, after today, Shirou had an idea.

The only prerequisite is that he has to be rich.

96. Clinging tightly to Shirou's leg, begging for food.

Morning, Penguin Logistics dormitory.

Today is payday, and early this morning, Shirou saw everyone at Penguin Logistics, who were unusually up early, gathered around the table with their phones.

It looked exactly like a group of internet-addicted kids gathered together.

"Shirou, you're here? Let's count our salaries together."

Croissant greeted Shirou as he came out of the kitchen.

"Salary? Is it paid today?"

Shirou thought it would be a little later, after all, he should have seen several people lamenting with empty wallets by the end of the month.

He remembered that Sister Fujie was like that; sometimes Sister Fujie would even take him to find some part-time jobs in Japan.

I didn't expect it to be posted so early!

"Yes, if there aren't any major tasks, we'll get paid around this time. The amount depends on how many orders we take this month!"