Morning, Lungmen Guard Department office.
After handing the printed materials to Shirou, Hoshiguma went back to handling her own tasks. She had already spent quite a bit of time bringing him in earlier, and a pile of unfinished work was still waiting for her.
She originally thought his time here would be rather dull.
After all, the Guard Department had been especially busy lately. Chen was handling a major case, and a lot had happened over the past few days. It could be said that the entire department was practically buried in work.
What she did not expect was that Chen seemed to be paying quite a bit of attention to Shirou.
Not only did she take time to explain important things to him, she even assigned him some simple tasks.
It was just basic document delivery.
It was pretty normal and most people started with errands like this. It was the fastest way to familiarize oneself with the locations of different departments within the Guard Department.
However, letting Shirou run around the entire building like this…
Thinking of that, Hoshiguma glanced at the messages on her computer.
As expected, Swire's chat window was lighting up nonstop.
"…Nothing. I did not see anything."
Seeing this, Hoshiguma did not hesitate at all. She closed the message window immediately and focused entirely on her work.
She was not getting involved in this. With Shirou in the middle, things would not escalate too badly between those two. If it really got out of hand, she would step in then.
"Damn it! Not even replying to my messages!"
In the office next door, Swire sat at her desk, frantically spamming messages to Chen and Hoshiguma, her face full of irritation.
Someone who knew Shirou had just told her that a person resembling him was running errands in the neighboring office. She had checked and sure enough, it was him.
Shirou was actually working for that blasted dragon!
She was the one who tried to recruit him first!
If she did not still have work to do, she would have stormed over to confront them directly.
But having work did not stop her from bombarding them with messages. It only took a few taps, after all.
"Deliver this to the logistics department, right?"
Back on Shirou's side, he was busy running errands with stacks of documents of all sizes.
After Chen took the lead, others in the office also handed over documents that needed to be delivered.
No reason not to make use of him. If they did not use him now, once he got assigned proper duties later, there would be no such chance.
Shirou accepted everything without complaint. Running errands was no big deal.
Chen, on the side, turned a blind eye to this behavior. After all, Shirou needed something to do and it was better than having him sit idle.
In a couple of days, once she assigned him proper work, if they were still doing this, she would deal with them properly.
For now, though, she needed Shirou to take a break.
"Shirou, take a rest for a bit. There is a simulated combat training session at ten. I will take you to watch."
Checking the time, Chen remembered that the field operations team had something scheduled today. She had originally declined due to work but thanks to Shirou, she had caught up on her tasks. Now she had to wait for other departments to finish their parts anyway.
It was perfect timing to bring him along to take a look.
This was definitely not abusing authority for personal reasons, nor was it about taking the opportunity to get back at him. It was simply to let him experience more of the Guard Department's work.
Besides, considering that Shirou could react to her sword draw, Chen doubted she would gain any advantage against him and she might even get countered instead.
Of course, that was without factoring in her use of Chi Xiao.
After all, Chi Xiao was only drawn against enemies.
"Simulated combat training? Understood."
Hearing that, Shirou recalled that he had once done something similar with Texas.
He had even somehow ended up helping Texas learn how to use dual blades.
Rather than teaching, it was more like helping correct some of her combat habits.
She had not formally learned before since Penguin Logistics lacked someone skilled in that area, and Shirou happened to be quite proficient, so she had asked him for guidance.
That aside, Shirou thought for a moment, if he could not use magecraft, his physical abilities here would probably only rank around the lower-middle tier.
There were simply too many physically powerful races on this land.
For example, Hoshiguma, an Oni, and Chen, a member of the Lung race, both had extremely strong physical capabilities.
As for how Shirou knew?
The Penguin Logistics crew had been talking about them nonstop lately and it included little bits of gossip about Chen, Swire, and Hoshiguma.
For instance, when Hoshiguma used to hang around the slums, she could knock out thugs with a single punch.
Or how Chen once split open a vault with a single strike.
And Swire? She apparently wielded a meteor hammer like it was nothing.
All of it sounded rather violent but it also showed just how strong they were.
Even Swire, who seemed the most "mascot-like," was swinging around a meteor hammer, a weapon that demanded serious physical strength.
Thinking about all this, Shirou continued delivering the documents to their respective destinations.
For more than an hour, his feet had not stopped moving.
And for some reason even though he was not sure if it was just his imagination, Shirou felt like there was a constant gaze fixed on him.
He was certain that this gaze was not coming from the people around him.
If he had to describe it… it felt like someone was monitoring him.
If this were outside, Shirou would have already tried to shake them off or track them down.
But this was the Lungmen Guard Department headquarters and out of trust in the organization he chose to ignore the source of that gaze.
At the very least, it disappeared whenever he entered the restroom. Otherwise, he would have definitely tried to find the person behind it.
After finishing this round of errands, Chen brought Shirou, Hoshiguma, and several more physically imposing officers to a very spacious room.
Some areas were covered with mats, while others were sectioned off. Along the sides were racks of wooden weapons and unsharpened standard-issue swords of the Lungmen Guard Department.
People were already sparring inside. Just like in the movies Shirou had seen, one person was instructing a group in unarmed combat drills.
"Shirou, which one are you interested in?"
Hoshiguma asked from the side.
Chen was currently assigning training tasks to her squad. Everyone had their own specialization so they usually trained separately.
Of course, some people, like Hoshiguma, also took on the role of sparring partners.
As a side note, Hoshiguma mostly sparred with Chen. After all, aside from her, there were very few in the Guard Department who could keep up with Chen in prolonged, high-intensity training.
"…Swords, I guess?"
From the moment he entered, Shirou had already noticed the sword training happening on the other side.
The reason was simple,.their movements were more uniform and from their patterns, it seemed like they were following the same style of swordsmanship.
It was probably instruction from within the Guard Department.
"Oh? Swords? I remember the first time I saw you, you were using a sword-related Originium Art too."
Hearing Shirou's answer, Hoshiguma recalled their first encounter.
Back then, Missy had dragged Shirou into the slums only to end up getting chased. Shirou had used his Originium Arts, wielding black-and-white dual blades, to resolve the situation.
Although the opponent surrendered quickly, Hoshiguma had still noticed that Shirou's skills were quite good.
At the very least, he had clearly trained for some time.
"That time…"
Of course Shirou remembered. It was essentially his first battle here.
Even if the opponent had been rather underwhelming, thinking back on it just made him feel a bit helpless.
"Hah. If it is swords, plenty of people under Chen have learned swordsmanship. You can try sparring with them."
Seeing the odd expression on Shirou's face, Hoshiguma skipped past the topic.
After all, that incident had been caused by Missy being overconfident, and Shirou had been dragged into it. It might not have been a pleasant memory.
"That will not be necessary. I will just watch today."
Shirou declined politely.
After all, it was his first day here. Jumping straight into sparring with others was not something he felt comfortable doing.
"That is fair enough."
Hoshiguma respected his choice and did not press further.
However, while Hoshiguma was easygoing, Chen was another matter.
"Shirou, want to spar a bit?"
Holding two unsharpened standard-issue swords, Chen asked.
Though it sounded like a question, she had already extended one of the swords toward him.
The implication was clear, if he did not take it, she would make the first move anyway.
"…Alright."
Feeling an inexplicable pressure, Shirou accepted the sword.
It had quite a bit of weight. It was probably designed this way so that Guard Department members could get used to their standard weapons during training.
At the very least, it felt better to swing than the practice swords used by Penguin Logistics.
Still, it did not feel as natural as Kanshou and Bakuya.
"Shirou, good luck."
Watching the two of them, Hoshiguma could not quite understand why Chen was paying so much attention to Shirou.
From the very beginning, Chen's attitude toward him had been rather unusual.
Normally, she would not bother much with newbies and as long as they did not interfere with work, she would leave them alone.
But with Shirou, she had not only arranged tasks for him, she had even personally explained things he should pay attention to.
Had she taken a liking to him?
At that thought, Hoshiguma narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked toward Chen.
"What is it?"
Chen, who was stretching her body, noticed Hoshiguma's gaze and looked up to ask.
"No, it is nothing. Just be careful."
Hoshiguma shook her head and did not say anything more. She had probably just been overthinking it. Maybe things were not as she imagined and perhaps Chen was only arranging all this because Shirou had been sent by Wei Yanwu.
She knew Chen was not that scheming but since this involved Wei Yanwu, anything Chen did was possible.
"When have I not been careful?"
Hearing Hoshiguma's words, Chen replied with a helpless expression.
They were partners and colleagues, yet Hoshiguma always seemed to worry about her in the strangest ways.
Still, this time she really did need to be cautious. Based on what Shirou had shown so far, Chen felt that if she encountered him outside, it would be difficult to defeat him on her own.
If nothing else, that absurdly long attack range alone would make her give up.
"Alright, I will be the referee. First to touch wins right?"
Hoshiguma did not argue further and simply took on the role of referee.
She was familiar with this position, though usually it was for breaking up fights between Chen and Swire.
That said, she was not familiar with Shirou's fighting style so she needed to pay closer attention this time to stop either side if necessary.
She had confidence in Chen's strength but she did not believe Chen was invincible. At the very least, since she understood Chen's swordsmanship well, she herself could suppress her.
"Yeah, just a light spar."
Shirou nodded and stepped into the sparring area.
To avoid interfering with others, the ground was divided into designated zones.
"Then I will leave it to you."
Seeing Shirou agree, Chen also stepped into the area and assumed her stance.
She held the sword with both hands, raising it level with her eyes, the tip pointed forward.
"Hm?"
Looking at her, Shirou felt a sense of familiarity.
He seemed to have seen a similar stance somewhere before.
But before he could think further, Hoshiguma spoke:
"Starting on three."
As the count began, Shirou focused his attention fully on Chen.
Strictly speaking, this spar was disadvantageous for him. Without using magecraft to enhance his body, and with Chen being of the Lung race which was naturally strong in this regard, he was at a clear physical disadvantage.
When the count reached three, both of them moved at the same time.
Clang—
The two swords collided with a loud sound.
Unlike when he sparred with Texas, Chen's strikes were extremely heavy.
In comparison, her speed was slightly inferior to Texas's, so as long as he did not take her attacks head-on, Shirou could hold out for a while.
"Oh? Not bad."
As the referee, Hoshiguma quickly noticed Shirou's defensive technique.
With slight tilts of his blade, he redirected Chen's strikes, minimizing the force instead of blocking them directly.
It was a method she often used as well, angling her shield slightly could achieve a similar effect. The difference was that Shirou was doing it with a sword, adjusting the angle with every clash.
From this alone, it was clear that Shirou had good control over blade techniques and he was able to move the weapon precisely according to his intent.
"You are only defending?"
Hoshiguma could see what Shirou was doing, so there was no way Chen, who was directly engaged, had not noticed.
After several exchanges, Chen also realized that Shirou's physical strength was far below hers, that was her advantage.
Yet, time and again, he deflected her attacks by angling his blade, successfully neutralizing her offense.
If he could not win head-on, then he made up for it with technique, this described Shirou perfectly.
His defensive swordsmanship was excellent. At least, without using special techniques, Chen found it difficult to break through his guard.
Which was… irritating.
So Chen spoke, throwing a taunt at him:
"Is defense all you can do?"
Hoshiguma, standing at the side: "???"