After watching Shirou safely dispose of all the Originium explosives, Chen and Hoshiguma finally snapped back to their senses.
It was not that his technique had shocked them.
It was how calm he had been the entire time.
Shirou had activated his communicator the moment he was attacked, so they already knew what had been happening.
During the confrontation, his words had been sharp, but still within acceptable limits. If it had been them, they might have already started throwing out Lungmen-level profanity.
But when it came to how he handled the enemy and the aftermath, his composure felt unfamiliar.
It was hard to reconcile that with the Shirou who was always helping others.
Especially for Chen. This was already the second time she had felt this way.
"Hm? Officer Chen? Officer Hoshiguma? What is wrong?"
After finishing the cleanup, Shirou looked up and saw the two staring at him intently, which left him confused.
Had he done something wrong? While handling Originium explosives like that was dangerous, it was still better than risking them being remotely detonated if they were tampered with.
Although structural analysis magecraft could reveal their inner workings, Originium was too unpredictable. He could not guarantee someone had not modified it with Originium Arts.
At least, he was not familiar enough with Originium Arts yet to be certain.
"It is nothing… as long as you are not hurt. Next time, do not handle Originium explosives like that. Leave it to professionals."
Seeing that Shirou had returned to his usual self, Chen rubbed her temples lightly as she spoke.
Right now, the priority was extracting information from those two.
Originally, she had intended to go in with Chi Xiao and interrogate them immediately, but after seeing the scene, she lost that urge.
Putting everything else aside, the severed right hand alone had an unnervingly clean cut.
And the other one, with his eyes rolled back, foaming at the mouth, and his entire right arm bent at an unnatural angle…
"Next time, I will be more careful. I was mainly worried about remote detonation through Originium Arts. I remember someone had a similar ability before."
Shirou nodded, acknowledging her point, while explaining his concern.
"That person is still locked up in prison. Do not worry and there are ways to interfere with that kind of Originium Art."
Understanding his reasoning, Hoshiguma smiled as she explained.
She was not mocking him. Methods to disrupt Originium Arts were quite rare, so most people would not think that far ahead.
But the Lungmen Guard Department dealt with these explosives regularly, so they naturally had countermeasures.
"That is reassuring."
Hearing that, Shirou realized he had overthought things.
The Guard Department handled incidents like this all the time. Of course they knew how to respond.
Still, the outcome was what mattered.
"Go wipe the blood off yourself first."
After saying that to Shirou, Chen walked toward the thin Ursus man.
He was still clutching his right hand, crying out in pain, completely unaware of her approach.
Meanwhile, with Hoshiguma's help, Shirou wiped the blood from his clothes. It was not perfectly clean, but not noticeable unless examined closely.
Thankfully, he was wearing a floral shirt and black pants today. Otherwise, walking around covered in blood would attract far too much attention.
"Tsk, it has been a while since I have seen Chen this irritable."
While helping Shirou tidy up, Hoshiguma glanced over at Chen and the Ursus man, her tone filled with nostalgia.
"Irritable?"
Shirou turned to look.
What he saw was Chen gripping the man by the throat, shaking him violently while demanding information about his accomplices.
How should he put it… he understood this method of interrogation.
But for Chen to do it personally felt a bit too… direct.
The man already looked dizzy from being shaken, his eyes nearly rolling back.
Still, Chen had excellent control over timing.
She released him just before he passed out, then continued questioning.
If he talked back or tried to hide anything, she would press her standard-issue sword against his wound, making sure he understood what pain meant.
It was brutal, to say the least.
"Stop staring. Do not pick up bad habits."
After letting him watch for a short while, Hoshiguma pulled Shirou away.
Partly to stop him from learning Chen's rough methods.
Partly because she had something else for him.
After directing the other Guard Department members to handle the aftermath, she turned to Shirou.
"Do you still have the energy?"
"Of course. What else do you need me to do?"
Shirou clenched his right hand slightly, feeling his condition.
He was not at his best, but far from exhausted. He could handle several more rounds of that level of combat.
"We need you to keep using your eyes to search. They likely have accomplices, and they may have split up. We need you to locate the rest. Of course, we will continue searching as well, so do not put too much pressure on yourself."
As she assigned the task, Hoshiguma also made it clear that he should not overburden himself.
Although sometimes applying pressure could motivate people, Hoshiguma believed that putting pressure on Shirou would only have the opposite effect.
He was just like Chen, they were too serious and meticulous. Even without being told, he would already give it his all and adding pressure would only make him anxious and irritable.
Just look at the one nearby still shaking a suspect.
"Understood. Then I will stay in contact through the communicator."
Hearing Hoshiguma's instructions, Shirou nodded and pointed to his communicator.
"Just keep in touch with Chen. You go search inside the concert venue first. We are already reviewing the surveillance footage outside, so we should have results soon."
Noticing the faint traces of blood still visible on Shirou, Hoshiguma told him to search inside first.
At least the lighting inside was dimmer, and most people would be focused on the stage, unlikely to notice anything unusual about him.
"Got it."
After saying that, Shirou headed into the concert building.
Along the way, he was briefly stopped by members of the Lungmen Guard Department for inspection. He took out his concert ticket, still in its work ID holder, and was allowed to pass.
They did not give him much trouble after all, they knew him but they still checked to avoid complications.
After all, Chen had made it clear: even she would not be allowed in without proper verification.
"Thank you."
After putting everything back, Shirou thanked them and walked inside.
Having just returned after some time outside, he suddenly found himself missing the open space.
At least there, there was no crowd pressing in from all sides.
Leaning against a wall, Shirou began analyzing the entire structure of the building, checking for anything unusual.
He had already done this once before the concert began, so he would recognize any anomalies.
The only issue was that the building was large, and the analysis required considerable time and magical energy.
"No abnormalities…"
After confirming that nothing was wrong, Shirou stepped away from the wall and moved into the crowd.
The two Ursus men earlier had worn somewhat similar clothing, so he decided to use that as a clue.
Ursus individuals wearing similar outfits were very likely accomplices.
This deduction had come from others. While the logic was somewhat odd, it was still better than searching blindly without any direction.
"That said… trying to observe clothing details in a setting like this is not easy. Some of these people are so tall they block everything!"
Although he stood at around 170 cm, as someone still growing, Shirou was only about average height in the crowd.
Spotting suspicious behavior or bulky clothing was manageable, but noticing fine details was much harder.
Still, he did not feel discouraged.
He still had room to grow.
After all, Archer was nearly 180 to 190 cm tall.
There was still hope for his future height.
"Hm? Why is that guy back again? And… is that blood on him?"
While Shirou moved through the crowd, the Penguin Logistics support group near the front cheering for Sora also noticed a suspicious figure.
More specifically, Exusiai noticed him.
First of all, wearing sunglasses at a concert was already suspicious. Add a floral shirt, and that was even more suspicious.
On top of that, he kept wandering through the crowd instead of watching the performance.
Only when Sora came on stage did he pause briefly.
Just when she thought he had finally settled down, he showed up again not long after.
And now there was blood on his clothes.
That did not escape Exusiai's sharp eyes.
Of course, that was only because Croissant had lifted her up, giving her a better view.
Croissant's shoulders felt very secure and there were even handles to hold onto so she would not fall.
The price was that Exusiai had to enthusiastically wave her glow sticks to cheer for Sora.
"Blood? You are imagining things."
Beside her, Texas casually replied while chewing on a Pocky stick, looking rather bored.
The idol currently on stage was another member from MSR, and Texas had little interest in her.
Penguin Logistics only truly supported Sora. When she was not performing, they simply waited.
Only Exusiai, perched on Croissant, used the opportunity to scan the crowd, trying to spot Shirou at work.
Ironically, she failed to find him and instead fixated on some suspicious "Vouivre."
"My eyesight may not be as good as Shirou's, but it is still pretty sharp, okay?"
While arguing with her partner, Exusiai jumped down from Croissant.
Since she had spotted something, she could not let it slide.
This was Sora's concert. She would not allow anyone to disrupt it.
And she could also call Shirou over to handle it and give him something to do.
A perfect plan.
"Do not cause trouble. With that halo of yours, you cannot just go pushing into the crowd."
Seeing Exusiai about to charge in, Texas quickly grabbed her to stop her.
"Exactly! Otherwise we could use Sora's connections to get a spot right in the center! Exusiai, calm down! If you cause trouble, we will get kicked out!"
Croissant grabbed Exusiai as well, stopping her from charging into the crowd.
The reason they were standing at the very front near the wall was precisely because Exusiai's halo would interfere with other people's viewing experience, so they had moved there.
If she rushed into the crowd now, they would very likely all be thrown out.
Thinking of that, Croissant quickly added:
"Exusiai! You would not want Sora to be put in a difficult position because of us, right?"
"…Fine, I will not go. But can you not use that weird tone? It feels strange."
Hearing that, Exusiai finally stopped struggling and allowed the two of them to pull her back.
She also could not help but complain about Croissant's phrasing.
"If you are that concerned, I will go take a look. Tell me what he looks like."
Seeing Exusiai finally calm down, and to prevent her from acting impulsively again, Texas decided to handle it herself.
Looking at it positively, at least her partner was trying to do something good.
Maybe she had been influenced by Shirou. Ever since his arrival, Texas felt that some of Penguin Logistics' bad habits had improved.
Even if they were becoming a bit less like "Penguin Logistics," it was still a good thing.
At the very least, Exusiai was no longer blowing things up in the middle of the street.
"Red hair, a pair of small red horns, sunglasses, and a dark purple floral shirt."
Hearing Texas was willing to help, Exusiai quickly described the suspicious Vouivre she had seen.
"Got it. Do you remember where you last saw him?"
Texas slipped the Pocky stick fully into her mouth and lightly rubbed the back of her neck, loosening up.
"He was not far, just over there."
Exusiai pointed in a direction. Texas and Croissant both looked that way.
All they could see were a few tall Feline individuals.
"…Sigh. I will take a look. If I do not see him, then forget it."
Looking at the crowd of tall people, Texas sighed and began walking toward the direction Exusiai had indicated.
"By the way, since when did you become so full of justice?"
Not long after Texas left, Croissant still held onto Exusiai tightly and asked her.
The reason for holding her was simple, she was afraid Exusiai might suddenly rush off again.
At the same time, she asked a question to distract her.
"Hmm… I do not know. It just feels like the right thing to do?"
Exusiai thought for a moment before answering.
She genuinely did not know.
In the past, she probably would not have thought this much.
When did she start changing? Wanting to step in and stop wrongdoing whenever she saw it?
After thinking for a while, she suddenly had a realization:
"Could it be… that I was influenced by Shirou?"