Shirou's conversation with Kal'tsit was rather short. After about an hour or so, she left, and before departing she even had the creature behind her... Monster, carry away the unidentified individual hanging above them.
At least, he thought it was called Monster.
Still, if possible, Shirou would have preferred for that unidentified person to remain hanging there a little longer.
Right before leaving, she had even spoken to him, telling him to visit her sometime because her office was very spacious.
Naturally, Kal'tsit responded by ruthlessly smacking her before dragging her away.
At that point, Shirou no longer had any mood left to admire the night scenery. After staying on the deck a little longer to let the cold wind calm him down, he returned to his room.
Fortunately, this time he slept soundly until morning. What woke him up was the continuous knocking outside the door.
"Exusiai? What is it? It is only seven-thirty."
Looking outside the door, he saw that the people from Penguin Logistics were all there. Exusiai's hand was even still suspended in midair, making it extremely obvious who had been furiously knocking moments ago.
"A rare opportunity like this calls for exploring Rhodes Island!"
Pulling back the hand that had nearly smacked Shirou in the face, Exusiai said with a grin.
"I doubt you just want to explore... Give me a moment to change."
Looking at her expression, Shirou remembered how the group had apparently been eyeing his wallet since yesterday.
Still, it was early enough in the morning, so taking the chance to see what facilities Rhodes Island had was probably better than sitting around in his room with nothing to do.
After quickly washing up and putting on his coat, Shirou stepped outside his room, only to witness a strange scene.
The four members of Penguin Logistics were all squatting against the wall while scrolling through their phones. The sight was as bizarre as bizarre could be.
"...Could you not just wait inside the room? It is not like you are in the dormitories where going up and down the stairs is troublesome."
Shirou fell silent for a moment before speaking.
Please do not act like this! The operators passing by are already staring at you strangely!
Clearly, Shirou had forgotten that the members of Penguin Logistics were the kind of people who, for the sake of spending their nights comfortably after returning, had once found an empty room on his floor and remodeled it into a changing room.
All of it was for the sake of living a lazier life!
"It is mainly because it is troublesome! Besides, Shirou, you do not take long to wash up and change clothes anyway. If it were Sora, then maybe we would consider waiting inside the room instead... ow ow ow!"
Upon hearing Shirou's words, Croissant immediately put away her phone and responded, only for Sora, standing behind her, to viciously pinch her stomach in retaliation.
Well, Croissant had used her as a joke, so getting punished by the person involved was only fair.
"Just so you know, I did not bring much Lungmen currency with me... By the way, can you even use Lungmen currency here?"
Ignoring the chaos happening beside him, Shirou took out his wallet in advance and showed it to them.
A thick stack of Lungmen bills quietly rested inside his wallet, making Exusiai's and the still-tormented Croissant's eyes shine brightly.
Oh, Boss above, they had never seen so much Lungmen currency stuffed into a wallet before!
"You can. Yesterday, some Rhodes Island operators mentioned that they often travel to various places for missions and trade."
Stepping forward to block the greedy gazes of the two from Shirou's wallet, Texas calmly explained.
Why block their view?
Naturally because she was worried those two would think having money meant they could do whatever they wanted.
Even if it was technically meal funds provided by the Boss, at the end of the day the money still belonged to Shirou and was not something they could spend recklessly.
She and Sora could restrain themselves well enough, but the other two... they definitely needed to properly understand that fact.
After all, if they dared to buy something, Shirou might actually pay for it.
"That is good then. What exactly did you all have your eyes on yesterday?"
After confirming that Lungmen currency could be used aboard Rhodes Island, Shirou put his wallet away.
Based on his usual shopping experience, the money in his wallet should be enough to feed all of them for over half a month, and not just ordinary meals either, but rich meals complete with desserts and fruit afterward.
Normally, he preferred carrying extra money around just in case of emergencies. Besides, Shirou was not worried about being robbed. After dealing with a certain purple rabbit's constantly restless little hands, his awareness in this area had become quite sharp.
As for why he carried such a large amount of Lungmen currency on him... it was mainly because he was used to keeping money close by.
"I found a gun holster I really like!"
Once the money disappeared from sight, and after noticing the distinctly unfriendly look in Texas's eyes, Exusiai immediately understood the message and withdrew her greedy gaze.
This time she only wanted a gun holster! The holsters made by Rhodes Island were especially exquisite!
As for her original idea of buying seven or eight of them... forget it. Two would be enough to rotate between. It was not like she owned that many guns anyway.
"I think the goods here at Rhodes Island would sell really well if brought to Lungmen."
Croissant, meanwhile, still maintained her stall-owner mindset, and the result was naturally Texas firmly grabbing her pair of horns and pulling them outward.
"Eh? Wait! Ow ow ow ow ow!"
The instant Croissant felt Texas grab her horns, she could already see several seconds into the future.
Unfortunately, her cries for mercy did not make Texas stop.
"Hmm... I was looking at clothes! Rhodes Island seems to have some really talented designers. There were a few outfits I liked quite a lot, and apparently they can even make slight custom adjustments!"
Ignoring Croissant's miserable screams once again, Sora said with a light laugh.
"Haa... I do not really have anything I want to buy, but my stock of Pocky is running low. Yesterday I noticed the convenience store seemed to sell some."
After tormenting Croissant for several dozen seconds, Texas finally released her grip.
It was only meant to be a warning for Croissant anyway. It was not as though Texas actually intended to rip her head apart. Stopping at that point was enough.
Compared to the other three... or rather, compared to the other two, Texas really did not have anything she particularly wanted to buy. She was mostly just accompanying them while also gathering information about Rhodes Island internally according to Yith's instructions.
"That should be enough then. Shall we go eat breakfast first before buying your things?"
After doing a quick calculation, Shirou felt the money should be enough, and it was also around breakfast time.
After all, accompanying women while shopping was physically exhausting work... breakfast was absolutely necessary first!
"Alright! Then how about some nutritional meals?"
The others had no objections to Shirou's suggestion. After all, he was currently the one paying, and they genuinely were hungry.
But once breakfast was mentioned, the cafeteria naturally came to mind. And when the cafeteria came to mind, so did the scene of Shirou forcing himself to swallow that nutritional meal yesterday.
Thinking about that, Exusiai decided to tease him a little.
"Once we return to Lungmen, I can make nutritional meals for you three times a day, you know?"
After hearing Exusiai's words, Shirou merely responded with a faint smile.
"I am truly very sorry! Please absolutely do not do that!"
The moment she saw Shirou's smile, Exusiai immediately realized disaster was approaching. She instantly lowered her head and sincerely apologized to him.
Just looking at that nutritional meal already destroyed her appetite! If she had to eat nothing but that three times a day... she absolutely refused to live that kind of life!
"Hahaha... Exusiai, you surrendered way too quickly!"
Seeing Exusiai apologize in under ten seconds, Croissant burst into laughter.
That made Exusiai start considering whether she should attack a place neither Sora nor Texas had ever targeted before, perhaps somewhere more central.
In any case, amidst such cheerful banter, the group headed toward Rhodes Island's cafeteria.
Yesterday, Amiya had helped swipe the meal card for them. Before parting ways that night, she had specifically given Shirou a meal card, saying that Rhodes Island would cover their meals for the next few days.
Of course, once Shirou and the Penguin Logistics members received their own meal cards, they would need to pay for themselves. This card was more like an emergency-use card.
Still, compared to the large variety of delicious food Rhodes Island offered, the money spent was practically negligible.
As soon as they entered the cafeteria, the group found a good table before splitting up to get their food.
After wandering around for a bit, Shirou, just like last night, picked several dishes that interested him and prepared to give them a try. At the same time, he deliberately avoided making eye contact with Hibiscus in a certain corner.
He had a feeling that the moment their eyes met, another serving of nutritional meal would mysteriously appear on his tray.
By the time he reached the place where the meal cards were swiped, the four of them were already waiting for him. And aside from Sora, the trays held by the other three... were extremely full.
How should he describe it?
The three of them were each carrying a small mountain.
Although the self-service atmosphere naturally made people want to take more food... this was still far too much, was it not?
But since they had already taken the food, putting it back was no longer an option, so Shirou chose not to say anything.
"Whoa... the breakfast selection here even has desserts? And they are made by Lateran people too! This is amazing!"
The moment they returned to their seats, Shirou could hear Exusiai enthusiastically praising Rhodes Island's cafeteria.
Though the specific reason for her praise was somewhat strange.
"Eat properly. Do not waste food."
Looking at the three food mountains before him, especially the dessert mountain on Exusiai's tray, Shirou reminded them.
Based on his estimate of their appetites, they should be able to finish everything, though they would probably feel rather stuffed afterward.
"Of course! Do not worry!"
Croissant confidently patted her chest in response, indicating she had absolutely no problem.
The kind of confidence that said she could eat three more servings if necessary!
"By the way, Shirou, you woke up especially late today. Are you not used to the beds here at Rhodes Island?"
Once breakfast began, conversation naturally followed.
So Sora casually tossed a topic toward Shirou. Overall, the rooms Rhodes Island provided were quite nice, though they still felt slightly unfamiliar to them.
Still, it was far better than sleeping outdoors or inside tents, so there was nothing worth complaining about.
But Shirou actually sleeping until seven-thirty and only waking up because Exusiai knocked on his door... this was the first time they had ever seen that happen.
Normally, he woke up earlier than all of them. Usually, by the time they got up, breakfast would already be ready for them to enjoy before heading off to work.
But today, Shirou only woke up after all of them had already washed up and come knocking on his door! That really was rare.
"Hm? The bed was fine. Mainly because too many things happened yesterday, so I was more tired than usual."
As he spoke, Shirou yawned before finally putting the omelet from his tray into his mouth.
"I see. Speaking of yesterday... regarding the things Doctor Kal'tsit mentioned yesterday, Shirou, should you not explain things to us a little?"
Listening to Shirou's answer, Sora suddenly understood. Thinking back on yesterday, a lot really had happened.
And a large portion of it had involved Shirou.
Besides, they had no idea what a Holy Grail War even was. It sounded like some unique Lateran thing.
And they also had no idea what that "other world" was supposed to mean. The only place they could get answers to these questions was from Shirou himself.
"Guh... let me think about it."
Shirou had originally thought the people from Penguin Logistics were being considerate of his feelings, but suddenly being questioned like this still caught him off guard.
It was honestly a troublesome topic to explain. After all, he did not possess memories of the Holy Grail Wars he personally participated in, and the explanation itself would be rather long.
"If it is inconvenient, then it is fine too."
Looking at Shirou's expression, Texas assumed that he simply did not want to discuss these topics.
"It is mainly because the explanation is a bit long... Let me put it this way first: I probably am not a Terran?"
After thinking it over, Shirou decided to start the conversation with that statement.
He felt that the first thing the group needed to accept was the fact that he was not actually native to Terra.
"...?"
Very obviously, the moment Shirou said those words, countless question marks practically appeared above the heads of all four of them.
"Not a Terran? What do you mean?"
It took Exusiai quite a while to react. By then, the dessert in her mouth had nearly fallen out before she hurriedly questioned Shirou.
After hearing Exusiai's question, Sora, Texas, and Croissant also immediately swallowed the food in their mouths and focused entirely on Shirou's explanation.
"I mean exactly what it sounds like. The place I originally came from did not have things like Oripathy or Originium Arts, much less something like Originium as a super energy source..."
After that, Shirou briefly described the differences between his world and Terra so the others could better visualize it.
For example, people there did not have animal ears on their heads, nor tails. Horns and halos did not exist either. Essentially, everyone looked like Shirou himself, people without any obvious racial traits.
And then there was the fact that Shirou casually mentioned his world having a population of 6.3 billion people.
That number alone sounded rather terrifying.
If they had heard Shirou say such things before yesterday, they definitely would have assumed he had been corrupted by Croissant and Exusiai and was making up bizarre nonsense to fool them.
But now...
Aside from the overwhelming amount of information, they basically believed him.
Well, "slightly overwhelming" was probably putting it too lightly.
These revelations were merely the shocking information Shirou had thrown out while explaining the term "another world."
The things that came afterward were obviously going to be even more headache-inducing.