Nine in the morning, Lungmen, Lungmen Guard Department. Clear skies without a single cloud.
"You are sure this is not fabricated?"
Holding a thick stack of medical examination reports in her hands, Chen sat across from Shirou alongside Hoshiguma as she asked the question.
As for Swire?
She was busy and did not participate.
"How could something like this possibly be faked... The doctors over there already said there were no major problems."
Facing the two women's suspicion, Shirou lightly rubbed his forehead as he answered.
He had returned yesterday together with everyone from Penguin Logistics.
Naturally, the vehicle had been provided by Rhodes Island.
Coincidentally, the branch office also needed a vehicle, so they drove it there and left it at the office.
Besides the original seven people returning to Lungmen, the four members of Blacksteel Worldwide had also hitched a ride back with them.
Apparently they had some matters to handle in Lungmen afterward, though Shirou and the others did not pry further.
Although he had already left Rhodes Island, Shirou had still scheduled another medical checkup around October.
That was one of the conditions written into the contract he signed with Rhodes Island.
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say...
A contract signed with Doctor Kal'tsit.
As long as Shirou himself remained around, Rhodes Island would provide the most comprehensive treatment possible for him and the people around him.
In exchange, Shirou only needed to offer advice or assistance whenever disasters related to magecraft appeared.
Even without the earlier condition, Shirou probably still would have agreed.
However, Yith had also said before that transactions should always involve give and take. If only one side kept giving, they might end up receiving nothing in return.
Besides, Rhodes Island itself would not agree to such a one-sided arrangement.
In the end, the relaxed condition they settled on was that whenever Shirou communicated with Rhodes Island's main landship through the Lungmen branch office, he could send acquaintances who needed treatment over to Rhodes Island.
Simply put, it was like Rope this time.
Even though they were not official Rhodes Island personnel, they could still receive treatment through Shirou's connection.
However, Rhodes Island seemed to think Rope's grappling hook skills were quite impressive and potentially useful in certain situations.
There was also the fact that the little purple rabbit's intelligence-gathering abilities were undeniably excellent.
Within only a few days, she had already formed good relationships with most people on Rhodes Island and extracted quite a lot of information.
Rhodes Island operators only realized this afterward.
Fortunately, nobody had revealed any especially important intelligence.
Still, there were definitely pieces of information Rope should not have known.
In response, Rhodes Island brought out their "Rope specialist," which basically meant Shirou stepped in to smooth things over.
In truth, it was not really a major issue.
Rope gathered information mainly to protect herself and others, so Shirou merely reminded her not to leak those things outside.
As for Shirou's current physical condition, he had basically already recovered.
Or rather, he was actually slightly healthier than before.
The useful information he gained over these past days had been immense, and Shirou benefited greatly from it.
Although what he paid in exchange had also been considerable.
Before leaving, he had properly prepared a special meal for Rosmontis.
The result was that a whole crowd followed the aroma over and tried to steal portions of the little cat's food, only to be overwhelmed by guilt after seeing Rosmontis's innocent expression.
In the end, Shirou escaped disaster by using leftover kitchen ingredients to make a cake for everyone to share.
Afterward, they spent an entire day traveling back to Lungmen by vehicle.
Then the very next day, he received a message from Chief Chen demanding his medical examination report.
In response, Shirou could only think that he had literally just returned...
Could they at least let him breathe for a moment?!
Though that was only a thought.
The next morning, he immediately returned to his normal routine.
He made breakfast for everyone at Penguin Logistics, watched them leave for work, then brought extra sandwiches along with the medical examination report Rhodes Island gave him to the Lungmen Guard Department.
Honestly, after resting for over ten days, returning to all this felt rather unfamiliar to Shirou.
Especially the entrance to the Guard Department.
And so time arrived at the present moment.
Shirou sat across from the two women, waiting for them to finish reading the densely packed report.
He already knew the results himself.
He was healthier than the vast majority of people, so there was absolutely no problem.
The reason the two women suspected the authenticity of the report was mainly because the section concerning blood Originium crystal density had been marked as "undisclosed," along with the phrase: According to the medical department's decision, related information will not be made public.
"Hmm... aside from this rather special section, everything else seems fine. It is all within reasonable parameters."
After sweeping through the report once, Chen directly handed it over to Hoshiguma.
She recognized most of the data on it, so she read through it quickly.
Hoshiguma, on the other hand, was unfamiliar with these kinds of figures and even had to look up information on her phone for comparison.
"I am not too sure about that section either. The doctors at Rhodes Island evaluated it and decided not to disclose it."
Seeing how concerned the two women were about the undisclosed information, Shirou replied calmly without changing expression.
He had already prepared his response to this issue long ago.
He simply needed to firmly insist that Rhodes Island refused to provide the information.
That was also the instruction given by Rhodes Island and Doctor Kal'tsit!
Although they could have directly altered the data on the paper report, secrets could only be hidden temporarily.
It was better to lay everything out clearly from the very beginning.
"Hmm... at the very least, overall you are extremely healthy, and you are not infected with Oripathy."
After hearing Shirou's explanation, the two women did not continue pressing the issue.
As long as they could confirm that Shirou himself was currently fine, that was enough.
It also helped settle one lingering worry.
"Then I will leave the rest to Hoshiguma. I need to get back to work."
After confirming there was nothing wrong with Shirou, Chen stood up and prepared to leave.
During the days Shirou was absent, the Lungmen Guard Department had handled quite a number of matters.
Especially concerning the slums.
Although the Guard Department did not intend to take direct action there, Chen had already reached an agreement with Rat King.
The old her definitely would never have accepted letting outsiders handle matters that should belong to the Guard Department, but her cooperation with Shirou had shown her the advantages of doing things this way.
Of course, it was not as though she trusted just anyone.
For example, during the previous three-person operation, there had been a mole inside the Guard Department who leaked the information.
Although the culprit had been found afterward and thrown into prison, who could guarantee there would not be another one?
Still, the biggest issue was that operating with such a small team had simply been too risky.
That could not really be helped.
The slum problem was not something that could be solved within a day or two.
That was exactly why she had made contact with Lin Yuhsia.
Even if she was not entirely trustworthy, it was still better than having no manpower at all.
"So, you want to spar today?"
Seeing Chen preparing to leave, Shirou casually brought it up.
"...Fine. Around eleven."
Hearing Shirou's words, Chen's hand paused on the doorknob for roughly five seconds before she answered and walked out.
"Tsk tsk. You only rested for a few days, and you are already fine with this?"
Rarely seeing Chen react that way, Hoshiguma smiled as she asked about Shirou's condition.
After all, when those two sparred, both of them fought seriously.
The danger level was extremely high.
But correspondingly, the experience they gained from it was far greater as well.
A sparring partner like Shirou, who could attack, defend, and even stop at critical moments when necessary, was not easy to find.
Especially because he had mastered far too many combat techniques.
One moment he would attack directly and straightforwardly, and the next moment he would suddenly mix genuine killing blows into his various attacks.
During that period, Chen's temper had become exceptionally irritable.
And then the true culprit behind it all simply patted her back and left.
Naturally, the rest of the Guard Department ended up suffering the consequences.
If Shirou did not occasionally bring over food, and if Chen herself were not somewhat restrained, perhaps Chi Xiao would already have been drawn by now.
Speaking of which, Shirou also seemed to possess a Chi Xiao.
Would it eventually become Chi Xiao versus Chi Xiao?
Just imagining it sounded interesting.
Unfortunately, she probably would never get to witness such a scene.
Unless the two of them somehow ended up on opposing sides?
The odds of that were probably even lower than Chen and Missy reconciling with each other.
In the end, people like Shirou really suited the tastes of all three of them.
It was just unfortunate that he belonged to Penguin Logistics.
The Guard Department desperately lacked talent!
Sigh!
"It is fine. Before leaving Rhodes Island, I already sparred with some people there. Nobody stopped me at the time."
Facing Hoshiguma's doubts, Shirou answered calmly.
Back when he was still in the hospital room, a certain cat kept insisting she would "show him the ropes."
Yet in the end, they only fought once before he left.
Embarrassingly enough, Shirou accidentally broke her weapon during that spar.
Basically, his eyes spotted the weapon's weak point, and his body instinctively struck there.
After around two or three exchanges, the chainsaw simply snapped apart on its own.
Apparently repairing that thing was troublesome...
Though there was nothing he could really do about it.
Showing a certain big cat just how vast the world was was not such a bad thing either, right?
"If you think you are fine, then you are fine. Anyway, let us talk business now."
Looking at Shirou, Hoshiguma no longer bothered saying much else.
When Shirou intended to listen, he would listen.
When he did not, no amount of talking would easily change his mind.
Unless force was involved.
Still, Chen was outstanding enough in combat techniques that she could definitely stop herself in time.
Honestly, if Chen and Shirou genuinely fought seriously, Hoshiguma had no idea who would win.
Although Chen was usually at a disadvantage during sparring, that was purely in terms of swordsmanship exchanges.
If they truly fought...
Well, Shirou probably had the higher chance of winning.
After all, Shirou had already thoroughly understood nearly every swordsmanship pattern Chen possessed.
Meanwhile, Chen's understanding of Shirou amounted to only the tip of the iceberg.
Sigh...
The more she thought about it, the more absurdly overpowered Shirou's Originium Arts felt.
Better to quickly explain how the Guard Department handled the aftermath and let Chen worry about the rest herself.
Anyway, he was someone Chief Wei personally brought in.
"I see..."
Shirou quietly listened as Hoshiguma explained some of the events that occurred in Lungmen during his absence.
Since it related to the previous three-person operation, she explained the follow-up situation as well.
Simply put, the source of those inhibitors implicated quite a lot of people, and many individuals had profited heavily from them.
After all, the production cost of low-quality inhibitors was not high.
What they earned was the money infected people paid in hopes of buying their lives.
Yet the things those infected believed were saving them were actually accelerating the erosion of their lives, only returning them to the embrace of this land even sooner.
Although it differed somewhat from what Shirou originally imagined, it was still an extremely vile act.
After spending the past few days immersed in Rhodes Island's warm atmosphere, Shirou had almost forgotten just how cruel people on this land could be toward the infected.
Without comparison, there was no harm.
Still, the Guard Department had already handled the matter properly, so Shirou had nothing further to say.
This time, he merely wanted to understand the aftermath a little better.
After all, he participated in that operation.
He had the right to know.
"Does it make you feel bad?"
Noticing the unusual expression on Shirou's face, Hoshiguma put down the documents in her hands and asked.
What she held was already a version that had been somewhat filtered.
The original contents were far harder to look at directly.
Unfortunately, that was simply the main theme of this land.
As for certain individuals who profited from these things, the Guard Department was unable to raid and arrest them due to insufficient evidence...
Most of those involved were powerful people with influence.
They did not even care about exploiting ordinary people, so why would they hesitate to completely drain infected people dry?
The three of them would never tell Shirou these details directly.
Partly because the matter involved too many complicated connections.
And partly because...
They were worried Shirou might decide to fire off a few shots in the middle of the night and teach those people what it felt like to die from long-range sniping.
Someone else would deal with those people eventually.
There was no need for Shirou to dirty his hands over it.
Wei Yenwu had personally guaranteed that.
All three of them had been present when he said it.
"A little, I suppose. But more than anything... I feel disappointed."
Leaning his entire body back against the chair, Shirou sighed.
He felt disappointed in many things.
But precisely because of that, Rhodes Island's ideals and existence felt even more precious.
Almost like a utopia.
Shirou felt that the only people he could really discuss these kinds of topics with were those from the Guard Department.
Penguin Logistics was simply not the kind of place where serious discussions like this happened very often.
Or rather, for the people at Penguin Logistics, the issue of Exusiai not eating apple pie for two days would probably qualify as an extremely serious matter already.
"That is true. Most people in the Guard Department were just like you at first. They joined filled with passion, only to realize they could not truly punish evil. In the end, they either chose to compromise and become ordinary employees, or they ended up under Chen or Missy's command."
Now this was a topic Hoshiguma could talk about endlessly.
In terms of seniority within the Guard Department, she had been around longer than both Chen and Swire.
People came and went.
Some chose to yield to their environment.
Others continued working hard to improve themselves, hoping to fulfill the original reason they joined the Guard Department in the first place.
Currently, the group under Chen was in the best condition within the entire department.
The next best was the group under Missy.
"What about you?"
After knowing Hoshiguma for so long, Shirou suddenly realized that he did not actually understand the woman before him very well.
At the very least, Phal clearly admired and respected Hoshiguma greatly.
Judging from Phal's past, Hoshiguma had very likely once been part of a gang in the slums.
Maybe even the leader of one.
A gang leader becoming a police officer...
That sounded like the kind of plot that only appeared in movies or novels.
"Me? I do not really have many thoughts about it. Back then, Chief Wei Yenwu personally recommended me to join the Guard Department, and before I knew it, several years had already passed."
Hearing Shirou's question, Hoshiguma froze briefly before answering.
However, how much of those words were true and how much were false was probably known only to herself.
There was only one thing that could be stated with certainty.
She was a citizen of Lungmen.
Naturally, she wanted Lungmen to become better.